Title: Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1848-1969

Creator:

• Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 83; Green Bay Micro 35; File 1866 July 28

Quantity: 20.1 cubic feet (80 volumes and 1 folder) and 1 reel of microfilm (35 mm)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Volumes containing minutes, financial records, land records, maps, and miscellaneous records documenting river navigation improvement efforts of the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company (1866-1870) and its predecessor, the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company (1853-1866). Both were privately operated corporations organized to construct, administer, and finance improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers in order to improve inland water transportation between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Land speculation eventually became the focus of the corporation. Most records date from the mid-1800s and document canal construction, financing, and administration, water power leases, and land sales.
Included are some records from the first efforts at improvement conducted by the Wisconsin Board of Public Works (1848-1853), plus fragmentary records of the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company, the Kaukauna Water Power Company, and the Fox River Power Pool, all of which operated in the Fox and Wisconsin River Valleys. On microfilm are three items concerning legal matters of interest to the Company. One folder contains typewritten copies of legal papers, 1866-1900, from the Wisconsin Secretary of State's files.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0083

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The Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company and its predecessor, the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company, were private corporations organized to construct, administer, and finance improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. These improvements were a reflection of a long-standing desire for an improved inland water transportation route between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Although land speculation became the eventual focus of the corporation, the enterprises were originally formed primarily to improve transportation.

Formal efforts to improve the rivers began in 1848 with the creation of a five-member Board of Public Works. This state board was responsible for the administration and construction of waterway projects such as dams, canals, and dredging operations that were designed to increase the rivers' navigability. However, after a series of financial and construction problems, the state project was turned over to a private enterprise, the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company. Formed in 1853 by a group of prominent valley residents, including Morgan L. Martin, the corporation agreed to complete the improved waterway by July 1856. The corporation was eventually forced by poor economic conditions and inadequate local resources to permit Eastern investors to join the project; these investors later came to dominate the corporation. Yet, despite expanded land grants, extensive promotion by the governor and legislature, and an eventual trusteeship of the company by the legislature, the corporation was doomed. In 1866 the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company was dissolved.

That same year, the bankrupt company's property and lands were purchased by a group or Eastern directors, who then reorganized the company as the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company. The new group proposed to improve the channel of the Wisconsin River en route to the Mississippi. However the reorganized company did little actual improvement work during the six years (1866-1872) it was responsible for the project. In 1870 the federal government offered to buy out the group's interests and take over the entire line of the waterway. Two years later, the company accepted, although it retained for itself the valuable water power rights.

For additional background information on the Fox and Wisconsin River Improvement Company and the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company researchers should consult two published works, both of which are available in the Historical Library. These are: Millstone and Saw: The Origins of Neenah-Menasha, by Alice Smith, especially Chapter 2, “Improving the Fox River”; andThe Fox-Wisconsin Rivers Improvement: An Historical Study in Legal Institutions and Political Economy, by Samuel Mermin.

The collection primarily documents the activities of the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company and the two enterprises which preceded it--the Board of Public Works and the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company. The records of these three groups have been organized as one series, Improvement Enterprise Records. Arrangement is by type of record and roughly chronological thereunder. Corporate names identified on individual volume covers are listed in the Container List. Researchers should note that the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company was in fact the reorganized Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company; occasionally a volume postdating the demise of the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement Company will still have that corporate name on the volume. Some of the more fragile of the volumes were boxed for protection. Smaller quantities of records are in the other two series, Records of Other Companies and Legal Documents.

IMPROVEMENT ENTERPRISE RECORDS include minutes, financial records, land records, maps, and miscellany. Minutes may also include resolutions and miscellaneous reports such as engineering reports, financial reports and annual reports. The records of proceedings contain minutes and general, engineering, and financial reports submitted to the Board of Public Works. Other minutes may document both stockholder and Board of Directors meetings. Occasionally a volume is indexed. Financial records consist of journals, ledgers, cash books, day books, collection books, rental abstracts and tax abstracts. The journals and ledgers have entries for various individuals, corporations, and funds; many are indexed. Collection books consist of reports and listings of clearances for boats using the canals. Information recorded may include boat names, destination, cargo, and rate charged. The rental abstracts list the name, land description, annual rent, and a record of payment. The majority of the land records contain descriptions of land, purchaser, price, and general remarks. Of interest is the Record of Appraisals which records damage claims and settlements based on the appraisers' evaluation. Researchers should also consult the 1914 Legal History and Status of Properties of Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company for a brief summary of the improvement programs to that date. Maps consist of of printed and hand-drawn maps and plats of rivers, adjoining lands, and waterway projects constructed.

Included in the miscellany are Records of Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company which include transcriptions of various company records such as legal documents, correspondence, financial materials, and reports; the volumes are indexed. Miscellany also contains a volume of Water Power Leases, which lists the terms of the lease and the rates paid by area companies and individuals. An index is included and lists such companies as Appleton Knitting Company, Appleton Chair Company, Atlas Paper Company, Combined Locks Paper Company, Kaukauna Electric Light Company, Little Chute Pulp Company, Manufacturing Investment Company, Western Paper Bag Company, and Wisconsin Tissue Paper Company.

The second series, RECORDS OF OTHER COMPANIES, contains fragmentary records of other companies operating in the Fox and Wisconsin River Valley areas. The records include miscellaneous journals and ledgers of the Appleton Paper and Pulp Company, and minutes and a land sales book of the Kaukauna Water Power Company. The series also contains a ledger identified only as “B.L. and Company” and a two-part report about power in the Fox River Valley. The latter report recommends consolidating various power interests in power pool and a proposal to bypass the present river channel with a canal.

A small number of legal documents and papers concerning the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company comprise the third series. Some are available on positive microfilm and some are a typewritten copy of records from the Wisconsin Secretary of State's files.

Related public records series include the Wisconsin Board of Public Works: Board of Public Works Expenditures for the Improvement of the Fox-Wisconsin Rivers, 1849-1851 (Series 345) and Wisconsin. Corporations Division: Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company Financial Papers, 1857-1878 (Series 365).

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. John G. Strange and William B. Van Nortwick, via Willard J. Schenck, Appleton, Wissconsin, 1978; portions loaned for copying, 1980; folder of legal papers presented by the Office of the Secretary of State, Madison, Wisconsin. Accession Number: M78-001

Processing Information

Processed by Christine Rongone and Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, December 1981.

Green Bay Mss 83	Series: Improvement Enterprise Records
	Minutes
	Record of Proceedings, Secretary's Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement
Volume   1	Book No. 1, 1848 September 4-1852 March 10
Volume   2	Book No. 2, 1852 May 22-1853 August 20
Volume   3	Minutes of Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1853 July 14-1865 July 4
	Minutes of Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company
Volume   4	1866 June 5-1877 October 1
Volume   5	1866 February 1-1898 January 1
Volume   7	1898 August 1-1927 March 10
Volume   6 In_box   1	Index to Minutes, 1866-1898, (A.L. Smith's Record)
	Financial Records
	Journals
Volume   8 In_box   2	Secretary's Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement, 1849 January 1-1853 August 20
Volume   9	Journal No. 1, 1853 December 31-1866 September 18
Volume   10	Journal No. 2, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1866 June-1900 January 5
Volume   11	Land Office, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1856 August 10-1866 January 30
Volume   12	Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1856 September-1860 December Physical Description: Exhibits some mold damage.
Volume   13	1860 August-1865 March
Volume   14	Journal B, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1899 July 29-1912 April 1
	Ledgers
	Secretary's Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement
Volume   15	1848-1852
Volume   16	1853 December-1866
Volume   17	1866 December-1872 September
Volume   18	Treasurer's Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement, Bickwell Accountant Memorandum Ledger and A. L. Smith Ledger, 1866-1899
Volume   19 In_box   1	Index to A. L. smith Ledger, 1866-1899
Volume   20 In_box   1	Index to Ledger, Treasurer's Office, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, undated
Volume   21	Bickwell's Accountant Ledger, 1869 June 2-1901 January 1
Volume   22	Ledger No. 2, 1893 September 26-1894 September 29
Volume   23	Ledger No. 3, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1866 June 30-1899 July 1
Volume   24	Ledger No. 4, B, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1899 July 29-1912 February 1
Volume   25	Land Office, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1855 September 24-1856 July 5
Volume   26	Land Office, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1857-1866
	Cash Books
Volume   27	Cash book No. 1, 1853 September 30-1860 October 8
Volume   28	Cash book No. 2, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1861 June 2-1865 July 31
Volume   29	Land Office, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, Bickwell Accountant Memorandum Cash Book, 1855-1862, 1880-1899
Volume   30	1866 January-1872 October
Volume   31	1868 June-1870 January
Volume   32	Cash book B, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1899 April-1912 June
	Day Books
Volume   33	Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1856 April 30-1859 October 19
Volume   34	Day book No. 4, 1859 September-1863 February
Volume   35	Green Bay & In Canal Company, 1866 June-1899 March
Volume   36	Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, 1915 (?), 1916
Volume   37	Blotter A, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1853 December 31-1857 May 27
	Collection Books
Volume   38	Collectors Secretary's Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement, 1851 November 21-1852 November 27
	Certificate Books, Collectors Office, Appleton, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement
Volume   39	1857 September 4-1859 June 4 Physical Description: Mold damage.
Volume   40	1859 June 6-1862 November 15
Volume   41	Certificate Books, Collectors Office, Deposit, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement, 1858 April 12-1859 November 26
Volume   42	Rental Abstracts, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1912 January-1930 November
Volume   43	Tax Abstracts, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1912-1932
	Land Records
Volume   44 In_box   2	Company's Land Office, Certified Copy of Trustees Record of the Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company's Lands, 1849 May 9-1857 April 21
Volume   45	Township Sales, Secretary's Office, Town Land Book, 1849-1853
Volume   46	Sales Book, Register Office, Fox & Wisconsin River Improvement, 1849 May 14-1859 May 27
Volume   47	Records, Land Book, undated
Volume   48	Contract Book, 1853 December-1869 October
Volume   49 In_box   1	Land contracts, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, Bought from Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company
Volume   50	Land Book, Wisconsin Improvement Company, circa 1852-1865
Volume   51	Land Book, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1867 September 5-1900 February 24
Volume   52	Tract Book, Land Book, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1857-1869
Volume   53	Tract Book, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1865-1894
Volume   54	Record of Appraisals, Secretary's Office, Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company, 1851 June 23-1852 February 2
Volume   55 In_box   1	Legal History and Status of the Properties of the Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1914 January 15
File 1866 July 28	Legal papers connected with the incorporation and purchase of lands by the Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company, July 28, 1866-June 30, 1900 Physical Description: 1 folder  Note: Typewritten copy received from the office of the Secretary of State, Madison.
Green Bay Mss 83	Maps
	Government Plats, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, undated
Volume   56 In_box   3	No. 1
Volume   57 In_box   3	No. 2
In_box   3 Volume   58	No. 3
Volume   59 In_box   2	No. 4
Volume   60 In_box   4	Maps Showing Lands Deeded by the State of Wisconsin for the Improvement of the Fox & Wisconsin Rivers, 1857 Note: Transferred from the SHSW Map Collection.
	Maps showing the Canals, Locks, Dams and Waterpower Lots of the Fox & Wisconsin Improvement Company
Volume   61	1859
Volume   62	1869
Volume   63	Undated
Volume   64	U.S. Plat Book, undated
Volume   65	Fox River Maps
	Miscellany
	Records, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company
Volume   66	1850 January-1898 October
Volume   67	No. 2, 1891 February 20-1907 February 1
Volume   68	No. 3, 1907 February 1-1969 December 23, undated
Volume   69	Water Power Leases, No. 1, Green Bay & Mississippi Canal Company, 1889-1899
Volume   70	Unidentified Index, undated
	Series: Records of Other Companies	⇧
	Appleton Paper & Pulp Company
Volume   71	Journal E, 1887 January 7-1889 December 31
Volume   72	Journal, 1900 February 21-1964 April 2
Volume   73	Ledger E, 1887 January 7-1889 December 31
Volume   74 In_box   2	Ledger G, 1902-1964
	Kaukauna Water Power Company
Volume   75	Minutebook, 1880 April 3-1904 June 14, 1912 April 16
Volume   76	Land Sales at Ledyard, 1881 August 9-1896 June 8
	Fox River Power Pool, Neenah to De Pere, Wisconsin, by the Chicago Engineering Department of the General Electric Company, Report No. 174, 1924 October
Volume   77 In_box   1	Part 1
Volume   78 In_box   1	Part 2
	BL & Company
Volume   79	Ledger A, 1854-1857
Volume   80 In_box   1	Index to Ledger A
Green Bay Micro 35 Reel   1	Series: Microfilmed Legal Documents Note: Included are “Some Laws and Documents Relating to Hydraulic Power of Fox or Neenah River” compiled by the company and printed in 1881; a 1911 opinion from attorneys on the rights of the company to Kaukauna Water Power; and an undated paper on the “Legal History and Status of the Properties” of the Company.	⇧