John Edwards Jr. - Port Edwards, WI
N 44° 20.368 W 089° 51.533
16T E 272100 N 4913553
Pioneer, Industrialist, Statesman, and Civic Leader, John Edwards, Jr. was one of the famous historical people from the 19th century in Port Edwards and Wood County.
Waymark Code: WM2AY1
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 10/05/2007
Views: 45
The plaque on the statue's base reads:
"JOHN EDWARDS JR. 1831-1891
A NATIVE OF ENGLAND, JOHN EDWARDS JR. SETTLED IN THIS AREA IN 1859 TO ASSUME OPERATION OF HIS FATHER'S SAWMILL, THE NUCLEUS AROUND WHICH THE VILLAGE OF PORT EDWARDS DEVELOPED. FOUNDED IN 1840, THE EDWARDS SAWMILL WAS INCORPORATED IN 1890 INTO THE JOHN EDWARDS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, PARENT COMPANY OF NEKOOSA-EDWARDS PAPER COMPANY. THE OFFICE BUILDING FOR THE COMPANY, BUILT IN 1872 STOOD NEAR THIS SITE, AND ALTHOUGH ENLARGED SEVERAL TIMES, SERVED AS THE HOME OFFICE OF THE NEKOOSA-EDWARDS PAPER COMPANY UNTIL 1961.
jOHN EDWARDS JR., TO WHOM THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED, MANAGED THE LUMBER BUSINESS UNTIL HIS ELECTION TO THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE AS AN ASSEMBLYMAN IN 1890. MR. EDWARDS DIED IN OFFICE AT MADISON ON MARCH 11, 1891. THE MILL WAS TURNED OVER TO MR. EDWARDS' SON-IN-LAW, L. M. ALEXANDER, WHO CONVERTED THE BUSINESS FROM LUMBERING TO PAPER MANUFACTURING IN 1896.
JOHN EDWARDS WAS A FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF TWO LOCAL RAILROADS SERVING THIS AREA. APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN, HE SERVED AS POSTMASTER UNTIL HIS DEATH. CIVIC ACTIVITIES INCLUDED A TERM OF SEVERAL YEARS AS TOWN CHAIRMAN AND A SIMILAR TERM AS WOOD COUNTY BOARD CHAIRMAN. A PROMOTER OF BETTER SCHOOLS, HE SERVED AS DISTRICT SCHOOL TREASURER FOR THIRTY YEARS, AND PERSONALLY FINANCIED THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST SCHOOL IN PORT EDWARDS.
PIONEER, INDUSTRIALIST, STATESMAN AND CIVIC LEADER--WE COMMEMORATE HONORABLE JOHN EDWARDS JR."
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