History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, profusely illustrated with portraits of early pioneers, rare pictures and scenes of olden times, and portraits of representative citizens of today, [Vol. 2]

BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

17

About 1882 a large tract of pine timber, known as the "Nester Timber,"
was purchased by A. W. Wright, C. W. Wells and F. C. Stone, and a company formed which embraced the saw mill business of Pearson, Wright &
Company, the lumber yard and planing mill of Wright & Knowlton, and the
Nester timber lands of Wells, Stone & Company, the merger taking the corporate name of A. W. Wright Lumber Company. For twenty years about
thirty million feet of logs were cut annually, rafted to the saw mills of the
company, sawed into lumber and timber, and the stock distributed to the
trade throughout the East and South. During this period of activity the logging and lumbering operations were looked after by Wells, Stone & Company,
and the saw mill, salt block, planing mill and lumber yard business was
conducted by Mr. Knowlton. The business was large and successful, and was
continued until 1902, when the timber having all been cut, the mill was dismantled and the corporation dissolved.
While thus engaged in managing this extensive business, Mr. Knowlton
was associated with A. W. Wright and Charles H. Davis in the extensive
operations of Wright, Davis & Company in Minnesota. This company owned
large tracts of pine land in that State, including seventy thousand acres in
Itasca and St. Louis Counties, upon which were traces of the existence of iron
ore. The Swan River Logging Company, in which Mr. Knowlton was also
interested, was formed to lumber the tract, and in order to transport the
timber to outside connections, the Company built the Duluth, Mississippi
River & Northern Railroad, with about thirty miles of logging branches, from
the Mississippi River to Hibbing, Minnesota. These extensive operations
were continued until 1897, when the companies closed up their affairs in
Minnesota. Thereafter Mr. Knowlton gave personal attention to Mr.
Wright's individual interests and was named by him as one of the executors
and trustees of his will.
Mr. Knowlton was married in 1879 to Miss Grace B. Ketcham, a sister of
Philip H. Ketcham, who was also actively associated with Mr. Wright in his
logging operations on the Tittabawassee and tributary streams. Two daughters have been born to them, Carrie K., who married Howard C. Richardson,
of Saginaw, and Helen K., who married Amasa M. Rust, also of this city.
For several years Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton have spent the winter season
in California, having purchased an attractive house at Pasadena which is the
mecca of Saginaw tourists to the Pacific Coast.
Mr. Knowlton enjoys the friendship and esteem of Saginaw's best
citizens —those who are the defenders of the city's highest traditions.
Honorable and upright in all his business relations, he carries into the social
sphere the same instincts of thought and action. For many years he and his
family have been members and supporters of St. John's Episcopal Church,
and are interested in all the works of the parish and diocese.
THOMAS MERRILL
While it might not be appropriate to speak of Thomas Merrill as one
of the early pioneers of the lumber business in the Saginaw Valley, since
he was preceded by the Williams Brothers, Albert Miller, Curtis Emerson,
Charles W. Grant and others, yet it is entirely within the truth to say that
few men have occupied a more prominent place in the industry than he. Born
in Carmel, Maine, April 13, 1815, his boyhood was spent at the family homestead and he received his early education in the district schools. He worked
steadily on his father's farm, until at the age of twenty-five he purchased