G. B. Merrill & Brother (1905-1915)
John E. DuBois (1915-1920)
DuBois Lumber Co. (1920-1931)
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Standard gauge, 45, 56 & 60-lb rail Headquarters: Mill Location: Muskegon (Lake), MS (Scott County) Mill Capacity: 60,000 ft/day Years of Operation: 1905-1931 Miles Operated: 12 miles in 1910 Locomotives Owned: 6 known |
Other Equipment: 20 log cars, 1 American loader 1910 |
Click Map for Larger Version |
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History by Gil Hoffman: On
December 27, 1904 G. B. Merrill & Brother purchased the property of the Muskegon
Lumber Company, at Lake, Scott County. Two brothers making up the firm
were George B. and Phil S. Merrill, formerly of Tanner, Pennsylvania. In
addition to the mill at Lake, MS, the company owned the Pennamich Lumber
Company, at Tickfaw, Louisiana. On December 7, 1912 G. B. Merrill was killed
by an Illinois Central train at Tickfaw. The surviving brother brought a
$50,000 lawsuit against the railroad which was unsuccessful. The Tickfaw
mill was later sold. After
a fire on August 11, 1913 completely destroyed the mill at Lake, a new
8-foot double band mill was built and placed in operation in May 1914. One
side of the mill cut 60,000 feet of pine daily, while the other cut 40,000
feet of hardwoods. Timber holdings were mostly shortleaf pine interspersed
with hardwoods. Sometime in 1913, prior to the fire, the sales office was
moved to Lake from Jackson, MS Officials of the company at that time were:
P. S. Merrill, owner and manager; J. E. Welch, general superintendent, and On
April 7, 1915 the Merrill property was advertised for sale by John E. DuBois,
of DuBois, Pennsylvania, who had seized the mill under a landlord's lien for
$59,312. Phil Merrill had been leasing the property from DuBois. The sale
was stopped by a federal injunction on behalf of A. J. Lyon & Company,
B. J. Gallagher and N. A. Hurst, who had filed a petition to have the
Merrill company placed in involuntary bankruptcy to satisfy a claim of
$3,000. At the time of these difficulties, Phil Merrill was in Pennsylvania
on a visit. The bankruptcy case was scheduled for the July 1915 term of the
Federal Court in Vicksburg. After DuBois took over the mill, Phil Merrill
continued as manager for a short time. By
May 1915 the mill was under completely new management with E. B. Nettleton,
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a long-time employee of DuBois, in charge of
operations. In the meantime Phil Merrill had sold his home in Jackson and
moved back to Pennsylvania. For a time DuBois considered selling the Lake
mill, but soon gave up the idea. In October 1915 the mill, now operating
under the name "John E. DuBois," was being improved. New equipment
was installed in the planing mill to increase its capacity to 50,000 feet
daily. Two new branches of the logging railroad were also being built. The
business was incorporated in December 1919 and effective January 1, 1920
became the "DuBois Lumber Company." John E. DuBois retained
principal ownership and was president of the corporation. E. B. Nettleton
was vice president, J. F. Welch was secretary and F. C. Harrison was
treasurer. About
1930 the mill and some of the railroad equipment were sold to W. M. Smith
& Company, of Birmingham, Alabama, a dealer in used sawmill machinery.
On November 1, 1931 Smith & Company began scrapping the DuBois mill and
selling off the remains.
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| ROSTER by Gil Hoffman: 2
2T Heisler Stearns
1083
-1903
40
16¾x14
100000
To
John E. DuBois #2, in 1915.
To
Dubois Lumber Co. #2, on 1-1-20.
Sold
to Georgia Car & Locomotive Co. #510, Atlanta, GA. Cut up in Atlanta,
GA, 5-1924. 11
2-4-2T
Baldwin
13827
11-1893 42
14x18
68000
Built
as New York & Brooklyn Bridge #11; to Rockaway Valley #11, Whitehouse,
NJ, in 1897; to G. B. Merrill & Co.
#11, Dents Run, PA, in 1900.
To
John E. DuBois #11, in 1915.
To
DuBois Lumber Co. #11, on 1-1-20.
Sold
to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co., Birmingham, AL; to Ledbetter
Gravel Co., Ledbetter, TX,
on 3-25-22.
Baldwin class
8-22¼ C 22 (a)
2T Heisler Heisler
1357
4-1917
36
15x12
94000
To
DuBois Lumber Co., on 1-1-20.
Sold
to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co., Birmingham, AL; to Chicago Mill
& Lumber Co. #4, Somerset, LA, on 7-10-29, later at Tallulah, LA. (b)
2T Heisler Heisler
1192
-1910
40
16x12
104000
Built
as Hackley-Phelps-Bonnell Co. #3, Hackley, Wisc.; to Henry P. Bourke Co.,
Marquette, Mich. (dealer); to
Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. #1238. ©
2T Heisler Heisler
1210
-1910
40
16¾x14
120000
Built
as Stearns & Culver Lumber Co. #5, Bagdad, FL (Florida & Alabama
R.R.); to Bagdad Land & Lumber Co. #5,
Bagdad, FL, in 1912; to Southern Iron & Equipment Co. #1324,
Atlanta, GA; to Edward Hines Yellow Pine Trustees
#1210, Gulfport, MS, on 6-24-18.
Sold
to W. M. Smith & Co., Birmingham, Ala. (dealer), in 1930; to W. B.
Harbeson Lumber Co. #7,
De Funiak Springs, FL. (d)
Rod
Porter
50000
For sale
7-1916.
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For more information contact Tony Howe at tonyhowe76@yahoo.com or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net