By Amorin Mello

This post is the seventh of our Memoirs of Doodooshaboo series reproducing the memoirs of Joseph Austrian at the Chicago History Museum.  The previous post began in 1852 when the Leopold & Austrian family transferred Joseph from their La Pointe store to work at their other store in Eagle River on the Keweenaw Peninsula, and ended up spending the Winter of 1853 at the family headquarters in Cleveland to greet his mother and siblings upon their arrival immigrating from Bavaria.

This post begins in 1854 upon Joseph’s return from Cleveland to Eagle River to continue the family business at their new storefront, and provides insights into the growing pains of the pioneering copper mining companies on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Joseph somehow fails to mention much else about life on Lake Superior during 1854-1859.

1854-1859 were the boom and bust years of La Pointe County land speculation, which arose from the La Pointe Treaty of 1854 and Soo Locks of 1855, and crashed with the 1857 Financial Panic of 1857 and American Civil War of 1861.  It is unfortunate how Joseph’s memoirs do not mention anything about his Leopold & Austrian family’s business at La Pointe during 1854-1859, when they were capitalizing on Chippewa Treaty Allotments in the Penokee Mountains to form the La Pointe Iron Company. 

Some of that story can be told through other records in our Austrian Papers and upcoming posts on Chequamegon History.  Until then, we’ll continue with Joseph’s memoirs.

Memoirs of Doodooshaboo

… continued from after La Pointe 1852-54.

Partner of Leopolds in Eagle River Store. 1854.

On our arrival in Eagle River, May 1854, I found the work on the store had not been properly finished by the contractor, and I had my hands full to get the new store in shape quickly for business without unnecessary delay.  Henry Leopold & wife (my sister Ida) occupied the apartment over the store and I boarded with them as soon as they started housekeeping, which as a matter of course was a great improvement over our former mode of living, and fresh meat was no longer scarce.

Sketch of the Cliff Mine, 1849.
~ The Cliff Mine Archeology Project Blog

The additional store now permitted us to add, various new departments in; grain, heavy provisions, hard ware, &c.  We also opened up in connection with our business a meat market located at the Cliff Mine, managed by Henry F. Leopold with a branch at Eagle River.  I took sole charge of the Eagle River business making the daily rounds to the Cliff and other near by mines, boarding houses and miners homes, soliciting orders.  In the evenings I worked at the books, as I had no one to assist me in this work.

Sam went to Mackinaw to wind up the old business affairs of his brother Louis, then he went to New York and settled with his creditors.  After this he went to Eagle River in the fall and we jointly attended to the business.  He went to New York every season to buy goods, consisting of clothing, dry goods, boots & shoes & mens furnishing goods.

During the second winter of our settling at Eagle River, he went to Europe and became engaged to Babette Guttman, a cousin of mine, and the following winter he went to Europe again to be married and returned in the Spring with his wife.  A Mr. Henry Guttman, Babette’s brother who had been interested with us in the meat market at the Cliff Mine assisted me in our store during Sam’s absence.

Henry Guttman (Goodman) immigrated with the Austrians. 
~ 17 October 1853 passenger manifest of the steamer Atlantic.

Business Increases.

Later on I found it necessary to engage a book keeper owing to the rapid growth of our business, and for that purpose I engaged a Mr. Moses Hanauer, a son of the teacher in the native place of the Leopolds.

I made it my duty to solicit orders and deliver goods, and went the rounds in a delivery wagon daily, soliciting new orders.  Of course I had a hostler to attend to the horses & wagons and who assisted in loading the goods.  By the next year our store had again become too small and I contracted for a new wing to be added, which made a great improvement and gave us better facilities for carrying on our business.

Phoenix Mining Company’s Drafts Protested.

By an arrangement with the Phoenix Mining Co. we agreed to attend to the payment of their miners, taking the drafts of the Company’s agent in Boston in settlement each month.  We did this on account of the business which came to us through it.

~ The Mining Magazine: Devoted to Mines, Mining Operations, Metallurgy, &c., &c., Volume 2, 1854, pg. 404.

After this thing had gone on for some time, the several drafts had amounted to a big sum, and unexpectedly to our consternation the drafts came back protested.

We had quite a struggle and wrangle trying to get them to make good their drafts.  Finally Sam Leopold went to Boston and proposed that we would take the mine in payment of their debt if they though it was not worth the protested drafts.  This proposition brought them to their senses and they made immediate arrangements then for funds by calling an assessment on the Stockholders to satisfy our claim.

The success we had met with in the Eagle River business in course of years gave us sufficient capital for new enterprises.

To be continued on the Keweenaw Range 1860-1864…