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Delos L. Filer

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Delos L Filer
D L Filer 1912.jpg
c. 1869
Born(1817-09-17)September 17, 1817
Herkimer County, New York
DiedJuly 26, 1879(1879-07-26) (aged 61)
Mason County, Michigan
Resting placeForest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
NationalityAmerican
Educationpublic schools
Occupationbusinessman, lumberman
Known fordeveloping Mason County and Ludington, Michigan
TitleGeneral Manager, Manufacturer
Spouse(s)S.A. Paine (m.1838 – 1839)
Juliet Golden (m. 1840 – 1864)
Mary M. Pierce (m.1866 – 1879)
Childrenfive

Delos L. Filer (September 17, 1817–July 26, 1879) was a businessman famous for developing Manistee County and the towns of Manistee, Filer City and Ludington in the state of Michigan. He owned sawmills and related businesses and was a physician, a merchant, a lumber baron, a real estate developer, and a philanthropist.

Biography[]

Early life and education[]

Filer was of Scottish ancestry and born in Herkimer County in the state of New York on September 17, 1817.[1][2][3] He attended local public schools for his initial training. Because of his scholastic interests he became a teacher in the New York District School system soon after graduating from high school.[2]

Mid life[]

Filer was also a farmer and businessman early in his adult life.[1] He had a particular keen interest in the lumber industry and merchandising.[4] He left New York in 1849 when his family moved to Racine, Wisconsin. There he became a traveling salesman selling cigars and tobacco. His merchandising territory was Wisconsin and Illinois. Filer was in this occupation for four years and then came to Manistee, Michigan, in the fall of 1853. He became bookkeeper for the accounting firm E. & J. Canfield earning $400 (equivalent to $12,400 in 2020) per year.[4] Filer had already had been previously employed with the Canfields in Racine. To supplement his income to have enough money for his wife and four children he used his knowledge of medicine to work part-time in the field as a physician. He worked throughout Manistee County and the surrounding counties in ministering to the medical needs of the pioneer settlers.[2][3][5]

Filer & Sons Mill in 1882

Filer saved up enough money by 1858 to buy property. First he bought some land containing timber and then a half-interest in the Batchelder mill property that included a sawmill. He was successful in operating his half of the sawmill business and eventually bought out the other half-interest. Success in operating the Batchelder mill he owned outright gave him the opportunity to buy additional surrounding land containing timber. Filer then bought the McVickar estate in 1862. At this point the land he owned was around two-thirds of the present day city of Manistee.[4][5][6]

Filer established the firm D. L. Filer & Sons in 1866. His sons names were Delos W. Filer and E. Golden Filer. He sold his interest in the land encompassing the future Manistee area to the firm. The firm also bought 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) of land containing mostly trees three miles from Manistee at the south end of Manistee Lake. Here they built a double circular sawmill in 1867 under the name of the Filer lumber mill. It was located at the mouth of the Little Manistee River that flows into Manistee Lake. Part of the acreage was platted and became Filer City, a suburb of Manistee.[7]

Filer was a founding father of the city of Manistee through the sawmill firm. He donated land and money for building public buildings and churches to help develop the town.[3] The management of the sawmill firm was done mostly by Filer's sons.[5] The sawmill was eventually updated to produce 100,000 feet of lumber, 250,000 wood shingles, and 50,000 wooden lath slats daily.[8] The Filer & Sons lumber mill at Filer City went out of business in 1914 after using up all their timber.[9]

Marriage[]

Filer was married three times. His first marriage to Miss S.A. Paine in 1838 ended in June 1839 when she died, leaving a baby daughter Mary J Filer.[10] His second marriage was to Miss Juliet Golden and their son E. Golden Filer carried on his mother's family name.[3] Juliet died in 1864 leaving four children Mary J. Filer, E. Golden Filer, Frank Filer, and Delos W. Filer.[10] Filer's third marriage was to Miss Mary M. Pierce of Manistee on January 23, 1866, who had a daughter Grace.[10][11]

Later life and death[]

Filer moved to Ludington in 1868. He became one of the owners of Pere Marquette Lumber Company that officially organized in 1869. The other owners of the lumber company were Edward A. Foster and Luther H. Foster both of Ludington, John Mason Loomis of Chicago, and James Ludington of Milwaukee. The lumber company bought for $500,000 the property previously owned by James Ludington that encompassed the future town of Ludington. This included 25,000 acres of pine timber, Pere Marquette village platted lots, a large general store, and the local sawmills. Filer became the new lumber company's president.[12]

Filer traveled extensively in the southern and western United States late in his life due to failing health. He started to travel to California in the winter of 1878, but only got as far as Denver. There he became seriously ill and returned to Ludington. After a long illness he died on July 26, 1879. At the time of his death he was president of and one of the principal stockholders in the Pere Marquette Lumber Company and Pere Marquette Boom Company. He was also head of the firm Filer & Sons of Manistee and Cream City Iron Works of Filer, Stowell & Company of Milwaukee. His worth was estimated to be somewhere between $500,000 (equivalent to $13,887,500 in 2020) and $1,000,000 (equivalent to $27,775,000 in 2020).[11] He is buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.[10]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b Bersey 1890, p. 236.
  2. ^ a b c Hotchkiss 1898, p. 269.
  3. ^ a b c d Detroit 1900, p. 475.
  4. ^ a b c Hotchkiss 1898, p. 270.
  5. ^ a b c Page 1882, p. 76.
  6. ^ "Death of Delos L. Filer". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. July 29, 1879. p. 4. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  7. ^ Lumberman 1905, p. 200.
  8. ^ Lumberman 1905, p. 201.
  9. ^ Filer's mill shuts down
  10. ^ a b c d Bersey 1890, p. 237.
  11. ^ a b "In Memoriam". The Lake County Star. Chase, Michigan. August 7, 1879. p. 4. Retrieved August 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  12. ^ Page 1882, pp. 20–21.

Bibliography[]

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