----Source: THORP COURIER (Thorp, Clark County, Wis.) 07/07/1892

Coleman, Myrtle H. (14 Jul 1891 - 29 Jun 1892)

Died at Sterling, Clark County, Wis., Jun 29, 1892, of cholera infantum, Myrtle H., only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Coleman, aged 11 months and 15 days.

Bio: Coleman / Colman, Charles Lane (1826–1901)

Compiled by Janet

Surnames: Colman

....Sources:  La Crosse Morning Chronicle, July 2, 1901; La Crosse Tribune, Dec. 24, 1925; E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); M. M. Quaife, Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1924); Wis. Mag. Hist., 18; WPA MS; H. R. Colman Papers. WI State Census, Family Search

Charles Lane Colman Lumber Company is listed as a property owner  in Section 24, Eaton Twp. (Now Hendren) on the 1893 Clark Co., WI Plat Map.

      Charles Lane Coleman

Lumberman, b. Northampton, N.Y. In 1840 he moved with his family to Wisconsin. In 1847 the family moved to Fond du Lac, where in 1853 Colman became a partner in a small shingle-manufacturing venture. In 1854 the enterprise was moved to La Crosse and in 1855 Colman bought out his partners. Gradually increasing the scope of his enterprise, he acquired lumber mills and began to saw lumber. Although his mills were repeatedly destroyed by fire (1868, 1875, 1886), they were rebuilt and enlarged, and lumber yards were added in surrounding communities until the Colman Lumber Company (incorporated 1889) became one of the most important firms in the area. A Republican, Colman was mayor of La Crosse and held local political offices. His son, LUCIUS CHARLES COLMAN, b. Fond du Lac, a graduate of Northwestern Univ. (B.A., 1875), took over management of the business after his father's death. Depletion of the timber supply forced the firm to cease production of saw lumber in 1907. Thereafter, Colman served in executive capacities with various business enterprises. He was a member of the State Park Commission, the State Board of Normal School Regents, and president of the State Historical Society

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Charles Lane Coleman was born 23 Feb 1826 in Northampton, Suffolk Co., NY, the son of Henry Root Colman (9 Oct -1800, Sharon, CT-abt. 1893) and Livia Elvira Speir (25 Apr 1802 in Northampton, NY-30 Apr 1890).   His four siblings were: Julia Coleman (1828, Northampton, VT- ?); Henry Coleman (13 May 1834, Bridgeport, VT-25 May 1927, Milwaukee, WI); Joseph Spier Colman / Coleman (24 Nov 1837, NY-11 Mar 1918) and Elihu Colemant (11 May 1841, Oneida, WI-25 Jan 1899).

Charles Coleman died 1 Jul 1901 in La Crosse, WI at the age of 75 and was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery, La Crosse, WI in his family plot.

3 Jan 1850 in Fod du Lac, WI, he married Laura Augusta Place who was born 20 Dec 1831 in Davenport, Delaware Co., NY died 1915.  They were the parents of  Julia Coleman  (17 Sep 1850-1908); Lucius Charles Coleman (27 Mar 1853 in FonduLac, WI-1925); Edward Leonard Coleman (16 May 1865 in La Crosse, WI); and their youngest, Harry Lamar Colman / Coleman (11 Jun 1872 in La Crosse, WI-31 Jan 1919 in La Crosse, WI.

1895 Wisconsin State Census, La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States

C L Colman United States: 3; Scandinavia: 1; 2 2

Name C L Colman, Birthplace United States: 3; Scandinavia: 1; Number of White Females 2; Number of White Males 2

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Obit: Colman, Charles L. (1826 – 1901)

Transcriber: Stan

Surnames: Colman, Coleman, Noble, Denton, Hurd, Cameron, Place

----Source: Mississippi Valley Lumberman (5 Jul 1901)

Colman, Charles L. (23 Feb 1826 – 1 Jul 1901)

La Crosse, Wis., July 1, 1901 – C. L. Colman, president of the C. L. Colman Lumber Co. of this city, died this evening of appendicitis, at the age of 75 years.

Chas. L. Colman, one of the pioneer lumbermen of the west, was born at North Hampton, Fulton County, N.Y., February 23, 1826.  His father was a farmer for some years, but afterwards abandoned farming for the ministry, and was for a number of years a circuit rider of the Methodist denomination.  In 1840 he accepted the appointment as missionary to the Oneida tribe of Indians on their reservation about twelve miles west of Green Bay, Wis., where he remained for five years.

It was under such influences that Chas. Colman spent the earlier years of his life, his education being mainly derived from his father, supplemented by two winters instruction at school in Green Bay.  In 1845 the family moved to Fond du Lac, where Charles became a farmer, and followed the vocation for several years.  About 1853 he associated himself with a man named Noble, and the commenced the manufacture of shingles, using horses for motor power.  Not finding as ready a market for their product as they believed could be found further west, in 1854 they packed their machinery upon a wagon and moved over to the mouth of the Black River, where the city of La Crosse now stands, but which was at that time a small hamlet.  Here Mr. Colman continued to use his horse-power shingle mill for about two years, when he substituted steam power. Sawed shingles were at this time but little known, and these shingles at that time found a ready sale at $5 per thousand, yielding a handsome profit in their manufacture.  Mr. Colman’s success enabled him in 1863 to purchase a mill which had been operated by Denton & Hurd, and he increased the shingle capacity of the mill to 350,000 shingles per day.  In 1868 the mill was destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt.

Previous to his, hover, Mr. Colman had purchased the mill of Goldthwaite & Brown, (then owned by Peter Cameron) which he refitted to a cutting capacity of 30, 000 feet of lumber per day.  In 1869 Mr. Colman added the boilers of his former shingle mill and increased mill capacity to 50,000 per day.  This mille was destroyed by fire in 1875, but was immediately rebuilt with all modern appliances.  This mill was operated until 1886, when it was also destroyed by fire; but by the opening of the season of the following years, a still more modern mill was ready for work.  The capacity of this mill, which is the one operated by the C. L. Colman Lumber Co., is about 40,000,000 feet of lumber per years, 16,000,000 shingles and 6,000,000 laths.

In his career as a lumberman in the west, Mr. Colman has seen the industry and methods of manufacture develop through all their various stages.  From the crude upright and mulay saws to the rapid band saws is a long step, and the history of Mr. Colman’s life runs parallel with the progress made in manufacturing lumber.

Mr. Coleman was married in 1850 to Miss Laura A. Place of Fond du Lac, Wis., and who is still living.  Of recent years he has thrown the burdens of active business life upon the shoulders of his sons, and retired to a quiet life in his beautiful home in La Crosse.  Since La Cross was a hamlet, he has been one of the most prominent of its citizens and has contributed in money and energy to making it one of the most beautiful cities of the middle Mississippi River.  He is known to thousands of friends as a kind, benevolent gentleman, and his departure from this world has called out the regret and sympathy of his many intimate friend and acquaintance, both within and outside of the lumber trade.