Mariner, John W., 1868-1930.

ABSTRACT: Includes John Mariner's business correspondence and records relating to his investments in the Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company of Michigan (1892-1946); and the J.J. Hof Land Company, and its successor firms, Northern Colonization Company, Mariner and Kurtz Company, and the Mariner Land Company. Also contains records (1917-1944) of the National League of Women's Service, an unofficial patriotic organization on which Mrs. Mariner served, documenting the Wisconsin groups that worked with the League, especially during World War I.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

By agreement between the Wisconsin Historical Society and Mrs. Stanley W. Stone in 1964, the members of the Mariner family may have the privilege of borrowing any of the manuscripts from the John W. Mariner Family Papers on a temporary loan basis.

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Mariner family papers, as organized in 1964, include manuscripts given by members of the family in two major donations: the records of the National League for Woman's Service in Wisconsin, given by its state chairman, Mrs. John W. Mariner in 1923; business papers of John W. Mariner and additional papers of the National League for Woman's Service, given by the Mariners' daughter, Mrs. Stanley W. Stone, in 1953.

The Mariner Papers contain the business papers of various companies with which John W. Mariner was associated: the Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company of Michigan, the J. J. Hof Land Company of Shawano County, Wisconsin, the Northern Colonization Company, and the Mariner and Kurtz Land Company, the forerunner of the Mariner Realty Company.

John W. Mariner held approximately one-fifth of the stock of the Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company, when that company was dissolved in 1934. The Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company had its origins in the Ontonagon and State Line Railroad Company of Ontonagon County, Michigan. In 1856, the State of Michigan gave this latter company a substantial land grant to aid in the construction of a railroad from Ontonagon to the Wisconsin state line. In 1859, this railroad company was purchased by the Chicago and Northwestern line and its original land grant reverted to the State of Michigan. The Ontonagon and Rule River Railroad Company was formed under the laws of the State of Michigan in 1880 with a capital of one million dollars divided into ten thousands shares. The company was planned as a land holding company and finally in 1905 it received from the State of Michigan land patents for the former land holdings of the Ontonagon and State Line Railroad. In 1927, the company held approximately three thousand acres of relatively valueless property, and by 1929, the directors voted to dissolve the company and divide the assets. This was officially completed in 1934.

John W. Mariner was also very active in the affairs of the J. J. Hof Land Company of Milwaukee, and later of Sobieski, Wisconsin. The J. J. Hof Land Company had been organized in Milwaukee in 1889 by John J. Hof, Henry Herman, William Mariner, and Ephraim Mariner. In an effort to attract Polish emigrants to settle on their lands in Shawano County, the J. J. Hof Land Company established the towns of Sobieski, Pulaski, and Krakow.

The company of Mariner and Kurtz succeeded the J. J. Hof Land Company, when the latter was dissolved in 1922. J. N. Kurtz and John W. Mariner also formed the Northern Colonization Company, of which Kurtz was president and Mariner was the secretary. In 1933 both of these companies, Mariner and Kurtz and the Northern Colonization Company, were united to form the Mariner Land Company of Milwaukee.

John W. Mariner's business papers are organized according to companies. The correspondence and business papers of the Ontonagon and Brule River Railroad Company have been separated from similar materials relating to the J. J. Hof Land Company. All correspondence has been arranged by years and months. There is included in the collection one package of maps relating to the various land holdings of the J. J. Hof Land Company in Shawano County, Wisconsin.

Much of the material relating to the J. J. Hof Land Company was microfilmed in 1953 by the Franciscan Fathers of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

During World War I, Mrs. John W. Mariner served as state chairman of the National League for Woman's Service, an unofficial patriotic organization. More than half of the Mariner Family Papers concern the records of this organization. Included are Wisconsin membership lists, minutes of meetings, and reports, but the major portion consists of correspondence with the national office of the League, with local chairman, and with the Council of Defense, the Woman's Liberty Loan Committee, War Savings Committee, and other state groups with which the League cooperated.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: John W. Mariner (1868-1930), son of Ephraim and Lucinda Watkins Mariner, was born in Milwaukee in 1868. After graduating from Harvard in 1891, he returned to Milwaukee and entered into his father's business affairs, taking complete control of all of the elder Mariner's real estate transactions. When the Mariner Realty Company was formed in 1920, John W. Mariner was elected president, a post he held until his death on June 25, 1930. John W. Mariner was survived by his wife, Mary Farge Antisdel Mariner, whom he had married in 1894, and three daughters.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Mariner, John W., 1868-1930. Papers, 1881-1946. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 45. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. Golda Meir Library. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

ACQUISITION: Presented by Mrs. John W. Mariner, Milwaukee, 1923 and Mrs. Stanley W. Stone, Milwaukee, 1953 and 1958.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• Business records--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Land companies--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--Records and correspondence.
• Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
• Patriotic societies--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Railroads--Michigan--History--Sources.
• Real estate development--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• World War, 1914-1918--War work--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

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Last edited on Thursday, August 24, 2006.
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