Saw-Dust

From 1860 to 1912, the Sargent family prospered until a disagreement over timberland ends with an explosion. These real-life stories recount what happens as they migrate from a farm in Vermont to the north woods of Wisconsin, adapting to that era’s changes in technology, business and politics. Leonard Sargent writes candidly and respectfully of his family and their adventures at the turn of the 20th century. He was a train engineer, who ran the local opera house, organized a band, an orchestra and brought the first moving picture shows to Forest County. His father was a lumberjack, farmer, sheriff, saloon keeper and hotel owner. His Irish mother was a school teacher before she married and raised 8 children while running the hotel and dining hall. Almost a century later, his granddaughter researched the people, places and events and was able to substantiate most, but not all of the elements of the stories. This documentation is provided in the Notes Section for the interested reader.