History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

Biography

Hunter, John H. proprietor of the Log Cabin Resort on Big St. Germain Lake, Vilas County, also chairman of the town of Farmington, that country, was born at Fremont, Waupaca County, Wis., June 8, 1868, son of Philander S. and Jane (RUGGLES) HUNTER. The parents were natives of Maine and Ohio respectively. They settled in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, in 1865, and there Philander S. HUNTER engaged in the lumber business, becoming an extensive operator. He came to Vilas County in the spring of 1889 while it was yet a part of Oneida County. He put out over 200,000,000 feet of timber. Later he located on the Big St. Germain Lake, where he put out some 30,000,000 feet of logs. One of the most extensive loggers in this part of the country, he followed that occupation all the rest of his life and died in March, 1906, at the age of 66 years. His wife Jane passed away many years before, in 1872. John H. HUNTER at the age of 14 became a student in the Merrill High School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1885. For the next five years he was associated with his father in the logging business and then himself became a logging contractor, continuing as such for many years and being in the employ of the Stange Lumber Co. of Merrill until 1904. He then bought 75 acres of wild land on the north shore of Big St. Germain Lake in the southern part of Vilas County, and established the Log Cabin Resort, which was the first on this lake. It took him many years of hard labor to clear up this wild land and bring it to its present stage of development. Mr. HUNTER'S main lodge has the dimensions of 24x60 feet and is three stories high. It occupies a commanding position overlooking the beautiful lake, and has two ten-foot screened porches reaching nearly around the lodge, one of them being 170 feet long and the other 150 feet. Aside from this lodge he has nine cottages and can accomodate from 75 to 100 people. He has one six-car garage and another with a four-car capacity, and his accessory buildings also include a blacksmith shop, laundry, ice houses and large barns. Under his main building he has constructed a dirt root cellar. For the convenience and pleasure of his guests he has a fleet of 18 row boats and three launches. Sixty acres of his land are under the plow. He has some good Holstein-Friesian cows and also keeps pigs, chickens, geese and ducks and raises vegetables to furnish supplies for his table. In addition to his Log Cabin Resort property, which lies in Section 17 (Lot 4) he owns two other tracts in the same section. Mr. HUNTER was married Dec. 22, 1904, to Katie NEIMEYER and they have one child, Elmer H., born Feb. 22, 1913. Mrs. HUNTER is the principal cook for the Resort and her ability in that line has made her table one of its chief attractions. Mr. HUNTER has for a number of years taken a prominent part in local politics and town government. He served five years as school clerk, was town clerk for a similar length of time. He is now serving in his third consecutive year as chairman of the town board of Farmington, having been twice chairman before, and by virtue of this position he is also a member of the county board. His resort is one of the most attractive in the lake region and his success in its operation is due not only to its fine location but to the excellent management of himself and wife.

Transcribed by Susan Swanson, from pages 442-443; History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties Wisconsin; Compiled by George O. Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others; H.C. Cooper Jr. & Co, 1924

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