Mining In The Tennyson Area

Written by: Bernadine Pluemer

In the early years of the nineteenth century, the breweries, brewing beer; the miners, mining for lead and zinc; employed the surplus labor in this area, were the main stays for labor, other than agriculture. People in agriculture farmed during the summer months, and mined for surface lead during the winter months. Two or three tons of lead were considered a lucky winter's work.

The mines were operated by steam boilers fired with coal. The hoists were fired by steam. A small dynamo was also fired by steam to furnish lights for the plant, and also for the men under ground. Some of the men who operated the air drills had to have carbide lamps attached to their hats.

Peter Rupp and Frank Ostermaier hauled the ore in all kinds of weather and roads to the Potosi depot with horses and wagons, and loaded the ore into box cars. Then they would fill the empty wagons with coal and haul it back to the mines.

Huge pumps pumped the water out of the mines so the men could work. This water was then used to operate the mill that separated the ore and lead from the rock. It was hard work, but the pay was considered good. About $2 a day.

The Wilson mine started operation in about 1900, just east of Tennyson on the Theodore Blindert land. It operated on and off for a number of years. It never became profitable because of the low percentage of ore, and it closed down.

The Tiffany Mining Syndicate, named after a mining engineer who came here from the Chicago area, operated an eighth of a mile east of the Wilson mine. This mine was started in 1915, and because richer ore was found, it operated profitably for a couple of years. The group struck a rich lode in January of 1916. The men used picks and shovels to fill "cans." For each "can" filled, they received ten cents. Drillers were paid $3.50 a day. The mine closed down in 1918, not only due to the low percentage of ore, but the rising cost of coal and the shortage of labor. The company operating the mines went bankrupt.

In 1918, the Wilson burned to the ground, evidently a case of arson, but never proved.

This ended the era of mining until 1950, when Francis Piquette, a Platteville mining engineer, again reopened the mines. The first incline was built on the Leonard Pluemer farm and the second under the village of Tennyson. He operated these mines with all powered machinery and trucks on and off for ten years. The ore became depleted and the mine soon closed.