Driscoll, John

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 2659
• Biography: 1911; History of Outagamie County, Wisconsin Page 0997

Notes:

Biography:
JOHN DRISCOLL, deceased, formerly one of Appleton's most prominent citizens and business men, a pioneer in construction work, was born March 1, 1846, in Oswego, New York, and died at Appleton, of neuralgia of the heart, April 16, 1909. He came of honest Irish parentage; the family was not blessed with worldly goods and hence the boy's early advantages were meager. When but ten years of age he worked at a man's tasks on the homestead farm, later going into the woods and laboring in the logging camps. When twenty years of age he accompanied his parents to Iowa and at McGregor, in that State, learned the brick mason's trade and during the summer months worked at that until 1873, spending his winters in the pineries and his springs driving logs. After coming to Appleton in the above year he was foreman for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad during the construction of its line, and from that time on followed building and contracting. He built the buildings for the above railroad at Kaukauna and many large buildings in Appleton prior to 1885. In that year he formed a partnership with M. K. Gochnauer. This firm built for Appleton three miles of sewer and laid the track for the Appleton railway, reputed to be the first electric line ever constructed within the United States. They also built a horse-car railway at Sheboygan; and in 1887 they constructed the water power canal at Kaukauna and the lock at what became known as Combined Locks, requiring the continuous work of ninety-five men for five months to build the massive walls. In 1889 the firm laid a street railway at Marinette, and in the following year Mr. Driscoll superintended the building of a large iron and brass foundry at Duluth; Minnesota. In 1891 the firm relaid the street railway at Appleton and built four miles of trackage at Menominee, Michigan. In 1892-3 the firm confined their main operations to Appleton and vicinity. About 1903 the company established what is now known as the Appleton Sewer Pipe Company, in which enterprise Mr. Driscoll remained interested until 1908, when the partnership which had lasted for twenty-three years was dissolved. Mr. Driscoll then built what is known as the Driscoll Cement plant, of which he was the head until his death, since when his son continues the business. He built the first cement walk in Appleton and was firmly convinced of the value of cement blocks in all building to stand the strain of time. Mr. Driscoll was married in 1872 to Miss Ellen Scanlon, of Lebanon, Wisconsin, and they had four children: Margaret, deceased; Josephine who resides at home; May Ellen, who is the wife of William F. Kamps, cashier of the Outagamie County Bank; and Walter, who is also a resident of Appleton and the successor of his father in the Driscoll Cement plant. Mr. Driscoll and family have always been members of St. Mary's Catholic Church and he belonged to the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin and to the Knights of Columbus. In commenting on the death of Mr. Driscoll, the newspapers of Appleton paid tribute to his sterling character. An editorial notice in one of these journals says: "He commanded and deserved the respect of all who knew him well. He was an absolutely honest man in all of his relations. His word was always as good as his bond and the latter was never below par. He stood for all that was best in the civic life of the community, the state and the nation. It may be said that Mr. Driscoll was one of the class which constitutes the real backbone of this or any nation and affords the best assurance of its perpetuity -- men who, without the hope or expectation of reward and who never connive to that end, do their private and public duty in accordance with the dictates of an enlightened judgment and healthy conscience."

John married Scanlon, Ellen Abt 1872. Ellen died Abt Nov 1914. [Group Sheet]