The Cheese Industry in Fond du Lac County, 1844-1925
by Jennifer Wachter

Residence and Cheese Factory of Chester Hazen, Springvale, Fond du Lac County (From 1874 Plat Book)

Wisconsin is considered America’s Dairyland, and the State itself chooses to use this appellation on its vehicle license plates. While California may have surpassed Wisconsin in volume of milk production, in the field of cheese manufacture Wisconsin continues to reign unchallenged as the country’s largest producer. The importance of cheese to Wisconsin may be inferred from the statement in the State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1999-2000 that the first estab-lished cheese factory in the state was one of the ten events that shaped Wisconsin’s develop-ment. ¹ Much of this cheesemaking history started in or near Fond du Lac County. The industry has had a great impact on the county and the surrounding areas, an impact that can still be seen every day in the lives of the county’s citizens as evidenced by the many dairy farms and cheese factories that dot the area.

Cheesemaking has a very long history, longer than that of any other familiar processed food, except perhaps for butter and beer. The history of cheese began with the domestication of hoofed animals: sheep, horses, goats, and, of course, cows. The cow became the primary source of milk used for cheese production in Wisconsin.

Milk was perishable without refrigeration; it could not be stored safely for long periods. Cheese had a much longer shelf life, and many types did not require refrigeration. Cheese almost certainly was first produced by accident. It is likely that the first cheeses resulted from the use of an early form of “canteen” made from the stomach of an animal. Milk stored in such a container, one that had not been completely dried, led to enzymes remaining in the stomach lining acting upon the milk, causing the milk to curd and form cheese. ² Who was the coura-geous and hungry person who first decided to taste this curd?

Records on clay tablets from 2000 B.C. suggest that ancient people of the Fertile Cres-cent were familiar with a cheese product. ³ Europeans may have received cheese before they domesticated animals, as cheese was a commodity used in trading. Cheesemaking spread throughout the Middle East to Europe, and from there it eventually came to the New World. ⁴

Early cheese manufacture invariably took place on a farm. The first United States cheese factory located on a site other than the owner’s farm was established in 1850 by Jesse Williams, near Rome, New York. Williams used the milk from 65 cows to produce 25,000 pounds of cheese a year. ⁵ In Wisconsin, cheesemaking as a farm industry began almost as soon as the first permanent settlers arrived in the area. Many of the early English-speaking settlers to Wisconsin came west from New England and New York. New York had begun developing a flourishing cheese industry in the early part of the nineteenth century. The New Yorkers brought cattle that were used as draft animals but whose secondary value was milk production.. ⁶

But it was a family from Ohio that pioneered the cheese industry in Wisconsin. Mrs. Anne Pickett started the first home cheese factory in Wisconsin in Lake Mills (Jefferson County), Wisconsin. ⁷ The Pickett family moved to Wisconsin from Litchfield, Ohio, during the 1830s. Because the open prairie and marshes they found lent themselves to the raising of live-stock, the Pickett family began dairy farming. Mrs. Pickett made cheese and butter for her own family’s use, while production beyond the family’s own needs was sold or traded to others in the territory. Soon the demands of an increasing population in the Wisconsin Territory grew beyond what the Pickett herd could supply. To keep up, the Picketts needed additional cows. Rather than purchase the cows, Mrs. Pickett proposed that her neighbors bring their cows to her farm for milking. In turn, Mrs. Pickett made their milk into butter and cheese. Mrs. Pickett’s kitchen in her log cabin became the first Wisconsin home cheese factory. This procedure continued until 1845, when the level of production and demand at last grew too large for her kitchen. ⁸

Many of the earliest farmers in Wisconsin planted wheat. As the years went by, however, wheat farming was found to be unreliable. Successful grain crops proved to be uncertain due to rapidly decreasing soil fertility and because growing wheat required warm weather with adequate rainfall. ⁹ If too much rain fell, the crop rotted. Dairy farming seemed a more reliable alternative, if a means could be found to keep the milk from spoiling. To this problem, the obvious solution was to transform milk into cheese. Milk production intended for consumption in its original form did not increase until the introduction of the icebox and refrigerated railroad cars on a wide-scale in the 1870s. Therefore, much of the milk produced in nineteenth-century Wisconsin was intended for the manufacture of cheese and butter.

One of the earliest cheese producers in Fond du Lac County was Chester Hazen. Mem-bers of the Hazen family were among the first settlers of Springvale Township. The nine Hazen brothers and their mother, natives of Massachusetts, came to Fond du Lac County in 1844. At this time Chester Hazen set up a farm near Ladoga. He bought 20 cows and used their milk for cheese production. This started Chester Hazen on a cheesemaking path that he would follow for over 30 years. ¹⁰

In 1864, Hazen built the first cheese factory in Wisconsin on land that was not part of his Ladoga farmstead. Across the United States, a debate over industrialization of the cheesemaking process had been going on for some time. Most residents were not convinced that cheese could be made on such a large scale, using the milk of cows from different farms. Up to that time, it had always been made in the home on the farm where the milk was produced. ¹¹

Chester Hazen was thought to be both courageous and insane for his decision to build and run a cheese factory. Because of this, his factory became known as “Hazen’s Folly.” Hazen’s critics believed it would be hard to get a good quality cheese from such a large-scale operation, since the cheese would be made with milk from different herds that presumably had been fed different blends of feed. But by the end of Hazen’s first year in business, his factory was a success, and he was using the milk from over 300 cows. ¹² His enterprise became so prosperous that at one time it was receiving milk produced by more than 1000 cows. Hazen was the first to ship cheese out of state in railcars, in 1870, and in 1878, he won first prize for his cheese at the International Dairy Fair in New York. Hazen had the pride of place in demon-strating that commercial dairying could be practiced successfully in Wisconsin, and he did so while making Fond du Lac County and Wisconsin famous for the finest quality cheese in the United States. ¹³

There were, of course, other cheese producers in Wisconsin besides Chester Hazen. In 1858, John J. Smith began making cheese in Sheboygan County, and the next year his brother, Hiram, also started making cheese. The cheesemaking fever spread. By 1875 there were 45 factories producing two million pounds of cheese in Sheboygan County. By 1900 there were almost 100 factories in that county, producing eight million pounds of cheese. Because of this, Plymouth, Wisconsin, located in central Sheboygan County, came to be known as the Cheese Factory Capital of the World. The first dairy board was established there in 1872, while in the 1960s, the National Cheese Exchange was located in Plymouth. Whatever was the price of cheese in Plymouth became the price of cheese nationwide. ¹⁴

For a cheese factory to become successful, it needed to be properly located. The site on which the factory was placed required a good water supply, most often obtained from a spring. Most factories were placed along a hillside so their wastes would flow downhill away from the site. In the nineteenth century, wood was used for fuel, and oil or kerosene provided light from lamps. Making cheese was a tedious job and required a great deal of manual labor. Compared to butter, cheesemaking also required more knowledge and skill. Because of the variables in the milk supply, cheesemaking required the judgment of a fine cook. For this reason, many of the early cheesemakers were women. ¹⁵

Cheesemaking, as all industries, has changed over time because of mechanization. In Wisconsin, local craftsmen manufactured much of the equipment and utensils used in the first cheese factories. The cheese hoop was used to shape the cheese, either round or square. The hoop resembled a tin canister with an expandable band of wood or metal on the sides and a separate bottom. By taking the bottom or top piece off the hoop, the hoops could be stacked to make bigger rounds of cheese. In the early days, cheese was usually made in 70- to 80-pound rounds. Cheese that was shipped overseas often weighed 140 to 150 pounds. Some factories even made 700-pound or larger cheese rounds. During World War I, the 76-pound round cheddar became popular, because the round cheese had fewer edges to be damaged in shipping. ¹⁶

In the period between 1870 and 1890, Wisconsin cheese processors began to seek ways to market their cheese out of state. At first, they faced a problem created by competitors who sought to mimic Wisconsin cheeses. Many cheesemakers in Wisconsin were disadvantaged because the State did not require a brand or stamp on its cheese products. This made it possible for unscrupulous dealers to market their cheese under fictitious grades and brands. The organ-ization of the Wisconsin Dairyman’s Association in 1872 relieved cheesemakers of this problem by establishing standards and regulations for the dairy industry.

Another problem that cheesemakers faced was that people in much of the country were not eager to buy cheese in the 30- to 70-pound blocks or rounds that were standard in Wisconsin cheese factories. To help deal with this marketing difficulty, Peter Balts of Sheboygan had a hoop made for a 20-pound cheese form, a new standard that came to be called the “daisy” because of its shape and size. Following this development, Wisconsin cheese soon became popular across the nation. During the 1930s, manufacturers turned to even smaller packages for cheese, partly due to the effects of the Great Depression on consumers, but also due to changes in the ways in which Americans preferred to purchase groceries. Consumers preferred one-, two-, and five-pound loaves of cheese. These smaller packages remain the standard that con-sumers see in stores today, as most of the population does not have the need or storage capacity for a 70-pound block of cheese in their homes. ¹⁷

The actual process of making cheese was to take the curdled milk and place or pack it into the cheese hoops. The hoops were then set into a press and the mass of curd was com-pressed until all of the whey was squeezed out. The whey was then transferred to outdoor vats where the farmers who had sold their milk to the factories could collect it. The farmers used the whey to feed their livestock. By recycling the whey, the typical farmer believed that he was getting more value for his milk. The cheese in the hoops was then placed on shelves to age until it was ready for sale. Each type of cheese required a different amount of aging time before it could be sold.

To heat water for cleaning the equipment, a wood stove or water tank with a heater was needed. This stove also provided heat for the factory during the winter months. Later, steam boilers were used for heating and steam engines drove the pumps. Every factory had “self-heating” vats in which to make the cheese. The tinned steel vat had an outer jacket for the heated water. ¹⁸

Over time, cheesemaking methods changed because of technological developments in the industry that helped produce a more uniform and consistently high quality product. In 1867, Robert McAdam of New York introduced the “cheddar” method. This was the matting and milking process for American cheese that reduced labor and improved quality. In 1873, the first refrigerated railroad car service was established in Wisconsin, which enabled producers to ship perishable cheeses greater distances.

As cheese factories popped up around the country, they replaced the traditional dairy farmer’s role of providing an increasingly popular staple for a growing population’s diet. Specialization meant that the maker of the cheese now only had to worry about producing cheese, undistracted by other farm work. The factory system meant superior quality, greater uniformity, higher prices for producers, and larger wholesale savings for merchants.

One difficulty with the early factory system was the problem of keeping milk from becoming sour prior to its transformation into cheese. Since milk had to be kept cold to remain usable for very long, many people thought that the milk would go bad because it could not be transported rapidly enough to the factory to initiate the cheesemaking process.

A second concern of the factory owners was that, during the winter, the milk supply available to the factories decreased. This occurred because dairy farmers often did not store enough hay or other feeds to keep all of their animals alive through the winter. Herds typically were thinned in the autumn as part of the herd was slaughtered for food. The result was that some cheese factories could produce cheese only during the four to five months out of the year known as the “flush” season. Factory owners certainly wanted to produce during twelve months of the year, but this would require the farmers to store more feed and build larger barns to keep their herds intact. This proposition was expensive for the farmers. The solution to this problem was the invention of the silo in 1877, a much more efficient and less expensive container in which to store food for dairy cattle over the winter months. The cheese factory, the refrigerated railroad car, and the complementary introduction of the silo completed the dairy revolution and the industrialization of cheesemaking in Wisconsin. ¹⁹

In addition to technology, training and education played major roles in the growth of the cheese industry. The development of the University of Wisconsin Agricultural School also had an impact on the development of cheese making in Fond du Lac County and in Wisconsin. In 1866, the University of Wisconsin began an agricultural instructional program at its Madison campus. ²⁰ At first, farmers were not happy with this school because the curriculum was based on theory rather than application and practical teaching that the students could use on their own farms. Initially, few farmers sent their sons to the school, because they wanted their sons to be working the land.

When the University of Wisconsin Experiment Station was established on the Madison campus in 1883, the University began to shift its emphasis to more practical aspects of agri-cultural science. In addition, research programs were initiated for the improvement of dairying, related farming and cheese making. ²¹ In 1889, the Wisconsin State Legislature established the College of Agriculture. The program still was not exactly what smaller farmers or factory owners wanted, for it was a four-year program and was regarded by many as an unnecessary extravagance. In response, in the same year, the College initiated a short course created for cheese and butter manufacturers who simply wanted to refine their skills. This course was called the Dairy School and lasted 12 weeks. In this course, students, who usually were in their 30s, learned how to make cheese, grade cheese, test milk and separate cream, among other things. ²² Thus the State provided an effective range of training opportunities to support the development of the industry.

As the industry became more significant and as public concern for the quality of food-stuffs grew, government regulations and quality controls became increasingly important features of the industry. Grading and establishment of industry standards certainly changed cheesemak-ing over time. In 1885, the Rennet test was invented and in 1889, the Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission began its operations. The Commission helped set standards to ensure the quality and freshness of dairy products. In 1893, the cheesemakers of Wisconsin organized and created the Wisconsin Cheesemakers’ Association. In 1916, a licensing system was established for cheese factories, and around 1922, the modern grading system of cheese was instituted. ²³

With technology and training in place, the cheesemaking industry was poised for rapid growth, and grow it did in Fond du Lac County. Chester Hazen’s path-breaking factory and other, less well-publicized enterprises, soon faced competition from newly opened firms. Many other individuals in the County found cheesemaking to be profitable. According to 1895 census data, Fond du Lac County had at least 65 functioning cheese factories. This figure should be regarded as a minimum rather than a precise count, for the data are based on self-reporting by the owners and operators of the cheese factories. It seems likely that more cheese factories were in existence at this time, with some operations remaining unreported. ²⁴

Cheese factories were concentrated in some areas within Fond du Lac County. Fond du Lac and Marshfield Townships had the most cheese factories. Fond du Lac Township included the largest city in the county, and cheese factories were established near the city because it was easier to sell and transport the products. Marshfield, on the other hand, did not contain any large cities. Campbellsport, in Ashford Township, also had many cheese factories. The placement of cheese factories in this area likely was due to the greater proximity of Milwaukee and of railroad transportation, for many railroad lines ran from Fond du Lac to Milwaukee, making it easier to transport cheese in this part of the county. This could help explain the pattern of placement of cheese factories in the eastern part of Fond du Lac County. And of course to the east of Fond du Lac was Plymouth, the cheesemakers’ “Mecca.”

In 1909, cheesemakers in Fond du Lac County produced 6,501,411 pounds of cheese and the producers received $927,581 for this cheese. That equaled 14 cents per pound of cheese, which was quite low considering the demand that existed for Wisconsin cheese. In 1909, 69 cheese factories were located in Fond du Lac County, an increase of four since 1895. At this time, 46.6 per cent of the nation’s cheese was produced in Wisconsin, with 15 per cent of that amount produced in Fond du Lac County. In 1915, Fond du Lac County cheese production grew to 9,671,636 pounds of cheese, over 3 million more pounds than in 1909 (49% increase). It is clear that the volume of the product had expanded greatly in many enterprises, even if the num-ber of factories had not increased. In 1915, producers in the County received $1,391,259.49 for the cheese they had produced. The average price of 14 cents per pound of cheese was the same in 1915 as it had been in 1909. Between 1909 and 1915, 16 new cheese factories opened in Fond du Lac, suggesting that, for many of the local enterprises, the volume of production could not easily be increased, given existing conditions. ²⁵

In 1917, Fond du Lac County cheese factories produced 12,390,097 pounds of cheese, almost a three million pound increase (28%) from the 1915 total. It is clear that the pace of growth in volume of production was accelerating, for it had taken from 1909 to 1915 to produce a similar increase in production volume. Cheese production in 1917 was valued at $2,824,373.03. The price per pound had also increased to 22 cents per pound in 1917, possibly due in part to wartime demands. During the period 1915-1917, eight new cheese factories were opened in the County. ²⁶

In general during this period, the cheese industry in Fond du Lac County was growing dramatically, with existing producers joined by newer manufacturers. Most of the cheese fac-tories that were in existence in 1895 were still producing in 1917.

By 1919, Fond du Lac County had 116 cheese factories. These cheese factories produced over 11.5 million pounds of cheese worth over $3.4 million. The price per pound of cheese in 1919 was 29 cents. It is notable that while the value of Fond du Lac County’s cheese continued to rise, there was a seven per cent decline in the total amount of cheese produced.

The majority of cheese factories in Fond du Lac County produced American cheese, while some produced brick cheese. At this time, Wisconsin was producing 63.1 per cent of the nation’s cheese. Fond du Lac County, however, had begun to decline as a player in the overall industry in the state, producing only 2.5 per cent of the 1919 total Wisconsin production of cheese. ²⁷

In 1921, cheese production increased throughout the State of Wisconsin, including Fond du Lac County. During this year, factories produced 12.4 million pounds of cheese, almost one million pounds more than had been manufactured in 1919 and roughly equivalent to the 1917 level of production. But the value of the cheese produced in 1921 was only $2.3 million, half a million dollars less than a similar volume of production in 1917 and over one million dollars less than the smaller quantity manufactured in 1919. The price of cheese had fallen precipitately from 29 cents per pound to 18 cents per pound. On average, cheesemakers received four and a half cents less for their cheese in 1921 then they had in 1919.

While this loss was significant, signaling some of the woes that would beset American agriculture through the next two decades, the decline in revenue was partly offset because the price of corn also had fallen (the basis for estimating the feeding value of skim milk and whey). Thus the producers of feed also bore part of the market decline. The value of skim milk and whey for 1921 was also about 60 per cent less than in 1919. These figures show a tremendous slump in prices for the goods and services produced by the farmer. Unsurprisingly, with this decline in prices, Fond du Lac County lost 19 cheese factories during the two-year period (116 in 1919, 97 in 1921). ²⁸

In 1925, Fond du Lac County cheese factories still produced over 10 million pounds of American cheese and 300,000 pounds of brick cheese. This cheese was worth over 2.4 million dollars, three per cent of the 79 million dollars made by Wisconsin cheese manufacturers in that year. ²⁹

Table I (Appendix) compares numbers of cheese factories in the townships within Fond du Lac County for the years 1895, 1917, 1919, and 1925. Ashford, Marshfield, Fond du Lac and Taycheedah townships consistently boasted the largest number of cheese factories. Some town-ships do not list any cheese factories because they either did not report the data or because the cheese factories within the townships were combined with other food processing and hence were not counted as cheese factories. From 1895 to 1919, the number of cheese fac-tories continued on an upward trend. By 1919, the number of townships with cheese factories had also grown. This occurred because the cheese and dairy industry was booming, so people increasingly were likely to invest time and money into the making of cheese. By 1925, the trend changed as the dairy industry suffered from a depression, the result of overproduction of basic crops. Even though there were fewer factories, those factories remaining in operation were now producing more than enough cheese to make up for the small factories that no longer could operate profitably. Wisconsin cheese manufacturers continued to supply the nation’s demand for cheese, but the industry had clearly shifted from its earlier pattern of sus-tained and rapid growth.

Table II (Appendix) depicts the amount of cheese produced in Fond du Lac County and in the whole of Wisconsin over a ten-year period. The dollar amounts represent the value of the cheese produced in the County and in the State of Wisconsin. The table shows an upward trend both in cheese production and in the value of that cheese. There was a decrease in the amount of cheese produced and its value in 1921, due to the onset of a depression in farming prices. By 1923 both the State and the County had recovered part of the losses from the postwar slump.

Today, Wisconsin dairy farmers claim that there are over 400 varieties of cheese pro-duced in Wisconsin. They further assert that Wisconsin cheese is richer in calcium than that pro-duced in other states, due to choice of feed for the cows. Cheese has been and continues to be an important part of economic life in Fond du Lac County and Wisconsin. Wisconsin residents cheerfully accept the appellation of “cheeseheads” as they continue to ship their delicious products all over the world.

APPENDIX

1 - State of Wisconsin, Blue Book 1999–2000. Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Wisconsin Legislature, return

2 - W. L. Wendorff, Backgrounds of the Wisconsin Cheese Industry, Pamphlet No. 6-89A (Madison, Wisconsin: State Department of Agriculture, 1960). return

3 - Jerry Apps, Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition (Amherst, Wisconsin: Palmer Pub., 1998), 7. return

4 - Wendorff, 7. return

5 - Apps, 11. return

6 - Wendorff, 20. return

7 - Wendorff, 13. return

8 - Wendorff, 14. return

9 - Apps, 20. return

10 - Melvin News Service, Sunday Feature, Fond du Lac, undated, unidentified newspaper, Fond du Lac County Historical Society Collection. return

11 - Melvin News Service, 2. return

12 - Melvin News Service, 3. return

13 - N. Peters, Hazen cheese factory–125 years ago, 1989. Unpublished manuscript, Fond du Lac Public Library. return

14 - O. Banton, “Wisconsin cheese making ‘just growed’ until the state output now leads the nation,” Milwaukee Sentinel, July 1937, 5. return

15 - S. M. Babcook, The cheese industry: Its development and possibilities in Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Research Bulletin No. 60), Madison, Wisconsin, 1897. return

16 - Wendorff, 15. return

17 - Wendorff, 16. return

18 - Peters, 2. return

19 - Norman Risjord, Wisconsin: The Story of the Badger State (Madison: Wisconsin Trails, 1995), 133. return

20 - Apps, 31. return

21 - Apps, 32. return

22 - Apps, 33. return

23 - Apps, 165. return

24 - H. C. Adams, List of Creameries and Cheese Factories in Wisconsin, 1896, Dairy Commissioner’s Records, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

25 - G. Weigle, Dairy Commissioner, “Butter factories and cheese factories: Wisconsin Dairy Statistics for 1915,” 1916 compilation, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

26 - G. Weigle, Dairy Commissioner, “Butter factories and cheese factories: Wisconsin Dairy Statistics for 1917,” March 1918 compilation, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

27 - G. Weigle, Dairy Commissioner, “Butter factories and cheese factories: Wisconsin Dairy Statistics for 1919,” April 1920 compilation, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

28 - J. Q. Emery, Dairy Commissioner, “Butter factories, cheese factories, condenseries and receiving stations: Wisconsin Dairy Statistics for 1921,” May 1922 compilation, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

29 - J. Q. Emery, Dairy Commissioner, “Butter factories, cheese factories, condenseries and receiving stations: Wisconsin Dairy Statistics for 1925,” July 1926 compilation, Microfilm, Steenbock Memorial Library, Madison. return

Copyright 2002 by Clarence B. Davis. All Rights Reserved. Printed by Action Printing, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Electronic publication by Fond du Lac Public Library has been approved by Clarence B. Davis.

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