In 1836 Joel S. Fisk (1810-1876), his wife Charlotte A. Green Fisk, and their son William immigrated to Green Bay from New York, thus becoming one of the first settlers of Wisconsin. Joel Fisk drew the plat of Fort Howard, owned a general store, and was the postmaster for the city of Fort Howard for many years. In 1846 he entered the lumber business. He died in 1876, only six weeks from the death of his wife. The Fisks were the parents of eight children: William Justin, Hiram, Valentine S., Elizabeth, Fannie C., Kate P., Julius, and Melaneton Hogeboom Fisk.
Their oldest child, William Justin Fisk, was born in Ohio in 1833 but grew up in the Green Bay area. In 1848, at the age of fifteen, he began working with his father in the Green Bay land office, mapping the improvements of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers. After attending school in Appleton, he operated a mill that produced shingles. Fisk disposed of his mercantile interests in 1862 and turned entirely to the lumber business. In the next 35 years he became a major supplier of ties and timbers for the construction of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad in Wisconsin. In 1877 his sons joined him in the business and the company was renamed W.D. Fisk and Company. Previously the company had been known as Fisk and Son. The W.D. Fisk and Co. was a large corporation that employed many workers. In addition, William J. Fisk was active in financial and civic affairs, and at the time of his death he was regarded as one of the best known bankers in the Green Bay area. William J. Fisk was president and director of the Kellogg National Bank, postmaster of Fort Howard (1862-1865), and a state assemblyman from Brown County (1875-1877). In the Assembly he was a member of the Railroad Committee when the Granger Law was revoked.
William married Mary J. Driggs on January 8, 1855 . Mary Driggs was born on December 6, 1834, the daughter of John J. and Susan A. Driggs of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Mary had a brother George W. Driggs (died in 1890), who served in the Civil War, and an older sister, Martha (1827-1907) who married the prominent Appleton judge, Samuel Ryan. Following Mary's death in April 1903, William married Hattie Trowel. William Justin Fisk died on March 1, 1909.
William J. and Mary Fisk were the parents of four sons: Frank S., Wilbur D., Harry G., and G. Wallace. Frank died in 1881 as a result of an accidental shooting. The other three sons eventually joined their father in his business. Wilbur D. Fisk (1856-1936), the oldest son, was born on September 10, 1856. Like his father, Wilbur was entrepreneurial, and he took advantage of business opportunities when they came his way. He worked in the lumber business, was president of the Fisk Land and Lumber Company, and was director of the Kellogg National Bank. He also served three terms as the treasurer of Fort Howard. On January 8, 1885 Wilbur married Eva Cornell of Valentine, Nebraska. Eva was born on February 28, 1857 and died in 1903. Together, Wilbur and Eva had two children, Mary and Hiram Cornell Fisk. Mary Cornell Fisk married Douglas Erle Newton on January 29, 1920 and had a son, Simpson Newton. Hiram Fisk was born October 19, 1885, attended Stanford University, and worked in Washington, D.C. for the Food and Drug Administration. He died during the influenza epidemic of 1918 at the age of 33.
Harry W. Fisk, the son of William J and Mary Fisk, was born March 9, 1866. He became vice president of the Fisk Land and Lumber Company. He also a director of the McCartney National Bank and for eight years, the secretary and bookkeeper of the Green Bay Light and Power Company. He married Amy V. Howland in Chico, California; they were the parents of Elsie, Howland, and Bessie. George Wallace Fisk, the fourth son of William J. and Mary Fisk, was born on March 8, 1868. He was a bookkeeper for the Kellogg National Bank for seventeen years and eventually the secretary of the Fisk Land and Lumber Co. George married Margaret Doty and they had two children: Earl and Ruth (later Mrs. G.A. Walter).
