A father and son, for whom the town was named were the first non-Native American settlers to area to around 1850. Although the son opened a merchandising business and built a home on the White river; the town had only a store, dwelling house, and boat landing when the Civil War began. The Union soldiers who occupied the city during the war provided business to the stores and saloons which were soon established to take advantage of their presence. Te economy here fell off rapidly following the war but in the middle of the 1880’s the establishment of the Wells boat oar factory and other wood-related industries which made use of the timber in the area and a shell button factory around 1896 gave a boost to the economy. These industries continued into the first half of the 20th century.