Jacob Bell
New Member
Matt Rens, known to the spinning trade as the "Hemp King of America," built his first mill in 1915 on Highway 49, north of Waupun, near his home in Alto. He later bought another mill at Markesan.
With his son, Willard, and son-in-law, John De Boer, he produced more hemp than did any other manufacturer in the United States.
Working with the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. government, Rens encouraged the International Harvester Company to invent machines that would cut the hemp and another machine that would separate it from the stalk, known as decortification.
The hemp mill was a place where farmers could bring their hemp to be dried and then decorticated. Rens sold the processed fiber to spinning companies around the world.
A book, "America's Hemp King," written by grandson Dennis Rens describes the Rens' dynasty in the hemp industry during this time. Since jobs at the mill were seasonal, African-American workers from Kentucky and inmates from Waupun State Prison were brought in to help.
Rens rebuilt the mill after it burned down in 1920.
In a letter on file at the Waupun Historical Society, Florence Tauschman recalls her parents growing hemp for the Matt Rens Hemp Mill. She said a $1 license was required by the state to grow hemp.
"It grew 6 feet tall and smelled like a skunk when it rained," she said.
The hemp was mowed and left on the ground to ret (be exposed to moisture). Then it was tied in bundles and shocked in the field like teepees.
Rens sold the mill in 1928 to a Chicago businessman but bought it back when the stock market crashed in 1929 and purchased another mill in Waupun. He closed the latter plant and donated the land to the City of Waupun. Today, that land is the site of Waupun Memorial Hospital.
During World War II, hemp became a strategic war crop, and the U.S. government opened a special training school in Fond du Lac to train 170 men to manage and operate hemp mills. A 1940 Milwaukee Journal story reports that Rens processed 95 percent of the country's hemp.
When the war on drugs developed around the same time, requiring that farmers remove all the leaves and flowers from the hemp plants prior to delivering them to the hemp mill, Rens testified before a U.S. Senate finance subcommittee He had this to say:
"We have enough marijuana on hand in stacks and in our warehouse to drug a nation, but I can't recall a single case since I've been in the business where farmers or help around here smoked or put marijuana to improper use."
After the war, and with the introduction of synthetic fibers, the demand for hemp declined.
Rens died in 1950. His son Willard operated the plant until 1957, when synthetic fibers took over the market.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fdlreporter.com
Author: Sharon Roznik
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: fdlreporter.com
Website: Matt Rens: 'America's Hemp King'
With his son, Willard, and son-in-law, John De Boer, he produced more hemp than did any other manufacturer in the United States.
Working with the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. government, Rens encouraged the International Harvester Company to invent machines that would cut the hemp and another machine that would separate it from the stalk, known as decortification.
The hemp mill was a place where farmers could bring their hemp to be dried and then decorticated. Rens sold the processed fiber to spinning companies around the world.
A book, "America's Hemp King," written by grandson Dennis Rens describes the Rens' dynasty in the hemp industry during this time. Since jobs at the mill were seasonal, African-American workers from Kentucky and inmates from Waupun State Prison were brought in to help.
Rens rebuilt the mill after it burned down in 1920.
In a letter on file at the Waupun Historical Society, Florence Tauschman recalls her parents growing hemp for the Matt Rens Hemp Mill. She said a $1 license was required by the state to grow hemp.
"It grew 6 feet tall and smelled like a skunk when it rained," she said.
The hemp was mowed and left on the ground to ret (be exposed to moisture). Then it was tied in bundles and shocked in the field like teepees.
Rens sold the mill in 1928 to a Chicago businessman but bought it back when the stock market crashed in 1929 and purchased another mill in Waupun. He closed the latter plant and donated the land to the City of Waupun. Today, that land is the site of Waupun Memorial Hospital.
During World War II, hemp became a strategic war crop, and the U.S. government opened a special training school in Fond du Lac to train 170 men to manage and operate hemp mills. A 1940 Milwaukee Journal story reports that Rens processed 95 percent of the country's hemp.
When the war on drugs developed around the same time, requiring that farmers remove all the leaves and flowers from the hemp plants prior to delivering them to the hemp mill, Rens testified before a U.S. Senate finance subcommittee He had this to say:
"We have enough marijuana on hand in stacks and in our warehouse to drug a nation, but I can't recall a single case since I've been in the business where farmers or help around here smoked or put marijuana to improper use."
After the war, and with the introduction of synthetic fibers, the demand for hemp declined.
Rens died in 1950. His son Willard operated the plant until 1957, when synthetic fibers took over the market.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fdlreporter.com
Author: Sharon Roznik
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: fdlreporter.com
Website: Matt Rens: 'America's Hemp King'
