The “Moline,” a Dimock, Gould & Co. raft boat.
Courtesy of The Rock Island Historical Society.
The Dimock and Gould families, which established Dimock, Gould & Co., were stockholders of the Mississippi River Logging Company with Weyerhäuser and Denkmann.
During their time in this area, John Gould pursued a diverse range of business interests outside of the lumber trade to help grow the city of Moline. He helped develop the city’s firefighting system and in 1857 he founded a bank now known as First Midwest Bank. This bank extended credit to Deere & Co. which was one of Gould’s frequent business partners.
In 1887 Dimock & Gould also started making paper pails. Paper pails were designed to overcome the shrinking or swelling of the wood in wooden pails leading to leaks or fully falling apart. By 1889, the output was 1,200 paper pails a day. An original paper pail can be seen on the second floor of the house museum at the Rock Island County Historical Society located in Moline, IL.
The Ainsworth family took over the management of the Dimock, Gould & Co. in 1898 and also became involved with Lindsay Land and Lumber Co. This is another great example of how families in the lumber business connected personally and financially to find success in business for decades.
Five generations of Ainsworths dating back to 1869, including Gordon R. Ainsworth (1926-2021) and his daughters, Jennifer Van Hook and Sarah Fulscher, successfully continued managing Dimock, Gould & Co. and affiliate businesses, such as Green Valley Cabinets, by adding innovative services and a number of diversified products well into the 21st century.
Moline, Illinois, in 1869.
The Dimock, Gould, and Co.’s Tub & Pail Factory may be found in the quadrant in the left lower corner above the floating logs and marked with 22.