| 1871 |
| The Pail Factory Becomes Largest in Midwest |
 The Pail Factory is the largest woodenware manufacturer in the Midwest, and perhaps even the United States. It employs 250 people and continues to make pails, tubs, churns, measures, clothespins, and other wooden products. |
| 1872 |
| The Pail Factory is Thrown Into Receivership |
| The Pail Factory's expenses rise faster than its income. On April 6, 1872, it is announced that the Pail Factory, the community's largest employer, is $250,000 in debt. It has to close its doors, letting go of all its employees. The factory soon reopens in receivership with the financial help of Julia Smith's father, Spencer Mowry. |
| 1872 |
| Menasha Wooden Ware is Incorporated |
 The business is incorporated under the name Menasha Wooden Ware Company and Spencer Mowry owns 90 percent of the stock, Julia owns 2 percent and Elisha owns none. Elisha continues running the business as general superintendent, but Henry Hewitt, Sr., president of a local bank, is elected president. It will be nine years before Elisha will regain the presidency. Elisha does eventually repay all the Pail Factory's debt, including those that were discharged in receivership, restoring his good name. |
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