Messrs. Wright and Merrill established the Beloit Paper Mills Company, the first paper mill in Beloit.

The evidence

• “Rock River Paper Company. — The first paper mill started in Beloit was in 1856, by. Messrs.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/15-rock-county-ch09-beloit.md, PDF p. 617 / book p. 621

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

• “For nearly half a century the manufacture of paper has been a prominent and leading Beloit industry. As early as 1856 Messrs. Wright and Merrill established the Beloit Paper Mills Company, which was followed two years later by the Rock River Paper Company, the tw^o continuing separately until 1868, when they were consolidated under the corporate name of the Rock River Paper Company, with Mr.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/06-history-of-beloit.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 185 / book p. 168

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources