History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume I, Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 962


USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume I > Part 1


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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99


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LIBRARY


Brigham Young University


FROM


Call No. 977.41


Acc.


No.


222480


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Do Not Circulate


Date Due


ANNEX


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HISTORY


OF


SAGINAW COUNTY


MICHIGAN;


TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF ITS CITIES, VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS, EDU- CATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, CIVIL, MILITARY, AND POLITICAL HISTORY; PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.


HISTORY OF MICHIGAN,


EMBRACING ACCOUNTS OF THE PRE-HISTORIC RACES, ABORIGINES, FRENCH, ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CONQUESTS, AND A GENERAL REVIEW OF ITS CIVIL, POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY.


ILLUSTRATED.


-


222480


CHICAGO: CHAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO., 3 1881.


BLAKELY, BROWN & MARSH, PRINTERS, $55 & 157 DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO.


DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY, BOOKBINDERS, 1So & 182 MONROE STREET., CHICAGO.


811 HATU,OVO94


PREFACE.


The period has passed away forever when the once philosophic sentence -- " A thousand years scarce serve to form a State "-could be used with propriety. The same may now be said of history. The busy activities of our days, the march of progress, the wonderful advances of science and art, contribute to the realization of ideas, and crowd into a period of fifty years a greater number of remarkable and important events than fifty decades of olden times in the Old World could offer to the chronicler. Therefore the compilation of history is not only justi- fiable, but also essentially necessary. It is the enduring record of years that can only through it be recalled, of men who will be honored by the American manhood of this and coming generations.


This work is devoted to the people of Saginaw county, with the exception of the first part, the history of Michigan. It is distinctively local, and as such must be considered a magnificent record of an enterprising people. The work of the American Pioneers of the county extends over only half a century. Within that time they have raised it from its primitive condition to the rank of one of the first divisions of the State-cultivated its wild lands, built its villages and towns, and brought into existence two beautiful cities, of which the Union may be proud. They transmuted the valley marsh into firm earth, and decorated the river banks with factories-each a hive of human industry, a monument to earnest and well directed labor. It is difficult to point out precisely the names of those who have contributed most to this result: all share in the prosperity of the county, and take a special pride in its advancement; each one has experienced the luxury of doing good, and feels that life is not now a mere shadow or a dream. The anxieties and alarms attendant on the life of the pio- neers have been changed to certainties and happy greetings. Those who saw the primeval forest waving over the land, lived on through the days of its destruction to see the clearings covered with the houses of merchants and manufacturers, or the fields and homes of a pros- perous people. They wear the honors which justly belong to them; while those who died are not forgotten in their long sleep. They beheld the budding desires of younger days expand into the flower, and, secing, went to the undiscovered land beyond the grave, leaving their memories and their acts to be carried down the stream of time.


In these pages an effort has been made to treat the history of the county in a full and impartial manner. Doubtless a few inaccuracies may have crept in; but such must be attributed to other causes than the carelessness of the compilers. In regard to the pages devoted to personal history, the publishers expended a large sum of money in having each biographical sketch submitted to him of whom it was


PREFACE.


written, for addition, abridgment or correction; so that if errors occur in this section of the work the party immediately concerned must attach all blame to himself. It will be evident throughout that the writer of the county history as well as the gentlemen who collated the personal sketches, have realized the simple fact of undeserved praise being disguised satire. In some instances this realization may have led to a too brief notice of many highly deserving men; but where praise was manifestly due it is given regardless of ideal character.


The plan of the work is specially adapted to a great record book. All things pertaining in general to the State are dealt with in the in- troductory pages; the county history is carried down from the first Otchipwe invasion of the Valley, and treats very fairly every subject of general interest to the people; so with the two cities, they have been very liberally sketched, while each township has just sufficient notice given it to render its history up to the present time a most valuable heirloom for the futurc.


The cooperation extended to the writers was certainly not so general as it should have been. Conceding that the business interests claim almost all the attention of these citizens, whose connection with the county extends over many years, and who are fully qualified to be authority on many historical matters, they should not forget that other duties attach to their positions, nor neglect to contribute their knowl- edge of the past to pages intended for the instruction of the present and future.


Of the number who assisted in rendering the labors of the writers comparatively light, are Geo. F. Lewis, Col. C. V. DeLand, Edward Cowles, Dr. M. C. T. Plessner, W. R. McCormick, Dan P. Foote, Mrs. Eleazer Jewett and Mrs. N. D. Lee. To Charles Doughty, United States Land Register; Frederick B. Sweet, County Clerk; Thos. M. Busby, Deputy Co. Clerk; Alex. Ferguson, Co. Treasurer; and A. Zwerk, Registrar of Deeds, our thanks are offered for the manner in which the valuable and well-kept records of their offices were placed at our disposal, as well as for official courtesies extended on every occasion. Prof. M. A. Leeson, the historian, and his assistant, Damon Clarke, deserve special mention for the faithful and energetic labor put forth in the writing and compilation of this work.


In this, as in other counties, we are conscious that our promises to the people have been honorably observed in every respect. We have brought out into sunlight many gems of local history which were sleep- ing previously in oblivion; we have snatched fugitive thoughts from the brink of their tombs; brought before the people, as a mirror, men and events long since passed away, and succeeded beyond measure in doing justice to Father Time in his half century's transactions with the settlers of the Saginaw, as well as to the settlers themselves, and the people of the present. Conscious of all this, we ask only a full, earnest, and impartial review of all the chapters of this work, before your criticism.


CHICAGO, August, ISS1.


C. C. CHAPMAN & Co.


.


Administrations of the State Governors .. War of the Rebellion. 88


82


State Officers


108


Topography.


119


A Retrospect.


111


HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.


CHAPTER I.


THE INDIANS.


115


Early Explorers ...


116


Battle of Skull Island. 117


Winnebago War .... 120 Legion of the Lone Tree 121 Indian Payment Day in


Old Times ..


122


Sentence and Execu- tion 123


The White Captives ..


124


O - ke - maw- ke- ke-to


and the Factors.


125


Wah-be-man-i-to


126


Kish-kau-ko and the Soldiers .. 128


The Indlan Murderer .. 129 O-ke-mos, or O-kl-mo .. 129


Neh-way-go 129


Other Indians ..


134-8


A Summer Visit to the


Indian Camp


138


The Emigrants.


139


CHAPTER II.


THE TREATIES WITH


THE SAGINAWS. 141


Treaty of Detroit .... 141


Thirst Dance Before the Treaty. 141


The Dog Feast.


143


Treaty of Saginaw.


144


Second Treaty


with


Store Prices in 1831-2 .. 236 Season of Sickness 236 the Saginaws. 155


Treaty of 1838 ..


156


Treaty of 1855.


156


Schoolcraft's Trickery. 157


CHAPTER III.


AFTER THE TREATY .. 158


The Garrison of Fort


Saginaw. 164 naw. 246


The American Fur Co .. 165


Public Economy Revo- lutlonized 166 Couriers des Bois ... .. 170 CHAPTER IV.


PIONEER SOCIETY OF


THE SAGINAW VAL- LEY ..


172


First Annual Meeting. 173


Reminiscences by Hon. W. R. McCormick ... 180


Sketch of Capt.Swarth-


out.


192


Records,Mementos,etc. 199


The Pioneers of the Saginaw 208


The Land-Buyers.


214


A Retrospect.


216


CHAPTER V.


GERMAN SETTLE-


MENT 218


CIIAPTER VI.


SKETCHES OF HIS-


TORY


231


Era of Territorial Roads. 231


Early Milling


233


First Ferry. 234


First Things 234


Black Hawk War.


235


Reign of Small-pox 237 Tornado 243


Dies Infaustus 243


The Big SHOW 244


A Meteor.


245


The Comet.


245


Eclipse of the Moon ... 246


Wolf-Slayers of Sagi-


Clearing the River 248 Frozen to Death. 248


Forest Fires .. 248


First Celebration In the


Valley.


249


Celebration of the Cen- tennial. 250


First Happenings In the County 255 The Local Fishermen .. 260 The Surrogugeon Court 262 The Lawyer and the Minister 226


Reminiscence of 1845. .. 263


The Doctor's Man. . 264 A Bear Story. 264


A Stout Old Farmer. 265


'Squire Conning's Mouth ... 265


Making a Level. 266


A Bad Jury


266


A Big Tomato.


267


From Saginaw to " Masho's " House ... 267 School Sleigh-Ride. ... 267 The Tramp of 1880 .... . 268


A Trader on the Mexi- can War 268


...


A Sleigh-Ride in 1854 .. 269


The Indian's Whisky


Bottle.


269


CHAPPER VII.


SCIENTIFIC


270


Geological


270


The Flora of the Coun-


ty.


273


Zoological. 273


Birds. 274


Mammalia 281


Archæology


282


Physical Characteris-


tics


287


Mound-Bullders.


17


State University 89


Large Cities.


20


State Normal School .. 90


Indlans ..


21


Agricultural College 90


Manners and Customs. 22 Other Colleges. 92


European Possession. 24


Charitable Institutions 94


Detrolt. 27


State Public School. 94


State Reform School.


95


Ordinance of 1787. 34


French and Indian War


39


Massacre at Michllimackinac


41


Siege of Detroit.


44 46


Penal Institutions.


97 98 98


Hull's Surrender.


57


State Firemen's Association 99


Close of the War. 60


State Board of Public Health 99


Polltica !.


62


State Land Office. 100


Administration of Gen. Cass .. 65


State Library 101


" Geo. B. Porter. 74


Banks. 101


The "Toledo War.".


76


Geology 107


Administration of Gov. Horner.


79


Newspapers.


108


Michigan as a State.


80


Population.


108


96 96


Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo. .. 6.


" Pontiac. 97


American Revolution.


Tecumseh


50


State Agricultural Society


Okemos.


56


Pomological Society State Fisheries 98


Perry's Victory


58


Public School System 88


CONTENTS.


HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.


National Policles 30


Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind.


CONTENTS.


The Water Courses .. 288 Saginaw Valley. 290


CHAPTER VIII.


ORGANIC. 300


Saginaw Co. Boundar- ies In 1822 300 Locating the Co. Seat .. 301 Saginaw Township Or- ganized .. 302


Change of Boundary .. 302 Organization of the Co. 302 Early Record of Super- visors' Court .... 303


The Little Proposition 306 Municipal Brieflets ... 307 Town hip Organization 307 Townships of the Past. 308 County Commissioners 1835-42. 310


Supervisors 1842-60 ... 310


Present Board of Su-


pervisors. .


313


The County Buildings. 314


Co. Officers, 1835-81


..


315


CHAPTER IX.


THE COURTS AND THE BAR. 317


CHAPTER X.


POLITICAL


322


Election Returns ...... 327


CHAPTER XI.


THE CONQUERERS OF


REBELLION 338


Historical Brieflets .... 341


East Saginaw Light


Guards. . 342


The Hoyt Light Guards 344


Military Resources of the County in 1862 ... 347


Recruiting in 1863 ...... 317


Military


Organization


in 1864.


348


Close of the Drama .... 348


Regimental Historles 349-379


The Soldlers and Sail- ors of the County .... 379 Second Reunion ....... 380 CHAPTER XII.


First County Falr ...... 444 Saginaw Institute. . . 444


CHAPTER XV.


RAILROADS AND NAV- IGATION. 445


Railroads


445


Navigation.


451


CHAPTER XVI.


MISCELLANEOUS .. 153


County Finances and


Statistics of 1863-66. .


Summary


Statistics of 1880.


391


390


389


Statistics


Logs


392,394


453


Progress as Marked by


Valuation.


453


Thirty Years' Taxes ..


455


Recapitulation.


393


Shingles


395


Staves


395


Oak and Square Tim-


ber.


396


Commercial Ilistory ... 396


The Region of Illimita- bie Possibilities 404 Life in the Lumber Woods .. 408


CHAPTER XIII.


SALT MANUFACTURE. 410 The Governed Govern. 411


Organization of the


East


Saginaw Salt


Manufacturing Co ... 412


First Salt Well ..


412


Subsequent Enter- prises. 413


Statistics for 1865 414


Statistics for 1870 415


Statistics for 1877-S .. .. 416


Summary.


418


The Salt Wells of the


Valley, Methods of


Manufacture, Etc .. 418-439 CHAPTER XIV.


AGRICULTURAL.


440


Saginaw Agricultural


Society


443


CHIRONOLOGY


474


CITY AND TOWNSHIP HISTORIES. AND BIOGRAPHIES.


City of East Saginaw 493


Saginaw Townshlp 591 Saginaw City. 596


Albee 715


723


Blumfield.


734


James 849


Taymouth 917


Brady. 739


Brant. 751


Bridgeport .. 758


Buena Vista 772


Maple Grove 865


ILLUSTRATIONS.


Map of Saginaw County.14 & 15| Gen. Arthur St. Clair.


Hieroglyphics of the Mound-Builders ...


Trapping.


19 Tecumseh


Pontlac .


25 Hunting Prairie Wolves in


an Early Day ..


67


Saginaw City in 1851 .. 611


73


PORTRAITS.


Barker, Rev. H. A.


257| Darling, Mrs. Ilarriet ..


713[O'Donnell, John 513


Barter, John ..


693 Holmes, Alfred ..


239| Potter, Chandler E. 149


131


Roeser. William 911


Bow, Dennis ..


811 Leidlein, Michael .. 363 Savage, Isaac .. 275


Chapman, George W


397 Miller, Arnold W. 293 Shattuck. Samuel .. 203


Chapman, Wellington 431


Northwood, John.


877 Smith, William. 811


Cook, Lilly.


345 O'Donnell, Edward


185 Spaeth, John 221


Darling, James 712


Carrollton. 786


Chapin 791


Richland. 887


Chesaning. 795


Spalding 896


Frankenmutlı. 835


St. Charles 901


Fremont . 846


Swan Creek 915


Jonesfield 851


Thomastown. 938


Kochville 853


Tittabawassee


944


Lakefield ..


863


Zilwaukee


957


43| State Public School, at


49 Coldwater.


La Salle Landing at the


Mouth of St. Joseph River


Indlans Attacking Fron- tiersmen 31 Eastern Asylum for the In- sane at Pontlac ...


Marion 885


Chesaning Papers


471


Oakley Cyclone ..


472


St. Charles Papers


473


CHAPTER XVIII.


Birth and Death Statis- tles .. 460


CHIAPTER XVII.


TIIE COUNTY PRESS .. 461 Saginaw Journal 463


The North Star 463 Saginaw Enterprise 464 Saginaw Republican. 464 Saginaw Herald .. 465


The Courier 466


Evening Express 467


Saginaw Valley News


468


Saginawian


468


Saginaw Zeitung


470


Tagliche Saginaw Abend Zeitung .. 471


Population


457


Indians


458


School Census


458


Marriage Record.


459


Receipts and Expendi- tures 455


Land Under Cultivation and Crops. 456


LUMBER INDUSTRY ... 382 The Emerson Mill ...... 383 Saw Mills of the Sagi- naw and Tributarles in 1853. 385


Milling Interests in '57. 388


Benjamin, D. E. 167 Jerome, Hon. David 11.


55 The Capitol, at Lansing ... 91 61 University of Michigan ... 102-3 Present Court House .... 114


Gen. George Rogers Clark. 37


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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.


Michigan! If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you, in Michigan. Every visitor at St. Paul's church, London, is over- awed with the magnificence of that structure, the work of Sir Chris- topher Wren. He wants to know where the remains of Wren are HOW; in the crypt of the church they lie, where the following is engraved upon the headstone: Si monumentum requiris, circum- spice,-If you seek a monument [of Wren], look around [and behold tlie work of his brain in this mighty building]. The State of Mich- igan has appropriately adopted for her motto tliis expression, with a slight alteration, thus: Si quæris peninsulam amænam, cir- cumspice,-If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you. And indeed Michigan may as justly feel proud of its resources as Great Britain, of St. Paul's church,-yea, and infinitely more. What with hier substantial foundation in agriculture throughout the. southern counties, in horticulture throughout the lower peninsula, and especially the fruit belt along her western boundary, in piner- ies in the central portion of the State, and with her crown of iron and copper in the upper peninsula, tipped with silver, she stands the real queen of the utilitarian world.


It is a pleasure to write the liistory of such a State. Contrast this pleasant task with writing and studying the histories of States and empires which we have been taught to ponder and revere from our youth up, histories of European countries cobwebbed with intrigue, blackened with iniquity and saturated with blood. What a standing, practical reproof Michigan is to all Enrope! and what a happy future she has before her, even as compared with all ler sister States!


Now let's to our chosen task, and say first a few words concern- ing the prehistoric races, observing, by the way, that the name " Michigan " is said to be derived from the Indian Mitchi-sang- yegan, a great lake.


MOUND-BUILDERS.


The numerous and well-authenticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of our country clearly demonstrate that a people civilized, and even highly cultivated, occupied the broad sur- face of our continent before its possession by the present Indians;


2


18


HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.


bnt the date of their rule of the Western World is so remote that all traces of their history, their progress and decay, lie buried in deepest obscurity. Nature, at the time the first Europeans came, liad asserted her original dominion over the earth; the forests were all in their full luxuriance, the growth of many centuries; and nanght existed to point out who and what they were who formerly lived, and loved, and labored, and died, on the continent of America. This pre-historic race is known as the Mound-Builders, from the numerous large mounds of earth-works left by them. The remains of the works of this people form the most interesting class of antiquities discovered in the United States. Their character can be but partially gleaned from the internal evidences and the peculiarities of the only remains left, the mounds. They consist of remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc., etc. Their habitations minst have been tents, structures of wood, or other perishable material; otherwise their remains would be unmerons. If the Mound-Builders were not the ancestors of the Indians, who were they? The oblivion which has closed over them is so complete that only conjecture can be given in answer to the question. Those who do not believe in the common parentage of mankind contend that they were an indigenous race of the West- ern hemisphere; others, with more plansibility, think they came from the East, and imagine they can see coincidences in the religion of the Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the supposed theology of the Mound-Builders. They were, no doubt, idolators, and it has been conjectured that the sun was the object of their adoration. The inonnds were generally built in a situation affording a view of the rising sun; when enclosed in walls their gateways were toward the east; the caves in which their dead were occasionally buried always opened in the same direction; whenever a mound was partially enclosed by a semi-circular pavement, it was on the east side; when bodies were buried in graves, as was frequently the case, they were laid in a direction east and west; and, finally, medals have beenl found representing the sun and his rays of light.


At what period they came to this country is likewise a matter of speculation. From the comparatively rude state of the arts among thein, it has been inferred that the time was very remote. Their axes werc of stone. Their raiment, judging from fragments which liave been discovered, consisted of the bark of trees, interwoven with feathers; and their military works were sncli as a people would erect who had just passed to the pastoral state of society from that dependent alone upon hunting and fishing.


The mounds and other ancient earth-works constructed by this people are far more abundant than generally supposed, from the fact that while some are quite large, the greater part of them are small and inconspicuous. Along nearly all our water courses that are large enough to be navigated with a canoe, the mounds are almost invariably found, covering the base points and headlands of the


19


HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.


bluffs which border the narrower valleys; so that when one finds himself in such positions as to command the grandest views for river scenery, he inay almost always discover that he is standing upon, or in close proximity to, some one or more of these traces of the labors of an ancient people.


The Mound-Builder was an early pioneer in Michigan. He was the first miner in the upper peninsula. How he worked we do not know, but he went deep down into the copper ore and dug and raised vast quantities, and probably transported it, but just how or where, we cannot say. The ancient mining at Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, has excited amazement. The pits are from 10 to 20 feet in diameter, from 20 to 60 feet in depth, and are scattered through- out the island. They follow the richest veins of ore. Quantities of stone hammers and mauls weighing from 10 to 30 pounds have


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HIEROGLYPHICS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.


been found, some broken from use and some in good condition. Copper chisels, knives and arrowheads have been discovered. The copper tools have been hardened by fire. Working ont the ore was doubtless done by heating and pouring on water,-a very tedious process; and yet it is said that, although 200 men in their rude way could not accomplish any more work than two skilled miners at the present day, yet at one point alone on Isle Royale the labor per- formed exceeds that of one of the oldest mines on the south shore, operated by a large force for more than 30 years. Since these ancient pits were opened, forests have grown up and fallen, and trees 400 years old stand around them to-day.


Mounds have been discovered on the Detroit river, at the head of the St. Clair, the Black, the Rouge, on the Grand, at the foot of


20


HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.


Lake Huron, and in inany other portions of the State. Those at the head of the St. Clair were discovered by Mr. Gilman, in 1872, and are said to be very remarkable.


LARGE CITIES.


Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the Western country in 1817, speaking of the mounds in the American Bottom, says: "The great number and extremely large size of some of them may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidences of their antiquity. I have sometimes been induced to think that at the period when they were constructed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico. The most numerous, as well as con- siderable, of these remains are found in precisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the month of the Ohio ou the east side of the Mississippi to the Illinois river, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."




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