USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 37
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tion on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. The largest are Bel- laire, the county seat, just northeast of Grass lake on the Pere Marquette line, with a population of about 1,600; Elk Rapids, somewhat larger perhaps, on Elk lake and Elk river, and Mancelona mentioned above. The third village within the lake belt is Central Lake, a corporation num- bering between eight and nine hundred people situated on the western shore of that serpentine body known as Intermediate lake. It is also a station on the Pere Marquette Railroad.
With this etching of Antrim county as it is we present the figures taken from the census of 1910, showing its population at the end of the last three decades.
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Banks township
1,603
1,810
802
Central Lake township, including Central Lake village
1,482
1,935
510
Central Lake village
813
1,307
Chestonia township
512
481
537
Custer township
591
526
411
Echo township
721
598
473
Elk Rapids township, including Elk Rapids village
1,775
2,042
1,486
Elk Rapids village
1,673
Bellaire village
967
1,181
548
Bellaire village (part of)
450
560
....
Total of Bellaire village in Forest Home and Kearney townships
1,050
1,157
....
Helena township
762
926
537
Jordan township
496
482
440
Kearney township, including part of Bellaire village
1,371
1,143
437
Bellaire village (part of)
600
697
.
2,560
2,729
2,323
Mancelona village
1,200
1,226
1,205
Milton township
737
928
868
Star township
957
598
380
Torch Lake township
329
488
350
Warner township
829
701
311
Totals
15,692
16.568
10,413
HISTORIC AND PREHISTORIC
What people may have traversed portions of Antrim county in prehistoric days will never be known. There is no doubt that these portions of the county bordering upon the water were visited by the
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..
Forest Home township, including part of
Mancelona township, including village
Mancelona
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
representatives of whatever races traversed this northern country. It was a favorite country with the Indians and the Mound Builders have left their relics in several places, the particular localities noted in a previous chapter. What white men may have built their camp fires here prior to the coming of the first settlers in the late forties is neither certain nor important; that some were in this region is probable.
In 1840 the unorganized county of Megesee was laid off and in 1843 the name changed to Antrim. The unorganized county embraced the territory of townships 29, 30, 31 and 32 north and west of the line between ranges 4 and 5 west and east of Grand Traverse bay. This is the earliest defined existence of the territory of Antrim county.
ABRAM S. WADSWORTH, THE COUNTY'S PIONEER
The pioneer settler in Antrim county was Abram S. Wadsworth, a native of Durham, Connecticut, who came from Rochester, New York. to Michigan at the age of twenty-one years. He spent some time in Monroe and later located lands in Portland, Ionia county, where he built the first mill-dam thrown across the Grand river in that region. That he first visited the Grand Traverse region in 1846 there is no doubt, but as to his movements during the next few years accounts differ. As nearly as can be ascertained, in 1846 he came northward, coasting in a small boat and voyaging as far as the Pictured Rocks in Lake Superior and thence to Mackinaw, Detroit and home. The following spring. accompanied by his brother-in-law, Samuel K. Northam, he took his family to Detroit, where the party embarked on a propeller for Mackinac. From the latter place they found passage on a schooner as far as Cross village. There, after camping for sev- eral days on the beach waiting for a storm to subside, they embarked in a small boat for Old Mission.
At Middle village the party again went into camp and were de- layed two days on account of rain. The next stop was made at Little Traverse where they hoped to obtain provisions of the Indians. They only succeeded, however, in getting a few potatoes and a single loaf of bread. The party had lived on fish until that food had ceased to tempt the appetite. The children, especially, were suffering for want of their accustomed diet. After leaving Little Traverse they were favored with pleasant weather and proceeded rapidly. The last day the bay was rough and they hesitated about crossing to Old Mission from the eastern shore along which they had been coasting. Seeing a haze of smoke on the shore near Elk river they headed for it and there found some Indians with an excellent boat who were about to cross. As a matter of precaution, Mrs. Wadsworth and the children were put into the Indians' boat, which was navigated by Mr. Wads- worth and one of the Indians, while Mr. Northam and the remaining Indians occupied Mr. Wadsworth's boat. In a short time the party landed at Old Mission in safety, arriving there on July 16, 1847.
Mr. Wadsworth remained some time at Old Mission, but being a man that had much experience in mills, he saw the immense water
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power that was running to waste on the east side of the bay, and bought the land where Elk Rapids now stands. About the spring of 1849 he built a small log cabin near the present site of the town hall at Elk Rapids village. This was the first building put up by a white man in Antrim county, of which there is any account and was the ini- tial movement in its settlement. There, with Mr. Samuel K. Northam, his brother-in-law, assisted by some Indians, Mr. Wadsworth peeled a quantity of hemlock bark and shipped it to Racine, Wisconsin, the first recorded shipment of the county's natural products. About that time he was employed by the government in the resurvey of lands and with the funds arising from his work and his bark he erected a house on his property for his family who arrived late in the fall.
In 1851 the Wadsworths removed to Connecticut and spent some time in that state, but returned and spent some three years in Old Mission ; thence they relocated at Elk Rapids and finally after various changes made that place their permanent home. Mr. Wadsworth died in Traverse City in June, 1871. One of his sons, James M. Wadsworth, was a business men of Bellaire. The elder Mr. Wadsworth was one of the most prominent of the early settlers in the Grand Traverse country, and his writings relating to this region were considered stand- ard authority, having been largely instrumental in making the region known abroad.
Elk Rapids river and lake were so named by Mr. Wadsworth be- cause of a pair of elk horns which he found in the sand at the mouth of the river. He named Round lake from its shape and Clam lake from the vast number of clams found in the river. Torch lake was so named by the Indians because of the fishing lights they saw used on the lake when the white settlers first came to the country. Waswago- nink, the Indian name, signifies a lake of torches.
JAMES MCLAUGHLIN
In 1850 Mr. Wadsworth began to make preparations for building a sawmill. In the winter of 1850-1 James McLaughlin put up the frame of the first sawmill on the east side of the bay. It was designed for a picket and lath-mill. In the spring of 1851 Wadsworth sold out to a man by the name of Norris, but for some cause the property came back into Wadsworth's hands, and November, 1851, Mclaughlin moved his family to Elk river. During the fall the families of Amos Wood, Alexander McVicar and a Mormon family named Barnes arrived. The Mormons remained but a short time. Wood and McVicar became set- tlers of the county.
Up to 1852 there were no cattle in the vicinity of Elk Rapids, ex- cept a yoke of oxen at the lumber camp on Round lake. In July Mr. Mclaughlin went out to the south part of the state and drove in from Allegan a pair of oxen and a cow. Of this trip James McLaughlin says: "At Grand Rapids I was joined by William Slawson and Perry Stocking, each with a cow. From Grand Rapids they struck north and from the Muskegon river to Traverse City their route lay through Vol. I-21
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unbroken wilderness, with only a section line to follow. The first day out from the Rapids, Slawson's cow broke away and they lost her- it being the only serious mishap they had, and after traveling thirteen days they arrived at Elk Rapids. Our town was thrown into quite an excitement at the sound of a cow bell, these being the first that had ever been heard in this region. Soon after this Alexander McVicar came up from Canada, bringing with him his father's family and also two cows, which made in all four cows and two yoke of oxen on our side of the bay. It was a little amusing and at the same time it was touching to see the little children when they were offered milk; they would not touch it and didn't know what it was. The summer passed away pleasantly, bringing now and then a new recruit to our village and we soon had quite a settlement."
FIRST BURIAL IN THE COUNTY
About the first of November, 1852, a cloud settled over the com- munity, caused by the death of Charles, youngest son of Mr. MeLaugh- lin, a bright boy of thirteen. His death was caused by his swallowing a pin which he had bent for a fish hook. He had it in his mouth and was running along when he stubbed his toe and as he pitched forward the pin flew down his windpipe and lodged in his lungs. He lingered along for about two weeks and was in great distress until he died. He was the first white person ever buried in Antrim county. There was no clergyman on the east side of the bay, but appropriate funeral services were conducted by a layman, Mr. John McDonald. The grave was made in a grove of pines, in a beautiful spot on the first terrace above the bay. For several years afterward the place was used as a burying ground by the inhabitants. The remains of the first occupant were removed at a later date to Maple Grove Cemetery.
ELK RAPIDS A FACT
In the spring of 1852 Mr. Wadsworth laid out the village of Elk Rapids, lots being sold for twenty-five dollars each. The employment furnished by the mill was an inducement for new comers to settle in the vicinity. The first two lots sold were where the town hall now stands, which were purchased by James McLaughlin and in payment therefor he gave a blacksmith's bellows.
Among those who came that season were Michael Gay, John Lake, Jared Stocking and John B. Spencer, with their families. Gay and Lake being sawyers, they were employed in the mill. During this sea- son the schooner "Telegraph" made monthly trips to the head of the west bay for Hannah, Lay & Company, so that there was regular com- munication with the outside world; and for two or three seasons she was the only regular boat trading between the bay and Chicago.
The year of 1853 brought many changes. Large additions of immi- grants were made to the population. Among those who became resi- dents of the village or settled in the vicinity were John Denahy, E. L.
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Sprague, J. W. Arnold, David F. Parks, Alexander Campbell and Hiram Robinson. The clearings of farmers began to dot the shores of Elk lake. Early this year Mr. Wadsworth sold his mill to James Rankin & Sons, who built a store and brought in a stock of goods. Jared Stocking opened a hotel. In the fall and following winter Mr. Wadsworth built another sawmill on the site of the mill since owned by Dexter & Noble, Mr. Northan having charge of the business. The mill was scarcely completed, when he sold it to M. Craw & Company, of which firm Wirt Dexter was the principal partner. Communication with the outside world was now more regular, two vessels trading be- tween Elk Rapids, Chicago and Milwaukee; besides the propeller "Stockman" made regular trips to Mackinaw. The fame of the coun- try was spreading and people were coming in to seek homes and em- ployment, there being a good demand for labor of all kinds.
A notable event of the year 1853 was the opening of the first school at Elk Rapids. The house in which it was kept stood for many years a few rods from the large brick school building that has since been built. The district was organized in May, 1853, and the school was taught by George W. Ladd, a young man from the peninsula. He has long since gone to his rest, having been cut down in early manhood by consumption.
Another event of 1853 was the establishment of a postoffice. It was first called Stevens and afterward changed to Elk Rapids, and the first postmaster was Theron Bostwick.
Elk Rapids received its first decided impetus as a business place when Henry H. Noble located there in September, 1855, as an employee of M. Craw & Company. He came from Washtenaw county, and in the fall of 1856 when his employers dissolved partnership he associ- ated himself with Wirt Dexter in the establishment of the firm of Dex- ter & Noble. For several years after 1861 their lumbering and mer- cantile operations monopolized the business of Elk Rapids, and placed it in line as the only available location for the county seat.
EARLY COUNTY AFFAIRS
Until 1863 Antrim county was attached to Grand Traverse. Its earliest records while so joined are found in an old book in the county clerk's office and relate to various township elections in 1853. It ap- pears that John B. Spencer, John S. Barker and William H. Case, three electors of the town of Antrim, called the first town election on April 25th of that year at the house of A. S. Wadsworth, and that the following officers were chosen: John S. Barker, supervisor; Samuel Northam, treasurer; William H. Case, town clerk; John S. Barker, William H. Case, Samuel Northam and Orselas Evans, justices of the peace; William Slawson, James McLaughlin and William Wells, com- missioners of highways; William Slawson and John B. Spencer, school inspectors; Enoch Wood, Jerome B. Stocking and Charles Walker, constables; Enoch Wood and John B. Spencer, directors of the poor; John B. Spencer, overseer of highways; Amos Wood, poundmaster.
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From the frequent repetition of names it is evident that the supply of official material was scarce in 1853.
It was voted at the same election that twenty-five dollars be raised to defray town expenses and that "swine shall not be permitted to run at large from the first of May until the twentieth of October, 1853-" in other words during the warm season.
It also appears from the old records that the first list of grand and petit jurors, filed with the county clerk May 1, 1853, included John B. Spencer, James McLaughlin, William H. Case, Orselas Evans, Will- iam Slawson, John S. Barker, Jared Stocking, Samuel Northam, Will- iam Wells, Chauncey Hall, Amos Wood and Enoch M. Wood.
Before Antrim county was organized the township by that name was changed to Megesee, as the original county was designated.
ANTRIM COUNTY ORGANIZED
On March 11, 1863, an act of legislature was approved providing for the organization of Antrim county. The act reads as follows: "The pople of the state of Michigan enact, That the county of An- trim, consisting of the territory embraced by the present county of Antrim, be, and the same is organized into a separate county by the name of Antrim, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the privileges, powers and immunities to which, by law, the inhab- itants of other organized counties in this state are entitled.
"The unorganized counties of Kalkaska, Crawford, and Otsego shall be attached to the said county of Antrim for municipal and judicial purposes.
"All that part of the said county of Antrim which lies north of the south line of township 31 north, shall be organized into a separate township by the name of Banks, and the first township meeting thereof shall be held at the house of Gurden Geer on the first Monday in April, next ; and James Orr, Thomas Flanigan and Rock W. Geer shall be the inspectors of the election.
"The dimensions of the township of Milton, in said county, shall be enlarged by adding thereto the following described territory, to- wit. fractional township 30 north, of range 9 west; also townships 28, 29 1,3 north, of range 8 west.
"The name of the township of Megesee, in said county, is hereby changed to that of Elk Rapids and all of the county of Antrim and the counties attached thereto, not included within the limits of any other organized township thereof, is hereby attached for township purposes to the township of Elk Rapids.
"The county seat of said county of Antrim shall be established by the board of supervisors at the village of Elk Rapids, to-wit in town- ship 29 north, of range 9 west, and on sections 20 and 29.
"At the township meeting of several townships in said county to be held on the first day of April next, there shall be an election of all the county officers to which the said county is entitled, whose term of office shall expire on the first day of January, A. D. 1865, and when
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their successors shall have been elected and qualified. Said election shall be conducted in the same way, by the same officers and the re- turns thereof made in the same manner, as near as may be, as is now required by law in elections of county officers in this state.
"The county canvass of the votes for county officers shall be held on the second Tuesday succeeding the election at the house of Henry H. Noble at the village of Elk Rapids, and said canvass shall be con- ducted in the same way and by the same officers as the requirements of law now provide in organized counties, as nearly as may be, by the appointment by the board of canvassers of one of their own number to act as secretary to said board of county canvassers.
"Said county shall be in the ninth judicial circuit and shall be entitled to one court therein in each year.
"This act shall take immediate effect."
The first county election was held on the sixth day of April, 1863. The highest number of votes polled was sixty-six and the following were the county officers elected: Sheriff, Jared W. Arnold; treasurer, Henry H. Noble; clerk and register, James L. Gilbert; judge of pro- bate, Solomon Case; prosecuting attorney, John B. Spencer; circuit court commissioner, John B. Spencer; surveyor, A. S. Wadsworth.
FIRST COURT HOUSE AND JAIL
At a special session of the board held July 19, 1865, it was resolved that the sum of one thousand dollars should be raised, in the tax roll of 1865, for the purpose of building a court house and jail for Antrim county, to be erected on the northeast quarter of the southeast frac- tional quarter of section 20, town 29 north, of range 9 west, known as lots 46 to 201 inclusive, in the village of Elk Rapids according to a plat made by A. S. Wadsworth of said village.
On motion of Lemuel R. Smith it was resolved that, in addition to the one thousand dollars raised by tax, two thousand dollars should be appropriated from the contingent fund then on hand, belonging to the county, for the purpose of building a court house and jail.
On motion of Lemuel R. Smith, Henry H. Noble was appointed a building committee of one to procure plans and specifications for the proposed county buildings and to let contracts for their erection. During the year 1866 a court house was completed at a cost of about $7,100. A jail was also erected. About this time a local paper, speak- ing of the jail, said: "While speaking of the court house and jail we are reminded that while this county has all the 'machinery' neces- sary to punish delinquents there seems to be but little use for it; there never having been a criminal suit in the county since its organization. Either the people are very moral or the rogues think the jail too sub- stantially built for them to be caught in it, and so keep out of mis- chief."
Up to 1874 the county had not received a perfect title to the prop-
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erty and in October, 1874, the supervisors reported having received satisfactory evidence of title by warranty deed from Dexter & Noble.
COUNTY SEAT MOVED TO BELLAIRE
As the country developed and the eastern part of the county be- came settled, the question of removing the county seat to a more cen- tral point than Elk Rapids was agitated. In October, 1878, there were thirteen organized townships in the county, and at the meeting of the board of supervisors held that month it was voted to remove the county seat to the "south fractional half of the southwest fractional quarter of section 19, in town 30 north, range 7 west."
The question was voted upon at the spring election. The whole number of votes cast was 1,020, of which 574 were for removal and 446 against- removal. The vote of the several towns was a follows: Banks, 35 for, 75 against; Central Lake, 35 for, 35 against; Chestonia, 52 for; Custer, 71 for; Echo, 90 for; Elk Rapids, 6 for and 145 against ; Forest Home, 43 for and 3 against; Helena, 66 for and 4 against; Jor- dan, 29 for and 34 against; Kearney, 60 for and 1 against; Mancelona, 74 for and 1 against; Milton, 12 for and 122 against; Torch Lake, 1 for and 28 against.
The decision of the board having been affirmed by popular vote, the courthouse site was in the following June definitely located on the land above described. The owner of the land thus designated platted the same, and on the 24th day of June, 1879, the plat was recorded in the office of the register of deeds and the village of Bellaire became the new capital of the county.
As indicated by the vote the removal involved a bitter contest. Ef- forts were made to prevent the payment of money for the erection of buildings at the new county seat, and a temporary building was erected by Ambrose E. Palmer, of Kalkaska, the owner of the site. In 1880, at the April term, the question was tried in the supreme court and at the decision affirmed the proceedings by which the removal had been made.
Five acres of land were then set apart by Mr. Palmer for a court- house square, and in 1883 a large building was erected by the town of Kearney for a town hall, which by an arrangement by the county was used for county purposes, the first floor for county offices and the hall above for a courtroom. A jail was built in 1883 at a cost of about $5,000. The buildings now occupied are modern and convenient, as will be seen by the illustration.
BELLAIRE, PRESENT COUNTY SEAT
Bellaire, the present official seat of Antrim county, is a neat thriv- ing village of some sixteen hundred inhabitants lying within both in Kearney and Forest Home townships. It is also situated on both sides of the Intermediate river which connects Intermediate and Grass lakes, and has an improved water power of much value and promise.
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Bellaire is the center of a good farming, fruit and live stock country, has a number of growing industries and enjoys transportation and shipping facilities through the Pere Marquette and East Jordan & Southern railroads.
Geographically, Bellaire is a little west of the center of the county. It lies in what is known as the Intermediate valley, which is about thirty miles in length and watered mainly by the Intermediate chain
ANTRIM COUNTY COURT HOUSE, BELLAIRE
of twelve lakes with their connecting streams. These charming bodies of water are from a few rods to three or four miles in length and are the delight of the sportsman and fisherman who are really fond of outdoor life with comparative quiet.
The history of Bellaire commences in 1878 with the location of the county seat at the south fractional half of the southwest fractional quarter of section 19, town 30 north and range 7 west. In June of that year the courthouse site was definitely located on the land de- scribed, the state supreme court having decided that the removal from Elk Rapids was legal during the previous month. Mr. Palmer, the owner of the land, recorded the plat, including the five acres set aside for the courthouse square, on June 24, 1879. The proprietor had been
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charmed by the purity of the air in this region, and so named the new village and county seat Bellaire.
A postoffice was established at this location known as Keno, with Rufus Hall as postmaster ; in July, 1881, Dempster H. Stebbins was ap- pointed to succeed Mr. Hall and, through his influence, the name was changed to Bellaire, to correspond with the village plat.
In January, 1880. with the growth of the village, Harvey T. Alcott platted the first addition to his tract lying to the south, and in the following year John Hasting made one to the north. In 1882 J. M. Wadsworth and John E. Cook. the latter proprietor of the pioneer
BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF BELLAIRE
hotel. purchased the original plat of the village. Cook & Wadsworth, as the firm was known, laid out Mound Park on the opposite side of the river from the business section of the village. The land rose in a series of terraces. or mounds, in which various prehistorie relics had been found. and became a favorite residence quarter as the village ex- tended in that direction.
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