USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 41
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Institution of Learning which was to be a chief part of the colonial enterprise had been chartered in December, 1862, and in June, 1863, was held the first meeting of the board of trustees of Grand Trav- erse College. In November the first work on the college chapel was performed, but so many were the drawbacks that it was not dedicated until September, 1869. The enterprise was still progressing but slowly when in March, 1874, the college building was entirely destroyed by fire. IIard times interfered with its rebuilding and vigorous mainte- nance, although from it originated several churches and most worthy movements in the cause both of education and religion.
In other ways Benzonia had become established and was making progress. There had been a postoffice at Herring Creek, which had been moved thither in 1859 and in 1860 a Congregational church had been organized at the house of Rev. Charles E. Bailey.
HOMESTEAD
The first location of lands in what is now Homestead township was made in 1862 by E. E. Kirkland, who immediately commenced erecting a house and making improvements. In 1863, quite a number, princi- pally from Benzonia, located homesteads. These included William Steele, D. Piper, William Weston, D. Spencer, A. T. and Morris Case, H. Averill, Hugh Marsh, Daniel Carter and George St. Clair. The majority of the new comers settled in the southern part of what is now the township of Homestead, and the community took its name. Home- stead consisted only of a few families when the county of Benzie was laid off from Leelanau in February, 1863, and attached to Grand Trav- erse for civil and political purposes, while Frankfort and Benzonia were well along as villages. In 1868, however, when the people were ready for an independent civil organization, these three settlements were about on a par. At that time the territory to be organized embraced the townships of Almira. Benzonia, Crystal lake. Gilmore. Homestead. Joy- field, Weldon and Colfax.
COUNTY'S "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE"
In the fall of 1868 the question of a separate civil organization was agitated by the people of Old Benzie county, and on December 12th a mass meeting was held at the school house in Frankfort to consider measures looking toward securing that object. Resolutions were adopted that petitions be circulated and that Hon. W. H. C. Mitchell, who was the representative-elect from this district, be requested to lend his aid in securing the passage of a bill which would provide for county or- ganization. The result was the enactment of a law, approved March 30, 1869, which provided as follows: "That the county of Benzie. con- sisting of the territory embraced by the present county of Benzie, be and the same is hereby organized into a separate county by the name of Benzie, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the priv- ileges, powers and immunities to which by law the inhabitants of other organized counties in this state are entitled.
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"At the township meeting to be held in the several townships in said county on the first Monday in April next, there shall be an elec- tion of all the county officers to which by law the said county may be entitled, whose term of office shall expire on the first day of January, A. D. 1871, and when their successors shall have been elected and quali- fied.
"The county canvassers under the provisions of this act shall meet on the second Tuesday succeeding the day of election, as herein ap- pointed. in the village of Benzonia, in said county, at the house of John Bailey, or at such other place as may be agreed upon and provided by said board, and organized by appointing one of their number chairman and another secretary, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county canvassers as in other cases of the election of county officers, as prescribed by the general law.
"The location of the county seat of said county shall be determined by the vote of the electors of said county at a special election which is hereby appointed to be held by the several townships of said county on the first Monday in July next. There shall be written on the bal- lots then polled by the qualified electors of said county one of the names of the following places, to wit :- Frankfort, Benzonia, and the south- east quarter of the northeast quarter of section 28, township 26 north, of range 14 west (Homestead), and that the one which shall receive a majority of all the votes cast at such elections shall be the county seat of the county of Benzie: Provided, That in case no one of said places shall at said election be designated such county seat in the manner aforesaid, another election shall be held on the first Monday of October next, in the same places, at which the said electors shall designate by majority vote one of the two above named places, which shall have re- ceived the highest number of votes at said July election, to be the county seat of said county of Benzie.
"The said county of Benzie when so organized, shall be attached to the thirteenth judicial circuit, and the judge of said circuit shall hold two courts therein each year."
COUNTY SEAT CONTENTIONS
According to this enabling act, the election for determining the lo- cation of the county seat was held on the first Monday of July, 1869. As therein specified if one of the places received a majority of all the votes, it was to be the county seat; if no place received a majority then another election was to be held on the first Monday of the following October, at which the electors should designate by a majority vote one of the two places which should have received the highest number of votes at the July election. At the first election the vote stood for Ben- zonia, 75, Homestead, 237, and Frankfort, 194. As there was no choice the second election was held in October, resulting in favor of Frank- fort by 301 to 265 for Benzonia, Homestead having withdrawn.
The first county officers had been chosen at the spring election of April, 1869. Addison P. Wheelock had been elected sheriff; Roland O.
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Crispen, county treasurer; Theodore C. Walker, county clerk and reg- ister of deeds; Digby B. Butler, judge of probate; James B. Delbridge, prosecuting attorney; William J. Young, circuit court commissioner ; George E. Steele, county surveyor; A. E. Walker, superintendent of schools; Dr. A. J. Slyfield and L. Kinny, coroners. On the 22d of April the first board of supervisors convened at the school house at Benzonia and elected Silas F. Judson, of Benzonia township as chair- man. The second meeting of the board, held after the county seat had been fixed at Frankfort, was held on the 11th of October, 1869, at Vic- tory Saterlee's hotel (a two story frame building, corner of Third and Main streets) and afterwards adjourned to a two story frame building, prepared for county purposes, situated on the corner of Main and Second streets. It was originally erected by Doaby brothers and was for years designated "the old court house building." In this building was also held the first term of circuit court for the county, over which Hon. Jonathan G. Ramsdell presided.
At the annual township meeting in 1872 the total number of votes cast for "removal of the county seat" sustained Frankfort, but on ac- count of some irregularity in the election proceedings of Crystal lake township resulted in the cancellation of the ballots cast from that sec- tion and the result was removal to Benzonia. Despite protests and court proceedings the latter remained the county seat until 1895. As a result of the balloting at the annual township meeting of April, 1895, Frankfort again resumed the county seat honors, taking possession of commodious buildings and grounds prepared by the township of Crys- tal lake. The seat of justice remained at Frankfort until it was trans- ferred to Honor in the northern part of Homestead township near the geographical center of the county.
FRANKFORT OF TODAY AND YESTERDAY
Frankfort lost the fight for the county seat in 1872, but went right along on its sturdy way, and in October, 1873, petitioned the circuit court to have the question of incorporating as a village under the gen- eral law of 1873 submitted to a vote of the electors at a special meet- ing to be held in December following. There were at that time said to be 684 inhabitants, and the territory to be incorporated covered 1,240 acres. The petition bore 685 names and was granted. The prop- osition carried and Frankfort became an incorporated village. Not long after, however, the law of 1873 was declared unconstitutional and the charter became null and void. The village obtained its present charter in 1885.
The pioneer churches and schools of Frankfort were established about at the same time. In 1866 Jacob Voorheis settled in the town as the agent of the local land company. He also kept a hotel and a small store, and in the spring of 1867 invited all the neighbors to his place for an old-fashioned praise meeting. There were held the first religious exercises, from which developed a Bible class and Sunday school. In January, 1868. a Congregational church was organized. Frankfort has
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now not only a Congregational church, but religious organizations rep- resentative of the Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Adventist elements.
In the same month and year School District No. 2 of Crystal lake was organized and included in its territory the village of Frankfort. The district was bounded on the south by Benzie lake and river, east by Benzonia, west by Lake Michigan and north by Platte township. The first school had been taught during the winter of 1867-8 by W. H. Marsh in a small building temporarily fitted up for that purpose and which stood on Water street between Third and Fourth. The winter term of 1869, however, was taught in a building especially erected for school purposes-a $2,000 frame, twenty-five by fifty feet in size. It would be an object lesson in the thorough and generous methods of modern education to place this crude little building beside the fine $25,000 central school, with its up-to-date arrangement and equipment, which is representative of the prevailing village system.
Frankfort is a pretty, substantial village of about sixteen hundred people, with modern electric light and water plants and good systems for the distribution of both these necessities of life-good light and pure water. As an open port provided with a splendid harbor, natural and improved, and abundant means of communication, transportation and shipment, Frankfort is an important agent in the commercial de- velopment of Northern Michigan. Frankfort's harbor is eighteen feet deep and her light house and life-saving station add to her reputation as a leading lake port. Her shipments include fruits, vegetables and hardwood lumber, and her lumber and flour mills represent the chief part of her industrial activities.
Elberta, formerly South Frankfort, is a village of about seven hun- dred people and lies on the south shore of the harbor. It was platted in 1867 and was at one time quite a prosperous iron manufacturing town. The Frankfort Iron Furnace Company which opened its $200,000 plant in July, 1870, gave the village an industrial standing for many years, and South Frankfort with its large furnace, its extensive docks and bustling activity seemed destined for large things. But like other ventures of the kind in this far northern region, this one was "ahead of the times" and had to be abandoned.
South Frankfort was incorporated as a village in 1894. Of late years it has become the solid center of a fine fruit country which has been especially prolific of peaches. Of all the varieties raised the El- berta has become most widely known. So, although the village has a lumber and a shingle mill, and is one of the thriving stations on the Ann Arbor railroad, its future depends more upon the development of the surrounding country horticulturally and agriculturally than in any other respect.
In the spring of 1911 a bill passed the legislature changing the name of the village from South Frankfort to Elberta, this action being af- terward approved by popular local vote.
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THOMPSONVILLE
This village, the second in size in Benzie county. is situated on the Betsie river in the southeastern part of the county at the junction of the Ann Arbor and Pere Marquette railroads, and lies in both Colfax and Weldon townships. Its first settlers located in 1890 and it was incorporated in 1892; so it is comparatively a present-day village, and, considering its age, has grown more rapidly than its sister corporations. Thompsonville is a village which is well lighted by electricity and sup- plied with good water through an adequate plant and system. It has graded and thoroughly organized schools and is the headquarters of the Weldon township library of several hundred volumes. The Congre- gationalists and Methodists have well-supported churches. The sur- rounding country being a fertile fruit and vegetable country, Thompsonville gets the benefit of a good trade thereby and reciprocates by providing good banking facilities.
BENZONI
The village of Benzonia, the old county seat. was incorporated in 1891. It is a place of some six hundred inhabitants and its railway sta- tion is known as Beulah, a mile distant, on the Ann Arbor railroad It enjoys a fair trade with the adjacent country, has a good bank and weekly paper, two churches (Congregational and Methodist), and its old-time standing as the seat of the Grand Traverse College and an influential center of education is recalled by the Benzonia Academy, a Congregational institution of promise.
The following sketch by Professor George R. Cotton, its principal, is self-explanatory : "Benzonia College succeeded Grand Traverse Col- lege in April, 1891, at which time the buildings, property and tradi- tions of the earlier institution were transferred to the later one. Benzonia College, in its turn, was changed to Benzonia Academy in June, 1900, under which title it has continued to the present time.
"As stated, Benzonia Academy is the legal successor to Benzonia College, an institution founded by a body of devoted men and women from Oberlin and vicinity who came to this region in 1858 for the purpose of establishing a 'Little Oberlin,' a village that should have a church and school as centers of its community life and should be to the Grand Traverse country what Oberlin had been to the whole Northwest. This entire region was then a dense wilderness and devel- oped slowly, over a third of a century elapsing before the coming of a railroad. Besides the rugged qualities of the true pioneer, these were men and women of good parts and no little culture. Many of them were college trained, some were Christian ministers and mission- aries and one had been a college president. Throughout the hardships and privations of their wilderness life they held true to their ideals. The institution they established had varying fortunes and was sustained by great sacrifice, but its influence was felt through the surrounding counties and Benzonia became known as a 'city set upon a hill.' Be-
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fore the full tide of settlement flowed into the Traverse region, Olivet had become a flourishing institution and it was felt there was hardly place for two Congregational colleges in Michigan. Accordingly, in 1900, Benzonia College was changed to an Academy. It succeeded not only to the plant and property of the college, but to its traditions and ideals. Another generation has taken the place of the pioneers, but their spirit and vision are still cherished and the church and the school are still the centers around which the life of the community revolves.
"After the change from College to Academy had been fairly made, a vigorous growth was secured. The alumni of the academy already constitute a respectable list. Its student constituency comes from con- stantly widening sources. Its diploma admits to the University of Michigan and leading colleges of the west. In spite of a destructive fire over two years ago, its buildings and equipment are better than ever. Its friends are to be found in almost every Congregational church of the state. It is coming to be seen that the academy has an important place in the educational field."
HONOR
Honor, the present seat of justice for Benzie county, was first lo- cated in November, 1894, by E. T. Henry, at that time foreman for the Guelph Patent Cask Company and George Briggs of Wolverine, Cheboygan county. The land upon which it stands was bought of Rob- ert Buckans.
About the first of April, 1895, E. T. Henry arrived on the grounds with a crew of men and a small portable sawmill and began to clear a place for a set of camps, which were successfully conducted for several years by Charles H. Giles, who finally retired to his farm in Cheboy- gan county. L. F. Lane, who was the first to start a general store, moved his stock from Lake Ann. Then came the Case Mercantile Com- pany, J. L. Crane and others. But the real foundation of the town was laid by the Guelph Patent Cask Company, of Wolverine, which spent considerable money in erecting its plants, clearing lands and man- ufacturing its specialties. In the fall of 1896 a $2,500 school house was completed and church services commenced about the same time.
The name Honor was given the town in compliment to the baby daughter of J. A. Gifford, general manager of the Guelph Patent Cask Company. The village was made the county seat by popular vote in April, 1908. It has about six hundred people; is on the Platte river and a station on the Manistee & Northeastern and the Pere Marquette railroads. The surrounding country is productive of fruits, seeds, vegetables, etc., and Honor is benefited accordingly; this advantage being supplemented by the steady business which comes to the village as the county seat.
Soon after the removal of the county seat from Frankfort to Honor, in 1908, the principal business men of the latter, formed the Honor Public Building Association, purchased the cement building now occu- pied as a court house (formerly the Methodist church), and erected a
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modern jail together with sheriff's residence, also of cement, at a cost of nearly $6,000. Both said buildings are today rented by the county for official and judicial purposes.
The Seymour & Peck Company, successors to the Guelph Patent Cask Company, manufacturers of lumber and veneer, have timber enough, it is estimated, to keep the plant running for about ten years. The plant furnishes employment for about ninety men during the summer months
BENZIE COUNTY COURTHOUSE (FORMERLY M. E. CHURCH), HONOR
and nearly that number during the winter months, the larger portion of the veneer being shipped to Chicago, where the firm manufactures it into boxes, crates and similar articles.
LAKE ANN
This little village of about two hundred people is in the northeast- ern part of the county and is a station on the Manistee & Northeastern railroad on the body of water from which it was named. It has a good graded school, two churches and has been incorporated as a village since 1893.
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CHAPTER XV
MANISTEE COUNTY
CHANGES IN POPULATION-THE COUNTY AND ITS NAME-PIONEER HIS- TORY-JUSTICE WADSWORTH VISITS "MANISTEE"-SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1850-THE LAST CHIPPEWA CHIEF-GROWTH OF SCHOOL SYSTEM- 1854-5, A GREAT ERA-MANISTEE CHURCHES-IN THE SIXTIES- NOTED VANDERPOOL -FIELD CASE-THE FIRE OF 1871-AFTER THE FIRE-GENERAL ADVANCES-CITY AND COUNTY OF THE PRESENT- ('OPEMISH, BEAR LAKE AND ONEKAMA.
Manistee. one of the leading counties of Northern Michigan. lies southwest of the Grand Traverse region, and its industries are chiefly devoted to lumbering, all kinds of manufactures from soft and hard wood, and the production of salt. The greater part of Manistee county consists of a high plateau from eighty to two hundred and fifty feet above Lake Michigan, cut in every direction by the water courses into valleys, of which those of the Manistee. Little Manistee and Bear creek are the principal. It was along these streams and valleys that the dense forests of soft pine originally flourished, which furnished food for the great sawmills of the early days and brought the first settlers into the country. At the present day the mass of the farming community is also located on this plateau which is so marked a feature of the county.
CHANGES IN POPULATION
With the radical decline of the lumbering industries since 1890, Manistee county has been in what may be termed a transformatory or readjusting stage for the past twenty years. New industries have been established. however: agriculture and horticulture are coming to pos- sess much of the land formerly covered by forests of pine. and the varied manufactures of soft and hard woods and of salt, make Manistee city and county one of the most prosperous and substantial sections of Northern Michigan.
The shifting of the different sections of the county in the matter of population is illustrated by the United States census figures for the years including the last three decades.
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ALFALFA FARMING IN MANISTEE COUNTY
Vol. I -- 24
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Arcadia township
994
881
671
Bear lake township, including Bear lake vil-
lage
1,584
1,428
1,287
Bear lake village
504
448
432
Brown township
752
799
726
Cleon township, including Copemish village .. Copemish village
1,357
1,237
810
Dickson township
425
Filer township
1,969
2,283
2,101
Manistee city
12,381
14,260
12,812
Ward 1
1,314
Ward 2
1,582
Ward 3
1,470
Ward 4
1,752
Ward 5
1,718
....
....
Ward 6
1,853
. ...
. ...
. .
Manistee township
2,990
3,128
2,631
Maple Grove township
903
508
361
Marilla township
550
404
341
Onekama township, including Onekama village Onekama village
324
274
..
Pleasanton township
685
659
593
Springdale township
581
558
105
Stronach township
733
791
710
Totals
26,688
27,856
24,230
THE COUNTY AND ITS NAME
In the year 1840 that portion of the state lying in towns 21, 22, 23 and 24 north and west of the line between ranges 12 and 14 west was laid off as the county of Manistee. By an act of the legislature passed February 13, 1855, the county was organized with the village of Manistee as the seat of justice.
Until 1840 Mackinaw included all that part of the lower peninsula of Michigan lying north of Mason county and also a large part of the Upper Peninsula. The rest of the shore as far as Allegan was Ottawa county. In 1840 this vast territory was divided and laid off into coun- ties, and then for the first time Manistee county had a local habita- tion and a name, and for judicial purposes was attached to Mackinaw county. In 1846 it was attached to Ottawa county and the county of- fices were at Grand Haven and there also was to be found the nearest justice of the peace. If a man wanted to be married or to die de- cently he had to go to Grand Haven or across the lake to do it.
In 1851 the county was attached to Oceana, county seat at Middlesex, and in 1853 to Grand Traverse county, to which it remained until the
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784
920
1,082
Ward 7
2,692
490
429
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
spring of 1855 when it was organized and raised to the honorable dig- nity of local sovereignty. Upon the organization of Manistee county it was divided into three townships: First, the inevitable Manistee; secondly, Stronach, after the first white settler; and thirdly, Brown, after Henry L. Brown, who was largely instrumental in securing the organization of the new county.
It was late in 1854 that a meeting was held at Manistee settlement to see about getting the county organized. The legislature was in ses- sion, or about to convene, and Lucius H. Patterson, then of Grand Rap- ids, was the representative in the legislature. There were present at the meeting D. L. Filer, Joseph Smith, L. G. Smith, H. L. Brown, H. S. Udell, the Finans and a few others. After discussion of the advan- tages of an organization a resolution was passed requesting Mr. Pat- terson to do all in his power to secure the organization of Manistee county. The resolution was communicated to Mr. Patterson and he se- cured the passage of the bill organizing Manistee as a separate county.
The first election in Manistee county was held on the first Monday of April, 1855, and resulted in the election of the following ticket :
Sheriff-Sam Potter.
Clerk and register-H. S. Udell.
Judge of probate-H. L. Brown.
Treasurer-Joe Smith.
Prosecuting attorney-H. L. Brown.
At this election the total number of votes cast in the whole county was 136. D. L. Filer ran against Udell and received 62 votes to Udell's 71.
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