USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 51
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The splendid works now in use, with a pumping capacity of 8,000,000 gallons every twenty-four hours, were completed in 1905 at a cost of
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HIGH SCHOOL AT ALPENA
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HISTORY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN
$265,000. The same power which distributes the pure water of Lake Huron throughout the city also operates the electric dynamos which supply the one hundred and thirty-one arc lights provided for street illumination.
The Alpena Electric Light Company was organized in September, 1881, and the Alpena Gas Company commenced the erection of the works on State street four years afterward. In the fall of 1898 the Electric Light and Water Works Company erected a new power house at Richardson dam. The latest large step in the business of furnishing Alpena with light and power was the construction of the dam on Thun- der Bay river, in 1909, and the completion of a complete plant in 1910 by the Alpena Power Company. Its chief office at present is to furnish electric light to offices and business houses.
SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
As soon as practicable after the township meeting, held on the 5th of April, 1858, the school inspectors of the township of Fremont, met for the purpose of forming a school district, and as much territory as could be allowed by law was incorporated into School District No. 1. Addison F. Fletcher was elected first school director. Miss Mary L. Carter was hired to teach the first school in a small cooper shop made of rough boards which was the best building that could be then obtained for the purpose.
In 1864 the first district school was completed in the county. It was located in Alpena and was built by Samuel Boggs. J. B. Tuttle taught the first school in this house. In 1865 another district school house was erected on the east side of the river and in 1867 the legisla- ture authorized the building of a union school house. In 1868 a suitable building was erected, under the supervision of David Plough on ground donated by S. E. Hitchcock, and it cost the sum of $20,000, when finished and fenced. Charles T. Brockway was the first superintendent. The teachers were Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. VanInwegen, Miss Doane and Miss Barclay.
The city is now supplied with nine public school buildings of strictly modern construction and equipment. There are also six parochial schools and a metropolitan business college. The largest and most at- tractive of the edifices devoted to public education is the Central school opened to the public in September, 1891. In this are accommodated the High school proper with twenty-five pupils and the first and second grammar grades comprising 199. The enrolment in the nine ward schools was as follows in the first week of the school year: Obed Smith, 180; Garfield, 118; Lockwood, 163; Franklin, 118; Jefferson, 121; Avery, 185; Baldwin, 91; Cass, 56; Beebe, 25. Total in the Cen- tral and ward schools, 1,292. The superintendent of the city schools is Edward L. Parmenter; principal of high school, H. V. Knight.
At the Central school is also housed the Alpena Public Library, or- ganized in 1873. comprising nearly 5,000 volumes and controlled by the city board of education.
Of Alpena's public buildings the new $100,000 postoffice is. beyond
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all, the most stately and attractive. The Detroit & Mackinac has also (fall of 1911) in process of construction one of the most convenient and elegant depots in Northern Michigan.
A United States fish hatchery is located at Alpena, from which thou- sands of lake trout and white fish are annually transferred to the great lakes and interior bodies of water.
RELIGIOUS
In the spring of 1860 the first Sabbath school was organized in Al- pena with J. K. Lockwood as superintendent. In the summer of the same year the Rev. C. G. Bisbee came to Alpena, and soon after took charge of the Sabbath school as superintendent. He was the first minis- ter of Alpena county.
On the 2d of March, 1862, the First Congregational church of Al- pena, was organized, with Rev. C. G. Bisbee as pastor. They held church in the upper room of a building, on the corner of Second and Water streets. The Episcopal church (Trinity) was formed in 1864; the Meth- odists organized into a permanent society in 1867, and about the same time the Catholics, who had secured property through the efforts of Bishop Baraga, had erected a church, priest's house and school on Chis- holm street; in 1867 the Baptists also organized and the Germans and Norwegians established themselves in the local religious field before 1880. St. Bernard's Catholic church, a new stone edifice, was dedicated in April, 1885; Trinty Episcopal in November, 1887; German Baptist, January, 1888; St. Mary's Catholic, June, 1889 ; Congregational, Decem- ber, 1892, as well as the new Baptist church and Presbyterian, January, 1901. And the good work still goes on, the most noteworthy late addi- tion to the churches of the city being the St. Anne's French Catholic church completed in 1910. With its two massive spires this is one of the most imposing houses of worship in the city.
INDUSTRIES AND BANKS
In view of the city's present commerce it hardly seems possible that her first shipment of lumber by rail was made only twenty-four years ago; yet such is the fact, Fletcher, Pack & Company shipping the initial car loads to New Baltimore January 16, 1888. This was nearly two years after the arrival of the first train at Alpena over the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena railroad, and about the time of the completion of the depot on Fletcher street.
The manufacturing of cement had already commenced and the first cement walks just laid, but it was not until the middle nineties that the pioneer tanneries started up, led by the Taber plant. In 1896 F. W. Gil- christ commenced to manufacture maple flooring, and on January 5, 1899. the first sheet of paper was turned out of the Fletcher mill, which has developed into one of the largest establishments of the kind in the country. The Fletcher Paper Company is capitalized at $200,000 and is controlled by Frank W. Fletcher as president and Allan M. Fletcher as secretary-worthy descendants of the founder of Alpena. The Fletcher mills make sulphite, as well as express and manila paper.
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The year 1899 also witnessed the building of the Michigan Veneer works and the organization of the Alpena Portland Cement Company- in reality the founding of these industries at Alpena-the latter espe- cially one of the chief sources of her manufacturing prosperity.
Another industry which has been a constant source of material growth since the first settlement of the locality is that founded on the fisheries of Thunder bay. Their annual output which passes through the port of Alpena amounts to fully $200,000 and about 200 men depend upon the industry for their support.
The leading banks of Alpena are the National and Alpena County Savings. The origin of the Alpena National Bank has already been noted in the founding of the Exchange Bank of George L. Maltz &
DETROIT & MACKINAC RAILWAY STATION. ALPENA
Company in April. 1872. JJ. P. Whiting, the company. soon withdrew, and Mr. Maltz carried the enterprise alone until the bank was chartered under its present name December 7, 1882. Of the original incorpora- tors William H. Johnson, president, is the only one who has retained his connection with the institution. four having died and two with- drawn. The first officers elected in December, 1882, were George L. Maltz. president ; Charles W. Richardson, vice president and John C. Comfort, cashier. Mr. Maltz was succeeded as president by Frank W. Gilchrist and he by Mr. Johnson, the present incumbent. John C. Com- fort has been cashier since the organization of the bank under its present name. Frederick H. Orcutt is vice president. In September, 1911. the capital surplus and undivided profits of the Alpena National Bank amounted to $104,961 and its deposits to $968.446. These figures tell the story of good management and stability.
The Alpena County Savings Bank. of which Patrick Culligan is president. has a capital of $100,000 and a surplus of $150,000, and is considered one of the strongest financial institutions in Northern Michi- gan.
OUTSIDE OF ALPENA CITY
Ossineke, twelve miles south of Alpena on Devil river and the De- troit & Mackinac line, is one of the oldest settlements of the county.
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EXCHANGE BANK GEO.L.MALTZ & CO.
1872 - alone
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It was known, in the early years, as Devil river settlement. In 1844 Birtch & Eldridge of Detroit, built a little sawmill at this point-the pioneer mill on the Huron shore-and in the following year Isaac Wil- son and his family located there, Mr. Wilson to operate the mill and engage in lumbering. The family claims to have constituted the first permanent household between Bay City and Thunder Bay island, the latter being occupied by a few fishermen who usually left in the fall for their homes in Bay City and Detroit. For six weeks the Wilsons lived in that wilderness alone, but in November a boat crew was driven ashore at Devil river and the members made their home with the Wil- son family during the winter; but settlers did not rush in to occupy the lands. In the fall of 1847 David D. Oliver purchased the saw mill, which was still all that was permanent about the settlement, and for years thereafter he was its leading settler. In 1851 he purchased several tracts on the river. In 1867 Mr. Oliver built at Ossineke one of the largest sawmills outside of Alpena, and by 1870 there were a number of families on the site. But the place did not even fulfil its earlier promise. and there are now in operation there a sawmill and several general stores which supply a fair country trade. Ossineke is also quite a church center.
Hubbard Lake, at the foot of the lake by that name, just within Al- pena county, is a few miles southwest of Ossineke upon which it depends for its shipping facilities. The former has a saw and shingle mill, gets considerable of the tourists' trade in summer and is the center of a good live stock and grain country. It has daily stage connections with Ossineke.
Dafoe is a small settlement on the Hillman branch of the Detroit & Mackinac line twelve miles west of Alpena. A sawmill, a few stores and a prosperous surrounding country are the features of the locality mainly in evidence.
Flanders is four miles from Dafoe, its nearest shipping point, and three miles from Hillman, just over the line of Montmorency county, its closest banking town. There is a sawmill at Flanders and it is in the center of a district which promises well for the farmer and is still actively worked by the lumberman.
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CHAPTER XXI
PRESQUE ISLE AND MONTMORENCY COUNTIES
STRONG FEATURES OF PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY-LAKES AND STREAMS-PRO- SAIC FIGURES-INDIAN LORE-INTRODUCTION TO WHITE SETTLERS- FOUNDING OF ONAWAY-REMARKABLE GROWTH-ROGERS, THE COUNTY SEAT-MILLERSBURG-POSEN-MONTGOMERY COUNTY-NATURAL AD- VANTAGES-POPULATION AND VILLAGES.
Presque Isle county has over fifty miles of shore line on Lake Huron and lies between Cheboygan county on the northwest and Alpena county on the southeast. It was successively attached to Cheboygan and Al- pena counties for judicial and civil purposes, as has been noted in pre- ceding pages.
Presque Isle county extends forty-two miles from east to west and about thirty from north to south. It still contains a large acreage of hardwood timber, which is being industriously manufactured into lum- ber, staves and more finished products, and large tracts which have been cleared of their forests and are ready for the farmer, the fruit- raiser and the stockman.
STRONG FEATURES OF PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY
Although the forests of the county are fast disappearing it is still one of the best wooded districts in Northern Michigan, abounding in maple, beach, basswood and birch. The soil ranges from the rich clay of the hardwood lands to the light sandy variety of the pinelands. The surface is generally rolling. Most sections do not require artificial drain- age and can be worked early in the spring or late in the fall. The wild lands are strong sustainers of cattle and sheep, while the cultivated and more choice tracts raise abundant crops of clover and alfalfa, as well as potatoes, turnips, onions and other vegetables, and every variety of fruit.
Well improved farms are already seen in every direction. The county is thoroughly watered by numerous streams and lakes, is trav- ersed its narrow way by the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad, and is there- fore favored naturally and by its transportation conveniences, as a livestock and produce country. In fact, one of the largest stock farms in the state is located at Onaway, its only city and large center of pop- ulation in the northwestern part of the county. It is destined to progress
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in the dairy industries, one of the latest establishments at Onaway being a large creamery.
The county, especially along the Huron shores, is underlaid by rich deposits of limestone. There is a large quarry near Rogers, the seat of justice and the largest village in the county, and great hopes are enter- tained for the new town of Calcite which is expected to be developed on the strength of the limestone industries. The other incorporated vil- lages of Presque Isle county, to be hereafter described, are Millersburg and Posen, on the Detroit & Mackinac line, the former in the north- western and the latter in the southeastern part.
LAKES AND STREAMS
Presque Isle county, with its beautiful lakes and its network of streams flowing into the headwaters of Cheboygan and Thunder Bay rivers, or forming little independent systems along the Huron shore; with its fine stretches of country almost from the pure hand of nature-Pres- que Isle county, thus endowed by nature, also enjoys those artificial aux- iliaries which make it an ideal resort for the sportsman and the hunter who is after real enjoyment and vitality unmixed with the "frills" of stiff conventionality. Long lake protrudes from Alpena county and stretches half its length of twelve miles in Presque Isle county. It is from half a mile to two miles in width, with beautiful sandy, gravelly or rocky shores bordered by wood-covered hills and seamed with deep ravines and still beyond a rich farming country. It is mainly fed by subterranean springs and besides its natural stock of pike and pickerel, and other varieties, the fish hatchery at Alpena annually plants in its cool waters twelve million black bass, trout and perch. In the forests beyond the lake and the inland county at large are the haunts of deer, bear, fox, partridge and all kinds of game. The lower, or southern portion of the lake, bordered with grassy banks and lawns, is the fa- vorite section for cottage sites, summer homes and hotels. Grand lake, about the same size as Long, is wholly within Presque Isle county, sixteen miles north of Alpena, and about half that distance from the railroad. Its shores and the scenery around are more harmonious than the charms of Long lake and as the region is more isolated the angler and sportsman are more certain of "results." Grand lake con- tains nineteen islands varying in size from Grand island, two miles long, to Round island with its acre-area. There are numerous cottages and inns on the gently sloping shores of Grand lake, those to the east being most generally occupied. Visitors, who are particularly given to fishing, are apt to frequent the outlet into Lake Huron, where they may sometimes get a chance at a big sturgeon venturing thus far from the deeper waters.
Everywhere in the county are found "fishable" lakes and streams and "huntable" forests and fields, but among the most notable chain of lakes is that reached from Millersburg and La Rocque station, or Hawks postoffice. These include Barnhart lakes, Lake Nettie, Lake Emma and Drum, May, Shoepac, Lost and Rainy lakes.
Five miles north of Onaway is Black lake, nine miles by five, a
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NATURE AND MAN AT PRESQUE ISLE LAKES
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fine body of water whose shores are heavily timbered and backed by picturesque bluffs. A branch railroad runs to the lake from Onaway, but the line is mainly used for lumber, fish and other freight. There is one hotel on Black river a few rods from the lake, and other permanent accommodations will be provided as tourists learn of the healthful en- joyments to be amassed in this splendid country.
In short, nature has given Presque Isle county one of her most val- uable assets in her varied scenery, her clear, pure waters and her ozone- laden and health-giving atmosphere.
PROSAIC FIGURES
Dropping to prosaic figures, the reader may learn from the national census bureau how Presque Isle county has advanced in actual popula- tion for the past twenty years.
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Allis township
546
554
223
Bearinger township
244
198
Belknap township
1,255
1,108
744
Bismarck township
285
273
113
Case township, including Millersburg vil. Millersburg village
866
1,291
246
Krawkow township
455
493
385
Metz township
700
571
267
Moltke township
506
511
465
North Allis township
455
Ocqueoe township
397
Onaway city
2,702
1,204
Ward 1
952
Ward 2
1,235
Ward 3
515
Posen township, including Posen village.
1,296
1,681
1,259
Posen village
263
Presque Isle township
105
137
219
Pulawski township
459
Rogers township, including Rogers village
978
800
766
Rogers village
705
544
431
Totals
11,249
8,821
4,687
In 1911 the county authorities assessed the property of Presque Isle county for purposes of taxation and fixed upon the following valuation : Real estate, $2,474,507; personal property, $561,369.
INDIAN LORE
The following, written in 1909 by the late Frederic Denny Larke, covers the subject so well that it is republished :
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"Presue Isle county has, as far as tradition reaches, always been held by the aboriginal Indian as sacred ground, or at least that portion of its shore frontage starting from the mouth of the Waw-waugh-waugh-que-oc (now spelled Ocqueoc), which empties into Hammond bay, Lake Huron, sixteen miles north of Rogers, to Swan river, which empties into Lake Huron four miles south thereof; within the memory of the writer a large Indian burial ground was well kept up forty years ago at the mouth of the Ocqueoc, little houses made of smooth lath-like pieces of wood and birch bark surmounting the graves; many interesting relics have re- cently been unearthed there. Ten miles further down the shore towards Rogers in fact only six miles away from it, exists the Sliding Banks and Sacred Rock. The Sacred Rock is a huge boulder of conglom- erate stone brought down from the Lake Superior country in the gla- cial period and is as big as a small house; it is deposited at the water's edge, the Sliding Banks rising above the waters of Lake Huron in the rear of the Rock something near eighty feet in height; these banks are composed of clay and sand apparently inter-mixed in such a manner that the banks are constantly shifting and almost perceptibly sliding into the lake; even in the writer's time, the Indians coming down the shore always offered sacrifices of dogs, etc., upon this rock and left other offerings. The history of the Sacred Rock is this: Ages ago, where the rock now stands was the boundary line between the hunting grounds of two Indian tribes; the chief of one was exceedingly aggressive and fre- quently trespassed upon the preserves of the neighboring tribe, and in so doing had caused much trouble and bloodshed to follow these incursions ; at last the chiefs of the two tribes met (but otherwise alone) when the one as usual was trespassing over the border and an altercation ensued which would probably have again resulted in a bloody war between the conflicting tribes, but Kitchie Manitou, the Great Spirit, who was up Lake Superior at the time, became disgusted with both of them, seized hold of the Sacred Rock and hurled it down, crushing both the chiefs beneath its immense weight, which was so great that the banks above the beach have been sliding and trembling ever since-hence the rock became an object of worship to the Indian races.
"The mouth of Swan river, southeast of Rogers, was also considered a sacred spot, probably because a tide sets in at intervals every day and logs or boats launched upon or thrown into the stream will float against the current of the river; in the writer's time, Indians brought down an old squaw, who was aged and crippled, and drowned her in the mouth of Swan river, she appearing to be perfectly contented to be immolated in this manner, it being, as the writer was led to under- stand, the usual custom in such cases."
INTRODUCTION TO WHITE SETTLERS
The outside world was introduced to the territory embraced by the present county through the state surveyors who commenced to run their lines over it in the spring of 1840. David D. Oliver, identified with Alpena county more particularly, was one of the party, who thus describes the opening up of the Presque Isle district : "The writer Vol. I-31.
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was employed by John Hodgson as an assistant surveyor or compass- man. Hodgson had the subdivision of towns 31 and 32 north and from range 4 east to 87.7 Lake Huron shore. We all had a jolly time on the boat going up (from Detroit) and were all landed with our sup- plies at Presque Isle. This was a wooding station for the steamboats going round the lakes and the only inhabited spot at that time be- tween Mackinaw and Bay City. It was also the first fishing station on Lake Huron shore north of Saginaw bay. The fishermen used hooks, seines and gill nets and had considerable trade with the boats in fur- nishing them with fresh fish. After stopping a few days at Presque Isle to make arrangements for leaving the supplies and packing them -which supplies were to be carried on the back of men and horses- the several parties started for their work." The work referred to was especially the survey of the lands around the mouth of the Thunder Bay river to the south, in which Mr. Oliver was engaged for some time under Mr. Hodgson. "After finishing up the survey work," he continues, "the party went out to Presque Isle. Here the writer hired with Sylvester Sibley to help him finish up his surveys. The improve- ments at Presque Isle were owned by Lemuel Crawford, of Cleveland, Ohio, and consisted of a dock, store and frame dwelling, a log barn and a few log shantics. They were all built on Uncle Sam's land which had not yet been surveyed, and therefore it was thought ad- visable by those in command that they should be on the best of terms with the surveyors. As the survey of the harbor and its vicinity was assigned to the writer, he was treated with very kind regard by the proprietor and his people. Here the writer made the acquaintance of Simeon M. Holden, William Cullings and Robert McMullen. They were mechanical geniuses and well calculated to live in and promote the growth of a new country. Mr. McMullen had the greatest variety of talent, working when occasion demanded in the blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, the cooper shop, at boat building and millwriting. Mr. Holden later moved to Thunder Bay island, where he built the first frame dwelling in Alpena county in 1846. He was the first perma- nent settler in the county, his occupation being fishing with gill nets. After residing on the island a few years, he moved to where Har- risville is now located, where with Crosier Davison he built the first sawmill in Alcona county. After working the mill a few years, he sold his interest in the property, and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was murdered and robbed of five hundred dollars.
"It was late in the fall of 1840 when the surveyors finished their work and returned to Presque Isle on their way home."
Settlement in Presque Isle county was neither rapid nor centered for many years, the immigration into the Huron country gravitating to Cheboygan and Alpena on either side of its territory. In 1869 and the early seventies a number of substantial German settlers located in the Shore sections, the birth of Rogers, the county seat, being of that period. About this time Polish settlers also commenced to arrive in considerable force.
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FOUNDING OF ONAWAY
But the county was not started on its modern highway of progress until the early eighties had come into history and the nucleus of the city of Onoway appeared as half a dozen houses in a forest clearing. Among the first to select its site for a home was Thomas E. Shaw, a man of liberal education then well along toward forty, who had lived in Michigan since early boyhood and who had been obliged to relinquish all professional ambitions and seek health in this northern country of dense forests and pure air and water. It was upon his farm which he located in 1881 that a large part of Onaway was platted. In August, 1882, School District No. 2 was organized. This embraced the site of the village which was known as Shaw postoffice for years afterward. Mr. Shaw was the first teacher, lining up a class of seven pupils in the winter following the organization of the district. He was also the first hotel keeper and became the first postmaster in 1883. He held all the township and most of the county officers, founded the stock farm which has helped make Onaway well known as one of the hust- ling communities of Northern Michigan, and built up both his health and his fortunes.
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