USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 52
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Three years after Mr. Shaw's arrival came Merritt Chandler, a Michigan lumberman who transferred his operations while still a young man to Cheboygan county and the northern part of the lower peninsula. In his explorations for the location of timber lands he drifted into this part of the state and was so impressed with its ad- vantages that in 1884 he built a residence at Shaw postoffice, around which had sprung up a little cluster of houses. Mr. Chandler opened the first general store there, using a part of his residence for the pur- pose, and in 1886 moved his family into the building. With the growth of his business he provided a separate building for his store, and from his enterprise was finally evolved the Onaway Mercantile Company. In 1879 Mr. Chandler first engaged in the construction of state roads, his first contract being the section from Petoskey to Presque Isle, seventy eight miles. In payment for various works of this nature he was ceded about 40,000 acres of timber lands distributed throughout the northern countries, but mainly near Onaway. This was the basis of his large and successful transactions both in hardwood and agricultural lands which resulted in the founding of Onaway's industrial pros- perity and widespread benefit to the entire county. Mr. Chandler's means and influence were the chief forces which brought the railroad to Onaway and built its opera house. He also erected the Chandler House and has been the strong and reliable friend of churches and schools. To complete the reasons which his friends have always ad- vanced to claim for him the title "father of Onaway," he selected the word from Longfellow's "Hiawatha." As Onaway means "awake," no name could be more appropriate for this brisk little city.
REMARKABLE GROWTH
Onaway was incorporated as a village in 1899 and as a city in 1903. It has set a mark for rapid growth among the towns of Northern Michi-
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gan and on this point, it is only necessary to recall the census figures of 1900, which gave its population as 1,204, and compare them with the enumeration of 1910-2,702. The water works of Onaway were placed in operation in May, 1902, shortly before its municipal incorporation, and comprise two large reservoirs on a hill in the southwestern portion of the city with a receiving reservoir at its foot, a well-built pumping station and over two miles of main distributing pipes, and a mile of minor pipes. The waterworks in themselves constitute a good fire pro- tection, but, in addition, the city has a well-equipped and well-trained
STATE STREET, ONAWAY
volunteer fire department. The plant, which also generates electricity, is owned by the city.
Onaway has two grade schools, the larger-the Central school- being erected in 1899-1900. In 1902 another building was put up in the same block, and since then a small ward school has been erected in the southeast part of the district. Onaway is therefore thoroughly provided with educational accommodations and the teaching corps of her public school system is efficient and adequate. There is also a large parochial school connected with St. Paul's Catholic church, a substantial building which was dedicated in September, 1911.
The churches which have been established at Onaway during the past twenty-five years include the Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Friends, Methodist and Adventist.
Due provision is also made for necessary amusements, recreation and sociability, in the fraternal and benevolent organizations which have sprung up; in the opera house and two public halls which have been established.
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The material progress of Onaway has been mainly along industrial lines, and from this point of view she is a solid, pushing little city of mills and factories. Most of her manufactories are founded on the hardwoods of which the county is still too prolific. Her largest plant in this line is that operated by the American Wood Rim Company, of which E. J. Lobdell is president, its products being bicycle and automo- bile steering-wheel rims. The Lobdell & Churchill Manufacturing Com- pany also run an extensive plant for the turning out of hardwood lum- ber. At Onaway are concerns for the manufacture of shingles, staves, hoops and cooperage of all kinds; heading and planing mills ; flour mills, creamery, and foundry and machine shops. The city is the trading cen- ter for a large district, which also transacts its business through the Onaway State Savings Bank and the Onaway State Banking Company, each of which has a capital of $25,000.
As has been intimated, Onaway realizes a fair item of business from the summer travel which comes to her doors and passes through them into the splendid country of lakes and streams in her immediate vicin- ity. Good judges have pronounced the Black and Rainy rivers as among the best trout streams in Northern Michigan.
ROGERS, THE COUNTY SEAT
This, the county seat, is a neat, quiet village of about seven hundred people, incorporated as early as 1877. It has always been the seat of justice and, as such, been the center of considerable trade and socia- bility. The Presque Isle County Savings Bank, with $25,000 capital, provides accommodations in that line. A saw mill and a flour mill are in operation and both lumber and fish are shipped in small quantities. Its nearest railway point is Metz, a station on the Detroit & Mackinac railroad about twelve miles south with which, however, it has daily stage connections. In and around Rogers are large deposits of cement and chemical stone.
Trout river flows into Lake Huron one mile north of Rogers and Swan river into it four miles south; both streams are the haunts of the gamey rainbow trout which have been planted therein. A dozen little lakes and streams within an area of ten miles are alive with fish and small game, while the shore on either side of the city consists of gravelly and sandy beaches.
A remnant of the Indian race who held full sway in Presque Isle county until 1868 is now living a few miles west of Rogers on the Ocqueoc river, and Forty-mile lighthouse and foghorn station are six and a half miles north.
MILLERSBURG
Millersburg, which dates its incorporation from 1901, is situated on the Ocqueoc river and the Detroit & Mackinac line, eighteen miles southwest of Rogers, the county seat, and exactly midway between Al- pena and Cheboygan. With a population of over five hundred people, it has saw, planing, lath and shingle mills, and is somewhat of a ship-
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ping station for lumber, ties, posts and poles, grain and produce. A graded school, a bank and three churches, as well as a number of gen- eral stores and business houses, are other local features worthy of men- tion.
POSEN
Posen, the only other village in Presque Isle county which has been dignified (1907) by an act of incorporation, has nearly three hundred people. It has been settled mainly by thrifty Germans and Poles, as has the surrounding country through which is a sprinkling of thrifty farms. Posen, with its bank and several small mills, is the trade and shipping center of a considerable district.
MONTMORENCY COUNTY
This is one of the interior counties of Northern Michigan whose set- tlement is of comparatively recent date. Its county seat, Atlanta, is almost in its geographical center, almost equidistant from its two nearest railroad points-Hillman in the northeast, the terminus of a branch of the Detroit & Mackinac railroad, and Lewiston in the extreme south- west, on the Twin Lakes branch of the Michigan Central. The popula- tion of the county is less than four thousand, it having increased only a few hundred within the past ten years.
Montmorency, however, is a beautiful county of lakes and streams, which are becoming favorite resorts of sportsmen and tourists, who are seeking for fishing and hunting grounds which are of almost primitive wildness and productiveness. The lakes are nearly all small and the streams are the headwaters of the Cheboygan and Thunder Bay rivers, which almost meet in the vicinity of Valentine, north of the center of the county.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES
Montmorency county has the making of a productive agricultural, horticultural, livestock and dairy district. The soil is of a diversified clay, mostly of a sandy clay loam, with a clay subsoil that retains the moisture to a remarkable degree and admits of cultivation from one to two weeks earlier than the clay soil of other localities. The loamy soil is warm and rich, producing rapid vegetation, and it is so easily handled that to a man accustomed to heavy soils it hardly seems like work. The clay subsoil holds the moisture and with this loamy soil the combination is a guarantee to raise good crops of anything you undertake. It is adapted to the cultivation of wheat and corn, rye, barley, oats, peas, grasses, potatoes, sugar beets, and the raising of live stock; admits of cultivation from April to November, and under no condition does it become hard as does strictly clay soil.
Any section that will grow large timber can be depended upon for agriculture and horticulture, provided the climate is favorable. People coming into this country accustomed to see timber short trunked with
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low branches, are amazed when they notice the height maple and beech attain in this region, long bodied with solid timber, and as one rides along through thousands of acres of lands with heavy stumps showing the hardy growth of tree life, all past experience proves that such acres will produce abundantly the most valuable forms of vegetation. Red clover, white clover and blue grass seem to spring up spontaneously in tracts, for instance, which have been swept clear of the rankest of the forest growths. The region around Lewiston seems especially favored as a grain and clover district, the country near Hillman being
A MONTMORENCY COUNTY TROUT STREAM
more thickly wooded. The pea crop is also becoming a factor in the agricultural wealth of the county. Sheep and angora goats are coming animals in the livestock industry. With time, Montmorency county will be a good producer along all the lines of agriculture and horticulture.
POPULATION AND VILLAGES
In the matter of population progress is shown in the United States census figures, as follows :
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Albert township
882
827
142
Avery township
182
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Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Briley township
563
417
338
Hillman township, including Hillman village ..
834
819
535
Hillman village
411
253
Montmorency township
500
445
177
Rust township
470
371
203
Vienna township
324
355
Totals
3,755
3,234
1,487
Hillman, the largest center of population in Montmorency county, is a village which was incorporated in 1891, situated, as stated, on the Hillman branch of the Detroit & Mackinac railway, of which it is the present terminus. Its natural location is at the junction of Gilchrist and Brush creeks with the main channel of Thunder Bay river. Hill- man is sixteen miles northeast of Atlanta, the county seat, with which it is connected by daily stage lines. The village has its own electric light and power plant, by which several small mills are operated. A bank and several general stores, with a fair array of residences and four churches, constitute the main features of the village outlook.
Atlanta itself was incorporated in 1891, but owes its chief standing to the fact that it is the county seat. It is a quiet little place, its com- munication with the outside world being maintained through daily stages which run to Hillman, Lewiston, Flanders, Dafoe and Alpena.
Lewiston, on the east shore of East Twin lake, fourteen miles south- west of Atlanta, is a thriving station on the Michigan Central's Twin Lakes branch, with a fine farming and livestock country around it. Its graded school, bank, electric light and water plant, well-stocked general stores and two churches, tell the story of an intelligent, pros- perous, progressive community.
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CHAPTER XXII OTSEGO AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES
OTSEGO'S PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL-POPULATION-SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY-OTHER PIONEER ITEMS-GAYLORD-VANDERBILT -- CRAWFORD COUNTY-POPULATION -GRAYLING.
Otsego county occupies the highest lands of the great central plateau of Northern Michigan, comprising the main watershed which sends the headwaters of the Cheboygan river toward the north, of the Au Sable toward the east and the Manistee toward the west. Its area, although there are only nine organized townships in the county, is equal to fifteen regular-sized townships.
The Michigan Central runs along through the divide west of the central part of the country, throwing out a large spur to the southeast and northwest, and the western townships are further accommodated by the Boyne City, Gaylord & Alpena railroad, the present terminus of which is the second-named, the county seat. Outside of Gaylord the only incorporated village is Vanderbilt, in the northern part of the county ; but Elmira, in the northwest, on the Boyne City, Gaylord & Alpena line, and Johannesburg in the southeast, on the Michigan Cen- tral, are growing settlements. Waters, Otsego lake and Salling's, south of Gaylord, are also stations on the Michigan Central.
OTSEGO'S PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL
The soil of Otsego county is fertile and dependable, having been originally covered by a heavy growth of hardwood, which has been largely reinoved by the demands of various industries. On much of the land placed on the market for farming purposes sufficient timber is left to go far towara meeting the purchase price, and many of the farmers still make considerable money by cutting and hauling wood to nearby towns.
Otsego county is especially the home of the Michigan potato, and the position it occupies in the produce markets of the country is largely due to the farmers of this section of the state. It is no uncommon sight to see twenty-five hundred bushels of potatoes in one cellar at Gaylord.
As stated by a resident of the county : "Usually the first crop raised from new land is potatoes and this is done sometimes without even plowing the ground. After the potato crop has been dug, the ground is dragged and seeded down. Then two or three crops of hay are taken
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off. After the expiration of this period nearly every stump can be pulled with a team, and those too solid to be pulled are dynamited. So at the end of four years at the longest, the land is free from stumps, has a good sod to turn under, and is in fine condition to grow any kind of a crop. Beech and maple stumps are short lived. The first crop of potatoes will pay for the land many times over. Then follow with two hay crops, which always bring a good price in this section, and the land can be stumped at small cost. There are no pine stumps, oak grubs or hazel brush to contend with in this county."
In a word, virtually all the stump land in Otsego county can be profitably planted to potatoes, so admirably adapted are both soil and
ENJOY A HOME OF YOUR OWN
climate to their growth, and this, notwithstanding that the digging on such tracts has to be done by hand instead of by the modern potato digger.
Onions, next to potatoes, are probably the best crop for the Otsego county farmer, but all roots and vegetables do well. Winter wheat, oats, clover and alfalfa also do well, and while little has been done in fruit-raising, much of the land will undoubtedly be devoted to orchards and berry gardens.
POPULATION
The increase in population in Otsego county, and its present distribu- tion, are illustrated by figures of the national census bureau :
Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Bagley township, including part of Gaylord vil- lage
. 1,420
1,325
689
Gaylord village (part of) .
891
766
253
Total for Gaylord village in Bagley and Liv- ingston townships
1,538
1,561
661
Charlton township
462
176
149
Chester township
323
325
177
Corwith township, including Vanderbilt village. 1,085 Vanderbilt village 523
1,090
699
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Civil Divisions
1910
1900
1890
Dover township
598
354
158
Elmira township
604
658
561
Haynes township
296
254
165
Livingston township, including part of Gaylord
village
1,361
1,506
1,033
Gaylord village (part of )
647
795
408
Otsego Lake township
403
487
641
Totals
. 6,552
6,175
4,272
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY
The geographical situation of Otsego county, midway between the Grand Traverse region and the Lake Huron shore, and its physical location near the headwaters of the Manistee and Au Sable rivers, or the great east-and-west system of waterways through Northern Michi- gan-these advantages determined the permanent settlement of this section of the state. From the first the lake port fixed upon as its eastern outlet has been Alpena. the terminus of the old state road and the ulti- mate terminus of its east-and-west railroad line.
The early details of settlement are narrated by William H. Smith, in the columns of the Otsego County Herald and Times, and are repro- duced without comment. He says : "Otsego county in the spring of 1868 was an untrodden wilderness, the permanent home of wild beasts and the temporary home for three or four months during the winter of a few trappers, who resorted here for the purpose of trapping mink and other small fur animals, reported to be very numerous around the headwaters of the Manistee and Au Sable rivers. In April, 1868, A. A. Dwight, the pioneer lumberman of this county, fitted out a small expedition in Almont, Lapeer county, consisting of six men and a fore- man, and one yoke of oxen. This crew literally hewed their way to the borders of what is now known as Crooked lake, along a hunter's trail, and commenced to open up the forest, building log cabins, etc. It does not appear from all accounts that a great deal was done in the way of farming that first season. Of course the difficulties were great and many, the men were forty miles as the road ran from their base of supplies, Spencer Creek on Torch lake, and we are informed that much of their 'toting' was done on the back of an ox. Sometime along to- wards winter they folded their tent like the Arabs and silently stole away in disgust, and the settlers at the west end of the route felt sadly disappointed at the supposed failure of Mr. Dwight to establish a new rendezvous for needy homesteaders, when in want of a few days work.
"In the spring of 1869, Charles S. Brink arrived with a crew of fourteen picked men, and that summer, although the wettest summer in a number of years, there was accomplished the clearing of twenty-five acres, all of which was put into crops, but early frosts ruined much of it. In September, 1869, the Torch Lake & Alpena state road was sur- veved and extended from the farm to the center of section 25-29-3,
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where a camp was established and operations conducted for clearing the river for log driving in the spring. The difficulties of this undertaking can be better understood when you are informed that snow began to fall on the 11th day of October and not only stayed on the ground but continued to increase in depth every few days. A dam was built at the outlet of Chubb lake and went out again with the first free head of water. Towards the close of 1869 the snow was two and one-half feet on the level and by March 15th there were fifty-two inches of it in the woods and lumbering was seriously embarassed.
"The supply of the camp was another great task, the new state road being under construction during the end of 1869 and into 1870 was very rough and the snow continually falling, teams were hardly able to supply the camp. I have omitted the fact that about the middle of November Mrs. Brink arrived at the camp on Chubb creek, after a most tedious journey along the old hunter's trail in a rickety sleigh, and all the way through a driving snowstorm. The team giving out about dark, the party were obliged to seek shelter from the storm in a little bark wigwam near a little lake and there to wait until relieved by a team from the farm about midnight.
"Sometime in May the first log drive started, but as the dam was inadequate, it only reached a point eight or nine miles below by the road where the building of another dam was commenced, now called No. 2. The drive was there abandoned and the crew adjourned to the first of September next, leaving the mosquitos and flies in peaceable possession. In the fall of 1870, No. 2 dam was strengthened and Nos. 3 and 4 built and the river cleaned for driving to the big forks of the Au Sable. During the following winter another stock of logs was added to those already in the river and in the spring the whole drive was suc- cessfully carried through to the mouth of the Au Sable. Lumbering was again carried on the following winter, 1870-1, the farm at Crooked lake at the time furnishing a part of the supplies.
"In the fall of 1872 the village of Otsego Lake was established, the Jackson. Lansing & Saginaw railroad being at the same time under construction. Buildings were erected and invitations extended to men of families, under promise of the choice of a building lot, to remove to Otsego lake and erect dwelling houses or rather cabins. Three parties availed themselves of the offer and proceeded to build their cabins to wit : George A. Finch, Adam Assal and Blackford Smalley, the latter preferring to wait till spring before removing his family.
"The winter of 1872-3 was unusually severe, great hardship was endured owing to the hasty erection of the cabins. The company's boarding house was that winter managed by J. M. Groat and family. On the 2d of February, 1873, an accident which might have resulted fatally, but miraculously did not, happened by two of the men letting a large tree fall across the cabin of A. Assal, flattening the roof, the tree breaking and two of the pieces landing in the center of the table, which was at the time being set for dinner. The family escaped with a few slight bruises.
"Lumbering was carried on that winter at Otsego lake by Alfred Stewart and at Chubb creek by C. S. Brink. About this time the Jack-
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son, Lansing & Saginaw railroad was completed as far as track laying is concerned, to the north line of town 29-3, just to the south side of the sink hole and supplies arrived by train.
"A few settlers began to make their appearance with the completion of the railroad to Gaylord during the summer of 1873, and I think that Col. Dickinson, William H. Smith and Thos. C. Woodin were of the number."
OTHER PIONEER ITEMS
The first marriage to take place in Otsego county occurred April 18, 1875. The contracting parties were Miss Alindia W. Martin of Elmira township, and Samuel H. Livingston of Livingston township. They were married in Gaylord by Rev. John N. Wilson. The groom was born in Scotland and was twenty-nine years of age, and the bride was a native of Michigan, and was seventeen years of age.
The first birth to be recorded in the county was that of Miss Vieva S. Parmater, daughter of Dr. N. L. and Violetta Parmater, who was born October 14, 1874, in Livingston township.
The first mill built in the county was erected at Berryville, by J. U. Berry, in 1879, and the first threshing machine brought into the county, in 1878, was owned by E. C. Bussett, of Elmira township. The first mowing machine was owned by T. C. Worden, C. F. Davis and H. H. Gilson, in 1886, and the first self-binder used in the county was owned by A. Kelso of Elmira township, in 1889.
The Agricultural Society of Otsego County was organized in 1881 and its first fair was held in the open air on Courthouse square in Gay- lord, in the autumn of that year. The first officers were: President, J. P. Demarest ; vice president, C. C. Mitchell ; secretary, A. J. Taylor ; treasurer, Chas. S. Fuller. There were, all told, one hundred and eighteen entries and $48 paid out in premiums.
GAYLORD
The first settlers located on the present site of Gaylord in 1874, and the village was incorporated by legislative act in 1881. It was originally known as Barnes.
The county seat has a population of about sixteen hundred; is the center of a very productive agricultural country, the seat of a num- ber of flourishing industries, the junction of the Michigan Central and Boyne City, Gaylord & Alpena railroads and altogether a neat, thriving and substantial village. Among its leading manufactories are the Day- ton Last Block Works, which turn hardwood timber into last blocks and ten pins; the Gaylord Motor Car plant, manufacturers of a utility car for merchants and farmers; the factory of the Gaylord Manufacturing company, whose product consists of sleighs and large wheels for use in the woods ; and Jackson, Wylie & Co.'s stave mill. Saw and gristmills, a foundry and machine shop and other manufactories must be named before the list is complete. The Gaylord State Savings bank, with a $25,000 capital, is the chief medium of financial transactions.
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