USA > Michigan > Alpena County > Centennial history of Alpena County, Michigan > Part 13
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The constitution of 1850, also fixed the salaries of all officers. and making the Circuit Judge's at $1,500 a year, a sum barely sufficient to pay the board and traveling expenses of some of the Judges in the northern counties, and they were compelled to seek relief through the several Boards of Supervisors, who. in order to do justice, which the Legislature had not done, they were compelled to violate the laws of the State, and be- come a law unto themselves.
The first session of the Circuit Court was held in the Myers block, in October, 1860, and presided over by Judge Woodworth. The court officers were: William R. Bowman, Sheriff, and Addison F. Fletcher, Clerk. Oliver T. B. Williams was the only resident lawyer. He had moved to Fremont, in the spring of 1860. He was a man of considerable ability. and in the fall of 1860, was elected first Prosecuting Attorney.
Judge Woodworth held but one or two sessions of court. and was succeeded by the Hon. James Birney, who held but one session of court each year, until the fall of 1865, when the Honorable Jabez G. Sutherland was elected. Judge Sutherland held two sessions of court each year, until 1870, when he was elected to Congress. The Hon. T. C. Grier was
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JUDICIARY.
appointed to fill the vacancy, and held the May term for 1871. Judge Grier died before the time of holding another session of the court, and the Hon. Sanford M. Green was elected to fill the judgeship, and who is the presiding Judge in 1876.
Alpena has been very fortunate in her selection of Circuit Judges. All have been able lawyers, old and experienced ju- rists, and well headed. The court officers, in 1876, are:
Thomas B. Johnston, Sheriff.
John Thompson, Under Sheriff.
George W. Jones, Deputy Sheriff.
Charles N. Cornell, Clerk,
Alexander McDonald, Deputy Clerk.
Victor C. Burnham, Prosecuting Attorney.
A. M. Haynes, Reporter.
John H. Stevens, Circuit Court Commissioner.
The Circuit Court continued to be held in the Myers block, until 1863, when the first session of the court was held in the, so-called, Hitchcock Court House, and all the county officers, and records, were moved there, and so remained, until 1870, when the building was destroyed by fire, and many of the re- cords and papers were burned. The court records, records of the Board of Supervisors, the records of marriages, deaths, naturalization, some assessment rolls, account books and vouch- ers. The court and offices were then removed to rooms over Potter Brothers' hardware store, where they remained until they again passed through the ordeal of fire, but this time without being scorched, as everything belonging to the court and records, were saved. The Court was then held in the Union School house, until the Potter block was finished, when the court and county offices were removed to rooms prepared for them, over the hardware store of Potter Bros., where they remain in 1876.
The following are the members of the Alpena bar, in 1876: Obed Smith, J. B. Tuttle, R. J. Kelley, J. D. Turnbull, J.
.
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JUDICIARY.
D. Holmes, J. H. Stevens, V. C. Burnham, A. R. McDonald. All survived the Centennial year, excepting Obed Smith, who died at his residence, in Alpena, on the 20th day of No- vember, 1876. He was the oldest member of the bar, being an octogenarian. He was admitted in 1862. He was a Mason, in good standing, and was buried with Masonic honors-the Alpena bar attending his funeral in a body. He was one of the early settlers of Fremont, having built the first steam saw- mill in the county, in 1859. In 1865, he built the first bridge across Thunder Bay river, between Dock and Second streets. He was active in business, temperate in habits, truthful in his expressions, and was just in his dealings with his fellow men.
4.
CHAPTER IX.
FINANCIAL.
The writer has given a list of the names appearing upon the first and original tax roll of the county, and the valu- ation of real estate and personal property, and the tax assess- ed to each person. There seems to be some mistakes in this roll, which the writer has been able to point out below, and a discrepancy between this roll and the first highway tax roll, which he cannot explain.
Mr. Irwin, when he made the first assessment tax rolls, was inexperienced in township business. He had no prior rolls to look at, and no one to instruct him in the matter, that was wiser than himself. The property, to be assessed, was scattered from South Point to Middle Island, and the only way to reach it was by small boat, or foot it along an Indian trail along the lake beach. The value of real estate, ah! what was it worth ? Any nominal sum that might be placed upon it. Under those circumstances, would it be anything strange to find some mistakes? It would be something unusual if there was not.
D. D. Oliver,
Real estate. 1,680 00 400 00
Personal. 496 00
198 46
George N. Fletcher,
16 28
J. K Lockwood,
J. Oldfield,
W. A. Chisholm,
4,886 72
211 10
J. S. Minor,
Andrew Horn,
1,909 45
86 31
Been & Evans,
1,038 38
247 00
53 18
J. J. Malden,
170 00
6 86
J. W. Paxton,
976 00
40 42
Daniel McDonald,
534 00
21 73
John Cameron,
263 00
9 69
Miller, Fletcher & Co.,
750 00
29 50
Am't of tax.
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FINANCIAL.
Daniel Carter,
225 00
9 15
Lewis Atkins,
100 00
4 07
G. B. Melville,
65 00
2 61
J. J. Shaw,
115 00
4 63
G. N. Fletcher,
195 00
7 96
Total of tax,
$701 95
It will be readily seen that the foregoing is incorrect, for the the tax was a fraction over four per cent, and the amount as- sessed to Oliver, at four per cent, would not be half the tax which is set opposite his name. Been & Evans were not real estate owners, and Andrew Horn's real estate was valued. in 1858, at $473.32, instead of $1,909.45, and Oliver was as- sessed for $4,513.75 real estate, and $496 personal property. Everything, in regard to personal property, is correct. The whole amount of tax, voted to be spread upon the tax roll, for 1858, was $889.62.
For county purposes, $364.62.
For township purposes, $425.00.
For highway purposes, $100.00.
The first disbursement, from the road tax, was to pay for surveying a road, from near the mouth of Thunder Bay river to Devil river. The first disbursement of the county funds, was to pay J. K. Miller for making a transcript of the records of lands, from the counties of Mackinac and Cheboygan, which lands belong to Alpena county, and were recorded in those counties, while Alpena was a part of their territory.
The writer has given the valuation of property in Alpena county in 1858, and the amount of tax spread upon the tax roll, in order to show the financial condition of the county when it was organized. And now it may not be uninteresting to the reader to give the assessed valuation of property in the county in 1875, and the financial condition of the city in 1876, as a contrast, and showing the rapid growth of the county; and also serving as a starting point for another Centennial.
170
FINANCIAL.
At the annual meeting, on October 11th, 1875, the Board of Supervisors equalized the real estate and personal property in the city of Alpena and the several townships, subject to be tax- ed, as follows:
City of Alpena, $788,270 00
Township of Alpena,
100,000 00
Township of Long Rapids, 300,000 00
Township of Wilson, 299,256 00
Township of Ossineke,
350,000 00
A resolution was passed as follows:
Resolved, That the several Supervisors of the county of Al- pena, are hereby authorized and directed, by the Board of Su- pervisors of Alpena county, to spread upon their assessment rolls for the year 1875, the following sums, and for the follow- ing purposes, to wit:
TOWNSHIP OF WILSON.
For contingent expenses,
$2,400 00
For highway purposes, 1,496 28
TOWNSHIP OF LONG RAPIDS.
For contingent expenses,
$4,092 48
For highway purposes, 1,592 48
TOWNSHIP OF ALPENA.
For contingent expenses,
$
400 00
For highway purposes, 521 73
TOWNSHIP OF OSSINEKE.
For contingent expenses,
$ 600 00
For highway purposes,
2,880,00
For school purposes,
700 00
And it was also,
Resolved, That the several amounts to be raised for State and county purposes, for the year 1875, in the several town- ships and city of Alpena, in the county of Alpena, be appor- tioned as follows, to wit:
City of Alpena-State tax, County tax,
$ 325 00
6,870 00
Township of Wilson-State tax, County tax, 2,605 00
122 50
Township of Long Rapids-State tax, 123 00
County tax, 2,615 00
1
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FINANCIAL.
Township of Alpena-State tax. County tax, 875 00
41 00
Township of Ossineke-State tax,
143 39
County tax,
3,035 00
These resolutions were adopted by the following vote: Ayes, Bedford, Lewis, Louden, Phelps, Spratt, Turnbull, White and Brackinreed. Nays, none. Cornell, Clerk of Board.
In March, 1876, the Comptroller and Treasurer of the city of Alpena, made a report to the Mayor and Common Council, as follows:
From the Comptroller.
GENTLEMEN :- I would most respectfully submit the follow- ing report, in reference to the finances of said city, for the present fiscal year, beginning April 1st, 1875, up to March 20th, 1876:
Outstanding contingent orders, April 1, 1875, S 901 61
Contingent orders issued since,
8,697 45
Outstanding fire orders, April 1, 1875, 406 75
Fire orders issued since,
2,250 47
Outstanding police orders, April 1, 1875,
345 38
Police orders issued since,
1,007 50
Outstanding street orders, April 1, 1875,
195 95
Street orders issued since,
2,807 08
Outstanding bridge orders, April 1, 1875,
34 40
Bridge orders issued since,
721 15
Outstanding engine bonds,
2,000 00
Coupons on above,
300 00
Interest on coupons,
24 66
Interest on orders redeemed,
310 53
Total,
$20,002 92
Contingent orders redeemed to date,
$7,557 10
Contingent orders now outstanding,
2,057 68
Fire orders redeemed to date,
2,322 47
Fire orders now outstanding,
324 74
Police orders redeemed to date,
1,262 88
Police orders now ontstanding,
90 00
Bridge orders redeemed to date,
745 35
Bridge orders now outstanding,
10 15
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FINANCIAL.
Street orders redeemed to date,
2,759 03
Street orders now outstanding, 244 00
Engine bonds redeemed to date,
1,000 00
Engine bonds now outstanding,
1,000 00
Engine coupons redeemed to date,
200 00
Engine coupons now outstanding,
100 00
Interest on coupons, 24 66
Interest paid on city orders redeemed,
310 53
Total, $20,002 92
RECAPITULATION OF OUTSTANDING ORDERS, ETC.
Contingent orders outstanding to date, 2,057 96
Fire orders outstanding to date, 324 74
Police orders outstanding to date, 90 00
Bridge orders outstanding to date,
10 15
Street orders outstanding to date,
244 00
Engine bonds outstanding to date,
1,000 00
Coupons outstanding to date, 100 00
Total outstanding orders, bonds. etc., $3,826 85
Amount due from county to city. 3.998 21
Signed, J. D. TURNBULL, Comptroller. CHARLES B. GREELY, Treasurer.
These figures show well for the financial condition of the city, for the Centennial year.
CHAPTER X.
MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, ETC.
In the spring of 1859, the first marriage was celebrated in Alpena county. Miss Mary L. Carter being the first young lady that had come to the county as a permanent resident, as- sumed the right to be the first married; and in harmony with previous arrangements, it was recorded: "Married, March 10th, 1859, at the residence of the bride's mother, by David D. Oliver, Esq., Justice of the Peace, George B. Melville to Mary L. Carter, both of Fremont."
The record of marriages was burned in the court house, in in 1870, and not having any more of the records in his posses- sion, the writer will not be able to notice any more of the early marriages of Fremont. The records kept since the fire, shows that, from February 11th, 1871, to June 1st, 1876. two hun- dred and forty-four marriages, three hundred and sixty-seven births, and one hundred and ten deaths have been recorded.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
TEMPERANCE .- This subject involves the feelings of so many persons now living in Alpena, that a full discussion of the sub- ject cannot be had; and the writer would omit the subject en- tirely, did it not play so conspicuous a part in the carly settle- ment of the county: for he would find it extremely difficult to use the truth so sparingly as not to contradict the conceived ideas of some, and not offend others. Almost every town, when new, has had its "roughs," and "spreeing" time, and Fre- mont was not an exception. Pontiac, Oakland county, Michi- gan, was noted, in its early days, for its "spreeing," and a fare- tions gentleman, well known there in 1840, by the cognomen of "Salt Williams," who said he "had an altercation with a
174
VARIOUS SUBJECTS. .
man, and told him to go to h-1 or Pontiac, and the great fool went to Pontiac." Fortunately most of the proprietors and early settlers of Fremont were temperate people, and opposed to the introduction and traffic of spirituous liquors; and conse- quently the "spreeing" season of Alpena was not long, but it was not without its evil effects. The writer had been much annoyed and injured in his business, at Devil river, by the sale of whiskey to his men, by one Walter Scott, who resided near the mouth of Thunder Bay river, and fished, looked pine lands, and traded with the Indians. A number of times his life and property had been in peril, during the drunken sprees of his men, and in one instance, his mill was shut down for a month, in consequence of a drunken spree of his men.
Those who live in a well settled country or in a city where, if a man gets drunk and abusive, he is taken care of by the Sheriff, Constable, or the Police, can form no adequate idea of the annoyance, hardship and peril that liquor makes in a new place. There you must either abscond, or be prepared to de- fend yourself by physical force.
In the spring of 1862, the schooner Helen, from Saginaw, came into Thunder Bay river, to bring supplies for Walter Scott. This happened on Sunday, and some of the writer's men saw her come in, and knew that she would have liquor on board, as Scott had run out of that article toward spring. So two or three were delegated, by the others, to go to Thunder Bay river and bring three gallons of whiskey. We had finish- ed the winter's logging, and run the logs to the mill, and were intending to start the mill, to run night and day, that Sunday night, at midnight, but when the time came to start, we found only one man that could work, or could be trusted in the mill. We had seen what was going on, and had placed in our pocket one of Colt's revolvers, as a protector, while watching the mill. Soon after daylight, in the morning, as we were standing in our door, we heard a loud noise in the men's sleeping room,
175
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
across the way, and soon an old German came down the steps, his face streaming with blood, and following him were three or four men. We stepped quickly forward, and as we passed into the street, the old German passed us, going into the house. We asked, what was the matter, but received no response. We then passed on to meet the men, who said the German had committed some offense; had got drunk and went to bed and left them, and that they had gone to wake him up and give him h-1. Before they got through with their "yarn," the German appeared with a shot gun, loaded with nine buck shot. As soon as they saw the German with the gun, there was a scattering. each one dodging out of sight, as quick as possible, except one who was standing close to us, and did not at once take in the situation, but when he did, he clung to us for dear life. The old German came within two rods of us, with the gun cocked and pointing at us, said: "Get out of the way or I will shoot. I will kill him."
We told the old man that he would do wrong to shoot us. for we could not get out of the way of the man; to put down his gun and go into the house, and we would settle the matter all right, and after talking, perhaps two minutes, which seemed a much longer time, he put down the gun and started for the house. As soon as the gun was laid down, the man behind us ran and seized it by the muzzle, and gave it a whack across a log and narrowly escaped setting the gun off, pointing at his breast.
In the meantime, those who had been hidden away, came out, swearing that they "would kill the Dutchman," and all made a rush for the house. We quickly made up our mind that we had business on hand, and we felt for our revolver and a small round stone, to grasp in the hand, to support it, and give weight to the blow, and started on the run for the house.
A number had reached it before us, some with sticks and other things they had picked up. Two had reached the Ger-
176
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
man and were whacking away at him. As we went into the house, we reached from the shoulder, for every head that came in our way, until we came to the old man, whom we told to go upstairs, and on obeying, we followed him to the stairway.
By this time, those that their heads had come in contact with the hand that had the stone in it, were rushing for us, and to go up the stairs, when we turned round with the revolver in our hand, and with words well qualified, we told them that we would shoot the first man that made any more disturbance; for them to go home and get sober and pack up their things, for they would all be discharged, and go down on the schooner Helen.
This made a quietus. We then sent the only sober man we had to Thunder Bay river, to engage the schooner to call at Devil river, on her way down. The next day the schooner came in, and, reluctantly, they all went aboard. Some were good men, and had been with us for a number of years, and we felt loth to let them go, but under the circumstances, we could not retain those and not the whole.
We then went to Detroit, by the way of Thunder Bay Is- land, and hired a new crew of men and women, and put them on board a small propeller, called the Clifton, that had just started to run on the shore, from Detroit to Alpena, and came up as far as Port Austin. Here, the boat went into the har- bor, to discharge some freight, and in backing out, she struck a rock and went on so fast, that she could not get off. We then took all our freight and persons on shore, found a place where the ladies could stay, and went into camp with the men. We were here two weeks before any craft came in, that could take us to Saginaw.
After reaching Bay City, we hired a craft to take us to Devil river, where we arrived, after four weeks' absence. Although we had succeeded in keeping the sale of liquor from Devil river, yet so long as it was sold within reach of the men, it was impossible to escape the pernicious effects of the occasional
177
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
sprees, and we were pleased to learn that the parties, about to operate at Fremont, were opposed to the sale of liquor.
Soon after Mr. Miller came to Fremont, an informal meeting was had, at which were Daniel Carter, J. K. Miller, J. S. Ir- win, A. F. Fletcher, and the writer, and it was verbally under- stood and agreed to use all proper means to keep the sale of spirituous liquors from Devil river and Fremont. This was the first combination against whiskey, in the county, and although not very strongly bound together, yet firm enough to have kept whiskey from the place for a long time, had Mr. Miller not taken so much responsibility on himself, and left more for his neighbors.
Several attempts were made to sell liquor from small boats, but they were severely dealt with, and generally quit the place in disgust.
In 1859, J. K. Bingham came to Fremont, bringing with him a general assortment of goods, that he supposed would be needed in a new country, and among other things, a few bar- rels of assorted liquors. He saw Mr. Miller, and requested him to store the goods in his warehouse, for a few days, until he could build a store. Mr. Miller, learning that Mr. Bing- ham had liquors, refused to give it storage, and no other store- house being in the place, Mr. Bingham was compelled to pro- vide storage for his goods, which he did by landing them on the east side of the river, where he covered them with boards, set a watch over them day and night, and commenced to sell his liquors, and before Mr. Carter or the writer had any in- timation of the facts, the business had got so far established, that it would require more effort than they wished to accept. and more responsibility than they wished to incur, under the circumstances, to stop it. Mr. Bingham was a man of energy, had a fair education and address; had considerable means, and much influence at that time, as Moses Bingham was his son. and had been in Fremont for some time, and he was acquaint-
178
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
ed with Abram Hopper and others, from his part of the State. He was not long in winning the respect and sympathy of a large portion of the citizens of the county.
Had Mr. Miller quietly taken possession of the liquor, and then notified his friends what he had, and all went to Mr. Bing- ham, in a body, and requested him to send the liquor away, and stating our reasons, he would have complied with our re- quests, and liquor, for a long time, might have been kept out of the place, with but little effort, had it been well directed.
Mr. Miller was very conscientious in regard to handling whis- key and tobacco, and so utterly refused to have anything to do with Mr. Bingham's liquors, and for this hasty and conscientious act, he made an enemy of Mr. Bingham, alienated very much the sympathies of friends, lost much of his influence among the people, and caused himself, for many years, to be treated with discourtesy, by those who were in favor of the liquor traffic, and which sometimes took on a form of open abuse, which was not approved by the majority.
These abuses, after a time, extended to everyone who was opposed to seeing a drunken mob in the street, and finally cul- minated in a man, by the name of Crawford, being shot and killed. This was a sad affair, and created much excitement and heated discussion at the time, the details of which can not, with propriety, be given here, or at this time.
Whether this affair was a fortunate or unfortunate one, it did much good for the county. It made a line of demarkation be- tween rowdyism and law and order, and showed a large ma- jority for the latter. It showed the roughs, that they were not masters of the situation, as they supposed they were, nor did they receive the sympathy they expected from the people.
In 1867, a man by the name of Sprague, was arraigned be- fore the Circuit Court, for heading a drunken mob, and fined, and whiskey, in large quantities, ceased to abuse people in the streets, and marked the end of the spreeing time of Alpena.
179
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
The same causes, which produced a change in the spreeing, also divided the people, in regard to the temperance question. and for some time a bitter feud was carried on between the parties. In February, 1870, a temperance organization was effected, called the Temperance League of Alpena, its object being the suppression of the liquor traffic, in the place. The officers of this powerful organization were: for President, Capt. A. E. Persons; for Secretary, F. S. Goodrich; for Treasurer, James J. Potter, and for executive committee, Wm. H. Potter, Scott Doane, Wm. D. Hitchcock, Christopher Burrell and T. M. Luce.
The following paper was drawn up, which explains itself: "We, the undersigned, agree to take the number of shares set opposite our names, at $5.00 each, subject to such assessments as the Executive Committee of the Temperance League may find necessary to make, in order to carry on the work of or- ganization. The capital stock to be $2,000.00, or more."
The names of the stock-holders are given, to show the power and influence of this combination against the sale of liquor. W. H. Potter, W. J. Roe, A. E. Persons, T. M. Luce, Balfor Lee, J. J. Potter, Scott Doane, J. D. Potter, Fred. S. Goodrich, W. D. Hitchcock, C. Burrell, F. H. Vroman, H. M. Jacobs, J. C. Park, Robert Rayburn, Samuel Dafoe, E. K. Pot- ter, C. W. Vail, Henry S. Seage, B. R. Young, A. C. Tefft. A. N. Spratt, J. W. Marshall, F. S. Dewey, Benjamin Rich- ards, James Oglevie, H. Cook, Rev. F. N. Barlow, C. C. Whit- ney, T. Lang Taylor, Z. M. Kuight, M. B. Spratt, A. Miller. G. W. Jones, A. Crowell, A. L. Powers & Co, C. E. Wilcox, Wm. E. Rice, James Tuggy, Thos. G. Spratt, Herman Chamberlain, E. M. Raymond, Chas. N. Cornell, H. M. Hyatt, A. Hopper, A. F. Fletcher, P. M. Johnson & Co., Folkerts & Butterfield, .J. W. Van Horn, S. E. Hitchcock. C. H. Trask, W. H. Sexton. S. L. Meade, J. Van Dusen, Fred Miller, Geo. R. Nicholson. E. C. Barlow, W. Nason, H. R. Morse. F. D. Spratt, D G.
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VARIOUS SUBJECTS.
Aber, T. Luce & Co., E. White, R. Williams, C. L. Kimball, Rev. A. B. Allen, D. Plough, C. H. Rice, Geo. Masters, W. McMasters, J. S. Minor, Douglass Scott,' A. L. Seaman, and Hugh Mellen.
Many who were favorably inclined toward the temperance cause, refused to take stock in this combination, on account of the belligerent attitude, its extreme measures, and the bitter- ness then existing between the parties, alleging that action on the part of the League, would endanger the property of Alpena. Among those were: Geo. N. Fletcher, David D. Oliver, Dan- iel Carter, and J. K. Lockwood.
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