USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19
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FRANK FITZHUGH settled in Wenona, now West Bay City, in 1863, his father having extensive real estate interests on that side of the river. Wenona at that time had but one or two houses. He continued his residence there until September, 1882, when le removed to Bay City, where he now resides. Like his brother, his business consists of managing real estate interests which he has on both sides of the river. Henry M. Fitzhugh, another brother, is a resident of Baltimore.
THE BIRNEYS.
The name and fame of James G. Birney have long since passed into history, and the connection in which he appears in this work is only a trifling incident in his life, although the name of Birney has been associated with all the progressive operations of Bay County for a quarter of a century. James G. Birney was a native of Dan- ville, Ky. His early life was surrounded with all the comforts and advantages which wealth could command. He received a finished education, graduating at Princeton, N. J., in 1810, and afterwards
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James J. Birner.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
pursuing the study of law. He began the practice of law at Dan- ville, his native place, and soon after was elected a member of the Legislature of Kentucky. His next field of labor was Huntsville, Ala., where he attained distinction as a lawyer, and was elected solicitor-general of the state. In 1828 he was one of the presi- dential electors selected by the Whig party of Alabama. About this time he made a profession of religion and became an influential mem- ber of the Presbyterian denomination. By inheritance and purchase he became the owner of slaves, and had a cotton plantation carried on under his direction. Soon after this his mind became engaged upon the subject of slavery as a question of morals, which resulted in an espousal of the doctrine of immediate emancipation. Carrying at once into practice the belief he adopted, he executed deeds of manu- mission for each and all of his slaves. From this time on he battled for the emancipation of a race, and to free his country from dis- grace and disaster. Bravely enduring the insults of his fellowmen, and the thick dangers that beset his pathway, he prosecuted his work with courage and vigor. The impression which his noble and courageous conduct made at that time was fitly described by Dr. Cox, of New York, who said :- "A Birney has shaken the con- tinent by putting down his foot; and his fame will be envied before his arguments are answered or their force forgotten."
In 1839 his father died, leaving a large estate, consisting of land, money and slaves. His sister and himself were the only heirs. He requested that all of the negroes might be computed at their market valuation as a part of his share. This was assented to, and he immediately emancipated all of them. In 1840 he visited England as one of the vice-presidents of the World's Convention, and in May of that year was nominated for the Presidency by the Liberty party, and at the election received 7,000 votes.
It can be readily understood that Mr. Birney's large fortune had become greatly reduced in his conflict with a great but popular wrong. About 1840-'41 he became one of the owners of Lower Saginaw, and wishing to look after his interests here, and also to find retirement for a time, he decided to remove to this place. In the Fall of 1841 he arrived at Saginaw City, where he remained during the Winter. At this point we quote from the recollections of Judge Albert Miller, as follows:
" I first saw Mr. Birney in the Summer of 1841, when he and C. C. Fitzhugh, Esq., made their first visit to Saginaw, accompan- ied by Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh, who at that time knew well and highly estimated the advantages possessed by the Saginaw Valley. Some time after they returned to their homes, I heard Mr. Fraser say he had just received a letter from Dr. Fitzhugh, in which the Doctor stated that Mr. Birney's friends were all endeavoring to dis- suade him from taking up his residence at Lower Saginaw, but Mr. . Birney had fully made up his mind to settle here with his family, and that at a certain time they might be expected to arrive. At the time of Mr. Birney's arrival with his family at Saginaw City in the Fall of 1841, at so low an ebb were all the business interests of the valley that the Webster House, one of the largest hotels in Michigan at that time outside of Detroit, built in 1837, was no longer required to accommodate the traveling public or the people of the city, but had for some time been standing unoccupied. Mr. Birney and his family occupied the Webster House as a private dwelling during their residence at Saginaw City, which I think was . about one year. Previous to this time, Mr. Birney,Dr. Fitzhugh and Mr. Fraser had purchased the stock of the Saginaw Bay Land Com- pany, which company owned the Jolin Riley reserve, and had laid out the town of Lower Saginaw, and they became the successors of that company, and the title was conveyed to Mr. Birney, and he acted as trustee till a division of the property was made between the stockholders. On the 4th July, 1842, while Mr. Birney resided
at Saginaw City, a few of the inhabitants gathered at Jewett's Hotel and had a dinner, and while discussing the question of doing some- thing in honor of the day, it was proposed to invite Mr. Birney to give us an address. The late Norman Little and the writer were appointed a committee to wait on Mr. Birney, and extended the in- vitation to him. On performing that duty, Mr. Birney replied that he could say or do nothing to honor that as the anniversary of the birthday of American Independence and Freedom, for that day would not have arrived till the release from bondage of the three or four millions of American citizens who were then held to service by their oppressors. We invited him to come, and he chose his own theme for a discourse. He came and addressed us eloquently on the subject of emancipation, which he at that time considered of so much importance that he spent the best part of his life and for- tune to promote it, and which has since proved to be of more im- portance to the people of the United States than perhaps he ever anticipated, for it brought on a war which convulsed the country from ocean to ocean, and caused mourning in almost every family in the land.
"After removing to Lower Saginaw in the Spring of 1842, Mr. Birney, aside from looking after the interests of the Saginaw Bay Company, for which he was trustee, engaged in stock raising and agricultural pursuits generally. He brought here a fine herd of blooded cattle from the stock of Mr. Sullivan, of Ohio, which has been celebrated for its purity. That importation has served greatly to improve the grade of stock in Saginaw and Bay Counties. Mr. Birney was a kind neighbor and a benevolent man. Some parties in Bay City are much better off now than they would otherwise have been had it not been for the assistance rendered by Mr. Bir- ney in securing to them real estate in the early settlement of the plat. During the latter part of Mr. Birney's residence here, after his health failed, he mingled very little in society, and he finally left for the East, where his earthly career was terminated before his earlier anticipation with reference to the growth and importance of Lower Saginaw were realized, and before the day arrived which he would have considered the birthday of American Independence."
Mr. Birney's residence here was the building that was origin- ally the block house that the Saginaw Bay Company built on the corner of Fourth and Water Streets, and was fixed over for Mr. Birney's use. In 1843 Mr. Birney was again nominated for the Presidency, and at the election in 1814 received 62,300 votes, and in 1845 received 3,023 votes for Governor of the state of Michi- gan.
As elsewhere stated, Mr. Birney used to conduct religious ser- vice in the little schoolhouse, and this practice was continued until others came in to carry on the work.
In 1855 he returned East to Englewood, N. J., for the purpose of educating his son, Fitzhugh Birney. He remained there until his death, which occurred November 23, 1857, at the age of sixty- five years. He did not live to see the triumph of the great cause to which his life was devoted, but another generation have witnessed it and given his name its proper place. One of his biographers says of him :- " No man ever more mildly spoke the words of truth and soberness than he. He reviled no man. A rule which uni- formly guided his own conduct, and which he habitually urged upon his own household, was to speak evil 'of no man.' Often he has been known to rebuke a disparaging remark concerning his bitterest opponent. His sin was that he was a generation in advance of his day."
Mr. Birney's successor in Lower Saginaw was his oldest son, now Judge James Birney, of Bay City. He purchased the interests of his father at Lower Saginaw, and also made large purchases of land from the government. Mr. James Birney is a native of Dan-
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ville, Ky. His collegiate education was obtained at Centre College, Kentucky, and at Miami University, Ohio. At the latter insti- tution he graduated in 1836, and during the two succeeding years was employed in the University as professor of the Greek and Latin languages. During the next two years he attended the law lectures of Judge Storm and Prof. Hitchcock, of the Law School of Yale College, at New Haven, Conn. He subsequently removed to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and entered upon the practice of law. He devoted himself to this business, and became distinguished as a successful practitioner. While in New Haven Mr. Birney married Miss Moul- ton, step-daughter of Nathaniel Bacon, of that city. Of this mar- riage there were five children, only two of whom are living. In 1856 Mr. Birney came to Lower Saginaw to look after his real estate interests, and in the Summer of 1857 removed his family here, and at once interested himself in the development of the town and county.
His first important public service in the interest of the new settlement was to procure the passage of a bill in 1857 changing the name to Bay City. He was elected a state senator in 1858, being nominated by the Republican Senatorial Convention more as a compliment than otherwise, the district, which extended to the Straits of Mackinaw, being Democratic. The portion of Saginaw embraced within Bay had always been regarded as the Democratic stronghold, but Mr. Birney received all the votes of the county but five given for the regular Democratic candidate, and a few scattering votes for a stump candidate. The volume of session laws of 1859 contains some fifty acts he presented for his district, every one of which was adopted. One of the measures which has had an im- portant bearing upon the interests and development of the Saginaw Valley and the Tenth District, which Mr. Birney secured the pass- age of, was the bill giving a bounty for the manufacture of salt. The bill proposed the payment of 5 cents a bushel, but Mr. Birney presented its merits in such favorable light that 10 cents was granted.
In 1860 Mr. Birney was nominated by the Republican State Convention for lieutenant-governor, and elected by over 20,000 ma- jority. He was received with great favor as president of the Senate. During his term as lieutenant-governor, a vacancy occurred in the office of circuit judge, and the Governor tendered the appointment to him. It was accepted, and he presided as circuit judge in a most acceptable manner during the next four years. The circuit em- braced Saginaw, Midland, Gratiot, Isabella, Iosco and Bay Coun- ties. He was unanimously renominated by the Republican Judicial Convention, but the district having a Democratic majority, he was not re-elected, and returned to the practice of his profession. In 1871 Mr. Birney established the Bay City Chronicle, and in 1873 it was issued as a daily. It was published until after Mr. Birney's departure for the Hague, when it was merged into the Tribune. In 1872 Gov. Baldwin nominated Mr. Birney to President Grant as Cen- tennial Commissioner for Michigan to celebrate the hundredth an- niversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1876. He did not serve upon the commission, having been appointed December 17, 1875, as United States Minister to the Netherlands. He went to his charge in the Spring of 1876, and served his country with dis- tinguished ability and fidelity until he resigned the post a short time since.
Mr. Birney. has always been one of the most devoted citizens of Bay City, and has done all in his power to promote its growth and welfare. Few public improvements have been made that he has not aided. He was prominently connected with the enterprise of securing the first railroad, and also the state and other public roads in the county. He is a gentleman of the broadest culture, and ranks high as an orator.
The eldest son, James G. Birney, distinguished himself in the army as captain of the Seventh Michigan Volunteers, and died while an officer of the regular army in 1869.
Arthur Birney conducted the Chronicle for several years, but after it was merged in the Tribune, he retired from journalism, and in 1879 accompanied his father to Europe. After an absence of eight months he returned, and went to Montana, where he died in January, 1882.
THEODORE WALKER was a tailor in Brooklyn, N. Y., and came to Lower Saginaw about 1860 from Long Island, where he had been living for some time. His only business here was to look after his real estate. He was a very eccentric man. He continued a resident of Bay City until his death, which occurred about 1870.
FROM 1842 TO 1848.
Life in the new settlement during the six years following 1842 was rather monotonous. There were a few arrivals, but a transient visitor was a severe tax upon the larder of the place. The little settlement was hemmed in by swamps and forests, and often there was but a handful of meal in the barrel, but that was common prop- erty to all who were hungry. The settlers knew the true meaning of the word "neighbor," and no Lazarus ever fed upon crumbs on the floor while there was bounty on the table. In 1842 Frederick Backus brought a stock of goods and opened a store.
In the Spring of 1842, Hon. James G. Birney arrived with his family.
In 1843 the chief event was the organization of Hampton Township, and the first election was held at the Globe Hotel. W. R. McCormick's hat was the ballot box, and its dimensions were ample for the thirteen votes that were polled.
In 1844 the first school house was built, near where the De- troit and Bay City Passenger Depot now stands. After Mr. Birney came, he used to conduct religious services in this building on Sundays, and the irrepressible Harry Campbell officiated as chorister. He was an excellent singer but could not be always relied upon to make a judicious selection of tunes. It sometimes happened that after four or five stanzas of a good old Presbyterian hymn had been reeled off, Harry, with an expression of countenance as intensely solemn as a church covenant, would start with vigorous unction, into some rol- licking melody, and be halted by Mr. Birney, who would reprovingly point out his mistake. Harry would be astonished at the impro- priety of his selection and repeat it upon the very next auspicious occasion.
In the Winter of 1846-'47 the first saw mill was built by Hop- kins, Pomeroy & Fraser, and during 1848 the Hampton postoffice was established in Thomas Rogers' house. J. B. and B. B. Hart came this year. P. J. Perrott had arrived in 1845.
Mr. Rogers was a justice of the peace, and a couple, whose names are not obtained, presented themselves at his blacksmith shop to have the solemn rite administered. Mr. Rogers was not familiar with the language of the ritual, but knew that a couple under such circumstances must be "pronounced" upon. So, remov- ing his leather apron, he commanded the radiant pair to join hands, when, with official unction, he said: - "By the power vested in me I pronounce you husband and wife." There was no marriage bell, no orange blossoms, no ushers, no giving away the bride, no recep- tion, but, so far as known, the knot tied by the sturdy blacksmith at his anvil held firmly until loosened by an unseen hand.
In the Spring of 1846, Hon. James Birney paid a visit to his father. He was then living in Connecticut, and came to Detroit and thence to Flint. There he took the stage, which was a wagon without springs drawn by a pair of ponies. The roads were either mud or corduroy, and each was worse than the other. Arriving at
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
Saginaw he waited two days for some way of getting to Lower Sag- inaw. Finally, he hired an Indian for seventy-five cents to bring him down in a canoe. When he arrived here he found his father fixing a fence, about where St. Joseph's Church now stands, and the mud and water was ankle deep. There were no streets, and but little use for any. There was not a wagon and but one saddle in the settlement. There was not much about Lower Saginaw to charm a stranger, and he little thought then that he would, in a few years, erect his domestic altar upon its site, and live to see standing here the third city in the state.
In the Winter of 1847, Mr. H. W. Sage came to Lower Saginaw to negotiate with Mr. Birney for his interest in the plat of the vil- lage. Mr. Sage was accompanied by Deacon Andrews and Jarvis Langdon, of Elmira, and Joseph L. Shaw, of Ithaca, N. Y. They arrived here on Saturday, coming in a sleigh from Saginaw City. They put up at Judge Campbell's tavern, although the Judge was not keeping it at that time. They found Mr. Birney sick and unable to attend to any business, but it was too late in the day to return to Sag- inaw. When it came time to go to bed they found the only accommo-
AN EARLY COTTAGE.
dations at their disposal consisted of a small bed room containing one bed. There were four in the party, and while three might manage to crawl into the bed, four would be entirely beyond its capacity. One must sleep on the floor, and to decide who should have the more spacious but rather uncomfortable berth, they cast lots, and Deacon Andrews drew the floor. He was the eldest of the party and in poor health, so Mr. Sage, being robust and accommodating, in- duced the Deacon to take the bed, and he wrapped himself up on the floor. Sunday morning Mr. Sage revolved the situation in his mind and concluded he didn't care to spend another day, and par- ticularly another night, in Lower Saginaw. His longing for salt pork was appeased and he had seemingly exhausted the restful qualities of his bed on the floor. He announced his intention of returning to Saginaw, and all agreed willingly to the proposition but Deacon Andrews. He said he could not travel on the Lord's day. Mr. Sage replied that all days were the Lord's, and he should im- prove that particular one by going to Saginaw. The good Deacon couldn't reconcile the idea of traveling on Sunday with his notions of right, and opposed the arrangement. Finally he went out into the holy calm of a Winter's Sabbath in Lower Saginaw. There were no chimes of Sabbath bells, no murmurs of anthems stealing softly upon the ear, no procession of hymn books moving reveren- tially toward a place of worship. Not even a church spire pierced
the drooping clouds, and even the great sanctuary of nature was as a barren waste to his vision. Stumps and buildings cropped out above the snow, presenting great similarity of expression and dimension, and the current of the river was hidden beneath a roof of ice. There was a far away look toward Saginaw in the Deacon's eyes as he turned back into the tavern. A conflict between duty and in- clination was raging fiercely in the Deacon's mind, and he groaned inwardly as he observed with sinful satisfaction that duty had "taken to the woods" and that the team for Saginaw was at the door. With regretful accent he told the party that, "being so poorly," per- haps it was unwise for him to remain here longer, and it was noticed that the Deacon was the first one of the party to reach the sleigh.
Thirty-six years later, one of the party-the one who slept on the floor-related to the writer the facts of the incident as given. The Deacon has long since gone to that country whose fields are "dressed in living green," and "where Sabbaths never end." The old tavern still remains, though changed in form, while about it have grown up the beautiful busy cities, divided by the river, grown to a great highway of commerce, whose traffic is an exhibit of the mighty industries along its course.
It was during 1847 that Daniel H. Fitzhugh, Jr., arrived and built what was then thought to be an extravagant house on the cor- ner of Third and Water Streets.
FROM 1848
the prospects of the settlement began to brighten, although it cannot be said with truth, that the arrivals were sufficiently numer- ous to seriously disturb the quietude of those already here.
Curtis Munger and Edwin Park arrived heavily laden with pioneer experience; Thomas Carney and wife arrived in pursuit of a pleasant and healthful abode; J. S. Barclay and wife settled here about that time.
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Life in Lower Saginaw about this time was not altogether a barren waste. The female society was composed of Mesdames Catlin, Rogers, Barney, Cady, J. B. Hart, Carney, Campbell, Bar- clay, and perhaps two or three others. All belonged to "our set". and kept perpetual open house, and disseminated the local news with conscientious promptness and diligence. A serpentine foot- path dodged along among the stumps near the bank of the river, and furnished an ample thoroughfare for the equipages of that time.
The greatest activity, however, prevailed during the mosquito season. The Lower Saginaw mosquito is represented in tradition as being an animal of prodigious size and ferocity, and of a hardy variety. The average fish story of the present day is made to ap- pear exceedingly insignificant when a robust pioneer unfolds one of his favorite mosquito legends. Baking day, however, was the pic- nic season of these colonized torments. It was the custom of the housewife to "shoo" out the kitchen, and securely fasten the doors and windows before beginning the exercises of the day. Then, heaping a pile of brown sugar upon the hot stove, she prepared her bread for the oven, unless driven from her fortress by the smudge of the burning sugar. It is nowhere alleged that these defensive measures ever interfered with the operations of the mosquitoes, but they had all the elements of formidable demonstration, and were therefore comforting to reflect upon in after years.
J. L. Hibbard came in the Fall of 1848, and for a long time was in the Munger store. He is still a resident of Bay City.
The boarding house for the Hopkins, Pomeroy & Fraser mill was finished in 1849, and early in 1850 Mr. and Mrs. Carney moved into it.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
Alexander McKay and family came in 1849. J. W. Putnam came about this time, and built a house on Water Street near 'T'hird Street.
1850-'51 witnessed a number of arrivals and the introduction of new industries. Dr. George E. Smith introduced the healing art, and James Fox opened a law office. William and Alexander Mc- Ewan came and built a mill; also Henry Raymond and James Wat- son. Charles E. Jennison came and went into the mercantile busi- ness with James Fraser in a building where the Fraser House now stands. J. S. Barclay built the Wolverton House, still standing in an enlarged form, on the corner of Third and Water Streets near the bridge, and owned by Mr. Barclay.
The tug "Lathrop," owned by Capt. Benjamin Pierce, made its appearance just before this, and was the first tug on the river.
Among the others who came about this time were Henry Hero, E. Stanton, Thomas Whitney, Clark Moulthrop, George Carpenter, the Drake brothers, and J. W. Putnam. Capt. Cole was also in- terested in river navigation.
1852 was marked by the visitation of cholera, which prevailed to a distressing extent, especially among the mill laborers. Upwards of seventy deaths occurred, among whom were Thomas Rogers and Mr. Monroe. Men would suddenly disappear from their posts of labor and the next known of theni would be that they were dead. This dread visitor found easy victims among the foreign population that had come in here to work in the mills and were living under circumstances calculated to invite disease.
In 1853 the Methodist Church was built "way out" in a swamp, on the present line of Washington Street. Its location was thought to be the means of more boat riding on the Sabbath day than was in harmony with scriptural teachings.
Some time in 1855 or 1856, B. F. Partridge purchased land of James Fraser on what is now the corner of Center and Van Buren Streets. He cleared off the timber and built a house. It was about half a mile from Water Street, and was reached by a crooked path through the woods. People could not understand why he wanted to start a hermitage in the depth of the forest when there was plenty of room and mosquitoes in town.
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