USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 53
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painted, and material improvements made throughout the said cem- etery grounds by clearing away stumps, rubbish, undergrowth, etc. During the same time many lots have been tastefully and perma- nently improved by their owners by the addition of new soil, the setting of shrubs, flowering plants, etc., while not a few costly and elegant monuments have been erected, materially beautifying the general appearance of that part of the cemetery grounds. The past ten years services of the present sexton, Mr. Coy, have been very sat- isfactory to all concerned in the management of the cemeteries, and we cheerfully recommend him to your honorable body for reappoint- ment, whilst we cannot close our brief report without testifying in most unqualified terms to the valuable services rendered this board in its official operations, by your late Recorder, Mr. Henry C. Thompson.
St. Joseph's Cemetery belongs to the Catholic society, and is situated near Oak Ridge. It was purchased of Mr. B. B. Hart, and has received that careful attention for which Catholic societies are noted.
CITY AND TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.
The first schoolhouse in the township of Bangor was built about 1860, on a lot given for that purpose by the owner of the land. It stood back from the river a distance of a quarter of a mile and was used for various public purposes other than schools. The sov- ereign people of Bangor gathered there to vote at an early day, and the zealous missionary assembled the pioneers within its walls and proclaimed to them the glad tidings of salvation or the appalling terrors of a judgment to come.
About this time a school was started in the village of Banks, called at that time Bangor. A diminutive shanty was the tempo- rary temple of learning. About 1863 the town hall was finished, and the school was kept there until 1868.
Further toward the south were still other youth thirsting for knowledge, and a school for their benefit was started in the Salz. burgh District. This place had just been "salted," and was a can- didate for metropolitan proportions.
In 1864 Wenona bloomed forth, and grew so famously that, in 1866, the place ripened into an incorporated village. The necessity for better school accommodations was felt, and an effort was made to induce the district to build a new schoolhouse. The pioneer in this movement was Mr. J. A. McKnight. There was a large element opposed to the project; but after a hard struggle, which called into play persistent determination and some strategy, the friends of the measure gained the victory, and bonds to the amount of $10,000 were voted. The morning following the meeting at which this result was reached Mr. McKnight started for Detroit to negotiate the bonds, which he did, and work was begun on the new school building, which, with some additions is the one now in use near Mid- land Street in School District No. 2. It was built by Mr. George Campbell, of Bay City, and cost about $9,500. The furniture cost $1,200 more. It was opened Monday, January 27, 1868, with Mr. A. L. Cumming as Superintendent. There were about 300 pupils in the district, of whom about 180 attended school. The old wooden building was removed to a lot nearer the brick building, and fitted up for further use.
In 1868 a schoolhouse was built at Banks, then School Dis- trict No. 2 of Bangor. This building was a credit to the intelligence and enterprise of the place. It must be remembered that a consid- erable portion of the population of the district were temporary resi- dents and non-taxpayers. The school flourished and was liberally sustained. In November, 1877, that building was destroyed by fire, and the following year the present elegant brick building was erected at a cost of $8,000, including ground. The school has a
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fine library, and the people of the district take great pride in the prosperity of their schools.
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.
The schools of West Bay City are organized under the State law, and the territory of the city of West Bay City and township of Bangor is divided into three school districts. Efforts have been made to separate the schools of the city from those of the township, but never have succeeded. The provision of the city charter rela- ting to school districts is as follows:
SECTION 1. All the territory within the limits of West Bay City included in sections fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, and sections nine, ten and fractional section eleven of the township of Bangor, are hereby organized for school district purposes into a graded school district to be known and designated as school district number one of the city of West Bay City, and all the territory included within the limits of the east half of section seventeen, and all of section twenty, section twenty-one, and the north half of section twenty- nine in the city of West Bay City, and sections seven, eight, the western half of section seventeen and sections eighteen and nine- teen of the township of Bangor are hereby organized for school district purposes into a graded school district, to be known and des- ignated as school district number two of the city of West Bay City; and all the territory included within the limits of the city embraced in the south half of section twenty-nine and the whole of section thirty-two is hereby organized for school district purposes into a school, to be known and designated as school district number three of the city of West Bay City, and as such school districts numbers one, two and three respectively of the city of West Bay City, they are hereby made owners of all the property now owned by districts now numbered one, two and three respectively of the city of West Bay City, and subject to all contracts made with and by said dis- tricts respectively, and are hereby declared liable respectively for the payment of all bonds, notes, debts and liabilities of said school dis- tricts numbers one, two and three respectively of said city, whose legal successors said school districts numbers one, two and three respectively, of the city of West Bay City are declared to be, and the officers of said school districts, numbers one, two and three respec- tively, of the city, are hereby declared to be and are hereby created the officers of said school districts numbers one, two and three respectively, of the city of West Bay City, and shall continue to hold their offices till the expiration of the terms for which they were elected as officers of said school districts numbers one, two and three respectively of the city of West Bay City.
SECTION 2. The full amount of all the taxes to be levied for school purposes upon the taxable property of said school districts numbers one, two and three respectively of the city of West Bay City shall be certified by the officers or boards of trustees of said dis- tricts respectively to the supervisors of said township of Bangor and the comptroller of said city, who shall each certify to the other the amount of taxable property in those parts of said districts lying in his township or city, and such comptroller and supervisor shall respectively ascertain the proportion of such taxes to be placed on their respective assessment rolls according to the amount of taxable property in such parts of such school districts, and the same shall be spread upon the assessment rolls accordingly.
SECTION 3. No trustee or officer of either of said school dis- tricts shall be directly or indirectly interested in any contract as principal surety, or otherwise, the expenses or consideration whereof are to be paid under any act of ordinance of the board of school officers or trustees of which he is a member, nor be surety or bondsman on any contract or bond given to said board of school officers or trustees.
SECTION 4. All provisions of the general laws of the state rela- tive to common and union or graded schools shall apply and be in force in said city, except such as may be inconsistent with the pro- visions of this act or with the by-laws and ordinances of the board of school officers or trustees of either of said districts made such under this act."
There are now in the three school districts six school buildings belonging to the districts. and one rented building in district No. 2. Two sites for buildings have recently been purchased in district No. 2.
OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES.
District No. 1: F. W. Bradfield, moderator; Robert Leng, di- rector; Bernard Lourim, assessor; F. W. Johnson, D. C. Starr, F. W. Beebe.
District No. 2: T. F. Shepard, moderator; J. A. McKnight, director; L. Roundsville, assessor; S. O. Fisher, J. H. Plum, W. M. Green.
District No. 3: B. Staudacher, director; Charles Anderson, moderator; Rudolph Laderach, assessor.
TEACHERS.
District No. 1, E. J. Demorest, superintendent; Mary Aber- nethy, Emma Abernethy, Jane Kern, Mollie Donohue, Anna Revenaugh. Total number of pupils in this district is 850; number enrolled, 400.
District No. 2. F. W. Lankenaw, superintendent; Mrs. C. C. Faxon, Lucy Swift, Marcia Davis, Ida Scofield, M. Silsby, M. Dwyer, Avis Johnson, Ada E. Talbot, Maggie McMullen, Etta Ostrander, Mrs. C. A. Thomas, Miss N. L. Coy. Total number of pupils enrolled in this district 1,076; number belonging 713.
District No. 3. Frank C. Thompson, Principal; Misses Wilma Burton and Effa Weatherby. Number of pupils enrolled 190; average attendance 160; total number of school children in the district 240.
The total number of school children in the three districts, ac- cording to the school census of 1883, is 2,642.
SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
The various societies represented in West Bay City are in an unusually healthy condition, evidently sharing in the general pros- perity of the community in which they are located. Their early organization and present condition is sketched as follows:
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
The history of temperance societies on the west side of the river corresponds with that of similar societies elsewhere. Like individuals, they have lived and died. The first temperance society was a lodge of Good Templars, organized in Wenona in December, 1866, of which Dr. J. A. Chase was Worthy Chief Templar. In May, 1867, we find the following record :
"On Wednesday evening, the 18th inst., G. W. D. D., Thomas Carney installed the following persons as officers of the Wenona Lodge of Good Templars for the ensuing quarter: W. C. T., J. A. Chase; W. V. T., Mrs. Davenport; W. S., A. Chapman; W. A. S., M. Carter; W. C., Rev. D. B. Campbell; W. F. S., L. Roundsville; W. I. G., Miss Anna Eligh; W. O. G., Reuben Eligh; W. R. S., Mrs. R. H. Case; W. L. S., Mrs. T. Carter. This lodge now num bers over seventy members, and is increasing by the addition of new ones at every meeting, a fact which is not very encouraging to the venders of the "vile stuff" on this side of the river."
After a time disagreements arose, and the lodge was divided, which eventually resulted in the downfall of both.
In November, 1881, Rev. Charles Russell, Grand Worthy Chief
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Templar of the state, visited West Bay City and instituted a lodge of forty-seven members. The officers elected were as follows :- W. C. T., Rev. L. P. Davis; W. V. T., Mrs. T. P. Hawkins; W. S., Edwin Van Tuyl; W. T., Miss Lucy McNeil; Fin. Sec., Miss Avis Johnson; W. M., C. Kaynor; W. I. G., Miss Mary Chillson; W. O. G., George Lusk.
The first lodge meeting was held November 25, 1881.
The present membership is eighty-six Present, W. C. T., Rev. L. P. Davis; W. S., A. E. R. Bush; W. T., John Todd; F. S., Eugene Clark.
MASONIC.
Wenona Lodge No. 256, F. & A. M., is one of the pioneer in- stitutions of West Bay City. In November, 1868, a dispensation was granted to Neil Mathewson as W. M., H. Bunnell and C. P. Black as wardens, with power to organize a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in the village of Wenona. At a meeting held November, 12, 1868, a lodge was organized with the following named persons as charter members :- N. Mathewson, C. P. Black, George A. Allen, I. E. Randall, H. P. Baker, William Moots, N. Clark, John H. Blakeley. The lodge received its charter in January, 1869, and February 11th, following, elected officers as follows :- N. Mathewson; W. M .; H. Bunnell, S. W .; C. P. Black, J. W .; D. G. Arnold, Treas,; N. Clark, Secy .; George A. Allen, S. D .; I. E. Randall, J. D .; William Moots, tyler; M. W. Brock and O. J. Davis, stew- ards; John Davis, chaplain.
Meetings were held in a room in the Moots & Babo Block until 1882, when the new hall in the Mosher Block was secured. The present membership is about eighty. Present officers are as follows: -W. M., D. G. Arnold; S. W., George L. Mosher; J. W., Aretus Corbin; treasurer, C. S. Ford; secretary, D. B. Perry; S. D., George A. Allen; J. D., E. W. Light; tyler, Ezra Phelps.
I. O. O. F.
Wenona Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., was instituted March 19, 1874. The event was mentioned at the time as follows :- "Past Grand Master Thomas E. Doughty, of East Saginaw, assisted by members of Bay Lodge, No. 104, and Valley Lodge No. 189, of this city, last evening instituted a new Odd Fellows Lodge at Wenona, to be known as Wenona Lodge, No. 221. The ceremonies commenced at 3 P. M. and continued until 5, at which time an ad- journment was made for supper. The lodge was again called to order at 7 o'clock and the ceremonies proceeded. Eleven candidates were initiated, making the total membership sixteen.
At 12 o'clock those present, to the number of over a hundred, adjourned to the basement of the Ernst Block, where a bountiful repast had been prepared by the ladies of the village. The tables were filled, and all did ample justice to the supper, after which volunteer toasts were proposed and responded to as follows:
E. Newkirk proposed: "The Ladies of Wenona, who provided such a bountiful repast." Dr. Hooper responded in an excellent speech.
Mr. Newkirk proposed: "The Past Grand Master and the breth- ren from Saginaw," and called upon T. E. Doughty, P. G. M., to respond. Mr. Doughty made some well timed remarks.
Mr. Crabb, of East Saginaw, proposed: "The Brethren of Bay and Valley Lodges," which was responded to by Thomas J. Kelley in his usual happy manner. At this juncture one of the large number of gentlemen who had not partaken of the repast called upon Mr. Newkirk to propose a toast regarding them. The hint was a good one and was taken immediately, as was evinced by the lively manner in which those seated at the tables made way for their fasting brethren. It was supposed that all were seated at the table,
or an adjournment from the tables to an adjoining room would have been made sooner.
"The lodge was again called to order at 2 A. M., and while wait- ing for some of the charter members, Mr. Newkirk, being called upon, made a speech giving the lodge some sound advice.
"The following officers were then installed, and at this morning the lodge adjourned :- N. G., John Pelton; V. G., Amos Hewitt; R. S., M. A. Dowling; T.,R. Van Tuyl; W., J. Ernst.
"The new lodge starts out with brilliant prospects for the future, and it will, no doubt, make a shining light in the Odd Fellows' firm- ament. The hall, which is in the Ernst Block, is tastefully fitted up, the regalias are handsome, and, in fact, everything is the best."
The lodge has continued in a flourishing condition. The offi- cers for 1883 are as follows :- N. G., John McCartney; O. G., Thomas L. Jewell; R. S., Charles Anderson; P. S., S. L. Brigham; treasurer, R. Laderach; representative to grand lodge, H. Hifield.
There is also a lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah.
ROYAL ARCANUM.
Wenona Council, No. 31 Royal Arcanum, is one of the pros- perous institutions of West Bay City. It was organized December 3, 1877, with thirty-one charter members. The officers for 1883 are as follows:
Regent, G. H. Francis; vice-regent, J. B. Kanouse; orator, F. W. Lankenaw; secretary, E. S. Van Liew; collector, L. Rounds- ville; treasurer, H. H. Aplin; guide, Wallace Gerow; warden, George Harrison; sentry, A. Perkins; physicians, Dr. W. E. Magill, Dr. J. W. Hauxhurst; representative to grand council, H. H. Aplin; alternate, G. H. Francis; trustees, T. F. Shepard, G. H. Francis, F. A. Peak.
The lodge has a membership of ninety. Two deaths have occurred in the lodge since its organizatiou, $3,000 being paid in each instance.
KNIGHTS OF MACCABEES.
Sir Knight Hugh Elliott, deputy grand commander of the Knights of Maccabees of the World for Michigan, instituted a tent of that order in West Bay City, in March 1883, with twenty-six charter members, and installed the following officers:
Past Sir Knight Commander, Allen G. Plum; Sir Knight Commander, Luther B. Edinborough; Sir Knight Lieut. Com- mander, John B. Kanouse; Sir Kuight R. K., Allan H. Stillman; Sir Knight F. K., Charles B. McCloy; Sir Knight Pro., Charles S. Ford; Sir Knight Phy., J. W. Hauxhurst; Sir Knight Sergt., William McCloy; Sir Knight M. at A., James A. Scott; Sir Knight 1st of G., John E. Austin; Sir Knight 2d of G., Harry Smith; Sir Knight Sent., Eugene Adams; Sir Knight Pick., William H. Lurm.
This tent is composed of the representative young men of West Bay City.
THE BACHELORS' CLUB.
A history of West Bay City would be lamentably incomplete without some notice of an organization that, for a brief moment, fiercely threatened the matrimonial interests of this fair city with disappointment and disaster. Bachelors have cast their shadows upon the path of life in all periods of the history of mankind. At divers and sundry times they have banded themselves together in order to more successfully resist the arch enemy of single blessedness. It is both singularly true and truly singular that a matrimonial epidemic never raged among a community of bachelors with such sweeping fierceness as immediately after the organization of a bachelors' club. Bay City has a bachelors' club, though its decimated ranks revive the proverb that history repeats itself. The history of the Bachelors' Club of West Bay City is about as follows:
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December 25, 1877 .- C. S. Ford, then a young man living in single blessedness in this city, gave a Christmas dinner at his hotel, to which were invited the gentleman friends who now compose the club.
After the party had banqueted and were presumably lingering over the wine in the true convivial style peculiar to bachelor dinners, some one moved that a resolution be drawn up and signed by the gentlemen present, requiring each signer to give a reunion supper at any time during the first year of his future wedded life, to celebrate his advent into the "reign of terror," commonly called matrimony. The suggestion was suitable to the spirit of the party and was drawn up with all due legal extravagance of terms and technicalities, after which the company separated.
The following are the names of the gentlemen who composed the club :- C. S. Ford, G. H. Francis, Curt Pierce, J. S. Taylor, Jr., S. L. Brigham, George Young, James Sayles, Fred Ward, Dr. J. H. Hauxhurst, W. W. Vedder, H. Weber, R. Green, J. R. McNeil; and they have renounced bachelorhood in the following order :- Francis, first in less than one year from signing the resolu- tion; Hauxhurst, next in quick succession; Ward, third; Ford, next; Taylor, next and McNeil, sixth. The members have become scattered somewhat, but with the exception of the last reunion have gener- ally managed to participate in the pleasures of the meetings. Young is in Texas, where he has been located for a couple of years. Ward is in Flint and Sayles is in Oscoda; the rest still reside in this city.
Since that Christmas dinner in 1877, of the thirteen bachelors who signed the agreement, six have married, and almost regularly every year the dinners have been given by the benedicts.
At every reunion new resolutions are adopted, and as the con- ditions require each member to be present with his family, the com- pany gradually increases and new faces are present at every meet- ing. As Dr. Hauxhurst laughingly said when giving the history of the club, "Heaven help the last, unless he gets there pretty soon, for he'll be obliged to lease an opera house to hold 'em."
The last reunion occurred at the residence of Capt. B. F. Pierce, father of Curtis Pierce, Thursday evening, October 5, 1882, the occasion being the marriage of J. S. Taylor, Jr., which occurred some time ago, but which was not celebrated at the time, owing to Mr. Taylor's departure from the city, almost immediately after his marriage.
Whether any of the original members will still remain good and regular at the time this sketch meets the eyes of the reader is a query fraught with too much uncertainty to warrant the writer in recording an opinion.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
At the annual school meeting in 1873, the directors called at- tention to the fact that there was in the treasury $250, belonging to the library fund, and proposed that $250 more should be raised by tax that year for the purpose of starting a public school library; but this proposition was immediately voted down. Nothing daunted, however, the School Board at one of their meetings deter- mined to expend the money on hand and purchase what books they could for such a library, and immediately sent for catalogues to various publishers, from which they made selections as far as the money would go, and were rewarded by seeing that it was going to be a valuable auxiliary to the schools.
At the annual meeting in 1874, the librarian, Mr. Whitmore, made a report showing that there were in the library 351 volumes; and at that meeting the board were instructed to purchase a com- plete set of Appleton's American Encyclopedia, which was done,
and quite a large number of other books were also added out of funds on hand.
From that time to this the library has been increasing until now it contains about 1,700 volumes, and this number will be in- creased to 12,000.
When the library was first started it was placed in the brick school building, but that place proving to be insufficient, the fine library room on the second floor of Aplin's building on Linn Street was rented aud a librarian hired to take charge of it. This has nearly all been accomplished without direct expenditure of the people's money, the funds being received from the money paid for fines by the law breakers.
A year or so ago, Mr. H. W. Sage concluded to leave some- thing to West Bay City besides docks and saw mills, and it was very natural that his mind should turn to some enduring benefit in which all classes might share. Having the youth of West Bay City uppermost in his thought he decided to give them a good public library, and forthwith proceeded to carry out his benevolent designs. His gift was to consist of a library building costing $22- 000, the lots occupied by the building and $10,000 worth of books. The building was commenced in 1882 and is to be completed in September, 1883. It is situated on Midland Street, opposite the new Presbyterian Church, and when finished will be a rich addition to the possessions of the city. In this institution the citizens of West Bay City are endowed with a legacy of great and enduring value, and one that will remain a fitting monument to the memory of the founder of Wenona.
The control of the library is to be placed with a board of trustees, of which, ministers in charge of churches in the city, the mayor and president of the Board of Education are to be ex-officio members.
THE PRESS.
By 1869 the village of Wenona had arrived at a degree of in- portance such as seemed to warrant the publication of a newspaper, and in the Summer of that year Mr. J. B. TenEyck started the Wenona Herald. He afterward sold his office to Messrs. Cowles & McMullen, who, in 1872, removed the office to Bay City. In November, 1872, Mr. S. H. Egabroad entered upon the field with a paper bearing the same name as the one that swam the river a few months before. April 5, 1873, William J. Ward, a journalist of long experience, purchased the office and published the Herald until November, 1879, when he removed the office to Dowagiac, where he published a daily paper for a short time. In 1881 he re- turned and has since then been connected with the daily papers of Bay City. He is now upon the staff of the Morning Call. Mr. Ward worked at the case thirty years ago.
November 19, 1879, a few weeks after the Herald office was re- moved, Messrs. Dowling & Stuart started the E.raminer. They were succeeded by the firm of M. A. Dowling & Co., and May 1, 1882, the firm was again changed to Dowling & McLaod. July 1, 1882, Mr. Dowling retired and Mr. McLaod ran the paper alone until the following December, when the present firm of McLaod & Platts began. At the same time the publication of a daily was be- gun, which is still continued. The present publishers are young men of good ability and enterprise and their business is in a flourish- ing condition. The Eraminer office was one of the victims of the great fire of 1881.
BANKING.
The Lumberman's State Bank of West Bay City is an institu- tion deserving of more than passing notice. The elegance of its business apartments is in harmony with the high order of commer-
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