USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 73
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The present supervisor of Au Gres is Matthew L. Maxon, a prominent citizen of the town, of whom we subjoin the following brief sketch :
MATTHEW L. MAXON was born in 1849 in Jefferson Co., N. Y. When fourteen years of age he enlisted in the 186th New York In- fantry. He was taken prisoner at Petersburgh, Va., April 2, 1865, and remained in captivity but one week, as on Lee's surrender, April 9, he was released and returned to his regiment. He was one of five brothers who enlisted in the Union army, all of whom,
save one, returned from the South, that one being killed. At the conclusion of the war he came to Bay County, where he has re- mained since, with the exception of three years he was in Texas. Mr. Maxon has for three years past been engaged in the shingle manufacturing business at Au Gres, and was in the same business for four years previous to going there. In 1881 he was elected su- pervisor for Au Gres, which office he now holds. He was married in 1878 to Emma J. Stevens, of Ann Arbor, Mich. They have two children.
The present town officers are as follows: Clerk, M. C. Stanton; treasurer, Warren Scott; school inspector, Joseph Craw- ford; justice for full term, Louis Duby; highway commissioner, Joseph Proult; constables, G. Shotwell, Thomas Sanders, John Freeland, T. Dougherty.
The taxes in Au Gres for 1882 were as follows:
Contingent fund . $1,000 00
Highway and bridge, } of 1 per cent, 1881 554 48
Statute labor do do 547 08
School District No. 1 ) Teachers' wages 400 00
do do ( Contingent fund 150 00
School District No. 2 ) Teachers' wages 200 00
do
do Contingent fund 125 00
BIOGRAPHICAL.
ARCHIBALD RICHARDS, farmer, was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Oct. 6, 1841. He came to Saginaw in 1864 and engaged in working in lumber. He came to Au Gres in 1880 and is farming for himself and his father, Sylvester Richards, who was born in Canada, and came to Au Gres in 1878, and has six acres of farming land under cultivation in Section Twelve. Mr. S. Richards was married to Miss Eliza Hudson, of Canada, Sept. 14, 1840. They have eight living children, Archibald, Robert, Nancy, Achsah, Susanna, Benjamin, Adelaide and Emma.
SYLVENUS D. SCHLOSSER, farmer and lumberman, was born in Richland Co., Ohio, Jan. 4, 1849. He was married to Miss F. G. Gregg, of Ohio, August 7, 1869. She was born Sept. 2, 1847. They have one son, Frederick Allen, born July 17, 1876. He came to Au Gres about ten years ago. Mr. Schlosser has built a fine steam saw mill adjacent to Au Gres village, capable of sawing some twenty thousand feet of lumber per day. The building is thirty- two feet by one hundred in size, and he intends forthwith to put in machinery for the manufacture of staves for barrels. He has been highway commissioner and justice of the peace. He has 120 acres of farming land in Sections Twelve and Thirteen, with a good dwelling and about sixty acres of improvement.
DANIEL D. ELLIOTT, farmer and sailor, was born in Canada, Nov. 15, 1820. He left his native country at the age of twenty years, and spent some twenty four years in Ohio, mostly in the em- ploy of mercantile firms. He afterward returned to Canada, and for some eight years was engaged in farming, and came to Au Gres in October, 1871. He is now serving his third term as clerk of Au Gres Township. He has two living children, Stephen W. Elliott, and Ella, now Mrs. Seymour, of East Saginaw. He, with his brother, John H. Elliott, has an excellent coasting boat, of fifty or sixty tons burthen, with which they ply between Bay City and Al- pena on the coast of the. Saginaw Bay.
JOHN H. ELLIOTT, of Canada, was married to Miss Amanda Matthews, of Canada, May 13, 1849. Their children are Alma, James, John, George, Franklin, Davis and Dorin. Alma, George and John are now deceased. In 1873 a destructive fire occurred, commencing near Mr. Elliott's, in Section Thirteen. It swept over thousands of acres of the forest, roaring like a train of densely
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
loaded freight cars. They put a floor in the well above the water and stored their goods therein, covering it with dirt. At Mr. Moon's, where Mrs. Elliott and others sought refuge in the house, the fire actually warped the glass in the windows until it caused deep ridges therein.
A. WHEELER, merchant, was born in Watkins, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1855. He came to Au Gres, April 7, 1880, and engaged in telegra- phy. He was married to Miss Rebecca Marsh, of Rochester, August 1, 1878. They have one daughter, Esther, born July 29, 1879. Mr. Wheeler is now conducting a store of general merchandise in the village of Au Gres. He owns with his store two acres of land, a beautiful plot for a village home.
WILLIAM A. HILL, builder, was born in Canada, July 1, 1841. He spent his youth and learned telegraphy in his native country. He was married to Miss Sarah A. Hill, of Owen Sound, Ontario, Oct. 24, 1867. Their living children are Lillie, May, Rose, Ida, Daisy and Rolland. Alexander W., and Frederick C. are now de- ceased. Mr. Hill first came to Bay City in 1868, and settled more permanently there two years later. Still later on they returned to Canada for a short time, and came to Au Gres in 1876, where he has now a store and postoffice building and also a telegraph office and a pleasant village home. Mr. Hill has served two years as deputy sheriff, but declined to serve longer because of the pressure of his other business. Mr. Hill has built most of the elegant dwell- ings in the village of Au Gres, and seems to have enough energy in reserve to build as many more.
JAMES GRIMORE, lumberman, was born in Toronto, Canada, in August, 1845. He went from there to Venango Co., Penn., and was engaged in the oil enterprise for over two years. He came to Bay City Nov. 18, 1877, and engaged in lumbering, in which business he has continued ever since. He was married to Miss Catharine M. Hill, of Barrie, Ontario, Dec. 14, 1869. She died March 3, 1881, and he and Miss Elvira C. Twining, of Maine, were married Nov. 30, 1881. He has had five children: Walter J., Florence E., and Charles G. (now deceased), and George H. and Emily M. He has 200 acres of land in Sections Thirteen and Thirty-five in Au Gres, with one hundred improved, and an elegant dwelling and out-buildings worth $3,000. He has been superin- tendent of the Au Gres Boom Company for the last twelve years, and township treasurer seven years.
WARREN SCOTT, log scaler, was born in Portville, N. Y., March 31, 1845. He enlisted in the 85th New York Infantry, Company A, in September, 1861, and served his country through the entire con- flict of the late rebellion and was honorably discharged July 15, 1865. He took part in the battles of Williamsburgh, and Fair Oaks, and the Seven Days' fight during Mcclellan's retreat, and ac- companied General Foster in his raid in North Carolina. During the last year of the war he, with his company, was on garrison duty at Roanoke Island. He came to Au Gres in 1870 and has since then been employed in scaling logs, serving six years for the Rifle Boom Company, and six for the Au Gres Boom Company. He was married to Mrs. Demand Wasco, of Syracuse, N. Y., April 15, 1879. They have one daughter, Mabel. He has a pleasant village home in Au Gres, and is a member of Joppa Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.
Henry REID, farmer, was born in England, June 23, 1847. He came with his parents to Canada when two years of age, and has lived in Saginaw and Bay Counties, Mich., since he was eleven years old. He was married to Miss Jane Marsh, of Canada, July 2, 1882. He has 125 acres of land, mostly in Section Ten, of Au Gres, with twenty-two acres under cultivation. He has been high- way commissioner three years and is now health officer, school moderator, school inspector and justice of the peace.
CHARLES J. THOMPSON, farmer, was born in Finland, Feb. 22, 1844. He came to America in June, 1866, spent six years at sea, and in 1872 he came to Buffalo. Later he spent two years in sail- ing on the American lakes. Still later he located lands in Au Gres, where he now resides. He owns altogether 240 acres, ten of which are already under cultivation.
JOHN A. ROGERS, merchant, was born in South Bay City, June 1, 1841. He spent his youth in that vicinity and received his ed- ucation in Bay City. He has devoted several years of his life to steamboating, occupying one boat, the L. G. Mason, thirteen years. He was married to Miss Belle B. Thompson, of East Saginaw, Jan. 7, 1880. They have one infant daughter, born June 15, 1882. In October, 1882, Mr. Rogers purchased a shingle mill and store of general merchandise in the rising village of Au Gres, and is now conducting the double enterprise with energy and pleasing success.
ELISHA G. COLE, lumberman, was born in Winterport, Maine, March 8, 1850. He has resided in Bay City five years, and six years in Au Gres. He was married to Miss Sarah Twining, of Maine, Feb. 11, 1873. They have one daughter, Blanche, born Feb. 27, 1875. Mr. Cole has spent four years in marcantile busi- ness in Au Gres, but now devotes his whole time to the lumbering interest, in which he is engaged with Mr. Grimore. He has been township clerk, and is now township treasurer and notary public. He has in his village home five acres of land, with a pleasant dwell- ing and desirable appurtenances.
CLAYTON.
Clayton is one of the north tier of townships, and is bounded as follows :- North by county line, east by Mason, south by Deep River, and west by Moffat.
The township was erected by the Board of Supervisors in 1870, and William Smith, one of its hardy pioneers, was its first super- visor.
The first permanent settler was Luther P. Daniels, who settled here in the Spring of 1865, and was the sole resident of the town- ship, with the exception of Chapman's lumber camp, situated two miles distant, until the Spring of 1867, when the Grosvent family arrived, and they were soon followed by the Claytons, Smiths, Defords and Monroes.
The first road in the township was built in August, 1863.
The early settlers had a hard struggle to procure the neces- saries of life. The nearest store and postoffice were at Pine River, a distance of seventeen miles, and the roads were such as were common in those days. A frequent experience of. the early settlers was, that after making the journey to the store, the very articles they most needed were not to be had. It was not an uncommon thing to see Michigan mutton on the table, though there was not a sheep in the township; neither are there any at the present time.
The soil of. the township is a clay loam, underlaid with clay, except the northwest corner which consists of sandy plains.
The timber is beech, maple, ash, basswood, elm, hemlock and cedar. The pine has nearly all been cut.
There are three religious organizations in the township, but only one church building. The M. E. Society organized in 1871, Wesleyan Methodist, 1879, and Free Methodist, 1882. About the first religious service in the township was conducted in 1871 by Rev. Mr. Clark, on the premises of Mr. George Fish.
There are now sixty-four farms in the township, under im- provement, varying in size from 5 to 140 acres each. There are about forty miles of good roads.
Maple Ridge is a flourishing village, situated on the township
259
HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
line of Clayton and Mason. It has one hotel, five stores, various shops, and postoffice. There is also a saw mill near the village. The postoffice of Maple Ridge was established in 1874. The post- master is Dr. C. H. Mills. There is an M. E. Church, of which Rev. Mr. Perkins is pastor.
In 1873, Township Twenty north, of Range Three east, was attached to Clayton by act of Legislature.
WILLIAM SMITH, one of the early settlers of the township, was the founder of Maple Ridge and gave the village its name. Mr. Smith was born in Tompkins, N. Y., January 30, 1844. He went with his widowed mother to Vermont when seven years of age; re- sided there seven years, then spent four years in Illinois, then was two years at sea, was shipwrecked on the east coast of Africa, and came home and enlisted in the service of his country in July, 1861, and served until discharged at the close of the war. In October, 1862, he was promoted to the office of captain for victorious con- duct in the field. He came to Bay County in May, 1869, and located in what is now the township of Clayton. He named the village of Maple Ridge, and owned three of the four corners where it is situated. He was married to Miss Sarah Scott, of Tompkins, N. Y., January 20, 1866. Their children are Clara E., Lela, (now deceased,) Rosa A., Lulu M., and Lena M. He has in his farm home on Section Thirteen, in Clayton, forty acres, all under culti- vation and immediately adjacent to the rising village of Maple Ridge. He has been supervisor eight years, justice of the peace, and highway commissioner. and in 1880 was Greenback candidate for Congress. In first settling in Clayton he and his brother Still- man were, for want of roads, compelled to bring in their goods by hand, two miles on a stretcher. Wild bears were then very plenti- ful. One day Mr. Smith came in with bloody hands saying he had killed a bear. He and Mrs. Smith and a lady friend all tried, but tried in vain to drag Bruin to the shanty, but with more help he was brought home and dressed; and some of the oil was sold for $16 per gallon.
FERDINAND FULLER was born in Lewis County, state of New York, March 15, 1849. He remained there nineteen years, during which time he attended school and was engaged on his father's farm. In 1868 he came to Bay City and engaged in the lumber business. In 1869 he purchased a farm in the town of Clayton where he still resides. He was married in 1871 to Miss Daniels, of Clayton.
GEORGE EYMER, hotel keeper, was born in Wisconsin, June 5, 1852. He came to Bay County in 1874, and located in what is now Maple Ridge, there being then only two houses at the corners where the village now is. He was married to Miss Belle Monroe of Clay- ton, July 4, 1879. They have one infant son, born December 25, 1882. Mr. Eymer has purchased and now occupies the Maple Ridge Hotel, capable of accommodating at least forty guests. He is also engaged in lumbering. He has a portable steam saw mill, just north of the village, which runs all the year round. He also runs a daily stage from Sterling to the Tawas Railroad. He has been supervisor of Mason and clerk of Clayton. He landed here with only an old gun and $25, but through industry and enter- prise he has now beside his hotel and mill, 120 acres of land in Mason, and valuable personal property as the reward of his efforts.
ABRAM ScorT merchant, was born in Tompkins, N. Y., Decem- ber 23, 1842. He spent his youth in his native state, enlisted in the United States army in 1862, and served until March 16, 1863, when he was discharged for physical disability. He was married to Miss Fanny Sison, September 27, 1863. She died March 10, 1877. He was married September 26, 1877, to Miss Martha Hart- man, of Springwater, N. Y. She was born August 15, 1848. They have one daughter Susie, born October 23, 1879. Mr. Scott
settled in Richland, Ogemaw Co., in the Fall of 1870. He lias there a valuable farm of 120 acres, which he has improved and fitted for a pleasant home. It has on it a beautiful dwelling, forty- two feet square and two stories high; also two excellent barns, fur- nishing full accommodations for the crops and the stock. He now resides at Maple Ridge, in Clayton, Bay Co., where he has opened an inviting and well furnished store of dry goods boots and shoes, crockery, furniture, etc., and has already a prosperous patronage.
DAVID MARTIN, teacher, was born in East China, Mich., De- cember 25, 1855. He left there when ten years of age and came to Standish, and shortly afterward went to work on the Rifle Boom, where he spent two years. From there he returned to St. Clair County and for two years attended school, and then engaged in teaching, which has since then been his leading employment, but he is now clerk in the store of Thomas White, in Maple Ridge.
STILLMAN E. SMITH, retired merchant, was born in Tompkins, Delaware Co., N. Y., September 12, 1845, and went thence to Vermont with his bereaved mother when about six years of age. On November 21, 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth Vermont In- fantry, Company H, to serve his country in the late civil war. After about sixteen month's service as a private he was for valor- ous conduct promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in Company H, Second Louisiana Volunteers (white), commanded by Col. C. J. Paine.
He continued in that regiment until the assault on Port Hud- son, May 27, 1863, and while commanding the company during that assault he received a desperate shell wound in his right thigh tearing off some four pounds of the flesh from the limb. He was taken to the St. James Hospital, New Orleans. In September fol- lowing he was brought home and remained one year, then returned and reported for duty.
After remaining there a short time he was honorably dis- charged from service, and for sixteen months from the date of in- jury he could not step on the wounded limb.
After the war he spent nearly two years in Illinois, went back to Tompkins, and after a trip to Michigan was married to Miss Anna E. Roak, also of Tompkins, March 24, 1869. Their son, Burton Lee, was born September 29, 1873. Just after marriage they came to East Saginaw, and two months later to what is now the township of Clayton, when it was all a wilderness and he had to carry their provisions sixteen miles on his back, and undergo many of the severest hardships of pioneer life. He now owns 120 acres of land with sixty improved; and though he has lost one val- uable house by fire, they now have another excellent dwelling and enticing home comforts. He has been postmaster ten years, justice of the peace, school superintendent, school inspector and township treasurer.
GEORGE W. KEENEY was born in Parkville, St. Joseph Co., Mich. He was educated at Geauga Seminary at Chester, Geauga Co., Ohio. His father removed to Bay County in 1863, and they located in the township of Arenac, where they engaged in farming, which occupation they are now following. He was a justice of the peace in Arenac, and afterward in the township of Clayton, when it was organized He was elected supervisor for Clayton in 1881, and now (1883) holds that position.
CLAYTON IN 1880.
In January 1880 a correspondent of the Bay City Tribune wrote about Clayton as follows:
"We have one of the finest timbered towns in the state. While quite a large portion of the town is being improved, there are yet large tracts of fine timbered lands for sale. Our timber is maple, beech, hemlock, etc. Our soil is a clay loam, very produc-
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
tive, growing some of the finest wheat in the state; in fact, all crops grown in this latitude do well here. Good farming lands can be bought at from $1.50 to $5.00 per acre, with small payments down and long time with low rates of interest. Our schools are in good condition and well attended. We doubt whether any town in the county has more enterprising settlers than can be found in Clayton. What may be said of Clayton is true of Mason, directly to the east of us and Deep River to the south. The natural outlet of this section of the county is Sterling or Dunham, and when the time comes, which it will, in the near future, to build a railroad from some point on the J. L. & S. road up the shore to Tawas and Alpena, there is no point that would open out the country more than to start somewhere near Sterling. There is no point on the road between Bay City and the west branch, that is building up more rapidly by those who have come to stay, than this point. To give some idea of the business done there as a point to receive goods and supplies, we will state that the very gentlemanly agent at Dunham, Mr. Russell, has given us the figures for the shipments of some months past, received at that point and Sterling. As they are one hundred rods apart they form almost one station. The following figures represent the number of pounds of supplies re- ceived.
1879.
January .559,992 July. 87,753
February. 400,866
August 71,672
March 341,152 September 114,241
April 203,635
October 367,769
May
146,652 November 471,337
June
80,331 December 610,183
This makes a total of 3,455,583 pounds for the year, or 287,- 9654 pounds on an average per month. In addition to this a great amount of freight goes north by express.
A railroad running from Sterling, or near there, would open up the Rifle River coal beds, which, there is no doubt, would develop one of the most extensive mines in the state. It would also pass through one of the finest farming regions in the state, until reach- ing the alabaster plaster beds, which would furnish an immense amount of freight-also employment to men. The road would be, I believe, one of the best paying branch roads in the state, and every year become more profitable. There is no portion of the state settling so rapidly, and one can readily imagine what it would be with easy access by rail. Maple Ridge is twelve miles from Ster- ling, with a stage running every Saturday between the two points. Two good country stores can be found at Maple Ridge, one owned by M. H. Eymer, and the other by George Eymer & Brother. A nice hall is situated over the latter store. Clayton taxes are light, without a dollar of indebtedness, and for three years every order has been paid as soon as issued.
The township officers for 1882-3 are as follows: Supervisor, Geo. W. Keeney; treasurer, Nelson Deford; clerk, Philo P. Clay- ton; commissioner of highways, William Haley; justices of the peace, I. S. Davis, Luther P. Daniels, Geo. W. Keeney, William Smith.
There are a number of fine orchards in the township, and it promises to be a good fruit growing region.
The population of the township in 1874, was 177, and in 1880, 249.
In 1878, the total equalized valuation of real and personal estate was $44,000, and in 1882, $77,450.
The total vote in 1882 was sixty-seven.
Melita village has one store, postoffice, saw and shingle mill, and blacksmith shop. The postoffice of Melita was established in 1881. The postmaster is Geo. Winnie.
Clayton, like other northern townships, offers unsurpassed
opportunities for successful farming. Persons with limited means are able to secure land at low prices, and in a few years, if indus- trious, can provide themselves with good homes. About four years ago, a man with a wife and four small children left the cars at Sterling, his available capital consisting of seventy-five cents. He made his way across the Rifle river into Clayton, where he had bargained for forty acres of heavily timbered land, and without team or other auxiliaries, save an ax, entered upon the task of clear- ing his land and securing a home for himself and family. He now has a good farm with comfortable buildings. Many such instances have occurred in the history of the northern townships.
TAXES FOR 1882.
The taxes levied in Clayton for 1882 were as follows:
Contingent fund. $ 400 00
Highway and bridges, { of 1 per cent, 1881. 346 32
Statute labor 1882 431 50
School District, No. 1 ) Teachers' wages 150 00
( Contingent fund . 50 00
School District, No. 2 ) Teachers' wages 205 00
Contingent 30 00
School District, No. 3 ) Teachers' wages 250 00
y Contingent
25 00
Highway fund
DEEP RIVER. 450 00
Statute labor, 3 of 1 per cent, 1882. 1,612 67
School District, No. 1 ) Teachers' wages. 360 00
( Contingent fund. 50 00
School District, No. 2 ) Teachers' wages 360 00
( Contingent 40 00
Bridges over Rifle river.
350 00
PORTSMOUTH AND MERRITT.
At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held March 25, 1859, the following resolution in relation to the organization of the township of Portsmouth, was adopted to-wit:
In the matter of the application of Thomas Stevenson, William Daglish, and others, for the erection of a new town. It appearing to the Board of Supervisors that application has been made, and that notice thereof has been signed, posted up and published, as in the manner required by law, and having duly considered the matter of said application, the Board order and enact that the territory described in said application, as follows, to-wit: All that portion of the township of Hampton comprising the north one-half of Township Thirteen north, of Range Five east, lying east of Sagi- naw River; also the north one-half of Township Thirteen north, of Range Six east; also Sections Thirty-four, Thirty-three, and all that part of Section Thirty-two lying east of Saginaw River, in Township Fourteen north, of Range Five east, being, and the same is hereby erected into a township, to be called and known by the name of the township of Portsmouth. The first township meeting thereof shall be held at the schoolhouse situated on fractional Sec- tion Thirty-two, in Town Fourteen north, of Range Five east, on Monday, the 11th day of April, 1859, and at said meeting Jesse M. Miller, Appleton Stevens, and William Daglish, three electors of said township, shall be the persons whose duty it shall be to preside at such meeting, appoint a clerk, open and keep the polls, and exercise the same powers as the inspectors of election at any town- ship meeting, as the law provides.
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