History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : H. R. Page
Number of Pages: 380

USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 79

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Statute labor, one-half of one per cent, 1882. 504 27

School District No. 1 700 00

do 2. 350 00

do 3.

650 00

BIOGRAPHICAL.

JOSEPH MATTINSON, farmer and hotel keeper, was born in Nova Scotia, March 23, 1829. He left there when in his twenty-second year, and spent nearly five years in Canada, and then came to Whitestone Point, on Saginaw Bay, and spent several years in fish- ing in Summer, and in trapping and hunting in Winter.

He was the first white settler between Harrisville and Pine River. He was married to Miss Mary Steward, about twenty-two years ago, and to Miss Mary Slaterline, in April, 1870.

He has had fourteen children. Those now living are Elizabeth, Caroline, William, Mary, Ida, Eddie and Joseph. Elizabeth was the first white child born in Whitney, and her marriage was the first put on record of those born in the township. He has 310 acres of land in Whitney. His hotel, the Mattinson House, will accommo- date about forty. He has served two terms as highway commis- sioner. At different times, when fishing or bringing in supplies on the lake, late in the Fall, he has had to break the ice with his pike pole before his boat, and get to shore as best he could, build a fire and warm and dry himself, all alone in the forest, to keep from freezing to death. In those days the mail was carried from Bay City to Lake Superior, in Winter, by dogs harnessed and hitched to a trainole. One man went before them on snow-shoes, and one fol- lowed them. They made a trip once a month. Once when hunt- ing, on the bank near the lake, Mr. M. wounded a deer, which dashed at him and struck him with its feet and horns, tearing off his clothing instantly. He backed into the water, striking the beast with his gun and breaking the gun to pieces. The dogs, however, soon relieved him, and he captured the deer.' At another time an old bear, with cubs, rushed at him with mouth open and hair erect, to devour him, but with one blow he felled it to the ground, and then killed it and all the cubs.

GEORGE H. FERGUSON was born in Monroe Co., N. Y., in 1849. His family moved to Michigan in 1865, locating at first in Livingston County. where they now live. He removed to Bay County in 1869 and was at first a resident of Wenona, now West Bay City. He afterward went into the grocery trade in South Bay City and con- tinued in it six years. During the time he was in the latter place he was an alderman from 1875 to 1877, representing the Seventh ward. In 1877 he moved to the township of Whitney. At first he kept a hotel, but quit that and engaged in lumbering. He was elected a supervisor in 1881 and re-elected in 1882. In 1872 he was married to Fidelia Williams, a native of the state of New York. They have one child.

EDWARD BRADLEY, merchant and farmer, was born on Prince Edward Island, July 27, 1834. When about nine years of age he went with his parents to Ottawa, Ontario, and a year later to Smith's Falls, which was his home some twenty-one years. He

HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.

279

was married to Miss Caroline Badour, of Canada, June 24, 1860. They made a visit to Au Gres, Mich., in October, 1865, and settled there in March following. Mr. Bradley was the first white man who settled on Au Gres River. The place was then occupied ex- clusively by Indians. He spent some fourteen years in keeping hotel, and invested some funds in pine and farming lands. He now has in his farm 304 acres with eighty-five under cultivation; has an elegant dwelling and an enticing home. During the last three years he has conducted a store of dry goods, groceries and general merchandise in Whitney, at Au Gres village. He has been post- master, township supervisor, treasurer, highway commissioner, school assessor and director. Mr. Bradley's brother, John Bradley, also came to Au Gres in the Spring of 1866. Next came the firm of Strayer, Stafford & Co. and built a small saw mill. Others followed, and the place has enlarged and become a prosper- ous and inviting village, with excellent farm surroundings to sus- tain it.

JOHN E. BRADLEY, farmer and lumberman, was born in Sutton, Ontario, August 28, 1856. He left there when some ten years of age, resided at Smith's Falls several years, and since has become a resident of Au Gres village in the township of Whitney. He has spent much of his past in farm work, but for the last four years has devoted his attention to lumbering also. He has some 300 acres of farming lands with over fifty under cultivation. He has served as constable, township clerk, school director, justice of the peace and deputy sheriff. He is at present engaged as clerk in the store of Mr. E. Bradley.

JOHN T. ROBINSON, artist, was born in Indiana, April 25, 1849. He left there at twelve years of age and traveled through Canada and most of the United States, engaged in taking sketches of land- scapes and other sceneries. He came to Saginaw in 1872, and came to Au Gres for his health in 1873. In 1875 he purchased eighty acres of land on Section Eight in Whitney, where he now resides, and has some twenty acres cleared, and has pleasant home dwellings. Mr. Robinson is now serving as Drain commissioner of his township.

EDWARD JOHNSTON, farmer and lumberman, was born near Ottawa, Canada, August 3, 1833. He came to Saginaw, in 1865, and to Au Gres in 1877. He was married to Miss Nancy Richards, March 15, 1860, She was born in Lower Canada, June 4, 1844. Their children are Annie, Sylvester, William R., Susie and Benjamin. He has 240 acres of land in Whitney with an elegant dwelling and inviting improvements, but spends a good deal of time in lum- bering. He has been master of the Loyal Orange Lodge in Au Gres and for three years was supervisor of Whitney.

PETER DRUMMOND, hotel keeper, was born in Canada, March 12, 1856. He came to Bay County in 1869, settled in Au Gres village, Sept. 17, 1880, and engaged in keeping the Au Gres hotel, which is adapted for lodging at least thirty persons and feeding one hundred. He was married to Miss Eva Clare Richie, of Bay City, June 2, 1879. They have one daughter, Grace, born April 28, 1881. Mr. Drummond is now serving as township treasurer of Whitney. He has eighty acres of land about three miles from the rising vil- lage of Au Gres, and in connection with his present hotel accom- modations, is preparing spacious rooms for social and general enter- tainment. The traveling public affirm that they obtain the best board, at his hotel, which they find between Alpena and Bay City.

CHARLES M. JOHNSON, bookkeeper and boom manager, was born in Salem County, N. J., Dec. 23, 1858. He came to Bay County in 1875. He resided there nearly a year, and then returned East and attended the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. He returned from there and has resided since then in West Bay City, until he came to Au Gres in March, 1882. He has been ever since then in

the employ of the Au Gres Boom Co., with whose work he is now identified.

MICHAEL QUINN, sailor and cook, was born in Ogdensburgh, N. Y., June 20, 1850. He went with his parents to Canada when two years old. At sixteen he came to Saginaw and spent over a year in the employ of A. W. Wright & Co. Later he engaged as second cook for G. F. Williams & Bro., of Saginaw. He afterward spent one Summer in running logs on Saginaw River, and one Winter in loading teams in the woods. In the Summer of 1870 he cooked on the F. and P. M. Railroad, and in Winter on the To- bacco River. Next Summer he cooked on the east branch of the Au Gres River. In 1873 he engaged as cook on the steamer, Iron- sides, and was on board on that memorable night when she sank in Lake Michigan, nine miles from Grand Haven. He and sixteen others escaped, while twenty-six found a watery grave. Of late he has been employed as cook for the Au Gres Boom Co., namely: since March 7, 1882. His farm is in James Township, Saginaw County. Mr. Quinn was married to Miss Josephine M. Egerer, of Saginaw County, Dec. 28, 1878, She was born in James Town- ship, March 21, 1860. Her parents were of German descent and came to America in 1852.

FRANKENLUST TOWNSHIP.

This township was formerly called Kochville, and was a part of Saginaw County. In the Winter of 1880-'81 it was detached from that county and annexed to Bay County. The settlement of Frankenlust was established by Rev. Sievers about the year 1848. About that time several German colonies emigrated to the Saginaw Valley, one of which composed the Frankenlust settlement. The population of the township as given in the census returns of 1880, was, at that time, 1,768. There are five school districts and two fractional, each provided with a substantial school building. The church buildings are four in number comprising three Lutheran and one German Methodist. The lands of the township are as fertile as any in the valley, the people, industrious and enterprising. The appearance of the county bespeaks great progress, and re- hearses, as it were, the story of German perseverance. Under authority given by the Board of Supervisors, Oct. 12, 1855, the following described territory was constituted a township under the name of Kochville, viz: Township Thirteen north, of Range Four east; Sections Six, Seven, Eighteen, Nineteen, and the north half of Section Thirty in Township Thirteen north, of Range Five east, and Sections Twenty-five, Twenty-six, Twenty-seven, Twenty-eight, Twenty-nine, Thirty, Thirty-one, Thirty-two, Thirty-three, Thirty- four, Thirty-five and Thirty-six in Township Fourteen north, of Range Four east. The application to organize was signed by seven- ty-five electors. In granting the prayer of these citizens, the Board ordered that the first annual meeting for the election of township officers should be held at the house of Adam Goetz, of Kochville, on the first Monday in April, 1856, and that the following named per- sons: G. Stengel, J. P. Weggel and J. S. Hehelt, being three electors, be designated and appointed to preside at such election and to perform all the duties required by the statute.

The first Kochville Township election was held, April 7, 1856, at the house of Andreas Goetz, with the following results: Luke Wellington, supervisor; John C. Schmidt, township clerk; Andreas Goetz, treasurer; J. G. Helmrenh, Caspar Linik, school inspectors; William Butts, Heinrich Hipser and Paul Stephen, highway com- missioners; Luke Wellington, Louis Loeffler, George Hengee and Leonard Fleabite, justices of the peace; George Hengee and An- dreas Goetz, overseers of the poor; G. M. Geigler, George Sturm, Andreas Schmidt and Mark Kranzlein, constables.

280

HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.

Peter Weggel aud Heinrich Hebert were named inspectors of election; but owing to their absence, Luke Wellington and Casper Lint filled their positions, with George Stengel, an inspector named in the first order. Louis Loeffler was appointed clerk and John C. Schmidt, assistant clerk. The number of voters present was fifty- nine.

GERMAN REFORMED LUTHERAN CHURCH.

This church is situated on Section Fifteen, and was organized in 1852 by Rev. Sievers. The members then were: A. D. Eis- chyer, Adam Schnell, Michael Schmidt, George Leitz, George Rieger, Paul Stephens, Michael Daezchlin, John G. Hearnan. The first building was erected in 1852, and was a log house 30x40 feet, in which meetings were held until 1870. At this time the society built the present church, a frame building 38x70 feet, at a cost of $5,000. There are 104 members at present under the pastorate of Rev. J. F. Miller.

Rev. (George Christian Ernestus) Ferdinand Sievers, is the son of Henry (Sigismund Frederic) Sievers, and Eleanor Lesette Flor- entine, nee, Von Borries, and was born at Lunenburg, Germany, May 18, 1816. His mother died in 1822 and his father a year later, and the outlook for the poor orphan boy was very sad; but his un- cle, Rev. Philip Sievers, took good care of him. He was educated at the University of Goettingen 1835-38, where he studied theology some time, then taught private school three and one-half years, studied theology again at the University of Berlin and Halle, and taught private school again three and one-half years, was ordained a minister in 1847, when he emigrated to this country to take charge of Lutheran congregations here, and bought several hundred acres of land from the Government at what is now called South Bay City, with missionary means from the old country. The next year a number of settlers came in from Germany and commenced to en- dure the privations of pioneer life. May 5, 1850, Mr. S. married Caroline Koch, in New York City, while she was en route from her home in Germany to her new home in the wilds of Michigan. She was the daughter of the Rev. Fr. Koch and Augusta, nee Bippart. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. S., eight are living.

The settlement of Frankenlust, established by Rev. Sievers, has grown to great proportions, and there is another flourishing settle- ment three miles southwest, also founded by Mr. S., in 1851. This highly revered old gentleman has now enjoyed a long life of useful- ness, and set an example of ministerial industry and faithfulness that will be difficult for his successors to follow.

FRED WELLINGTON, farmer, Section Twenty-five, is a life-resi- dent of this county. He was born in March, 1844. He is the son of Dr. Luke and Nancy M. (Freeman) Wellington. His father is a native of New Hampshire, and his mother of New York. Dr. Luke Wellington came to this state in 1836, located at Flint, and in 1850 settling in Saginaw County where he now owns 500 acres of land. Fred was educated in the public schools of Bay and Sag- inaw cities, and at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, of Detroit. He was book-keeper for eight years, and is Republican in politics. He has been school inspector, superintendent and assessor. He was married in 1869 to Rosetta M. Lewis, who was born in Utica, N. Y., February 11, 1849; her parents were of English and Welch descent. They formerly lived in Detroit, but now reside in Saginaw County. Two children have been given to bless this union-Mary L. and James A., and two deceased, Fred L. and Martha R.

JOHN A. LEINBERGER, present supervisor, was born in Bavaria, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1847. He at first lived in Saginaw City, but in the Spring of 1849 he purchased a farm in the Township of Frankenlust and engaged in tilling the soil, which pursuit he still follows. Frankenlust at that time was a part

of Saginaw County, but as Bay City was the market at which its farmers sold their surplus products, they desired to be set off from Saginaw and attached to Bay County. To accomplish this, 'Mr. Leinberger attended at Lansing during the entire sessionof the Legislature, in 1881, and, principally owing to his exertions, the movement was successful. Mr. Leinberger was treasurer of the township for thirteen years, clerk for seven years, and postmaster for about nine, until the office was discontinued, in 1882. He served two years as supervisor while Frankenlust was a part of Saginaw County, and he now represents it in the Bay County Board of Supervisors. In 1851-2, Mr. Leinberger carried the U. S. mail between Saginaw City and Lower Saginaw, as Bay City was then called, going up one day and down the next. On one of his trips he met the late James Fraser in the woods. Mr. Fraser says to him, "John, how can you carry that bag on foot? why don't you get a horse?" John said, "Mr. Fraser, I am too poor to buy a horse;" to which Mr. Fraser said, "D-n it man, go to my stable and get a horse." On his arrival at Saginaw City he did so, and about two weeks after, he again met Mr. Fraser in the woods, when he said to him, "Mr. Fraser, how much must I pay you for this horse?" "Well, Jolin," says he, "when you get able you can pay me fifty dollars for him, and if you never get able, keep him any- how." This anecdote is a fair illustration of the generosity which characterized Mr. Fraser in his dealings with poor men whom he considered deserving. Mr. Leinberger has been married twice, having had ten children by his first wife. He married his present wife, Anna Maria Meier, in January, 1883. She came from the southern part of Illinois.

The following table shows the amount of taxes levied in Fran- kenlust for 1882:

Contingent fund. 318 00

Highway fund. 500 00

Bridge over Squaquaning Creek, south branch .. . 150 00

Fractional School District No. 1 of Monitor, their proportion of . 270 00

Fractional School District No. 2 of Kochville, their proportion of . 310 00

Fractional School District No. 1 of Monitor and Frankenlust, their proportion of . ... . 282 00

Fractional School District No. 7 of Kochville and Frankenlust, their proportion of . . 258 00

Fractional School District No. 1 of Tittaba- wassee and Frankenlust, their proportion of 211 99

Fractional School District No. 2 of Tittaba- wassee and Frankenlust, their proportion of . 325 00

BAY COUNTY DIVIDED.

Since the plan of this work was fixed, an important change has taken place, by which the territory of Bay County has been divided, and a new county, named Arenac, erected.

The fact of the county seat being located at the south end of a long county, led the people in the northern townships to feel that their interests would be better served if organized into a separate county. This project has been agitated for some time, and at the session of the Legislature, in the Winter of 1883, a bill for the or- ganization of a new county, named Arenac, became law.

The new county of Arenac will contain, counting fractions, six teen townships, including Townships Nineteen and Twenty north, of Range Three east, Towns Eighteen, Nineteen and Twenty north, of Ranges Four, Five, Six, and Seven, east, and Town Twenty north, of Range Eight east, together with the islands attached to the Townships of Whitney and Au Gres.

Th vote of this territory, in 1882, amounted to 548, distributed

HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.

281

as follows: Township of Arenac, 66; Au Gres, 61; Clayton, 67; Deep River, 76; Lincoln, 80; Mason, 37; Moffat, 34; Standish, 69; Whit- ney, 58. The county seat is located temporarily at Omer, on the Rifle River, in the Township of Arenac. Hereafter the voters will choose between Omer, Standish and Sterling for the permanent county seat. The first election will be held on the first Monday in June, 1883, and the officers elected will begin their duties on the first Monday in July. The authorities of Bay County retain the power to collect taxes of 1883 in the territory set off, and, until the next apportionment, no change is made in representative, senatorial or judicial district relations.

Bay County retains all the territory south of the north line of the Township of Pinconning, and Town Eighteen north, of Range Three.

At this date, May 15, 1883, the people of the new county are very hopeful of increased prosperity. A newspaper has been estab- lished at Omer, in Arenac Township. A convention was held at Omer, May 12th, for the purpose of nominating a union ticket for the new county. There was a spirited contest for the nomination of sheriff and register of deeds, the nominations being made by a majority of only one in each case. The following are the nomina- tions :

Sheriff, George Keeney; treasurer, P. M. Angus; register of deeds, William Smith; county clerk, F. E. Carscallen; judge of probate, John Bullock; prosecuting attorney, L. McHugh; circuit court commissioner, F. C. Cummings; coroners, Drs. Palmer and Mills.

The election will be held on the first Monday in June.

CAMPBELL HOUSE, BAY CITY.

سر.

سر

مرء

一

Agent must print name of subscriber plainly in this

Read the Prospectus on the Back of this Contract. No 139 Dec 15-4% 1882

Messrs. H. R. PAGE & CO., Chicago, Ill .:

When published, please deliver to !. one copy of your proposed

Illustrated History of Bay County, for which. .... agree to pay to you, or your order, the sum of TWELVE DOLLARS; provided, it is gotten up in accordance with the Prospectus on the back of this order, which we have seen and read. Payment to be made on the delivery of said History, at my residence or place of business, or when tendered to me in person.

Signature .. . .

Occupation. /

P. O. Address ..

No agent is allowed to take orders for aforesaid History on different terms than those hereinbefore named. We agree to deliver the above within a reasonable length of time after publication. H. R. PAGE & CO., Pubs.

space

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : H. R. Page Number of Pages: 380

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : H. R. Page
Number of Pages: 380