USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 36
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113
The material worked is altogether pine, the logs being cut from timber-lands owned by the proprietor in Genesce and Lapeer Counties and floated down the Flint River. The power employed is steam, two circular saws of large dimensions being run, as also apparatus for cutting lath aud shingles. The capacity of the mills is 11,000,000 feet per
These mills are distinguished as being the oldest on the Flint River. The business is managed by Mr. R. J. Whaley.
JEROME EDDY'S MILL.
This will was built in the year 1868, and is located in the third ward, on the corner of Kearsley and Island Streets. It has a capacity for dressing 10,000,000 feet of lumber, manufacturing about 10,000 doors, and a corre- sponding number of sash and blinds per annum.
A destructive fire consumed the first mill erected, but Mr. Eddy immediately took the necessary measures to re- construct it, and in three months from the time it was burned one of the most perfect and complete mills in the State, with capacity for doing an extensive business, took its place, and has been running since.
BEARDSLEE, GILLIES & CO.'S PLANING-MILL.
This firm established their business in 1867, in the build- ing now known as the " Germania Barn," but the growing demands of the enterprise soon rendered their location undesirable, and in 1870 they removed to their present situation.
In the various departments of the business they employ three planing- and matching-machines, one large moulder, one fifty-inch resawing-machine, one twenty-four-inch clap- board resawing- and jointing-machine, and two edging-saws on the first floor. The second floor is devoted to a full set of sash, door, and blind machinery, consisting of two rip- and two cut-off saws, one sash-sticker, one tenoning-machine, one combined relisher and wedge-cutter, one panel-raising machine, one mortiser, one iron door-clamp, one scouring- machine, one sash-mortiser, one boring- and franking-ma- chine, one seroll-saw, one shaper, and two slat-tenoning machines. The firm employ in these various departments about twenty men, and the products of the mill find a market in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, New York, and Southern Michigan. The sash and doors find ready sale at home, and a considerable demand for them has been created in the neighboring counties.
In the winter of 1868 the manufacture of boxes was added to the business, in which department six men are employed, who produce about three car-loads of box-shooks a week.
The amount of sales by this firm average about $30,000 per annum.
NEWALL & CO.'S PLANING-MILL.
The firm of Newall & Co. embraces the following part- ners,-Thomas Newall, George E. Newall, S. C. Randall, -- and is one of the oldest establishments engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors, and blinds, having been estab- lished in 1855. They employ steam-power, and have two planers, two four-sided moulding-machines, one Daniels' improved planing-machine, one single moulder, one shaper, one Fay's scroll-saw, one Colburn's blind stile boring-ma- chine, one mortiser, one resawing-machine for sawing elap- boards, one tenoning-machine, saws of various sizes and kinds, and two turning-lathes. The material is chicfly pur- chased in the city, and when manufactured finds a ready market at home and in adjacent parts of the State.
HIRAM SMITII'S MILLS.
This business was established in 1877 by the present proprietor, who makes a specialty of handling hard-wood,
135
FLINT CITY.
in which respect the mill differs from most other saw- and lumber-mills in the city. The sawing is done exclu- sively in a mill devoted to that object, while the staves and headings are made in a mill adjoining. The capacity of the saw-mill is 12,000 to 15,000 feet per day, while in the other are cut 20,000 headings and as many staves, which have been eliefly used for oil barrels.
Ile employs a steam-engine, the capacity of which is sixty-horse power, and twenty men are engaged in the labor of the establishment.
Mr. Smith is also an extensive dealer in charcoal, having three sets of kilns, which combined have a capacity for burning three ear-loads a day. The works at Flint have twelve kilus, while those at Clio have also twelve, and those located at Gaines, all being in Genesee County, six kilns, making an aggregate of about seventy-five car-loads a month. He may be regarded as the largest dealer in char- coal in the county.
DECKER & HASKELL'S STAVE-MILLS.
This establishment, which had its origin in 1870, is de- voted entirely to the manufacture of staves and headings. The products of the mill were at first confined to material for oil barrels, but since that time the firm have turned their attention to other kinds of stock, and now produce headings, half-barrel and barrel staves, white-oak staves and head- ings from 14 to 34 inches in size, and headings for tubs. The staves are sawed from white-oak split-bolts, seasoned and close-jointed, with bilge and bevel ready to set up. The machinery used for beveling-which, though simple in con- struction and in its operation, works with great perfection -is Crossley's iron wheel stave-jointer.
The capacity of the mill when running with full force is from 18,000 to 20,000 staves a day, using about 40 cords of bolts per day.
A branch track connects the mill with the Flint and l'ère Marquette Railway, affording great advantages in the shipping of its wares, which find their principal sale in New York and Brooklyn.
On the 9th of May, 1874, an extensive conflagration oc- curred, which not only destroyed the mill, but consumed much valuable stock.
The yard was filled with staves and headings, which were entirely demolished, together with several adjacent struc- tures.
New buildings and machinery, however, soon took the place of the old.
W. B. PELLETT'S FACTORY.
The factory of W. B. Pellett is located on the north side of the city, and was established in 1874. Sash, doors, and blinds are principally manufactured, though Mr. Pellett has made a specialty of extension-tables.
The factory furnishes employment for fifteen men, and is operated by steam-power.
THREAD FLOURING- AND SAW-MILLS .*
This mill site was established as early as 1830, by Rufus W. Stevens, when a saw-mill was erected. In 1834 the
brothers Rufus W. and Augustus C. Stevens established here the famous " Thread Grist-Mill," the first of its class in the county. A succession of owners managed them for a number of years, when they were purchased by Alexander P. Davis, who continued his proprietorship for a period of twenty years, and then disposed of his interest to Witherbee & Patrick. Mr. Witherbee having died, his interest was purchased by Wait Buckingham, and in 1872 the property was bought by the present owners, Messrs. Burroughs & Pierson. The mills were by them thoroughly repaired and two run of stone added to the flouring-mill, which cm- ploys both steam- and water-power, and has now four run of stone and a capacity of 100 barrels a day. The market for the flour produced is found in the northern part of Michi- gan, and in Pennsylvania and New York. The saw-mill is 'principally employed in cutting hard-wood, and has a capacity of 2,000,000 feet a year. It is run entirely by water-power.
PATTERSON & CARMAN'S FLOURING-MILL.
This mill was established by Patterson & Holman in December of 1877, but after a lapse of six months Mr. Carman purchased the interest of Mr. Hohuan, and the firm beeame Patterson & Carman, the retiring partner having en- gaged in the construction of an elevator adjoining the mill.
They obtain their power from a forty-horse-power engine, which is inclosed in a separate building, with an under- ground shaft connecting it with the mill.
Three run of stone are employed, and all the modern improvements for the manufacture of flour have been intro- duced. The capacity of the mill is 60 barrels a day. It is located at the foot of Grand Traverse Street, and a branch track connecting with the Flint and Pere Marquette Rail- way affords excellent advantages for shipping. A portion of the flour finds a market in the East, but the demand is principally for home consumption.
STOCKTON'S MILL.
This mill, which is located on the corner of Ann Arbor and Second Streets, was built in 1877 by Col. T. B. W. Stockton, the original purpose having been to make it an elevator. Later a portion of it was converted into a flouring- mill. The building is very substantially erected, and has all the modern advantages for elevating by steam-power. It has two run of stone, and a capacity for grinding about 300 bushels per day, and storing 1500 bushels of grain. A portion of the mill is three stories high.
THE FLINT CHEMICAL WORKS.
These works are a branch of the Bangor Chemical Works, located in Van Buren County, in this State, and represent a cash capital of $50,000. The principal wares manufactured are wood alcohol and acetate of lime. These are produced by a process which condenses the gases that arise from the kilus, of which there are 12. The works have a capacity for producing 50 gallons of alcohol and 2} tons of acetate of lime per day. The railroad adjacent to the buildings affords excellent facilities for shipping the stock.
GENESEE IRON-WORKS.
These iron-works were built in the year 1847 by Wil- liam Gough, and are now owned by George C. Kimball,
* This time-honored institution was destroyed by fire in the after- noon of June 6, 1879.
136
HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
who resides in Grand Rapids, and intrusts their manage- ment to an agent, who resides in Flint. They make a specialty of manufacturing malleable iron, this department of the works having been started in 1874, and being the only one in Michigan. They also work extensively in gray iron, and make carriage, wagon, and plow castings, steam- engines, and mill machinery. Twenty-five men are em- ployed in the various departments, and the products are sold in this State and Indiana.
THIE FLINT PAPER-MILLS.
The Flint paper-mills are located in the Third Ward, and were built originally as saw-mills by Samuel Carpenter. In 1877 they were remodeled by William L. Gibson, and machinery placed in them for the purpose of manufacturing wrapping-paper. The machine, a 62-inch cylinder, run by steam, is capable of producing two tons of paper per day. Fifteen hands are employed, and a market for the product is found principally in Detroit.
CASTREE & ODELL AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT SIIOP.
This enterprise was established in 1873 by S. V. Hokes, who, before that time, was extensively engaged in manu- facturing similar wares on the north side of the river. Among the articles manufactured are plows, drags, culti- vators, scrapers, ete. They also make a specialty of bob- sleighs. The market for these implements is found princi- pally in Genesee County, though Oakland and Lapeer Counties make demands upon their stock. A store located on First Street is established in connection with the foundry.
PATTERSON'S CARRIAGE-MANUFACTORY.
William A. Patterson came to Flint in 1869, and began an industry which has reached its present large propor- tions in a small rented shop, where one man was employed besides himself. He is now the owner of an extensive fae- tory on Saginaw Street, which gives constant employment to 30 meu ; and he has in course of construction a large brick block fronting on Third Street, made necessary by the in- creasing demand for his work, which consists of Brewster's side-bars, ladies' phaetons, yacht-buggies, coal-boxes, Con- cord or side-spring wagons, piano-boxes, ete. The home demand for these carriages is large, and numbers are shipped to distant parts of this and other States.
EARLY CARDING-MILLS.
In October, 1835, J. F. Alexander established a wool- carding mill on the Thread, and in 1845, John C. Griswold was engaged in the same business at the Thread Mills. Mr. Alexander advertised his carding-mills in verse, as follows :
" Wool-carding done at the Alexander earding-machine ; All being new, nothing said about it being washed elean. The women's instructions are, ' Tell Mr. Alexander, please, Make me as good rolls as you can ; it will my mind case.'
" I will, if you grease the wool so an l so, and be sure Then your rolls shall be nice, can't be beat, nothing truer ; And your mind will be at rest when you see that they are Made at the Carding-Mills, No. 1, of J. F. Alexander."
STONE'S WOOLEN-MILLS.
In 1867, Mr. Oren Stone, senior member of the firm of Stone, Atwood & Co., was induced-from the general con- plaints among Genesee County wool-producers that they did not receive adequate prices for their products-to sub- mit a statement to the business men of Flint advocating the feasibility and success of a woolen-manufactory, if estab- lished in this city, and the advantages to be derived by keeping at home and dividing here the profits between pro- dneers and manufacturers.
Acting upon these suggestions, a company was formed, a mill was erected and placed in active operation. But a short time had elapsed, however, before a majority of the original members-not continuing strong in the faith- dropped out one by one, leaving Messrs. Stone & Willard alone to face results. This they did without flinching. Together they gradually increased the demand and supply until 1870, when Mr. Stone assumed the entire manage- quent. By dealing exclusively with large wholesale and job- bing-houses-among them those of A. T. Stewart & Co., of Chicago, Farwell & Co., of Chicago, and C. Curtin, of San Francisco, Cal .- he managed, by a close attention to all the minor details of his business, to give employment to a large number of the workingmen and women of Flint, and to pull safely through those long years so fraught with disas- trous results to manufacturers throughout all sections of the country.
Mill No. 1 was erected in 1867, and for the year ending June 1, 1868, the manufactured goods aggregated 15,000 yards of cassimeres. The products for the year 1872 reached 100,000 yards. Under the present management of Stone, Atwood & Co., which began in 1877, the manufactures amount to 180,000 yards of cassimeres yearly.
During the spring of 1879, Mill No. 2 was started, and the manufacture of stocking-yarn added, of which 4000 pounds are made per month.
Much more could be said concerning the success of Stone's Woolen-Mills, but nothing that will appeal more strongly to business men than the fact that energy and push characterize the management. Well-paid experts attend to each department, whose strongest guarantee for a faithful performance of skilled labor and constant employment is their sobriety.
CITY OF FLINT GAS-LIGIIT COMPANY.
The City of Flint Gas-Light Company was organized March 26, 1870, by James B. Walker, Josiah W. Begole, William M. Fenton, and Jesse B. Atwood, with a capital of $50,000.
The following were the first officers : James B. Walker, President ; F. W. Judd, Treasurer; Levi Walker, Seere- tary ; William M. Fenton, Josiah W. Begole, Jesse B. Atwood, and William ITamilton, Directors.
They at once commeneed the ercetion of the works, and laid four and one-quarter miles of main pipe. They com- menced supplying gas Jan. 1, 1871. During the first year there were 90 consumers, using about 2,900,000 cubic feet in the year.
The company have since that time extended their street mains until they have now about seven miles of main pipe,
OFFICE
STONES
WOOLEM
MILLS
SÍ
N
M
NO
EPS
STONES WOU TƯỆN WILL
STONE, ATWOOD Æ CL
STONE'S WOOLEN MIL
ISTONE S.WOOLEN .MILE. NO.2.
STONES WOOLD MILLE I No 2
F. & P.M.R.Y. UMBER
810
4.79
SDUY
F&F.MRW
[:301.
C.S.L.
BOSTON & ALBANY
LUMBER LINE
FLINT, MICHIGAN.
137
FLINT CITY.
and supply gas to about 260 consumers. During the past year they sold 4,317,000 cubic feet of gas.
At the commencement the company sold gas at the rate of $4.15 per thousand feet, which included government tax. They are now making a gas of eighteen-camille power, and selling it at $3.50 per thousand feet, less a discount of twenty per cent. for cash, leaving the net rate $2.80 per thousand feet, which is lower than that of any other city in the State excepting Detroit.
The present officers are F. W. Judd, President ; J. B. Atwood, Jerome Eddy, J. W. Begole, G. L. Denham, Di- rectors ; Ira HI. Wilder, Treasurer ; Miles Byrne, Secretary and Superintendent.
Among other business associations which years ago ceased to exist were the following :
THE FLINT SALT-MANUFACTURING COMPANY.
This company was regularly organized as a chartered asso- ciation, July 30, 1860. Its capital stock was to be $50,000, or 2000 shares at $25 cach. The stockholders were Messrs. Wilham M. Fenton, Edmond II. MeQuigg, Artemas Thayer, Levi Walker, Henry H. Crapo, William llamilton, Alonzo W. Brockway, James B. Walker, Josiah W. Begole, and Heury M. Henderson. The office was located in Flint, and the business of boring for and manufacturing salt was to be carried ou in this and adjoining counties, the asso- ciation to exist thirty years. The amount of capital stock actually paid in at the time of incorporation was $500. This company went forward and bored the " Crapo well," spoken of under the head of " Water Supply."
THE WOLVERINE AND PIT- HOLE PETROLEUM COMPANY.
This company was formed Sept. 18, 1865, and incorpo- rated five days later. They proposed " to engage in and carry on the business of mining, exploring, and boring for and extracting from the earth and manufacturing and sell- ing petroleum and other oils, mines, and minerals on lands to be leased or purchased within the county of Venango, in the State of Pennsylvania." The amount of capital stock was to be $50,000, and the number of shares of such capital stock were 1000, of the value of $50 each. The amount actually paid in at the date of incorporation was $10,000. The stockhoklers of this company each own- ing 100 shares were George W. Fish, Artemas Thayer, Grant Decker, Levi Walker, William B. McCreery, Paul 11. Stewart, Josiah Pratt, Robert J. S. Page, John B. Hamilton, and Jerome Eddy. The affairs of the company were managed by a board of seven directors. A president and treasurer were chosen from among the directors, and a secretary appointed. The company was to exist thirty years.
THE FLINT PETROLEUM COMPANY
was formed and incorporated according to the laws of the State of Michigan, Dec. 9, 1865. It proposed " to lease or purchase land in the Euniskillen Oil Region, Canada West, and bore and drill for oil thereon."
Toc amount of capital stock was to be $10,000, or 250 shares at $10 each, and the amount paid in at date of incor- poration was $5000.
The first officers of this company were S. B. Wicks, 18
President ; A. T. Crosman, Secretary ; John A. Klince, Treasurer ; Dumiel S. Freeman, George E. Newall, Peris F. Cleveland, S. B. Wicks, John A. Kline, Joseph Wood- house, Abner Randall, Francis Baker, and A. T. Crosman, Directors.
Sixty-two stockholders signed the articles of incorpora- tion, and this company also was to continue its existence for a period of thirty years.
" WILD-CAT" BANKING.
In January, 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union as a State. This was an era of the wildest specula- tion. The pioneers of that time yet living relate vividly the oft-repeated story of excessive prices of wild or uncul- tivated lands, and of lots in prospective villages and cities, which now have nothing but the recorded plat in the office of the registrar of deeds to indicate their location. This speculation, no doubt, was largely owing to the great amount of paper-money afloat in the State at that period.
A general banking law was enacted in March, 1837, making the business free to all. Under this law was the carly banking in Genesee County inaugurated, of which this paper briefly speaks. The general provisions of this law were fairly drawn, except that in the two most impor- tant features that concern the public-security to the bill- holders, and a bona fide capital to secure the depositors -- they were inadequate. The capital must not be less than $50,000 or more than $100,000. The issue could be two and one-hall' times the capital paid in. The issue shouldl not exceed seven per cent. on discounts, and the banks were required to make semi-annual dividends, thus assuring the banks' ability always to do this. The security for the payment of the banks' obligations were to be bonds and mortgages on real estate to be held by the bank commis- sioner, and the specie in the vaults of the corporation. Few banks, if any, had this specie, though the law required thirty per cent. of the capital to be paid in " legal money of the United States." These specie deposits furnished little reliable security. The fact was, the bank commissioner, whose duty it was to examine these banks once in three months, was often deceived, as one bank would inform an- other when the commissioner was coming, and the banks would borrow money to exhibit to the commissioner, and return it when he went away. In this manner the same specie woukt often serve for the use of several banks.
Surely, the financial pioneers of Michigan were but want- ing in skill to bank without money. A good story has been told of an ex-governor of the State, to the effect that when he was State bank commissioner, going from one bank to another on his round trip, he noticed a familiar look in the boxes containing the silver. After reaching the end of his route, though finding all the banks supplied with specie, he suddenly turned back, and, re-examining the banks, found them all without coin. This was the system of banking in- augurated in the early days of Michigan, the overthrow of which so shocked this State, financially, that many years elapsed before a recovery from its effects was manifest.
It was under this law that Genesee County began its les- sous in financiering. The county then had a population of less than three thousand, and the villages of Flint and Grand
138
IIISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Traverse had about the same number in hundreds. There were men here full of energy and activity, and in the desire to become rich were unscrupulous in the means employed to accomplish the same. The history of wild-cat banking in other portions of the State amply illustrates those estab- lished in Flint.
From the fact that records and data are unobtainable, particulars cannot be entered into concerning the history, officers, and stockhoklers of the " Farmers' Bank of fen- esee County," " The Genesee County Bank," and " The Flint Rapids Bank." Yet we do know that all of them had an active existence as banks of issue, and that Delos Davis, John Bartow, Charles C. Hascall, Robert F. Stage, Robert J. S. Page, and - Jerome, respectively, were officially connected with them. The circulatory power of their notes proved to be of but short duration, however, and they all suspended payment in 1838, on the decision of the Supreme Court relieving the stockholders from any liability touch- ing the redemption of the bills of the banks.
LEGITIMATE BANKING.
"THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF FLINT
organized and opened business as such in October, 1865. It succeeded in business the 'Exchange Bank,' which was originally opened by ' Meigs, Stone & Witherbee,' in 1858, T. C. Meigs soon selling out his interest to Messrs. Stone and Witherbee ( Charles Stone, of Sandy Ilill, N. Y., and A. B. Witherbee, of this city) The Exchange Bank under the management of Mr. A. B. Witherbee was a great financial success. In the spring of 1864, Mr. Witherbee bought his partner's interest, and was sole owner of the bank until the organization of the present bank, of which he took the cashiership, with 1I. M. Henderson as president, and O. F. Forsyth vice-president. The bank was then organized with a capital paid in of $100,000, and with the following- named gentlemen as directors : IT. M. Henderson, O. F. For- syth, A. B. Witherbee, George Crocker, William M. Fenton, William B. MeCreery, Benjamin Pierson, E. II. McQuigg, and E. C. Turner. Messrs. Fenton and MeCreery withdraw- ing from the bank before the organization was fully com- pleted, and having been succeeded by William L. Smith and Leonard Wesson, William Gibson was made teller, and acted as such for many years. At the organization of the Citi- zens' Bank he was chosen its cashier.
" In 1870, Mr. H. M. Henderson (having engaged in banking with his son-in-law, Giles L. Denham) withdrew from the presidency of the bank, and was succeeded by E. 11. MeQuigg as president, and George Crocker as vice- president. In February, 1871, the cashier, A. B. Wither- bee, died, and was succeeded by Charles S. Brown, who had been, connected with the old Exchange Bank in 1865, and the present bank in all the various positions from messen- ger to his present position, and who at this date (187?) fills the offices of director and cashier.
" Mr. A. B. Witherbee's death was severely felt by all classes of the citizens of Flint, and especially by those en- gaged in manufacturing and mercantile pursuits. Hle had grown up from boyhood in the city, and maintained a repu- tation for integrity and honor second to no bank official in the State. The bank was mainly organized through his
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.