History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 34

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772

USA > Michigan > Eaton County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 34
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 34

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).

'There are several other small shops in the city doing custom work.

CHAIR-FACTORY.

This institution, which is at the present time occupied by four different firms, was originally erected in 1874-75 by a stock company, and put in operation in the spring of 1875 for the manufacture of a variety of cane- and wood- scat chairs, and continued for about two years, when it was

closed out. Messrs. Baker & Porter purchased the stock and a portion of the machinery, and worked up the stock remaining on hand, continuing nearly two years. Succeed- ing them, Messrs. Goodwin & Fulton carried on the chair business until July, 1879. Messrs. Dart & Merrill pur- chased the buildings and a part of the machinery soon after the closing out of the original company, and have owned them since. Mr. A. L. Shattuck purchased the interest of Goodwin & Fulton and continued the manufacture of chairs. He is making a specialty of cane-seat chairs, and has about $1500 invested in the business. He employs four hands. IIis goods find a market mostly in Michigan.

Handles .- Mr. A. A. Piatt commeneed the manufacture of handles of all descriptions at Delta Village, Eaton Co., in 1874, and continued it about eighteen months, when he removed to Millett's Station, where he remained until January, 1876, when his establishment was destroyed by fire.

In February, 1876, he commenced business in Lansing, in a building belonging to Charles Butler, on River Street, where he remained until October of the same year, when he removed to his present location in the buildings erected by the Lansing Chair Company. Mr. Piatt rents a portion of the buildings and the steam-engine, and supplies power to all the firms domiciled in the premises. The engine is of 140 horse-power. IIe has about $6000 invested in machinery and stock, and employs an average of twenty five hands. His business is principally confined to the produc- tion of fork and broom handles, and he markets his goods principally iu Great Britain, at London, Liverpool, aud Glasgow.

Under the firm-name of Piatt & Cory he is also engaged in shipping large quantities of maple lumber to Liverpool. His partner in this business has no interest in the handle department.

Material is procured in the vicinity of Lansing, though it is being rapidly exhausted. The business seems to be a very flourishing one.

Furniture .- In the same building is the firm of D. W. & M. J. Buck, who are engaged in the manufacture of furniture. They commeneed business in the fall of 1877, and are turn- ing out a large amount of various descriptions of furniture, and in addition do a large amount of job work. They have a capital of some $3000 invested, and employ ten or twelve hands. Daniel W. Buck settled in Lansing, from Lansing, Tompkins Co., N. Y., in October, 1848. He cleared the ground where the Second National Bank now stands, and erceted a frame building in the winter of 1848. He has been in the business of manufacturing furniture for thirty- two years in Lansing. The firm of D. W. & M. J. Buck have an extensive furniture salesroom on the northwest corner of Washington Avenue and Ionia Street.

Rocking-chairs .- Mr. D. P'. Ashley occupies another portion of the establishment, and is engaged in the manu- facture of the celebrated " Eastlake Rocker." IIe has a small capital invested, and gives employment to about six hands. Ifis material is purchased in the vicinity, and his goods find ready sale to dealers in Chicago and throughout the Western States.

Taken altogether, this establishment is a very extensive

* Upon his arrivat at Lansing he lived for a number of weeks in the house with Dr. Goucher.

139

CITY OF LANSING.

one, and a large amount of products is manufactured an- nually.

The buildings consist of two three-story structures of brick, fifty by one hundred and twenty-five and fifty by one hundred feet, with engine-room, forty by fifty feet and two stories in height, having a drying-kiln on the second floor.

The works are situated near the foot of Grand Street, between Shiawassee and Saginaw Streets.

Messrs. William Woodhouse and C. W. Butler carried on the manufacture of chairs for a number of years before the advent of railways in Lansing. They employed about 200 of the boys at the State Reform School, and did all their work in that institution. The amount of capital in- vested was from $10,000 to $15,000. Their products were hauled by wagons to Jackson, and shipped thenee to Chi- cugo and other points. They were twice burned out at the Reform School ; supposed by incendiaries.

" Eureka" Fanning-Mills .- This well-known and highly - esteemed mill is the invention of the brothers H. and B. Cortrite, the former of whom commeneed its manufacture at Plymouth, Wayne Co., Mich., in 1858, and continued the business at that point until 1874, when he sold and removed to Lansing on account of better shipping facilities and a more central location. He began to manu- facture his mill in Lansing, on the ground now occupied (East Michigan Avenue), in 1875.

The present amount of capital invested in the business is $20,000, and employment is given to fifteen men, seven of whom are on the road selling the work. The machine work is done by Normore & Wood at North Lansing, and the mills are put together and finished ready for use at the shop on Michigan Avenue, which is convenient to three railway stations.

B. Cortrite is engaged in their manufacture at Norwalk, Huron Co., Ohio. The number of mills manufactured and sold by both firms from 1876 to 1880, inelusive, is about 10,000. They retail at thirty dollars cach, and are mostly sold in Michigan, reaching all parts of the State where grain is raised.

This mill was awarded the highest medal premium at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, and has taken the highest premiums at the Ohio and Michigan State fairs ; at the former during nine years, and at the latter during the past four years. The amount of annual sales reaches the value of $25,000. They are sold mostly by traveling agents, who are employed by the month. A few are oe- casionally sold in lots.

Mr. Cortrite has a fine and convenient shop fitted up at his residence on Michigan Avenue, and his house and grounds are among the finest in the cast division of the eity. The business is in a prosperous condition and in- ereasing annually.

BRICK MANUFACTURE.

The first briek manufactured in Lansing was made near where the stave-, heading-, and barrel-works of Shultz & Co. now stand in North Lansing, by a man named Beal, familiarly known as " Old Man Beal" or " Deacon Beal," in 1847. The brick for the " Benton House," now the

Everett House, were made at that yard. A son of the old man carried on the business in the same place for many years.

The first briek made on the ground now occupied by John Jordan, on the northwest quarter of section 22 in Lansing, were made by Henry Foote, who commenced the business about 1850, and continued it for fifteen years or more.

About 1870 a man by the' name of Buck commeneed operations at the last-named locality, and carried on the business some two years, when he sold to George B. Hall, of Detroit, who had the contraet to furnish brick for the new Capitol. IIe furnished, during the years 1873-75, about 14,000,000, when he made an assignment to his father, Richard H. Hall, of Detroit, and in the fall of 1875 he sold the property to John Jordan, who has carried on the business since. The real estate is the property of E. B. and Henry Morgan, of Aurora, N. Y., who have owned it for many years. After succeeding to the business Mr. Jordan manufactured and furnished about 800,000 brieks to fill the remainder of the contract with the State. Since 1876 the annual production of the yard has been over 3,000,000. The product consists mainly of common brick, as the market for a fine quality is exceedingly limited.

Mr. Jordan at first essayed to manufacture a more costly and finer artiele, but after a short experiment gave up the idea. He has about $7000 capital invested in the business, and his annual sales amount to about $11,000. The number of hands employed averages twenty-eight; 1200 cords of wood are annually consumed. Both white and red briek are manufactured, there being two qualities of elay, the upper for about the thickness of three feet burn- ing red, and the lower stratum, averaging about eleven feet in thickness, burning white. The bricks are much whiter than the celebrated Milwaukee make. Mr. Jordan leases seventy acres of the northwest quarter of seetion 22. The formations are singular and remarkably adapted to the production of brick.

About one-third of the traet, in the northeastern portion, is a vast bed of sand, which has been penetrated to a depth of over sixty feet without reaching the bottom. The sand is fine and sharp, the only fault about it being the presence of limestone pebbles, which it is necessary to sereen out before using. An abundance of soft water is everywhere found at depths varying from fourteen to twenty-eight feet, The clay is of an excellent quality and perfectly pure, with the exception of an occasional drift bowlder.

Mr. Jordan has in use two of the Swoard brick-machines, each capable of producing 30,000 brick per day, and one Standard machine, making 10,000 per day. A finer quality, denominated " stock briek," is manufactured by hand to the number of 3500 per day, or about 350,000 for the season of 100 working days. The market extends over a radius of 80 to 100 miles in all directions.

POTTERY.

A pottery was established in North Lansing by Simon Lowell about 1853. It was subsequently owned and operated by Lowell & Richardson. In 1858, D. B. Nar-

140

HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

more purchased Lowell's interest, and in the following year purchased the remaining interest of Richardson, and con- tinued the business until 1872. The manufacture was con- fined to common stoneware exclusively. The raw material was obtained at Millett's Station, in Eaton County. The products were disposed of mostly by teams in Michigan. The business gave employment to about four hands, and the aggregate sales for the year amounted to about $2500 or $3000. The advent of railways brought competition from Ohio and other parts of the country, which, by reason of superior facilities and materials, made the business in Lansing unprofitable, and it was given up. The establish- ment was located on the east side of Centre Street, be- tween Adams and Wall Streets, where the remains of the kilo or oven are still to be seen.

POT- AND PEARL-ASHIES.

The manufacture of these goods was commeneed in Lan- sing by John Swindenner, on the ground now occupied by the present establishment on Larch Street, about 1863.

The business was at first confined to the manufacture of potash, but in September, 1874, the production of pearl-ash was commeneed, and has been continned to the present time.

In 1876, C. D. Denio purchased the works, and in 1879 they were completely refitted throughout. A steam-engine was put in and a new set of kettles, leaches, and apparatus generally, placing the works on a solid footing for perma- nent business. A fine new oven was also built in the same year. The establishment is now producing annually from twenty-five to thirty tons of goods, which are sold in New York for $125 per ton. About five hands are regularly employed.

A similar establishment was put in operation in the north- west part of the city in 1879 by a man named Eigler. This last-named is making potash extensively.

TANNERIES.

The tanning business was commenced about 1856, in River Street, by three brothers named Loderer, who carried it on until April, 1865, when they sold to H. D. Pngh, who continued it for about four years, and closed it out. The old buildings are still standing.

About 1859, Mr. Christian Zeigler built a tannery on Saginaw Street, near the bridge. Mr. Zeigler was origin- ally from Germany, from whenee he cmigrated to America about 1854, and first settled at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he remained a few months, and removed to Lansing. He carried on the tanning business for about ten years, when he sold to his sons, C. II. and C. W. Zeigler, who continued for abont ten years, and in 1875 sold to Frederick, another brother, who still carries on the trade. The two brothers first named are engaged in the wholesale and retail leather business on Washington Avenne, and handle the prodnets of the factory .*

BREWERIES.

The brewing business was commenced about 1865-66, by Messrs. Yeiter & Co., who erected and put in operation

the works now owned by A. Foerster, at the foot of Madi- son Street, known as the Grand River Brewery. The firm carried on the business until the spring of 1880, when they sold to Mr. Foerster.

The capital invested is about $10,000, and employment is given to five hands. There is an artesian well on the premises, and the intention is to put up a steam-engine the present fall.

Mr. Foerster also owns the brewery and bottling-house situated near the depot of the Grand Trunk Railway, where he has abont $7000 invested, and gives employment to about the same number of hands as at the other works. These last-mentioned works were erected, about 1875, by August Galler.

The City Brewery, situated at the foot of Jefferson Street, was built by a Mr. Shoettle, about 1865. It is com- paratively a small establishment, and is at present not in operation.

SIIOW-CASE MANUFACTORY.

The business of manufacturing show-cases is one not generally found outside of the larger cities. It was begun in Lansing by C. L. Harrison, in 1872, in a room over the drug-house of Frank Wells. Mr. Charles II. Mann, who had come over from Germany in the last-mentioned year, and who understood that kind of work, was employed by Mr. Harrison. The latter sold to Henry Mohl about 1875, and Mohl to Charles Daman, in 1876. Mr. Mann was associated with Mr. Daman in the business, and in January, 1880, purchased his partner's interest, and has since con- ducted the business in his own name. He has a fine build- ing on Washington Avenue, near Ionia Street, and is doing a business of some $3000 annually, on a capital of about $1300. Ilis work is principally the manufacture of show- cases of all varieties, but he also makes office furniture, ice- boxes, counters, jewelry-trays, etc.

AGGREGATE CAPITAL INVESTED.

The following tabular statement, which, not pretending to absolute accuracy, and only including the more important manufactures, will furnish an approximate idea of the mag- nitude of manufacturing interests in Lansing :

Capital.

Saw-mills

$10,000

Flour and custom-mills .....

120,000

Iron-works

100,000

Carriage-works ...

40,000

Planing-mills, sash, and blinds.

85,000

Marble-works

10,000

Artificial stono ..

3,000

Staves, heading, and cooperage.

60,000

Chairs, furniture, etc.

36,000

Pot and pearl ashes

2,000

Gas manufacture

40,000

Brick manufacture.

10,000

Breweries

25,000

Printing

50,000

Tunning-mills

20,000

$611,000

EARLY MECHANICS.

Probably the first mechanics to locate in Lansing were the Page family, including the father, Joab Page, his son, Isaac Chauncey Page, and his sons-in-law, Whitney Smith and George D. Pease. These parties built the first saw-mill at North Lansing, in 1844, and several of them erected dwellings and other buildings.

" This tannery was destroyed by fire on the night of the 2d of August, 1480.

Ous

BLOCK

D.W. BUCK. FURNITURE ROOMS.

M.J. BUCKDO Il COFFIN ROOMS.

CLOTHING HOU

YYY

U. VV. DUCHU .VACIATIVVE TETLEY

TAAICIMIR MIPH

DANIEL W. BUCK.

One of the earliest to establish himself in busi- ness at Lansing, at the time almost a complete wilderness, was the gentleman above named. Mr. Buck is a descendant from a family of Scotch-Irish nativity, who were among the inhabitants of the famed "north of Ireland." Members of the family emigrated very early to the American con- tinent, and settled in the old colony of Connecti- cut, from which their descendants removed to Southern and Southwestern New York. Mr. Buck's grandfather was among the earliest settlers of Tompkins Co., N. Y., and lost a brother and three nephews in the terrible massacre at Wyoming, in 1778. The family of Benjamin Buck was quite large. His son, Daniel Buck, always resided in the State of New York, and died in 1854, at the age of sixty-nine years.

Daniel W. Buck, a son of the last named, was born in the town of Lansing, Tompkins Co., N. Y., April 21, 1828, and after arriving at a proper age served an apprenticeship of five years at the cabinet- maker's trade. In the fall of 1848 he started for Michigan, and arrived at its new capital on the 8th of October. He aided in clearing away the trees from the ground where now stands the Second National Bank of Lansing, and established himself in business in a small shop on that site. After a few months he employed a man to assist him, and

from that beginning his business has grown to its present proportions. Mr. Buck is now (November, 1880) in company with his son, Mayton J. Buck.

On the 11th of May, 1853, Daniel W. Buck was married to Miss Nancy M. Russell, of Crown Point, Essex Co., N. Y., at which place she was born Dec. 24, 1831. Several years after this mar- riage Mrs. Buck's widowed mother removed also to Lansing, where her death finally occurred. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Buck are five in number : Mayton J., the oldest, was born Aug. 22, 1854, and in February, 1878, was married to Miss Lizzie Allen, daughter of Abram Allen, of Lansing. She died Nov. 7, 1880. He is now in partnership with his father in business. Florence A. was born Ang. 15, 1856; Mary E., July 5, 1863; Bailey, Dec. 27, 1866; and Martha E., Oct. 4, 1869. All are residing at home with their parents.

Politically, Mr. Buck is a Democrat, and has been once elected alderman in the Second Ward of Lansing, and twice mayor of the city. An evi- dence of his public spirit may be seen in the fine opera-house bearing his name which he erected in 1872. A business career of thirty-two years in the city of his adoption lias brought to him pros- perity and an excellent reputation, and he is in truth one of the representative business men and substantial citizens of the place.

141

CITY OF LANSING.

Smith Tooker was also among the earliest settlers after the location of the capital at Lansing, having arrived on the 8th day of April, 1847, and continued since, with the ex- ception of three years spent in California. Mr. Tooker was born in Lodi, Sencea Co., N. Y., in 1819. The family removed to Steuben County in 1826, and thence to Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1835. In 1840 his father removed to the town of Woodhull, in Shiawassee County. Mr. Tooker married Marietta Sowle, who was born in Chenango Co., N. Y., in 1825. Soon after his marriage he settled in Bath, Clinton Co., Mich., and from thence removed to Lansing, as before stated, April 8, 1847. His father, Eliphalet Tooker, came to Lansing in 1848, and died in that place in June, 1851. His mother died in Shiawassee County in 1841. The father was a minister of the Baptist denomi- nation, and was filling the position of chaplain to the State Senate when he died. IIe was also a carpenter and joiner by trade. Ile filled several town offices, and was township treasurer at the time of his death. While a resident of Shiawassee County he filled the office of supervisor of the township of Woodhull. llis family consisted of ten chil- dren, six sons and four daughters, all now living in the vicinity of Lansing, except one daughter deceased, and a son living at Matherton, Ionia Co.

The father of Mrs. Smith Tooker, Mr. Robert Sowle, settled near Okemos in 1838, and died there in 1841.

John Thorburn, now a farmer in Delhi township, was a blacksmith at North Lansing for some ten or twelve years from 1849, and did a flourishing business. Another black- smith of early days was one Pettis,-about 1849 to 1852.

J. P. Cowles was an early carpenter and builder. The business of Lansing was largely at the lower town for many years, and the place still holds a large share of trade, though the new portion of the city has outgrown it in a great degree.

IMPROVEMENTS IN LANSING.

Lansing has had a steady and healthy growth, as a rule, since it became the seat of the State government. Planted in the midst of a dense wilderness, and situated many miles from the older settlements of the State, it has, notwith- standing these discouragements, continued to advance in wealth, population, and importance in a ratio corresponding with the material progress of the State. The location of the State capital naturally called the attention of capitalists and drew around it a permanent and intelligent class of in- habitants. Its central location and the subsequent con- struction of important lines of railway contributed in no small degree to its steady advancement, while its excellent Water power and consequent manufacturing facilities have been important factors in its favor ; but perhaps the most important consideration has been the rapid development of the naturally rich agricultural region which surrounds it, and which promises soon to equal in productiveness and permanent improvements any portion of the State.

A large and rapidly increasing trade centres at Lansing, and though it has vigorous competition in the important towns of Charlotte, Mason, Williamston, Grand Ledge, St. Johns, and others, yet the fact of its being the State capital, and its unrivaled facilities for the transaction of business, will always make it the principal city in the central portion

of the State. Its experience is similar in many respects to that of Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind., which, like Lansing, were planted in the midst of a wilderness, sur- rounded with, apparently, almost insurmountable obstacles to rapid growth and development, but which have already become the two largest inland cities in the Union (strictly speaking), with populations respectively of 60,000 and 75,- 000. The history of Springfield, Ills., Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wis., is also in many respects similar, though they are situated in more open regions, where the opportu- nities for rapid development are more favorable than in a heavily timbered country like Michigan.

There has been comparatively much less speculative movement in and around Lansing than in the case of some of the State capitals mentioned, and consequently the pro- gress and improvement of the place have been steady and uniform, rather than spasmodic and phenomenal.

The obstacles to be overcome when the Legislature made this point its permanent home were truly gigantic, but the indomitable perseverance of the pioneers, who came from among the best elements of our Eastern population, and from the prominent nations of Europe, triumphed over every difficulty, and won a realm from the wilderness, and built up a capital city in its midst of which even the hoary nations of the Eastern continent might be justly proud. And there is nothing in the pathway of the future indica- tive of any falling off in the material advance and pros- perity which have thus far characterized the settlement of the great Northwest.

Beginning with the year 1871, we find the improvements of the city to have been more or less important and perma- nent year by year to the present time. About eighty buildings, costing from $300 upward, were erected in 1871, the aggregate value being $181,056, exclusive of $200,000 expended by the State.

From September, in the last-named year, to September, 1872, more than 100 substantantial buildings were erected at a total cost of $372,400. Among the prominent struc- tures were the Opera-House block, costing $40,000 ; the Odd-Fellows' Institute, $30,000; Eicher's block, $14,000 ; Butler's block, $20,000 ; Cottrell & Thayer's block, $14,000; D. L. Case's block, $5,000 ; and the Hinman block, $6,000.

The years 1873 and 1874, on account of the general de- pression in business throughout the country, were not as active seasons as usual. In 1875 there was a great re- vival in building operations, about 250 new structures being erected at a total expenditure of $473,000. Of these, 223 were dwellings, and the remainder business buildings of various descriptions. Among the prominent ones were the lligh-School building, erected in 1874-75, costing $60,000 ; the Lansing Iron-Works, 89,000 ; Mead's flouring-mill, $33,000; chair-factory, $20,000 ; Hart's flour- ing-mill, $14,000 ; another flouring-mill, $4000 ; planing- mill, $3000; the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company's elevator, $3000; and sixteen stores, costing in the aggregate $72,000.

Among the prominent structures erected in 1875-76 was the new Congregational church edifice, corner of Al- legan and Towusend Streets, at a cost of $18,000. It is the finest church building in the city.

142

HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

From September, 1878, to September, 1879, about 100 buildings were erected at a cost of $210,000, among the prominent ones being the post-office building, by Turner & Moody, costing $26,000.

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History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 34

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 772

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772