History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 39

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 39
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 39

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The officers of the band are, President, N. J. Roe; Vice- President, Henry Norton ; Treasurer, William M. Dresskell; Secretary, J. I. Christopher; Leader, William M. Dresskell; Second Leader, G. W. Christopher. The officers constitute an executive committee.

A marked feature of this band is the number and beau-

tiful harmony of the clarionets employed. A half-dozen or more of the members are competent teachers, and the esprit de corps is excellent. The uniform is blue, trimmed in red and gold.

New instruments of silver plate, costing $1035, were pur- chased in 1879, and in 1879 and 1880 about $300 were expended in uniforms. The instruments were manufac- tured at Elkhart, Ind., by Conn & Dupont,-a firm which has built up a very extensive trade within a few years.

LANSING BUSINESS COLLEGE .*

This institution was originally established in the spring of 1867 by Professor H. P. Bartlett, of Lansing. The school was first opened in the " Benton House," now the Everett House, and continued there until the fall of 1868, when it was removed to rooms in the third story of Bailey's Block, corner of Washington and Michigan Avenues, as a more central and convenient situation. It remained in this location until the fall of 1874, when it was removed to the third story of the Ingersoll Bloek, on Washington Avenue, and there continued until the summer of 1880, when rooms were obtained in the north part of the first floor of the old Capitol building, and the school was removed thither.

The institution has grown from small beginnings to a position of rank and standing, and enjoys an excellent repu- tation among institutions of its class. The average attend- ance during the past ten years has been about eighty pupils.

The principal branches of study embraced in the eurrie- ulum are grammar, penmanship, book-keeping, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and commercial law, supplemented by sneh additional English studies as may be necessary.

The school is open throughout the year, with the ex- ception of a vacation of about two months during the heated term, and students may enter at any time. Pro- fessor Bartlett has generally performed the greater portion of the labor in the instructors' department, though he has at times employed an assistant. Students have been largely from the surrounding country, though a considerable num- ber have come from adjacent States, and a few from as far away as the State of New York.

Life scholarships are forty dollars for gentlemen and thirty dollars for ladies. For the theoretical course of three months the charges are twenty dollars; for the ele- mentary course, three months, fifteen dollars. The school is now in a very flourishing condition, with good prospeets for the future. The rooms in the old Capitol are conve- niently and comfortably fitted up, and ample accommoda- tions arranged for 100 students.

OPERA-HOUSE.

The Lansing Opera-House, located on the southwest corner of Washington Avenue and Ionia Street, was ereeted by Messrs. Buek, Cowles & Elliott in the fall and winter of 1872. It was completed and opened to the publie Marelı 1, 1873. The building is of light-colored brick, with arti- ficial stone trimmings, one hundred by sixty-six feet in di- mensions, and four stories in height, including a lofty Man- sard story. It is divided into three business stores on the

* From data furnished by Professor II. P. Bartlett.

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CITY OF LANSING.

ground floor, and the upper stories are occupied by the opera-house proper, which is conveniently fitted up, with seats for 1060 persons. The building as a whole presents a very imposing appearance and is among the most promi- nent in the city. The property is now owned by Danicl W. Buck.

NEWSPAPERS.

THE LANSING REPUBLICAN.

This paper was first issued as a seven-column folio, weekly, on the 28th of April, 1855, by Henry Barns, of Detroit, who was prominently connected with the Tribune of that city. The original subscription-price was one dollar per year.

The Republican party had come into power in Michigan in the beginning of that year, and the necessity of a party organ, firmly established at the State capital, was strongly felt. With the first issue the desire was expressed to ex- change with all the papers of the State, and this idea has been virtually carried out to the present time. Its ex- change-list is the largest of any paper in the State.

The only business advertisements appearing in the first issue were those of C. C. Darling, proprietor of the Co- lumbus House, and S. R. Greene, furniture-dealer.

Mr. Barns published only two numbers of the paper, when it passed into the hands of Rufus Hosmer and George A. Fitch, the former assuming editorial control, and the latter becoming proprietor. At the time it was established Mr. Barns had expected to obtain the State printing, but, this being awarded Messrs. Fitch & Hosmer, he withdrew from the concern. The office has had the contracts for the State printing and binding since that date.

With the issue of the fifth number the name of Herman E. Haseall appeared as publisher, and this position he held until Aug. 4, 1857. The publishers succeeding him have been Hosmer & Kerr, John A. Kerr & Co., Bingham, Kerr & Co., Bingham George & Co., and W. S. George & Co., the present firm.

Mr. Fitch retired Aug. 11, 1857, and was succeeded by John A. Kerr. Mr. Hosmer died on the 20th of April, 1861, and was succeeded as a silent partner by George Jerome, of Detroit. Mr. Kerr died July 30, 1868, and was succeeded by W. S. George, on the first of January, 1869. Stephen D. Bingham was a partner for one year from May 1, 1868, to May 1, 1869.

De Witt C. Leach, formerly of Genesee Co., Mich., was appointed State librarian by Governor Bingham early in 1855, when he came to Lansing, and entered upon his duties. He was also private secretary to the Governor, and had been corresponding editor of a paper in Detroit. He" became the real editor from the issue of the eighth number, June 19, 1855, and continued until his nomination for Congress in 1856, when his name was withdrawn during the canvass. After the election he again assumed the editorial chair, and so continued until called to Washington in December, 1856. Mr. Hosmer's name was continued as editor for some time, though he had very little to do with the paper during Mr. Leach's connection with it. After Mr. Leach's term of service in Congress (four years) ex- pired, he removed to Traverse City, where he purchased the Grand Traverse Herald, and was its editor and pro-

prictor until about 1875, when he sold and removed to Springfield, Mo., where he is now publishing the Patriot Advertiser.

Upon the retirement of Mr. Leach, Mr. Bingham be- came the responsible editor of the Republican in the fall of 1856, and continued for some months, when Mr. C. B. Stebbins, the Governor's private secretary, succeeded, and filled the position of editor until the return of Mr. Hosmer from Detroit, about 1858, when the latter again assumed control, and continued in that capacity until his death, in 1861.

Mr. Hosmer was formerly a lawyer at Pontiac. In his early years he was a small man, but in his latter days be- came very corpulent and weighed about 300 pounds. Ile was an able political and literary writer, and noted far and near as one of the best story-tellers in Michigan.

After the death of Mr. Hosmer the paper was edited by Capt. Isaac M. Cravath, who was afterwards State senator from this district. In the fall of 1861, Capt. Cravath raised a company of volunteers for the Twelfth Michigan Infantry, and Mr. Bingham again became editor, and continued in charge until some time in 1862, when George I. Parsons succeeded and continued for about a year. He was suc- cecded by Theodore Foster, superintendent of the State Reform School, who discharged the duties of editor in an able manner until his death, in 1865. Following him came S. D. Bingham, for a third time, who filled the position until May, 1868, assisted by N. B. Jones and George P. Sanford as local editors. Mr. Bingham had political charge of the paper until Sept. 1, 1873, when he finally retired.

On the 30th May, 1866, the form of the Republican was changed to eight pages, with six columns to the page, but, this not proving satisfactory, the folio form was again resumed on the 4th of May, 1869, with seven columns to the page. This was increased to eight columns on the 20th of July, 1874.

On the 5th of January, 1875, a seven-column folio semi- weekly edition was commenced and continued until Jan- uary, 1880, when it was changed to a tri-weekly issue, which is still continued. The weekly has been kept up during all these years, with the exception of an interim from January to November, 1875, during which the publication of the weekly edition was suspended. The weekly contains no advertising, and enjoys a large country circulation, also among business men, lawyers, and politicians throughout the State.

Sanford Howard, secretary of the State Board of Agri- culture, was agricultural editor for nearly three years, and his position was ably filled by his wife for some time after his death.

The Republican has been a gradual growth with the increase of population and business in Lansing, and the development of the vast and varied interests of Michigan. It has come to be a recognized exponent of the welfare of the people and the principles of the Republican party. From a weekly, with hardly a single local item, and not above two hours' editorial work on each issue, it has grown into a tri-weekly, with several columns of interesting local news, and it employs the full time of three persons in the

160

HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

editorial department, besides the attention given to it by the chief editor, who has been State printer since Jan. 1, 1868. No paper in Michigan is more frequently quoted, and none is more rarely caught in mistakes of fact. The rule of the chief editor is to go to the fountain-head, in all cases where it can be reached, for information, and to make no statement without good evidence of its truth, and to per- sist in no statement after a mistake is shown. The chief editor, W. S. George, has had more than forty years' expe- rience in printing-offices, and published a successful news- paper nearly twenty-five years ago in the East. His prin- cipal assistant, James W. King, has developed fine talents for newspaper-work of every kind, and is an accomplished short-hand writer. Ile was a soldier in the Army of the Cumberland, and one of the first men, if not the first, to mount Mission Ridge, where he received a severe wound. Ile also received a severe wound at Atlanta in 1864. The local editor, William M. Clark, published a successful news- paper in Iowa before the war. He is a practical printer and proof reader, and an accurate, painstaking reporter. Not a statement of his in the Republican has ever been successfully controverted, and, as is the case with all re- porters, the news which he does not tell would be very much more interesting than what he does,-in other words, his discretion is good.

Newspapers have come and gone in Lansing, and new ones have been threatened. The field has been prospected for a daily, yet no one has the courage or money to under- take it at present. When there is a decent chance of sup- port for a daily, the Republican will put one in the field.

THIE LANSING JOURNAL.

This paper is a weekly cight-column folio, twenty- eight by forty inches, Democratie in politics, published every Thursday by George P. Sanford, who is editor and proprietor. It is the lineal descendant of the Free Press, the first paper published at the State capital, by Messrs. Bagg & Harmon, the first issue having been on the 11th of January, 1848, during the first session of the Legisla- ture in Lansing.

A few months subsequently the name was changed to the Michigan State Journal, which was published until about 1862, when it was suspended. During this period of fourteen years a number of prominent gentlemen were connected with the paper, foremost among whom were George W. Peck, a brilliant orator, writer, and representa- tive in Congress; J. P. Thompson, recently deceased ; Joseph M. Griswold, Hon. W. 1I. Chapman, IIon. Samuel J. Kilbourne, and James B. Ten Eyck.

On the 6th of June, 1866, John W. Higgs re-estab- lished the paper as the Lansing State Democrat, and pub- lished it until July 12, 1872, when he sold the property to Hon. W. H. Hlaze and George P'. Sanford, who changed the name back to the Lansing Journal.

On the Ist of January, 1873, George P. Sanford became sole proprietor, and has owned, edited, and published the paper since. The Journal has a large circulation, and the best advertising patronage of any paper published in Central Michigan. Under Col. Sanford's administration the paper has been managed with ability, and has won that success

which its merits deserve and which few provincial papers attain.

GEORGE P. SANFORD was born in Byron, Genesee Co., N. Y., July 6, 1835, and raised upon a farm, his father having emigrated to Michigan in 1837. He read law,-though he has never engaged in practice,-and grad- uated at the State Normal School, at Ypsilanti, in 1856. In 1856-57 he tanght the Lansing High School, and graduated at the State University, at Ann Arbor, in 1861.

In the beginning of the war of the Rebellion he raised Company C of the First Michigan Infantry, and entered the service as captain, serving with distinction. Subse- quently he resigned on account of impaired health, but after an absence from the army of about one year again entered it with the rank of major, and served on staff duty until July, 1866, when he was discharged. During his second term of service he was promoted colonel for good conduct and efficiency.

IIis residence has been in Lansing sinee he left the ser- vice, where he has been prominent as a citizen and politician, filling several offices in the gift of the people, and serving for six years as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. Ile was a member of the Legislature in 1868, and in 1869 was a candidate for regent of the university on the Fusion ticket. He has also been prominently before the people as a candidate for gubernatorial honors, and received a very complimentary vote in the State convention held Aug. 12, 1880. His candidacy brought out many flattering notices from his coadjutors of the Democratic press throughout the State.

THE PRIMITIVE EXPOUNDER.

This paper was originally established at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1844, by Billings & Thornton. It was a small quarto in form, with two columns to the page, and issued semi-monthly. As its name indicates, it was a religious paper, and devoted to the interests of the Universalist de- nomination of Christians. The second volume was pub- lished at " Alphadelphia"* to which place. it had been removed by the publishers. The office did not continue long at this place, being removed to Jackson, Mich., some time in 18-15.

In 1846, J. HI. Sanford, now of Berlin, Ottawa Co., Mich., to whom we are indebted for the information here given, purchased the interest of Mr. Billings, when the paper was removed to Ann Arbor and published by Thorn- ton & Sanford. In 1848, Mr. Sanford became sole pro- prietor, and in the same year removed the office to Lansing, Mich.

The first issue of the paper in Lansing was on the 1st of January, 1849. With the commencement of Volume VI. at Lansing the paper was issued weckly in quarto form, and continued until 1852, when it was merged in the Star in the West, then published in Chicago, we believe. Mr. Sanford continued in the editorial department for one year after this change, when he severed liis connection.

* Alphadelphia was a communistio village, founded about the 1st of January, 1844, in the town of Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Mich.

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CITY OF LANSING.

THE LANSING SENTINEL.

A job office was established at North Lansing about 1871 by Eugene Thompson, and in connection he also published a weekly paper, called the Lansing Herald, for several months. Subsequently he devoted himself exclusively to the printing of druggists' labels and ordinary job-work. In the label line he built up quite an extensive business, and continued it with success until the heavy rivalry of large houses in Chicago, Detroit, and other cities made it unprofitable. Mr. L. S. Paddock was in the employ of Thompson as a solicitor, and when the latter decided to close up his business Mr. Paddock persuaded Mr. H. R. Nelson to take it up, and he and Paddock entered into partnership, in the fall of 1876, in the publication of a small weekly paper called the Young Citizen, the first number of which was issued on the 23d of March, 1877. They also carried on the job business. Mr. Thompson also continued the job department of his business for a number of months after his sale to Nelson & Paddock.

The firm issued the Young Citizen for about nine or ten months, when Mr. Nelson was taken sick, and during his illness the partnership became dissolved. Mr. Paddock is now connected with a prominent printing-house in Detroit. Upon his recovery Mr. Nelson leased the office to Mr. HI. E. Hobbs, and at the end of about six months the latter purchased the property.

Mr. Hobbs continued the jobbing department until Nov. 1, 1879, when he sold a half-interest to J. M. Potter. On the 8th of November, 1879, the first number of the Lansing Sentinel was issued, and the paper is still continued. On the 5th of July, 1880, Mr. Ilobbs disposed of his re- maining interest to Mr. Potter, who is the present cditor and publisher. The paper is devoted to the interests of the working classes, and is the special organ of that branch of the American political family familiarly known as the " Greenback Party." Mr. Potter has about $2000 in- vested, and carries on a general printing business.

The Sentinel is published weekly, and has a circulation of about 2000.

The office was originally located in the Case Block. Subsequently it was moved to its present location, in Chris- topher's Block, where it was burned out in the spring of 1879. During the rebuilding of the premises it was tem- porarily removed to rooms in Hart's Block.

A CURIOUS AND RARE COLLECTION.

Among the notable things worthy of special mention in the city of Lansing is the wonderful and unique collection of prehistoric and Indian relics and curiosities accumu- lated during a period of twenty-seven years by O. A. Jen- ison, Esq., the well-known and indefatigable antiquarian and archaeologist. Mr. Jenison is an enthusiast in this line of research, and like a consummate general approaches his task with the utmost system and order, never resting satisfied when once on the trail of a " good thing" until it is secured and added to huis carefully-gathered stores and eloquent relics of a forgotten age.

That his collection is rare and valuable is amply demon- strated when it is known that the famous Smithsonian col- lection, undoubtedly the richest of the kind in the world,

has among its most valued articles plaster casts of a num- ber of Mr. Jenison's best specimens, because the originals could not be purchased from their happy possessor. His collection consists in part of the following articles, all ex- cellent, and many of them exquisite, specimens of prehis- toric art : 14 rare and beautiful pipes, 300 perfect flint arrow heads, 12 fine spear-hcads, 30 stone axes, 40 superb skinning-stones or fleshers, 70 weaving-stones, and an end- less collection of " totems," charms, sinkers, plumb-bobs, and articles whose use can never be determined.

Among the pipes are some wonderful specimens: one from California, manufactured from the beautiful obsidian of the volcanic Pacific coast, black as a raven's wing; another, purchased from the Indians of Northern Michigan, made from a fine-grained, light-colored stone, exquisitely carved, and having a wonderfully lifelike figure of a bald eagle, carved like the rest from the solid stone, upon the stem. This is what he calls his " boss pipe," and he chal- lenges the country to produce its cqual-for ten dollars. Among the spear-heads is one of giant size, chiseled from the Huronian rocks, fourteen inches in length and weigh- ing about five pounds. It belonged to one of the sons of Anak who dwelt on the Mississippi in the days of the primitive mastodon.

His collection of Indian " toteuis" is also a remarkable one, and the specimens are finely wrought, mostly from beautifully-grained slate stone. They represent various ani- mals and birds. The finest is a representation of a beaver, most faithfully wrought out, and, no doubt, in his day, the pride of some famous chieftain.

Ilis stone-axes and skinning-stones present some rare specimens, and are nearly all excellent in workmanship. There are gorgets, and sinkers, and plumb-bobs, and orna- ments, and charms, in great variety, and an hour can be most delightfully passed with Mr. Jenison by any one curious in these matters. He has also a great silver disk, in the form of a medal, with curious devices, which was presented by the United States government to the Ottawa chief Cataw. It is about nine inches in diameter and a rare specimen of Indian relics.

In addition to what has been already mentioned, Mr. Jenison has a fine collection of rare and ancient coins amounting to about 3000 in number. The huge volumes which he calls his "scrap-books" are not among the least interesting of his varied collection, filled as they are with everything pertaining to the history of Lansing and the new Capitol, and illustrated with a large number of photo- graphs of various objects, including views of the Capitol in different stages of construction and portraits of every officer engaged in the work. They also contain copies of all the great seals of the States of the Union, with many interesting matters which we cannot mention. Mr. Jeni- son's contributions to the State Pioncer Society have been valuable, and he is constantly accumulating whatever may add to the completeness of his " museum." Most of his collection has been gathered in Michigan.

HOTELS.

Previous to the location of the State capital at Lansing there were no hotels in the place, though Esquire Page,

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HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

and possibly one or two others, accommodated travelers and land hunters; but in the same year in which the place was made the Capital hostelries sprang up on every hand. In the south part of the town we find the Michigan House, built by Levi Hunt, of Livingstou County, still standing; the National, on block 231, east of the river, built by Daniel Clapsaddle, who was killed in the same year by the fall of a bent while raising his barn ; and the Benton House, now the Everett House, erceted by Bush, Thomas & Lec. This was the first brick building erected in Lansing, and the brick were made at North Lansing by " old man Beals."

At North Lansing was the Seymour House, the largest hotel in the place, creeted by James and Horatio Seymour; and in the middle of the town were the old Lansing House, built of logs, on the corner opposite (cast) where the present Lansing House stands, the Columbus House, now forming a part of the Hudson House, and the Ohio House, west of the present Lansing House. The National was afterwards destroyed by fire.

The Benton House, named for Ilon. Thomas Hart Benton, United States senator from Missouri, was, as before stated, erected by Messrs. Bush, Thomas & Lee, a real-estate firm, who owned a large amount of land in and around Lansing. C. P. Bush, a member of the firm, was the first landlord, but officiated for only about four months, and was succeeded by William Ilinman, who had been a elerk in the store of Messrs. Bush & Thomas. Altogether, Mr. Ilinman kept the house for a period of about six years, at two different times. Dr. James W. Holmes kept it for a time, and in June, 1861, Martin Hudson became the landlord and kept it until April, 1863, when he leased the place he now owns, then known as the Columbus House. Rev. C. C. Olds afterwards purchased the Benton House and kept a select school or academy in it for a short time. Cyrus B. Pack- ard followed in 1870, and his son is the present landlord. Packard changed the name to Everett House .*

Lansing House .- The original Lansing House was built of logs by lleury Jipson and W. W. Upton, in 1847. They afterwards added a frame building three stories in height and of large dimensions.t This house was kept by Henry Jipson, a man named Holbrook, the Bakers, and M. P. Marvin. In 1859, Martin Hudson leased it of Jere- miah Marvin, bought the furniture, and kept it until it was burned,-about 1862.

The new Lansing House was built by La Fayette C. Baker, the famous head of the Government detective force and colonel of a regiment belonging to the District of Co- Inmbia during the war of the Rebellion, in 1866, at a cost of over $100,000. The lots where the hotel stands were formerly owned by Dr. John Goucher, who, about 1865, sold them to a company of citizens, which in turn donated them to Mr. Baker in consideration of his erecting a first-class hotel on them. The original intention was to expend about $50,000, but good judges estimate the actual outlay at 8120,000. The building is one hundred and

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History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 39

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