USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 2
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
328
Senators, State
516
Sessions, Alonzo 73. 215. 495, 518
Sessions, Nathaniel 143
Seventh-day Adventist Church 421
Sheriffs 1,3
Shiloh 174
Sidelights
500
Smith's Crossing
388
1 Organization 1
196
Physicians
425
Settlement
1
1 1
I
1
1
I
1
I
Stores, First 181
4,3
1
1
Robinson, Rix 46]
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Soldiers from lonia County 248
Sons of Veterans 336
South Boston 390
South Cass 155, 390
South lonia
92, 116
Squatters
92, 116
State Hospital 1
509
State Senators
516
Standard Schools 1 I I
369
Stony Creek 390 1 1 I
Storm Area 1
39
Streams
37.
1
44
Surveyors, County 65
44
T.
Temperature 40
I 1 "Toledo War" 59
Tornadoes
40
Transportation
241
Treasurers, County
I
63
Treaties with Indians.
1
445
U.
Union Church 423
United Brethren Churches
417
V.
Vote for Governor
515
W.
Wagar Dam 46
Washington Treaty of 1836. 448
Water Power 46
Waterville
86, 391
Weather 38
West Campbell 389
West Sebewa 391
Wheatland
388
Willing Dam 40
Winds 42
Winsor, Eugene E. 194
Woman's Relief Corps 334
Woods Corners
391
Y.
Yeomans, Erastus 59, 62, 467, 484 Young Men's Christian Association __ 519 Y. M. C. A. Camp 45
Swamp Land
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
VOLUME II
A
Adgate, Chester 83
Albert, Joseph 501
Aldrich, James A. 184
Allen, Marcellus J.
302
Allen, Thomas R .. M. D. 112
Amsden, George W.
201
Angell, Joseph T. 446
Arnold, Burt W. 248 1
Arnold, Fred 1 1
248
Arnold, W. D. I I
249
Ashley, John, Jr. 346 I
B
Barber, Thomas S. 154
Bates, Richard 331
Beckwith, Edwin F., M. D. 276
Benediet, Arton L. 162
Benedict, Ledrue R. 498
Benton, Fred
348
Berry, Edgar L.
425
Berry, Luther M.
Į 475
Blanchard, John C. 300 1 1
Bliss, Roswell E. 109 I 1 1
Bouck, Elliot 506
Boughner, T. J. 190
Braden, Cyrus F. 297
Bradley, Charles H. 264
Bradley, John M.
99
65
Branch, Rev. Elam E.
208
Brickley, William F. 236
Brink, Charles E. 405
Brock, Loren P. 147
Brooks Family 197
Brown, Byron F. 452
Brown, Hiram M.
Browne, William J. 160
Buck, George A. 325
Bunnell, Alfred S. 330
Burhans, Winslow P. 279
Burr, Albert P. 397
Burtraw, Frank A.
169
Butler, John C. 59
Cahoon, Fred E. 199
Campbell, Samuel L. 435
Cannon, Richard 402
Carpenter, Lewis A. 3,32
Carten, Thomas A. 280
Chapple, John G. 225
Chase, Major Frank R. 472
Chickering, Sylvester D.
453
Chubb, James 145
Clarke, William J. 441
Colwell, Eugene F. 477
Colwell, Raymond A. 493
Conkey, George 431
Cowles, Richard B.
124
Crawford, Capt. David C.
Crawford, Stephen M.
Croel, William A. -1,30
Curry, James B. 1.05
Curtiss, Sheldon R. 72
Cusser, William L. 411
Cutler, Fred
218
Cutler, Fred. Jr.
361
Danner, Emery S.
370
Darnell, Henry 13.
240
1
Braley, F. W., M. D.
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Davis, Judge Frank D. M. 35
H
Day, Henry H. 116
Dean, Oscar H. 176
DeGarmo, John A. 150 1
llall, Frank W. 82
Hall, Henry J. 73 J
183
Dimmick, Alvin S. 1
413
llall. Luther E.
118
Dinsmore, Adelbert S. 334 1
Dinsmore, Albert
334
Dorin, Ellis W. 50
Dougherty, John R 320
Douglass, Dayton
349
Durkee, Charles F. 220
Dutt, W. Andrew, M. D. 414
F
English, John 11. 192
Estep, Charles A.
497
Eyster, Charles C. 1 1 251
F
1 Fender, Adam 46
Fishell, William 54
Fortune, John W. 221
Fowle, James L. 242 J 1 I
1 Francis, Arthur L. 393 1
Freeman, Perry C.
395
1 Frost, Orson V. 210
Frost, Thomas
496
G
I Galloway, John J. 133
Gates, Charles 266
1 Gates, Clinton 256
Gemuend, Harry Il. 115
Gesler, Albert E., M. D. 85
Gifford. F. J. 364
Goodwin, Marcellus Il. 98
Graft, Reuben T. 10]
Grant, William A., M. D. 343
Grant, William R., M. D. 1
1 336
Green, Elmar N. 340
Greenwood, Levi M. 1.29
Guilford, Dennis J. 68
K
Keister, Fred D. 344
Kennedy, Duncan G. 326
Kennedy, James 164
Kilborn, Edgar E. 1 1
131
1 Kirby, Charles F. 158 1 1 1 1
1 Klotz, Augustus F. 206 1
Knapp. Clyde A.
466
Kohn, Anthony M.
272
Kohn, Anton
272
Lamonte, Major T. 380
LaSelle, Ernest A. 211
Lauster, Fred G.
259
Leach, William E.
455
1
1
141
Hotchkiss, Charles E. 182
Hotchkiss, Newell 350
Howard, Frederic W. 408
Howe, Rev. Martin L.
1
117
Iludson, Eugene E.
418
Ilndson, Frank H.
508
J
Jenkins, Frank L.
96
Johnson, E. S.
178
1
1
Hall, Arthur N. 179
Hall, Brinton F. 457
DeKwak. Abraham 120 1
Dibble, H. A. 108
Hall, Joshua S.
Hamilton, John Il. 170
Hargrave, Frank A., M. D. 138
Hartman, Marcus R. 429
Hathaway, Claude E., D. D. S. 229
Hawley, William C. 374
Hay, Jolın R., M. D. 75
Hayes, Nathan B. 400
Hearsey, Roscoe A. 244
Hendershot, William 1
203
Hill, C. M. 102 1
Hixson, Warren 1 1 1 1 1 60
lloag, Isaac P.
319
Holden, Darius
1
1
BIOGRAPIIICAL INDEX,
Lee, Henry 1 495
Lee, Hiram 358 1
Leik, Paul
127
Pilkinton, Silas 11. 492
Pinkham, Joseph F., M. D. 398
Pline, Mathias 172
Post, Bert 419
Post, l.ce 419
Potter, George W. 44
Powell, Rev. Henry W. 291
Powell, Herbert E. 375
Probasco, Capt. Jacob (). 288
Pryer. Charles H.
53
Pryer, Frank W. 420
Mc
McCartney, William H. 484
McLaren, William A.
135
McQuaid, David A. 121
M
Mack, A. A. 333
Marshall, Levi
144
Martin, Thomas F. 442
Mason, Frederick A. 503
Mattison, William H. 316
Maynard. Charles H. 409
Meade, Albert 404
Millard, Rev. David E. 328
Miller, Hon. Frank C.
40
Miller, Louis P. 199
Milliman. Mrs. Arminda 192
Minty, Alexander 490
Morse, Hon. Allen B. 448
Morse, Joseph 255
Moss, Adelphin 194
Moulton, George W. I
267
Newman, Asa 309
Nichols, Hon. George E.
237
O
Olmsted, Louis N.
69
Orr, Marjory M., M. D.
491
P
Packard, Delmar
335
Page, Rufus L.
257
R
Ralston, Charles M. 88
Ranger, Howard A. 372
Reed. Maurice .V. 488
Reed, William B. 400
Renkes, Albert C. 469
Renwick, James 224 1
Rice, Charlie C. 260
Richards, Frank E. 388
Robbins, Georgc 486
Robertson, Alexander 351
Robinson, Jefferson 394
Roof, Adam L. 312
Roof, Hon. Albert K. 312
Ross, John E. 470
Rudd, Clinton J.
226
Ruel, James Il. 420
S
Scott, James D. 308
Scoville, Glenn 11., D. V. S. 377
Scoville, Leroy A. 389
Seeley. Lewis S. 111
Selleck, Augustus 128
Selleck, W. F. 128
Shaw, George N.
Shellhorn, Edwin
Shepard, Warren 424
Sherwood, Nathan B. 193
Slye, Elbridge 1 ..
Smith, Cortland 5.3
Smith, Herbert L. 14
Smith, Jesse 11.
Smith, John (. 23.3
Parker, Edward N. 355
Peake, Clarence W. 104
Lenhard, M. P.
381
Locke, Alfred R. 282
Locke Family (see Brooks)
198
Lowrey, Ebenezer N. 416
Lowrey, Ed. N. 04
Lowrey, Prof. Ilarvey H.
56
Lowrey, Richard R. 436
Luscher, William 132
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Somers, William H. 365
Soule, William F.
499
Vosper, Benjamin 186
Sparks, Thomas
137
Vosper, James
186
Spencer, Fred L. 467
Spinney, Andrew B., M. D. 304
W
Spitzley, Joseph 205
Spitzley, William 213
Stebbins, Perry H.
78
Steele, William N.
479
Webber, Herbert B.
42
Webber, John A. 464
Webber, Lorenzo 464
262
Stillwell, Coral A. 271
Webster, O. FF.
438
Stone, Orin 253
Stout, Clyde M.
174
Strong, Emory F. 305
Struble, Lambert B.
214
T
Taft, Frank 152
Tasker, Robert N. 156 I I
Taylor, James 199
Tebbel, George W. 189
Tebbel, John 189 1
1 Thurlby, George C. 507
67
Tower, Osmond S. 1 I
504
Townsend, Ed S. 482
Townsend, Emery 384
Townsend, Lorin P. 368
Townsend, Sherman M. 110
Tucker, Mrs. Samuel E. 1
52
Turner, llarvey A. 407
Tyler, Otis D. 462
U
Upton, Victor F.
356
V
Vanderheyden, Fred H. 392
Van Vleck, Peter 353
Van Vleck, Rector H. 352
Vetter, Anselm 386
Yeomans, Edwin S. 93
Yeomans, Erastus T. 285
Yeomans, llon. Walter 48
Yeomans, Willard S. 80
Young, John 33
Z
Watt, Hon. J. Clyde 451
Watt, S. A. 216
Steere, William C.
434
Stevens, Benevolent H.
341
Stevenson, Major Thomas G.
37
Webster, Judge Montgomery
274
Wellfare, Hugh J.
91
West, George L. 415
Weter, Guy D.
White, Reuben H. 382
Wilder, William A. 412
Wilkins, Frank S. 339
Wilson, Charles L. 459
Wilson, David E. 432 1 1
Wilson, Ferman G. 247
Wilson, Gilbert W. 456
Wilson, Henry J. 456
Wilson, William H. 106
Winchell, Clarence G., D. D. S. 314
Winchell, George P., M. D. 269
Winchell, Walter L. 323
Winslow, Nathan 89
Wooldridge, Edward M. 95
Wooldridge, Ernest S. 87
Wooldridge, George W. 378
Wooldridge, Samuel
427
Y
Zahm, Michael
175
Vohlers, Eugene L. 62
Washburn, Frederick A. 125
Welch, Amos M.
359
Tingley, Henry G. I
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER 1.
GEOLOGICAL. AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Ionia county, which lies approximately in the second tier of counties south of a line dividing the Southern Peninsula into two equal halves, north and south, is also slightly west of a line which would divide the Southern Peninsula into two equal parts, east and west. It is bounded on the north by Montcalm county, on the cast by Clinton county, on the south by Eaton and Barry counties, and on the west by Kent county.
Coal measures imderlie the surface deposits in most of lonia county- in fact, of all the county except the extreme southwestern part. where the Grand Rapids group underlies the surface deposits. The carboniferous for- mations in Ionia county, as a matter of fact, embrace both the Grand Rapids and Saginaw groups. The former is made up of limestone above, with gypsum, shales and hydraulic limestones below, while the latter is made up of coal, paving brick, clays, shales and sandstones.
No wells penetrate the interior formations in Fonia county deeper than the coal measures and there is, therefore, no direct information regarding the character and thickness of the deeper-lying formations. The records of deep wells at Grand Rapids. Mt. Pleasant, Alma, St. Johns, Deha and Char- lotte, however, indicate the general geologic conditions obtaining in fonia county. It is very probable that gypsum and coal deposits exist within the limits of Ionia county. Marl or bog is known to exist in a number of places. but, under present conditions, marl deposits have no very great economic value. It is quite possible, nevertheless, that in the no distant future marl deposits will be developed for agricultural purposes.
Speaking generally, the rock formations in the Southern Peninsula of Michigan present less variety of features than in the North Peninsula, and are much less open to view, because of the greater thickness of the glacial
(3)
34
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
deposits. None of the rock formations in the Southern Peninsula have been subjected to such upheaval and folding as characterize the formations in the western part of the Northern Peninsula. They all lie in nearly horizontal position, with a gentle dip toward the center of the Southern Peninsula, and pass beneath the beds which form the surface of that peninsula.
The rock formations of the Southern Peninsula range in age from the upper part of the Silurian, through the Devonian, to the lower part of the Carboniferous, and consist of a series of limestone, shale and sandstone beds, with which are associated deposits of coal, gypsum and salt, each in its own particular horizon. The arrangement of the several formations has been likened to the piling up of plates or saucers, in a series of diminishing size and diminishing amount of dishing, from bottom to top. The upper- most and youngest formation, though resting on those which precede it in age, does not stand above some of their outlying parts.
The highest bed-rock surface in the Southern Peninsula is found in the area of outcrop of the Marshall sandstone of early Carboniferous age, in Hillsdale and neighboring parts of Jackson and Calhoun counties, where an altitude of one thousand to one thousand one hundred feet is reached. The lowest altitude of the rock surface is on the borders of Lake Michigan, in the vicinity of Manistee and Ludington, where it falls below sea level. It is in the area where shales of late Devonian and of early Carboniferous age form the uppermost beds of rock. In the midst of Lake Michigan, imme- diately west from there, the rock surface, over an area of thirty miles in length and two to eight miles in width, has an altitude more than three hun- dred feet below sea level. There is thus a range of about one thousand four hundred feet in the altitude of the bed rock of this region ..
There are in the Southern Peninsula two large areas in which the rock surface has a marked relief above bordering districts. One of these, in the southern part of the state, extends from near Kalamazoo and Coldwater northeastward to the terminus of the "thumb" of Michigan, which lies between Saginaw bay and the southern part of Lake Huron. From an alti- tude of one thousand one hundred feet in northern Hillsdale county. it drops off somewhat rapidly to about nine hundred feet in central Jackson county, and then more gradually to seven hundred feet or less at the end of the "thumb." There is also a rapid decrease in altitude southward in Hills- dale county and adjacent parts of Indiana and Ohio, to an altitude of only six hundred feet, and this low altitude of the rock surface is maintained over much of the northwestern part of Ohio and the northern part of Indiana.
35
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The other area with relatively high rock surface is found in the north- ern part of the peninsula, north of latitude forty-four degrees. That region is so heavily covered with drift that few borings have reached the rock. These indicate that the rock surface may not reach an altitude of more than two hundred and fifty feet above Lakes Michigan and Huron, or but little more than eight hundred feet above the sea. In the southern Cheboygan and southwestern Presque Isle counties the rock is either exposed. or struck in borings, at an altitude of about eight hundred feet above sea level, and no borings in neighboring districts to the south have reached it at a higher altitude. From this relatively high rock area there is but little descent to the northeast and east until one reaches the immediate borders of Lake Huron. There is also comparatively little descent in passing westward to Lake Michi- gan over the district immediately south of Little Traverse bay. But from the vicinity of Bellaire southward, there is a very low rock surface for some distance inland from the Lake Michigan shore, portions of it being about at sea level. The altitude is also very low in a strip running westward through the center of the peninsula from the southern end of Saginaw bay to Lake Michigan, the general altitude of the rock surface being only three hundred to five hundred feet. This low area lies about midway between the two relatively high areas just noted, and there is a gradual rise from it toward these areas. In the southwestern and southeastern parts of the peninsula there are extensive areas with an altitude about five hundred to six hundred feet above sea level.
The relations of the rock surface to the levels of Lakes Huron and Michigan, therefore, are such that, were the drift removed and these lakes held at their present level, there would be two large islands within the area of the present peninsula-one, one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet above the lake, lying north of latitude forty-four degrees and occupying per- haps half of the present land surface north of that parallel; the other, in the southeastern part, with an altitude one hundred to five hundred feet above the lake. The latter area would be bordered by broad stretches of very shallow water, interspersed perhaps with low islands in the district adjacent to Lakes Erie and St. Clair, and across the northern part of Indiana, north- western Ohio and the southwestern part of Michigan. There would be rela- tively deep water in what is now the central part of the peninsula from Saginaw bay westward, including perhaps the northern fringe of Ionia county, and exceptionally deep water on the western side of the northern island from the head of Grand Traverse bay to Ludington From plani
36
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
meter measurements already made, the average elevation of the rock surface appears to be about five hundred and fifty-four feet above the sea. Were the drift removed and the rock brought to a uniform level, its surface would stand about twenty-five feet lower than Lakes Huron and Michigan.
The glacial drift which covers so deeply much of the rock surface of the Southern Peninsula consists of a more or less commingled mass of boul- ders and small stones in a sandy or clayey matrix, though it differs greatly in constitution and in texture from place to place. It was brought in largely, if not wholly, by an ice sheet or continental glacier which moved southwestward from the highlands of Canada across the several Great Lakes basins, carrying in it the earthy and stony matter gathered from the loose surface material of the districts over which it was moving. The Canadian highlands were thus extensively denuded of soil and subsoil, while the district south of the Great Lakes was correspondingly enriched by the glacial action. The average thickness of the drift in the Southern Peninsula is about three hundred feet. There are places near the border of Lake Michigan where the drift is known to exceed six hundred feet. Places in the high interior of the north part of the peninsula may have over one thousand feet.
There is evidence that the drift of this peninsula is not the product of a single ice invasion, but, instead, of two or more invasions, between which were long periods of warm climate such as prevails today. Between the deposits of glacial material are soils and peat beds and other indications of the presence of vegetation such as would thrive under a genial clinate.
Certain terms have been applied by geologists and geographers to the various deposits and the forms or topographic features of the drift, and also to deposits produced by waters issuing from the ice. Among the most prominent of the topographic features are the beds of rolling or hummocky- surfaced drift termed moraines. These belts have been followed in some cases for scores and even hundreds of miles in their broad sweep around the basins of our Great Lakes and across other districts. They were formed at places where the edge of the ice held a nearly constant position for a long period, and, by a continual advance to this line, brought in the material which furnished the irregular surfaced moraines. The uneven surface of the moraines is probably due largely to differences in the dirtiness of the ice. The dirtiest parts, upon melting, would furnish the material for the hun- mocks, while the cleanest parts would fall short of building up the surface and leave corresponding depressions. It is probable also that some inequality of surface is due to disturbance of material by ice movements.
37
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
In Ionia county there is a broad moraine, about four miles wide on an average, the tip of which begins just north of the forty-third parallel and extends, southward across the county line into Barry county. Another moraine, of approximately a mile in width, begins in Montcalm county and crosses the Ionia county line half way between the east and west border, extending south as far as Ionia. Just to the west of this moraine is another, beginning about three miles south of the Montcalm-lonia county line and extending south to the bed of the Grand river. Other moraines begin on the eighty-fifth meridian, at the line between lonia and Montcalm counties, and extend south and southwestward into Clinton county on an almost east and west course.
The wide areas between the moraines in lonia county have boulder clay at the surface, and with scarcely any coating of sandy material such as might be left along the receding ice border. These are known as till plains, till being a technical name for boukdler clay. They were formed under the ice sheet. The soil ranges from clayey to sandy loam and from first-rate to good second-rate quality.
There are also several rather wide areas of outwash plains in lonia county, one along the bed of the Lookingglass river, south of Muir. another along the Flat river, southwest of Belding, and a third beginning on the eighty-fifth meridian, six miles north of the Eaton county line and extending southwest into Barry county. These formations were caused by the water escaping from the ice sheet and which carried and spread out the sand and gravel. The soil is usually light in these places and requires intelligent culti- vation. Some of these outwash plains, particularly those south of the forty- third parallel, have considerable rich loam covering the sand and gravel.
Following the beds of the Grand and Maple rivers in Ionia county. there is a strip of sand lake beds, which probably is partially of glacial decompo- sition. The soil is light and in places is drifted by the wind into low ridges.
Northeast of Belding and extending into Montcalm county is an area of sandy drift, consisting of sandy deposits not definitely formed as outwash from the ice border and in part deposited under the ice. Here the soil is generally variable, but more often only second rate.
NATURAL DRAINAGE.
The drainage of the Southern Peninsula is almost equally divided between west-flowing streams, which enter Lake Michigan, and east-flowing streams, which enter the Huron and Erie basin. The Michigan basin is estimated
38
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
to receive the drainage of twenty thousand five hundred square miles, while the basins of the east receive the drainage of twenty thousand nine hundred and fifty-two square miles. The line separating the western from the eastern drainage departs considerably from a medium north and south line, though running the entire length of the peninsula. Near Big Rapids it is consider- ably west of the middle longitude, while near Howell it is considerably east of it. The great indentation made in the peninsula by Saginaw bay would cause the central line of the state to pass considerably west of its middle longitude, and there is no great departure from this central line. It passes considerably east of the highest land in the peninsula, that being all drained to Lake Michigan. All of lonia county is drained westward by various rivers and their smaller tributaries into Lake Michigan. It lies in the Grand river basin, which altogether comprises about five thousand six hun- dred square miles and drains into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven. This basin, by the way, embraces most of the thickly inhabited portion of the western part of the peninsula.
There is a great difference among the several drainage systems of the Lower Peninsula in their possibilities for water-power development. Some are concentrated in their middle and upper courses and they furnish a large flow, with heavy fall through the lower course, which in some cases is ren- dered steady by the presence of numerous lakes at headwaters. Others remain as independent branches nearly to their mouths and thus have little value as a combined stream. The Wagar dam, on the Grand river in Lyons township, Ionia county, furnishes abundant water-power for developing cur- rent supplied by the Ionia Water Power Electric Company.
THE CLIMATE.
The climate of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is insular to a marked degree, on account of the Great Lakes. The determining factors of climate for any locality are chiefly latitude and the relative distribution of land and water. Other important factors are the topography of its land surface and the situation of the area in question, with relation to the general movement of cyclones and anti-cyclones. Large bodies of water tend to equalize the nearby land temperatures and this is especially true of lower Michigan, where the effect of the great cold waves sweeping down from the northwest is modified by the warmer water of the Great Lakes; the movement of these anti-cyclones, or cold waves, is often deflected by the great bodies of water.
The effect of the Great Lakes, particularly that of Lake Michigan, in
39
IONIA COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
modifying the temperature effect of cold anti-cyclones and warm cyclonic storms makes for lower Michigan a more equable and less extreme climate than obtains in the states of similar latitude on the other side of Lake Mich- igan. This influence is very marked in the immediate vicinity of Lake Michigan, although apparent in all parts of the Lower Peninsula. In Wis- consin, winter temperatures have frequently continued from ten to twenty degrees lower during periods of extreme cold weather than in lower Michigan. owing to the warming influence of the great lake which intervenes between the two. In spring, the influence of Lake Michigan particularly, and all of the Great Lakes in general, is of untold value in modifying the eastward sweep of early hot waves and late cold waves. In summer the refreshing southwest to west winds are making the entire shore bordering on Lake Michigan one continuous summer resort.
A feature of Michigan climate, in connection with its soil productivity. is the comparatively long days and short nights due to latitude. In lower Michigan the longest day of the year at the summer equinox is nearly fifteen an done-half hours, while at New Orleans the longest day of the year is only a little more than fourteen hours in length. These long days and short nights during the crop season are climatic factors; the daylight promotes all vegetable growth, while the short nights often prevent late frosts in spring and early frosts in autumn. On the other hand, the frosting of the soil during the late fall and early spring greatly add to its vitality and fertility.
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.