History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 32

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154

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

The National Hotel, on the south side of Grand River Street, opposite the Court-House Square, was built by John Weimeister in 1875; was opened as a public-house Jan. 1, 1876, and has been con- ducted successively by J. P. Hodges, Funston & Trombley, and the present proprietors, Messrs. Gaines & Bell.

A small public-house was kept for a time by - Olds, on the south side of Grand River Street, where Gilbert's harness-shop now is; and a house known as the Barlow House was kept in recent years-for a short time-on the east side of East Street, north of the main thoroughfare. A small house is now kept as a hotel at the railway station.

MILLS AND MANUFACTORIES.

The pioneer manufacturing enterprise of Howell was the saw-mill built by Moses Thompson in 1836. From his ownership it passed to that of his son Morris. In the year 1849, Morris Thompson, in partnership with George W. and Frederick J. Lee, commenced the erection of a grist-mill, on the same stream, above the saw-mill. This, known as the Howell Grist-Mill, was completed and put in operation in 1850. A few years later this, with the old saw-mill property, came into the sole pos- session of George W. Lee, who afterwards sold to William Williamson, who was the owner of the mills and privileges in 1865, and who in that year manufactured more than 1000 barrels of flour, in addition to the custom work of the mill, and at the same time did a very thriving business in the saw-mill. Mr. Williamson sold the mills to Zeb- ulon M. Drew, whose successor in their proprietor- ship was Thomas Birkett, of Washtenaw County. Since Mr. Birkett's occupancy the mills have been owned and operated successively by William Y. Munson and Calvin Wilcox, Munson, Wilcox & Co., and Thomas Hoyland, the present proprietor. As the work required of the mill became much greater in latter years than formerly, and as the supply of water in the stream constantly decreases, a steam-engine was added to the machinery of the mill, and is now in use as an auxiliary to the water-power at times when the latter is insuffi- cient.

The Howell Steam Saw-Mill, the location of which was upon the site of the present City Mill, was built in 1850; the proprietors in its erection being D. D. T. Chandler, George W. Kneeland, and Shubael B. Sliter. Mr. Sliter states that the enterprise was conceived and commenced by him- self, and that the interests of Messrs. Chandler & Kneeland were sold by him to them. However this may have been, he (Sliter) soon retired from it, and the establishment was owned and operated

by Chandler & Kneeland, and theirs are the names which appear on the assessment rolls of that time as the proprietors. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1851, and was rebuilt by Judge Kneeland. A large amount of work was done here in saw- ing plank for the Detroit and Howell and Lansing and Howell plank-roads, which were in process of construction about this time ; and it was largely + in anticipation of this work that the first mill was erected. The establishment passed from Judge Kneeland to the ownership of Aiken Holloway, who was running it in 1858; and from him to John Hoyt, who was operating it in 1861. The engine by which its machinery was driven was one which had then recently been built for Mr. Hoyt by B. C. & H. B. Curtis, and was the first steam-engine ever built in Howell. The mill afterwards passed into the hands of J. R. Axtell, and from him to John I. Van Deusen. In 1865 it had been refitted, and was carried on by Taylor & Van Deusen, who, in addition to its legitimate business, had added that of the grinding of sor- ghum sugar-cane for the manufacture of syrup. This enterprise was neither long-lived nor very successful. A few years afterwards stave-, head- ing-, and shingle-mills were added, and these were in operation about 1871 by Van Deusen & Whipple. In 1874 the mill was remodeled into a grist- and flouring-mill, with two run of burrs. It was owned and operated in 1875 by Latson & Wright, who added another run of stones, and im- proved it to its present excellent condition. It is now run by Mr. Wright. Its location is in the southwestern angle of Walnut and Westmore Streets.

FOUNDRIES AND MACHINE-SHOPS.

The first iron-working establishment in Howell was the foundry of Hickey & Galloway, which was located on the lot now occupied by the residence of Hon. A. D. Waddell, East and North Streets. This foundry was built in 1844, and made its first castings on Wednesday, Oct. 16th, of that year. Its work was " the manufacture of box, cook, and parlor stoves, plows and hollow-ware," and all kinds of agricultural implement castings. Hickey & Galloway sold to Lemuel Spooner and Edward Thompson, whose successor in the business was W. O. Archer. Mr. Archer sold to Abijah W. Smith, with whom Dexter Filkins had an interest in the establishment. A few months after coming into Mr. Smith's hands it was destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt.

The " Phoenix Foundry and Machine-Shop," located on the west side of East Street, south, was built in 1857 by A. W. Smith, above men-

155

VILLAGE OF HOWELL.

tioned as the last proprietor of the old Hickey & Galloway foundry. The Phoenix started in blast about the 15th of May in the year named, and on the 25th of the same month "Smith & Co.," the proprietors, announced to the citizens of Living- ston County and the surrounding country that their foundry and machine-shop was then in full operation,-that they were making the celebrated Starbuck, Wayne County Improved, Livingston County, and Michigan Straight-Line Plows; also the double-team plows known as the Bathgate, the Curtiss (several sizes), the North Bend, and "the celebrated Seventy-Six," and " every kind of corn- plows that may be wanted." In this line of busi- ness the foundry continued until Feb. 22, 1860, when the works were destroyed by fire,-the loss being estimated at $7200, about two-thirds in- sured.

The establishment was rebuilt on the same site by Benjamin C. and Henry B. Curtis in the same year. These proprietors were engaged, more than Mr. Smith had been, in the manufacture of ma- chinery, and in 1861 built the first steam-engine ever manufactured in Howell,-it being built for the Howell Steam Saw-Mill of Mr. Hoyt, and placed in operation in that mill in October of that year. Mr. Hoyt, in his advertisement of the re- fitting of his establishment, spoke of this engine as "comparing favorably with the best engines made in the State of Michigan."

In 1862, Curtis sold to Floyd S. Wykoff, who, in 1865, was doing business at the place as a " manufacturer and dealer in all kinds of agricul- tural implements,-reapers, mowers, threshing- and wood sawing machines, cultivators, field-rollers, plows, and every variety of castings." After Mr. Wykoff, the foundry and machine-shop was owned by John H. Galloway, and later, by Henry B. Cur- tis, of the firm of Curtis & Son, who are the present owners.

The "Howell Foundry," situated on the north side of Grand River Street, west of Centre Street, was built in 1849 by Stephen Clark. The busi- ness carried on by him was the manufacture of stoves and agricultural castings. In 1859 the es- tablishment came into possession of George W. Taylor and George L. Clark. In 1864, Taylor sold his interest to John H. Galloway, and the firm became Clark & Galloway, who, in 1865, were doing, in addition to the work of the foundry, a business in mowers and reapers, horse-pitchers, and every kind of agricultural implements. In the spring of 1867, F. S. Wykoff and Hudson B. Blackman were added to the firm, which afterwards was changed to Wykoff, Clark & Co. (William Williamson being interested). In October, 1874,

the firm became Wykoff, Clark & Imman, and in December, 1876, the business was purchased by J. M. Clark, the present proprietor.

WAGON-SHOPS.

The first wagon-shop in Howell was that opened by Andrew L. Hill, in 1842. He announced him- self as a manufacturer of every kind of wagons for farm or other use, " also Buggies, Buffalo Wagons, and Sleighs," all of which he promised to build for customers in a manner and style as thorough and workmanlike as could be procured in any shop east of Lake Erie. The first cutter built in How- ell was made by Mr. Hill for Philander Glover, from whose estate it was purchased in 1844 by Judge Turner, and used by him during several winters.

The next wagon-shop, after Hill's, was opened by W. R. Melvin and James Lawther, blacksmiths, in 1846. After Lawther withdrew from his part- nership, Mr. Melvin continued in the business for many years, and as late as 1868 was carrying it on at his " Arcade Shops," on East Street, where the Commercial Hotel now stands,-this hotel being, in fact, the old Arcade shop-building remodeled. Benjamin Scofield was another of the early wagon- makers, having his shop on the north side of Grand River Street, west of the present store of William McPherson & Sons.

William Sowle was also engaged in wagon- making in the village at an early date, and since the time of these early manufacturers there have been a number of others engaged in the business in Howell, but none of these establishments have been on a scale sufficiently extensive to require especial mention among the manufacturing indus- tries of the village. The same is true of those above noticed, and they have only been mentioned because they were among the earliest, and, during the time of their existence, were relatively more important than they could have been regarded among the business enterprises of later years.

HOWELL PLANING-MILL.

John W. Wright built the first planing-mill in Howell village in 1869, commencing business on the first of August in that year. This mill was located on Clinton Street between Centre and Walnut. It was destroyed by fire, April 27, 1875. Soon after this he built the present Howell Plan- ing-Mill, on East Street, in the extreme southern part of the village, below the railroad track. The business of this mill is the manufacture of sashes, doors, blinds, mouldings, and the dressing of lum- ber for building purposes. It is still owned and operated by Mr. Wright. Hosted by Google

156

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

EDUCATIONAL.

THE HOWELL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

It is evident that the first settlers in Howell moved promptly and energetically in the matter of providing the means of education for their children. It was in April, 1836, that the organi- zation of the township was perfected by the elec- tion of its first officers, among whom were F. J. B. Crane, Jonathan Austin, and Joseph Porter, school inspectors. Before the 21st of the following month School District No. I (embracing the village of Howell) had been laid out, and on that day a meeting of the taxable inhabitants of the district was held at the house of Amos Adams, at which meeting a district organization was effected by the election of David H. Austin, Justin Durfee, and Amos Adams as Directors, Jonathan Austin as Clerk, F. J. B. Crane as Treasurer, and John D. Pinckney as Collector of the District. Ten days after this meeting another was held at the same place, "for the purpose of deciding upon a Cite for a school-house for said district. . . . Whereupon the following proceedings were had: F. J. B. Crane, a resident of said district, offered as a present Lot No. 36, in the village of Howell, upon condition that said district should cause to be erected a frame school-house thereon. On mo- tion of Mr. Adams, Resolved, unanimously, that the district accept the offer made by Mr. Crane;" after which the meeting adjourned, to meet on the 5th of June at the same place. At the adjourned meeting " David H. Austin was appointed Chair- man, and Jonathan Austin was present as Clark. Resolved, That 350 Dollars be raised in said dis- trict for the purpose of erecting a frame school- house, and completing the same."

But for some unexplained reason the school- house was not built until the following year. Probably the reason of the delay was the lack of funds, and the difficulty of obtaining lumber, which could not then be procured nearer than Green Oak or Hamburg. Moses Thompson's mill had then just been commenced, and there was a prospect of its early completion and of a consequent facility for obtaining the necessary lum- ber. This may or may not have had an influence in causing the postponement of building operations.

In the spring of 1837 the school-house was erected on the lot donated by Mr. Crane. Sardis Davis was the master-carpenter, and hewed the timber for the frame. The lumber was sawed by Morris Thompson. The siding and interior finish, desks, and other fixtures, were of whitewood, hauled from Salem or Plymouth. The building was completed during the spring months, and on

the 17th of June, 1837, there was held in it a dis- trict-meeting, of which David Austin was chair- man and Jonathan Austin clerk. At this meeting David H. Austin was elected moderator of the dis- trict, Ely Barnard assessor, and Edward F. Gay director ; and having made such election, it was

" Resolved, That this meeting expect that the director they have chosen will use efforts to have a school commenced in this district without longer delay."

The person who first wielded the teacher's rod in Howell was Miss Abigail Adams, daughter of Amos Adams, though whether her first teaching was in the school-house, or in a private house before the school-house was completed, is not entirely certain. There is little doubt, however, that she was the first teacher in the school-house in the summer of 1837. The first male teacher in the Howell school was Justin Durfee. Mr. E. F. Burt taught here for four years, commencing in 1838. Later came William Pitt Glover, who had the reputation of being unnecessarily severe in the infliction of punishment on his pupils. Among the earliest of the female teachers, besides Miss Adams, were Miss Farnsworth, Miss Waterman, Miss Clarissa Rumsey, and Mrs. Joseph B. Skil- beck. The male teachers who succeeded Mr. W. P. Glover, and taught in the old frame school- house, or in rented rooms, until the completion of the first brick school-house, were William O. Archer, winter terms of 1845-46 and 1846-47; Henry H. Harmon, winter terms of 1847-48; John S. Dixon, winter terms of 1848-49.

The school-house built in 1837 appears never to have been satisfactory to the people, or adequate to the wants of the school. In the second year after it was built the sum of forty dollars was ex- pended in repairs upon it, and repairs to a greater or less extent were made upon it in every year until its final abandonment as a school-house. At a school meeting, held in the evening of the first Monday of October, 1845, it was " voted to raise two hundred Dollars for the purpose of Erecting a School-House;" and at an adjourned meeting held on the first Monday in the next following month, it was "voted to Locate the School-House on Lotts Nos. --; "* and at the same time it was voted that " the Board be instructed to rent the meeting-house for the purpose of a district school." But at a special meeting of the district held Dec. 15, 1845, " the vote passed at the annual [October] meeting to raise Two Hundred Dollars for the purpose of building a School-House was reconsidered; and also the vote for Having two schools was reconsidered."

* The numbers of the dots are illegible in the record.

157

VILLAGE OF HOWELL.

From that time until the spring of 1847 the school-house question seems to have been less agi- tated; but at a meeting held March 10th in the year last named, it was

Resolved, " That in the opinion of this meeting the district ought to build a new school-house, and that said house should be thirty by forty, and one story high."

A committee of five was appointed "to draft a plan of said house, internal and external, and to select a suitable site on which to place it;" and J. H. Rasco, E. E. Gregory, J. Peterson, William McPherson, and H. S. Hamilton were constituted such committee. This committee, at a meeting held on the 24th of the same month, reported a plan for a brick school-house forty feet long by thirty feet wide, one story, with side walls twelve feet high and one foot thick, with two doors in the front as principal entrances, and (after a long specification of other particulars) "the whole to be crowned in the centre of the roof with a small belfry." This report was unanimously adopted, and J. H. Rasco, Edward F. Gay, George W. Jew- ett, Alvin L. Crittenden, and Stephen Clark were appointed a committee "to locate a site for said house and ascertain the value thereof."

There is no record of the result of the labors of this committee; but at a meeting held on the 9th of September in the same year, William E. Hunt- ley, N. J. Hickey, and Matthew West were ap- pointed "a committee of three to select a site for a school-house," and it was "voted to raise a tax of three hundred dollars per year for three suc- cessive years for the purpose of building a school- house ; voted to build said house of brick." And at a meeting held on the 27th, it was "voted that the report of the committee be accepted, and that the location be accepted that is recommended by the committee;" though what that location was does not appear upon the record.

On the 25th of September, 1848, a meeting was held at the school-house, and at this meeting it was, on motion of R. P. Bush,

" Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby authorized to sell the district school-house within twenty days, provided it will sell for five dollars; and provided further, that the said board can procure a suitable place for a school the ensuing winter."

And at an adjourned meeting, held on the 28th, it was " voted that the district board be and they are hereby authorized to engage the room known as the Howell Academy room, for the use of the district, for a school the coming winter, upon the terms proposed by Mr. Clark, to wit, at the rate of forty dollars per annum." At the same meeting it was voted to raise $10co " for the purpose of build-

ing a school-house for said district; the said amount to be raised in three successive years (commencing with the present year), one-third in each year;" and also the sum of $200 was voted to be raised, "to be appropriated in purchasing or procuring a site for the school-house," and $100 was raised for the purpose of "inclosing the school-house site and erecting necessary outbuildings;" also, $50 (to be raised in the following year), " for the pur- chase of a bell for the district school-house."

The proceedings of this meeting seem very obscure and hard to understand, for after the pas- sage of the above-mentioned votes, the meeting, on the same evening, proceeded to vote " that a com- mittee of three be appointed by the chair to desig- nate a site for the school-house, with instructions to report at the next adjourned meeting of the dis- trict," and the chair appointed as such committee Messrs. George W. Lee, William McPherson, and Elijah Coffren. Another committee was ordered to prepare a plan for a school-house, and H. S. Sparks, R. P. Bush, and Elijah F. Burt were ap- pointed as such committee ; whereupon the meet- ing adjourned for four weeks, "to meet in the Howell Academy Room."

At the meeting held pursuant to the above-men- tioned adjournment, on the 26th of October in the same year, it was "voted that the action of the District Board in selling the old School-House be- longing to the District, and appropriating the pro- ceeds arising therefrom to the payment of the rent of the room engaged for a winter school, and to repairs of the same, is hereby approved;" which shows that Howell had no longer a public school- house, but was dependent on the accommodations of a rented room for the holding of the sessions of its school. At the same meeting the committee to whom was referred the selection of a site for a school-house reported, " recommending that the site be located upon the old public square, pro- vided a title to the same can be obtained." This report was laid upon the table, " after considerable time spent in discussing the subject," and a new committee of five was appointed, charged with the duty of designating a site; the committee so ap- pointed being L. H. Hewett, Fred. C. Whipple, H. S. Sparks, William McPherson, and Nelson G. Isbell. This committee, at a special meeting held for the purpose (Nov. 1, 1848), made two reports : " one recommending that the site of the school- house be removed from its present location on lot No. 36, Crane & Brooks' Plat, to land adjoining said lot, offered by Mr. Jewett ; and the other re- commending that it be removed to the Northwest Corner of the Court-House Square;" but both these reports were rejected by the meeting, and a

158

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

new committee, consisting of E. F. Burt, George W. Jewett, L. K. Hewett, N. J. Hickey, and Josiah Turner, was appointed, charged with the same duty. Two weeks later, at a meeting held pursu- ant to adjournment, this committee asked and re- ceived leave to hold another session, but the meeting afterwards unanimously

" Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby au- thorized and directed to purchase for the district lots Nos. 15 and 18 on Crane & Brooks' plat, provided they can obtain the same at an expense not to exceed $130."

These lots form the site of the present Method- ist church, on Walnut Street. But at the next meeting, held December 8th, the vote directing the Board to purchase them was rescinded; and, at the same time, upon Mr. Galloway's offering a resolution to the effect "that the school-house site be removed from its present location on lot 36, of Crane and Brooks' plat, to the north end of the Court-House Square, provided eight rods in width across the north end of said square can be ob- tained without expense to the district, except the expense of making the necessary papers," the chairman (George W. Jewett) said he could not entertain it, and resigned the chair; whereupon Edward E. Gregory was made chairman, and put the question, which was decided in the negative.

It may be objected that the above is an unneces- sarily minute account of the various proceedings had by the district on the subject of a change of site and erection of a new building, but it has been given for the purpose of showing the long series of tribulations through which the people of Howell passed before attaining the object they had in view.

Finally, the question of the location of the school-house site was definitely settled at a meet- ing of the qualified voters of the district, held Dec. 15, 1848. At this meeting, of which Dr. Gardner Wheeler was chairman, it was

" Resolved, That the site of the school-house be removed from lot No. 36 of Crane & Brooks' plat, and located upon the block upon said plat comprising eight lots numbered as follows, to wit, lots Nos. 173 to 180, inclusive; and that the district board be di- rected to purchase the said lots for that purpose."

Upon the first vote being taken on this resolu- tion, it was lost, the necessary number not voting in the affirmative; but this action was afterwards reconsidered, and a second vote taken, which re- sulted in its adoption by 50 yeas to 17 nays. Thus the school-house site was established,-it being the ample grounds (bounded by Hubbell, McCarthy, Crane, and East Streets) which are now occupied by the noble edifice of the Howell Union School.

A site being now definitely fixed upon, a meet-

ing was held pursuant to public notice, "at the district school-room," Jan. 19, 1849, "for the pur- pose of adopting a plan for a school-house for said district ;" and at that meeting it was, on motion of Mr. Jewett,

" Resolved, That the district board be and they are hereby in- structed, authorized, and empowered to erect or cause to be erected a brick school-house on the site located for that purpose, 38 feet by 48 feet, two stories high, with a cellar under so much of the same as they shall deem necessary, and finish and prepare for use so much of said building as the money already voted to be raised [$1000] will accomplish."

This resolution was adopted by the requisite number of votes, but the end was not yet; for, on the 12th of February next following, George W. Lee and thirty-eight others, taxable inhabitants of the district, addressed to the board a written re- quest that a meeting be called " for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of building a CASTLE for a school-house, and, as the District Board complain that we do not direct them, we will ask them to listen to us for once, and see what the district thinks." Thereupon a meeting was called, and held on the 19th of February, and at that meeting the resolution previously adopted " was reconsidered and indefinitely postponed." A res- olution was then adopted by the necessary vote, authorizing and directing the board to cause a school-house to be built on the established site ; "said house to be erected upon a suitable founda- tion, to be built of brick, two stories high, to be twenty-six by thirty-six feet on the ground, and ten feet between joints, and finished complete." This vote was final, and, under the authority con- ferred by it, the "brick school-house" was built in the summer and fall of 1849, on the site now ocupied by the Union school-house.

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History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 32

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 617

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 617