USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 15
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CHAPTER IX.
MICHIGAN AND ITS RESOURCES.
The pig metal produced by the upper peninsula furnaces during the year 1880 had an approximate market value of $1,941,000 and the whole of the total output of the Lake Superior iron mines for that year was about $19,500,000. The aggregate product of these furnaces and mines between the date of the Jackson discovery and the close of the last calendar year was more than $118,000,000. The product of 1881 promises to exceed $20,000,000 in value.
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES.
In what are called the iron and steel industries-including in these terms furnaces, rolling mills, steel-works, forges and bloomaries, and excluding mines- Michigan ranked as the eighth State in 1880 according to the figures collected for the United States census of that year. It was surpassed by Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Its increase in this production from 1870 to 1880 was sixty-five per cent., and the totals of the returns for 1880 were as follows :
-
128
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Number of establishments
22
Amount of capital invested
$ 4,175,386
Number of employés. 3,089
Total of wages paid to employés in 1880. $922,597
Value of materials used in 1880. $3,279 420
Value of the lotal product of 1880. $4,591,613
Weight of the product of 1880 (in net tons).
142,716
Weight of the product of 1879 (in net tons)
86,679
THE COPPER PRODUCT.
At the close of 1880 the Lake Superior copper districts had produced $301,654 tons of refined copper valued at $142,616,137. The total output of that year was 24,869 tons valued at $9,947,673, which was taken from thirty mines. The pro- duction of 1881 will surpass that of any previous year. A paragraph which appeared in an upper peninsula newspaper stating that "the net earnings of the Lake Superior copper mines for the first half of the year 1881 exceed those of any precious metal mining state or territory in the Union," was submitted for verifica- cation to Eastern mining authorities, and elicited in reply the following statement, fully substantiating the assertion of the newspaper referred to. The figures given show the net earnings of the gold, silver and copper mines of the States and terri- tories embraced in them for the first six months of 1881 :
California.
$ 998,000
Nevada
791,250
Utah
375,000
Arizona
900,000
Dakota
560,000
Colorado
962,000
Montana
240,000
Georgia
8,000
Michigan
1,410,000
Total
$6,244,250
THE PRODUCTS OF A YEAR.
The natural products of the State in 1879-the latest year concerning which statistics are complete-were estimated by Gov. Jerome in his message to the leg- islature at the beginning of 1881, to amount to a valuation of nearly $170,000,000, made up of the following items :
Agricultural products
$88,500,000
Timber.
60,000,000
Copper.
8,000,000
Iron
10,000,000
Salt
2,000,000
Fish
1,000,000
199
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
MICHIGAN CROPS FOR 1881.
Returns received from 913 correspondents. located in 664 townships in Decem- ber. 1881, show the estimated acreage and condition of wheat sowed in 1881 as compared with 1880, the estimated yield in 1881 of corn, clover seed, and potatoes, and the condition (as regards flesh) of cattle and sheep on Dec. 1, as compared with Dec. 1, 1880. The estimates show that the present acreage sown in 1880 by two per cent , and in the counties north of the southern tiers by six per cent., indi- cating a probable acreage in the State of about 1,834,529 acres. The condition Dec. 1 in the southern four tiers of counties was about 132 per cent., and in the northern counties about 117 per cent., of the condition Dec. 1, 1880. This excel- lent showing is supplemented in numerous instances by statements that the wheat presents an unusually fine appearance, having started well and obtained large growth. The white grub and Hessian fly are reported present in various localities, but while they undoubtedly did injure individual fields, the reports do not indicate that their ravages noticeably affected the aggregate product of the State. Wheat seldom, if ever, has gone into the Winter in better condition than this year.
The yield of corn in 1881 is estimated at 40,460,901 bushels of ears, or about 20,230,450 bushels of shelled corn. These figures are based on the acreage as esti- mated in September, and the yield per acre as estimated in December. At the date of making the reports but a small portion of the clover seed had been hulled, and correspondents in the counties in the southern part of the State, and in Grand Traverse and Newaygo counties in the northern section, report the clover seed greatly damaged by the wet weather, many fields being entirely ruined. Some of them estimate one-fourth of the crop destroyed. One correspondent in Cass reported fifteen per cent. rotting in the fields, and another thinks not a bushel will be saved in his township.
The yield of potatoes is estimated at fifty-five bushels per acre in the southern and 109 bushels in the northern counties.
The average condition (as regards flesh) of cattle in the southern four tiers of counties is about the same, and of sheep two per cent. better, while in the northern counties the average of each is about seven per cent. better than on Dec. 1, 1880.
The following statement shows the Population for 1880, Number of Acres of Land Assessed in 1881, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Assessed in 1881, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equalized by Boards of Supervisors for 1881, Amount Added or Deducted by State Board of Equalization, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equalized by State Board of Equalization for 1881 :
9
130
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
COUNTIES.
Population, 1880.
No. of Acres of Land AS- sessed 1881.
Aggregate of Real and Personal
and Personal
Amount Added or Dedueted by State Board of Equali- zaloN.
Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equal- ized by State Board of Equal- lization for 1881.
Alcona ..
3.107
366,497.48
2.492,537.00
S 2,492.527.00 Add
$ 7.473.00
$ 2.500,000.00
Allegan ..
37.806
516.120.00
9.652,330.00
9.303.500.00 Add
4,196,500.00
13.500,000.00
Alpena.
8.789
279,242.60
3.016.508.50)
2.500.000.00
Add
600.000.00
3.100.000.00
Antrim
5,237
280,656.98
2, 152.872.11
2.237.682.25
Add
262.317.75
2,500,000.00
Baraga
1,804
331.531.31
639,656.00
639,656.00
Add
660,344.00
1,300.000.00
Barry
25.319
352.302.32
11.332.459.00
11.305,291.00 11,000,000.00
Adil
7,000,000.00
18,000.000.00
Benzie.
3.433
180,329.45
1.205.586.00
1,021,494.00 Add
478.506.00
1.500,000.00
Berrien
36,780
352.489.00
12,918.434.00
13,0141,937.00
Add
1.958.063.00
15.000,000,00
Branch.
27.941
315,453.00
10,261,965.09
10,155,000.00
Add
7.345.000.00
17.500,000.00
Calhoun
38.452
440,710.00
19,527.765.00
20.504.153.25
Add
3.995.846.75
24,500,000.00
Cass
22.008
310.549.00
13,667.602.00
14,280.000 00! Add
1,220,000.00
15.500.000.00
Charlevoix
5.114
224.581.00
1,631,271.00
1,633,851.001 Add
366.149.00
2,000.000.00
Cheboygan
6.524
416.744.28
2.761.832.00
2,701 000.00 Add
299,000.00
3,000,000.00
Chippewa
5.243
505.283.00
1.558.071.00
1.558,071.00 Add
441.929.00
2.000,000.00 2,500.000.00
Clinton.
97.534
361,235.53
16.631,293.00
15,298,500.00 Add
701,500.00
16,000,000.00
Crawford.
1,159
$52,783.00
935,244.05
925,940.35
Add
274,059.65
1,200.000.00
Eaton
31.223
358.608.58
12.562.796.00
12.000.000.00
Add
4.000,000.00
16,000,000.00
Emmet
6.640
191,714.00
825.893.00
836,393.00
Add
1.163,607.00
2.000,000.00
Genesee
39,219
402.015.00
19,166,661.00
19.115,437.71 Add
1,884,572.29
$1,000.000.00
Gladwin
1.127
305.912.19
1,022.900.00
1.059,095.00 Add
140.905.00
1,200,000.00
Grand Traverse
8.432
279.598.79
2,439 964.00
2.525,875.00| Add
Gratiot
21.937
357.607.00
7.126,921.00
3.500.000.00 Add
3,500.000.00
7,000,000.00
Hillsdale
32.726
375,911.00
17.912.619.00
18,013.234.00 Add
2.986,766.00
21.000.000.00
Huron
20.089
510,891.11
4,561.982.00
4.661.982 00 Add
336.018.00
Ingham
33,677
343.333.57
15,844 318.00
10.942,200.00 Add
5.057,800.00
Ionia.
33,872
361,504.23
15.480.291.00
14.930,751.00 Add
1,069,249.00
losco.
6,878
245.870.47
1,102,791.59
1.162,000.00| Add
Isabella.
12.159
354,086 79
3,691.736.00
3,100,000.00 Add
Isle Royal.
55
No report.
8.872,448.00
9,255,301.00 .Adet
34,342
349,693.00
18,901,030.00
19,084,537.00 Adil
19.693.00
Kent ..
73.252
532.885.00
18,016 252.00
18.013.210.00 Add
738.199.13
Add
61.800.87
Lake
3.233
314.249.03
1.921.642 00
1,86,202.00
Add
lapeer.
30.138
412.392.00
12.136,504.00
12,135,000.00 Add
865,000.00
13,000,000.00
Leelanaw
6.2253
183,231.79
693,971.00
774.034.00 Add
1,000,000.00
Lenawee
48,348
463,836.00
26,837.269.00
27.045,964.00
Add
454.036.00
27,500.000,00
Livingston.
22,251
362.262.00
12.355.417.00
9.338.410.00
Add
Mackinac
2.902
293.151.33
1.403,955.71
1.403.955.71
Add
1,096,044.29
Macomb
31,627
296,055,00
16.010,686.00
16,000,000.00 Ded
1,000,000.00 1,808,750.00 250.000.00
Marquette.
25.393
1,503,792.11
3.121 480.00
2.904.940.00 Add
2,095,060.00
Mason
10,063
285.842.93
3.165.244.80
3.165, 344 80 Ded
165,244.80
Mecosta
13.973
343,773.00
2.868,075.80
3,047,933.80 Add
452,066.20
Menominee
11,988
722.624.44
1.757.862.25
1,757,862.25 Add
742,137.75
Midland.
6,894
322,206.92
2.113.221.00
2.009,863.00 Add
990.137.00
3.000,000.00
Missaukee.
1.553
326.999.86
1.519,558.44
1.537.558.44 Add
262,441.56
1,800,000.00
Monroe.
33.623
Montealın
33,146
Montmorency
239.347.20
1,211,247.00
1.202.873.00 dd
47.127.00
Muskegon
26,586
279.286. 29
3,586,559.00
3.320,102.25 Add
3.179.897.75
Newaygo
14,688
57,704.00
2.508,083.00
2.146,292.00 Add
1.853.708.00
Oceana ..
11,699
333,316.29
1,736,393.00
1.775,593.00|
Ackel
1,224.407.00
3.000.000.00
Osceola
10,777
359,177.00
1,897,220.00
1,907.220,00
Add
592.780.00
2.500,000.00
Oseoda
467
220,637.60
749.468.00
749.468.00 Add
250.532.00
1,000,000.00
Otsego
1.974
302,486.00
1,102.548.00
1.119,948.00 Add
380,052.00
1.500,000.00
Ottawa ..
33.125
341.608.49
6.833.087.00
6.316,619.00| Add
2,183,381.00
8.500,000.00
Presque Isle ..
3.113
264.910.34
1.029,825.99
1,029,825.99 Add
220,174.01
1,250,000.00
Roscommon
1.459|
278,023.62
1,175.732.14|
1,076,132.14 Add
423,867.86
1,500,000.00
Saginaw
59.095
507.549.02
20,914.101.00
19,936,030.03
.Add
5,063.969.97
25,000,000.00
Sanilac
26.341
595.742.61
3.899,273.00
3,906,254.00 Add
1,093.746.00
5,000.000.00
Schoolcraft.
1,575
725.125.41
2.481.034.41
1,934,705.00 Add
565.295.00
2,500,000.00
Shiawassee
27.059
336.715.27
11.937.044.00
11.010.000.00
Add
2.490.000.00
13.500,000.00
St. Clair
46,197
432,464.00
13.653.363.00
11,141.078.00| Add
3.858.922.00
15.000,000.00
St. Josephi.
26,626
312.365.00
15.994,663.00
16.103.848.00 Add
1,896.152.00
18,000,000.00
Tuscola
25.739
501.006.00
7.712.647.00
8.156,358.00 Add
843.642.00
9,000,000.00
Van Buren.
30.807
384,684.21
12.697,438.00
Washtenaw
41,848
431.493.19
29.024,665.00
30,000,000.00
Wayne
166.426
368,415.00
110,693,130.00
117,839,593.00 Add
12,160.407.00
130,000.000,00
Wexford.
6.815
336.753.80
1.935,864.00
1,822,901.50
Add
1.177.098.00
3,000,000.00
Total
1,636.335 29,306,820.20|
$669,344.283.55!
$654,005,885.421
$810,000,000.00
2.937
330.705.52
2.475,991.62
2.480.307.00 Add
14.986.790.00
Keweenaw
4,270
203.570.23
619.263.13
173.798.00
2,000,000.00
15,000,000.00
Manistee.
12,533
312,024.07
1,686,782.00
1,691,250.00 Add
3,500.000.00
Manitou ..
1.334
No teport.
Add
250.000.00
Jackson ..
42.031
131.641.60
27.000.000.00
Kalamazoo
23,000.000.00
Kalkaska
4,187
339,201.73
2.377.681.00
1,889.078.00 Add
610,922.00
Delta.
6.81%
No report.
Add
2,500,000.00
474.125.00
3,000,000.00
Houghton
411,710.75
1,619,599.00
1,619.589.00 Add
৳80.411.00
2.500,000.00
5.000,000.00 16,000,000.00 16,000,000.00
2,000,000.00
4,000,000.00
Add
838.000.00 900,000.00 100,000.00 17.744,699.00 3,915.463.00
2,500,000.00 33,000.000.00 800.000.00
15,000,000.00 2,500,000.00
3.500,000.00
2,500,000.00
6,500,000.00
Oakland
41,537
540,520.00
24.432.277.00
23.505,277.00 Add
2.744.723.00
26,250,000.00
Ogemnaw.
1.914
319,190.02
905.693.01
1,116,933.32 Add
383.066.68
1.500,000.00
Ontonagon
2,565
739,809.29
1.414,97.00
1.021,558 00
Add
978.442.00
2,000,000.00
351.314.00
14.952,990.00
15.213,276.50 Add
786.723.50
16,000,000.00
446.517.00
9,3G6,171.00
8.490.000.00, Add
1,010.000.00
9,500,000.00
1,250.000.00
4,000.000.00
Bay.
38,081
486.970.43
12.901.183.00
Add
1.694,709.00
18.000,000.00
Estate. as As- sessed in 1881.
Estate, Equalized by Boards of Su- pervisors, 1881.
Aggregate of Real
12.000,000.00 Add
2,000,000.00
14.000,000.00
30,000,000.00
225 966.00
5.661,590.00
5,000,000.00
3,000,000.00
100.000.00
Clare ..
2,500,000.00
6
131
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
THE VESSEL INTEREST.
According to the tonnage statistics of the United States for the date of June 30, 1880 (as given in the American almanac for 1881), not one of the States located away from the ocean coast equals Michigan in the number of vessels owned by its citizens or in their aggregate tonnage. The exact figures are given in this table :
State.
No. of vessels.
Total tonnage.
Michigan
979
162,196
Illinois
459
86,634
Wisconsin
383
74,083
Ohio
485
139,509
Missouri
319
141,975
Michigan also surpasses, in this respect, the seaboard States of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Oregon, and all the cotton and gulf States, while it far outstrips in tonnage both Virginia and Maryland, although surpassed by them in the number of vessels. It exceeds California in the number of its vessels, but not in the tonnage total. The coast line of Michigan is only surpassed by that of Florida, and it has ports upon four of the great lakes. Its coasting traides exceedingly valuable, and its vessel interest represents much capital and nterprise, and deserves an important place in a catalogue of its sources of employ- ment for labor. In this connection the fact should be mentioned that ship yards are located at Detroit, Wyandotte, Port Huron, Bay City, Marine City, St. Clair, Grand Haven and other shore towns and ports.
THE GROWTH OF FORTY YEARS.
A subject of such vital interest demands the first attention of every agricul- tural society and every agriculturist in the State, and to present at a glance the growth and magnitude of the industry, we have prepared from authentic sources, a little table showing the acreage, the yield per acre, when possible, and the aggre- gate bushels grown at intervals for the last forty years :
Years.
Acres.
Yield per Acre.
Bushels.
1839
2,157,100
18.49
492,580
IO
4,925,800
1853
473,451
15
7,128, 104
1859
8,313,200
1863
843,88I
II12
9,688,672
1869
16,295,772
1873
1,134,484
13 3-5.
15,456,202
1876
1,223,212.
1334
16,885,179
1877
1,312,352
23,793,039
1878
1,523,841.
IS
28,000,000
6
132
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
LEADING THE VAN.
Out of the nine wheat States which outranked Michigan in 1840, she has out- stripped all but Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, while Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and California have, within the last few years, shot forward into the front rank. Com- pared with these great States, the Lower Peninsula surpasses them all save Indi- ana, area for area, in wheat production, and were it possible to compare the pro- portion of land under cultivation in the two States, there can be no doubt but it would surpass Indiana, also. The State motto might well read : " If you seek the American wheat peninsula, look around you."
The table also reveals the surprising fact that while the aggregate product of wheat in Michigan has doubled about every ten years, the average yield per acre has increased from ten bushels, in 1849, to eighteen bushels, in 1877. The causes for this most gratifying result are not far to seek. It is due to the greater care of farmers in selecting seed ; to the introduction of new varieties, such as the Claw- son, which yields better than its predecessors ; to improved machinery and methods of drilling and harvesting ; and to an increase of live stock, and consequent increase of fertilization. The increase in the aggregate is dne mainly, to the rapid settle- ment and clearing up of the country, and there is no reason to suppose that the increase will be seriously checked until the millions of acres of wild lands are finally brought under cultivation. What the limit will be, must be left to conjec- ture.
5
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
CHAPTER X.
INTRODUCTION.
He who would deserve a place in the memory of posterity, must collate and preserve the history of the acts and times of his ancestors. It is the duty of Jus- tice to hand down the Past and Present to the people of the Future. It is the duty of the Present to commemorate the Past, to perpetuate the names of the pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settlement,-to relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age, and the solemn bond which binds us to our ancestry, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In local history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time, a safe vessel, in which the names and actions of the people, who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state, may be preserved. Surely and rapidly. the great old men, who in their prime entered the wildernesses of this Peninsula, and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number remaining, who can relate the history of the first days of settlement, is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and pre- servation of historical matter without delay. Not only is it of the greatest importance to render the history of the pioneer times full and accurate ; but it is almost equally essential that the history of the county from the earliest times, down to our own day, should be treated through its various phases, so that a record, complete and impartial, may be handed down to the future. If this information is not now collated and compiled in historical form, the generations of the future will be called upon to expend large sums of money in research and exploration. The present-the iron age of progress-is reviewed, standing out in bold relief over the quiet, unostentatious olden times ; it is a brilliant record which shall live as long as language lives.
› The good works of men, their magnificent enterprises, their lives, whether com- mercial or military, do not sink into oblivion ; but, on the contrary, grow brighter with age, and contribute to build up a record, destined to carry with it precedents and principles, that will be advanced and observed, when the acts of soulless men shall be forgotten, and their names like themselves end in their graves. History
6
134
HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
entwines itself with the names of the notorious as well as with those of the illus- trious, whenever the former are held up for the scorn, and the latter for the admira- tion of men,-there, the pen of impartiality may be traced ; for never yet was the writer true to his conscience or to his country who clothed the wolf in the fleece of the lamb, or who, by sophistry, painted a coward as a hero.
In the pages devoted to the history of Macomb County, the useful man and his work will have that prominence, to which his physical and moral courage entitle him. It is a necessity that the names of such men should be transmitted ; because many of them, whose lives made material for this work, have passed into eternity ; others stand on the brink of the grave. Those who have joined the majority, as well as these who are soon to visit the Better Land, have done good service, claiming as their reward here, the only boon, that their children and children's children should be reminded of their fidelity, and profit by their examples.
To give effect to this laudable desire is the aim of the writer. Turning over the records of the county, nothing of moment has been left unnoticed. Beyond the period, over which the records extend, all that is legendary has been examined and utilized. Although the Old Settlers and their children extended a full co- operation, the work necessitated the most earnest labor on the part of the writer and his assistants. Success waited on such labor, with the result of bringing forth from their hiding-places many valuable papers, upon which to base a just account of early times. Many of the surviving old settlers were interviewed, and from their reminiscences of olden times, a good deal of all that is historically valu- able, in these pages, was selected.
The reader must remember that the general history of the county does not em- brace every historical event. Nothing has found a place in this very important section of the work, which did not possess a character of generalization. Begin- ning with the history of geological formations, archeological discoveries, meteoro- logical phenomena, zoological representatives, and physical characteristics, this chapter is succeeded by a full account of Indian and pioneer days, American settle- ment, together with a number of chapters, each one complete and most important in itself.
The general history is followed by the chapters devoted to township and village history, each chapter forming a complete historical and historia-biographical sketch of a township, city or village. No effort has been spared to render this portion of the work reliable as well as interesting.
Unlike the history of the State, County, Townships and Villages, biography is the work of many men, whose notes were transcribed, retranscribed, and very gen- erally submitted to the persons concerned, for revision or correction ; so that if
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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.
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literary errors occur, it must be credited to the person, who gave the biographical sketch in the first instance. The irrepressible typos often make grave errors which no foresight can set aside ; therefore if typographical errors do appear, let justice guide the critic to sympathize with the children at the typo's case,-whose art doth move the world. Deal lightly with their excesses.
GEOLOGICAL CONFORMATIONS.
In tracing the geological history of the county, it will be only necessary to revert to the era when the accumulated sediments of the ocean were being formed into masses of rock. Geology teaches that the continents of the world were once beneath the ocean, even as Scripture implies that a sea of mud, resembling in sub- stance a South African river, was arranged by an Almighty hand, and the liquid separated from the solids contained therein. The inequalities in the ocean bed, corresponding with the hills and valleys of our land, point out the truths of geo- logical science. The recent deep-sea soundings reveal mountains and hills, valleys, and table-lands. The greatest depth reached was over 29,000 feet, which exceeds the height of the loftiest peak of the Himalayas. Some of the mountains, spring- ing from the bed of the ocean, are steeper and more abrupt than any on the face of the earth. In the Irish Sea and British Channel the depth changes, within a radins of ten miles, from 600 to 12,000 feet ; and it is very common, within a few miles of our coasts and islands, for the depth of the waters to change suddenly from a few hundred to many thousand feet. In other cases, as in the bed of the Atlantic between Spain and the United States, there are plateaux extending hundreds of miles, with very slight undulations. The mysterious race that once occupied this continent may have sailed in galleons over this peninsula of Michigan, and sounded the depth of the waters which rose above it, in precisely the same manner as the mariners of our day cast the sounding line into our great lakes and the oceans.
It may be concluded that the State which we inhabit was totally submerged at the beginning of the carboniferous period. At the close of that epoch, a great up- heaval of sea bottom formed a line of solid earth across the southern counties of Michigan, which extended to an older and wider formation in Southern Ohio. The land comprised in the original county of Macomb continued submerged for ages ; but by degrees the southern belt rose higher, spread out toward the northern con- tinent, and actually approached the condition of dry land at the beginning of the coal-deposit era. At this time lakes Michigan, Huron, Ontario and Erie were not in existence, their centers forming the channel of a great river, with expansions at intervals. This torrent swept over this now prosperous district of Michigan. The great geological age-the Mesozoic-dates from this time. It was marked by ac- tivity in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, by mild climates, and myriads of rep- tiles, which swarmed in rivers and over lands.
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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY
The Tertiary period succeeded the Mesozoic. It was the age of beautiful climates, and high development of mammals. Animals, greater than the mastodon. roamed over the land, through magnificent forests, meeting their enemy-man, and ultimately falling beneath his repeated attacks.
The glaciers came to destroy all this gigantic beauty ; the snow and ice came on, burying all nature in their whitness, and robbing the land itself of life. It was the beginning of the Glacial period, the duration of which is lost in mystery. Were it possible to ignore the existence of a Divine Architect, and his action in forming the earth we inhabit. the continuance of the Ice Age might be set down at 2,000 years. There is no intention, however, to ignore the Omnipotent, and, therefore, what bears the impress of being the work of 2,000 years, might have been compassed in a moment.
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