USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 31
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A BEAR IN BRUCE.
A year after the settlement of the Killam family in Bruce, P. C. Killam was engaged on his land near Tremble Mountain, when he saw a large brown bear ap- proaching. The farmer called his dogs, and with the assistance of Harvey Reed succeeded in treeing the animal. Ira Killam was then sent for the rifle. During his absence Bruin seemed to understand the designs of his new neighbors, and made an effort to escape, but owing to the steepness of the hill, he was nnable to make headway against the dogs, and less against the continued stoning to which he was subjected by the men. Three times the king of the Michigan wilderness descended only to be met by blows and bites, and driven back to his refuge in the tree. The rifle was brought forward at length, and the sufferings of Bruin were ended forever.
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NOAH WEBSTER AND THE BEAR.
In the year 1826 or there about Noah Webster was living at " The Branch " as the place since known as "Gray's mill" was called and run a saw mill. Mrs. Web- ster one day drove a bear np a tree on the flats near the mill and watched him till her husband and some of the neighbors came to her relief. They then built a fire about the foot of the tree to keep Bruin from coming down upon them too suddenly. Webster had a gun of the flint lock kind and the flint was of no use as it would not strike fire. But the gun was produced and loaded, and Mr. Webster aimed it at the bear, and when he said " ready " some one touched it off with a fire-brand. Four or five shots were thus discharged which severely wounded the game but did not bring him down. Then Mr. Webster ran to the clearing, climbed on a stump and shouted " A bear !" " A bear!" The neighbors heard and thought he said " a fire !" " a fire !" and that the gun had been firing as an alarm, so they ran with pails all out of breath to extinguish the flames. Reuben R. Smith came up with two pails, and they laughed at him for coming to kill a bear with a pail in each hand but he looked long and sharply up the tree and exclaimed " Yes he is up there I can see his tail hanging down !" Among the rest who came to put out the fire was a hunter who brought along his gun and the wounded bear was soon brought down and skinned, and his meat went in chunks around the neighborhood for the comfort of those who were out of meat. While dressing it they often asked Reuben " where that part was which he saw hanging down," to which he had little to say. The country was soon cleared up, and bears, wolves and Indians sought the more unsettled regions, but this little incident is kept in the memories of those still liv- ing who participated in it, as a remembrance of the brave days of old.
FINCH'S WOLF HUNTING.
A hunter named Finch caught a wolf in a trap on what was known as the Thurston Fort, and for some reason desired to take him home alive. The wolf was extremely quiet and docile, yet he secured his head and jaws with strips of bark, winding it over and over again until the animal's head resembled that of a prize fighter after a star engagement. He removed the traps, tied the wolf to a small pole, and started for the clearing. When he came in sight of the open fields the wolf refused to be led in this way ; the bands abont his head showed alarming signs of inconstancy, and his teeth began to chatter in a most sociable as well as sugges- tive way. With his eyes fixed on the wolf and pushing on the pole to keep him at a respectable distance, the hunter and his captive went round and round, with the pole between them, eying each other very suspiciously. At last the bands gave way and the wolf took his leave in the most informal manner.
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THE TRAGIC END OF A WOLF.
Erastus Day, one of the first settlers in the eastern part of Armada, was also one of the first to take sheep to that part; having a few sheep to increase as his cleared aeres increased. He kept them in a stockade, made of palings, close by the barns ; but one night he forgot to enclose them in the yard. That night a wolf se- lected three of the best for his own use. Ira Phillips killed this wolf shortly after, and with the bounty purchased a silk dress for Mrs. Phillips.
AN ORDERLY RETREAT.
Luke Fisher, who had settled in the northern part of Bruce, started home from Romeo, just at dusk, carrying a piece of meat given by some friend. Think- ing he should be waited upon by wolfish company, he halted to cut a stout green stick. Before long he heard the well-known whine in his rear, which announced the approach of his company, and accelerated his speed. He grasped his stick more firmly and sped on. The wolvesgained rapidly, and were soon so near that he could hear their steps upon the leaves and the gnash of their teeth. Turning upon them he would shout and flourish his stiek in their faces, thus checking their course, and then turn and press on toward home. He increased his speed, held the meat, and when he reached his cabin-door they were just at his heels. The wolves of this locality were very small and seldom did any damage save in the most cowardly manner. A few sheep and now and then a hog would be abducted when it could be done in a sneakish way, but the human arm and the human voice kept them in a wholesome fear.
MAKING SUGAR AMONG THE WOLVES.
William Baker, who moved into the Township of Ray, in 1828, tapped several hundred maple trees the following spring, and commenced the work of sugar- making. There soon followed a remarkable flow of sap, and as no help was at hand, Baker, in gathering in the sap by day, and boiling by night, soon became exhausted to such an extent, that he declared he could stand it no longer, as he could not keep awake, and the sap must go to waste. Mrs. Baker says, " I will go and boil one night, and let you sleep." Baker would not consent at first, but at last said, " You may go and boil till midnight if you will take James for company." James was their son, then five years of age. The woman took the boy and going to the maple forest began operations. James soon fell asleep, when Mrs. Baker laid him on a blanket beneath a tree and continued the work ; soon after dark the wolves began to appear about the boiling-place ; their soft feet could be heard pattering upon the leaves ; their eyes shining in the darkness, and the chatter of their teeth sounding upon the still night air. The brave woman kept on her work of replenishing the fires and keeping a sharp eye, lest the ferocious brutes should
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dart in and seize the sleeping child. To avert this she kept the long-handled dip- per in the boiling sap, ready to sprinkle them with a hot shower-bath, if they should come too uear. This continued for an hour or two when the pack disap- peared and came no more.
THE YELLOW CAT OF RICHMOND.
Alex. Beebe, of Richmond, was much annoyed, in the olden time, by a num- ber of cats, which were accustomed to assemble round his premises. One night he determined to annihilate the whole tribe, and, accordingly armed himself with a rifle. He crept noiselessly towards the cats' meeting-place, fired, and returned to his room with the consolatory information, that he had given the old yellow cat " Hail Columbia." Next morning Mrs. Beebe went forth to collect the culinary utensils, when to her surprise she found a large hole in the bright brass kettle. After a thoughtful examination, she went into the house, and broached the subject to Alexander, when the following dialogue took place :-
Mrs. B .- Look here, Alec. Look at the brass kettle, with these holes in it!
Alec .- How came that kettle all smashed to pieces? That kettle cost two dollars !
Mrs. B .- You tell-I don't know nothing about it !
Alec .- Where did it sit ?
Mrs. B .- Out in the yard, not far from the house.
Alec-(Cutely ) .- Did you see anything of the old yellow cat lying there ?
Mrs. B .- No, and I think there has been none lying there.
Alec .- Then I must have taken that brass kettle for that yellow cat.
Mrs. B .- Of course you must, and you never in the night knew the difference between a yellow cat and a brass kettle.
In this manner the yellow cat of Richmond escaped. In this quiet, sincere style, the old people of Macomb acknowledged their little errors.
THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP "HARRIET."
The following account of the first lake boat built at Mount Clemens, which was built by Isaac Russ for Christian Clemens in 1820-2, was prepared by Edgar Weeks from facts furnished to him by old settlers. Where stands Mr. Golby's present residence, stood in those days a log house, and the same remark is true of Czizek's residence. On the road or then open lot, between those log houses, the stocks were put up and the ship was built. After a considerable time spent in building, the boat was ready for the launch, when lo ! it had never suggested itself to the minds of the builders that it was a long distance to the river, and that there was a precipitous bank at the foot of that street. Nothing daunted, however, every man and Indian for miles around, who owned a yoke of oxen or a pony, was
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summoned to assist at the launch ; long ways were constructed, six yoke of oxen and twenty-four horses attached, and the ship moved toward the river. It was impossible to launch her at the foot of that street, so around the corner of the Flumer store they attempted to go, but alas, the boat slipped off the ways, and was almost hopelessly stuck in the sand. But this disaster only nerved the spirits of the builders. With fresh vigor they set to work ; all the soft-soap tubs of the vil- lage were emptied, and the contents brought into requisition. Again the vessel, after prodigies of patience and strength had been exhausted, was placed upon her ways; she slipped around the corner, the cattle strained and tugged, the men cheered, and the Indians looked on with no little awe. The ship finally reached the destined launching place-at the foot of Market Street-the last soft soap of the village was ealled into requisition, and the vast hulk glided into the river. Instead of righting and swinging to her place, however, her prow was stuck in the mud at the bottom of the stream. After a little the vessel was got out, however, and with due ceremony was christened the Harriet, in honor of our respected townswoman, now Mrs. Harriet Lee.
This vessel soon afterwards made a trip up the lakes to Mackinac and the Sault Saint Marie, whereupon a strange adventure befell her and those on board.
The ship was freighted with a number of private troops and officers who were aware of the tedious trip before them. . We infer from the sequel some one got drunk, also extremely careless. At any rate the compass fell overboard and sank to the bottom of the lake ! The boat was then some fifty miles up Lake Huron. The captain, McPherson, was a good navigator, but did not dare to risk the voyage without a compass. After inducing a passing vessel to hang out a light for him at night and permit him to trail along in its wake, the Harriet was sailed hull down so soon and left so far in the rear, that the captain announced his intention of coming to anchor immediately and going ashore. Spite of protestations this he did. Pro- enring a pony of some Indians, he started alone, overland through wood and thicket, and came to Detroit, where he obtained another compass. Taking passage in another vessel he rejoined his own, still at anchor in Lake Huron, boxed his compass in the nautical and actual sense of the term, weighed anchor, and prosecuted his voyage to a successful issue.
JACOB A. CRAWFORD AND THE SPECULATOR.
Shortly after this pioneer located his first eighty acres in Ray Township, and erected his log house thereon, he received a visit from a land speculator. This shark was all business, and relying upon his own energy was not shy to make known to Mr. Crawford his business to this district. He asked the pioneer to accompany him through the lands adjacent, to which the latter consented. He had
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the double object in view of taking the land shark through the lowland or marshes on the eighty adjoining his own, so that Mr. Speculator would not covet the little property, particularly as it was the settler's desire to acquire it for himself. The journey was accomplished, when, to the surprise of Mr. Crawford and his wife, the man from Detroit stated that he would purchase all the land in the immediate neighborhood including the very acres on which Mr. Crawford had set his thoughts. The old settler remonstrated : " Why, Mr. Speculator," said he, "you don't intend to buy the next eighty. I want that."
" Oh, that's all right, Mr. Crawford," said the traveler, " but you must re- member the old motto of Uncle Samuel-' first here, first served.'" This brought a cloud to the settler's face for a moment, which gave place to a look of resignation. Conversation grew dull, and the speculator signified his desire to go to rest. After the shark retired, Crawford remarked to his wife : " I'll take an hour's rest, and then start for Detroit to outwit our visitor." " Why," said the woman, " that man has a smart pony, and you have only oxen. If he finds you are gone he will overtake and outwit you." " I'll start to-night on foot and reach the Detroit Land Office before him," replied the settler.
This resolution made, he took one hour's sleep, rose quietly, and started on foot for Detroit. He proceeded expeditiously until a point south of Mt. Clemens was reached, where he sprained his ankle. Unconquered by fatigue and this acci- dent, he cut down two saplings which he used as crutches and pushed forward on his journey. The next day, while within six miles of Detroit, near a tavern, then located on the trail, he saw a horseman coming after him. He knew him to be no other than his friend, the speculator. Entering the forest, he allowed his guest of the former night to pass, then casting away his crutches he pushed forward to De- troit, saw that the horseman was in the tavern, and taking an unfrequented path, passed the house unnoticed. The denouement was happy in the extreme. The settler reached the Land Office, purchased the much prized eighty, together with eighty acres more for his cousin, David Crawford, paid the amount claimed, re- ceived his certificate, and was in the act of leaving the office, when the speculator entered. After an interchange of salutations, Crawford remarked : " Mr. Specu- lator, you remember Uncle Samuel's motto-first here, first served." The Detroit man remembered it.
LEISURE HOURS IN PIONEER TIMES.
Public disputations and random discussions on election days were warmly en- gaged in by the older men sometimes till they became quite personal. Among the younger ones, feats of physical strength and agility drew the crowds ; com- petitive running, wrestling, jumping, etc., were the order of the day, and the vic- tors were held in honor by admiring friends. Such days availed for the transaction
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of all sorts of business, and superseded the old time fairs of England and our trades rooms, gold rooms, boards of trade and chambers of commerce. Buying, selling, swapping, and trafficking of all sorts were in order. Everybody gave heed to the advantages which township gatherings offered. Bent on having a good time, the services of good story-tellers were always in requisition, and all sorts of merriment found place. The story of Squire Tackles and old John Soules affords demonstration of all this.
It was in the early times when Bruce was yet unnamed and joined with Wash- ington, then called the Fourth Town, men were gathered from great distances. These two men were there and in their respective districts were noted for their inherent aversion to all sorts of physical exertion, a characteristic evident to their friends and frankly acknowledged by themselves. At length a mirthful discussion sprang up as to which was the lazier of the two. The conflict ended as such matters frequently do, in betting. But who should determine ? It was finally agreed that each should tell his own story, and the one who established himself as the lazier man, should have the stakes. By lot it fell to Soules to tell his story first. He did it, and did it well. It seemed as though no chance remained for Tackles. The crowd awaited his effort in breathless silence. Finally he slowly drew himself up, in an iudolent sitting position, looked languidly and solemnly around upon the gazing crowd, then lifted, with great effort, one foot upon the other knee, and finally spoke in a lazy, drawling accent, thus : " I'd rather lose the stakes than tell how lazy I am!" and again he lapsed into insensibility, while all the witnesses shouted long and loud and voted him the victor.
NUPTIAL FEASTS IN EARLY TIMES.
The festivities attendant on the union of two souls in pioneer days, formed a great attraction. There was no distinction of classes, and very little of fortune, which led to marriages from the first impressions of that queer idea called love. The family establishment cost but a little labor-nothing more. The festivities generally took place at the house of the bride, and to her was given the privilege of selecting the Justice of Peace or clergyman whom she wished to officiate. The wedding engaged the attention of the whole neighborhood. Old and young, within a radius of many miles, enjoyed an immense time. On the morning of the wedding day, the groom and his intimate friends assembled at the houseof his father, and after due preparation set out for the home of his girl. This journey was sometimes made on horseback, and sometimes on the old time carts of the early settlers. It was always a merry tour, made so by the bottle which cheers for a little time, and then inebriates. On reaching the house of the bride, the marriage ceremony was performed, and then the dinner or supper was served. After this
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meal, the dancing commenced, which was allowed to continue just so long as anyone desired to step jauntily about to the music of the district violinist. The figures of the dance were three or four handed reels, or square sets and jigs. So far the whole proceedings were, in the language of our modern aesthetic girls, too utterly utter. The commencement was always a square four, followed by what pioneers called jigging-that is, two of the four would single out for a jig, and their exam- ple followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often characterized by what was called the cutting out, that is, when either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimating a desire to retire, his place was supplied by one of the company, without interrupting the dance for a moment. In this way the reel was continued until the musician himself was exhausted.
About nine or ten o'clock in the evening, a depntation of young ladies abducted the bride, as it were, and placed her in her little bed. In accomplishing this they had usually to ascend a ladder from the kitchen to the upper floor. Here in this simple pioneer bridal chamber the young simple-hearted girl was put to bed by her enthusiastic friends. This done a deputation of young men escorted the groom to the same apartment, and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. Meantime the dance continued. If seats were scarce, which was generally the case, every young man when not engaged in the dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the girls-an offer sure to be accepted. During the night's festivities spirits were freely used, but seldom to great excess. The infair was held on the following evening, when the same order of exercise was observed.
EVENING VISITS.
The evening visits were matters long to be remembered. The chores of the day performed, it was common for the farmer to yoke his cattle, hitch them to a sleigh, and drive the whole family over the snow covered land to the fireside of some well-known friend many miles distant. Perhaps by agreement several families met, and then were there such chattering of politics, of live stock affairs, of tradings made or prospective, in fact of the past, present and future.
There were all those interesting matters of household care and labor as held the mothers in breathless, but rapid conversation.
The shying and blushing of the older girls, because some boys, just about as big were there ; the nervous pinching of fingers and pulling of coat tails, told plainly that big boys too were ill at ease ; boys and girls were bashful, blushing creatures in those olden days. In the back room how the little folks did play blind- man's-buff, how they were joined by their seniors, and how the game went on until supper was announced at about the hour before midnight. Such setting out of all the substantials would be a sight to-day. Then came the sauces of all sorts, the
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pies and cakes, and cookies, and honey, till all cried enough. Then came the counter invitations, the good-bys and leave-takings, after every and all approved styles. This performed the guests started for home to enjoy sleepiness and slight headaches the next day. Those were good old times. Social life at that day was eminently sincere.
LUMBERING IN EARLY DAYS.
Life in the lumber woods is, perhaps, the most peculiar feature connected with the lumber trade. Although lumbering operations virtually ceased in Macomb County so early as the pioneer times, it is well to revert in these pages, to that period in the county's history, when its forests disappeared before the shanty-man's ax, when the very tree which added grace to the wilderness, was sent forward on its course of utility.
The first party of shanty-men usually went out in November. So soon as frost set in, the men located a site for their shanty, as nearly as possible, in the center of the lot upon which their winter's labors were to be carried on, always taking care to select a dry knoll in the immediate vicinity of a spring, lake, or brook. Here they constructed a log-house, and cut a road to the nearest stream on which the logs were to be floated down. This log-house was sufficiently large to accommo- date from ten to twenty men. In the center of this rude dwelling a raised fire- place was built, under the apex of the roof, which apex let out the smoke, and let in the sunlight and the rain. The work of log-cutting began so soon as the road was completed, and the ground hard enough to haul the logs-usually early in December-and continued until the ice broke up in spring. The choppers began work at dawn of day, and continued until the sun went down, after which the hardy foresters sped to their log-house, eat a rude and hearty meal, smoked their pipes, played euchre, related stories, and sometimes organized a quadrille party- the evening's entertainment continuing until abont nine o'clock, when all retired to well-earned sleep. Seldom or never was intoxicating drink introduced, as the trader was never allowed to bring in whisky, and when smuggled the men had no money to pay for it, as their contract was to be paid at the close of their engage- ment, the employer supplying food and other necessaries in the interim. The deli- cacies of their table consisted of wild game, which the shanty-men themselves might kill. The morale of the men was equally as good as that of the average rover; they were very far from being saints ; yet they possessed many good qualities, which compensated for the want of a few. They were gregarious in their habits ; in cutting trees they went in pairs, and few of them were willing to live in separate huts or away from the camp. They slept along the sloping side of the log-house with their heads toward the walls, and their feet toward the great fire, which was kept burning continually. As a rule those sons of the forest dispensed with pray-
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ers and preaching, and scarcely were aware of the Sabbath. A few had books, but the taste for reading was not by any means general, as their spare time was devoted to mending clothes, sharpening axes, with the few amusements already referred to. The men were always healthy and full of animal spirit, seldom required medical aid, or needed any of the medicine which the employer provided in cases of illness. With the growth of the industry the condition of the shanty man has much improved. He of to-day is morally superior to him of the past, and physically his equal.
SEASONS OF SICKNESS.
Among the numerous troubles which the pioneers and old settlers of Macomb had to encounter was the common ague, generated by miasms arising from the low lands along the shore of the lake, and from the decaying vegetable matter in the swales of the interior and along the Reviere aux Hurons. This disease, known also as the chills and fever, formed, as it were, a stumbling-block in the way of progress, and one of the great arguments presented by the traders against the settlement of the district by the American pioneers. The disease was a terror to the people who did make a settlement here. In the fall of the year every one was ill-every one shook, not hands as now ; but the very soul seemed to tremble under the effects of the malady. Respecting neither rich nor poor, it entered summarily into the sys- tem of the settlers, and became part and parcel of their existence-all looked pale and yellow as if frost-bitten. It was not literally contagious ; but owing to the diffusion of the terrible miasma, it was virtually a most disagreeable, if not danger- ous, epidemic. The noxious exhalations of the lake shore and inland swamps continued to be inhaled or absorbed from day to day, until the whole body became charged with it as with electricity, and then the shock came. This shock was a regular shake-a terrific shake, with a fixed beginning and ending, coming on each day or alternate day with an appalling regularity. After the shake came the fever, and this last phase of the disease was even more dreaded than the first. It was a burning hot fever lasting for hours. When you had the chill you could not become warm, and when you had the fever you could not get cool-it was simply a change of terrific extremes.
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