History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 14

Author: H. R. Page & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 373

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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).

Capt. Ward died in 1875, and the business continued in the name of Catharine L. Ward, his widow, until May, 1878. At that time the business passed into the hands of Catharine L. Ward, John B. Lyon and Thomas R. Lyon, and has been conducted under the name of " Thomas R. Lyon, Agent." With this reorganization the entire management passed to Thomas R. Lyon, and Mr. Woodruff remained in charge of certain departments of the business.

In 1880 Mr. Lyon built a railroad in Lake County, and equipped it with two locomotives and thirty cars for the use of his logging operations. There are seven miles of track, and on this road the logs from that region are brought to the river at a point about six- teen miles from the mills. The present year a handsome brick block has been built on Washington Avenue for the use of the business. The block is 50x182 feet in size, two stories high, and divided into two stores, with an elegant suite of office rooms in the rear. The stores are a part of the general business.

The company own three scows, capable of carrying 700,000 feet of lumber each, two schooners, with a capacity of 250,000 feet of lumber, and a tug used in towing the scows. The mills and busi- ness connected with them in the Fourth Ward occupy about forty acres of ground, with a lake front of more than half a mile. They have also a large lumber yard in Chicago. It is estimated that the two mills have cut, since first started, about 420,000,000 feet of lumber, and are now cutting at the rate of about 50,000,000 a year. The company own 50,000 acres of standing pine within fifty miles of Ludington, estimated to cut 600,000,000 feet of lumber, and new purchases are being made as rapidly as possible. The business, in all departments of its vast operations, gives employment to 1,000 men, nearly all of whom contribute, more or less, to the business of Ludington.

CARTIER & FILER.

During the season of 1872 the firm of Vahue, Hustis & Co., of which D. L. Filer was an important part, built a mill on the south side of Pere Marquette Lake. The main mill was 32x92 feet, with a boiler-room 32x48. The mill contained one double rotary, a gang edger and a lath machine. The daily capacity was 50,000 feet of lumber and 20,000 lath. The cost of the mill was about $25,000. Since 1878 the mill has been owned by Cartier & Filer. They have added many new improvements to the mill in way of facilities for fire protection, machinery, etc. The mill is lighted at night with electric light. An average of twenty-eight men are employed in operating the mill. The firm own about 80,000,000 feet of standing · pine, and are cutting lumber at the rate of about 10,000,000 a year.

GEORGE W. ROBY LUMBER COMPANY.

In 1871 George W. Roby came to Ludington from Ohio. Pleased with the general outlook, he decided to locate here permanently, and engage in the manufacture of lumber. The firm of George W. Roby & Co. was organized, being composed of George W. Roby, Nelson Rush and the heirs of Samuel Galloway. A mill site was

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HISTORY OF

MASON COUNTY.

purchased on Pere Marquette Lake, and a mill erected during the season of 1872. The size of the mill was 50x180 feet, besides engine and boiler-room, which was built of brick. There were five large boilers, and an engine of thirty-two-inch stroke. The mill con- tained a single circular, one double rotary, a gang and two gang edgers, with a capacity of 125,000 feet a day. The mill was built well out in the lake, but deposits of saw-dust and edgings have since that time filled up the space between the mill and the bank of the lake. At that time the firm owned about 140,000,000 of standing pine, and had between 60,000,000 and 70,000,000 logs on hand, when the mill started up-early in 1879. A large building was erected which has since been used as the company's store and office. James Crowly was in charge of the mill when it started, and for some time afterward. At the time the store and office building was built, there were only the Danaher & Melendy mill and one house in that part of what is now the Fourth Ward. The cost of the mill was about $75,000. Between sixty and seventy-five men have been employed in and about the mill. January 1, 1882, a stock company was organized under the name of The George W. Roby Lumber Company. The officers are George W. Roby, president; Nelson Rush, of Chicago, vice-president; L. C. Waldo, secretary; J. B. Roby, treasurer. The business of the firm, and also of the company, has been very successfully managed and has prospered. The company owns large tracts of pine in Oceana, Lake and New- aygo Counties. The mill has cut since it first started about 130,- 000,000 feet of lumber, and the company own about 150,000,000 feet of standing pine.

THE TAYLOR MILL.

In 1872 the firm of Sweet & Bean built a mill on the south side of the lake. The main building was 36x120 feet. It was supplied with three boilers eighteen feet by forty-two inches, engine eighteen by twenty-four inches. It had a double rotary and a gang edger, with a daily capacity of 50,000 feet. The cost of the inill was $25,000. In 1873 O. N. Taylor purchased a half-interest in the mill, and in 1880 purchased the remaining interest of Mr. Sweet. Mr. Taylor now runs the mill and does chiefly custom work.

ALLEN & GOODSELL

have completed the present season a first-class sawmill, which started up in July. This mill is a double circular, and has a capa- city of 16,000,000 per season. The mill is situated in the Third Ward.

E. A. FOSTER & CO.

operated until recently a large shinglemill in the Fourth Ward, which employs nearly forty men, and has a yearly capacity of 36,000,000. The mill was built in 1877, and has been in successful operation since that time. The mill has lately been sold to T. R. Lyon, and is now operated by him.

DANAHER & CARTIER

built their present shinglemill in 1880, on the site of the one burned. 'the daily capacity of their mill is 250,000.

SMITH & FOLEY

are proprietors of the shinglemill in the Fourth Ward, built by Horace Butters & Co. They employ about twenty-five men and manufacture 25,000,000 shingle in a season.

THE PERE MARQUETTE BOOM COMPANY.

This company was incorporated March 20, 1872, under the title of the "The Ludington Boom Company." The first directors were- D. L. Filer, L. H. Foster, E. B. Ward, M. D. Ward, George W. Roby, P. M., Danaher and J. B. Beane.

D. L. Filer was president, and J. B. Beane secretary.

D. L. Filer and E. B. Ward had purchased ground along the

margin of the river, for which $25,000 was paid. They afterward sold shares to other parties who became members of the company.

In November, 1872, the name was changed to The Pere Mar- quette Boom Company, and John S. Woodruff was elected secretary and treasurer.

At the meeting in February, 1876, P. M. Danaher was elected president, and served for one year, and the next year Mr. Filer was again elected.

Mr. Woodruff was secretary and treasurer until the January meeting in 1882, when he declined a re-election, and Louis Ward was elected to succeed him.

In February, 1880, Frederick J. Dowland was elected president, and still holds the office.

The first contract for driving the river for five years was given to Gibbs, Foley & Butler. Gibbs & Maxim had the first contract for assorting, towing and delivering logs.

In 1877 Dempsey & Cartier had the contract for all the work. At the expiration of their contract the company commenced doing work under the direction of a superintendent.

The present officers are as follows: President, F. J. Dowland; secretary and treasurer, Louis Ward; superintendent, Louis Ward. Directors: George W. Roby, T. R. Lyon, F. J. Dowland, Frank Filer, James E. Danaher, Louis Ward and John S. Woodruff.

The property of the company at the present time is valued at upwards of $100,000.

PERSONAL SKETCHES

We give below brief biographical sketches of some of the men connected with the various sawmills at Ludington.

PERE MARQUETTE LUMBER COMPANY.

AUGUSTUS E. SMITH, foreman of the Pere Marquette mill, Lud- ington, came here in 1872 from Manistee. He was born in Maine, in 1837, and came to Michigan in 1847. For a time after coming to Ludington he was saw-filer in the mill, but in 1877 was made foreman, which position he still holds. Mr. Smith is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Honor, and is one of the substantial citizens of the place.

EDMUND H. FoGG is one of the old settlers of Ludington, having settled here in 1866. He was born in New Hampshire in 1834, and learned the millwright trade at an early age. In 1866 he came to Ludington as millwright for James Ludington. In 1876 he took the position of saw-filer at the mill of the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, which position he still holds. Mr. Fogg is one of the original members of the Odd Fellows Lodge, and is properly a mem- ber of the Pioneer Corps of Ludington.

CASSIUS M. BENTLEY, engineer at the mill of the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, is a native of Ohio. In 1880 he came to Lud- ington. For a time he was an engineer at Smith's planing mill, and in the Spring of 1882 changed to his present place. He has been engineer and machinist since 1867, and is very competent in both branches.

CARTIER & FILER.

PATRICK C. EASTMAN is a native of Canada, and came to the States in 1865. He first located at Flint, Mich., where he worked in the mills, and from there went into the employ of Cutler & Sav- idge, at Spring Lake. In 1872 he came to Ludington, and for the past six years has been in the Filer mill, and since the Spring of 1880 has been foreman of the mill. He has been employed in and about lumber mills ever since he was fifteen years of age.

DAVID M. THOMPSON is a native of Scotland, and came to this

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Geo Mr . Robey

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

country with his parents while a small child. When twelve years of age he began to work about lumber mills. For some time he was employed at Reed City, and in 1879 came to Ludington, and was employed at the Filer mill. In 1881 he was assistant engineer, and since that time has been engineer of the mill.

DANAHER & MELENDY.

JOHN P. RASMUSSEN is a native of Denmark, and came to this country in 1879. Soon after landing in this country he came to Ludington and went to work at his trade, blacksmithing. In the Spring of 1882 he was engaged as blacksmith at the mill of the Dan- aher & Melendy Company, where he is still at work.

JOSEPH PAQUETTE is a native of Canada, and came to the States in 1868. After spending six months in Milwaukee he went to Mus- kegon, where he worked at his trade as machinist. In 1870 he came to Ludington and worked at his trade. In the Spring of 1882 he went with the Danaher & Melendy Company, as engineer at their mill, and is still in that position.

GEORGE W. ROBY LUMBER COMPANY.

ROBERT J. COMPTON came to Ludington in 1875, from Ottawa County, Mich. He is a native of New York State, and came to Ot- tawa County in 1855. In May, 1861, he enlisted at Grand Rapids in the Third Michigan Infantry and served in the war until 1864, when he returned to Ottawa County. In 1875 he came to Ludington and engaged at farming and lumbering until 1878, when he took the position of yard foreman at the mill of the George W. Roby Lum- ber Company, and still continues in that place.

JOSEPH WHITE, blacksmith at the mill of the George W. Roby Lumber Company, Ludington, is a native of Canada, and came to the States in 1852. He served in the navy from 1862 to 1864. In 1871 he came to Ludington from Chicago, and when the Roby mill was built, in 1872, he entered the employ of that company, and has remained there ever since. Mr. White is one of the veterans in the service.

T. R. LYON AGENT.

MICHAEL A. NEILAN is a native of Canada, and came to Luding- ton in 1874. For several years he scaled logs and was in the employ of the Ward estate, then operated under the name of Catharine L. Ward. In 1879 he was put in charge of all the logging of this vast lumber concern, and at the present time continues in the manage- ment of all the logging business of the firm.

JAMES CROWLY is a native of Wisconsin, and came to Luding- ton in 1870. He has always been engaged in and about lumber mills and for a time was with George W. Roby & Co. In 1879 he went into the employ of Thomas R. Lyon, Agent, and is at present foreman of the North mill. Mr. Crowly is also the senior member of the firm of Crowly & Scott, at Sweetland. This firm dates from 1879, and owns a sawmill, store and hotel at Sweetland, and does an extensive business.

F. D. NASON, saw-filer at the South mill of T. R. Lyon, Agent, is a native of Maine. He served in the army from 1862 to the close of the war in 1865, and was in prison five months during that time. After the close of the war he went to Saginaw, where he remained until 1876, when he came to Ludington and took the place he now holds. Mr. Nason has been filing for nearly twenty years.

JOHN F. TRACY is a native of the State of Maine. He served in the war with the Thirty-second Wisconsin Infantry from the Fall of 1868 to 1865. At the close of the war he went to Minneapolis, where he remained until 1876, when he came to Ludington, and at first ran a gang in the South mill. In 1877 he took charge of the saws as filer, in which capacity he still continues. Mr. Tracy is a member of the Odd Fellows Order, and is very efficient in his busi- noss.

WILLIAM H. BUSH is a native of Canada, and came to the States in 1861. He was in the war with the Forty-eighth Wisconsin In- fantry from 1864 until the close of the war in 1865. Upon coming out of the army he came to Ludington and was engaged in the mills as engineer. He helped build the South mill now belonging to T. R. Lyon, Agent, and has been engineer there ever since it started up, in 1872. Mr. Bush is one of the early settlers here, and is about to leave mill work for the farm.

HIRAM BARNETT is a native of Wisconsin, and is a machinist by trade. He was engineer in lumber mills in Wisconsin for five sea- sons, and in 1876 came to Ludington and entered the employ of T. R. Lyon, Agent. For a time he was watchman about the mills and afterward was fireman at the North mill. Last Spring he was given the position of engineer at the shingle mill, where he still continues.

A. G. SPENCER is a native of the state of New York. He en- listed in 1861 with the Twenty-third New York Infantry, and served until the close of the war in 1865. In 1867 he went to Manistee, where he remained until 1872, when he came to Ludington to take the position of foreman of the South mill, belonging to Catharine L. Ward, and continues in that position at the present time. Mr. Spen- cer has been connected with lumber mills all his life, and is a very competent man.

FLOYD WHITE is a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Luding- ton in the Spring of 1872. He followed blacksmithing most of the time until last Spring, when he went in the employ of T. R. Lyon, Agent, as saw-filer at the South mill. Mr. White was engaged at filing in Indiana before coming to Ludington.

J. M. FARRELL is a native of New Brunswick. In 1857 he went to Wisconsin and lived in Oshkosh about ten years. From there he went to Marinette, Wis., where he remained for a time, and then went to Manistee. In 1879 he came to Ludington and engaged as millwright at the South mill of T. R. Lyon, Agent. Mr. Farrell has been following his trade for many years, and is a skilful work- man.

EARLY LOGGING.

Logging in the early days was nothing more or less than "slash- ing." The choicest trees were taken, and no notice taken of any others. The vastness of the supply made it seemingly inexhaustible. After these slashings came the fires sweeping through the forests, and to-day there are thousands of acres covered with dead pine, all of which might have been saved had it been taken care of. Millions of dollars worth of pine in this part of Michigan has been allowed to become worthless. The sight of these broad tracts of noble trees, now worthless for lumbering purposes, makes the heart of the lum- berman ache as he thinks of the vast wealth that might have been preserved with a little care. They are monuments of the improvi- dence of the early days. These now worthless tracts of pine, had they been cared for, would now afford the choicest logging to be found anywhere.

Passing along its shores around the lake of historic name, one is able to understand the mighty power that has been driving the wheels of Ludington's prosperity in the past, and will continue to do so in years to come. The procession of mighty vessels moving out the harbor laden with lumber day after day seems never to lessen the gigantic piles of lumber that throng the docks. These mills have already cut at least 1,500,000,000 feet of lumber, and are cut- ting at the rate of 120,000,000 feet a year. The amount of stand- ing pine now owned by the lumber manufacturers is estimated at 1,100,000,000 feet, and new purchases are continually being made. The amount owned by the mill owners is not more than one-half the amount of standing pine accessible from Ludington.

The sawmill owners are for the most part enterprising and public

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spirited. Their business is made to contribute as much as possible to the growth and prosperity of the city. They encourage the in- troduction of other manufacturing interests.

With proper management the sawmills of Ludington may be kept running for twenty years to come, a fact which can not fail to advance all the material interests of the city.

FLINT AND PERE MARQUETTE RAILROAD.

This road was completed to Ludington in the Fall of 1874, and the first passenger train arrived here December 6th of that year. The company owns a dock front of about 2,500 feet, and in 1877 built an elevator with a capacity of 75,000 bushels. The com- pany's buildings here consist of a depot, elevator, round-house and warehouse. Two elegant steamboats have been completed the present season and are running between Ludington and Milwaukee in connection with the trains. The passenger business at this point amounts to about $35,000 a year.

The Manistee branch, extending from Manistee Junction, near Tallman, to Manistee, was completed in December, 1881.

UNITED STATES LIFE SAVING STATION.

In November, 1879, the Life Saving Station at this point was completed and Capt. J. J. Brown placed in charge.

The station is a neat two-story structure, and everything about it is kept neat as wax-work. The situation of the station, however, shows a reprehensible degree of ignorance, or a stupendous blunder on the part of whoever had charge of its location. Instead of being at a convenient point, it is situated on Pere Marquette Lake, several rods below the channel, thus necessitating a long row before Lake Michigan is reached.

In 1880 there was a crew of six men. The crew was increased to seven in 1881, and to eight men in 1882. All members of the crew are of the same rank, but are designated by numbers. The present crew is as follows:

J. J. Brown, Captain; Jesse T. Brown, No. 1; Henry W. Beaupre, No. 2; Charles Lufts, No. 8; William Lufts, No. 4; Wil- liam Wishart, No. 5; Daniel D. Ludwig, No. 6; Van B. Ludwig, No. 7; John Stram, No. 8.

Of these, Jesse T. Brown, Henry W. Beaupre and John Stram belonged to the original crew of 1880.

The station is what is called a "Complete Station," and is equipped with a self-bailing and self-righting boat, one Long Branch surf boat, a life car, and beach apparatus.

The station has assisted six wrecks since it was established, three in 1879, two in 1880 and one in 1881.

Capt. J. J. Brown, who has charge of the station, was born at Sheboygan, Wis., in 1844. In 1861 he went to Chicago, and from there followed sailing on the lake for several years. In 1877 he re- turned to Sheboygan and remained there until coming here in 1879. He is a courteous gentleman and a brave, competent officer.

Jesse T. Brown, No. 1, surfman, is a brother of Capt. Brown, and was born in Sheboygan, Wis., in 1841. At sixteen years of age he began sailing on the lakes and continued at that until 1862, when he enlisted in Company M. Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry, and was in the service until the close of the war. After returning North he sailed the lakes until 1880, when he came to Ludington and has been continued in the Life Saving Service since that time.

THE GREAT FIRE OF 1881.

Saturday, June 11th, 1881, the city of Ludington was visited by a destructive fire that, in the space of a few hours, wiped out of existence nearly one hundred buildings, and destroyed property mounting in value to about $200,000. The total insurance on

the property destroyed was about $95,000. A very full account of the fire was published in the columns of the Ludington Democrat, and we quote from its columns: "The fire originated under the bakery building situated on West Loomis Street opposite the site of the old Marshall House. It was first discovered about fifteen min- utes to 12 o'clock, and the alarm was given at once. Flames burst from under the bakery building, between it and the Eberle building, and within a few minutes both structures were in flames. The wind was brisk from the southward, and during the afternoon veered to the southwest. The hand fire-engine was placed in posi- tion and two streams of water were thrown to check, if possible, the rapid progress of the flames. The fire was either caused by the careless stub of a cigar, or it was the work of an incendiary. Both these theories have earnest believers.

"At one time the fire seemed to be under control when it was confined to the building under which it originated, but the bursting of the hose delayed the work of the engine, and during the inter- val the fire gained sufficient headway to defy all attempts to check its progress. The flames rapidly devoured the buildings located on the rear alley, and also those on either side. The wind seemed to freshen to a gale, and flying cinders communicated destruction to the old school buildings on the corner of Ludington Avenue and James Street, and to the frame buildings located on South Charles Street. By this time the utmost confusion prevailed, hurrying to and fro were the many occupants of the buildings in range of the fire on the avenue, and all with the intent of saving what little property they could. The heavy column of smoke darkened the sky and blinded the buildings in its wake from people a block dis- tant. The flames communicated to Kuhli's barber shop, on the east side of South James Street ; and also to the Ludington Record building on the same street. They also leaped across South Charles Street, and in an instant Ewing's carriage warehouse was in flames. From the Ewing warehouse the Alexander brick block caught on fire, and with its contents was entirely destroyed. The Ewing carriage factory, west of the Alexander Block, caught on fire, and destruction spread to Robert Street, burning the residences of Mr. Lafayette Bennett and Mr. D. Abair, together with a greater portion of their contents. Fire was communicated to the barns and buildings on the alley, and to the Holmquist undertaking estab- lishment, where it was finally checked on that block by the united effort of a large force of men and one stream from the engine. On the east side of James Street Clayton's brick block, with its contents, was entirely destroyed. Stout's furniture ware-rooms and every building on the entire block, with the exception of the David Wilson brick block, the Demme market, and two small residences located on the extreme southeast corner, near the M. E. Church, were burned to the ground. The engine house and council room, on North Charles Street, was destroyed; also every building on the block fronting on Ludington Avenue and lying between North Charles and North James Streets, except the brick stores of Cartier & Filer, B. J. Goodsell & Co., George N. Stray and W. C. Starr, and the frame residences of Mrs. James Thompson and Mr. Wm. Allen. Every building on the block facing Ludington Avenue, and lying between North James and North Harrison Streets was de- stroyed, including Temperance Hall, the Congregational Church and the M. E. parsonage. The flames spread east of South Harrison street and burned Gebhardt's brick building to the ground, and running north burned the Episcopal church and parsonage, and on the west side of North Harrison, and north of Court Street, the resi- dences of Mr. Thomas G. Bishop, Mr. John Davidson and Mr. Frank Stevens were destroyed, with nearly their entire contents. The fire was at last got under control by the exertion of almost superhuman efforts on the part of the people. Several buildings were saved

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

from destruction by the utmost exertions, among them the Presby- terian church, the residence of Mr. J. A. Gebhardt, the stores of Cartier & Filer, B. J. Goodsell & Co., George N. Stray and W. C. Starr, the shoe store of Mr. D. W. Goodenough, the Fayette John- son block (in which is located the Democrat office), the Ennis house, the residence of Mrs. James Thompson and the residence of Mr. H. M. Newcomb. The fire was placed under control about half-past five o'clock, and the scene of destruction was, to the citi- zens of Ludington, as the scenes in Chicago after the great fire of 1871 were to the average citizen of that city.

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History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 14

Author: H. R. Page & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 373

Author: H. R. Page & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 373