USA > Michigan > Mason County > History of Mason County, Michigan > Part 2
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The region about Pere Marquette had been visited by white men, who came to hunt, fish and trade with the Indians for many years. As early as 1835, William Quivillon came here to trade with the Indians, but went away again, and did not return until 1850 to remain, and in 1852 entered his farm, in what is now Summit Township.
As early as 1846 there were white men temporarily em- ployed up the Pere Marquette River, getting out shingles. The Norburgs had a cabin up the river and were employed in this way.
In 1845 Burr Caswell came to Pere Marquette, and spent two seasons, most of the time fishing. One Winter he spent at Pent- water. In July, 1847, he entered the farm, which he still owns, and which is situated a short distance south of the Filer Mill. He immediately brought his family here and settled upon his land.
It is held by some that the first settlement by white man with- in the limits of what is now Mason County, was at Free Soil Mills. The operations at that point in 1845 or 1846, however, could hardly be called the beginning of a permanent settlement, as the mill built at about that time was only operated a short time, and after it burned nothing more was done until 1855, while at Pere Marquette a permanent settlement was begun in 1847, and for two years previous to that time white men were at work in the woods on the river.
There is no doubt but that the first actual white settler within the limits of what is now Mason County was
BURR CASWELL.
He was born at Glens Falls, in the State of New York, in January, 1807. At an early age he learned the cabinet trade in his native village, and followed it for several years.
In 1837 he was married at Glens Falls to Miss Hannah Green. They remained at that place for a time, and then made several changes in the next few years. His health becoming poor, he tried trading on the lower Mississippi, and then came to Illinois and bought a farm in Lake County, where he lived six years.
In 1845 he came to the region of Pere Marquette, as before stated, and in 1847 returned here with his family, which at that time consisted of himself and wife and four children, two girls and two boys. The girls were Helen and Mary, who afterwards married, the former Sewall Moulton, and the latter Richard Hatfield. The boys were George A. and Edgar B. Caswell. George died in 1868, and Edgar still resides in Ludington.
Mr. Caswell built a house of drift lumber, and began life among his dusky neighbors. He improved his farm as rapidly as possible, and worked some at lumbering. The Indians at once took a liking to him and were always his friends, ever ready to do him any favor or act of kindness. He remained on his farm until the death of his wife, in February, 1870, when he moved to Ludington, and had charge of a shingle mill for a time. In 1871 he was again married to Mrs. Sarah Billings, and in 1873 he was given charge of the light-house at Big Point Sauble, and where he still remains.
Nothing could be wilder and more uncivilized than the sur- roundings of the first family of white settlers. Their home was in the midst of dense wilderness, their neighbors a tribe of Ottawa Indians. There were two or three white men at work up the river, but there were no white settlers nearer than Manistee. The Indians introduced Mr. Caswell into the mysteries of their religious rites, and were as friendly to the family as possible for them to be.
Soon after Mr. Caswell settled here the Indians changed their burying-ground to the spot near where the Filer mill now stands. The spot was enclosed with high pickets, and at night the Indians brought food, tobacco, pipes and trinkets, and placed upon the graves of their friends, for the use of spirits, which they believed returned at night. It was during 1848 that the Indian village was abandoned.
The friction of a busy age is rapidly wearing away the green roofs of these early graves, and disclosing the skeletons and trinkets buried by the aborigines. The old apple tree planted by "Good John's" grandmother a century ago, still remains a faithful sentinel of historic ground, and a relic of days forever passed.
In 1849 Thomas Secor entered forty acres at Free Soil mills, and the same year Messrs. Baird and Bean built the mill at Pere Mar- quette, which ultimately came into possession of James Ludington. The building of this mill was the beginning of business at Pere Marquette.
About this time Charles Mears began operations at Black Creek, now called Lincoln. A log house an I blacksmith shop were first built. The dam that had been built was partially carried away in 1850, and work on the mill in process of construction delayed, so that it was not completed until 1851.
In 1850 other white settlers began to come to Pere Marquette. Richard Hatfield, Daniel and Delos Holmes, J. F. Phillips, William Quivillon, William Woodard, and possibly one or two others came about this time, and most of them worked about the mill or at log- ging. Chas. W. King came soon after. In 1851 the mill was oper- ated by Farnsworth & Bean.
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
From 1851 to 1855 the mills at Pere Marquette and Black Creek, now Lincoln, gave employment to a number of men during the Summer, who during the Winter followed fishing. The few set- tlers who bought land, located on what is known as the Clay Banks.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
Mason County was erected by act of Legislature at the session of 1855. Under that act, Manistee, Mason and Oceana Counties were organized out of Ottawa County. The county of Mason comprised Townships 17, 18, 19 and 20, north, of each of the Ranges numbered 15, 16, 17 and 18 west, and the unorganized Counties of Lake and Osceola were attached to Mason County for judicial purposes. Until the organization of Mason County, the settlers here never had a vote, there being no township organiza- tion.
The County was divided into three townships, viz: Free Soil, Little Sable and Pere Marquette.
The first county election was held April 2, 1855. The whole number of votes polled was forty-one. The number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows:
For sheriff, Daniel Holmes, 24; W. H. Morrison, 17.
For clerk and register, George B. Roys, 26; Thomas Caine, 15. For treasurer, E. G. Farnum, 41.
For coroner, W. Quivillon, 41.
For county surveyor, John P. Sedan, 25.
For judge of probate, A. D. Hopkins, 17; Burr Caswell, 22. For fish inspector, Burr Caswell, 15.
The Board of Canvassers was composed of Hiram Orser, Thos. Anderson and George B. Roys, clerk.
The first annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at Little Sable, October 8, 1855. The first official business trans- acted was an order to borrow $27 of Charles Mears. Another order, that one Timothy Fletcher be engaged to transfer records from the books of Ottawa County, provided he would wait a certain length of time for his pay, closed the business of the first session of the Board. The business of the second session was of a financial char- acter. Richard Hatfield having interviewed three certain wolves with fatal results, was voted $24, as bounty.
The first struggle of the supervisors with the problem of pub- lic highways was at their annual meeting in October, 1863, when the sum of $200 was ordered to be levied and was appropriated to construct and repair what was known as the Lake Shore Road, for a distance of about five miles on the south end of the road. Mr. Sewall Moulton was appointed a commissioner to expend the money.
COUNTY SEAT.
At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held Novem- ber 11, 1856, it was ordered that the county seat be located on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 27, Town 18, north of Range 18, west. This was on the Burr Caswell farm, and a frame building was used as court house. In those days Judge Littlejohn held court here. Judge and lawyers used to come on horseback, and stop at Mr. Caswell's.
Charles Mears was proprietor of Little Sable, now called Lin- coln, and was anxious for the removal of the county seat to that place. He used his influence to that end, and in May, 1860, the Board voted to submit to a vote of the people a proposition to re- move the county seat to Little Sable. The proposition was voted upon and carried at the Fall election, and in January, 1861, the removal took place. The change was never satisfactory to the peo- ple of the south part of the county, and after the Record was started
at Ludington, in 1867, the matter was more publicly discussed. At this time the list of county officers was of rather remarkable make- up, as follows:
Judge of Probate, W. T. Croxson, Hamlin. Supervisor of Hamlin, W. T. Croxson, Hamlin. County Surveyor, W. T. Croxson, Hamlin.
Prosecuting Attorney, D. S. Harley, Lincoln.
Deputy County Treasurer, D. S. Harley, Lincoln. County Clerk, John Wallace, Lincoln.
Register, John Wallace, Lincoln.
The people in the south part of the county felt aggrieved at hav- ing the county affairs monopolized to such an extent, and there was continual friction for several years. As Ludington increased in population and business importance, the question of removing the county seat to that place was more earnestly discussed. Public meetings were held, and at last, in 1873, the proposition to remove the county seat to Ludington was submitted to a vote of the peo- ple, and carried by a large majority.
For a number of years after the organization of the county, the county offices were run at an expense of $225 a year.
The early records are very meagre, especially of township mat- ters. Many of the early records have been lost or destroyed by fire, and in a good many instances no records were preserved.
The present court house was dedicated January 12, 1874. Public dedicatory exercises were held, at which Judge Shubæl F. White delivered an address, and speeches were made by Messrs. Fitch, Haight, Wheeler, Sutherland and Ewell, of the bar, and also by Daniel Prindle, one of the oldest farmers in Amber Township, L. H. Foster, N. L. Bird, and others.
REPORT OF BUILDING COMMITTEE.
The committee having charge of the erection of the new court- house was composed of N. L. Bird, F. F. Hopkins, W. A. Bailey, Malon Abbey and B. J. Goodsell. Their report to the Board of Supervisors was as follows :
"Your committee, who were entrusted with the important and responsible duty of erecting upon the county grounds in this city a fire-proof building for county offices, according to a plan adopted by your body, beg leave to report as follows: Immediately after the close of that session of the Board, the committee set about securing specific plans, and advertised for proposals to erect said buildings. After due consideration, and for the purpose of giving the most gen- eral satisfaction, as your committee believed, and bringing the cost of the work within the amount appropriated by this Board for the same, the committee determined to construct, for the present, but two vaults, instead of four, as contemplated in the plan adopted by the Board, thus leaving a room for the purposes of the Circuit Court and meetings of the Board of Supervisors, and leaving the building in such shape that the other two vaults could be put in at any future time when it was deemed necessary. Your committee, after receiving a number of proposals in various forms, let the con- tract for furnishing all the material and completing the building for the sum of $5,450, that being the lowest bid, and took good and sufficient bonds to the amount of $6,000. The committee after- wards expended the remaining $50 in extra work in and about the building, not contemplated in the original plan, but deemed neces- sary to its completion in a proper manner.
"Your honorable body, at a subsequent meeting, empowered your committee to make a further expenditure of the sum set apart as a building fund for the purpose of erecting an outbuilding, fencing the grounds, and putting stoves and other necessary furniture into the building, and paying the discount on certain orders issued to the contractor.
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
"The amounts expended by your committee for various purposes are as follows :
"For fire-proof building ..
$5,500 00
" Stoves, pipe and zine. 103 40
" Outbuildings and walks. 140 00
" Tables and desk 57 80
" Shelves in clerk's vault. 25 00
· Fence.
128 00
1
Platforms, etc., in court room
30 82
3
Discount on orders.
120 00
-
Carpet on platform in court room
5 25
Wood, etc
10 84
Total
$6,127 11"
Immediately after the organization of the county, prisoners were taken to the Ottawa County Jail, at Grand Haven, and the Manistee jail was also used. Afterwards a frame building was erected for a county jail, and this was used until the completion of the present brick building, in 1879. The present jail is in a large brick build- ing, which also contains the sheriff's residence. It is a substantial structure, built at an expense of about $9,000. A view of this building appears on another page.
CIRCUIT COURT.
The first term of the Circuit Court held in Mason County began September 21, 1858, Hon. F. J. Littlejohn presiding. The first recorded business of the Court was to allow the application of Jere- miah F. Phillips, a justice of the peace, for the allowance of $15.37 for the expense of disposing of a dead stranger.
At this first term of the court William H. Parks was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county; the jail in Ottawa County was designated as the jail for the confinement of prisoners until other- wise ordered. Jolin W. Miller, upon application, was examined and admitted to the bar, and appointed circuit court commissioner. Having disposed of this business without prejudice or partiality, the court adjourned without day.
In 1866 Judge Littlejohn was succeeded by Hon. J. G. Rams- dell, of Manistee.
In the Winter of 1878 this judicial district was divided, and Hon. Shubæl F. White was elected circuit judge for the new dis- trict. Judge White resigned in 1874, and Hon. Harrison H. Wheeler was appointed to fill out the unexpired term, and at the end of that time was elected for another term. He served until 1878, when he resigned. Hon. A. V. McAlvey was appointed as his successor. He was succeeded by Hon. Samuel D. Haight, who was elected in the Fall of 1878, and served until his death, in February, 1881. He was succeeded by Hon. J. Byron Judkins, who is still on the benchi.
PROBATE COURT.
The first term of probate court for Mason County was held at Lincoln, beginning on the 6th day of June, 1864. Prior to that time there appears to have been no particular facilities for contesting wills, or prolonging family troubles arising from inherited wealth. There is, however, nothing upon record, nor abiding in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, going to show that any unusual suffering was experienced on account of the meager "courting" facilities of those early days.
The first Probate Judge elected in the county was Burr Cas- well, but there appears to have been no occasion for any records until 1864. At that time N. L. Bird was judge of probate. The business of the first term of his court was the appointment of an administrator of the estate of Noble C. Woodard, deceased.
Judge Bird was succeeded, in 1865, by Sewall Moulton, who was succeeded in 1867 by William T. Croxson. He was succeeded in 1869 by Washington Weldon, who was succeeded in 1878 by Mar- shall D. Ewell, and he by C. G. Wing, in 1875. Judge Wing held
the office until 1881, when he was' succeeded by Hon. James B. McMahon, whose term is not yet expired.
TIMBER, SOIL AND RIVERS.
The territory included within the limits of the county was rich in resources and in its productive qualities. The eastern portion of the county was heavily timbered with pine, and embraced some of the finest pine timber to be found in the state. Running through the central portion of the county from north to south, and extend- ing in many places near to the shore, was a strip of land covered with beech, maple and other valuable timber. The soil producing this hardwood timber is different from the beech and maple land of southern Michigan or Ohio, being a black sandy loam, mingled with clay. It is highly productive, strong and durable, and much more easily cultivated than the heavier clay soils farther south.
The county has numerous inland lakes of various sizes, which abound in fish, and the Pere Marquette River, with its north and south branches, the Little and Big Sable Rivers, with their numer- ous tributaries, together with branches of the Manistee and Pent- water Rivers, which traverse the county, furnish an ample supply of water, both for lumbering and agricultural purposes. The surface of the county is rolling, but less uneven than in the counties on either side.
THE PERE MARQUETTE RIVER.
The Indian name of this river was Not-a-pe-ka-gon, meaning a " river with heads on sticks." In the Indian battle described elsewhere, the victors cut off the heads of the slain and placed them on sticks; hence the name.
Probably no more comprehensive and accurate description of the Pere Marquette River and the country through which it runs, can be given than is contained in some extracts, published in 1869, of an account written by A. S. Wadsworth, of the Michigan Geologi- cal Survey. They are as follows:
The spring sources of the Pere Marquette River, of Lower Peninsula, Mich., are mostly in hard wood land, but changing to pine land near the west boundary of Range 11 west; light sandy soil, covered with inferior white pine, unmistakably "punky," some Norway pine, small size, sound. As we range west from the last named boundary, we again enter beech and maple land of great fertility, with some scattering cork pine of the best quality.
Through Ranges 13, 14, 15 and 16 west, Townships 15, 16, 17 and 18 north, covering an area of 576 square miles, and drained by the Pere Marquette River, is a region unsurpassed by any portion of the state, in quality of soil, timber and climate, abounding in springs and spring brooks, marl, clay and lime-stone for building or other purposes. A small portion of this area is pine land, and most of this gives a large yield of first quality white pine. When our esti mates are safe at one and one-half millions feet per forty-acre lot, it means pine; many forty-acre lots that I have examined above the forks, will scale this amount each, with a large per cent of upper qualities. Trees tall to first limbs, large girth, free from punk knots, few shaky or hollow butts, or black knots, prime as to age, and much of it growing in hard wood land, where there is little danger from fires; easy down grades and short hauling to Pere Marquette River, either branch of which above the forks is a spring brook stream but little affected by drouth, freshet or frost; the north fork floatable for sawlogs eighteen miles above the forks, the south branch for twelve miles, air line; some flat rollways, but gen- erally precipitous. There is but little swampy land in this district, except upon the Beaver Creek, of south fork. The swamps are not dead " cat holes," but have spring brook drainage; affording abun- dance of rail timber, and ultimately meadow lands inexhaustible in richness for generations, from the underlying deposit of shell marl,
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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
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that for frequency, richness and extent, I believe are unequaled in the State. The hard wood land of this district is timbered with sugar maple, beech, elm, basswood, ash, etc .; in some places hilly, generally level or gently rolling; soil a chocolate colored loam with a large per cent of metamorphic lime gravel; in some places clay; ele- vated from one to three hundred feet above the level of Lake Michi- gan. These townships are being occupied by an enterprising class of settlers. I found in some localities the New England element prevalent; other districts are settled principally by immigrants from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Southern Michigan. Universal thrift and contentment prevail among them. In the first year of settlement is heard the crash of falling forest trees; the next, they " grub " the stumps for roads and sites of churches and school houses, and are obliged to send abroad for help to secure the abun- dant harvests. This is no fancy sketch, but facts, gleaned from per- sonal observation. On October 15, in front of our encampment, was a ripened field of Ohio yellow dent corn, with well filled ears. Its owner, Mr. Hall, informed me that this field of twenty acres was cleared last season; that it had not been plowed; the corn planted with an ax; estimated yield, sixty bushels per acre. The soil of this region is rich in humus, and in argillaceous and calcareous ele- ments; a first rate wheat soil. Query: Are not these lands worth as much per acre as the lands of Western New York, where, through large districts, wheat culture is abandoned from exhaustion of the needed mineral constituents of the soil ? The settlement here is but begun; hundreds of square miles are untouched by the settler's ax, where deciduous forest trees are luxuriating in a rich, virgin soil.
As to the salubrity of the climate, I would say that any region in this latitude that, when first denuded of its timber, cannot afford fever and ague, is not worth settling, A mild type of this disease (not dangerous) prevails to some extent among the settlers. These cases will be less frequent when, in the progress of settlement, more perfect drainage is secured, and when there is less decomposi- tion below the surface, and more growing crops above it.
Above the forks above named are extensive rapids, and a few valuable water powers; below the forks the stream is less rapid, and will be used to some extent for navigable purposes, when not mono- polized by the log and timber interests. The fruit belt through Mason County has a better soil than most of the land bordering up- on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the hard-wood land extend- ing to the " clay banks " south of the harbor. As we emerged from the dense maple groves, and pitched our tents upon this bold eminence, two hundred feet above the level of Lake Michigan, the view was truly grand. Looking out upon this inland sea, whitened with the wings of commerce, in the golden sunset of an October evening, the mind naturally takes in adjacent States, where pierc- ing prairie winds and fickle climate forbid fruit raising. They may flow with milk, they may raise bees, but they must look to Michi- gan for timber, for fruits and vines. The demands of civilized humanity will clothe these hills with vines and fruit trees bending beneath Pomona's richest treasures.
DELOS L. FILER'S LETTER.
In October, 1870, Delos L. Filer wrote a letter to the Detroit Post and Tribune, as follows:
"In your paper of the 15th inst., I see T. B. Brooks, assistant in the charge of the survey of the Marquette iron region, propounds questions and solicits answers in relation to hardwood timbered lands in the Lower Peninsula. I think by sending your paper a deserip- tion of Mason County it will enlighten the public more than in any other manner.
"Mason County contains about ten entire townships of hard-
wood timbered land. The timber is largely beech and maple; some hemlock and ehn. The area is not less than 230,000 acres. It will average not less than fifty-five cords per acre. The soil is largely clay loam.
"The Pere Marquette River runs nearly through the center of the tract, and is navigable through the entire width of said tract for small steamboats, there being not less than three feet in depth of water at the lowest stage. It empties into the Pere Marquette Lake.
"The water of the Pere Marquette Lake is of sufficient depth for any vessels navigating the lakes. The harbor is very good, and by an expenditure of $75,000 can be made equal to any on Lake Mich- igan. There is not less than nine feet of water in the shallowest place, and the distance between the Pere Marquette Lake and Lake Michigan, is about 1,200 feet.
"The Government has expended about $65,000 on this harbor, and, I think, $75,000 more, judiciously used, would make at least four- teen feet in depth between the two lakes. The distance from Esca- naba to this place is about 120 miles. This harbor is easy of access in any winds. Pere Marquette, or Ludington, is situated between Little Point An Sauble on the south, and Big Point Au Sauble on the north. These points extend so far into Lake Michigan that they break the heavy seas from the south and north. Vessels bound to the lower lakes, to Milwaukee or Chicago, would not have to make more than ten or fifteen miles out of their course to touch here.
"There is a large quantity of pine timber, not less than 3,000,000,000 feet, on the Pere Marquette River, which must largely be manufactured on Pere Marquette Lake. We now have mills of sufficient capacity to manufacture 50,000,000 feet during the season of navigation. The Pere Marquette Lumber Company has reserved the south shore of the Pere Marquette Lake for blast furnaces and iron works; this reservation was made under the supervision and advice of Capt. E. B. Ward, of Detroit.
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