History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 3

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

USA > Michigan > Mason County > History of Mason County, Michigan > Part 3

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).

"The village of Ludington is fast growing up around Pere Mar- quette Lake. We already have 1,200 inhabitants, a gain of about 800 during the past year.

"There is being constructed toward this place the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, which is expected to be completed to this point next year. This is also supposed to be the western ter- minus of the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, which is being con- structed.

"The Pere Marquette Lumber Company offers to donate to any company who may wish to build blast furnaces and iron works sufficient grounds for a site. Capt. E. B. Ward said he knew of no other place in the Northwest affording equal advantages for blast furnaces and plate-iron rolling mills.

"The Engelmann Transportation Company's steamers stop at this place daily. We have two boats per day; one goes south to Grand Haven and one north to Manistee, and every other day a boat from Milwaukee, touching at Pentwater, Ludington and Manistee, returning the same day."

AN EDITOR'S OPINION.

The editor of the Record published the following opinion in the issue of December 25, 1872. Speaking of Mason County, he said:

"Mason County has more good farming lands than any of its neighboring shore counties, extending entirely through the county from north to south, and from within one to three miles of the shore of Lake Michigan, nearly to the east line of the county, in some parts reaching quite to the shore of the lake. These are heavy timbered lands, the soil of which varies from a heavy clay to a rich, black, sandy loam with clay subsoil. These lands are unsurpassed for fertility, and are at present being rapidly improved, though their development has, as yet, but fairly begun.

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

"The settlement of our farming lands has been carried on under disadvantageous circumstances, that neighboring counties were not compelled to contend with. They are these: The Railroad Land Grant took out of the market every other section of land, and doubled the government price of the remainder. Homesteaders, too, within these railroad limits, were allowed to locate but eighty acres, while they could just as easily secure twice the amount in other localities. The Indian Reservation, also, has still reduced the amount of available lands by two geographical townships."

AGRICULTURE.

REV. S. N. HILL.

This county has been condemned by a great many parties, who have seen only the pine forests and sandy bluffs. We have heard traveling-men denounce the farmers as fools for attempting to make a farm here instead of on a prairie soil. Yet, this county is rapidly becoming a rich resource to the city of Ludington. It is found to be very productive. The pine timber is rapidly diminishing, but there remains a great supply of valuable forests, as hemlock, elm, maple, ash and cedar. The soil is diversified with light sand, sandy loam, marsh, muck and clay, all of which is productive when thoroughly worked and seeded according to its producing qualities. All varieties yield a good grass crop. Wheat will harvest from twenty-five to forty bushels per acre. All vegetables and roots grow thriftily under thorough cultivation. Deep plowing with clover converts sand into a rich sandy loam. Draining will soon be an effective method of increasing the fertility of the soil: it will make the low portions tillable, and the high sandy portions productive. The county is quite favorable for fruit. Apples, plums, cherries, pears and strawberries are successfully produced. The whole county is well watered upon the surface by streams, and at a moderate depth the quality of the water is very pure. The general slope of the sur- face is towards Lake Michigan. The outlet of all the rivers along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan is a lake, because sand-bars are formed by westerly winds. Some mineral springs appear in different localities. The healthfulness of the climate is good, having pure air from the lake; malarial diseases are only moderately prevalent.

The improvement of farms is now very rapid, with satisfactory results. The pine lands are not as desirable at present for farms as the hard timbered portions, because the stumps are more difficult to remove. The railroad lands are held at a higher price than is common for wild land; hence they have not been as readily taken, but now are finding frequent purchasers. The market for all pro- ductions in the city of Ludington and in the lumber camps is of the first class, and is a great encouragement to the farmers. They are prospering. New buildings and fences are every where the evidence of prosperity. The industrious and thorough farmer is prospering in every part of the county; very few of these farmers commenced with any capital, but ten or fifteen years of industry and economy finds them free from debt. Many of them have been greatly assisted by their large wages during the Winter in the lumber-camps. Very few early settlements have been as rapidly converted from the heavy forest into productive farms and comfortable homes, as Mason County and the adjoining counties of the lumber district. It is an error that the lumbering is a damage to the farming. Except for the aid of lumbering many of these farms would still be wilderness. Many farmers, by the aid of Winter work, are now prosperous.

Mason County is developing her resources. Here is a fine harbor, great lumber supplies, the city of Ludington as a permanent market, railroad advantages, new villages along the railroads, pro- ductiveness of soil, pure air, abundance of water, general industry,

educational and Christian institutions, which are rapidly bringing her up to be a thrifty and wealthy portion of the State.

CLIMATE AND HEALTH. . BY REV. S. N. HILL.

These are important factors of history. Atmospheric condi- tions are a constant force in the human system. Mental and phys- ical vigor are active agents in enterprise. Heat, vapor, wind, season, and chemical gases modify the circulation and secretions of the body. Physical temperament and climate can be favorably adjusted.

Along the lake shore of this county the extremes of heat and cold are less than they are ten miles back from the lake. During the open season there is generally a lake breeze, charged with the purest vapor. These winds dissipate any local miasma. The county at large has but little producing cause of intermittent fevers or miasmatic agne, except from the breaking up of new land and draining small marshes. The outlets of streams are not stagnant. The subsoil, being generally sandy, affords an active drainage. The sawdust about the mills and streets does not decompose rapidly, and when undisturbed, exhales no injurious or unpleasant gas. The drainage of the county is peculiarily good. Pure water prevails at the depth of ten to twenty feet. In a few localities water near the surface has a tincture of iron. The atmosphere, during most of the year, is profuse with moisture. The larger portion of the state has a moist air compared with western and mountainous states. This damp air requires special protection of the body. Thin clothing, evening dew, damp rooms, and sitting in a breeze have far more of risk in a moist atmosphere than in a dry climate. This dampness, unguarded, induces bilious attacks by causing irregularity of secre- tory action. Rheumatic difficulties, catarrh, asthma, and bronchial irritation, are, by neglect, produced. But with judicious protection the county is very healthy, and the people are vivacious and vigor- ous. Contagious diseases are similar in all climates. Measles, whoopingcough, mumps, and scarlet fever visit this field quite promptly. The contagious epidemic of diphtheria assumes a malig- nant form, in many places, without any known peculiarity of local causes. It has been severe in Ludington and in the county, but local peculiarities have furnished no satisfactory conclusions respecting its cause or character. The pioneers here, as in all timbered countries, are subject somewhat to miasmatic agne when breaking up new land, yet have far less disturbance of this kind than in districts of heavier soil and poorer drainage. As the farms are cultivated miasma disappears. The generally healthy counte- nance and elastic movement of the people is a conclusive evidence of a normal state of the atmosphere. Malarial fevers and mild pneu- monia are frequent, but chronic pulmonary disease is rare. The moist air is yet pure and invigorating; especially is the lake shore during the hot season, pleasant and healthy.

EDUCATION.

BY REV. S. N. HILL.

Educational interests are not born in these new counties. Many of the pioneers are educated and at once provide the best school advantages for their families. The tax upon non-resident lands is a prompt resource for a school fund. The primary school system, and qualifications of teachers being the same throughout the State, gives to the pioneer district nearly an equal opportunity for education with the older counties. Many of the new farms have been homestead claims, yet a worthy attention has been given

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

to schools. There are now forty-eight organized districts, and about two-thirds of them have good buildings and the modern desks and furniture. The qualifications and wages of the teachers are about equal to that of the older counties. School boards and leading families are interested in progressive education.

The new and small districts are conscious of the necessity of early education, and that each individual is an element of modern enterprise. Moral courage is disciplined by pioneer difficulties. Some gangs of river-drivers and mill-hands are destitute of culture, yet the resident families adopt the usages and sentiments of older places. Civil laws, educational standards and social usages operate similarly in the old and new towns. The new method of securing qualified teachers through the School Board of Examiners seems to be efficient and very satisfactory. There is general intelligence throughout the new settlements; families are supplied with books and popular literature. Sabbath-school books and Sabbath-schools are doing their good work in the districts. The per cent of illiteracy is about the same in the new counties as the old, which, of the American-born population, is only six per cent. The itinerant preacher meets the schoolhouse full of intelligent hearers. Very few of the youth at the age of sixteen are ignorant of reading, writ- ing and common arithmetic. The great incentive to parents and children to be educated is not a police compulsion, but the convic- tion that social and business advantages demand intelligence. The large and flourishing graded schools of the city of Ludington in- spire the educational activity of the districts of the county. Lum- bermen allow their timber lands to be liberally taxed for school buildings. It is a pleasant view to see a county so new possessing an intellectual and moral culture nearly equal to the older counties, or to any part of the country. The intelligent and refined homes are decorated with the window of flowering plants, and cheered with the music of the organ or piano. There is no apology for any family in this county to remain ignorant or degraded. The best in- tellectual and moral opportunities are afforded to all. The grand and liberal educational system of the State of Michigan endows the youth of each sex and every condition with complete opportunities for intellectual and moral culture. The flood of intelligence re- freshes every settlement of the State. The world has no better system. The State University waves a banner as perfect as any of the nation. A graduate of the university is a brother or sister of the primary scholar in the log schoolhouse, who in due time will honor the university. The Michigan system provides for all the youth. Her pride is not in massive buildings or a favored few, but she gives intelligence to the sons, the daughters and to the poor and the orphan. This common intelligence and moral sympathy causes the rich resources of the state to be effectively developed and em- ployed for the progress of our own population. Education of such a liberal character is a genial inspiration to every thriving interest of the state.

BIBLE SOCIETY.

REV. S. N. HILL.

Many of the pioneers of Mason County, and the early citizens of Ludington had been trained to Christian work; hence were ready to continue their efforts here. In the year 1871 a County Bible Society was formed auxiliary to the American Bible Society, for the purpose of supplying the destitute, and meeting the demands of the people. Mr. George N. Stray was the secretary, and William Frye, treasurer. The population of the city at that time was 2,000, and of the county about the same. The society received from the American Bible Society a supply of Bibles in several languages, and

was to make payment as sales were made. The organization was made in the old schoolhouse, on the corner of Ludington Avenue and James Street. It has since been burned. No church building was then finished. In 1877, under the direction of Rev. George M. Tuthill, the State Secretary of the American Bible Society, the society received a donation of $100 in Bibles and Testaments, to be sold or donated, and the money for sales to replenish the supply. This donation required the county to be immediately canvassed. This work was at once commenced by Rev. Mr. Curtis, of Custer, who also canvassed for the American Tract Society.

When this work was about half done, the health of Mr. Curtis failed, and about that time, in 1878, a large portion of the supply was destroyed by the burning of the store of Danaher & Melendy, where the books were deposited. No further canvassing was done until the Summer of 1881, when Mr. A. H. Clafflin, under the ap- pointment of Mr. Tuthill, a student of Olivet, made a rapid and thorough tour through the county, selling and donating Bibles fur- nished by the publishing house of the American Bible Society. These were in English, German, Swede, French and Indian. He found but a small per cent of families destitute, being mostly young fami- lies or foreigners. The present officers are: Dr. A. P. McConnell, president; I. H. McCollum, secretary, and Thomas Stater, treasurer. This growing city and county will soon need to be re-canvassed. But a partial supply is now in the city bookstores. The limited work of this county society has not been in vain. Interest has been awakened and many families are supplied who otherwise would be destitute.

COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

In July, 1871, James Ludington wrote a letter to George W. Clayton, editor of the Record, calling attention to the importance of forming an agricultural society. The letter was published in the Record of July 12th, and is as follows:

" MILWAUKEE, July 7, 1871. "G. W. CLAYTON, Editor of the Mason County Record :

"I desire to call your attention, and through your paper, the at- tention of the people of Mason County, to the importance of forming a " County Agricultural Society," and would suggest that a fair be held at the village of Ludington, some time during the month of September or October, the present season. I will willingly contribute $100, to be distributed in premiums in such manner as a committee may determine. I believe if this movement is inaugurated the farmers and mechanics in your county will interest themselves so as to make it self-sustaining. Please call the attention of your people to this matter at an early day.

" Yours truly, "JAMES LUDINGTON."

In connection with the above letter the editor of the Record suggested that all interested in the project should meet at Demar's Hall, July 29th, at 10 o'clock, A. M.

In pursuance to that call a meeting was held at the place desig- nated. S. M. Barron, of Amber Township, was chosen chairman, and W. A. Bailey, secretary. It was voted to call the society the " Mason County Argricultural Society." The temporary officers elected were as follows: S. M. Barron, president; Richard Hatfield, vice-president; William Warner, secretary; George W. Clayton, treasurer. A committee of one from each township was chosen to act in conjunction with the officers in securing aid, etc. The com- mittee selected were William Freeman, Grant ; D. L. Filer, Pere Marquette; C. W. Jones, Amber; George C. McClatchie, Summit; Rufus Purdy, Riverton; A. Gott, Lincoln; J. E. Smith, Free Soil;

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

L. D. Marsh, Branch; J. Y. Law, Sherman; A. H. Nordhouse, Hamlin; Richard Rayne, Victory.

August 19th another meeting was held. Permanent officers were elected, as follows: S. M. Barron, president; Richard Hat- field, vice-president; George W. Clayton, secretary; William Free- man, treasurer. It was decided to hold a fair on Thursday, October 12, 1871, in the village of Ludington. The generous offer of Mr. Ludington was accepted, and a vote of thanks carried. An execu- tive committee was selected, consisting of the following gentlemen: S. M. Barron, Richard Hatfield, George W. Clayton, William Free- man, M. P. Winters, George C. McClatchie, W. A. Bailey, William Warner and J. E. Smith. The yearly membership fee was fixed at fifty cents each.

The first fair was held October 12, and was a very gratifying success. The receipts at the gate were $79.34. A meeting of the officers and members was held in the evening at Demar's Hall, and general business pertaining to the society was transacted. The old officers were re-elected for another year, also an executive committee, composed of the following gentlemen: N. M. Chaffey, John David- son, S. S. Lampman, S. D. Haight, M. P. Winters. The yearly membership fee was fixed at $1. A committee was also appointed to draft by-laws for the society.

The next fair was held September 27 and 28, 1872, and was pronounced a success. The Pere Marquette Lumber Co. donated the use of their grounds adjoining the postoffice building, and the Republican wigwam was fitted up for the use of the society. The officers elected for the ensuing year were William Freeman, presi- dent; Richard Hatfield, vice-president; George W. Clayton, sec- retary; S. D. Haight, treasurer. The executive committee consisted of I. H. McCollum, J. Bell, W. H. Foster, M. P. Winters, S. S. Lamp- man, T. H. Wright, J. Y. Law, R. Rayne, D. S. Harley, N. L. Bird, N. M. Chaffey, J. E. Smith.

In 1878 the fair was held September 26 and 27. The an- nual meeting of the society was held October 14. The treasurer's report showed a balance on hand of $87.05. The officers elected for the ensuing year were William Freeman, president; S. M. Barron, vice-president; S. D. Haight, treasurer; W. B. Cole, secretary. The price of life membership tickets was fixed at $10. The society voted to purchase ten acres of land of A. A. Maxim, at $100 per acre. This purchase, however, was not made.

Fairs were held on the Pere Marquette Company's ground until 1877. In the Fall of 1876, the society was re-organized, and a com- mittee, consisting of N. J. Gaylord, H. H. Wheeler and C. G. Wing, appointed to arrange for a suitable location.

The committee recommended the purchase of twenty acres of land in the Quevillon addition, which was made in 1877.

N. J. Gaylord, as chairman of the executive committee, raised some money by subscription, and expended, altogether, about $6,000 in purchase of the grounds and improvements.

In 1877 Mr. Gaylord began work upon the track. Most of the clay was taken from the Clay Banks. In the Summer of 1879, the main hall, a building 41x80 feet in size, was completed.

The annual fairs held by the society have been uniformly suc- cessful, and the premiums have always been paid in full.

A small portion of the original debt incurred in the purchase of the grounds still remains unpaid, and it is proposed the present sea- son to form a stock company, and thereby place the affairs of the association on a firmer basis. The fact that it has been possible in so new a county to make these exhibitions self-sustaining, argues well for the enterprise of the people and the agricultural resources of the county.

The present officers of the society are M. G. Smith, president; John Rice, secretary; George N. Stray, treasurer.

The committee appointed to organize a stock company are N. J. Gaylord, Frank Filer and R. P. Bishop.

STATE ROADS.

Of the public improvements in Mason County none are of greater value to the county than the Mason County State Road, which extends from Ludington, due east, through the townships of Pere Marquette, Amber, Custer and Branch, to the line of Lake County. The contract for building this road was let in February, 1880. Por- tions of the road have been finished for some time, and the entire length is now completed, with the exception of about three miles.

The Oceana and Manistee State Road has also been surveyed, and the contract for building let to Demar & Wing, of Ludington. This road will run north and south through the county, following the township lines between Riverton and Eden, Amber and Custer, Victory and Sherman, Grant and Free Soil. The length of the road is twenty-four miles.

COUNTY POOR FARM.

"What to do with the county poor" was a question fruitful of much trouble and doubt to the supervisors for a number of years. No system of maintenance for this unfortunate class having been adopted, each Board of Supervisors bargained in its own peculiar way, and their successors would be tolerably sure to make a change. A tract of land in Victory Township was once purchased with a view of using it for a county farm, but the land proved to be of inferior quality, and different plans were put in operation, so that the land was finally sold. For several years paupers were kept at a boarding house in Ludington, the county paying therefor at the rate of $3 per week. It came to be understood, however, that a county farm is the only economical place to provide for the poor, and in 1879 a tract of eighty acres, four and one-half miles east of Ludington, in Amber Township, was purchased. The purchase was made in the Spring, and during that season a house and barn were built. The house is a two and one-half story frame building, twenty-eight by forty-eight feet in size, and cost $2,300. The barn is sufficiently large for the needs of the farm, and cost $1,200. In the Fall of 1881 an adjoining tract of woodland, of forty acres, was purchased. James Gamble has been overseer of the farm since it was purchased. The average number of paupers cared for by the county last year was eight, and the present year the average will be about twelve. The present County Superintendent of Poor is Levi Shackelton.

MILITARY MATTERS.

When civil war burst upon the nation and threatened to blot out our republic, no state gave its sons to defend a common coun- try more willingly than Michigan.

On the 13th day of May following the fall of Sumter, the First Regiment left the state for the seat of war. Out of a population of less than 800,000, 90,747 went to the front and fought for the de- fense of the flag, and upwards of 14,000 of these sleep to-day in soldiers' graves.

At the breaking out of the war Mason County was but six years old, and as late as 1864 contained a population of only 845, so that its military history is not distinct from that of the state at large. But scanty as was its population, the county was well represented at the front. A portion of Company A, Twenty-Sixth Michigan Infantry, was recruited from this county, and others who enlisted were scat- tered through various regiments. Some were in the Thirty-Seventh Illinois. There was no such place as Ludington at that time.

Among the citizens of the county at the present time, however, are a large number who kept step to the music of the Union. Men who gave an arm or a limb to their country are here, while in yonder

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HISTORY . OF MASON COUNTY.

cemetery are the graves of a number of their comrades. It is less than ten years since the cemetery grounds were purchased, and yet ! the soldier graves are multiplying fast. The circle round the camp- fires of the living is being rapidly thinned by death, and all too soon the roll call will awaken no response. At Ludington is a Grand Army Post, an account of which is given among the Ludington so- cieties.

ADDITIONAL STATISTICS.

The total vote of the county in 1855 was 41; in 1880 it was 2,114, as follows: Victory Township, 93; Riverton, 139; Sherman, 85; Summit, 82; Custer, 166; Branch, 122; Eden, 89; Hamlin, 49; Lincoln, 25; Pere Marquette, 109; Grant, 33; Free Soil, 95; Amber, 157; City of Ludington, 870.

In 1864 the population of the county was 846; in 1870,.8,266; in 1874, 5,361; in 1880, 10,065. The estimated population in 1882 is 15,000.

The first assessment for the south half of the county shows 40,000 acres of taxable land, and the amount of taxes raised $500. The records for the north half of the county were destroyed. Two years afterward there were 51,000 acres assessed, and the total valu- ation of real and personal property was $313,771.

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History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 3

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