History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 21

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan > Part 21

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164

HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

INUNDATION OF 1827.

The rise of the River and Lake St. Clair occurred in 1827. Many farmhouses and two church buildings were carried off by the flood, while large tracts of shore land were submerged. Jacob Peer, one of the first settlers of Clay Township, in 1821 purchased 300 acres of Andrew Westbrook's lands, lying west of Point Aux Tremblez, extending to northwestern inlet of the lakes. This land was granted to Westbrook by the United States Congress, as an indem- nity for losses occasioned by the war of 1812. At the time of the St. Clair Flood, Peer had sixty acres of those rich bottom lands under cultivation, so that the rise of the waters deprived him both of lands and crops.

TORNADO, 1835.

. Perhaps the best remembered and most extraordinary phenomenon was that which the people of the northeastern counties witnessed in 1835. On Christmas Day of that year, an exceptionally heavy fall of snow covered the ground, which was followed on the 26th by a mist, and this was succeeded in turn by a drizzling rain. The rain ceased suddenly, the clouds low- ered, grew dark, and assumed such appearances as would lead the spectator to conclude that this globe was about to collapse. The storm king at length broke loose, swooped down from the northwest in black night, uprooting trees, sweeping everything in his track, and bringing with him such a current of icy air, that man and beast, not then in shelter, were frozen to death. This storm was as sudden as it was phenomenal. It is well remembered by the old settlers, and forms for them a mark on the page of time.

THE METEOR.

The meteor seen November 1, 1857, passing southward, proved to be a most remarkable one; its journey was accompanied by a sharp rumbling sound like thunder.

THE COMET.

This strange visitor, belonging to that numerous but erratic family whose movements are so carefully noted by astronomers, and the time of whose entrances and exits is a matter of mathematical certainty, appeared to the people of this county June 30, 1861; whatever may have been its attributes and peculiarities, one thing is certain, that it has had no rivals in the comet line. Its sudden debut at that time was the cause of much speculation among men of letters as well as the people in general. It was first visible in a northwesterly direction, where it appeared like a bright star; it attracted but little attention at first, it being supposed to be a lamp attached to a kite, but directly a train of light shot up, which gradually increased in- creased in length until it passed the zenith. The nucleus of the comet, when viewed through a glass, presented a very clear and sharply defined outline, shining with the brilliancy of a star of the first magnitude. Its motion was in an easterly direction, and exceedingly rapid; the train of light extended beyond the constellation Lyra, and the center of its extremity was di- rectly over the star Vega; its length extended over the immense distance of 100°, being 30° longer than the comet of 1843, which extended over a space of only 70°.

The comet of 1881 remained with us for weeks, and disappeared from the view of citizens of this county, a short time after a portion of its tail separated from the nucleus and main train. It will be remembered as affording much subject for gossip during the latter part of the sum- mer of 1881.

ECLIPSE OF THE MOON, 1881.

One of the most sublime astronomical events of 1881, a total eclipse of the moon, occurred Sunday morning, June 12. The moon appeared above the horizon at about 8:20 P. M. on the 11th, in its usual brilliancy. When about two and a half hours high, it received the first con- tact with the penumbra of light shadow of the earth upon its eastern limb, which became slightly dim, and a loss of lunar light followed as the moon entered the penumbra. Fifty-six minutes then elapsed without further change in its appearance, while traversing the partial shadow of the earth; but when the umbra or dark shadow of our planet was reached, the east- ern limb of the moon again darkened suddenly, almost to invisibility. The circular shape of the earth's shadow was distinctly seen when passing over the face of the moon. At 12:38 A.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

M., June 12, the moon was wholly within the umbra, and the total eclipse commenced. It continued in darkness for an hour or so, when all was light again.

THE STORM OF JULY 6, 1879.

In Port Huron the destruction of the new Methodist Episcopal Church overshadowed all other disasters and damages. The building was one of the handsomest in the city, and to-day presents a sad picture of shattered timbers and windows, and fallen brick, stone and mortar. The front is better preserved than any other part of the building, but most of this, with the ex- ception of the main tower, will have to come down. Most of the basement walls can be saved. We give elsewhere an engraving of the church as it stood previous to the storm, with a histori- cal sketch of the society.

C. J. Rathfon had a very narrow escape during the storm. He was in the shed in the rear of the Graham Block with his horse, when the tin roofing of that building gave way and was precipitated upon the shed in such a manner as to make his escape impossible. It was necessary to remove a part of the shed wall to let him out, and for more than ten minutes he was in danger of being crushed or kicked to death by the frightened horse with which he was confined. D. Mckenzie, the blacksmith, had a very similar experience in his shop, immedi- ately adjoining, the door being barred by the debris, and the lives of the inmates endangered by the rearing and plunging of three horses, which he was engaged in shoeing at that time. Fortunately no one was seriously injured in either case. Fred Marontate, who was employed in S. L. Ballentine & Co.'s store, had a narrow escape from serious injury. He went out in front of the store to prevent the awning irons from striking the windows, when the storm was at its height, but got a rap from one of them, and was under the immense sheet of plate glass when it was broken and fell outwardly. Fortunately the glass struck him flat, and did not cut him; but he acknowledges that he thought the whole front of the building was coming down, and was very thoroughly scared. Indeed, the number of people who were thoroughly scared during the storm was nearly as large as the whole population of the section through which it passed. Mr. Bottomley's family had a very narrow escape. Their residence is immediately east of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and before the building fell they saw it swaying, and ran to the barn, which they reached just as it came down. Fortunately the debris fell mostly in the yard just west of Bottomley's house, which was not greatly damaged. Mrs. P. B. Sanburn was driving a horse and carriage on Military street, when a large tree blew over, striking the back part of the carriage with some of its smaller limbs, but doing no damage. At the Port Huron Marble Works on Butler street, a beautiful marble cross, worth $125, which stood in the shop yard, was blown down and broken in three places. T. S. Goodman, the photographer, suffered some loss, his photograph stand being demolished and a portion of the large sky light torn from the roof of his gallery. At C. D. Horton's residence, a large number of shade trees were blown down or broken, and the orchard suffered severely, many trees being blown down which were loaded with green fruit. The roof of the blind factory of E. B. Taylor & Co., on River street, went off just as the workmen in the building were trying to prop it up. The loss was about $250. At Brooks & Joslyn's mill, there was a swaying of timbers and flying of lum- ber that threatened destruction to life, limb and property, and a man named Line was struck by a piece of lumber and suffered the fracture of the small bone in one of his legs. One of the chimneys on the Second Ward school building was blown down, and made a hole through the roof. E. R. Seely lost several peach and cherry trees, and a chimney from his house.

The body of a two-seated buggy at Johnson & Figg's shop was carried about 100 feet and smashed into kindling wood. A large catalpa tree, the only one in the city, which grew on Dr. Mills' property, was blown down, and also the large elm tree which stood on the place for almost a century. A large and valuable wild cherry tree in front of the residence of C. G. Meisel, was blown across the front fence, and a large elm tree was twisted in two about ten feet above the ground. No very close estimate of the total loss in the city can be made, but it is thought $25,000 will more than cover it.

The storm does not seem to have been severe in the northern part of Clyde, and did very little damage at Fort Gratiot. A few shade trees were blown down in the village, but no build-

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

ings suffered to any considerable extent. On the Lapeer Plank, Harrington's elm grove was almost entirely demolished, the trees being twisted off and uprooted, and the barn on the Har- rington place unroofed. On Mr. Linabury's five acre lot, some thirty or forty fruit trees were destroyed. On the Kendrick place, occupied by Jarvis, a barn built the previous year was lifted five feet off its foundation, and badly wrecked, and a new barn in process of construction was nearly demolished. The whole rear portion of Jacob Denlar's house was blown off. On William Atkins' place, a falling tree put out one of the eyes of a yearling colt, and broke its leg. Prosper La Duke's barn was moved eighteen inches and badly wrecked. On V. E. Crane's place, nine fruit and three shade trees were destroyed, a small out building was upset, the roof carried twenty rods away, and 100 rods of fence blown down and scattered. At Jacob Wakefield's place eight or nine shade trees were blown down, one of them striking a corner of the house and crushing it in. All the chimneys were blown off the Kimball House, at Wad- hams, and a house occupied by Van Camp was unroofed. On the Wadhams farm, north of Black River, three barns were unroofed and 200 rods of fence scattered. On Frank Kinney's place, one barn was unroofed and another somewhat damaged. Barns belonging to Wilkie and Mrs. Slingerland were also uproofed. John B. Kendall, who resides in Fort Gratiot Township, related that he lost sixteen apple and two pear trees, loaded with fruit. He also had half a mile of fence blown down. His wheat was blown flat, but came up again all right for harvest. His oats crop was ruined. Corn was blown flat, but came up again all right. In Clyde barns belonging to Archie Campbell, James Bean and John Welton were unroofed, and a granary belonging to Daniel Merritt also lost its roof. Clark's cattle-shed, in Fort Gratiot Township, was carried four feet off its foundation. In St. Clair Township, barns belonging to John Curry, Walter Hills and Nelson Mills, were unroofed, and a dwelling house in process of construction a mile north of St. Clair was destroyed. Frank Jackson and another inan were caught in barn doors and seriously injured. Grain and fruit trees were blown down, torn up by the roots or stripped of fruit. Erastus Brewer, a laborer on the C. & L. H. R. R., on Sec- tion 3, was killed between Thornton and Emmett. He went with another man into a sugar bush near the road, and was struck by a falling tree. He lived at Thornton Station and left a wife and two children to mourn his loss.

The Catholic Church in Kenockee was unroofed. Barns and outhouses between Port Huron and Imlay City were nearly all damaged, many being either unroofed or blown down. At St. Clair, the roofs were blown off the house and barn of E. T. Solis, and scattered about his grain field, doing several hundred dollars' damage. A man named Stein was killed by a falling barn a few miles from St. Clair City. At Emmet, two barns were unroofed, and the smoke stack of the flouring mill was blown down. The roof of the house of Ennis Worth, near Thornton, was blown off. Mrs. Worth had an arm broken, and two children were reported killed. At Capac, a terrible storm, with a great fall of rain, hail and lightning, accompanied by a frightful gale was experienced. In the village the new Methodist Episcopal Church was blown down, the spire and belfry of the Union Church was blown off, about half of the town hall was leveled to the ground, and part of the livery stable unroofed. Allen's hotel barn, and also Caswell's were minus their roofs. At Walker's house, the lightning entered the roof, passing through the chamber floor, tearing off plaster and lath, and passed thence to the cellar. Half of the shade, ornamental and fruit trees were destroyed. Cavanaugh's stable and storehouse were completely destroyed. The brick walls of the new schoolhouse were blown down. Prob- ably more than twenty dwellings were more or less injured, and about two-thirds of the houses deprived of chimneys. To the north the cheese factory and Downey's saw mill were unroofed, and a large wagon shop half a mile north was completely destroyed. The roof of Downey's barn was carried fifteen rods and thrown upon the kitchen, crushing it into a mass of ruins. Reports from parties further north state that barns and dwelling houses were down and un- roofed. The wheat was badly broken, and in some places beaten into the soil. Fences and stacks were leveled to the ground. Such a storm never visited this section before; so says the "oldest inhabitant."

The storm of June 8, 1882, was phenomenal in many respects. First, there was a storm of wind, rain and electricity, that raged for an hour or two, and which, some hours later, was

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

followed by a cyclone. The wind was blowing briskly from the south, and not far to the north- west could be seen clouds darting back and forth as though contending for the mastery. Out of these contending forces was evolved the cyclone which swept to the southeast with increas- ing fury, leaving nothing but ruin and destruction in its track, uprooting orchards, and sweep- ing away houses, barns, fences, farming implements, sleighs, wagons, household furniture, bedding, etc., many things of considerable weight being carried for miles along the track. As it crossed the road one and a half miles north of Memphis, it licked up the mud and water, giv- ing it the appearance of rising dust, and the shattered remnants of what were once houses or barns, were thrown by centrifugal force beyond the limit of its power, and many fields adorned with plank rafters and splintered boards. The individual losses and mishaps are as follows: Mr. Draper's orchard and barn and Daniel Cors' house and barn were destroyed. Cors, his wife and child, were in the house at the time it was wrenched from the foundation timbers, leaving the family on the basement floor, with no roof above, and with but little of their worldly ef- fects spared to them. At Powell's farm, no great damage was done beyond sweeping away fences, killing a colt, and severely injuring a mare. At John Jeffers', the storm demolished things generally, and passed thence to a farm owned by the Dudley estate, wrecking the house and destroying the orchard. The next place in its pathway was George McGuffin's, whose house was unroofed, orchard one-third destroyed, and barn totally demolished, one side or end of it being carried some rods to the northeast. Here the storm took up a heavy lumber wagon, carrying it twenty rods; the tongue running full length into the ground arrested the further progress of the front wheels, but not so with the hind wheels, for they were hurled off through the air into a neighbor's adjoining field, thirty rods or more still further on. The next man to suffer was Isaac Hall, whose house just escaped, but his orchard close by was ruined, hardly a tree left standing. The old gentleman with his grandson at the time being in his field below a ridge on which his orchard was situated, stopped to watch the approaching storm, and the in- tervening high ground hid its real character, else he might have readily saved himself by mov- ing to the northward. As it was, the storm was upon them before they could realize their dan- ger. The boy dropped down and was saved by clutching his hands into the turf, but the old gentleman was swept along the ground thirty feet, and he was found in an unconscious state, the flying debris having struck him on the head. The next man to grapple with the wind-winged monster was Charles Mulay, Sr., who hastily gave orders to his family about arranging their posi - tions in the house for safety, and then left to care for his horses. When the storm had passed, Mulay found he had been clinging to the only apple tree there was standing for some rods about, and looking in the direction of his house he discovered it a heap of ruins lying eighteen paces from where it stood, but fortunately no one of the eight inmates was seriously hurt. The next wreck was on the farm of Gavin, who had two barns completely demolished, and a third un- roofed. His orchard was also much injured. No more buildings lay in the path of the storm, and its work of demolition, so far as we know, ended here. The width of the swath it mowed varied from thirty to eighty rods, and its direct velocity was variously estimated by those near it to be from twenty to one hundred miles an hour. Probably thirty miles per hour would be a high estimate. The center of the tract looked in places like the dry bed of a torrent which had passed, leaving behind the debris it could no longer carry.

The great comet of October, 1882, was the last and most remarkable planetary exhibition. On the nights of August 9, 10 and 11, showers of meteors were more or less abundant, accord- ing to the density of the cosmical cloud. The meteoric downfall is thus explained: The earth, traveling with a velocity of eighteen miles a second, plunges into a mass of cosmical atoms, whose velocity is increased by her attraction to thirty miles a second. The meteors impinge upon our atmosphere with this tremendous velocity, become vaporized by the concussion, and leave a train of luminous matter behind them when they fall. The ring of meteors was calcu- lated to be nearly 11,000,000,000 miles in diameter, and 4,000,000 miles in breadth. In Nov- ember, 1882, the great comet was visible. The transit of Venus was observed December 6, 1882.

BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY.

The flora of St. Clair comprises almost all the orders known in the Northern States. Of the 130 orders represented in Michigan, fully 107 are common in the country bordering on the

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Black River. The represented genera within this district are estimated at 370, comprising no less than 850 species. New and beautiful flowers are added annually to the pioneer garden beds of the valley; wild flowers appear and fade; many beautiful colors, well remembered by the old settlers, have disappeared within the last decade, and thus one of the most beautiful features of nature is undergoing marked changes.

The following paper, by Prof. W. J. Beal, of Lansing, deals in detail with the flora of Michigan:

"As might be expected from the uniform surface of the Lower Peninsula, the flora is much alike throughout. The sandy and stony drift of many river valleys in the Lower Peninsula sup- ports a heavy growth of oak, frequently interspersed with black walnut, hickory and white ash, while the margins of the streams and neighboring swamps abound in soft maples, swamp and chestnut oak, black ash, elm, hackberry, sycamore and butternut. Willows, dogwoods, vibur- nums and buttonbush are common shrubs in swamps, and hazel, hawthorn, wild cherry and plum, Juneberry and witch hazel are abundant on the drier ground.

" On the uplands and away from the streams, clay loam and a black soil supersede the sands and gravele of the valleys. The prevailing timber here is beech and maple and oak in about equal proportions. Beech and sugar maple generally grow together, forming magnificent for- ests of great extent. Tamarack is a valuable timber often found in the swamps of the southern part of the State. Farther north, arbor vitae, often called white cedar, takes its place.

"Immense groves of large, straight, sound sugar maples abound in Grand Traverse County and eastward, also deep forests of hemlock and yellow birch, mixed with a tall growth of striped maple, having underneath a tangled growth of ground hemlock, and under all a carpet of lyco- podium or club moss. In many places large tracts of upland, and swamps also, produce bushes bearing huckleberries in great abundance.

" In many portions of the State north of the central, large quantities of fine blackberries and raspberries are produced.

" The pine country proper lies between the two tracts described, and affords the leading lumber in the markets. There are two species, Pinus strobus (white or soft pine) and P. resinosa (red or Norway pine), which furnish all the pine lumber.

"In the remaining portion of this paper, I have gleaned freely from my report on the for- ests of Michigan at the centennial exposition, printed in the agricultural and pomological reports of our State in 1875.

"Hickory of three species of the best quality grows in the southern part of the State. Chest- nut is found in the southeastern part, and grows well when planted in many other portions. The canoe birch is abundant northward; also arbor vitae in the swamps. The latter is very val- uable for telegraph poles and fence posts.

"Red cedar in limited quantity is found about lakes and along streams. With cultivation it grows quite rapidly. The most common trees of the State are beech and sugar maple. They are all over the Southern Peninsula on what is known as timbered land. Much of the wood of sugar maple northward is curly or bird's-eye. It is very useful for furniture and certain parts of railway coaches. Large quantities are exported. The white oak is another valuable tree, found in great abundance and perfection in most parts of the Southern Peninsula. It disap- pears as we reach the pine to the north.

" White ash is also widely distributed, of excellent quality, and stands without a rival for farm implements, for cabinet ware, oars, floors, and for finishing off churches and dwellings. It is remarkable for its elasticity, strength and beauty. It grows rapidly, and often becomes a large tree.

" Black walnut is becoming scarce in Michigan where it was once abundant. It is an indi- cation of good land. Black cherry, the timber of which is red, is common, durable, and valua- ble. White pine has been referred to as affording all of our soft pine lumber.

"Rock or white elm, Ulmus racemosa, is abundant and a very valuable timber on account of its toughness.

" It is found in great perfection in the form of large, tall, straight trees in the central part of the Southern Peninsula. It is now very extensively used in making many portions of farm

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

implements, railway cars, etc. Black ash is valuable, growing on bottom land, and is used for rails, hoops, baskets, and lumber for cabinet ware.

"Lumbering has, in many portions of the State, been slovenly and wastefully carried on. Much loss has been received from forest fires. Hereafter, greater economy will doubless attend the business of lumbering.

" High trees are found in some congenial spots which are a little lower than the surrounding surface. At Clam Lake, an old lumberman assured me that he could furnish spars of pine 175 feet long and not over two feet through at the butt. He had cut them 200 feet long."

The following table shows the locality of some of these trees:

COMMON NAME.

DIAMETER.

COUNTY.

White ash.

53 feet.

Allegan.

Black ash.

.3 feet 11 inches.

Wayne.

Yellow birch.

. 3 feet 6 inches.

Sanilac.

Black Cherry

7 feet 6 inches.

Oakland.

Buttonwood.

8 feet 6 inches.

Lenawee.

Buttonwood.

8 feet 10 inches

Ionia.

Buttonwood.

11 feet.

Kent.

Black walnut.

9 feet 6 inches

Hillsdale.

Black walnut.

11 feet.

Allegan.

Balsam poplar

3 feet 73 inches.

Oakland.

Butternut. .

3 feet 9 inches.

Saginaw.

Cottonwood.

6 feet. .

Kent.

Cottonwood.

10 feet

American elm

8 feet.

Manistee.

Grapevine.

10 inches

Lenawee.

Hickory

3 feet.

Calhoun.

Honey locust.

2 feet.

Lenawee.

Hemlock spruce.

5 feet.

Allegan.

Ironwood .

19 inches

Allegan.

Sugar maple.

6 feet.

Otsego.

Mulberry.

1 foot four inches.

Wayne.

White oak.

15 feet.

Allegan.

White oak.

7 feet.

Barry.

White oak.

8 feet 4 inches.

Swamp oak.

7 feet 8 inches.

Wayne.

White pine.

63 feet.

Grand Traverse.

Red cedar.

3 feet.

Ionia.

Sassafras.

4 feet 4 inches.

Allegan.

Tamarack

3 feet

Ingham.

White cedar.

14 feet.

White cedar.

5 feet.

Grand Traverse.

Tulip tree.

6 feet.

Ingham.

Tulip tree.

6 feet.

Monroe.

Pear tree.

3} feet.

Monroe.

Weeping willow.

4 feet 6 inches.

Lenawee.

For lack of accurate records, no doubt we have not given the measurements of the largest trees. In Oakland county, a tulip tree furnished 5,060 feet of lumber. On the Muskegon a white pine scaled nearly 9,000 feet.

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History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 21

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818