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 71
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CUTTING THE KEY LOG.
Reference is made to a jam in the river. To clear this jam was what is, even now, known as cutting the key log. The first thing to be done was to find out where the jam occurred, and then to discover what is called "key log," that it to say, the log which holds the base of the "jam." An old experienced "stream driver" is soon on the spot, for the news is soon carried up stream that there is a "jam" below. Every minute is of consequence, as logs are coming down the "jam" increasing in strength. The "key log" being found, there is a cry for volunteers to cu it. Now, when you consider that there are some hundred big logs of timber forming a dam, and the instant the key log is cut the whole fabric comes rushing down with a crush, you will see that unless the ax-man gets instantly away he is crushed to death. There are usually in a camp plenty of men ready to volunteer; for a man who cuts a key log is looked upon by the rest of the loggers just as a soldier is by his regiment when be has done any act of bravery. The man I saw cut away a log which brought down the whole jam of logs, was a quiet, young fellow, some twenty years of age. He stripped everything save his drawers; a strong rope was placed under his arms, and a gang of smart young fellows held the end. The man shook hands with his comrades, and quietly walked out on the logs, ax in hand. I do not know how the loggy-road one felt, but I shall never forget my feelings. The man was quietly walking to what very likely might be his death. At any moment the jam might break of its own accord,
460
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
and also if he cut the key log, unless he instantly got out of the way, he would be crushed by the falling timber. There was a dead silence while the keen ax was dropped with force and skill on the pine log. Now the notch was nearly half through the log, one or two more blows, and a crack was heard. The men got in all the slack of the rope that held the ax-man; one more blow and there was a crash like thunder, and down came the wall of timber, to all ap- pearances on the ax-man. Like many others, I rushed to help haul away the poor fellow, but to my great joy I saw him safe on the bank, certainly sadly bruised and bleeding from sundry wounds, but safe.
THE SAW MILL CHANGES.
Among the most marvelous of the many wonderful things which distinguish the United States from other nations are the results which have grown out of the possession of immense forests of valuable timber in stimulating inventive genius to the preparation of an article of building material so cheap as to enable the poorest to have a comfortable home, while at the same time so excellent in character as to be not only suited, but indispensable to the working classes. Those more readily accessible regions of the continent which possessed these forest growths in the greatest abundance were among the first to receive large accessions to their population, drawn together at those centers which presented the easiest access to cheap build- ing material, not less than for their personal safety from a savage foe. It has not until the demand for lumber far exceedod the ability of the "greatest" mills of half a century ago to supply, leading the manufacturers to feel the need of a more extended system of production, that the star of empire made any progress westward, or it became a possibility to settle upon the prairies of the West, or to develop the mineral resources which have already shown our nation to be the peer of, if it does not excel, all others in the extent of its possessions. To possess is to need. And the cheap building material which the cheap mills of the days long gone by enabled a scanty population to utilize, stimulated a more extended immigration, with its increased needs, as well as a higher order of inventive genius to increase the supply.
The mills of the olden time were, first, the windmill, with its uncertain power, scarce ex- ceeding that of the men who ran the pit saws which were then in a measure superseded, and whose indignation at the effort to lessen their manual labor caused them to mob the owner and tear down his machinery. Second, the adaptation of a current water-wheel of scarcely greater power, if more reliable, run by the natural current of a small stream. Next came the simple flutter-wheel, to impart motion to which required the building of dams to hold large bodies of water, which should at all times be available. But for large operations, the flutter-wheel was found to possess too little power, and the overshot or undershot wheel became a necessity, to be superseded later by the adaptation of turbine-wheels, now so much in favor with mill own- ers who control water power. For the first fifty years of our national growth, as well as dur- ing the preceding portion of the world's history, none of the mills were equipped with any- thing more than a single upright saw working in a gate, and when another saw was added, as the inceptive idea of the gang, which quickly succeeded with its large number of saws, words could scarcely express the astonishment of all who saw the working of the bold innovation.
Up to this time, all the lumber which was manufactured had been edged upon the top of the log after it was turned down; an auxiliary saw was not thought of, for the buzz saw, just be- ginning to be used, was considered a most dangerous piece of machinery. But the increased manufacture growing out of an increase in the power and an increase in the number of saws, led to the introduction of the small circular or "buzz" saw, which was at once found to nearly double the capacity of the mill. It is needless for us to enlarge upon the introduction of steam power in the saw mill, or to follow the original idea of an engine, 6x8 inches, attached to the lower end of the pitman or saw gate, through its successive stages of development and enlarge- ment to the present time, when the Corliss, or Estes, or other well-known engines, of a power from ten to one hundred times greater capacity than was the original device, are by the thou- sand in number engaged in turning out lumber, each in one season aggregating a greater man- ufacture than were all the saw mills of the country combined at a period scarcely fifty years in the past.
The old gate saw was superseded by the muley, with a reduction of friction equal to thirty or fifty per cent increase in cutting capacity. The muley gave way to the circular, and
..
461
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
with the introduction may be dated the commencement of an era which has been prolific of in- novation, improvement and advantage to the saw mill world. As the use of the circular be- came better understood, and men became expert in so dressing it as to make true lines and smooth surfaces, they found themelves able to produce more lumber in the rough than they could properly edge and prepare for market. The old edging-table could not keep up with the cut of the saw. This was remedied by the introduction of gang edgers, which no mill doing any considerable business could now dispense with. Now the work of the main saw could be safely increased, for the gang-or, as it was at first known, "double"-edger was abundantly able to keep pace with it, and while at first a capacity equal to 1,000 feet per hour was doubt- fully claimed, later developments have shown in not a few instances, an entire season's work at the rate of 6,000 feet per hour.
This increase in capacity called for a more speedy method of handling the logs on the carriage, and the lumber as it left the saw, and a multitude of inventive minds were concen- trated on mill dogs, which should successfully take the place of the lever and pike, driven by a mallet, and che modern saw mill could not now be operated with the original method of dogging the log. The "nigger" for turning the log on the carriage, as well as rolling it on the skids had superseded the canthook and muscular power formerly relied upon, while the lumber, as it leaves the saw, drops upon a system of live rollers, which does the work to much better advantage than it was formerly accomplished by a hard-worked "offbearer," who could not in these days by any possibility, keep up with the work which would crowd upon them.
Plenty of lumber, cheaply manufactured and sold at reasonable prices, has enabled the settling up of a nation at the rate of nearly fifty per cent increase of population during each decade. This in turn has demanded a network of railroads, and carriage by them has not yet been reduced to a science, which enables us to believe that rates have reached a minimum which they will realize in the future. The manufacturer of lumber, bearing this in mind, must reduce the weight of his product to the lowest possible point, and the trimmer became a prime necessity as an economizer, not less than for an advantage in an æsthetic point of view. And the old gang mill, from its original adaptation of two saws, hung in a cumbrous frame, upon monstrous posts which headed in a weigh-beam, made from the largest stick of timber which the forests afforded, and footed in the mill foundations, shaking the structure and the sur- rounding country, and keeping the machinery about one-half the time in the repair shop from its everlastiag jar, has been displaced by the neat, effective, and comparatively noiseless devices of more modern times, developing a sawing capacity of which the fondest anticipation of the original inventor of the idea had not the remotest conception. The heavy weigh-beams have disappeared, the monstrous wooden posts have given way to equally advantageous and strong but less cumbersome and more sightly iron supports, resting upon foundations independent of those which support the mill frame. The old, stiff, and full-of-friction-gate has been super- seded by oscillating slides, giving to the saws the same motion which the pit sawyer seeks to obtain in order to accomplish the most work with the least outlay of strength.
Time would fail us to trace out all the changes which a quarter of a century has developed in the saw mill. Should a Rip Van Winkle of the last century be suddenly awakened from his long sleep, still dreaming of the last act of dogging the log on his old-fashioned carriage, in the old mill, when he took long naps between the cuts, and esteemed a production of 1,000 feet per day something to brag of, and open his eyes on the floor of a modern mill of the smallest size, he would truly think that the world had turned upside down; and if he saw the army of men carrying off a quarter of a million feet of boards per day from the saws of some of the larger mills, he would not believe the evidence of his senses. All has changed; the water wheel has given place to the steam engine; the single small cylinder boiler, to the monstrous tubular or flue in large batteries; the upright saws in a gate, to the muley and the circular; the two saw gang, to a forty saw; the rag-wheel, to the steam feed, adding countless possibili- ties to the ability of the circular saw to cut up logs; the single buzz saw, to the double edger; the rough end lumber, to the well trimmed; the vast piles of worthless slabs, to a useful arti- cle of lath and pickets; and the final debris, in many localities, to usefulness in the manufact- ure of other commercial articles. The pioneer knew nothing of lath and shingle manufact- ure; live rolls had not entered his noddle; gang slab cutters would have been by him pro-
462
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
nounced an invention of the devil to feed the flames of his insatiable furnace. Endless chains would have had no use in his mill economy; saw sharpeners and gummers would have had no value in his eyes, for he could cut all the lumber he expected to, and find plenty of time for dressing his saws by hand.
The modern saw mill is indeed full of improvements, down to the last device for sorting by machinery. The production in one day, by one saw, of more lumber than was accounted the work of a year in former times, is not only the result of the genius of invention such as marks the spirit of the age, but has rendered possible the remarkable development of the young- est in the sisterhood of nations, forming no unimportant factor in the influence of this country among the people of the earth. All hail to the modern saw mill, and the wise intelligence of nearly every man who is connected with it, either in the production of logs from the forests or the manufacture and sale of lumber, for each progressive step in the march of improvement has reduced the cost of manufacturing lumber, keeping pace with the inevitable increase in the cost of timber, due to the gradual decadence of the forests.
In other pages reference will be made to the lumbermen of St. Clair-to the Harringtons, Beards, Morans, Farrands, of Lakeport, Babys, Brockways, Howards, Sanborns, Whites, and the hundred others who built the saw mills of the county.
Patrick Sinclair's lumber industry at St. Clair, in 1876-80, must be considered the first in this section. Among the first manufacturing industries of Michigan was Baby's mill. This was located six miles below Detroit, on the Rouge. The primitive manufacturing con- cern was afterward purchased by Knaggs. Mr. Peltier's mill on the Savoyard, near Detroit, was another important industry of the time. The traders were Joseph Campeau, Robert Gonier, George Moniot, Jean Baptiste le Duc, Gabriel Cote, Jacques Allaird, Conrad Ten Eyck, Hugh Martin, Meldrum & Parks. Such is the whole list of traders who flourished at De- troit in 1799.
In 1827, Allen and Burt built a mill for Alpheus Wadhams, six miles from Port Huron, returning to their homes after its completion by taking a course across the country through the woods.
There were in the county, and in operation, the following saw mills in October, 1847:
TOWNS.
Water.
Steam.
Saws.
TOWNS.
Water. Steam.
Saws.
Polk
4
6
St. Clair
3
4
19
Lexington
3
1
9
Newport
1
3
Burtchville
3
5
Algonac.
2
5
Clyde
8
18
Port Huron
1
4
13
Totals
22
12
78
The following is, independent of shingles, logs, square timber, staves, etc., which are ex- ported from the county to a large amount, the statement of lumber manufacture in 1847:
TOWNSHIPS.
OWNERS.
POWER. SAWS
AMOUNT.
TOWNSHIPS.
OWNERS.
POWER. SAWS
AMOUNT.
Polk
J. Bird .
Water.
1
200,000
Clyde
Alverson.
Water.
1
200,000
Polk .
Clice & Adams ..
Water.
1
300,000
Clyde
D. B. Harrington Water.
3
700,000
Polk
Mason & Co . . . Water.
2
600,000
Pt. Huron
Steam Mill Co.
Steam.
4
2,700,000
Polk.
Davis & Westcomb Water.
2
500,000
Pt. Huron
Clark & Co ..
Steam.
4
3,000,000
Lexington .
Hubbard & Lester Steam.
4
3,000,000
Pt. Huron
Davis & Tucker ..
Steam.
1
1,000,000
Lexington .
Davis.
Water.
1
200,000
Pt. Huron
E. P. Vickery
Steam.
2
200,000
Lexington .
R. B. Dimond
Water.
1
150,000
St. Clair ..
A. Bartlett
Water.
2
400,000
Lexington .
N. B. Chase.
Water.
2
600,000
St. Clair. .
A. Smith
Water.
2
450,000
Burtchville
J. Burtch
Water.
2
300,000
St. Clair.
Chamberlin & Co. Steam.
3
2,000,000
Burtchville
S. M. Robbins.
Water.
3
800,000
St. Clair.
W. Truesdail ...
Steam.
6
3,000,000
Burtchville
J. H. Titus
Water.
1
100,000
St. Clair.
R. More
Steam.
3
2,000,000.
Clyde
J. & J. Beard
Water.
3
800,000
St. Clair ..
J. L. Kelsey
Steam.
2
1,000,000
Clyde
R. Wadhams ..
Water.
3
700,000
St. Clair.
Smith
Steam.
1
500,000
Clyde
J. Abbott.
Water.
2
400,000
Newport .
Rust & Co ..
Steam.
3
2,000,000
Clyde
Chase & Evans ...
Water.
3
600,000
Algonac ..
3
2,700,000
Clyde
..
J. H. Wesbrook .. Hill.
Water.
1
300,000
Algonac ..
Brooks & St. Clair Steam. D. Daniels
Steam.
2
1,250,000
Clyde
Water.
2
400,000
.
463
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
A bill of lumber from D. B. Harrington, March 29, 1848: " Memorandum of lumber bought of D. B. Harrington, by H. Norton & Co .: 300,000 feet of pine lumber; 200,000 feet to be taken by H. Norton & Co. by month of May. H. Norton & Co. agree to pay for mer- chantable $6, for culls $3, for clear $12. D. B. Harrington agrees to deliver the same from his dock, at the above-named prices. Inspection to be made by Mr. Throop." In 1869, mer- chantable sold for $13 and $16, culls at $7 and $8, and clear at $42.
The capital invested in pine lands in 1847 was immense. For instance, the Black River Steam Mill Co. had 7,000 acres. Rogers & Co.'s mill, near Almont, had 8,000 acres. The mills in St. Clair County, where some 30,000,000 feet were made, own some 30,000 acres. It is fair estimate to put the money invested in lands for this business at half a million of dollars. The number of persons employed in all branches of it, from the felling of trees to turning it out of the mill, could not be less than 8,000. The markets out of the State are Chicago, Milwaukee, the Wabash Canal, Ohio, Oswego and Buffalo. In 1854, the number of feet of lumber and logs produced by the forests of St. Clair and Sanilac was 145,090,000; valued at $10 per thousand, yielded $1,450,000.
We publish below a carefully prepared tabie showing the amount of lumber which it was estimated would be manufactured during the year 1852, by the several mills between Point au Barques on Lake Huron and Algonac: In regard to the number of saws, the uprights only are mentioned in the tabie.
OWNERS AND LOCATION.
POWER. SAWS AM'T LUMB'R
OWNERS AND LOCATION.
POWER. SAWS AMT LUMB'R
J. Bird, Port au Barques
Water
2 800,000
Walter Chase, Clyde ..
Water
3
600,000
J. Gim, Port au Barques.
Water
1 400,000
Bunce & Brother, Clyde.
Water
6 600,000
P. F. Brakeman & Co., Mill Cr. Water
3 800,000
W. Davis, Port Huron.
Steam 8
2,000,000
Whitcomb & Co., White Rock .. Water
1
400,000
W. B. Hibbard & Co., Pt. Huron Steam
8
3,000,000
J. Hurd, Hurds.
10 3,000,000
Howard & Beebe, Port Huron .. . Steam
2
2,000,000
Beach, Imley & Co., Cherry Cr. Steam
8
3,000,000
J. Miller & Co., Port Huron. ..
Steam
2
3,000,000
Gilbert, Crowell & Co., Cherry Cr Steam
Steam
1 800,000
S. Petit & Co., Port Huron .. .
Steam
1 1,000,000
Thompson & Co., Bark Shanty. Steam Steam
1
1,000,000
M. Williams, Port Huron ..
1
2,000,000
Harder, Sanilac.
Water
1
300,000
Black River Steam Mill Co., P.H. Steam
8
3,000,000
Hinkson, Sanilac.
Water
1 300,000
Z. W. Bunce, Port Huron.
Water
2
600,000
S. Hardy, Sanilac.
8
4,000,000
A. Bartlett, St. Clair.
Water
2
400,000
R. B. Hubbard & Co., Lexington. Steam
Steam
3 2,000,000
R. Moore, St. Clair.
Steam
3
3,500,000
G. S. Lester, Worth.
Steam
1 1,000,000
W. Trusdail, St. Clair.
Steam
2
1,500,000
J. Buel, Lexington.
Water
2 800,000
Parker, St. Clair
Steam
2
3,000,000
R. B. Dimond, Worth.
Water
1
400,000
G. P. Robinson & Co., St. Clair Steam
2
3,000,000
J. Burtch, Burtchville
Steam
2 : 2,000,000
Congers, Burtchville.
Water
1
200,000
Peabody & Reamer, China.
Steam
2 1,000,000
B. C. Farrand, Lakeport
Steam
7
4,000,000
Old Mill, Newport .. Steam
2
2,000,000
J. Pettys, Burtchville.
Water
1
200,000
Rust & Co., Newport.
Steam
2
3,000,000
Sweetser & Sanborn, Worth.
Water
2
400,000
L. B. Parker, Newport. Steam
2
2,000,000
J. & J. Beard, Clyde.
Water
7 1,500,000
Brooks & St. Clair, Algonac. Steam
2
3,000,000
R. Wadhams, Clyde.
Water
4 1,500,000
Smith, Dwight & Co., Lynn.
Water
2 400,000
Daniels & Ripley, Algonac.
Steam
2 2,500,000
L. Brockway, Brockway
Water
2 600,000
J. H. Westbrook, Brockway.
Water 2
400,000
Total amount of lumber.
92,900,000
1
1,000,000
E. P. Vickery, Port Huron.
Steam 1
3 4,000,000
J. L. Woods & Co., Worth
Steam
. . 2,000,000
Smith, St. Clair.
Steam
1
800,000
Chamberlain & Ogden, St. Clair Steam
2 3,000,000
A. Comstock, Worth.
Water
2 300,000
Brooks & St. Clair, Algonac. Steam
2 3,000,000
Davis & Co., Lexington.
St. Clair, St. Clair.
Steam
Water 2 1,000,000
2 1,000,000
D. B. Harrington, Port Huron
Steam
Breckenbridge, Foot's Bay ..
1,000,000
Steam
Previous to 1847, St. Clair had done almost exclusively a lumbering business, and had not raised a sufficient quantity of grain for their own consumption. Northern Macomb had found a good market for a portion of her surplus. The towns of Berlin, Riley, Columbus and Wales rapidly settled in 1846-48, and their surplus of wheat, yearly augmenting, urged the erection of a flouring mill in 1847. Oel Rix, of Riley, erected a flour mill in that town, with two run of stone. Mr. Earl also erected one with two run, in the town of Richmond, joining Colum- bus, the same year.
464
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
THE BANK OF ST. CLAIR
Was incorporated March 28, 1836. Charles Kimball, Samuel Ward, John Clark, H. N. Mon- son, C. Sanborn, D. B. Harrington and Ralph Wadhams were appointed Commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock. This stock was stated to be $100,000, divided into 2,000 shares of $50 each.
The act to incorporate the stockholders of the Bank of St. Clair, approved March 28, 1836, was repealed by act approved May 7, 1846.
The Bank of St. Clair received permission of the Legislature to remove from St. Clair to Detroit, on a resolution of the President and Directors of the bank being recorded in the office of the Secretary of State.
The act for the relief of the Bank of St. Clair was approved March 19, 1840, when it was ordered that only a tax of one-half of one per cent be levied on the capital stock, as provided in charter.
The currency bill was brought forward to " authorize the anticipation of certain install- ments of the five million loan." As placed before the Legislature of Michigan, it simply proposed to take the funds of the State, and loan them to the banking associations of Detroit City, to be used by those associations as a basis for the extension of their circulation, until 1841. Attorney Witherell, then member of the Legislature, moved that the Bank of St. Clair be added to the city banks named in the bill, which motion was agreed to. Subsequently, Senator Gridley, of Jackson, moved to reconsider the vote admitting the Bank of St. Clair. This resulted in a lengthy debate, and the defeat of the motion by a vote of nine against the question for reconsideration, and eight in favor of reconsideration. Senator Summers reviewed the condition of the Bank of St. Clair, and compared it with the banks named in the bill. The charter of the Bank of St. Clair was granted by the Legislature of the State of Michigan; the private property of the stockholders, both real and personal, is bound for the payment of the issues of the bank. The two city banks were chartered by the Legislative Council, and the private property of the stockholders was not bound; they are foreign stockholders, and the money paid in is all the security the people have. "Which," said Mr. S., " is the best security ? Look at the different situations of the banks. Had the General Government made a deposit with the Bank of St. Clair, or has the Bank of St. Clair asked for favor from the General Govern- ment ? But what is the case with the city banks? Are they not calling on the General Government to give them time? and is not the Legislature going to give them time ?
Senator Jones stated, during the debate, that this bank had a circulation of $130,000 in Ohio; while the circulation in Michigan was only $10,000. It was one of the few healthy financial institutions of the times.
THE OIL-WELL BOOM IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Situated as are the principal oil fields of this country close to the great centers of pop- ulation, the growth of a town or a territory where a new strike was made was more rapid and more wonderful in all features than that brought on by the discovery of any other great source of wealth. Pithole flas hed up from a single house to a city of 30,000 in less than six months, and when the territory was exhausted its decline was equally rapid. A hundred other places have the same history, on a slightly smaller scale. Bradford went from 300 to three times 3,000 almost before the natives could fairly realize what had happened; and Richburg and Bolivar, quiet country towns, grew into thriving cities, but are already on the decline. Oil Springs, Marthaville, Petrolia and other places in the little monarchy beyond the St. Clair, sprang into existence as if by magic. Oil Springs fell as suddenly as it grew up, so that, when visited by the writer in 1878, it presented the truest picture of decay which can be con- ceived.
The oil boom in St. Clair County was very systematic, for a craze. Evidences of oil were presented in 1863; strengthened in 1864; accomplished facts in 1865. The scenes that fol- lowed can hardly be imagined by one who has never witnessed the rise and fall of an oil town, and even the oldest producers are surprised almost beyond expression. Men grew wild, and bought and sold as they have never dealt before. But at the wells the greatest transfor- mations occurred. A few days ago, there was a single horse, a farmer's residence, and a few
465
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
hundred acres of cleared land near a well, for instance. Now there are large hotels, scores of business places and houses, hundreds of excited men thronging through the muddy roads, derricks rising on every hand, a railroad proposed to be built to every well, others pushing rap- idly toward it, and still another projected. Every train to the " jumping-off place " is crowded; men even on the tops of the coaches. Producers, land agents, merchants, drillers, speculators, adventurers everywhere. Men spoke only of thousands of dollars. Men were wild.
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