USA > Michigan > Wexford County > History of Wexford County, Michigan, embracing a concise review of its early settlement, industrial development and present conditions > Part 35
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"The village now contains about one hundred and twenty-five families and a pop- ulation of upwards of six hundred actual settlers. The lakes called the Little and Big Clam cover an area of about eight square miles; the distance intervening between the two is about sixty rods. The channel be- tween the lakes is from two to five feet deep and from one to two rods wide. The work of clearing it of logs and old rubbish is now progressing and when opened it will
be navigable for steamers of considerable size and will be very convenient for floating logs that may eventually come from the Big Lake and through this channel to the mills. These lakes abound largely with ex- cellent varieties of fish and the country around with wild game. affording a grand field for hunting and fishing. The land bor- dering on these lakes and for several miles around is covered with a heavy growth of pine that will be tributary to them and here worked into lumber.
"The capacity of the mills now in opera- tion and the two large ones soon to start will be about four million feet per month. At this rate it is estimated that it will take fif- teen years to consume the pine. Taking this into consideration, the pleasant locality for a town, and the excellent farming lands in the vicinity that will be tributary to the place and support it when the pine is gone, you may judge for yourself what the future of Clam Lake will be. We make mention of the following more important places of busi- ness :
"SAW MILLS-The mills that are now in successful operation are those of J. R. Hale and Slinger & Company: the first named. the Pioneer mill, has been running some five or six months. It is now being finished up in good shape, some new and much-needed machinery has been added and is now capable of cutting about twenty-five thon- sand feet per day. The latter, Slinger & Company's new and improved portable mill. is doing a good business, with a capacity of about twenty-five thousand feet per day. The above named mills are both under the management of Mr. Lydle, who has been doing everything in his power to supply the great demand for lumber.
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"The new mills of Shockleton & Green and Harris Brothers are expected to be ready to start by the middle of this month and when completed will be a credit to the town and to the builders. The first named is thirty by ninety-six feet, two stories high, and a boiler house fourteen by thirty-six feet. There are two boilers, eighteen feet long and forty-four inches in diameter. The cylinder is fourteen inches in diameter and twenty-four inch stroke. It will contain one large circular with top saw and gang edger. It is expected to be capable of cut- ting forty thousand feet per day. Messrs. Shockleton & Green are energetic business men and every part of their mill is built in a substantial and business-like manner.
"Harris Bros.' mill, which is also expect- ed to be ready for operation by the middle of this month, will, when completed, compare in every respect with any mill in northern Michigan. The main building is thirty-six by one hundred and fifteen feet, two stories high, and attached to this is a boiler house twenty-eight by fifty feet, which is to con- tain three large boilers twenty feet long and four feet in diameter. The cylinder is twenty inches in diameter and forty-eight inch stroke. The capacity of the engine will be one hundred and fifty horse power to six- ty pounds of steam. This mill will have one large circular, a gang of forty saws and one edger with three saws. It will contain all the latest and most improved labor-saving machinery and neither time nor money will be spared to make it a first-class mill. Capt. Silas Pelton, of Grand Rapids, has had full charge of the mill from the beginning and his work proves him to be a man of much mechanical skill and ingenuity.
"MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS -
Among the most important of which we would make special note is that of Messrs. Holbrook & May, who keep a well-selected stock of everything in the line of dry goods. groceries and provisions. They are ener- getic business men and are having a lively trade, which they well deserve. The next of importance is the general hardware store of W. H. Hicks & Company. They keep a first-class stock and propose to sell at Grand Rapids prices. Mr. Hicks is a young man of energy and ability and is deserving of patronage. Messrs. Cornwell & Labor have a large store in Messrs. Mosser & White's building, well stocked with flour, feed, gro- ceries and provisions. They are having a good trade. L. Ballou, on Mason street, also dealer in flour, feed and groceries and provisions, is doing a lively business. He is a young man of good business tact and is bound to succeed. Mr. Bunyen, on Lake street, keeps a good line of groceries and provisions. He was among the first set- tlers in the place and is deserving of patron- age. Messrs. Sanders & Morrow are large dealers in dry goods and groceries. Messrs. Russell & White have opened a meat market on Lake street and their stock is new and fresh from Grand Rapids every day. Dr. Leeson has his drug store in successful op- eration. Mr. Studley has opened a first- class restaurant on Mason street. Messrs. Reed & Ferris have a large blacksmith shop and are doing a prosperous business. D. F. Duval has a boot and shoe shop on Ma- son street.
"We have at present four hotels, all of which are doing a prosperous business. The Mason House, so well known to the public. is being thoroughly overhauled. The rooms are all being newly ceiled. papered and fin-
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ished in the most comfortable manner. The walls, which are now known to be made of logs, are to be sided on the outside so that it will appear to be a log building no more. Mr. Mason is a pleasant and obliging land- lord and is ready to do anything for the comfort and entertainment of all who are so fortunate as to stop with him. He has placed on the lake for the entertainment of his guests a fine pleasure boat that is truly delightful to ride in. The tables are spread with the very best the market affords and everything presents a tidy and tasty ap- pearance. The American Hotel, on Mitch- ell street, nearly opposite the depot on the east, quite recently opened, presents a fine appearance and is acknowledged by every one as having first-class accommodations. The building is thirty by sixty feet and two stories high. Messrs. Teller & Parks, pro- prietors of the Clam Lake House, are still occupying their okl quarters on Lake street. Their new building on Mitchell street is now enclosed and will soon be ready for occu- pancy. When finished it will be the largest and decidedly the handsomest buikling in town.
"Messrs. Sanders & Walker have pur- chased the new building of Bremyer Broth- ers and are putting in a stock of groceries and provisions. Abbott & Turner have opened their new store on Mason street. having a good line of groceries and confec- tioneries. Larcom & Motts have their new building on Lake street inclosed and when it is finished it is to be occupied by them for a fruit and vegetable store. Lamb & Cole have erected a new building on Mitchell street. They intend putting in groceries and provisions. Dr. Dillenback has the frame up for his new drug store on Mitch-
ell street. Mr. Bunyea, on Mitchell street, is enclosing his large buikling to be used for groceries. Mr. Born has recently purchased the building occupied by Mr. Tracy for a dwelling and is fitting it up for a dry goods. boot and shoe store. Mr. Kirkbride is put- ting on the finishing touch to his new fur- niture rooms on Harris street, in which you may expect to see a full line of furniture. C. B. Earl is making ready to lay the foun- cation of a large store on Mason street im- mediately east of the railroad, in which he proposes to keep for sale sash, doors, blinds, glass, paints, oils, etc. Mr. Vaughn has purchased of R. P. Thurber the large store and boarding house block which is to be painted outside and the rooms now occupied for a boarding house are to have a general overhauling and to be fitted up in the most improved manner. The number of new buildings that are being erected each week would have to be reckoned by the dozen. "A lot has been selected and given by Mr. Mitchell for the erection of a school building. It covers one whole block, lying on an elevation commanding a most beau- tiful view of the town. The contract has been let for the building of a temporary house to be used for a season, when a build- ing is to be erected that will be an ornament to the village. The Presbyterian and Meth- odist societies have selected lots, which have been given by Mr. Mitchell for church pur- poses. A movement is already on foot to build suitable edifices for public worship."
This is indeed a pretty good showing for a village less than a year old. No wonder that the editor goes into raptures over the beauty and grandeur of the scene. No one who has not gazed upon a beautiful, mir- ror-like lake, surrounded by an unbroken
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forest of tall pines and picturesque cedars and hemlocks, can form anything like a cor- rect idea of the picture afforded the early settlers in the village of Clam Lake. It seems almost sacrilege that such beauty of scenery should have had to yield before the insatiable maw of the woodman's ax and the saw-mill's glittering teeth, but the marts of commerce have no sentiment or romance, and nature's loveliness must be yielded up to the demands of business, and the glory of her forests and the grandeur of its solitudes must be laid waste that man may reap for- tunes out of what it has taken her centuries to produce. If the denuded lands had been turned into waving wheat fields there would have seemed to be some recompense for the ruthless slaughter of the forests, but to see the vast areas of lands covered with noth- ing but stumps and a stubby growth of bushes, makes one wish that the task of cutting away the great forests of pine had been much less rapidly done, so that the present and future generations could have had a glimpse of their royal beauty and sublimity. But how useless it is to moralize.
In looking over the foregoing extract from the News we find that a few, a very few, of the names therein mentioned are still familiarly known in Cadillac-the city to which the village of Clam Lake has grown. Dr. Leeson is still doing business in the city, and, though not the owner of a drug store, is engaged in the manufacture of "Tiger Oil," a medicine of well recog- nized merits which has found a way into nearly every state in the Union. The Doc- tor can boast of being a charter member of two organizations which will doubtless re- main as long as the city continues to exist. One is the Methodist Episcopal church and
the other the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Ife is hale and hearty and may be seen almost any summer day going to or returning from his farm, situated two miles out of the city. Mr. Cornwell, mentioned in the items quoted relative to Cornwell & La- bar, is still in the same business as then, the firm name now being J. Cornwell & Sons. Mr. Labar severed his connection with the firm some eight or ten years ago, moved to the southern part of the state and has since gone to his long rest. Mr. Harris, of the firm of Harris Brothers, long years ago re- tired from the mill business and now lives in a modest home on the street bearing his name. His bowed form and whitened locks are frequently seen on the streets, and though not engaged in business, he will re- count the struggles and triumphs of an early business life in the village of Clam Lake with a great deal of zest to any one who wishes to question him about the early days in the history of the village. Mr. Born is still an active business man of the city, his chief occupation being that of moving build- ings from place to place or raising them and putting under new foundations. Of the many others named in this article, some are dead, many entirely forgotten, some doing business in other states and other sections of this state, and one-Dr. Dillenbeck-is an inmate of the Northern Michigan Insane Asylum, where he has been for some twelve or fifteen years.
At the conclusion of its first volume the News published a review of the year. In this review mention is made of the burning of the first brick made in the village and also of the erection of the Haynes planing mill. This was built by the father of the present owners. It has been greatly enlarged
17
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and capacity increased until it is now one of the best equipped mills of the kind north of Grand Rapids. One item mentions the fact that "on the extreme south of the vil- lage is the mill owned by J. W. Cobbs, a fine mill for its size, and doing a very handsome business. Its capacity is about thirty-five thousand feet per day."
Some years later Mr. Cobbs associated himself with Mr. Mitchell, the firm being known as Cobbs & Mitchell. Their mill property was enlarged and later a second mill was erected, the two having been in constant operation from that time until the present, with timber enough in sight to last twelve or fifteen years. Their timber now comes mostly from Charlevoix county, where they have large tracts of the finest hardwood and hemlock lands in the state, with a sprinkling of pine intermixed. Their output is now nearly all hemlock and hard- wood, the latter being sold in the finished product of maple flooring, to manufacture which they have here one of the largest maple-flooring plants in the world.
The Methodists and Presbyterians each erected church buildings in 1873, an item in the News of June 7, 1873, reading as fol- lows: "A little less than four weeks ago the first work was done on the Methodist Episcopal church, yet last Sunday's serv- ices were held there and will continue to be in the future." In September a new bell was put in the tower of the church. lt
weighed five hundred pounds and cost one hundred and twenty-five dollars. In 1888 the society commenced the erection of its present brick edifice, and in December, 1889. the dedicatory services were held. The new structure cost about eight thousand dollars. The society now has a membership of about
three hundred, has a large Sunday school, an Epworth League, a Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society and is in excel- lent condition financially. Its present pas- tor, Rev. E. A. Armstrong, is serving his fourth year. Touching the earlier history of this society, it is related that the first serv- ice held in the village of Clam Lake was in the evening of December 10, 1871, and the society was organized in 1872 by Rev. A. L. Thurston, the total membership at that time being seven; one of the charter mem- bers, Dr. J. Leeson, still has his name on the church books and is an active worker for the cause he has so long labored for.
The First Presbyterian church was or- ganized in 1872 through the efforts of Rev. John Redpath. This society also built a church in 1873. A recent fire damaged the building to such an extent that services therein have been discontinued and at a recent meeting of the society it was decided to build a new house of worship this year at a cost of about twenty thousand dollars. The growth of the society recently had shown that a larger church building was needed and this work will now be hastened in consequence of the fire. The present pastor, Rev. A. W. Johnstone, Ph. D., is now serving his tenth year in the pulpit, which is ample evidence of the esteem in which he is held by his parishioners. The church has the usual auxiliary societies and a well attended Sunday school.
It was not until the year 1882 that the Congregationalists made an effort to organ- ize a society in the village. The work was accomplished through Rev. C. H. Beals, and in January, 1883, a society consisting of thirty members was organized. The first board of trustees was composed of Jacob
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Cummer, N. L. Gerish, J. G. Mosser, E. F. Sawyer and F. H. Messmore. In the sum- mer of that year a church edifice was erected and dedicated December 14, 1883. A par- sonage was also built that year, the com- bined cost of the buildings being eight thou- sand five hundred dollars. An annex was built in 1884 for kindergarten purposes and since that time, through the liberality of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Cummer, a free kindergar- ten has been maintained. The church now has a membership of one hundred and sixty- nine, has a large Sunday school, a Junior Endeavor society, a Ladies Aid and IIome and Foreign Missionary society. The pres- ent pastor, Rev. F. M. Hollister, succeeded Rev. N. S. Bradley, who had served the society from the summer of 1895 until his resignation in 1901 to accept a call from Saginaw.
The Free Methodists organized a society in the summer of 1875, through the work of Rev. L. D. Russell, and a church building was erected the same year largely through his efforts. There are now about fifty mem- bers and they have a well-attended Sunday school.
A Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1874 and a church build- ing started in 1876, but was not dedicated until 1882. It has a very large membership, one of the largest Sunday schools in the city, a Ladies society, the Willing Workers, composed of girls under fifteen years of age, the Sorosis society, the Men's Aid society and the Little Boys' society. Besides these they have a semi-monthly gathering of all the young people of the church, at which religious and literary programs of interest are rendered. The present pastor, Rev. Carl A. Tolin, has served the congregation since
the summer of 1899, succeeding the Rev. N. Gibson, who had labored seven years for the society.
A Baptist society was organized in 1876, but several years passed before a church building was erected. In 1883 the Swedish members of the society, about one-half of the total membership, withdrew for the pur- pose of organizing a Swedish Baptist church. This somewhat erippled the parent church for a time, but it soon recovered the lost ground and is now in a thriving condi- tion.
The Swedish Baptist church was organ- ized on the 23d of June, 1883, with a mem- bership of twenty-nine. In 1888 a church was built under the pastorate of Rev. Erick- son. The membership now numbers nearly one hundred and fifty, with a largely at- tended Sunday school.
The St. Ann's Catholic church was or- ganized in 1881 and through the efforts of the first resident priest, Rev. Milligan, the church building, which for some time had been in process of construction, was com- pleted in 1883. The present priest, Rev. L. M. Prud'homme, last year interested his parishioners in the matter of building a new brick church and the work was at once be- gun, and with systematic effort will be ac- complished the present summer, when they will have one of the finest houses of wor- ship in the city.
The Swedish Mission church is an in- stitution of the fatherland, having been started in Sweden some twenty-five years ago. In almost every Swedish commun- ity of any considerable size in this country may be found a Swedish Evangelical Mis- sion church. A church was organized in this city in 1880 and in 1882 a church build-
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ing was erected. The church has a men- bership of about one hundred and fifty, a Sunday school with over one hundred men- bers and is in a flourishing condition. The doors of the church are open nearly every evening in the year, where any one, be he resident or transient, may find welcome and friends.
In August, 1884. a German Evangeli- cal Lutheran Immanuel church was organ- ized. The society as yet has no church building, but services are regularly held at the parsonage. The present pastor, Panl C. Noffze, has ministered to the church since 1899.
The Seventh Day Adventists had a few members here for years, and during the summer of 1899 an extra effort was made to increase their membership. So well did they succeed that in the fall of that year they decided to purchase a building for church purposes and they now own the building formerly known as the Salvation Army barracks.
There are those who have religious be- liefs differing from any of these denomi- nations here mentioned, living in the city. but none of sufficient numbers to be able to form societies. Perhaps the most num- erous in this respect are those who believe in the Christian Science idea. Services are regularly held by these adherents on the second floor of the State Bank building. The Latter Day Saints also have regular weekly services.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The first school in the village of Clam Lake was in the spring of 1872 in a buikl- ing owned by Mosser & White. A frac-
tional district had been organized from parts of Clam Lake and Haring townships, and in June of that same year a small buikdling had been erected on the square donated by Mr. Mitchell for school purposes. The school census taken in September of that year gave the number of children of school age-between five and twenty years- at one hundred and five. The fall and winter terms following were taught by C. L. Frazier, with Miss Nettie Brink as assistant. An addi- tion to the school building was built in 1873 and the spring term opened with George Acklison as principal and Miss Born as as- sistant. Rev. W. L. Tilden, the Methodist Episcopal pastor, taught the winter term of 1873-4. In 1874 the school was under the management of W. A. Fallass, who came from Lowell, Michigan.
With the constant increase of population the need of more school room became an absolute necessity and in the summer of 1876 a new building was erected. This building was twenty-eight by sixty-two feet in size and two stories high, each floor being divided into two rooms. The cost of the building above the foundation was three thousand six hundred dollars, ex- clusive of the seats and desks, which were of the "Triumph" patent. being the first introduction of the patent seats and desks in the county. The first term in the new building was under the professorship of 1l. S. Groesbeck, who had for his assistants Miss Hattie Caswell and Miss Carrie Sip- ley. Mr. Groesbeck continued in charge for two years, his successor being Prof. F. C. Pifer, who remained but one year. being succeeded by Prof. H. M. Enos.
In the meantime it had been found neces- sary to make additions to the school build-
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ing, the original rooms now becoming so overcrowded that it was impossible to seat the increasing number of scholars seeking admission. The erection of a larger school building was seen to be an absolute necessity in the near future and the matter was ab- ruptly forced upon the school board by the destruction of the school building by fire in the winter of 1880. During the summer of 1881 a new and much larger building was erected, which was thought to have suffi- cient capacity to meet the growing needs of the city for many years to come. but in a few years it was found necessary to provide ward buildings, which have been added from time to time until each ward has a school house of its own. Fire again destroyed the central school building in 1890, when the present commodious brick structure was erected, which is as fine a school building as can be found anywhere north of Grand Rapids.
Professor Enos was succeeded by A. A. Hall in 1885 and a year later Prof. A. S. Hall was engaged and continued in charge of the school for three years. In the fall of 1889 Prof. E. P. Church was engaged and his services were so satisfactory that he was kept for four years. Prof. George R. Catton succeeded Mr. Church and held the position for three years. Prof. J. H. Kaye succeded Mr. Catton in 1896 and has continued in charge of the schools until the present time.
The whole number of children of school age in the city is nineteen hundred and thir . ty-one and the number attending school for a period of three months during the last school year was eighteen hundred and sixty. The number of teachers employed the pres- ent year is thirty-four, not counting a music
teacher or Professor Kaye. There was spread upon the tax rolls of the city last year for school purposes the sum of $19,- 693.00 and the sum of $5.269.50 was re- ceived from the state primary school fund. The first and fourth ward school buildings will soon be replaced with new and larger ones, as the buildings are now overcrowded.
At the commencement exercises in 1903 the graduates numbered twenty-nine, which, with one exception, was the largest class ever graduated, the exception being the class of 1902, which numbered thirty. The names of the graduates are as follows: Georgia E. Jackson, Olivia May Johnson, Kate Hel- len Ballou, Bessie L. Troutman, Clyde A. Saunders, Frank Morris Hecox, Susan A. Florer, Winnie Alice Kaiser, Chas. V. Crom- well, Edna Sayles Law, Amaryllis M. Cotey, Corinne W. Foster, Essie May Bland, Grace Ellen Spencer, Helen Amanda Kelley, Doug- las Campbell, Arthur V. Gibson, Audrey F. Dillenbeck, Gene Lulu Romig, Henry P. Grund, Bessie Hodges, Elida K. McGillis, M. Veronica Murray, Rosalie L. Kelleher, Mand M. Carpenter, Genia Belle Torrey. Archibald Thomson, Oscar Abel Peterson and William F. Campbell.
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