History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 75

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.. > Part 75

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Constables -Horace Wells. Clarence King. Thomas Abbot. Ezra L. King.

The following list contains the names of those who were liable to pay State tax in Des- mond Township, January 1. 1537: James Scott. W. and JJ. Orvis. Clark & MeCrary. Black River, Steam Mill Co., S. and J. B. Comstock, Halstead & Thornton, Hewitt & Bowen, d. H. King. Henry Harding, George M. Budd & Co., Shepherd and Bottsford, Elijah Burch, Whit comb and Ashley, Jeremiah Scoville, the four last named being tavern keepers, the others merchants and traders.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY,

BOUNTY FOR WOLF SCALPS.

At the period of organization, the northern and eastern sections of the township were sparsely settled, and were infested with wolves and other forest animals. Sheep and hogs could not be kept at all, unless closely watched by day and safely secured by night. The State offered a bounty of SS for the destruction of each wolf, and the county added to this the sum of $3, in order to stimulate wolf hunters to greater exertion. The various townships offered bonnties of from $3 to $5 for each wolf sealp brought to the Town Treasurer.

Having given you a sketch of the early white settlements, let us turn for a few moments to the aborigines. It was no uncommon sight to see a band of Indians with their squaws, papooses and ponies traveling through the country, or to see their wigwams at their favorite camping grounds, or to hear the tinkle of the bells on their ponies on a still night. On a beautiful elevation on the side of Black River, about sixty miles north from the site of the mills, was the remains of an old French trading post or hut. A fine spring of pure water issued from the bank and flowed into the river, but now flows underground. A deep worn path led from the village to the spring. The ground for some distance around the village was literally covered with bones of deer and other game that had been slain to provide food for the red men. Still further back from the river, scattered here and there among the pines, were a number of Indian graves, each being protected by a minature log house. or what more resembled the second floor of a pioneer cabin, covered with shakes as the pioneer covers his, the top being about three feet high. But the plow and the ax of the white man have swept them away, and naught is left to mark the spot where the red man sleeps his last sleep. About half a mile west from this village was the Indian planting ground or corn fields, and about three- quarters of a mile southwest was the Indian sugar-bush, or sugar-camp, and from the scars the trees bore, it had evidently been used as such for many a year. From this village an Indian trail ran up the river.

The trails were the Indian roads leading from one trapping post to another, and were often worn four or six inches deep. The second trail ran in a northwesterly direction along the river by the rapids above the village, and thence through the grove. Near this trail, on the south bank of what was then a small stream or brook, lay scattered here and there among the tall grass a number of human skeletons; who they were, or by what means they came to their death, is not known. Probably they fell in battle.

PORT HURON CITY.

This city is one of the most naturally attractive, as well as pleasantly located, in the State. The streets are nearly all broad, and richly shaded with large trees, the growth of forty years, and the entire aspect of the place is one that Goldsmith would have delighted to describe, so quietly restful and peaceful is the scene, and so far removed from the restless and, more portentous activities of large commercial centers. To the north, the broad river trails its beauteous way throughout the land, basking like a silvery serpent beneath the sun's glorious beams, while to the southeast and west extend the farms-the richest portion of the county, presenting to the eye a most magnificent rural view. Any lover of nature will acknowledge the perfection and beauty of the whole picture, and perchance. may indulge a sigh that all the world, and every place in particular, is not so happily conditioned. The inhabitants are generally from the North Atlantic States, or are representatives of the Eastern States, all well known in our vernacular as Yankees, who dropped out of the ever-westward-flowing tide of their brotherhood, and settled down here.

To the people who came and remained we can say-you found a wilderness and cleared a place for habitation. You have taken from the mountains wealth to pay for labor; you have found at hand the clay for brick, the pine trees for lumber, and out of these materials built your towns. No better illustration is afforded anywhere of the skill and ingenuity of man. There is nothing great in this world but man, there is nothing great in man but mind. He found materials in nature's great storehouse; but he was the master, they his slaves. He found the land wild and inhabited by savages-lo! the change! The great stores, the busy banks, the restaurants, the hotels, stand where a few years ago the tangled underbush gave

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

shelter to wild beasts and creeping reptiles. The morning whistles, the school and church bells ringing from the hillsides, have supplanted the wild yell of the Indian. The newspaper, the great modern missionary. is abroad in your midst, and reports to you the outside world. The telegraph and telephone are yours; a railroad system is yours: a well organized society is yours. These are your statistics! This is your civilization! Withal, your neighbors in the old countries may enjoy some advantages which you do not: many live in the midst of culture, in a region of acenmmulated wealth, yet would you change places with them? Would you go back to the quiet life, so poor in experience, as the old past you left in your old home? Nay, tarry here, amid these scenes, full of the romance of promise, the mysteries of illimitable possibility, where opportunity a goddess shy in the older communities, and coy and hard to win-extends a friendly hand on hill-top and in vale, and fairly leads you to the summits of success.

TOPOGRAPHICAL.

Of the places of resort visited by pleasure seekers during the summer months, those towns along the eastern boundary of Michigan are becoming more and more popular each season. As the conveniences for reaching them become better understood the influx of visitors largely increases. In the last two years. Port Huron has become somewhat noted as a place of rare attractions to those that wish to get away from the bustle and business, and enjoy the quiet of a country eity without being subjected to the inconveniences which are often met with in great centers of population. The landscape is beautiful. Fishing and hunting are excellent; the streams and lakes are well supplied with fish; hotels are good, summer lodges or villas numerous, and rents moderate.

A Detroit journalist visited this section in the summer of 1882, and on his return wrote the following apostrophe to the Border Towns: "Just think of it! we mean the future before the towns along St. Clair River, a place for beautiful homes, where not only the adornments that art can suggest may be used, but further made pleasant by nature's fairest stream. Every thing is in its favor, and the wealth, the influence and the business energy that is now found along its banks is but a tithe of what a few years will bring. Port Huron but needs the time to shake from off her shoulders a ponderous debt, when the advantages she can offer will be accepted and her past experiences will cause a healthy growth, in proportions surprising. St. Clair, a beautiful place, doomed to be the Saratoga of Eastern Michigan. the home of enlture and . many fair ones.' Business is, and will be, onr theme, and massive structures moved from our busy yards, requiring unlimited capital and skill. are but playthings compared with those that are yet to come. Foundries, dry docks. railroads, more enterprises, all are needed. but are forthcoming, so soon as the animato barriers that now are with us find more congenial claims or are called to chant their own fair praise in Gabrieldom."

Huronia Beach and Roslyn Beach, north of Port, may be called the nuclei of a great summer city, stretching from Ft. Gratiot limits along the lake to the north line of Ft. Gratiot Township. Advancing knowledge points out the lake and river fronts as the tit summer homes for those who may be able to loan their days of leisure to the cause of health and quiet in this delightful region.

The description of the city, published some years ago under the auspices of the Citizens' Association, or rather of those men who made the first great efforts to raise the location to that position, which it is so well fitted to occupy, is as follows: Port Huron is located on the St. Clair River at the foot of Lake Huron, in the county of St. Clair, and is the county seat of that county. The main part of the city lies upon ground well elevated above the river level. The city, as now platted. is about three miles in length by two in width. Black River, running northwesterly, divides the city. The population is about equally divided on both sides of the river. The city is laid out upon a liberal seale, with wide streets and broad avenues. The parks and publie squares are large, and when the improvements now in contemplation are made, there will be none more beautiful and attractive in the State. Pine Grove park, which lies on the St. Clair River, just south of the Grand Trunk Railroad depot, contains twenty aeres of high, beautiful ground. This tract was donated by the United States Government to the city when the Military Reservation was sold. From this park is obtained a beautiful view of

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Lake Huron above and the St. Clair River to the east and south. During the season of navigation. it is a very attractive place for the pleasure-seeker to resort. Under the shade of the beautiful and majestic trees that abound in the park and line the bank of the river, one can pass hour after hour watching the large steamers, propellers, and the magnificent vessels thit are constantly passing up and down this great water thoroughfare of the West. At times the lake above is dotted thickly with the white-winged messengers of commerce that ply between ' the eastern and western ports laden with the cereals of the prairies, the mineral ores of the Lake Superior region, and lumber from the pine forests of Michigan.

It will be seen from the map that the St. Clair River is a link in the great chain of water thoroughfare between the Great West and the Atlantic seaboard, and is without question the finest river on the continent. Its waters are always pure, clear as crystal, and not subject to sudden rise or fall. It seldom varies two feet from its regular level. There are no muddy streams emptying into it above the city, or even emptying into the lake for eighty miles above. It affords the purest and healthiest water of any river in the United States.

As a railroad crossing. there is no point on the great chain of lakes that presents better advantages than Port Huron. Where Lake Huron empties into the St. Clair River, and for a distance of two miles below, the current in the river is very rapid. the water running at the rate of seven miles per hour. At the point where the Grand Trunk ferry-boats cross the river, the distance is only three hundred yards. This gives a quick and easy transit, never obstructed at any season of the year, winter or summer. While at other points in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, the ice gorges the channel and obstructs the passage of boats for at least three months in the year; on the other hand, the river at Port Huron has never been obstructed to exceed once in ten years, and then only for a few hours. The current being so rapid, it is impossible for the ice to jam so as to prevent the passage of boats. This natural advantage alone is destined to make Port Huron one of the greatest railroad centers in the West. It is quite evident to every one that the Government will never permit a bridge to be constructed across either the St. Clair or Detroit Rivers. It would place almost an entire embargo on the passage of the immense shipping, which is yearly increasing on the great lakes. Consequently. the great railway thoroughfares passing through Michigan and Canada must seek the most convenient and unobstructed crossing, in order to avoid vexations delays in the transportation of freight and passengers. The Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways, the greatest rail thoroughfares in the country, terminate at Port Sarnia, opposite Port Huron. The former road connects with the Chicago & Lake Huron Railroad on the American side. The G. T. R. R. also connects with the same line, besides having a branch running to Detroit, and con- necting there with the M. C. R. R. The link of road on the Chicago & Lake Huron R. R., between Flint and Lansing will in a short time be completed. This will place Port Huron on a direct through line with Chicago, as well as with Milwaukee, by the D. & M. R. R. The lines tapping these roads from the west and north will contribute greatly to the traffic of the C. & L. H. R. R., Port Huron being on the most direct line east, and having an unobstructed river crossing, both the freight and passenger traffic from points north and west must of necessity pass through that city, particularly during the winter season, to insure quick transit. The F. & P. M. R. R. have decided to build an extension of their road from East Saginaw to Port Huron. The line has been surveyed and located, and that portion of it between East Saginaw and Vassar has been finished. The Canada Southern have a charter for constructing a line from Sarnia to Oil Springs to connect with their main line, and it will be built in a short time. The construction of this live has become a matter of necessity. rendered so by the fact that at no other point can they secure an unobstructed crossing of the St. Clair River, as the present point of crossing at St. Clair, twelve miles below Port Huron. is totally obstructed with ice during at least four months in the year. There are also other roads in contemplation pointing toward Port Huron, which must, sooner or later, be constructed. Taking into con- sideration the advantages it has in this respect, it is quite evident that at no distant day, the city will become the terminus of the great railroad thoroughfares passing through Michigan.

The city of Port Huron, lying as it does at the foot of Lake Huron, becomes a very important shipping point. But very little delay is experienced by boats in landing here, and

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IHISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY

loading and unloading freight. There is a line of propellers plying berween this point and Chicago, another line between Port Huron and Detroit, and Port Huron and ports upon the lake shore. Another line runs between the Great Western road and all points on the Canada shore of Lakes Huron and Superior. All the great through lines of steamers plying between Buffalo and Chicago make Port Huron a regular stopping point. A person unacquainted with the immense slupping of the Great Lakes can have no idea of the number and capacity of the steamers and sail vessels that daily pass up and down the St. Clair River. By actual count, last year, it was found that, on an average, during the season of navigation. one passed Port Haron every four minutes, night and day

The population of the city has more than doubled in the last six years, and the number of inhabitants is rapidly increasing. According to the spring consus, the city contained over 8,000 inhabitants. There is not a vacant house in the city. Over 300 buildings were erected last year, and the number will exceed that this year.

The city is furnished with water from the St. Clair River, at the rapids. by the Holly system. The works have been in operation about a year, and are a perfect success. The water coming out of the lake is pure and cool and perfectly healthy. As a tire protection, the Holly system is superior to all others.

The city is well lighted with coal gas, manufactured and furnished by a company com- posed mostly of our citizens. The works are located on the north side of Black River. and have a capacity for lighting a city with 20,000 inhabitants. Main pipes have been laid on most of the streets, and street lamps of the latest and most approved pattern have been adopted.

An excellent system of sewerage has been adopted, and a large amount of money has been expended this year in constructing sewers throughout the city. The high elevation of the city. and the character of the soil, makes it both easy and economical to give the city good and perfect drainage. This, as a natural result, must add materially to its sanitary advantages.

The manufacturing interests of the city are varied and rapidly growing. There are seven large saw mills now in operation, with capacity for cutting 10,000,000 feet of humber and 20,000,000 Jath each season, employing 300 men. The capital invested in this branch of busi- ness alone will reach $1,000,000. The National Stave Company, with a capital of $100,000. employ from seventy to eighty men. There are also four sash, door and blind factories and planing mills, combined capital invested $60,000, employing from fifty to sixty mon: three iron foundries and machine shops, and two boiler shops which keep seventy to eighty men con- stantly employed: four ship-yards and two dry-docks, which generally employ between 100 and 500 men. In this branch of trade, a very large amount of money is expended yearly. The number and size of crafts constructed at this point exceeds that of any other place of the same size on the whole chain of lakes. Three breweries, turning out annually 5,000 barrels of beer and ale. One stave and saw mill employs fifty mon, and manufactures 100,000 fish kegs anunally and 1,000,000 feet of lumber. There is also one soap factory, turning out immense quantities of that article. The Taylor, Smith & Clark celebrated fire extension ladder is also manufactured here. Although it is a new invention, the company have just commenced oper- ations, the prospects are that they will do an immense business. It is certainly the best fire apparatus of that character ever brought before the publie, and must soon take the place of all other simliar apparatus in the country.

There are a number of other manufacturing establishments in the city of smaller capacity. but all exhibit signs of prosperity and growth.

The great coal beds at Corunna, west of Port Huron, are easily accessible, and coal can be shipped to Port Huron by the C. & L. H. R. R. at very low rates. This affords an ample supply of fuel for manufacturing purposes at very low figures. There are large quantities of timbered land to the west and north, and wood for fuel can be obtained at a very reasonable price.

A manufacturing association has been recently organized in Port Huron. The object of the association is to encourage men of capital, enterprise and skill to locate there and buikl up manufacturing enterprises. The association is composed of live, energetic, go ahead and

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

moneyed men. They are pledged to extend aid to all legitimate enterprises that offer them- selves. The association desires to open up correspondence with any one seeking a location for manufacturing purposes. Any correspondence addressed to the secretary of the Port Huron Manufacturing Association will receive prompt attention.

As a manufacturing center, Port Huron has certainly superior advantages over most of the other places in the State. With excellent water and rail transportation, the means of ship- ping to all points east and west, north and south, are easy and quick. Manufacturers can take advantage of the competition between water and rail, that always exists during the the season of navigation, which all will admit is a big point in favor of the shipper, which in- terior cities and towns do not have.

It is admitted by wool buyers that Port Huron has fairly gained the reputation of now being the best wool market in the State, both in regard to the quality and quantity of wool purchased here and shipped to the Eastern markets.

It is further evident that the city must very soon become a trade center of no small impor- tance. With its rail and water communication, jobbers can easily reach a large section of country that is naturally tributary. Already a very large jobbing trade has sprung up and it is rapidly increasing.

The city is well provided with churches. These churches are large and elegant. and reflect great credit on the liberality and enterprise of the people. The Methodist Episcopal Society are now building a fine church, and when completed, will be the largest and most ex- pensive in the city.

The headquarters of the Huron Customs District is located at Port Huron. This district has become one of the most important collection districts in the country. The number of immigrants passing through at that point is second to no other port of entry in the United States. There is now in process of construction a large building for a custom house and post office. Congress appropriated $200,000 for that purpose. The foundation is now laid, and the building will be completed some time in 1875. From seventy-five to 100 men are constantly employed upon it.

There is no city in the State of the same population that has a better school system or finer and larger school buildings. The citizens take great pride in the prosperity and welfare of the schools, and hence they have constantly improved their character and usefulness. Prof. Bigsby, of the State Normal School, has now the superintendency of the public schools of Port Huron.

The Huron House is a very large. fine hotel, and has become a popular place. The Albion House is a tine new hotel, and nicely located at the foot of Butler street. There are in all ten hotels in the city.

The Port Huron Fire Department is well conducted and very efficient. In fact, but very fow cities in the State are better provided for in that respect.

A street railway runs from the C. & L. H. R. R depot on the south, to the G. T. R. R. on the north, a distance of two miles. There is also another street railway being constructed, which will soon be completed and in running order. It will run between the same points; the main track running on streets further west, which will accommodate the inhabitants living along the line of the road in that part of the city.

Port Huron has four banking institutions, viz .: First National, Port Huron Savings Bank, John Johnston & Co.'s, and J. J. Boyce & Co.'s private banks.

The City Hall and Court House is a very fine structure, and an ornament to the city. In fact, the public buildings show the good taste and the enterprise of the citizens. Public im- provoments are going on all over the city. Large business blocks are being erected, and the sound of the hammer is heard in all parts, putting together buiklings of all sizes. The evi- dence abounds upou all sides pointing to the future rapid growth and increased prosperity of Port Huron.

All that was prospective in 1874, when the foregoing review of Port Huron's advantages was published, has been accomplished. Much more remains to be done by the people of the present time.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

In a former portion of this work, devoted to general history, the endeavor has been made to portray that period ia the history of Port Huron when the primary stops were taken to found a colony and build a city, bringing the record down to a date when the early settlement, emerging from behind clouds of disappointment and uncertainty, took its allotted place among the established evidences of Western enterprise. It is now proposed to examine into a lat er period in the history of the same city, when with resources greatly enlarged and territory ex- tended by a brilliant career of enterprise and industry, it has progressed to a degree of perfec- tion, invariably attending the exercise of these incentives. Such success, born of Jandable ambition, may have excited the jealousy of rivals, but it has not bred a mischievous policy, nor nurtured the germs of domestic corruption which gradually culminates in dismemberment and decay. History and tradition unite in ascribing to the present city site a semi sacred char- acter. as the resort of Indians, from time immemorial, to indulge in games of athletic sports and skill. Without the sanetity attaching to grounds wholly devoted to religions usage, it was so far privileged as to be made a ground of neutrality and a common place of assemblage for the various tribes of a large section of the country. Being easy of access by reason of its conti. guity to the Black and St. Clair Rivers, both of which unite within the city limits. although the waters of the first does not mix with that of the St. Clair for miles below the confluence. After the manner of the Greeks who, in ancient times contended in the Olympic, Isthmean and Nemean games at stated intervals, those red browed contestants came from far and near to enter the list against foemen of rival tribes. One who witnessed the game of la crosse, speaks of seeing not less than three hundred of the most superb and renowned warriors of opposing tribes matched against each other. To avoid all incumbrances to their movements, they were stripped almost to undity, and the efforts made by the contending forces called into exercise every faculty of their savage nature. The excitement was shared by friends of the respective parties, who inspired them to renewed vigor and the exereise of every power of which they were capable, to the end that they might prevail. These gatherings are said to have occurred both in the spring and fall, and the contests were long and bitterly condneted. Following the pioneer period they gathered about the store, and at other eligible points in the vicinity in large numbers, and were occasionally disposed to be pugnacions, especially if the least affected by liquor or the want of it. Hand to hand contests were of frequent occurrence between trav- eters and Indians, as also among themselves, and notwithstanding the paneity of numbers. the Caucasian was capable of maintaining his supremacy, and of becoming an interested spectator of the squabbles which the red mon improvised in their own homes, when aggravated by a continued period of peace.

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History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 75

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814