Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 12

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub.
Number of Pages: 580

USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 12

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The company was mustered into the state service on Oct. 28, 1891, and became Com- pany G of the Third Regiment. The next year the boys attended their first state camp and, because of the fact that nearly every man was in his teens or very early twenties, G was dubbed the "kid company." On Oc- tober 19th of the same year forty-one of the members of the company went to the Colum- bian exposition, in Chicago, and stayed a week. On Thanksgiving day, after their return, the cornerstone of the armory which they now occupy was laid with appropriate ceremony. The present mayor of Owosso, Hon. Stanley E. Parkill, delivered the principal address on that occasion.

On the 1st of February, 1893, the com- pany moved into the armory. At the state encampment of this year Owosso furnished a field officer from its citizenship, Captain Roth. The company continued to prosper and was a fine organization when it marched to the train on April 26, 1898, and left for the state rendezvous at Island Lake, war with Spain having been declared.

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

The physical examination at camp cost the company twenty-two men, including its two lieutenants,-L. G. Heyer and Z. H. Ross. Captain Arthur J. Van Epps passed success- fully, but much to his regret and that of the men he commanded, was not allowed to go to Cuba with his company, being kept in the states for recruiting service.

The company was mustered into the United States service on May 15, as Company G of the Thirty-Third Michigan Volunteer In- fantry, and had a full membership, eighty- four men. When it was decided to raise the regiments to the war strength of one hun- dred and six men per company, Company G readily obtained its quota of twenty-two at home, but as events proved, these recruits were to be denied the trip to Cuba. They reached Dunn-Loring, Camp Alger, Virginia, where the company had gone some weeks prior to the enlistment of the extra men, on June 22d, the day the regiment left for Alex- andria on its way down the Potomac for Newport News and the scene of war.

As part of Shafter's Fifth Army Corps, the Thirty-Third Michigan reached Cuba, by the "Yale," on Monday morning, June 27th, and disembarked at Siboney. One of the proudest memories which members of the old Company G have, is their participa- tion in the attack on Santiago, the historic 1st of July, 1898. The company, together with the remainder of the regiment, was de- tailed to harass the fort at Aguadores, on the seacoast, at the extreme southwest end of the Spanish fortifications. The regiment lost several killed and wounded in that and sub- sequent fights at the same point, but there were no casualties in the Owosso company.

These skirmishes before Aguadores earned

six Owosso men the distinction of receiving honorable mention, on their discharge papers, for distinguished services. The six were Corporal Seth E. Beers, who was wigwag signal man for the fleet and land forces, and Joseph Kelly, M. J. Phillips, Harry H. Van Dyne, Archie Hammond and Ernest Smith. As sharpshooters these five volun- teered to go ahead on to a high hill opposite the enemy's fortifications, and there draw the fire of the enemy, so that his position could be clearly defined for the gunboats and bat- tleships which were co-operating in the at- tack. There were eighteen sharpshooters in all, and the work planned for them they fulfilled most completely.

Those of Company G who died from dis- ease in Cuba were Privates Daniel J. Ma- loney, and Louis Tick; and Sergeant Henry Conners; those who died in hospitals in America or shortly after returning home were Privates Schuyler Crane, Elbert Peckworth, and Artificier William Simmington.

In 1899, the first year after the war, there was no state encampment of the Michigan. National Guard, but there was a reorganiza- tion, and Company G, by reason of its order of admission to the regiment became Com- pany H, which letter it still retains.

In 1900 the company went to camp with a new commanding officer, George B. Mc- Caughna, who had been chosen for the place by unanimous vote of the membership. The excellent standing which the company had always held was bettered, if anything, and the organization ranked, as it still ranks, as one of the three best in the state service. Under Captain McCaughna's leadership rifle practice was taken up and fostered.

In time the captain was promoted to a

PAST AND PRESENT OF

majorship, and he was succeeded by Captain Z. H. Ross. The high standard was main- tained, but the company and the citizens generally were grieved when it became necessary, and in the spring of 1905, for Captain Ross to resign, an unfortunate rail- road accident having deprived him of his leg. Captain Willard M. Case, who was sec- ond lieutenant of the company in the war, became the captain, by unanimous choice, and it is high praise to say that Captain Case is aiming as high as his predecessors and succeeding as well.

If there is any department where Company H excels to-day it is in the most important of all,-accuracy of marksmanship. The company has been a pioneer in this line, and on the teams which have gone annually from Michigan to Fort Riley, Kansas, or Sea Girt, New Jersey, to compete in the national rifle matches, Owosso has had four men. When it is considered that there are about forty- five places in the state where state troops are stationed, and there are but fifteen men on the team, Owosso's prowess can be ap- preciated. Major McCaughna, who learned to shoot in the Indian country while a mem- ber of the famous Seventh United States Cavalry, is always a member of the team.

Within the winter of 1905-6 the company has had several competitions on the gallery range, for three gold medals, and a score or more of excellent shots have been developed. The company has an outdoor range of six hundred yards at Henderson, and so keen is the interest in target practice that every week day during the summer squads of from five to fifteen hire conveyances and drive to the

range to perfect themselves in this fascinat- ing branch of a soldier's art.

Since it was organized the company has contributed the following field and staff offi- cers to the Third infantry: Majors, George B. McCaughna, Arthur M. Hume; surgeon, Paul M. Roth; captain, Rev. Carlos H. Hanks, chaplain; first lieutenant, Michael J. Phillips, battalion adjutant. The personnel of the company at the present time is as fol- lows: Captain, W. M. Case; First Lieuten- ant, F. E. VanDyne; Second Lieutenant, G. M. Hunt; First Sergeant, S. M. Camp- bell; Quartermaster Sergeant, A. Snyder; Sergeants,-C. Gabriel, Frank E. Evans, Charles Layman, Oscar Reynolds ; corporals, -W. C. Dick, Miles Cook, D. K. Parker, James Orth, Fred Osmer, Claud Willoughby, George Fuller, Verne Miller; musician,- Charles Scheer; cooks,-Charles J. McNally, William McBride; artificer,-E. Hodge; privates,-William Axford, Albert Brandel, O. Bailey, F. Bailey, F. Belz, O. Bartz, L. Byerly, R. B. Campbell, Thomas Crittenden, J. B. Dowdigan, Bert Dutcher, Richard Doane, B. Giffie, F. Girrard, E. H. Hayes, Victor Hollis, Claire Irish, J. B. Johnson, F. Johnson, Edward Lynch, Barney Layman, Harry Loch, Myron McCreedy, H. Nelson, J. D. Priest, Glenn Reynolds, Roy Reynolds, M. H. Rourke, Herman Schlaack, John Schroader, Otto Schroader, Floyd Snyder, Frank Shier, Joseph Shier, Charles Spring, Edward Sahs, R. J. Tick, L. VanWagoner, Steven Watson, Earl Wilber, C. Montgom- ery, W. Montgomery, W. Pulver, Arthur Moyses, F. Giffie, W. Beyer, P. Bartz, W. Getchel, H. Marrian, B. Hart.

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

ROADS AND RAILROADS

Wherever immigrants of the Anglo-Saxon race have established themselves as pioneers in wild interior regions, the opening of routes of travel between their isolated settle- ments and the nearest civilized communities has been one of the first labors they have been called upon to perform. In many cases, when the country was heavily timbered, as in the greater part of the county of Shia- wassee, this was a heavy task and one to which the pioneer was sometimes obliged to attend before he could transport his family and their movables to the place which he had chosen for a home.

If his location had been selected in a coun- try of openings, he still had some labor to perform in clearing a path through thickets or in filling wet places with brushwood, to allow the passage of his team; and even if he was immigrating on foot, without the convenience of either wagon or animals, he sometimes found it necessary to fell a tree or two across a watercourse, to serve as a foot-bridge for his wife and children, with their scanty stock of household goods. And whether the work was light or heavy, the opening of these rude tracks to pioneer .set- tlements was road-making,-the first step in the direction of public internal improvements in all new countries remote from navigable waters.

The earliest highways in the section of country to which this history has reference were the Indian trails, several of which were found traversing the territory of Shiawassee county at the time when the first settlers came here. The most important of these was

the one known as the Grand River trail, which, leaving that river at the mouth of the Looking Glass, passed up the last named stream on its northern side, through Clinton county to Laingsburg, and thence through Shiawassee county, by way of Pittsburg and Hartwellville, to a point where an ancient Indian village was situated, on the Looking Glass, in the present township of Antrim. This, the more southerly branch, known as the Red Cedar trail, passed south to the Cedar river in Livingston county, but the main Grand River trail continued eastward from Hartwellville, through Fremont,-pass- ing just east of the present village of Ban- croft,-and crossed the Shiawassee river near the Grand Saline, or where Burns postoffice was afterward located (better known as Knaggs' Bridge). From there it bore away southeast to Byron and thence across the southwest corner of Genesee county and the northwest corner of Livingston into and through Oakland county to Pontiac and De- troit.

The Saginaw trail passed from the great Indian camp ground at Saginaw up the Saginaw and Shiawassee rivers to the "great crossing" of the latter stream (Knaggs' Bridge), where it joined the Grand River trail. Another trail came up the Maple river through Clinton and Shiawassee coun- ties, joining the other two at the Grand Sa- line, but its course cannot now be accurately traced. Besides these there were a number of others of less importance traversing the county, and some of them were selected as the routes of early roads to the settlements.

PAST AND PRESENT OF

When Richard Godfroy came to establish his trading post at the great crossing of the Shiawassee, in 1828, he brought his goods from Oakland county by way of the Indian village of Kopenicorning and across the south part of Genesee county to his destin- ation. The wagon in which these goods were transported was without doubt the first vehicle, as the route over which it came was the first road-and that only a wagon track through the woods-which existed within any part of the territory of these two coun- ties. In the year 1833 a road was cut through the woods over very nearly the same route from Kopenicorning, in the ex- treme northwest corner of Oakland county, to the Williams trading post, this being done mainly by the proprietors of that post, as- sisted by the few settlers who had then lo- cated themselves on or in the neighborhood of its line.

The principal one of all the early roads in these counties was that known as the Pontiac and Grand River road running from Pontiac to Ionia. It ran from Pontiac westward through Oakland and passed "Hill- man's Tavern" in the township of Tyrone, Livingstone county, whence its route was by the way of Byron, Knaggs' post, Fre- mont, Hartwellville, and Laingsburg, and thence through Clinton county into Ionia. The pioneer travelers over this road, or at least the Shiawassee part of it, were mem- bers of a party of colonists who were brought from the state of New York by Judge Samuel W. Dexter, to settle on lands which had been purchased by him in Ionia county.

This party of immigrants, numbering sixty-three persons, arrived at the Grand Sa-

line in the early part of May, 1833. The trading post was then in charge of John Knaggs and Antoine Beaubien. In the party there were six or seven families, besides several single persons, all traveling with wagons, containing their movable property, and having with them oxen, cows and swine. Their journey westward from the Grand Sa- line has been described by Mr. B. O. Will- iams. The account is as follows :

"Having in vain tried to get Beaubien to pilot them, Messrs. Dexter, Yeomans and Wisner came to us for help. I left our planting, taking my blankets and small tent, and in six days landed them in Ionia, looking out the route and directing where the road was to be. This was the first real colonizing party we had ever seen-myself having never been farther than De Witt. I then induced Macketapenace (Blackbird), a son of Kish- kawko, the usurping chief of all the Sagi- naws, to pilot us past Muskrat creek, and from there proceeded with the party. At that point a son of Judge and Mrs. Dexter, a child of about two years old, died of scar- let fever. We buried the child by torch- light, in a box improvised by the party. * The road we opened was next year followed by others, and was substan- tially the Grand river road through Shia- . wassee and Clinton counties, and was trav- eled for many years after."

On the 9th of March, 1844, the Governor approved "an act to establish and improve the Pontiac and Grand River road," over the route which has already been described. From time to time amendatory acts were passed providing for the appointment of com- missioners to examine the road and super- tend improvements thereon. Under the

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

povisions of these and subsequent acts ap- propriating non-resident taxes, and by labor applied by the highway officers of the sev- eral townships traversed by the road, it was gradually worked and made passable in its entire length. It was for many years an important thoroughfare and is still some- times mentioned by its ancient name-the Pontiac and Grand River road.

The first and second legislatures of the state of Michigan appear to have wasted much presumably valuable time in passing acts authorizing the laying out of state roads. In fact a number of succeeding leg- islatures, which bodies might have been ex- pected to possess accumulated wisdom, were guilty of the same extravagance. A number of these roads, as planned, ran through the territory of Shiawassee county and most of them were designed to have their eastern termini at Pontiac. Had the state made ap- propriations even to assist in the laying out of these roads, the object of persons inter- ested in their establishment would be more apparent ; but as it was provided that in es- tablishing "any of the roads named the state shall not be liable for the expenses or damages incurred thereby," and since very few of the roads ever were laid out, it is difficult to perceive the benefits derived from the profession of authorizing acts.

A few years later, projects for the con- struction of plank roads became so popular that many persons believed that this kind" of highway was destined to come into uni- versal use and to supersede the common road. Between the years 1847 and 1850 a number of companies were formed, and duly incorporated under the laws of the state, for the purpose of building plank roads from

Pontiac, Saginaw, and other places from which supplies were commonly shipped into the interior, to points in the county or be- yond its boundaries. None of the com- panies ever built their proposed roads, but, as the county in 1850 had a population of somewhat more than five thousand, depend- ent upon horses and oxen for the transpor- tation of the necessaries of life, it is not dif- ficult to understand the general desire for establishment of permanent roads.

Very soon after Michigan became a state the legislature passed "an act to provide for the construction of certain works of internal improvement," by which a board of com- missioners was authorized to cause surveys to be made for three railroad routes across the southern peninsula. These were called the Central, Southern, and Northern Rail- roads. In the course of time the Michigan Central and Michigan Southern were built, substantially as proposed in those early plans. The Northern line was surveyed and lo- cated to run from the St. Clair to Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand river, passing through the central part of Shia- wassee county. More than sixty thousand dollars was expended in clearing and grad- ing, considerable work being done in the vicinity of Owosso, but the plan was aban- doned in 1841. The result of the numerous laws passed and appropriations made for the construction of this roalroad, was the clear- ing of the route and the grading of portions of it into an indifferent wagon road, which never proved to be of much practical ad- vantage to the county.

Many other railroad schemes began to at- tract public attention. In 1837 a company incorporated with a capital stock of

PAST AND PRESENT OF

five hundred thousand dollars was given authority to construct a railroad "with a single or double track" from Detroit to Shi- awassee village, by the way of Byron, but no part of the line was ever built.

Not until 1856 did a railroad into Shia- wassee county become an accomplished fact. In that year was completed the line now known as the Detroit, Grand Haven & Mil- waukee division of the Grand Trunk sys- tem, the pioneer train reaching Owosso on the 1st of July, amid a joyful demonstration by the inhabitants. Eighteen years before, the eastern link of this road, known as the Detroit & Pontiac Railroad, was completed as far as Royal Oak, the track being com- posed of strap rails, and even of wooden rails for parts of the distance, and the cars being drawn by horses. In the fall of 1839 the. road was extended to Birmingham and steam was introduced as a motive power. In September of that year the Pontiac news- papers contained the advertisement of "Henry J. Buckley, agent and conductor," informing the public that the trains were then running two trips a day between De- troit and Birmingham and making connec- tion at the latter place with a daily line of "post coaches" for Pontiac and Flint, and semi-weekly line to Lyons, on the Grand river, by way of Byron and Dewitt.

The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad, as it was first named, enters the county in the township of Vernon, crossing the western boundary in Middlebury, nearly due west of Owosso. The stations on the line within the county are Durand, Vernon, Corunna, Owosso and Burton.

The line now called the Saginaw division of the Michigan Central Railroad was

opened for traffic between Lansing and Owosso in November, 1862, the entire line being completed in 1867. Its route lies through the townships of Sciota, Benning- ton, Owosso and Rush, crossing that of the old Detroit & Milwaukee at Owosso.

The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company was incorporated in August, 1874, the object of its formation being the con- struction of a line between Lansing and Flint, as a link in the through line between Port Huron and Chicago. This was com- pleted and formally opened in February, 1877, and was operated as a part of the "Chicago & Lake Huron" road. A few years later the entire line came into the posses- sion of the Grand Trunk Company and it is now known as the Grand Trunk Western. It is an important part of that great system, having an immense freight traffic, and hav- ing a double track its entire length. The .road enters the county in Vernon township, having a junction at Durand with three other lines, and passes out of the county at its extreme southeastern corner, its Shia- wassee stations being Durand, Bancroft, Morrice, Perry and Shaftsburg.

The Cincinnati, Saginaw & Mackinaw division . of the Grand Trunk Railroad runs .from Durand northward through the ex- treme eastern portion of the county to Bay City. This is an important branch of the main line and a good feeder, bringing con- siderable business from the prosperous sec- tions of country through which it passes.

The Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon divi- sion of the Grand Trunk Railroad runs from Owosso to Muskegon, a distance of one hundred and seventeen miles. This line passes through a good section of country,

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

many thriving towns and villages being on the line.

The Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan Railroad was projected in 1885 by James Ashley and his sons, H. W. and James Ashley. This road had a varied ex- perience in building and but for the indom- itable will of the projectors would have failed. It runs from Toledo, Ohio, in a northwesterly direction across the state to Frankfort, Michigan, and from that point immense steel ferries now transport heavy loaded trains across Lake Michigan to Me- nominee, Kewaunee, and Green Bay. The road has a large business in hauling ore and grain as well as other products.

The road now known as the Ann Arbor enters Shiawassee county in Burns town- ship near the southeastern corner and cuts

diagonally across the county, passing out of it through Fairfield township in the north- west corner. The stations in the county are Byron, Durand, Vernon, Corunna, Owosso and Carland. When the railroad was first built the division and shops were located at Owosso, which became an important railroad center. In 1893 the division was removed to Durand and remained there for years, when it was returned to Owosso. The shops have grown in size and importance and build passenger and freight cars and also do all kinds of repair work, being splendidly equipped with all modern appliances. The road has been wisely managed and has be- come a very important piece of railroad property, which increases in value every year as the northern country through which it runs becomes better developed.

THE COUNTY SEAT

August 4, 1824, William Woodbridge, acting governor of Michigan Territory, ap- proved an act providing for the appointment of commissioners to locate the seat of jus- tice of Shiawassee county. The commis- sioners duly reported that they had selected the village of Byron and had there estab- lished the county site. The county then embraced portions of Livingston, Ingham, and Genesee counties, and Byron was near its territorial center. When the county was reduced. to its present size the legislature passed an act, dated 1836, vacating the seat of justice in Shiawassee county, the reason being that the county site was within one mile of its eastern and two and one-half.

miles of its southern boundaries, making apparent the necessity for a selection of a new site nearer the center of the county. The governor appointed three commissioners to locate a new site. They were appointed March 12, 1836, and on the first day of the following month filed their report, lo- cating the county site at Corunna. Procla- mation was issued by the governor July 1st of that year, confirming the location.

October 7, 1839, the board of county com- missioners accepted a block of land in the' village of Corunna, designated as the "pub- lic square" offered as a donation to the county. An unconditional deed to the same was recorded October 20, 1842. Stephen

PAST AND PRESENT OF

Hawkins secured the contract for the erec- tion of the first county building, the cost of which was $382.50. The office building was about twenty by thirty feet in size, situated near the northwest corner of the "square," and was built of wood. A few years later another building, twenty by thirty-six feet,

who were then again in charge of affairs, deemed that it was expedient at that time to take the necessary steps for the erection of a court house, and a committee was ap- pointed, consisting of Supervisors Parsons, Holley, Harder, and Cummins. They re- ported the next day, recommending a build-

COURT HOUSE IN 1864

was rented for thirty dollars per annum and was used for the purpose of holding the cir- cuit court. In 1842 the commissioners de- cided to submit to the people the question of raising four thousand dollars for a new court house, but the proposition was defeated.

In April, 1850, the board of supervisors,

ing forty by sixty feet, two stories high, the upper part to be a court room and two jury rooms, the lower part to be divided in the center lengthwise by a hall eight feet wide. The sides were to be divided into six rooms, two of which were to be fitted as a jail, the others for the accommodation of the county

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

officers. The walls were to be of brick and the committee believed that the building could be erected for four thousand five hun- dred dollars. The report was adopted and plans set in action to carry out the recom- mendation of the committee. The contract for the building was let to George O. Bach- man, and the building was to be completed November 1, 1851. It was placed in charge of the sheriff on January 6, 1854, but it is evident the building was used for perhaps two years prior to that date. On July 9, 1865, a resolution was adopted that the of- fices occupied by the register and treasurer were too small and inconvenient and were also unsafe for the records and that it was desirable and proper that suitable offices be provided. It was therefore decided that a fire-proof building be erected for the use of those officers, not to exceed three thousand dollars in cost. These last two buildings were occupied by the county until April,

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Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 12

Author: Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub. Number of Pages: 580

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Lansing, Mich. : Hist. Pub.
Number of Pages: 580