Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 13

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 13

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1903, when the county having voted an ap- propriation of seventy-five thousand dollars to erect a new court house, the old building was abandoned and torn down to make room for the new building.

The corner stone of the present court house was laid Wednesday, May 4, 1904, ac- cording to the forms and customs of the ancient craft of Free and Accepted Masons, Grand Master Fletcher E. Turrell, assisted by the grand lodge officers, officiating. The impressive ceremonies were witnessed by the largest concourse of people that had ever assembled in Shiawassee county on any oc- casion, the event attracting thousands of citizens who desired to witness a ceremony which ordinarily occurs but once in a life- time. The building was first occupied by the county officers January 1, 1906. The first regular term of court held in the court room was opened by Judge Selden S. Miner, January 22, 1906.

CORNER STONE LAYING

The laying of the corner stone for the new court house in Corunna, May 24, 1904, was one of the important events in the his- tory of Shiawassee county; and the commit- tee of arrangements did the most appropriate thing in inviting Judge Hugh McCurdy to deliver the address. This speech has become a part of the history of the county and will be read with interest by generations yet un- born. He spoke substantially as follows :

"Last week, at the request of the com- mittee, I called upon Judge Josiah Turner, of Owosso, and requested him to be present to-day as the guest of honor of the county

of Shiawassee. I found the venerable jurist in good health for a man of ninety-two years, and his intellect clear and strong as of yore.

"He informed me that he thought he would not be able to be present at the lay- ing of the corner stone, much as he desired to be. However, he entertained a lively hope that he would be able to be present at the dedication of the new court house. He also desired me to tender the citizens of Shia- wassee county his congratulations for the good work in which they were engaged, and to thank them most sincerely for elect-

CORUNNA JOURNAL

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY COURT HOUSE AND JAIL

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

ing him to the judgeship of this county for twenty-five years-just one-half of the life- time of the old court house. However, he hardly expected to preside upon its bench for that long period.

"Mr. Chairman, Most Worshipful Grand Master, Brethren, Sir Knights and Neigh- bors of the County of Shiawassee: The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone in the corner. It is good to cele- brate events that conspicuously mark human progress. The records of the race are full of precedents for the spirit that calls us to- gether now. That Bible, ever open upon our altars, which we all venerate and which plays so significant a part in the symbolism of our Ancient and Accepted Order, fur- nishes many instances of the festival spirit, but none more sharply engages our interest in the laying of corner stones than we find re- corded in the Bible, and the dedication of temples of which the Old Testament gives so flowing an account. It would be presumptuous in me to enlarge upon an event with which every Bible scholar here is familiar-and I take it that all good Free Masons are Bible scholars.

"Just now we are concerned in a twen- tieth-century event, but there is solemn majesty in the thought that our traditions directly connect us with that remote Old Testament which attaches to the laying of corner stones. In the book of Job, believed to be the oldest literary production extant, the Great Architect and Builder of the Uni- verse is thus reported to have addressed the Patriarch: 'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? , or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof?' The importance of the corner stone is further ac- knowledged by the figurative and symbolical use for which it is often employed. It is re- corded in the book of Isaiah, 'therefore thus saith the Lord God: behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a pre- cious corner stone, a sure foundation.'

"The custom of laying the corner stone with public demonstrations of great pomp and ceremony is of very early origin. The corner stone of Westminster Abbey was laid on the 24th day of June, 1502, by a lodge of Master Masons, at which King Henry VII. presided in person, as grand master. In 1607 the corner stone of the palace of Whitehall was laid by King James I., in the presence of Grand Master Jones and his wardens, who were attended by many brethren, clothed in form, and other eminent persons, who had been invited on the occasion. The ceremony was conducted with great show and splendor. In 1673 the corner stone of St. Paul's ca- thedral, London, was laid in solemn form by King George I., attended by Grand Mas- ter Rivers, his architect and craftsman, in the presence of the nobility and gentry the lord mayor and aldermen, the bishop and clergy and a large assembly of the brethren; and in this country the corner stones of nearly all the public build- ings are laid with Masonic ceremonies. The corner stone of the first national 'capitol at Washington was laid by Brother George Washington, president of the United States, acting as grand master of the grand lodge of the State of Virginia, on the 18th day of September, 1793; and the corner stone of the capitol of this state, at Lansing, was laid

PAST AND PRESENT OF

with Masonic ceremonies on Thursday, the 2d day of October, 1879, by Grand Master Hugh McCurdy and the officers of the grand lodge, and there were present thirty-one sub- ordinate lodges from different parts of the state. The grand commandery of Knights Templars and twenty-one subordinate com- manderies were also present. The governor and all the state officers and judges were present, and it was one of the grandest gala days the state has ever witnessed.

"Free Masons were originally a company of builders. Their monuments of matchless skill adorn the world and challenge the ad- miration of the earth. Their masterly mod- els for modern imitation have existed ever since symmetry began to be a science, and the rules of harmony displayed her charms.

"The craft were associated not only for the promotion of architectural science, but 'also for the maintenance of that high order of integrity which is the dictate of divine law. And, although, in the lapse of time, our operative labors have been brought to a close, there is yet a peculiar fitness in calling upon our ancient fraternity to shape and lay the corner stone of this contemplated temple of justice. Though empires of the old world have risen, flourished and fallen, dynasties · have come and gone, and ages upon ages have rolled away, yet Free Masonry, true to its history and work, and stronger and higher than ever, comes to-day, at the bud- ding of the twentieth century, to perform a grand and solemn ceremony, taught it by a fraternity that dates its dawn early enough to have had the wise King of Israel for a building master. It may have outlived the circumstances of its origin; and the neces- sities which called it into existence may have

long since passed away, no longer to shape its distinctive features ; but the hand of time has not been laid upon its grand living prin- ciple of 'charity,' which stands to-day and will forever remain the crowned queen among the virtues. It may have no more monuments of stone to rear ; yet never, since the days of Hiram, King of Tyre, did it have nobler functions than it this day per- forms.

"Springing from the source of light, its rays illuminate the world and radiate an ef- fulgent brilliance from all its ceremonies. Its principles, having the sanction of the Great Jehovah, and laying their foundation deep in the truths of His revealed word, inspire its work to-day. In no view, then, is the application of the Plumb, Level and Square to the chosen corner stone an idle ceremony. It must be a perfect square, strong and du- rable-well formed, true and trusty; and in these requirements as well as in the imple- ments we use, every Mason and citizen may see the symbols of that noble manhood, which, standing on the plain of equality, regulates its conduct by the Plumb line of Rectitude, the Square of Virtue and the Trowel of Brotherly Love. On the corner stone, when it is well and truly laid, are poured the significant elements of corn, wine and oil-the emblems of plenty, refreshment and consolation. May the blessings sym- bolized by these elements descend upon all who are engaged in the work of erecting this building to be set apart for the use of the judiciary and officials of this county ; and may the work prosper to a speedy and happy completion and remain for years to come a monument to the zeal, intelligence and liber- ality of the county of Shiawassee and to its

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

devotion to the rights of men and the honor of God.

"No matter how minutely we go into craft we shall see that Free Masonry is and always has been the promoter of true social advance- ment, a conservator of morals, a guaranty of good citizenship, an upholder of the his- tory and the personnel of our Christianity, a means of spreading education, a prolific nest of patriotism, and a fabric whose warp and woof are . the imperishable and invincible principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity -Liberty, the choicest gift of heaven, with- out which life were as nothing; Equality, wherein men are brothers, as man and man should be; and Fraternity, the last best fruit, Jean Paul Richter says, which comes to per- fection -- tenderness toward the hard, for- bearance toward the unforbearing; warmth of heart toward the cold and philanthropy toward the misanthropic.

"Surely there is somewhat of truth in the old fantastic conceit that 'the heart of man is older than his head.' And where shall we find a greater heart, or a kindlier beating heart, than in the Masonic fold. . The life and example of the men I see here form a tree whose fruit must be golden and of good savor, and under the grateful shade of whose spreading limbs men and Free Masons shall refresh themselves and rest during many coming generations, long after our swords are rust and we are dust.

"Side by side with the administration of the functions of municipal government shall the supremacy of the law be maintained in this temple.

"Devotion to law, fidelity to duty, loyalty to the principles of self-government have ever distinguished the Anglo-Saxon race. The

sturdy qualities of mind and body, which have been the glory of this people, have been the sustaining force of the ideas of liberty. Through its history runs this spirit. Its ear- liest records show a comprehension of the significant fact that law was created for the relief, not the oppression of the governed. Amid the dim obscurity of the early reach- ings out after this principle, at times it seems to have been lost in the darkness; yet the vital spark has never been extinguished, and though often hidden from sight, has burnt on as though sacredly fed by the divine hand of the Promethean angel. Its splendid characteristic has been that it did not reach perfection at once. The tests and trials of the centuries were the needed discipline for its development. The recognition of this principle that law should protect and not op- press gave birth to the conviction that self- government was an inalienable right of man. How brightly shines this truth upon the pages of this people's history. From the fatherland it came in the beginning. Deep in the recesses of the virgin forests of Ger- many it had its woodland temples. Well has it been said that in the woods of Slos- wick English parliaments were born. The Saxon banner raised on English soil was the signal of the transplanting there of this principle. The fierce pirate kings of the north swept down upon it, left it crushed, and yet it lived again. The Norman could not shake its integrity. It died not with Harold at Hastings. John could not destroy it. Magna Charta was its early offspring. Behold it transplanted to the shores of the new world. Witness that tempest-tossed bark upon whose deck clustered the little band of Puritan pioneers. Amid all adverse

BUILDINGS ON THE COUNTY FARM

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

surroundings, there burnt in that precious freight of hearts within the Mayflower the light of liberty to be set again in the dark forests of an unknown wilderness, to be brought to brilliant perfection by the sacri- fices of human effort and the expenditure of human activity. A blow from tyranny smote it into living fire. It burnt at Lexington, at Bunker Hill, at Yorktown. Few and insig- nificant were its defenders, and yet they triumphed.

"And at last behold it crystallized into the federal constitution. This is the fabric the centuries have woven. We have tested it on foreign battle fields, among the halls of the Montezumas, upon the coast of the Afric pirate. In internecine strife it has been welded into everlasting strength. It shall never die. The law is supreme-supreme because it is just.

"In the beginning God said let there be light and there was light. In that self same moment law was born, the law which bids the day succeed the night, which brings the change of seasons, which bids the stars sing together, the planets roll, which unbars the gates of life and death, which teaches the human soul to hope for immortality. Nations seized the angelic hand extended. That grasp which linked the finite to the in- finite has been for good and evil. Yet, amid all its perversions its vital essence his lived to bless men. And to-day men bow to it in reverent love, not fear, for in its preserva- tion they see assured human safety, happi-

ness and prosperity. To this principle is this monument consecrated.

"Beautiful in architectural design as this temple may become, and imposing in ap- pearance, let us remember it is but the har- binger of greater accomplishments and achievement. And when it shall have been completed and accepted by the county, as done in the due course of time, may the pur- pose for which it is intended ever be held as a most sacred trust. May it become some- thing more than a vast, imposing edifice, something more than a grand monument representing the energy and intelligence of the people of this county; may it become in fact as well as in name the temple of justice. May the goddess of justice never be blind. May the scales of justice ever be equally balanced; equal privileges, equal rights, equal justice to all-rich and poor alike.

"Reaching skyward, may these walls ever stand an emblem of justice. Within them may the wronged find right, the oppressed gain relief. May the forum they inclose be ever the theater where innocence shall tri- umph and swift retribution overtake the guilty. May the eyes of honest men shine with new light as they rest upon this struc- ture, and the face of crime hide itself in its presence as before the flashing sword of an avenging angel. Dedicated to justice and law, may it rise forever a temple of freedom, and at its gates may the solemn acclaim of a free people pronounce for it a perpetual benediction of love."

PAST AND PRESENT OF

THE COUNTY FARM

The first action of the county government in reference to the county poor was taken by the board of commissioners January 9, 1839, when Sanford M. Green, Isaac Castle, and Hiram Stowell were appointed superin- tendents of the poor. Nothing further ap- pears of record until December 24, 1841, when the distinction between town and county poor was abolished, and the county assumed the entire charge. The sum of two hundred dollars was appropriated from the incidental fund for that purpose.

January 7, 1847, the board of supervisors directed the superintendents of the poor to purchase a farm, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres, and to erect suitable build- ings thereon, for which purpose the sum of two thousand dollars was to be raised by tax. October 13, 1847, eighty acres of land (the south half of the southwest quarter of. section 32, Caledonia) were purchased for a county farm. A log house was first used as a home, but at intervals appropriations for improvements were made and in 1859 sub- stantial frame buildings were erected.

The report of the superintendents of the

poor for the year ending September 1, 1879, shows that the expenses on the farm for that year were two thousand sixty dollars and thirty-nine cents; that the value of products raised on the farm was about one thousand dollars ; that the number of persons receiving support there was thirty-two.

The county farm is located two and one- half miles southwest of Corunna and now contains one hundred and twenty acres. The home is a fine modern building of brick, its dimensions forty-four by one hundred and four feet. The number of inmates averages forty-six and they are carefully looked after by Mr. N. E. Mckenzie, who has been keeper of the farm for the past twelve years.

The present superintendents are Arthur W. Green, of Corunna; James A. Armstrong, of Owosso; and Harvey B. McLaughlin, of Vernon. While they conduct the affairs of their department with rigid economy, every effort is put forth to make the county's unfortunate charges comfortable and happy. Under the supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Kenzie the place has become the model poor farm of the state.

AGRICULTURE

In the history of its agriculture Shiawas- first, potatoes and corn in the little clear- ings close by the cabin homes, and then wheat, as soon as sufficient space had been plowed among the stumps. see probably differs very little from nearly all the counties in the southern part of the lower peninsula. The earliest crops raised in the fresh soil of the new land were, of After the first struggle with poverty was over, and particularly after improved means course, only those required for the sus- tenance of the settlers and their families,- of transportation were secured, wheat be-

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

came the crop upon which the early farmers depended for a revenue in money. In a few years, corn, barley, oats and other grains were produced in large quantities, but wheat was the crop which provided a competence for those who had cleared the land, and it remained the principal one until the great prairie states of the northwest began to pour their marvelous production of that grain upon the markets of an astonished world. Then Michigan farmers turned their atten- tion to other crops, and the raising of beans almost entirely replaced wheat culture in the southeastern part of the state. A compara- tively new product of the soil of Shiawassee, and one which yearly attracts increased at- tention, is sugar beets. The recent erection at Owosso of a factory for the manufacture of beet sugar has given an impetus to the raising of this product, and the convenient market thus afforded makes it one of the most valuable crops now produced.

The raising of cattle and sheep has been carried on to a considerable extent, but has never assumed as great importance here as in some other parts of the state. In recent years one of the profitable practices in con- nection with the sheep industry has been the importing of lambs from the western states for the purpose of fattening them for the eastern markets. This business, which is com- monly called "sheep feeding," has become so attractive to the larger farmers as to produce a new style in the architecture of farm barns. Being designed for the housing of sheep, the barns are built without floors and cover an immense ground space, the dimensions of some of the latest examples being seventy- five by one hundred feet. One can now scarcely drive many miles through Shiawas-

see county without seeing one of these pe- culiar barns with its spreading main building one story in height and its loft rising above the center like a mammoth dome. In some cases the roof descends the whole distance in a tent-like slope and if the building is painted some color other than the ubiquitous "barn- red," the appearance is not unsuggestive of a great tabernacle.

The Shiawassee County Agricultural Soci- ety was formed in 1850 for the purpose of conducting an annual fair, the first one being held in the fall of that year, at Corunna. At the fifth, held in October, 1854, there were three hundred and twenty-two entries and the total receipts were eighty-one dollars and twenty-five cents. The following year the receipts were one hundred and forty-six dollars.

A successor to the old society, using the same name, was organized March, 1860, and began holding fairs at Owosso each year, usually in September. These were continued until 1896.

In 1886 a rival society was organized at Bancroft, under the name of the Bancroft Market Fair Association. Its members in- cluded many of the most substantial farmers of the southern half of the county as well as the business men of Bancroft. Its fairs were held at Bancroft, on grounds leased by the society and fitted up for the purpose, and the institution flourished until 1901, when the fairs were discontinued. Since that year the time-honored "county fair" has been a thing unknown in Shiawassee.

About twenty years ago a new movement began in the line of agricultural societies, which was destined to achieve great popu- larity. The different fair associations had

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PAST AND PRESENT OF

been really business enterprises, although the profits had been of most uncertain quantity, but the new society was strictly social in its nature. This was the now well and widely known Farmers' Club movement, which started in this county, February 4, 1886, with the organization, by Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Woodin, of the Burton Farmers' Club, with ten families as charter members. This club is stili in active operation.

The following year the Maple River Club was formed and shortly afterward the North Owosso Club. Since then clubs have been organized in nearly every township in the county, there being no restrictions, however, as to territorial limits; each club making its own rules regarding membership. At the present time there are ten active clubs in the county, with a membership ranging from six- teen to twenty-four families. There is a county association which is merely a confed- eration of clubs; but, acting with the state organization, it is a sort of unofficial auxil- iary to the Farmers' Institute work.

The club meetings are held monthly, dur- ing the daytime, at the homes of members,

and as promoters of social intercourse among inhabitants of the county have never been equaled. The number attending fre- quently approaches one hundred and fifty, and is by no means confined to the families of farmers, the members entertaining the club being unrestricted in the matter of in- viting guests. The subjects discussed con- cern the social, moral, political and financial welfare of the nation in general and of the rural population in particular, and the con- clusions arrived at sometimes visibly affect the trend of county government and state legislation.

An earlier organization, but one less widely known because of its being a secret society, is the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, more commonly called the "Grange" on account of its local lodges being styled granges. The first lodge of the order in this county was formed at Burns, near the old Knaggs post at the Grand Saline, in 1873. Besides the Burns Grange, which has continued in active operation since its organization, there are six others in the county, their total member- ship being about five hundred.

THE SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY

In May, 1861, Enoch Eddy, G. Sugden, Ezra D. Barnes, N. G. Phillips, Ezekiel Cook, Isaac Gale, Norman Green, Enos Merrill, Benjamin Walker, and William Newberry associated themselves together as an incor- porated company for the transaction of in- surance business, under the title of the Shiawassee County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. The articles of association limited

the territory to Shiawassee county and re- stricted the insurance to dwellings, barns, and other buildings upon farms.

In 1867 the company had three hundred and forty-six outstanding policies, with an assessment that year of fourteen hundred and twenty-three dollars and forty-four cents, and expenses of one hundred and fifty-three dollars and fifteen cents.

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

The company has steadily increased in use- fulness and is now one of the most settled and substantial institutions in the county. Its annual report for December 31, 1905, gives the number of its outstanding policies as three thousand five hundred and fifty-

one, covering a total risk of sixty thou- sand three hundred and eighty-nine dol- lars and eighty-seven cents. Total losses paid in 1905 were eighteen thousand three hundred and sixteen dollars and seventy-seven cents.

THE PIONEER SOCIETY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

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Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 13

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