Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 25

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 25

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The equipment consists of one hose wagon, one hook-and-ladder wagon, two hand hose carts, one Nott fire engine, one Silsby engine, two teams of horses, and about three thou- sand five hundred feet of hose.

MILLS AND MANUFACTURING

Among the early manufacturing interests of Owosso were those carried on in the pioneer saw mill erected by Daniel Ball & Company in 1837; the grist mill built by Ball, Green & Company in 1839, which burned ten years later ; Felix Casper's wool-carding and cloth-dressing works, established some time between 1840 and 1844; and the building

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

owned and occupied by the Owosso Woolen Manufacturing Company, which was built in 1867 and burned in 1873. Some of these mills have been previously alluded to, but all deserve special mention as examples of new-country enterprise.

The manufacturing interests of to-day are pointed to with a large degree of pride and satisfaction by its citizens and the busy hum of the wheels of industry is the best evidence of the prosperity, peace and happiness of the residents of the city.

The twelfth annual report of the state com- mission of labor gives a general idea of the importance of Owosso's industrial condition by enumerating the manufacturing institu- tions in active operation in the city, and the number of their employes, etc., as follows:

NAME

Character of Business

Number Employes

Ann Arbor Car Shops

Car building and re- pairing.

200

Ann Arbor Railroad Division

Railroad division

225

Estey Manufacturing Co. (A) ..

Furniture

275

Estey Manufacturing Co. (B).

Furniture

175

E. F. Dudley

Renovated butter

Frieseke Bros.

Brick manufacture

M. L. Parker.

Brick manufacture . .

M. Wood & Co ..

Handles

Owosso Casket Co

Funeral supplies

250

Owosso Manufactur- ing Co ..

Window screens

300

Owosso Carriage Co. Robbins Table Co ...

Carriages

Tables

Story Spoke Works ..

Spokes

Woodard Furniture Co ..

Furniture

200

Zimmerman

Base ball bats

Miscellaneous.

255

2,157

Year after year new and important in- terests were added to those already estab- lished and Owosso grew rapidly in popula- tion and wealth. The mighty wheels of prog-

ress have rolled over and well nigh oblit- erated every vestige of the original village. Electricity and steam have superseded water power and on every hand are seen evidences of the highest and best citizenship and civil- ization.

Early in its history the citizens adopted the principle of fostering and encouraging the location of every legitimate enterprise. and the development of the industrial insti- tutions has been the great secret of the city's growth. The first important move in this direction was when citizens secured the loca- tion of the furniture factories of the Estey Manufacturing Company. In 1868 David M. Estey had established a small furniture bus- iness at West Haven, in New Haven town- ship. and as a result of the employment given men a little village sprung up there. The offices and sales department of the company were in Detroit and the mills at West Haven. In 1815 the business was concentrated at Owosso, occupying the frame building, near the Michigan Central depot. at present oc- cupied as an office building by the Groton Bridge Manufacturing Company. In 1879 the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $53,350, paid up. the stockholders being David Estey, of Brattleboro, Vermont. and David M. Estey and Charles E. Rigley. of Owosso. They manufacture bedroom suites, chiffoniers, and sideboards.

The development of the company was mar- velous and is an evidence of what Yankee energy and ingenuity will accomplish when rightly directed. The original plant was soon outgrown. and for two years the company used the handle-factory building, but that proved inadequate and a site was secured on South Washington street on the line of the

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PAST AND PRESENT OF

Grand Trunk Railroad, where a frame build- ing was erected that seemed large in those days, but in 1879 it was again necessary to enlarge to meet the demands of the con- stantly increasing trade, and the four-story brick running parallel, with the street was built, and later the store room paralleling the railroad tracks, which connected with the frame building in the centre by means of bridges. Finally in 1889 the frame was moved out and the massive four-story brick that now fills the intervening space was built, giving a total of two hundred thousand square feet of floor space and completing one of the largest and best factories in the state.

But even this did not suffice to meet the demands of the extensive business that had been created, and in 1891 the Estey Company made itself famous throughout the furniture world by erecting Factory B, a frame build- ing eighty by two hundred and eighty feet, four stories high and modern in all its ap- pointments. The distinguishing feature of this factory is that it was built in fifty-seven and three-quarters actual working hours on the building and thus earned the title "Six- day factory." Photographs of the building were taken each day at two o'clock showing the progress of the work and proving the claim that the factory was really erected in less than six days.

The Estey Manufacturing Company re- tains in its two factories four hundred and fifty employes. The yearly value of this prod- uct is six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and this is increasing each year. The present officers are J. Gray Estey, Brattleboro, Ver- mont, president; O. B. Estey, vice-president ; Charles E. Rigley, Jr., secretary ; Charles E. Rigley, Sr., treasurer.

In 1866 Lyman E. Augustus and William A. Woodard started a furniture factory, the first occupying the site of the old woolen mill, built as early as 1844. This building in 1855 was used as a manufactory for furniture, doors, sash and blinds, and operated by White Brothers. William Woodard conducted the same kind of business and by hard work and close application to business achieved a very large degree of success. The factory was enlarged from time to time and the bus- iness developed until it assumed large propor- tions, employing one hundred and twenty-five men in the several departments. September 3, 1898, the entire plant and some surround- ing property were destroyed by fire. The control of the business had, in the meantime, been acquired by L. E. Woodard, who had taken into the company his sons, Fred B. and Frank J. Woodard. Steps were at once taken to rebuild, on property owned by the com- pany and more convenient for shipping pur- poses, a modern, well arranged factory, and in 1902 the new plant began operations un- der the most favorable conditions. . The fac- tory has a floor space of about one hundred thousand square feet, gives employment to two hundred men, and the annual product al- ready reaches two hundred thousand dollars.

In 1880 Mr. Woodard started as a side line the manufacturing of caskets, and that branch of the business developed to a mar- velous degree. The Owosso Casket Com- pany was at first composed of four or more interested principals, but L. E. Woodard secured entire control within a year after the organization of the company. The first fac- tory was small and the business started in a very humble way, but the quality of the prod- uct soon earned for the Owosso factory a

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

wide reputation, and it became necessary again and again to increase the capacity of the plant, until it now contains about one hundred and twenty-five thousand square feet of space, gives employment to two hundred and fifty men, and the product of the factory reaches nearly half a million dollars. There are no better goods manufactured anywhere than those of the Owosso Casket Company.

L. E. Woodard, the founder of these two large factories, died in 1904, but the business has been continued very successfully since. The present officers of both the Furniture Company and Casket Company are president, Fred B. Woodard; vice-president, Frank J. Woodard; secretary and treasurer, Joe C. Osburn. In connection with the furniture factory, Mr. L. E. Woodard also established a lumber yard, and the business was con- tinued by him and his sons until 1905 when it was sold to Messrs. Michelson and Mul- hall, a very enterprising firm, with ample ' capital to carry on the enterprise. They have moved the yards from the location on West Main street to the lots just east of the casket works, where they have arranged a model yard and one of the best and most complete in central Michigan. The lots upon which the old yard stood will be built up with hand- some residences.

In 1885 Alvin M. Bentley established in Owosso a modest little factory, located on the Michigan Central Railroad just north of the ciepot, and called it the Owosso Manu- facturing Company. The building was not at all pretentious and the articles manufac- tured were wooden hay rakes, scythe snathes, and tool handles. The business was carefully managed and steadily grew in volume. About the year 1889 the company began the manu-

facture of door and window screens and this branch of the business very soon became the prominent feature of the business. In the meantime the factory was being enlarged each year, until it has assumed mammoth pro- portions covering- fourteen acres of ground, the buildings containing over two hundred and fifty thousand square feet of space. The company employs three hundred persons in the factories and the value of the product ag- gregates at least five hundred thousand dol- lars a year. Alvin M. Bentley is president of the company and Arthur E. Stever secre- tary-treasurer.

As outgrowths of the Owosso institution factories have been built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Perla, Arkansas, where the same classes of goods are manufactured. The Owosso factory, however, is the prin- cipal manufacturing point, and the steady development of the business here is a matter of great satisfaction to all concerned.

Still another successful Owosso manufac- turing institution which started in its career on a small scale and won a place of greater importance by virtue of the merit of its prod- uct and the good management of its pro- moters, is the Robbins Table Company. Es- tablished in 1813 by Joseph H. Robbins, Sr., in the small room adjacent to what is now Copas' packing house, an effort was made to produce as good a table as good workman- ship and material could create. The result of such effort could not be other than suc- cessful, and in course of time factory build- ings erected especially for their use were oc- cupied, with a floor space of one hundred and twenty-five thousand square feet. and the business grew to most satisfactory propor- tions.

WASHINGTON STREET, OWOSSO, LOOKING NORTH FROM MAIN STREET

ONAD

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

On the death of his father, the manage- ment fell upon Joseph H. Robbins, Jr., who has continued the business very successfully. The company was incorporated in 1899 with Joseph H. Robbins, president and treasurer, and C. R. Letts, secretary. Nearly eighty skilled workmen are employed and the value of the output will exceed one hundred thou- sand dollars per annum. The Robbins Table Company is one of the solid institutions of the city.

One .of the most important industries to the city and the county is the mammoth fac- tory of the Owosso Sugar Company. Erected in the year 1903, at a cost of one million dol- lars, it is one of the notable industries of Owosso and the county. The development of the beet sugar in recent years and the pecu- liar adaptability of the soil of the Saginaw valley attracted to this section capitalists who had studied the subject and were satis- fied as to its future.

In 1902 a party of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, gentlemen became interested in Owosso as a site for a factory, a committee of local busi- ness men having labored earnestly to secure such an institution here. The mammoth plant was admirably located with sidetracks for reaching the three railroads, and in the season of 1903 made its first sugar from beets. The cultivation of the crop was 11ot understood by farmers and some of them had discouraging experiences, but persevered, with the result that the season just closed has been unusually successful for both the grower and the manufacturer.

Tlie factory has a capacity for slicing one thousand two hundred tons of beets per day of twenty-four hours. This season thie fac- tory handled sixty thousand tons of beets,

which represent the product of about six thousand acres of land. Many farmers real- ized handsomely on their crops, the gross returns amounting to as high as one hundred and seventy dollars per acre. The factory employs about two hundred and fifty men during the season and its pay roll aggregates eighty thousand dollars annually. The officers of the Owosso Sugar Com- pany are President, Captain C. W. Brown, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; vice-presi- dent, Edward Pitcairn, Pittsburg ; secretary- treasurer, Carman N. Smith, Bay City, Mich- igan ; assistant secretary, Bertram E. Smith, Owosso.

BANKING

Under the name of D. Gould & Company and the management of Amos Gould, bank- ing business was first commenced in Owosso in 1854. A new building was erected in 1857, and in 1865 the business of exchange and brokerage was merged into that of the First National Bank. The latter bank organ- ized with a capital of fifty thousand dollars. Upon its organization Amos Gould was elected president, Thomas D. Dewey, vice- president and Adam H. Byerly, cashier.

Mathias L. Stewart established a bank of exchange and brokerage in 1869. He came to Owosso first in 1860 and engaged in mer- chandising, erecting a business block in 1869. In consequence of losing his sense of hear- ing, he closed out his mercantile business and devoted his attention to banking, the firm name in recent years being M. L. Stew- art & Company. In 1882 the brick block on the northwest corner of Washington and Ex- change streets was built for banking pur- poses, and for forty years the institution

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was regarded as one of the most substantial in the state. Mr. Stewart was assisted in the bank by his sons, Charles D. and L. Irv- ing, until the death of the latter in 1900. The responsibility devolved more and more upon Charles D. Stewart as his father's age and declining health bore down upon him. July 25, 1903, Mathias L. Stewart died, loved and honored by all, and fortunately spared the bitter experience that was to come upon the business which had been built up by his life's effort.

At noon on Saturday, April 15, 1904, a notice was posted upon the front door of the bank announcing that business had been sus- pended. Utter consternation prevailed, as the condition was not dreamed of, but the in- fluence of the newspapers and conservative citizens prevented a panic. An assignment was made at once by the surviving partner of the bank and the Detroit Trust Company took charge of affairs. An examination of the books gave the liabilities of the bank at $559,381.46 in which the capital stock of the bank was figured at $28,000.00. The assets claimed exactly equalled the above amount $559,381.46 and it was hoped creditors would realize very largely on their accounts. It developed, however, that large sums of money had been advanced to the Owosso Carriage Company, three-fourths of the stock (seventy-five thousand dollars) being held by the bank. Other securities and real- estate values dwindled, and after months of effort, creditors received from fifty to sixty per cent. The calamity was severely felt by the citizens, there being over two thousand depositors in the bank.

November 14, 1885, there was organized the Second National Bank, with a capital

stock of sixty thousand dollars. Several well known Shiawassee county capitalists were in- tersted and officers were elected as follows : President, Albert G. Nichols; vice-president, Jacob Seligman ; cashier, E. M. Miller ; assis- tant cashier, McElwane Miner. This insti- tution has had a very successful career and has been distinguished for its careful and conservative management.

January 13, 1901, the Second National Bank was changed to a state bank, taking the name, The Owosso Savings Bank. The cap- ital stock was increased to one hundred thou- sand dollars and is regarded a good invest- ment. The same degree of success has con- tinued to characterize this institution and it enjoys the fullest confidence of the commun- ity. The total amount of business done by this bank, according to its last statement to the state banking commissioner, was $671,-' 276.42, the amount of deposits in the com- mercial and savings departments aggregating $556,341.09. The present officers of the bank are: President Charles E. Rigley, Sr .; vice- president, Charles W. Gale; cashier, Asa D. Whipple; assistant cashier, George Sweet.

The Citizens' Savings Bank is the title un- der which Isaac H. Keeler organized a state bank February 10, 1896. The capital stock was fifty thousand dollars. An elegant three- story brick block was erected on the south- west corner of Washington and Exchange streets, and the bank was located on the cor- ner, in quarters admirably fitted for it. The affairs of the bank have been conducted in a manner that has won the commendation of the public, the best evidence of which is the large volume of business transacted by it. Starting out with deposits amounting to $5,- 390.09, their statement ten years later

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

showed an aggregate of 560,204.92 on dc- posit. This remarkable development is scarcely equalled by any bank in the state and is a credit to the enterprise of the gen- tlemen comprising the directorate.

The officers of the bank are: President, Issac H. Keeler, vice-president, William H. Bigelow; cashier, Gilbert L. Taylor; tel- lers, Jay Matteson and Oliver L. Davis. The directors are J. W. Simmons, W. E. Hall, Albert Todd, M. C. Davis, M. S. Keeler, Rudolph Colby, George L. Keeler, I. H. Keeler, W. H. Bigelow.

ELECTRIC LINES

Owosso is so situated it will surely be- come the centre of electric railway lines, di- verging in all directions. The first street and interurban road was built in 1893, traversing some of the more important bus- iness streets and extending to Corunna, thus bringing into close contact the social and in- dustrial interests of the two cities. This line at first used steam as the propelling power, but after two years electricity was substi- tuted. The Owosso & Corunna Electric Company has franchises extending from Owosso to Durand, and work on the exten- sion of the line to the latter point is now in progress.

At the present time franchises are held by a company having ample capital for a line extending from Grand Rapids to Pontiac, which is to be modern in all its appointments and equipped with the most approved ap- pliances. The line has three divisions, the first to be known as the Grand Rapids & Ionia division, the second as the Ionia & Owosso division, and the third as the Owosso & Pontiac division. Owosso being ncar the

centre of the system will have a large power- house and storage plant and be the important point on the line. The road is expected to be in operation by 1907.

The Saginaw Bay Southwestern Railway is to run from Bay City through Saginaw, Chesaning, Oakley and on to Owosso, the franchise covering several of the streets of the city. At the same time the Jackson- Lansing line is pushing northward, having already reached Pine lake, north of Lansing. This line, when completed, will, therefore, give a through line from Bay City to Jack- son. With them and the four railroads now passing through the city, Owosso pos- sesses unequalled traveling and shipping fa- cilities.

EDUCATIONAL

Samuel N. Warren, who officiated as clerk at the first township clection, in 1837, and was elected as one of the assessors at the same meeting, taught the first school in the village, in the winter of 1837-8. This was a private school and its sessions were held in an unoccupied log house.

Prior to this, however, some action had been taken by school inspectors and the school director, as will be shown by the fol- lowing extracts from the records: "At a meeting of the inspectors of primary schools of the township of Owosso, held at the office of the township clerk, Tuesday, August S. 1837, Alfred L. Williams and Elias Com- stock were present. Elias Comstock was chosen chairman of the board, whereupon it was concluded to set off sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26 in township ? north, of range 2 east, and sections ?, 8, 17, 18, 19, and 30, in township ? north, of range 3 east,

BAPTIST CHURCH AND PARSONAGE CATHOLIC, CHURCH .

OWOSSO CHURCHES

ST. JOHANNES EVANGELICAL CHURCH CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

FIRST M. E. CHURCH

SALEM EVANGELICAL CHURCH

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY

as school district No. 1, and the first school meeting therein shall be held at the store of A. L. and B. O. Williams in the village of Owosso on the 22d day of August, 1837, at four P. M."

The meeting was held and B. O. Williams elected director. October 2, 1837, he ren- dered his annual report, as follows :

"To the Township Board of School Inspec- tors :

"GENTLEMEN : I hereby transmit you a report of the condition of schools in district No. 1, of which I have the honor to be the director, to wit: The whole number of chil- dren in my district between the ages of five and seventeen years is thirty.

"There has been no school taught in the district and no moneys have been received by me. The district has voted to raise the fol- lowing sums for school purposes, viz .: five hundred dollars for building a school house, seventy-five dollars for the purchase of a school library-case, and ten dollars for the purchase of books.

"I have the honor to be, gentlemen, "Your obedient servant, "B. O. WILLIAMS."

The first school building was not erected until 1840. This was a small frame building and answered the purpose until 1858, when a large and substantial brick building was erected. The old school house, repaired and enlarged, was used many years afterward as a house of worship by the German Lutheran church society.

The new building was designed to accom- modate two hundred pupils, and the school consisted of three grades,-the primary, the intermediate, and the upper departments, where the higher English branches were

taught, also the languages and music, both vocal and instrumental.

A few years subsequently the brick build- ing was enlarged, and in still later years frame school houses were built in the var- ious wards. These were replaced by sub- stantial brick buildings. The handsome cen- tral building, crected at a cost of eighty thousand dollars is well equipped for the work of all the grades. Forty-eight teachers are employed, in addition to the superinten- dent. The first graduating class was sent out in June, 1870. The graduates of the Owosso high school now number five hun- dred and fifty-seven.

In thirty-seven years the schools have had ten different superintendents. But four of these have occupied the position during the last twenty-seven years. They are O. C. Seclye, superintendent for six years; A. J. Swain, three years; E. T. Austin, four years ; and J. W. Simmons, fourteen years.

RELIGIOUS

Among the early settlers of Owosso and its immediate vicinity were a number of Baptists. They commenced holding religious services in June, 1836, their devotions con- sisting of singing and prayer, and the read- ing of published sermons by some one of their number. As brethern of other denom- inations came in they temporarily united with these people and greatly assisted in maintain- ing religious worship.

The first sermon was preached in the fall of 1836 by Rev. Samuel Wilkinson, of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was an early resident of the county, a pioncer teacher, also, and subsequently removed to Flint. Rev. John Booth, a Baptist pioncer

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minister, delivered the next sermon some time in the year 1837.

On the 13th of January, 1838, a meeting was held at the house of Elias Comstock for the purpose of organizing a church to be known as the First Baptist church of Owosso. The organization was effected, the society having eleven members during its first year. The early meetings were held at houses of Deacon Comstock and John F. Swain. The church continued to hold meet- ings until 1843. Although it then had re- ceived about fifty members, its organization was dissolved. Several of its members united with the Maple River church, where they continued until the formation of the present

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF OWOSSO

This church was organized November 15, 1856, Rev. S. Chase of Detroit being present and assisting. In May, 1857, the church was received into the Shiawassee Baptist Asso- ciation. Rev. Joel Lyon was the first regular pastor, being called to the position in April, 1858. Meetings were held in Gould Hall until the first house of worship was com- pleted, early in the '60s. This building was twenty-four by fifty feet in dimensions and cost six hundred dollars.

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Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches, Part 25

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