USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 96
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Miss Lizzie Dancer, aged fifteen, who was re- turning from Ann Arbor where she was attend- ing school, was killed at Mill Creek, December 15. 1903. Her line broke and the horse ran away, throwing Miss Dancer out of her cutter on the
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Mill Creek bridge. Her skull was fractured and death came quickly.
The supervisors of Lima have been :
Russell Parker 1834-6
Rodney Ackley 1837-40
Russell Whipple 1841
Darius Pierce 1842-3
John L. Clements 1844
William Warner 1845-7
Darius Pierce
1848
William Warner 1849
Darius Pierce 1850
Philip Staring 1851-3
Morris Thompson 1854
William Warner 1855
Darius Pierce 1856
Morris Thompson 1857-8
Darius Pierce
1859
Russell Whipple 1860
Morris Thompson
1861-5
Russell Whipple
1866-7
George S. Freer. 1868-70
Chauncey B. Steadman. 1870
Ebenezer Smith
.1871
Nathan Pierce 1872-3
Byron C. Whitaker 1874
Nathan Pierce 1875-6
Charles Whitaker 1877-9
Finley B. Whitaker. 1879
Walter H. Dancer
1880-I
Marcus S. Cook. 1882-3
John V. N. Gregory 1884-90
Walter H. Dancer 1890
Fred Wedemeyer
1891-2
Walter H. Dancer
1893-5
David E. Beach
1896-01
Fred C. Haise
1902
LODI.
Lodi township was organized by an act of the legislature March 7, 1834, and the first authorized township meeting was held at the house of Orrin Howe. As early as 1831, however, at attempt had been made to organize a township government, and at an election in that year Orrin Howe and Smith Lapham were chosen justices of the peace and Jonathan Hatch town clerk. Some of the
early happenings in the township were tragic, in- deed. A. M. Gilbert, who settled in the township in 1826, died two years later, leaving a wife and ten children. Shortly after this the eldest son, Orrin Gilbert, was lost while hunting and when his body was found it was seen that he had per- ished from starvation. In his fight for existence he had even eaten the fingers of both his hands. Among the first ministers to preach in Lodi were Elder Twist, a Baptist, Rev. Ira Weed, a Presby- terian and Rev. E. W. Pilcher, a Methodist. Services were at first held in private houses but in 1829 a log schoolhouse built at Lodi Plains was used for the double purpose of a school and a church. In February, 1836, the Presbyterian church of Lodi was organized by the Rev. Ira M. Weed. Timothy Hunt, a Baptist in belief, gener- ously donated five acres of land for the church and parsonage and upon this a frame church was erected in the winter of 1837, the Rev. J. B. Kanouse being the first pastor. Later this church was reorganized in 1854 as the Independent Church of Lodi, and in 1854 the church building was sold to the Baptist church of North Adams, to which place it was moved. The pastors of the church from the time of its organization have been Rev. J. B. Kanouse, Rev. A. B. Corning, Rev. H. B. McMath, Rev. L. M. Glover. Rev. C. G. Clark and Rev. Justin Marsh. There is not to- day in Lodi either a church, a grist mill, a saloon, or a village. In 1847 Professor Nutting estab- lished an academy on Lodi Plains and a building for it was erected in that year. This academy was carried on for ten years and was quite famous, many who became prominent in later years hav- ing graduated from it. It drew scholars from a long distance and contributed largely to the social and intellectual advancement of the township. The academy was carried on by Professor Nut- ting until his advanced age forced him to give up the enterprise.
In 1837 the township of Lodi contained a popu- lation of 1,063 and it boasted of 161 horses, 987 sheep, 1,859 logs and 955 head of neat stock. During this year it had produced 17,236 bushels of wheat, 9,252 bushels of corn, 17,130 bushels of oats, 519 bushels of buckwheat and 385 pounds of flax.
765
PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
On June 14. 1882. the 15-year-old daughter of Frank Finger was killed while riding on a wagon on some loose boards which slipped in going down hill. She was thrown on one of the wheels and her neck broken. dying instantly.
The supervisors since 1880 have been :
Michael Staebler 1880-I
Egnert P. Harper 1882-3
Michael Staebler 1884
Leopold Blaess 1885
James Sage 1886-7
George J. Mann 1888-9
Lester J. Sweetland 1800-I
Michael Sage 1892-3
Michael Grosshans 1804-5
Ira E. Wood 1896-7
Daniel Seyler 1898-9
Ira E. Wood 1900-OI
Michael F. Grosshans 1902 .
LYNDON.
The township of Lyndon was organized in 1836 and the first election held on April 1, 1837. with forty-two voters participating. resulted in the selection of Horace Leek as supervisor and Jesse Rose as town clerk. Every voter in the town- ship was thought to have been present at this elec- tion. When the census was taken in that year it was found that the township had a population of 361, who rode thirty-two horses, sheared seven- teen sheep and had 417 hogs which they hoped to put in their pork barrels. In that year the in- habitants raised 6,002 bushels of wheat. 1.879 bushels of corn, 3,665 bushels of oats. 988 bushels of buckwheat and 150 pounds of flax. The town- ship never became thickly populated. A large portion of the township is under water and the lakes are very numerous, some of them being very beautiful. Among the lakes are South lake. Collin's lake, Gruen lake, Island lake, Gorman's lake, Clark's lake, Watson's lake, Cassidy's lake. Sugar Loaf lake, Mud lake. Boyce lake. Spruce lake. Sullivan lake, Wild Goose lake, Half Moon lake. Blind lake, Eagle lake. Daniel's lake, Wes- sell's lake, Moran lake, Rook lake, Moore lake, and many others. There are no churches, villages or postoffices within the township, which is purely
an agricultural one. There has not been a hotel in the township for over sixty years. In the early days houses of entertainment were kept by Wade. Snyder. Buck. Mosier and Healy. Mr. Wade's tavern has been described as a log house covered with bark, with a log shelf resting on pins driven into the sidewall on which was a bot- tle of whisky. a drinking glass and a broken pitcher. The first private school in the township was conducted by Miss Angel Green and the first district school by John K. Yocum, who held school in a log building erected in the fall of 1837. Lyndon has furnished one member of Congress in the Hon. James S. Gorman, now of Chelsea, who, when elected to congress in 1890, was a Lyndon farmer.
The supervisors of Lyndon from its organiza- tion in 1837 down to 1880 were: Horace Leek, Selah B. Collins, W'm. Wilcox. E. L. Day, John K. Yocum. Thomas Clark. Washington Beeman, Geo. Rowe. W'm. Wessell, Thomas Young and Benj. C. Boyce. From 1880 the supervisors of the township have been :
Benjamin C. Boyce 1880
John Clark 1881-2
Fred A. Howlett 1883-6
Thomas Young. Jr. 1887-94
James Howlett 1895-8
William B. Collins. 1899
George Runciman 1900-02
Edward Gorman
1903
George Runciman
. 1904
MANCHESTER.
The first township meeting in the newly or- ganized township of Manchester was held at the schoolhouse in the village of Manchester on Mon- day, April 3. 1837. less than a month after the legislature had passed a law separating Manches- ter from Bridgewater, the two townships having previously constituted the township of Hixon. James H. Fargo was the moderator of this meet- ing, Joshua L. Smith, William S. Carr and Levi B. Pratt. the inspectors of election, and William D. Clark, secretary. James H. Fargo was elected supervisor. having received seventy-eight votes to one from George J. Parker and one for John
46
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
B. Crane. The other township officers elected at this time were : Clerk-William D. Clark ; Justices -Samuel Palmer, Joseph S. Clark and Fordyce Foster: Assessors-Joshua L. Smith, James Stevens and Thomas Morgan: Commissioners of Highways-Erastus Palmer, Levi B. Pratt and Henry Hall; School Inspectors-John B. Case, Thomas Stockwell and John B. Crane ; Overseers of the Poor-Morris Frost, Levi B. Pratt ; Con- stables-George Roberts and Samuel W. Foster : and Collector-George Roberts. There was some- what of a contest for one of the justices, for which office Fordyce Foster received forty-four votes and Morris Foster thirty-five. The path masters, elected by viva voce vote at this meet- ing, were Thomas Green, Daniel Cross, Zenas Root, James H. Fargo, George Roberts, Joseph Noyes and Fred Valentine. These men were also made fence viewers and pound masters. A bounty of $10 was offered for each wolf killed and $25 was voted for the support of the poor of the town- ship. Mr. Roberts resigning the office of col- lector and constable in October, William Carter was elected by the town board in his place. Many of the older settlers of Manchester had come from Manchester, New York. The Indians had a high sounding name for the township: "Mashawesid Senibawegin." Manchester village, one of the best villages of the county, stands on land taken up from the government by John Gilbert, who chose the land for the express purpose of start- ing a village. Mr. Gilbert built a grist mill on his land and let the contract for its construction to Emanuel Case. Emanuel Case also built a sawmill for Major Gilbert in 1832, which was the first sawmill in the township. Case also built the first hotel, which was located where the Freeman house now is, in the same year. In 1833 the ter- ritorial government appointed Mr. Case a justice and he acted in that capacity until the township of Manchester was reorganized. The inhabitants of Manchester village in 1834 were William S. and Elijah G. Carr, Benjamin and Emanuel Case, and Mrs. Annabel and J. Soule. William S. Carr ran a store and Soule ran a sawmill. In this same year the first schoolhouse in the village of Manchester was built by Lewis Allen. At this time a bridge built of poles spanned the River
Raisin, and in November, 1834. Dr. Bennett F. Root, the first physician in the township of Man- chester, then a man of seventy-one years of age, fell through this bridge into the river, but for- tunately escaped with his life. Dr. Root came to Manchester with his two brothers in 1834 and was kept very busy owing to the needs of the early settlers, nearly all of whom came down with the ague or intermittent fever shortly after they began plowing their land. Some days he was obliged to prescribe for forty or fifty people within twenty-four hours ; yet, notwithstanding the many cases of sickness there were few deaths in the township in 1838. A distillery was started by Barnabus Case and Benjamin Davis, and shortly afterwards Elias Fountain, John Faulkner, Benja- min French and F. Freeman purchased an interest in it. The same year a wildcat bank was started with George Howe as president and James Erwin as cashier. At this time it was supposed that Manchester would become a city and a number of young men from the east, hoping to locate in business in a growing town, chose Manchester in preference to Ann Arbor as a location. For some years an agitation was on foot to separate the western tier of townships of Washtenaw county and the eastern tier of townships of Jack- son county and form a new county of which Manchester should be the county seat, but this plan never materialized, and so, although Man- chester has continued to have a steady growth for many years, it still remains a village, but one of the best of the villages of Washtenaw county. The pioneers were called out during the Black Hawk war under the expectation that it would reach Washtenaw, and were placed under arms under Colonel Fellows: but the war scare died down as the Sac warriors were never allowed to get within several hundred miles of Washte- naw. Manchester furnished her quota of troops in the Toledo war and they also were placed under the command of Colonel James H. Fellows, and occupied the disputed strip of land as an army of occupation for the period of three months.
By 1837 Manchester had a grist mill, three sawmills and six merchants. It was. however, not incorporated as a village until 1867, when a charter was obtained. The first officers elected
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
were : President, Newman Granger : recorder. Alvinza S. Dowdy: treasurer, Philetus Coon ; trustees. Munson Goodyear, Marcus D. Case, Conrad Lehn, Joseph Ottmar, and James S. Rey- nolds. Through the efforts of the Hon. J. D. Corey, then a member of the Michigan house of representatives, the necessary bill of incorpor- ation had been passed. Mr. Corey was also a state senator in 1875. He was a pioneer who had come into Washtenaw from New York in 1833. locating at Lodi. moving to Sharon, and after- wards to Manchester. He was a very successful business man and gave $4,000 towards the con- struction of the Detroit and Hillsdale road. now the Ypsilanti and Hillsdale branch of the Lake Shore. He was one of the first directors of that road. The building of this Detroit and Hillsdale road occasioned much excitement at Manchester, the citizens of the town believing that the build- ing of this road would be of great advantage to them. A special meeting was held on May 13. 1860, at which a township meeting was called in regular form for June 7, 1869. to vote upon the question of bonding the township for $50,000 to aid in the building of this road. The vote re- sulted 342 in favor and 199 against the proposi- tion. The bonds were duly issued but subse- quently, upon the outcome of a contest against the legality of such bonds made by the township of Salem, the Manchester bonds were surrendered to the township and burned. The citizens of the township, however, who wanted the road. volun- tarily subscribed $30.000 towards its completion. The road was built and the first train passed through Manchester on September 23. 1870.
The Manchester Union Guards were organized under the militia laws of the state in 1857. When the Civil war broke out in 1861 they were one of the companies which constituted the First Michigan regiment, the advance guards of the western regiments in Washington, and the first Union regiment to cross the Potomac over onto Virginia soil.
As has been stated, the first plat of Manchester village was made by Dr. John Gilbert. It com- prised twenty-two blocks and included the streets called Exchange Place. Grove, Jackson, Boyne, Union, Macomb, Washington, Clinton and Rail-
road. In 1837 a second plat was made of twenty- nine blocks, twenty-one of which were east of the river and eight west of the river and north of the original plat. Granger and Morgan shortly added six more blocks, Collin's first addition added seven more and his second five, Torrey's addi- tion increased the number by seven and in 1868 the Corey addition was platted north of the De- troit and Hillsdale road. Subsequently Barnabas Case platted forty acres known as Case's addi- tion.
The first of the large number of brick build- ings now in Manchester was erected in 1837 by William S. Carr, and used as a store: and John Keyes built the second brick store in 1838. J. D. Corey erected the first brick store on the east side of the river in 1858. Manchester was visited by a big fire on May 1, 1853. which broke out in the Manchester Flouring Mills and before the fire could be stopped it had destroyed the mills, fourteen business houses and one dwelling. The total loss was placed at $50.000, of which $20,000 was on the mills. With characteristic energy the inhabitants of the village set about to rebuild.
The first paper in Manchester was established in October. 1867. by George A. Spafford, who published it until October. 1868, when it was purchased by Matt D. Blosser, who still continues to run it after the lapse of thirty-seven years, and no one who looks at Mr. Blosser would for a moment suspect that he is old enough to have been in the newspaper business for that lengthi of time. For thirty-eight years Manchester has had one of the best local papers in the county. For occasional periods it has had a second paper but the Manchester Enterprise is the old standby of the western part of the county and has done much towards the aiding and building up of Man- chester.
The union school building in Manchester was built in 1867, the year which also saw the incor- poration of the village and the starting of its first newspaper. This building cost $25,000 and the last of the bonds issued to pay for its erection was paid in 1880.
A Presbyterian church society was organized at the house of William Root, December 27, 1835. and was originally called the First Presbyterian
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
church of Bridgewater and Sharon. Its original members were William J. Durand, Abijah Marvin, William and Phoebe Ruckman, Micah and Char- lotte Porter, John McMahon, Anne Annabil, Betsey Dorr, Lucinda Root, Bennett F. Root, Mr. and Mrs. William Root, Rhoda Root, William F. and Lucinda Crafts and John Ruckman. Rev. A. B. Corning was the first pastor for three years, commencing April 3. 1836. The first elders were Abijahı Marvin, William Root and William F. Crafts. In January, 1838, the name of the church was changed to the First Presbyterian church of Manchester. Rev. Mr. Corning was succeeded by Rev. Silas Woodbury in 1839 and the subse- quent pastors were : Henry Tucker, 1845-1846; W. S. Taylor, 1846-1849; Samuel Fleming, 1849- 1852: W. Wastell, 1852-1854: J. W. Baynes, 1854-1857; W. S. Clark, 1857-1858; Benjamin Russell. 1858-1864; R. S. McCarthy, 1864-1866; T. L. Waldo, 1871-1873 : D. R. Shrop, 1875-1876; W. F. Matthews, 1879. Rev. Mr. Wallace was the last pastor. The society disbanded and their church was sold to the Methodists.
The Baptist church was organized February 17, 1836, at the house of James Stevens. Services, however, had previously been held. The original members were Mrs. James Stevens, James Now- land, Sophia and Josephine Fellows, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Palmer, William Palmer, and Mr. and Mrs. David Fitzgerald. Rev. E. H. Hamlin was the first resident pastor. Previous to 1838 it was called the First Baptist Church of the North Bank of the Raisin, but in that year the name was changed to the First Baptist Church of Man- chester. The pastors succeeding Mr. Hamlin were the Revs. J. T. Fulton, Thomas H. Facer, W. G. Wisner, E. Royce, E. Tenney, J. Smith, J. Bloomer, William Tilley, A. McLean, J. M. Titterington, J. P. Tompkins, F. S. Lyon, Wil- liam S. Palmer, C. M. Fellows.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1839 and Rev. George Bradley was the first pastor. Samuel Doty was class leader and the first nine members were Mr. and Mrs. Sammuel Doty, Mr. and Mrs. LeMore, Miss LeMore, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ingraham and Mr. and Mrs. Prosper Wheeler. The first church was built in 1854 and cost $1,600 and an addition was built ten years
later which also cost $1,600. In the '8os the Pres- byterian church building was purchased and has since been thoroughly overhauled and repaired.
The Universalist church was organized March 15. 1846. Thomas L. Spafford, Chandler Carter and Alanson Case were elected the first trustees and William S. Stowell the first clerk. The voters at this first election were Thomas L. Spafford, Joseph S. Clark, William Andrews, Tolman Case, Franklin Freeman, William S. Stowell, Chand- ler Carter, Barnabas Case, Alanson Case, Russell Bodine, Thomas Morgan and Morgan Carpenter. Rev. T. C. Adams was the first pastor and was succeeded by the Rev. G. B. Gilman, who was pastor for over twenty-five years.
In 1866 Rev. J. J. Hildner organized the Ger- man Lutheran church and among the first mem- bers were John Moehn, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kurfess, Mrs. Heimendinger and John Schlecht. The early pastors of this church, besides Mr. Hild- ner, have been Rev. John Neuman, Rev. Mr. Edelstein, and Rev. Philip Wehrheim.
The Catholic church was first established as a mission by Rev. Mr. Vanliew in 1870 and among the original congregation were William Kirch- gessner, George and Peter Cash, M. Daly, James Kelly, M. Kirk, William Kirk, John Kirk, M. Egan, P. McMahon, L. Kirk, R. Green, Conrad Lehn, John Haag, Charles Singer and the Cavanaugh brothers.
Manchester has two banks, the People's Bank, and for many years the only bank in the village, the principal owner of which has been Mr. L. D. Watkins, and the Union Savings Bank.
In 1837 Manchester had a population of 805 that possessed 82 horses, 74 sheep, 678 head of neat stock, and 966 hogs, and raised during the preceding year 8.797 bushels of wheat, 5,258 bushels of corn and 4.740 bushels of oats.
Flora Adams, a young girl, while standing in a chair hanging clothes on a line on the back porch of William Lehr's home, was killed May 23. 1890, by the line breaking, carrying hier over the railing. She fell head foremost a distance of fifteen feet, fractured hier skull and broke her neck.
The Southern Washtenaw Farmers' Club, the pioneer farmers' club in Michigan, was organized
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
in the People's Bank office in Manchester, March 8, 1877. with David G. Rose, of Sharon, presi- dent: James Shorts, Bridgewater, John G. Eng- lish, Manchester, and Samuel Cushman, Sharon, vice-presidents ; W. W. Hess, Bridgewater, secre- tary, and Frank Spafford, of Manchester, treas- urer.
The supervisors of the township have been :
James H. Fargo 1838-9
Luther Field 1840
John Howland 1841
Barnabas Case .1842
William S. Carr 1843
Alanson Case 1844
Jeremiah D. Corey 1845
Alanson Case 1846
Newman Granger 1847-8
Barnabas Case
18.49
Newman Granger 1850-1
Oliver Nichols . 1852
Newman Granger 1853
Jeremiah D. Corey
1854
William S. Carr
1855
Newman Granger 1856
Abraham Brumfield 1857
Volney Chapman 1858-60
Philetus Coon
1861-4
Arthur Case
1865-6
Newman Granger 1867-9
Isaac Magoon 1870
Newman Granger
1871
Horatio Burch
1872-88
William Burtless 1889-92
Willis L. Watkins 1893-4
William Burtless
1895
Willis L. Watkins 1896
William Burtless
1897-9
William Amspoker
1900
Henry J. Landwehr . 1901
NORTHFIELD.
In the fall of 1832 the people of what is now Northfield desired to become a township by them- selves and held a meeting at the house of Benja- min Sutton to take measures of secession. They decided to petition the legislative council, and in the winter of 1832 they were authorized to form a township government of their own and to elect
officers on the first Monday in April. 1833. . 1 caucus to nominate township officers was held at the house of Ilarry Seymour at Whitmore Lake, and Stephen Lee presided. The first man to be nominated for the office of supervisor was Rufus Matthews, the nomination of whose name caused Chairman Lee to jump upon a large stump stand- ing in the yard and call upon all the anti-Masons present to withdraw and make out a ticket of their own to be supported at the coming election. A number accompanied Mr. Lee and an anti-Ma- sonic ticket was made out, so that at the first township meeting two tickets were in the field. The election was held at the house of Benjamin Sutton and Rufus Matthews acted as moderator, with George Sutton as clerk. The board was made up of J. G. Leland, justice, A. F. Schoff and James Barr, clerks. The following township ticket was elected: Supervisor-John Renwick ; Township Clerk-George Sutton: Assessors- Frederick Smith, Gilbert A. Gardner and \bijah Schoff : Overseers of the Poor-Nicholas Groves and Joseph Lora : Commissioners of Highways- Philander Murray, Asahel Hubbard and Joseph Lora : Committee on Schools-Joshua G. Leland, Abijah F. Schoff and Asahel Hubbard: School Inspectors-Gilbert A. Gardner, Frederick Smith and Thomas J. Tettis : Constables-Thomas J. Tettis and Marvel Secord.
Northfield contains a number of lakes, the most important of which is Whitmore lake, a summer resort for Ann Arbor and Toledo citizens, and around which a thriving village has been growing up in later years. The other lakes include Horse- shoe lake, Dead lake, Mud lake and Jack lake. Hon. Geo. Sutton in one of his numerous pioneer articles tells of hunting elk. deer, etc .. in North- field as follows :
"At the first settlement of Washtenaw county, it was thought that some portions of its northern divisions would not admit of settlement on ac- count of the numerous lakes and marshes. North- field was particularly well supplied with marshes as well as lakes and here it was that the sportsman could find his ideal pleasure. Deer was very abundant and on one occasion at least the noble elk was shot in the town. This was in the year 1828 and the hunt may thus be detailed.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
"There was a large marsh at the head of Horseshoe lake on section 16, known as the "school marsh." Here grew a fine quality of wild grass, called "blue joint." The few settlers for many miles distant repaired to this marsh late in the summer to cut hay for winter use. The grass was cut and cured in the sun, and put in stacks to be hauled home in the winter with ox team and sledge. On one occasion when Mr. William Allen with his ox team and son to help load the hay. was on his way back from the marsh to the hay stack, and in sight of the stack, he saw an elk going on a trot directly toward the hay stack, which had been partly hauled away. The elk jumped on the stack and commenced to eat hay. Allen left his ox team in care of his son and re- turned home to get Mr. Noyes and his rifle to shoot the elk. When he got back, the elk had left. Noyes and two Indians followed on the trail for two days and returned with the carcass of the only elk ever seen in Northfield. A few years aft- erwards Mr. Allen had a frame barn erected, and the elk's horns were fastened on the cone of the roof. Those enormous horns did not remain on the barn long. A gentleman from New York, by the name of Williams, who was "looking land." took a special liking to them, and bought them of Mr. Allen. It is a pity that such a fine set of antlers as those were could not have been saved as a memento for our own historical museum.
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