USA > Michigan > Huron County > Pioneer history of Huron County, Michigan > Part 2
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Mr. Hubbard says: "Of our further voyaging until we rounded Pointe Aux Barques I have nothing to note beyond the usual adventures and delays that attend mariners on so perilous a trip in such a tiny craft upon the treacherous waves of Saginaw Bay. The toils of the day were compensated by the sweetest of slumbers when after having supped upon pork and hard bread, each wrapped in his blanket, we fell asleep beneath the soft influence of the Pleiades."
He also gives the following description of the coast in that day: "It is rock bound affording no harbor and being thickly wooded with evergreens its aspect was forbidding and gloomy. Added to this the waves are
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
incessantly lashing the rocks whether the wind be from the lake or bay. This action of the winds has caused channels to be worn through large masses of the mov- able sand stone which tumbles into the lake from small islets. In the immense caverns formed by the con- stant action of the restless waters a fleet of skiffs might be safely hidden. In doubling the cape the voyager is struck with the singular appearance of two projecting masses detached from the main and covered with tim- ber. They bear close resemblance to the bows of ves- sels with hulls exposed down to the keel. The bowsprit and sides are nearly perfect. They are about 50 feet in the beam and 16 to 20 feet in height." (4).
The name the French voyagers bestowed upon it at an early date is significant of the mimic resemblance, Pointe Aux Barques. This point was first settled by Jonathan G. Stockman. He came from Cleveland with his wife and six children and engaged in the fishing in- dustry. The next settler was Henry Gill who landed at Burnt Cabin Point, July 4, 1852. When a resort started at Pointe Aux Barques it was made a township, 700 acres being taken from Port Austin for that purpose.
But to continue the story of Mr. Hubbard and his party. Near White Rock, on Lake Huron, they found a settler or rather a lumber man, the first they had seen since leaving the Saginaw reservation. John Allen had been there for three months. He and five other men had erected a saw mill on a dashing little brook that nearly swamped their canoe on entering the stream. He had no neighbors but the mistress of the house informed them that they were expecting families to come and set- tle in the then visionary White Rock City. The annals of this place constitute one of those chapters of romance of which the records of 1835 and 1836 are so re- plete. (5).
(4) Michigan Historical Collections.
(5) Huron County Album.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Maps had been displayed in Detroit and other places depicting a magnificent harbor into which steamboats were entering. Pictures of saw mills, court house, churches and other public buildings were shown. And as a result lots were sold at fabulous prices to buyers and the rage of real estate speculation was at its height. Mr. Hubbard states that even those lines of advancing civilization-the surveyors marks were lacking. Except Mr. Allen, it was 40 miles to the nearest inhabitant. The party carved their names on the large beech tree for the benefit of future visitors as the first guests of the adver- tised White Rock hotel. Mr. Allen later sold out to Mr. Robinson and he to Hiram Whitcomb in 1845. The creek still bears the name of Allen's Creek.
In an interview with John Hopson three weeks be- fore he died he made the following statements to Mrs. Dow of Sand Beach: "I came to Rock Falls, or Barnett- ville as it was then named in 1847. The trip was made in a skiff owned by Lyman French and a Mr. McDonald. They started from Port Huron and every night would camp on the beach resuming their journey in the morn- ing if the weather would permit."
On one of his early trips Mr. Hopson brought with him a yoke of steers and a wagon. This was the first wagon to enter Sand Beach, now Harbor Beach. This town is situated on Magnet Bay. The ground upon which the village stands is high and level. At a distance of about one-fourth of a mile from the shore there is an abrupt descent of about 20 feet, below which is a beau- tiful plateau extending to the lake.
Mrs. Ludington, the first white woman in Sand Beach township states that Mr. Ludington and herself came to Rock Falls, then Allen's Creek. In order to find a suitable location for their home Mr. Ludington ex- plored the shore with a small row boat until he reached the point where Harbor Beach now is. The beautiful white sand of the beach attracted his eye and he decided
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
to locate there. Their first child, Almont A., was born here in 1851. At Allen's Creek were their nearest neigh- bors, Dr. Cutler, Hiram Whitcomb, Mr. Allen and Alason Daggett. Mr. Ludington built a frame house in 1854 just west of where the depot now is. They moved from here in 1857 to Center Harbor where they lived seven years. This town was first known as Jerry's Mill. The firm of Leuty, Durant & Co., of Lexington purchased the mill and premises with a large tract of valuable pine land in 1864. They also built a fine dock, several build- ings, including a boarding house and dwelling house, for Mr. H. H. Ostertrout, their agent and fireman. The first wedding in Sand Beach township was that of Duncan McCash and Mary Ann French. Levi H. Buell officiated. Date, April 19, 1852. The daughter of Mr. Buell is now Mrs. Banker, of Harbor Beach. Sand Beach dates its first settlement to 1837, but no improvements were made then. In 1868 its population was 200. At the present date Hunting Trescott is its oldest resident. In those early times Hiram Whitcomb was a leading man in the settlement. His neighbors were the lumbermen and their families. An interesting character of those days was a man whose name still clings to the point be- low Harbor Beach resort. His ostensible business was fishing but his real business was coining counterfeit Mex- ican dollars. Then he began engraving bank notes. Mr. Whitcomb told him that this fact had become known to the people. At first he denied it, but later made a full confession and said that he had been at one time an employee in the Philadelphia mint. He left the country soon afterward. The old die he used was at one time in H. W. Chamberlains store.
The first railway train came into Sand Beach in 1880. Mr. Gilchrist and Dr. Cutler, the father of Dean Cutler, of Bad Axe, organized the first Sunday school in 1852. The first church built in the town was the Bap- tist. It was also the first of that denomination in the county. Before that time traveling M. E. preachers had
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
held services in the settlement. The first M. E. church was erected in 1878 under the pastorate of Robert Bird.
Little is known of the early history of the Catholic church in Sand Beach. In 1866 Father Klug made visits to the few Catholic families there. A Free Methodist church was organized in 1879 with seven members. The Evangelical Lutheran people had Rev. Mr. Schwarz as supply in 1872. The Presbyterians were cared for by Rev. E. Davis in 1880. In 1854 Mr. Burleigh, who came to a place named Purdyville, just below Band Beach, gives this description of the dwellings in that day: "The log cabins had clay floors. The settlers had no nails, so used poles to bind the shakes on the roofs of their dwell- ings. The window casings were made of pine, split with a frow, and kept in place by wooden pins. They had tal- low candles for lights and jumpers, a roughly construct- ed sled about 8 feet in length, were the only vehicles used then for travel, both summer and winter. The maple trees in that vicinity had been tapped by the In- dians for so many years that the marks were far above a man's head. The Indians used the bow and arrow to kill the deer. They had no difficulty in doing so.
The first school was organized in 1852 and E. B. Ward, of Detroit, contributed the land on which the school house was built. Alonzo Trescott (son of Hunt- ing Trescott) was the first teacher.
Another name associated with that of Sand Beach is that of John Brennan, who has lived there 44 years. He contributed a very interesting paper on the early history of the town to the Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society a couple of years ago. In it he states that: "Sand Beach was the home of the first real settler as many of those coming first were lumbermen. Here was erected the first steam saw mill by John Hopson. Here was located the first bank. In the natural course of events as the familiar scenes of pioneer days began to disappear and the whole county to show signs of an
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
order of things obliterating the past the government har- bor was erected with its broad entrance and the light house as if to mark the pioneer gateway of the county.
The next one of the pioneers of prominence was Jeremiah Jenks, who in 1864 with J. L. Woods and George W. Pack purchased a saw mill on Allen's Creek. This structure had been built on the site of the first saw mill on the eastern side of the county. During the 11 years following they produced over 50,000,000 feet of pine lumber for the outside market. B. W. Jenks was the clerk and bookkeeper for the firm in 1866. He af- terwards became one of the partners. Another settler, Jesse L. Jenks, came into the township in 1870 when he had control of a stage route between Port Sanilac and Port Austin. In 1856 we find Hunting Trescott as- sisting in the construction of a mill at Center Harbor for Mr. J. Jenks.
Among the early newspapers of the county was the Huron County News, published at Sand Beach from '62 to '64 by O. F. Harrington. This paper followed the county seat to Port Austin, where in 1871 it finally pass- ed into the hands of W. F. Clark.
The work on the Harbor of Refuge at Sand Beach was begun in 1873 but a number of years elapsed before it was completed. Up to 1883 the largest number of vessels at one time seeking shelter from the storms was 89. Capt. Robert Wagstaff was appointed custodian of the harbor in 1882 and held that position until ill health compelled him to resign in 1898. He was well fitted for the position, having made a trip around the world and crossed the ocean nine times. Capt. W. S. Rice was his successor. The life saving station was constructed and went into commission during the year 1881 with Keeper D. E. Dues and G. W. Plough in charge. Another name on the records of that early day was Andrew Maule, whose grand-daughter, Mrs. Nathan Case, is now a resi- dent of Sand Beach township. He took the first load
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
of provisions to where the city of Bad Axe now stands. The food was for the early surveyors. About four miles from that place the oxen were mired and they had great difficulty in rescuing them and getting the provisions to the camp which was on the site of the present court house. In the night they had to drive away the bears which were after the barrel of pork. Much more could be said of this thriving city but space will not permit.
PORT AUSTIN TOWNSHIP
Another of the early settled townships was Port Austin, although it was not organized until 1862 with Isaac Brebner as supervisor. The first settlement here was made by Jedushu Bird, who came from Canada at the time of the Rebellion of 1837 in a small sail boat. With him were his wife and two sons, Ben and Alden. Mr. Bird built his home on the site of the present Maca- bee hall. Half a mile from the mouth of the creek which bears his name he built a dam and a water mill. The remains of this may be seen today. Besides the manu- facture of lumber Mr. Bird carried on a fishing busi- ness. He built a small dock at the mouth of the creek and also made a rude shanty further up the stream. These were the only dwellings when John Buttars, to whom we are indebted for this sketch, came to what is now Port Austin in 1852.
Mr. Bird sold out to Smith, Austin & Dwight in 1853 and they built a large steam mill at the mouth of the creek. James Dufty assisted in this work. In the win- ter of 1853-4 a lumber dock was constructed and the mill began operations in 1854. The name of the town was changed from Bird's Creek to Dwightville and still later to Port Austin in honor of Mr. Austin, the second partner of the firm. They did not make a success of the business, however, and it went into the hands of a re- ceiver, Mr. William Warner, who sold it to G. and W. F. Smith. In 1859 they sold out to Ayres, Learned & Wis-
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
wall, who operated the mill until the supply of timber was exhausted.
We find this item in a paper of that day: "Ayres & Co., have shipped this week 284,644 feet of lumber and 2,638 barrels of salt to Sandusky, Ohio." The first salt well in the county was sunk at Port Austin in 1864 and brine was struck at a depth of 1184 feet. The salt made here took the first prize at the state fair in Ohio and was considered the finest made in Michigan.
An early settler in the town was Mr. J. Kimball, who came in 1852. He built one of the first houses in Port Austin. He chopped a trail from there to Huron City in order to get mail through once a week. He then hired Jacob M. Groat to carry it from Forestville. Mr. Groat walked the 44 miles both ways following a trail. When the telegraph came in 1865 the inhabitants of Port Austin thought they were surely "out of the woods." Mrs. Case, the daughter of Mr. Kimball, tells of picking berries in those early days and trading them for beefsteak when the steamers came into port.
The first real farmer was Samuel Doax. He cleared and cultivated part of the land now belonging to Mrs. Con. Culhane's farm, two miles south of the village. The first resident Protestant minister was Rev. Mr. Black a Baptist who made his home with Mr. Kimball. A paper, entitled "The Huron County Reporter", was own- ed and edited by D. R. Joslin. It is said to have been the first paper in the county. It was discontinued about the year 1862 and a few years later The Huron County News took its place. The first school house is still stand- ing and is part of the dwelling house of Jay Smith. It's former site being near the present post office. Miss Emma Smith was the first teacher.
Among the first settlers who came to Port Austin and helped build up the town and surrounding country we find these names: Capt. Henry Gill, John and Esther Buttars, Capt. Chas. McDonald, William Nash, Peter
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
Buchkowski, Fred Empkie, Thomas Morrow, Mark Car- rington, J. W. Kimball, Mrs. Carroll, Archie Smith, Mrs. Copeland, George Gereau, Mrs. M. Sturtevant, Jennie Sinclair and James Dufty. All of these mentioned were pioneers of the fifties. In this necessarily brief sketch it is impossible to name all of those who came early in the '60's. In order to give some idea of the transporta- tion of that day we quote the following items from The Huron County News of 1866:
"The barge Ocean arrived here last week with a cargo of merchandise, brick, 70 tons of hay and 3,000 bushels of corn for Messrs. Ayres, Learned & Wiswall. She took on 200,000 feet of lumber on Monday and will finish loading this week. Two weeks before this same barge left for Sandusky with 437,000 feet of lumber, 100,000 shingles and 200 barrels of salt."
There was no light house then so they had a lamp placed on top of a cedar post just back of where the Maccabee hall now stands in order to guide vessels into port at night. There was a steamboat up or down the lake almost every day. Often there were several ves- sels in the harbor at the same time waiting for loads of lumber or salt. A tramway to draw lumber on ran nearly three and a half miles back into the country. What changes have taken place since then? The en- trance and exit of the stage coach, the development and entrance of the railroads, the advent of the telegraph, telephone and electricity. Marvelous has been the pro- gress in the past 50 years. Chas. G. Learned, who came to Port Austin in 1857 to buy land for Smith, Austin & Dwight, of Detroit, discovered the value of the pine lands of this county and in company with his broth- er-in-law, F. S. Ayres, purchased several thousand acres of pine land. They also purchased, as has been stated, the property of Mr. Bird and began the manufacture of lumber. Mr. Learned built one of the finest residences on the shore. Both he and Mr. Ayres had large farms later on, Mr. Ayres' consisting of about 1,000 acres,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
all in an excellent state of cultivaton, and the farm of Mr. Learned's, partially in Port Austin township, con- sisted of more than 2,000 acres equally well cultivated. James Ryan also had a large farm here. Of the men who had good orchards in the 70s and 80's we noted the names of R. H. Winsor, W. H. Cooper, Mark Carring- ton, Timothy Walker and others. The scenery around the village was the most beautiful of any along the lake. The business men of the town at that period were: hard- ware, John Brett; blacksmith, Robert Allison; general store, James Baldwin; harness shops, Chas. Friers and George F. Jackson; Shoes, Taylor & Donley; wagon, car- riage and agricultural implements, W. J. Campbell, whose son became a nationally noted cartoonist and artist. Crevy, Cooper & Razek and the Winsors were also in business here. Richards & Richard, physicians. The lawyers were Engle & Engle, and James H. Hall. John King had a furniture store. William H. Cooper came to the county in 1857 and was bookkeeper for Hubbard & Co. for several years. Went to Grindstone City in 1865 and to Port Austin in 1870. He married Charlotte, daughter of Capt. A. Peer and mother of Mrs. Dr. Her- rington, of Bad Axe.
James Ryan came in 1867 and purchased the land on which he built the Ryan House. He also became proprietor of a stage route between Port Huron and Bay City for 11 years and one from Port Austin to Bad Axe for four years.
Other names inseparably connected with Port Aus- tin are those of Edmond Cole, C. B. Cotterell, Richard Smith and G. H. Gallup as well as that of B. W. Mer- rick, who erected many of the dwelling houses in the village. O. B. Williams had a fine hotel and was well known throughout the country. H. G. Snover who con- ducted a law business there married his daughter. Mr. Snover is now a resident of Port Huron.
One of the saw mills of that day, built under the supervision of J. W. Kimball cut more than 120,000,000
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
feet for the eastern market, obtaining the timber from the surrounding country. Ayres & Co. also had a large flour- ing mill, an institution of great value to the people at that time. Hiram Adams was connected with the salt industry. Forty thousand barrels were shipped out each year. Richard Winsor was an important factor in the political affairs of that period. He was a member of the state legislature when but 23 years of age; served four terms and was then elected to the state senate. He also was engaged in the practice of law both in Huron City and Port Austin for many years. He now lives in Seattle, Washington.
The first religious services held in the township were by Rev. J. B. Varnum in 1854. Later church ser- vices were held in Ayres & Learned's store and some- times in the homes. Capt. McDonald states that Sarah Kimball Case was his first Sunday School teacher. Kim- ball's point was first owned by a Mr. Dougereau. Mr. McDonald said that Port Austin was but a sand hill when he arrived there. Several of the houses were built of slabs. There was but one frame house. Later the cull lumber was thrown into the lake to float away. Today that same grade of lumber would sell for $50 or $60 per thousand. Only the clear lumber was piled on the dock.
Among the things worth mentioning are, the "Brok- en Rocks" which are situated here at the very tip of the Thumb of Michigan, looking out upon Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. Beautiful in their picturesqueness they stand out unique among the varied scenery of the lake region and were first visited by Father Marquette in 1668. Dr. James Henderson, of Detroit, formerly of Bad Axe, has written a poem about them in which he says :
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
"Here the Indian spread his grim tepee in the days of long ago, When the Broken Rocks were not so gray and the giants were all laid low;
And the Indian maiden trilled her song to join with the sea's low croon,
As she watched the braves in their birchen barks under the silver moon."
The government built for the port a good light house on a reef two and a half miles north and east from the town. It was completed in 1878. Before that time when expecting boats they would build bon fires on the beach or hang a lamp on a cedar post. Here we find the earliest Catholic mission in the county. The Presbyter- ians organized a society in 1874 with E. P. Clark as pas- tor. The Baptist church was organized February 12, 1875, at the home of F. S. Ayres. Today the town is noted for its summer resorts. Here people from all over the state come each year.
Turning to Grindstone City, also situated in this township, we find a man who came when Huron County was but a wilderness and by his wisdom and energy helped to develop some of the great resources that have placed the county in the rank it holds in this great state today. He quarried stone here in 1834 and we find a record on the old tract book in the Register of Deeds office telling that Capt. Peer located the first land in Huron County in 1839. This land was just east of what is now Grindstone City. He also built a grindstone mill, using water power. Among those who assisted him in his work we find the name of James Dufty, whose name is connected later on with the settlement of Caseville. Capt. Peer was also the owner of several brigs and schooners and had spent a long and varied career upon the lakes. His daughter, Mrs. Cooper, of Bad Axe, tells this story of 1852:
"In that year I came up the shore with my father and mother. We landed just outside of the quarry. Capt. Gill's father came to meet us with a fish boat. We
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
came up on the old steamer Huron. My father had a . yoke of oxen on board. The men threw the oxen off the boat and they had to swim ashore. We remained three months and during that time I wore out my shoes. As there was no place to buy more Mrs. Gill made me a pair of moccasins with the seams on the outside. I had to wear these back to Port Huron. Three years later I came up with my father in a sail boat and before we left Port Huron there had been skating on the Black River but at this time it was raining hard. We reached the quarry some time the next day and the fol- lowing day as far as we could see there was nothing but ice. When we passed Huron City Mr. L. Hubbard remarked, 'That must be Capt. Peer. No one else would dare to venture out.' We did not have a stage until 1862."
Richard Winsor, editor of The Huron County News in 1870 gave the following sketch of the quarries at Grindstone City in his paper:
"June 16 we started for a trip down the shore which we had not yet beheld. After getting in a by-road or two at the end of which we always brought up in a tree top light was seen ahead through a rift in the woods and the stone quarries came in view. These quar- ries are two in number and are situated six miles below Port Austin. It is thought that some unknown voyagers discovered at this point the existence of a quality of stone the grit or grain of which is far and widely known as being superior to that of any other quarries in the world for grindstones, scythe stones, etc. A company under the name of Pease & Smith located the first quar- ry and continued the opening and getting out of stone with varied success for about ten years. Capt. Peer was related to one of the firm who later died and his prop- erty passed into Capt. Peer's hands through heirship. He then ran the business for a few years and finally dis- posed of his entire interest to Wallace & Prentiss, its
:
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PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY
. present owners. William H. Cooper opened the second quarry in 1865. The capital stock in these two com- panies is in that of Wallace & Prentiss' Lake Huron Grindstone Quarry $20,000; in that owned by Mr. Coop- er $10,000. Total, $30,000. In a season at the first named of these quarries 1,900 tons of stone are manufac- tured and at the other 1,500 tons, making a total of 3,400 tons manufactured, docked and shipped during the season. In connection with the four new lathes for turning grindstones in the quarry of Wallace & Prentiss is to be found the shop for the making of whet stones and so forth. Two gangs of saws are at work as we en- ter, which saw masses of rock placed under them into slabs about one inch in thickness. These are then squared and placed under a descending saw which slices them into rough scythe stones. The finisher then takes them in hand and by means of wearing them on a revolving cylinder produces the finely shaped and well finished whetstones and heel stones that we buy in the harvest time in the village stores.
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