USA > Michigan > Huron County > Portrait and biographical album of Huron county Michigan, Containing biographical sketches of citizens also a complete history of the county, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
The fires broke through from Lake and Hume Townships, about on a line of the lowest range of sections. These townships being on Saginaw Bay,
and the winds coming off the water toward the heated and rarefied air on shore, held firmly in the west without any oscillations from the southwest. Hence the fire near the southern limits of Lake and Hume were held back by the moist westerly winds, which were strong enough to drive the fire eastward into the township of Dwight. Here it met the controll- ing southwest wind. As the flames spread eastward the destroying forces were increased, and a larger number of buildings were destroyed than in Dwight, where the " slashings " and windfalls were few. The fires were driven back from Hume by the north wind about three o'clock. It is said on good au- thority that the temperature in Huron at seven o'clock in the morning was 99° in the shade. This has its value as indicating the state of the atmos- phere on the morning that the fire broke out.
The southwest gale that blew the flames into Hu- ron Township was so strong that it prostrated trees from 30 to 40 feet high and from six to eight inches in diameter, and small, young poplars were laid flat. The town of Port Austin was threatened until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the wind changed to the north. It came within a mile of the village and skirted along westwardly toward Hume, when the northerly winds turned the current back toward Dwight. A hay-stack caught on fire within half a mile of the village, but it was put out.
The last wind that was blowing in Huron Town- ship at about half past one increased in force as it approached the center of rarefication, drove the conflagration to the eastward, and, shaping its direc- tion to the outline of the coast, forced it across the southwest corner of Huron Township, and then into the village of Huron City. Here it became a whirl- wind of fire, sweeping through the whole length of the settlement, prostrating the forests and continu- ing with fearful speed toward Port Hope.
After leaving Huron City, the fires spread south- ward, accompanied by heavy west and northwest winds, down through Huron Township into Bloom- field and Rubicon Townships. As the fires in- creased and the area of destruction grew larger, the atmospheric forces became more violent, and great clouds of flame were driven with whirlwind speed through the air. The fires reached Port Hope about two o'clock, running along in a current on the shore front and consuming everything. About this time
489
HURON COUNTY.
the wind changed to the west. At this the people began to congratulate themselves upon being able to save some of their property lying back from the lake, as the west wind would hold the flames that way. They had not long to indulge in this hope, for soon there came a report that the whole country west of them was in flames. Mr. Stafford, who had large interests at the place, had his men out, and all others he could conmand, established a patrol and fought the fire all that day and the night following, and by great exertions the village was saved. The open fields back, or to the west, were in their favor, as they tended to check the great cur- rents of fire. They by no means felt safe, as fire was still all around them until Wednesday night, when a heavy rain came on. The whirlwind which had been driving these fires through Huron Town- ship and Huron City, and through the forests into Port Hope, seemed to hug the shore country, and to have ultimately broken through to the lake. The trees that had been blown down lay with their tops toward the southwest.
The wind that accompanied the fire in its south- ward course was very strong. It would form into a whirlwind, unroof houses and barns, throw down log cabins, lift persons from the ground and hurl them through the air like sticks. At Forest Bay, in the southeast portion of Rubicon Township, it struck a counter-current, or a southeast wind, and was very eccentric in its movements. This is the home of John Hopson, one of the old and prominent men of Huron County. The wind made an attack on his barn, which had previously been unroofed, and took off an ash rafter, which was about thirty feet long
and six inches square, and spiked down, and, whirl- ing it some ten rods, drove it under a board fence with such force that Mr. Hopson failed to pull it out with a yoke of oxen. It can be seen there yet by curiosity hunters. It also took Mrs. Hopson up, who came outside, and carried her through the air some distance and then let her down with no injury, but with a good degree of fright.
From here it continued on its course of destruction, spreading out through the northern part of Sigel Township and the northern and western portion of Sand Beach. At the same time the other conflagra- tion that was following the course of Cass River through the dense forests, and, coming northerly
into Huron County, was laying waste the townships of Sheridan, Bingham, Paris, Sherman, Colfax, Ver- ona and the southern and western portion of Sand Beach. The fires in Elmwood Township in Tuscola County began to spread, and coming northward passed through the southeastern corner of Brookfield and over all of Grant but the northwestern corner. The fires spread northeastward and eastward through Colfax and Sheridan and along the low lands north and south of Cass River. Along this river there were immense forests of green trees. There were great bodies of standing dead timber and fallen tim- ber several feet high, caused by the fires of 1871. It . all greatly augmented the conflagration. The winds were strong here, and, like those that drove the fires from the neighborhood, from the southwest. The fires reached Verona about three o'clock. They had heard from parties who had been at Bad Axe when the fire broke out there, of the great destruction going on. These persons drove through flames of fire to reach their homes, and only arrived about an hour ahead of the conflagration. It came on with the southwest gale. Before the fire reached the vil- lage there was total darkness, and immense clouds of smoke hung over the town. The northwest gale which came up lasted a few minutes, then the wind changed back to the southwest again. A few short moments and this town was in ashes, save the build- ings that have been previously mentioned. The fiery wave passed along through the low lands of Ver- ona into Bloomfield Township, and also over Sigel. They were fierce and rapid, these fires, in their war. A few moments would suffice for the destruction of a village. Forests were swept down with almost equal rapidity.
The fires reached Paris betwen two and three o'clock. The conflagration came from the west. It ~ appeared like a solid wall of flame from fifty to a hundred feet high, rushing on with gigantic and de- vouring fury, destroying everything in its course. It had been as dark as midnight from about noon. From Sigel the fire went into Sand Beach. The morning sun had shone brightly upon these people. There were no signs of the approaching wave of fire. Toward noon the sky became closed and over- cast; soon after it became red. At two o'clock the darkness was so intense that the people could not see. They lit their lamps in their houses, and their
490
HURON COUNTY.
lanterns to go about with. A large portion of this township escaped from the destruction of this fire, but they all had the smoke and the heated air. In Sherman Township a wagon weighing a thousand pounds was taken up and hurled some fifteen rods by the northwest wind.
In this township the opposing currents met -- the northeast and the southwest. Their struggle for mastery made a terrible noise, like the roaring of mighty waters. The people became greatly alarmed and did not know what next would follow. The northwest current was the strongest and drove the southwest wind back, turning the fire southwest across the corner of Minden. It is reported that on the north half of section 14, and the south half of section II, an area a mile long escaped the flames, while northwest of this point twenty persons and almost all perishable property within a square of 16 miles was burned. Often in the midst of a general destruction, a shanty would be spared. Northwest of Parisville the currents of fire divided and the property of some of the farmers was burned, while that of others was untouched. At the Polish church there were seven houses within an area of eighty rods in diameter that escaped the fire, while everything outside of this area was consumed. These peculiar- ities of this great conflagration occurred in every township that it reached. At Minden the conflagra- tion was discovered in the forests about two miles southwest of the village about half past three. At four o'clock the wind came like the lightning flash, and with it the fire. At this place a southwest wind bore off a part of a barn-roof, carrying it some hun- dred rods. The other part of the same roof was caught by a northwest wind and carried about one hundred and twenty rods.
The eccentricities of this great conflagration-if so they may be called-the incidents, the narrow es- capes, the sad, sad accounts of suffering and death, would fill volumes. We can only in this work give some of the principal features and incidents.
On Wednesday night a heavy rain, brought about by the great fires, came on : the fires were extin- guished and the storms were over.
The causes that brought on this conflagration are numerous. The atmospheric conditions were ex- ceedingly favorable. The winds were very strong, and south of this fated territory were from the south-
west. In Lapeer County, at the beginning of the fires, its velocity was reported to have been forty- five miles an hour. The .south and southwest winds had prevailed for several days before the fire. There had been a protracted drought extending through the months of July and August. The sea- son had been one of unusual heat. The ground was parched and baked, even into the very roots of grasses, shrubbery and trees. In clay soils, the ground was cracked open, and deep crevices could be seen in many places. The sun had been pouring down its unabated heat all summer. Wells and cisterns were dry. In some places there was no water for miles for stock, and miles of dead timber were left standing from previous forest fires and those of 1871 ; there were "slashings " and wind-falls and limbs and tops of trees, that had been accumulating from the time the earliest saw-mill had been started,-all forming a material for combustion which for quality and quantity has not been equalled in the history of the country, or even the world.
There is no such thing as stopping a fire that has once started in such material. The people in many localities fought the fire and kept it off. This was the case in Caseville Township. They fought it there all the afternoon and all night. Toward morning the moist wind came up from the Bay and they were saved. But the conditions were favorable or they would not have been saved. It was as im- possible to check this fire in its currents as to stem Niagara River. It swept over open fields faster than a horse could run. Many were overtaken and left burned to death on the ground. At times the wind blew a perfect tornado, uprooting trees, carrying roofs of buildings through the air, taking men and women up and hurling them back to the ground ! People speak of seeing blue flames shoot out from burning stumps, flicker a few seconds, and then be carried away by the wind. The air seemed to be heavily charged with gases; there were literally balls of fire; this, with the intense heat and the counter currents, may account for much of the phe- nomena witnessed in this great conflagration.
The destruction to property was great, the suffer- ing beyond description. Whole families perished in their houses. The bodies of the dead men were found by the roads, where they fell in their vain at- tempt to escape death. Thousands of people barely
HURON COUNTY.
491
saved their lives, leaving homes, buildings, all in flames, and were exposed and left in a perishing condition, without food, shelter or clothing. The charred remains of all kinds of animals, wild and tame. were found over the desolate country together, and sometimes even those of human beings!
Flying sheets of flame and balls of fire were seen in every direction. These would often overtake or light upon people fleeing for life, and burn them to death. Some saved their lives by rushing into green corn-fields and burying their heads in the earth. Many found refuge in wells. One man clung to the stones in a well with his fingers and toes twenty- four hours! When the fire and smoke went away, he discovered that he was only two feet from the bottom, and the well was dry! One man, who sought the lake for safety, found behind him in the morning a big bear, which was as submissive as a kitten !
Mr. Wade, in Rubicon Township, during the fire took his wife and three children into the corn-field for safety. The husband went back to try and save some of his property, but could not, so sudden did the fire come upon him. He did not get back to his family until daylight, when he found them burned to a crisp. . By them was the carcass of a bear, which, it is presumed, came to them for pro- tection !
News came into Sand Beach village early Tues- day morning that some people out in the country had been burned. A wagon was sent out, and soon afterward it returned bearing the crisp and charred remains of Mrs. Maul and son! This sad cortege was soon followed by the Wade family, burned be- yond recognition! Then came the Calkins family, the mother clasping the remains of her babe to her lifeless bosom !
Some days after the fire the charred remains of a mother and her five little children were found in the forest. She-poor heart !- was in a kneeling posture, with the hands of her five children in her lap, all burned to a crisp!
We could go on for days detailing incidents of this fire, and then not be half through. Space will not permit. It may already be too lengthy. The his- torian has aimed to give the facts in as few words as possible. It is not a pleasant subject to write about. We believe this conflagration has no parallel in the
world's history. The Chicago fire of 1871 is the nearest approach to it. The destruction of property there was greater, but the fire was not so extensive. The loss of life, the amount of property consumed, and the extent of territory burned over; the terrific speed with which the country was laid waste; the wail of human suffering and anguish and woe that broke over these fair shores, it would seem never could be surpassed. God grant that it may never be! and God grant that this people may hereafter have absolute immunity from fires !
The number of lives lost during this conflagration in Huron County is estimated at 70; the amount of property destroyed, at $1, 107,538. We think this is an underestimate.
This history would be incomplete without the mention of the generous response of the American people from all parts of the country toward the sufferers. They were relieved as far as it was pos- sible for them to be by human aid. Money and supplies flowed in from all over the country. State aid was given, and relief committees were organized to look after their wants. That advantage was taken of this generous response in money and supplies by some mercenary persons was not to be unexpected.
Most of the people have recovered financially from this great conflagration, but it will be generations be- fore the country will recover from its devastating effects. The land has been denuded of its most attractive ornaments. Its grand forests are gone ; the trees, with their beautiful foliage, are no more. The charred remains of trees and stumps meet the eye from every direction. They rise up before you like ghosts, a sad reminder of burned kindred, of buried hopes and blasted lives.
History is fond of perpetuating heroic deeds, and mankind is prone to worship at the shrine of heroes who achieved their greatness on bloody battle-fields ; but the people who met and fought this great ava- lanche of fire and when they could no longer fight it fled with their children before its devouring flame ; who, when the fire was over and they turned their faces toward their burned homes, to build up again their firesides and erect their family altars,-even if they have not won great battles, or conquered nations, are as worthy of a place in history as the heroes of Marathon, Austerlitz, Waterloo, Shiloh, Gettysburg or of the Wilderness.
The great fires were the occasion for the manifesta-
492
HURON COUNTY.
tion of some of the noblest, as well as some of the meanest, traits in the human character. What could be more generous and noble than the response to the call for relief that came from all parts of the world ? There was no occasion to ask for anything; just as soon as the cause became known, money, provisions and clothing poured in from every city in the North, and by its abundance many were replaced in com- fortable, and some even in affluent circumstances.
The distribution of the supplies was confided to men of well-known business character and integrity, who had a personal knowledge of most of the cases which came under their supervision. These men devoted their own time and means freely and gen- erously to deal out the relief, neglecting their own interests.
Yet the supplies had hardly arrived on the grounds before those near made a rush for them ; 'and though a sufficiency was given them to supply their imme- diate wants, many were disappointed and grumbled because they did not receive an abundance. The worst cases were those who suffered the least. In- stead of eating the bread and accepting the relief with thankful hearts, their conduct was disgusting to many sensible persons. How different were they from the people who gave the donations! While there were many of this class, of course there were hun- dreds too timid to ask even for necessaries.
Every class of relief was received from all parts of the world, and from every class of people. The fol- lowing sums of money were sent from the respective Grand Lodges, immediately following the fires, to Arthur M. Clark, at that time Grand Lecturer of Masons, of Michigan, to be distributed among some 200 Masons, who lost their homes and were left des- titute by the fire :
Michigan $4,800 |
South Carolina $ 350
Maine 1, 100
Texas 1,400
Connecticut
Arkansas. 900
Delaware. 1,200
50
Alabama 50
Illinois 1,200
Missouri . 250
California. 1, 100
Maryland.
600
West Virginia 100
Kentucky
100
Iowa.
500
Ohio.
New Jersey 65
30
Pennsylvania 4,400
New York. 125
Louisiana. 1,600
Michigan K. T.,. 1,000 Wisconsin . 500
Tennessee 1,200
Total
$23,877
In addition to the above there was also sent a large amount of clothing and provisions, which was distributed among these suffering Masons.
The general relief, together with something of the losses, can be seen from the report of the State Fire Relief Commission, which is appended :
REPORT IN REGARD TO FIRE RELIEF.
" His Excellency, DAVID H, JEROME, Governor of Michigan :
"The Fire Relief Commission of Michigan ap- pointed by you to supervise the work of relief to the sufferers by the disastrous fires in this State on the fifth of September last, in compliance with a joint request from the several committees already sngaged in the work, has the honor to submit the following report of its labors to the present date :
"The work of relieving the sufferers being still in progress, and a portion of the funds entrusted to our charge for that purpose yet unexpended, the report of your Commission is necessarily incomplete.
" The Commission has, from the date of its organ- ization on the tenth of October last to the present time, held regular meetings upon every lawful day, and have devoted much time and careful thought to the discharge of the important and onerous duties assigned to it. While maintaining a watchful super- vision over the contributions entrusted to it by the generous people throughout the land, and using its best judgment to secure a faithful, impartial, and ju- dicious distribution of the same to those who were reported to it by proper authority as entitled to re- ceive aid,-not a single individual appeal has been made (and the number of these has been very large) but has received careful consideration and investiga- tion by the Commission, so that the relief asked for should, if practicable, be promptly given if the ap- plicant was found entitled to it.
"Immediately upon the organization of your Com- mission, the Detroit Relief Committee turned over to it the books and records of every kind belonging to that committee, together with a condensed report of the receipts and disbursements, and the remaining cash and merchandise in the hands of the commit- tee, as shown by the report.
"Shortly thereafter the relief committee of East Saginaw, Flint and Bay City made similar reports to your Commission, that of the first two being accom- panied by the remaining funds in their hands. Bay
07
Mississippi. 800
Kansas . 300
Indiana. 137
493
HURON COUNTY.
City, by mutual agreement, continued its work of re- lief in the Bad Axe district, reporting on the same from time to time to the Commission. On the 27th of January a final report was sent by the Bay City Committee, accompanied by a check for the remain- ing funds in their hands.
" Upon careful consideration of the general condi- tion of the sufferers, and of the system adopted and in operation for their relief as shown by the reports of the committees, your Commission, being pledged, according to arrangement at the meeting requesting & its appointment, to carry out all existing contracts made by the previous relief committees, resolved, as the most judicious course under existing circum- stances, to carry out in its general features the system adopted by the Detroit Relief Committee, which ap- peared to have been most admirably planned, and to have been carried out hitherto with great energy and success.
" The limits of such a report as the present will not permit the Commission to present other than a general and somewhat condensed review of the work of relief. The section of country burned over was promptly arranged into districts of from one to five townships each, as was found to be most con- venient; one-half of some townships being in one district and the other half placed in another, the better to accommodate the sufferers. These districts were placed in charge of a responsible and prom- inent citizen residing therein, through whom, as their relief agent, assisted by voluntary local committees in the district, the general relief committees and the Commission have dispensed every every form of relief, except in cash, which has been distributed, with their assistance, by special agents.
Through these district agencies as originally or- ganized, with the exception of a few changes shown to be necessary as the work developed, relief has been dispensed to the sufferers under the following general classification : Provisions and groceries ; clothing and bedding; medicines and medical aid ; seed wheat and grass ; plows, wagons, harness, and agricultural implements and tools of all kinds; lum- ber and shingles; doors, windows, nails, etc., for houses and barns; furniture, including stoves, bed- steads, chairs, tables, crockery, tin and wooden ware ; hay and other feed for such number of cattle as they were advised to retain ; donations and loans in money
to aid in rebuilding saw-mills, etc., destroyed; cash distributions by special agents directly to the suffer- ers on as liberal a scale proportioned to the size and wants of each family as the Commission deemed it wise, with the means at its command, to allow.
"On the progress and results obtained in the dis- tribution of the foregoing means of relief, the Com- mission reports as follows :
" Provisions and groceries have been liberally sup- plied sufficient to subsist the sufferers upon an average to nearly the first of January, a cash distri- bution being made in the latter part of November and beginning of December, as a substitute from that date. Clothing and bedding have been supplied to the sufferers in abundance, the former, as well as large quantities of the latter, being furnished through the generous contributions of the public in these articles. Many districts were supplied with more clothing of certain kinds than was required, the greatest demand being for warm bedding, ticking, new boots and shoes, and woolen wear for winter use. These the Commission purchased and distributed wherever required.
" The stocks of clothing now on hand we believe to be sufficient for the requirements of the sufferers.
"Seed wheat for fall sowing was furnished by this Commission and other committees to all who were reported as entitled to it, and ready to sow. Through the energy of the committees and their agents in the district, aided by the favorable season, a large area was sown in good time with the promise of a favor- able result. A quantity of grass seed was also fur- nished and sown. Plows, wagons, harness, and other farming implements were sent forward in liberal quantities as rapidly as practicable. The distribu- tion of the most expensive of these articles was in- trusted to the judgment of the agents, to be loaned or donated, as they might deem advisable, it being impossible to supply all who applied. By the aid, however, of a liberal expenditure for the repair of those only partially destroyed, most of the sufferers are now enabled to prosecute the work on their lands.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.