Alpena County, Michigan - Chapter 10: Aiaeriages, Births, Etc, 1903

Chapter 10: Aiaeriages, Births, Etc

In the spring of 1859, the first marriage was celebrated in Alpena county. Miss Mary L. Carter being the first young lady that had come to the county as ^ permanent resident, assumed the right to be the first married; and in harmony Avitli previous arrangements, it was recorded: 'Mariied, Maicii 10th, 1859, at the residence of the bride's mother, by David D. Oliver, Esq., Justice of the Peace, George B. Melville to Mary L. Carter, both of Fremont."

The record of marriajjes was burned in the court house, in in 1870, and not having any more of the records in his [)Ossession, the writer will not be able to notice any more of the early marriages of Fremont. The records ke[)t since the fire, sliows that, from February 11th, 1871, to June 1st, 187(*), two hundred and forty-four marriages, three hundred and sixty-seven births, and one hundred and ten deaths Jiave been recorded.

Various Subjects

Temperance. - This subject involves the feelings of so many persons now living in Alpena, that a full discussion of the subject cannot be had; and the writer would omit the subject entirely, did it not play so conspicuous a part in the early settlement of the county; for he would find it extremely difficult to use the truth so sparingly as not to contradict the conceived ideas of some, and not offend others. Almost every town, when new, has had its "roughi^,"' and "spreeing" time, and Fremont was not an exception. Pontiac, Oakland county, IMichigan, was noted, in its early days, for its "spreeing,'' and a facetious gentleman, well known there in 1840, by the cognomen of "Salt Williams," who said he -'had an altercation with a man, and told him to go to li - 1 or Pontiac, and the great fool went to Pontiac." Fortunately most of the proprietors and early settlers of Fremont were temperate people, and opposed to the introduction and traflSc of spirituous liquors; and consequently the "spreeing" season of Alpena was not long, but it Avas not without its evil effects. The wriler had been much annoyed and injured iu his business, at Devil river, by the sale of whiskey to his men, by one Walter Scott, who resided near the mouth of Thunder Bdj river, and fished, looked pine lands, and traded with the Indians. A number of times his life and property had been in peril, during the drunken sprees of his men, and in one instance, his mill was shut down for a month, in consequence of a drunken spree of his men.

Those who live in a well settled country or in a city where, if a man gets drunk and abusive, he is taken care of by the Sheriff, Constable, or the Police, can form no adequate idea of the annoyance, hardship and peril that liquor makes in a new place. Thei^e you must either abscond, or be prepared to defend yourself by physical force.

In the spring of 1862, the schooner Helen, from Saginaw, came into Thunder Bay river, to bring supplies for Walter Scott. This happened on Sunday, and some of the writer's men saw her come in, and knew that she would have liquor on board, as Scott had run out of that article toward spring. So two or three were delegated, by the others, to go to Thunder Bay river and bring three gallons of whiskey. We had finished the winter's logging, and run the logs to the mill, and were intending to start the mill, to run night and day, that Sunday night, at midnight, but when the time came to start, we found only one man that could work, or could be trusted in the mill. We had seen what was going on, and had placed in our pocket one of Colt's revolvers, as a protector, while watching the mill. Soon after daylight, in the morning, as we were standing in our door, we heard a loud noise in the men's sleeping room, across the way, and soon an old German came down the steps, hie face streaniin<:j with blood, and followinj; him were three or fonr men. We step[)cd quickly forward, and as we passed into tlie street, the old German passed us, goin*^ into the house. AVe asked, what was the matter, but received no res[)onse. AVe then passed on to meet the men, who said the German liad cojnmitted some offense; had got drunk and went to bed and left them, and that they had gone to wake him up and give him h--l. Before thev got tiinjugh with their '"varn." the German appeared with a ."^hot gnn, loaded with nine buck shot. As soon as they saw the German with the gun, there was a scattering, each one dodging out of sight, as quick as possiljle, except one wlio was standing close to us, and did not at once take in the situation, but when he did, he clung to us for dear life. The old German came within two rods of us, with the gun cocked and j)ointing at us, said: "(let out of the way or I will shoot. I will kill him."

AVe told the old man that he would do wrong to shoot us, for we could not get out of tiie way of the man; to [>nt down his iixiu and £To into the house, and we would settle the matter all right, and after talking, perhaps two minutes, wliich seemed a much longer time, he put down the gnn and started for the house. As soon as the gnn was laitl iU)wn, the man behind us ran and seized it by the muzzle, and gave it a wiiack across a log and narrowly escnjied setting the gun off, pointing at his breast.

In tlie meantime, those who liad been JiidihMi away, came out, swearing tliat they '"would kill the Dutchman," and all made a rush for the house. AVe (piickly matle u|i our mind that we had business on hand, and we felt for our revolver and a small round stone, to grasj) in the hand, to su[)[)oit it. and give weiiiht to the blow, and started on the run foi- the house.

man and were whacking away at him. As we went into the house, we reached from the shoulder, for every head that came in our way, until we came to the old man, whom we told to go upstairs, and on obeying, we followed him to the stairway.

By this time, those that their heads had come in contact with the hand that had the stone in it, were rushing for us, and to go up the stairs, when we turned round with the revolver in our hand, and with words well qualified, we told them that we would shoot the first man that made any more disturbance; for them to go home and get sober and pack up their things, for they would all be discharged, and go down on the schooner Helen.

This made a quietus. We then sent the only sober man we had to Thunder Bay river, to engage the schooner to call at Devil river, on her way down. The next day the schooner came in, and, reluctantly, they all went aboard. Some were good men, and had been with us for a number of years, and we felt loth to let them go, but under the circumstances, we could not retain those and not the whole.

We then went to Detroit, by the way of Thunder Bay Island, and hired a new crew of men and women, and put them on board a small propeller, called the Clifton, that had just started to run on the shore, from Detroit to Alpena, and came up as far as Port Austin. Here, the boat went into the harbor, to discharge some freight, and in backing out, she struck a rock and went on so fast, that she could not get off. We then took all our freight and persons on shore, found a place where the ladies could stay, and went into camp with the men. AVe were here two weeks before any craft came in, that could take us to Saginaw.

After reaching Bay City, we hired a craft to take us to Devil liver, where we arrived, after four -weeks' absence. Although we had succeeded in keeping the sale of liquor from Devil river, yet so long as it was sold within reach of the men, it was impossible to escape the pernicious effects of the occasional

Soon after Mr. Miller came to Fremont, an informal meeting was had, at which were Daniel Carter, J. K. Miller, J. S. Irwin, A. F. Fletcher, and the writer, and it was verbally understood and agreed to use all proper means to keep the sale of spirituous liquors from Devil river and Fremont. This was the first combination against whiskey, in the county, and although not very strongly bound together, yet firm enough to have kept whiskey fi-om the place for a long time, had Mr. Miller not taken so much responsibility on himself, and left more for his neighbors.

In 1859, J. K. Bingham came to Fremont, bringing with him a general assortment of goods, that he supposed would be needed in a new country, and among other things, a few barrels of assorted liquors. He saw Mr. Miller, and requested him to store the goods in his warehouse, for a few days, until he could build a store. Mr. Miller, learning that Mr. Bingham had liquors, refused to give it storage, and no other storehouse being in the place, Mr. Bingham was compelled to provide storage for his goods, which he did by landing them on the east side of the river, where h*^ covered them with boards, set a watch over them day and night, and commenced to sell his liquors, and before Mr. Carter or the writer had any intimation of the facts, the business had got so far established, that it would require more effort than they wished to accept, and more responsibility than they wished to incur, under the circumstances, to stop it. Mr. Bingham was a man of energy, had a fair education and address; had considerable means, and much influence at that time, as Moses Bingham was his son. and had been in Fremont for some time, and he was acquaint- ed with Abram Hopper and others, from his part of the State, He was not long in winning the respect and sympathy of a large portion of the citizens of the county.

Had Mr. Miller quietly taken possession of the liquor, and then notified his friends what he had, and all went to Mr. Bingham, in a body, and requested him to send the liquor away, and stating our reasons, he would have complied with our requests, and liquor, for a long time, might have been kept out of the place, with but little effort, had it been well directed.

Mr. Miller was Tery conscientious in regard to handling whiskey and tobacco, and so utterly refused to have anything to do with Mr. Bingham's liquors, and for this hasty and conscientious act, he made an enemy of Mr. Bingham, alienated very much the sympathies of friends, lost much of his influence among the people, and caused himself, for many years, to be treated with discourtesy, by those who were in favor of the liquor traffic, and which sometimes took on a form of open abuse, which was not approved by the majority.

These abuses, after a time, extended to everyone who was opposed to seeing a drunken mob in the street, and finally culminated in a man, by the name of Crawford, being shot and killed. This was a sad affair, and created much excitement and heated discussion at the time, the details of which can not, with propriety, be given here, or at this time.

Whether this affair was a fortunate or unfortunate one, it did much good for the county. It made a line of demarkation between rowdyism and law and order, and showed a large majority for the latter. It showed the roughs, that they were not masters of the situation, as they supposed they were, nor did they receive the sympathy they expected from the people.

In 1867, a man by the name of Sprague, was arraigned before the Circuit Court, for heading a drunken mob, and fined, and whiskey, in large quantities, ceased to abuse people in the streets, and marked the end of the spreeing time of Alpena.

The same causes, which produced a chauge in the spreeing, also divided the people, iu regard to the temperance question, and for some time a bitter feud was carried on between the parties. In February, 1870, a temperance organization was effected, called tlie Temperance League of Alpena, its object being the suppression of the liquor traflSc, in the place. The oflScers of this powerful organization were: for President, Capt. A. E. Persons; for Secretary, F. S. Goodrich; for Treasurer, James J. Potter, and for executive committee, Wm. H. Potter, Scott Doane, Wm. D. Hitchcock, Christopher Burrell and T. M. Luce.

''We, the undersigned, agree to take the number of shares set opposite our names, at So.OO each, subject to such assessments as the Executive Committee of the Temperance League may find necessary to make, in order to carry on the work of organization. The capital stock to be §2,000.00, or more."

The names of the stock-holders are given, to show the power and influence of this combination against the sale of liquor. W. H. Potter, W. J. Koe, A. E. Persons, T. M. Luce. Balfor Lee, J. J. Potter, Scott Doane, J. D. Potter, Fred. S. Goodrich, W. D. Hitchcock, C. Burrell, F. H. Vroman, H. M. Jacobs, J. C. Park, .Robert Eaybuni, Samuel Dafoe, E. K. Potter, C. W. Vail, Henry S. Seage, B. K. Young, A. C. Tefft. A. N. Spratt, J. W. Marshall, F. 8. Dewey, Benjamin Richards, James Oglevie, H. Cook, Rev. F. N. Barlow. C. C. Whitney, T. Lang Taylor, Z. M. Knight, M. B. 8i)ratt, A. ^Miller. G. W. Jones, A. Crowell, A. L. Powers & Co, C. E. Wilcox, Wm. E. Rice, James Tuggy, Thos. G. Spratt, Herman Chamberlain, E. M. Raymond, Chas, N. Cornell, H. M. Hyatt, A. Hopi.cr. A. F. Fletcher, P. M. Johnson & Co., Folkerts ^ Bulteitield. J. W. Van Horn, S. E. Hitchcock, C. H. Trask, W. H. Sexton, 8. L. Meade, J. Van Dusen, Fred Miller, Geo. R. Nicholson, E. C. Barlow, W. Nason, H. R. Morse, F. \). Spintt. 1) (i.

Aber, T. Lnce & Co., E. White, E. Williams, C. L. Kimball, Rev. A. B. Allen, D. Plough, C, H. Rice, Geo. Masters, W. McMasters, J. S. Minor, Douglass Scott,' A. L. Seaman, and Hugh Mellen.

Many who were favorably inclined toward the temperance cause, refused to take stock in this combination, on account of the belligerent attitude, its extreme measures, and the bitterness then existing between the parties, alleging that action on the part of the League, would endanger the property of Alpena. Among those were: Geo. N. Fletcher, David D. Oliver, Daniel Carter, and J. K. Lock wood.

The League went into operation, and for two years a fierce struggle ensued with various vicissitudes of success and defeat, the details, or discussion of which, can not, with propriety, be given here, nor would they be amusing or instructive, if they could be. It is enough to say, that the League never accomplished its object, and the animosity of the people was smothered in the groat fire in 1872, which swept away much of the cause of contention, and mingled the sympathies of the citizens in the great calamity that had overtaken both parties. Two criminal prosecutions were made, growing out of the afPair, Prejudice condemned the parties and sent them to prison, but justice liberated them, and sent them home, as nothing could be proved against them.

It is to be regretted that the temperance cause has been so extreme and intemperate in its movements. Time, talent and money enough have been expended to have accomplished all necessary good that was sought, had it been properly directed. While it will be readily conceded that much good has been done to persons and localities, through the cause, yet it would require but little argument to prove that it has utterly failed to destroy liquor or decrease its manufacture and sale. The obvious reason is, tliat it has always tried to do too much at a time, and to have some events transpire before their antecedents ; or, in other words, to do f.n impossibility. Whenever it asked and obtained a passage oi law in its favor, it was always so stringent that it was impracticable, and only led to litigation, without any good result. When the temperance organizations shall cease to be so extreme in their views, and change their belligerent attitude - shall be willing to treat the opposition with as much respect and amiability as the Savior did Satan in the wilderness - shall endeavor to modify the cause, rather than cure eifocts - prefer making their own drunkards, to having them made by others; then they will make some headway against the monster that is destroying its thousands every year, and has, by repeated liberties in the sha[)e of strictures by the temperance cause, grown to its maximum of [)()isonous effects.

The first society of Good Templars was organized some time in 18GG, but for some cause, soon became disorganized, the records of which the Avriter has not been able to find. The |)resent society of Good Templars was organized October 3d, 1873, lender the name and style of Alpena lodge, No. 775, I. O. of G. T. The charter members were: J. J. Potter, 1). P. Lester. R. M. Donnelly, John D. Potter, Alex. Campbell, Nettie Kiddle, AVilliam Powell, J. D. Holmes, 1). B. Hagarty, Mark Young. Johnson Hamilton, with J. J. Potter first Worthy Chief Templar. The following are the officers installed in Al[)en!i lodge. No. 775, I. O. of G. T., May 5th, 1870:

Masonic

"The Alpena lodge of F. and A. M. has enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity than any other lodge of its age in the State. It was organized in 18C5, when our town w^as very small, and it was difficult to find Masons enough who would remain in town until we could establish a lodge. With true Masonic perseverence and industry, a dispensation was finally procured, and Bro. Wm. P. Maiden was appointed Master. No brother could have been called to preside over the lodge, who would have devoted more of his time, talent and energy than did Bro. Maiden. The lodge immediately commenced to thrive and flourish in the most satisfactory manner. A hall was elegantly fitted up, over Hyatt's bakery, and a large class of the most excellent citizens knocked at the door for admittance. Every stranger admitted the w^ork to be excellently done, and our members visiting other lodges were masters of their work. Bro. M. was elected in 18G0, and re-elected in ISGT, during wdiich time the lodge has been in most excellent condition, and has found it necessary to procure a larger hall, wdiich it has done, over the drug store. Bro. Maiden retires from the Mastership of the lodge, with a noble record and the gratitude of nil his fellows." Bro. Carpenter, who succeeds him, is an excellent man and Mason, an accomplished scholar, and a worthy citizen, and no doubt will discharge the duties of his office with ability and honor. Lodge 199, F. and A. M., was organized in 1865, but did no work until 18G0, when they obtained a hall over Hyatt's meat market, and proceeded, under a dispensation. to open the first lodge, with the following officers and members:

Thunder Bay Chapter

Thunder Bay Chapter, No. 74, R. A. M., held its first convocation in Masonic hall, August 30th, 1870, working under a dispensation, but was chartered January lOtli, 1871. the first officers of which were:

Bible Society American Protestant Association

In September, 1868, the American Protestant Association was organized, at Evergreen Hall, entitled Pine Grove lodge No. 5. The first officers elected are as follows: John Kesten, W. M. ; Alex. Campbell, W. D. M. ; John Smith, R. S., Dougal McArthur, F. S. ; James Dixon, A. S. ; William Waltenbury, Treasurer; John A. Sloan, Conductor; Henry Wickerson, Assistant Conductor; AVilliam Hamilton, Lt. ; W. H. Harvey, O. T. ; J. R. Beach, Chaplain.

Band

The first notice for the organization of a band, appeared in the Pioneer of the 20th of June, 1868, through the instance of the writer, who first agitated the mattei-, and donated the first ten dollars toward purchasing the instruments, which cost the

Vaktotb Subjects

In April, IST-t, a meeting was called, for the purpose of forming an agricultural society, but no action was taken at this time; but on the 30th of May, when the citizens of Alpena county met and organized the Alpena County Agricultural Society, by adopting a constitution and by-laws, and electing the following gentlemen directors to manage the affairs of the society for the first year: W. H. Potter, Seth A. L. Warner. J. K. Lockwood, James J. Potter. D. P. Buker, W. H. Phelps, James A. Case. Joseph Cavanngh, N. M. Brackinreed and W. H. Sanborn. The object of tlie society was the promotion of agricultural, horticultural and domestic industry, by the use of competition prizes. The oflBcers shall be elected aiiDually, by ballot, and shall consist of a President, a Vice-President in each organized tov/nship, who shall have the care of the society in his township, and shall be presiding officer of any meeting pertaining to the society in the absence of the President, a Secretary, Treasurer and Executive Committee. The by-laws give the general duties of the ofl&cers and the general management of the society.