Bay County, Michigan - The whole text, 1883 (part 13 of 20)

Banks Incorporated

The village of Banks was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, approved April 15, 1871, which act defined the boundaries as follows: - "That so much of the Township of Bangor, in the County of Bay, and State of Michigan, as is embraced in the following described lands, to-wit: Commencing on the north bank of the Saginaw Kiver, where the north and south quarter line of Section Fifteen, Town Fourteen north, of Eange Five east strikes said river; thence north on said quarter line to the northeast corner of the south half of the north half of the northwest quarter of said Section, thence west along the north line of said south half of north half of northwest quarter of said section to the west line of said section, and the northeast corner of the south half of the north half of northeast quarter of Section Sixteen in said town ; thence west along the north line of said south half of the north half of said northeast quarter of Section Sixteen, to the north and south quarter line of said Section Sixteen; thence south on said quarter line to the Saginaw River; thence easterly along said river down stream to the place of beginning."

the Legislature, creating new boundaries as follows: - -"All of Sections Fifteen and Sixteen lying north and west of the Saginaw Eiver, and the east half of the southwest quarter of Section Seventeen, all of said lands being in Town Fourteen north, of Range Five east are made and constituted a village corporate by the name and title of the village of Banks." The act was approved March 31, 1875.

The charter was also amended in some other particulars relating to the government of the village, one of which provided for the election of recorder, treasurer and assessor by the people, whereas they were theretofore appointed by the Board.

The first election under the new^ charter was one of unusual interest on account of the election of the three officers named. There were three tickets in the field, but the contest waged especially warm only on the office of Assessor - the regular nominee finally coming out largely ahead. The following officers were elected.

The next important event in the history of Banks was that by which its existence as an independent village was terminated, and it became the First Ward of West Bay City, in 1877.

The people of Banks were enterprising, and in matters of improvements w^ere not out-ranked by any village of equal size. The history of schools show^s the degree of interest and enterprise exhibited in securing ample educational advantages.

In 1862 Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh, who owned a large amount of land on the west side of the river, platted a strip fronting on the river, and extending from the present line of the Tw^enty-third Street bridge, north to tJie section line. He named the place Salzburgh, after a great salt mine and resort of that name in Austria, and because of the salt excitement here at that time. The place never became an incorporated village, and the name was applied to that general location without reference to the platted tract.

The first wiiite inhabitant of that locality was Benjamin Cushway, the government blacksmith for the Indians, who came here about 1834 and built a log house a short distance north of where the Twenty-third Street bridge now is. The old house is standing yet, disguised in a covering of clap-boards. Just above were the Indian corn fields.

In 1842, the late Capt. Solomon S. Stone and wife, arrived in a canoe, having made the trip around the lakes. He built a bark wigw^am on the Indian corn fields, and lived there two or three years. At the end of that time he had made money enough, selling muskrat skins, to buy "Stone Island," where he lived until his death, which occurred in the Winter of 1883.

The Laderach Brothers settled here in 1861, and built a stave mill and cooper shop. Their history is given as a part of the lumbering history.

In 1867 John Arnold & Co., and the Huron Salt & Lumber Co. were manufacturing lumber, and Jacob Laderach and M. A. & A. H. Root were manufacturing shingles.

Kolb & Westover

In 1870, the brewery now owned by the above named firm was started by Mr. George Kolb, one of the early settlers of Bangor. The operations of the gentlemen composing this firm have been as follows :

George Kolb is a native of Germany, born in 1827, followed farming till 1852, when he came to America and went to Fort Atkinson, where he resided two years. In 1854 he came to Bangor and worked in mills and on farms till 1870, when he opened a brewery in West Bay City, which he continued until his son Fred erick and his son-in-law Morris Westover, took the business which they are still running. Under Mr. Kolb's management the business increased from 500 barrels of beer per year to 6,000, and in the hands of Kolb & Westover to nearly 8,000.

Frederick Kolb, son of George Kolb, was born in Germany in 1850, and in 1852 came to America with his father, and has shared w4th him in trials, hardships and successes, and is to day a partner in the brewery above mentioned. Married Amelia Rosa, of West Bay City, in 1874; they have three children.

Morris Westover was born in Germany in 1849, and followed basket making in his native land until 1862, when he came to the United States and stopped in New York three years, during which time he learned shoe making, working at this trade Summers, and Winters attending the Mexico Academy, at Mexico, Oswego Co., N. Y., and afterward a course of instruction in Eastman's National Business College at Poughkeepsie. In 1865 removed to Detroit, Mich., where he worked at shoe making and basket making till 1867, when he came to Bay City, working for a time for the Jackson k Lansing Railroad, then returned to Detroit and worked in a harness shop two years. In 1869 came to Wenona, and after working about one year at shoe making opened a shop for himself. From 1872 to 1876 drove the beer wagon for George Kolb, after which he was proprietor of Westover House, West Bay City, two years, when he removed to Salzburgh and opened the Westover Hall, after which he entered into partnership with Fred Kolb in the brewery, where he still continues. Married Mary Kolb; they have six children. Has been highway commissioner of the Township of Bangor and is now supervisor of the Third Ward West Bay City.

John W. Babcock, born in Wayne County, N. Y., in 1831. His father moved to Washtenaw County, Mich., in 1835, with whom he remained until the age of twenty -one. In 185 1 came to the Saginaw Valley through the woods, having only a compass to direct him, camping out alone three nights out of five. Reached Bay City in November. Came down the west side of the river to the bay, returned to the point where the village of St. Charles now stands, helped make the first clearing there. Spent the winter of '51 and '52 in Flushing, and returned to the Saginaw Valley in March. Engaged to w^ork for Col. Raymond, of Lower Saginaw, now Bay City, during the Summer, and returned to Washtenaw

County in the Fall. Remained until September, 185B, and lias made this place his home ever since. In 1858 jobbed on the opening of the Bay City and Vassar road. From 1861 to 1866 jobbed on the Bay City, Au Sauble & Dmican State Road, which name was afterward changed to Au Sauble, Alpena & Duncan, having built 155 miles of said road. Drove the first team that traveled the entire distance from Duncan to Bay City. Received as a larger portion of his pay 72,000 acres of land. Located a part of it himself and sold the remainder of the script to parties to make their own location. During the three years following July, 1867, built for the General Government, a military wagon road from Ft. Howard, Wis., to Ft. Wilkins, Upper Peninsula, Mich. Distance 178^ miles. For which he received three sections of land per mile, or 348,060 acres. Bought the property known as the Huron Salt and Lumber Co., in April, 1868, consisting of saw mill, salt block, boarding house, tenement houses and sixty-five acres of land, having 120 rods river front on each side of the Salzburgh channel. Said company's stock was 1100,000, for which Mr. Babcock gave 33,600 acres of the Wisconsin land. In 1873 took up his residence on said property, where he now lives. Exchanged 40,000 acres of the Wisconsin land for an improved farm of 800 acres, valued at $45,- 000, and stock thereon at $8,000, lying in the central part of Fond du Lac County. Commenced life dependmg on his muscle and will power, and has thus far continued in active labor. Worked for Mr. James Fraser, helped clear and grub a portion of Center St. Bay City. Married in 18.56 Miss Jane Elhs, of Clinton, Lenawee Co., who died in 1861. Married his present wife, Miss Helen N. Newton, of Oakland County, by whom he has one son.

John Adam List was born in Frankenmuth, Saginaw Co., Mich., in 1847. Came to Salzburgh in 1870, and in 1876, in company with his wife, under the firm name of E. List & Co., opened a general store, and is doing a large business, keeping several clerks employed. Married Elizabeth Hubinger; they have one child, a daughter.

Thomas W. Hastings was born at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, and came to the United States in 1851. After living in Chicago until 1861 he removed to Zilwaukee, Saginaw Co., and was manager of the Western Salt Company's works. He was also weU known in the valley as "Mayor" of the last named village. In 1868 he was superintendent and book-keeper at Brooks & Adams' Salt Works at Salzburgh now Third Ward of West Bay City, where he remained until 1875. From that time until 1879, he was engaged in various pursuits, when he accepted the position of general manager of the log and lumber business of Mosher & Fisher, who are among the heaviest operators in that line in Michigan. Mr. H. has been married twice, his present wife being Miss Lucretia Lawrence, of Ottawa, 111., marrying her in the fall of 1882. Frederick Neumann, born in Huron County, Mich., in 1859. Son of Charles Neumann, of German birth, who came to Huron County, Mich., in 1856, bought land and remained ten years in that county. Devoted his attention to stock raising, for which he found in the new country a ready market. In 1866 sold out and came to Salzburgh, now West Bay City, bought land and elected a residence, where he remained until his accidental death by drowning in the Saginaw river in July, 1880. He married Miss Eosena Patsold, of German birth, by whom he had six children, two sons and one daughter of whom are living. Frederick is the youngest son, twenty-three years old, has secured the advantages of a good English education, studied law and at the age of twenty-one was elected Justice of the Peace of the Third Ward, West Bay City, the duties of which office he has performed satisfactorily to the present time. Is also carrying on the grocery business successfully, assisted by his sister as clerk.

Village Of Wenona

Prior to 1864 the only thing to attract the attention of a visitor to the west shore of the Saginaw Kiver, opposite Bay City, was a beautiful grove of oaks, interspersed with pine. The oak trees resembled in size and a]3pearance those of oak openings more common in the southern part of the State. The ground had a regular ascent from the river, and when covered with Summer's verdure and the cooling shade of the trees, a pleasing landscape was presented and the site appeared an unusually desirable one for dwellings. For a long time the bark wigwams of a few Indians who came from the interior to trade, erected occasionally and suddenly removed, were the only signs of dwelling that marked the spot. Subsequently, John Hays, more commonly known as Jack Hays, made a home for himself and family immediately upon the bank of the river. His chief business was to superintend the only scow that was available for crossing the river with horse or team, and to furnish refreshment for the weary traveler, or for those who grew dry while making the voyage from the east to the west shore of the Saginaw. He was a jolly fellow. All who expected to reach Midland City, by the trail through the woods crossed here, and if perchance on the return, night should overtake them, they were glad to find lodging for their horses till the morning trip of the scow, Avhile they sought home by the aid of the canoe.

In the year 1860, a donation of a lot was made by the owner of the land for school purposes. A neat little house was built and the pupils from the entire township of Bangor assembled there for instruction. The same house was used for many years as the poll of elections for that township.

Messrs. Sage, McGraw & Co., residents of New York, had carried on large operations in lumbering in Canada, near Lake Simcoe, but in 1863 determined to acquire a good location for the same business in the Saginaw Valley. Mr. H. W. Sage visited Bay City in 1860, and also each of the two years following for the purpose of purchasing a mill site, but was unable to effect negotiations. The property was in charge of Dr. D. H. Fitzhugh, and owned in part by Mrs. Elizabeth P. Birney. In 1863, at the solicitation of the late James Fraser, Mr. Sage again came to Bay City, and after a short interview with Dr. Fitzhugh, the terms of purchase were agreed upon, and in January, 1864, the deed was executed. The entire purchase covered 116 acres of ground, for which the firm of Sage & McGraw paid f 21,000.

The design of Messrs Sage & McGraw at that time was merely to obtain a good site for their mill, and for the dwellings of those necessarily connected with it.

During the Spring of 1864 they commenced their improvements, and erected a mill, said at the time to have been the largest in the world and was known as the "Big MiU." The extent of the enterprise brought the place suddenly into notice and was the means of its immediate prosperity. The description and product of this mill is given elsewhere in this work. It commenced running in May, 1865. At the time improvements were begun, the line of river front was just west of where the mill office was built and nearly up I to where the railroad track now crosses Midland Street. The mill was built on piles driven in the water.

A store was built on the high ground, which is still standing on the opposite corner from Sage & Go's brick block. It was considered quite a mammoth structure when built. Mr. Sage purchased 300,000 feet of lumber at Saginaw to use in the construction of the mill and store, and six weeks were required to get it to this point. About the same amount was taken from the land purchased by the firm.

About the time of beginning work on the mill the ground was platted and laid out into village lots, all of which were offered for sale at f 200 each, allowing purchasers to select as they liked.

The place was first named Lake City, but upon applying for a postoffice it was found that there was another postoffice of that name, and it was necessary to select another. Mr. McGraw and wife and Mr. Sage and wife were here together and they decided upon the name Wenona, an Indian word of i igniiication unknown to the writer. They also designated the streets, with the exception of Eiver and Midland, by their family names.

The firm of Sage & McGraw continued until 18G8, when Mr. Sage purchased Mr. McGraw's interest, and took his two sons into company with him. Since that time the firm has been H. W. Sage & Co. A brief outline of the life of the man who has done so much to bring Bay City into existence will be of interest in this connection.

Henky W. Sage was born in Middle town. Conn., January 31, 1814. His father was a manufacturer, and in 1827 removed to Ithaca, N. Y. The subject of this sketch received the advantages of a liberal education, and began the study of medicine, intending to make that profession his life pursuit. After pursuing his studies a short time his health failed and he was obliged to give up study. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Ithaca. He remained there several years and then removed to New York, where he lived most of the time until 1880, when he returned to Ithaca, which place has since been his home. As early as 1845 Mr. Sage began to acquire interests in Michigan pine lands, but his most extensive purchases were about 1862. He was about the first to ship lumber from the Saginaw YaUey to Albany, N. Y. As early as 1847 he visited Lower Saginaw, now Bay City, and some incidents connected with that visit are given in the early history of the place. For a number of years Mr. Sage was in poor health. Possessed of ample fortune he retired from active business and was an invalid until told by his physician that an active life was necessary. to his health and happiness. Acting ux)on that advice, he gave his attention again to business affairs and experienced a speedy and lasting cure. For twenty years he has visited Wenona and Bay City ten or twelve times a year, and still looks upon these visits as the most enjoyable part of his life. Mr. Sage has for many years occupied a high position in financial circles, his fortune long ago having exceeded the amount requisite to constitute a millionaire. In 1872 he built a college for women at Ithaca, which institution bears his name. His connection with Wenona appears at nearly every step of progress at this point. Although nearly seventy years of age he is vigorous and robust, and but for whitened hair and beard would exhibit no signs of age. He has done a great deal for West Bay City, but the crowning act of his liberality is the magnificent public library mentioned elsewhere in this work. In the early days of Wenona, every public enterprise of advantage to the place received his liberal encouragement. But in the latitude of this work we are more directly concerned in movements affecting Bay County, and in this particular connection with the beginning of Wenona. His interest in the welfare of West Bay City is as lively now as when he was encouraging the development of the village of Wenona.

The work of 1864 was preliminary, but so much was accomplished that when the mill started in the Spring of 1865, the general development of the place progressed rapidly. Village lots were in good demand and numerous enterprises were springing up.

During 1865 business began in earnest. A telegraph office and postoffice were established, the Presbyterian Church built and the village was connected with Bay City by the Third Street bridge. A general spirit of enterprise prevailed and the growth of the place was so rapid that by 1866 the people felt that they were entitled to corporate privileges. About this time the planking of the Midland road by the County was of great benefit to the site. Not less so was the road constructed by the State, from East Saginaw to the same point and nprthward by the avails of a swamp lands appropriation by the Legislature.

The Village of Wenona was incorporated by the Board of Supervisors at a meeting of that body held in May, 1866, when a resolution was adopted as follows :

" Whereas^ an application has been made to this Board by the parties interested to incorporate the Village of Wenona, in this County, in accordance with an Act of Legislature entitled "An Act to Provide for the Incorporation of Villages," approved Feb. 17, 1857, and

WhereciH, it appears that such parties have complied with the provisions of said act in every respect, and no opposition having been made thereto, therefore be it liesolredy That said application be granted and that the following described territory be, and the same is hereby an incorporated Village, to be hereafter known as the Village of Wenona, to -wit: The east half of the southwest quarter and southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and southwest quarter of the northeast quarter, and lots one, two and three, all in Section Twenty, Town Fourteen north, Eange Five east, and be it further

Renoir ed, That the first election in said Village shall be held on the first day of June next, at the schoolhouse, in School District No. 1, in said Village, and C. F. Corbin, J. B. Ostrander and W. D. Chambers act as inspectors at such election."

The Legislature of 1867 granted the village a charter, and the first election under the village charter was held on the second of April, 1867. The officers elected were: President, David G. Arnold; Eecorder, Newcomb Clark; Treasurer, George A. Allen; Assessor, James A. McKnight; Trustees, John G. Emery, Martin W. Brock, Carlos E. Eoot, Wilson 0. Craft, Lafayette Eoundsville and Harrison H. Wheeler.

Hon. Newcomb Clark was born in 1840 in Sullivan County, N. Y. When but a year old his parents moved to Michigan, where they settled on a farm in Oxford, Oakland Co. He received his education at the academies in Oxford and Clarkston. In 1858 he went South, and taught school in Mississippi. He remained in that State until the rebellion broke out, coming North in August, 1861. Shortly after coming back he enlisted in the Fourteenth Michigan Infantry, and at the time he left it held the position of second lieutenant. He was transferred to the One Hundred and second Eegiment of United States coloreil troops, with the rank of

Major. He served until the close of the war, and upon retiring from the service ranked as lieutenant colonel. He came to West Bay City (then Wenona) in the fall of 1865. When the village was incorporated the work of preparing the charter was principally done by Mr. Clark. At the first election, in 1866, he was elected President of the village, and afterward held the offices of assessor and recorder. He also held the office of postmaster from 1866 till 1870. In the Fall of 1882 he was elected member of the State Legislature for the Second District of Bay County. After retiring from the postoffice he engaged in the insurance business. From 1875 till 1879 he was special agent for the British, American and Manhattan Insurance Companies, and is now a member of the firm of Knaggs, Clark & Plum, real estate dealers and^ insurance agents. In 1867 he was married to Miss Ellen Chambers, of West Bay City. The first brick building in Wenona was put up by Mr. Clark in 1867. It was destroyed by fire in 1872. Mr. Clark has a strong hold upon the confidence of the- people of Bay County in general, and West Bay City in particular. He is a gentleman of fine social qualities, and as a citizen of West Bay City has done much to advance its interests. It is such men that have made West Bay City what it is to-day.

In the Winter of 1875 the boundaries were slightly changed, so as to take in the southeast one quarter of Section Seventeen. An effort was made to extend the boundaries on the south, so as to take in Salzburgh, but that met with so much opposition that it was unsuccessful.

Officers Of Wenona

President, E. T. Carrington; Eecorder, 0. J. Eoot; Trustees, S. A. Plummer, George A. Allen, C. F. Corbin, D. G. Arnold, M. W. Brock, J. A. McKnight.

President, L. Eoundsville; Eecorder, N. Clark; Trustees, S. A. Plummer, W. M. Green, P. Irwin, William Moots, George Keisel, George A. Allen.

President, S. A. Plummer; Eecorder, T. P. Hawkins; Trustees, J. A. McKnight, W. M. Green, George G. Van Aistine, William Moots, P. Irwin, George Harmon.

1875. President, J. A. McKnight; recorders, A. S. Nichols, E. S. VanLiew; trustees, Perry Phelps, E. T. Carrington, E. H. Chase, W. E. Lewis, A. Larocbe, T. P. Hawkins.

1876. President, George Washington; recorder, E. S. Van Liew; trustees, J. A. McKnight, Perry Phelps, D. G. Arnold, John G. Keisel, S. A. Plummer, Benjamin Pierce.

Early Pioneers

The following sketches are of two pioneers of Bay County, and also of Wenona. There are but few older residents of the county than Capt. Pierce, and few men are better known. Up the shore a man who doesn't know Uncle Ben Pierce is looked upon with feelings of mingled suspicion and pity.

Capt. Benjamin F. Pierce was born in 1814, in Jefferson Co., N. Y. He came to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) in 1839, and in 1846 built the second warehouse in the place. It stood on the bank of the river, near where the present bridge crosses from the foot of Third Street to Midland Street, West Bay City, and engaged in general trade. ^In 1858 he removed to the West Side and has since then been a resident of what was then in the township of Bangor and is now the Second Ward of West Bay City. Previous to locating on the West Side, he was for a time at Au Sable, where he kept a general store, trading with the Indians and fishermen. While at Au Sable he also built quite a number of the boats used by the fishermen. Capt. Pierce has been more or less of a fisherman and sailor during his life. He brought on the schooner "Julia Smith," from Saginaw, and the first two stationary steam engines that ever came into this section of the country. One was put in a mill which stood where C. E. Lewis's now is, and the other was taken to Saginaw City. He is now engaged in farming and looking after his real estate interests. There were five brothers of the Pierce family who were among the early settlers on this river. Benjamin F., above mentioned; Charles, who also lives in West Bay City; Cyrene, at Au Sable; Joshua, in Detroit, and Daniel M. in Bay City. Benjamin F. Pierce was married to Miss Jeannette E. Weaver, of Erie Co., N. Y., in 1853, and they have had five children, three of whom are living, viz.: - Curtis E., a promising young lawyer; Nettie, now the wife of John S. Taylor, Jr.; and Kaddie, who lives at home with her father and mother. The only office Mr. Pierce ever held was that of the first clerk of the township of Hampton, then in Saginaw County, at that time the only organize d township between here and Alpena.

Capt. Pierce was also extensively interested at Au Sable at an early day, in fact was a pioneer of that place, having erected some of the first buildings there. He has sold his buildings from time to time, but still retains real estate interests in the village. As elsewhere stated in this work, Capt. Pierce brought the tug "Lathrop" here, the first tug that was ever brought here. The captain is one of the very few remaining early pioneers of this region. An excellent view of Capt. Pierce's residence, together with a portrait of himself, appears in this work.

Calvin Christopher Columbus Chillson, deceased, was born in the township of Ticonderoga, Essex Co., N. Y., in the year 1812. His father, with his young bride, had some yea!rs previous come from Vermont and settled, the first one, upon a hill which to the present day bears the name of Chillson Hill. Here their numerous family, numbering sixteen children, was born, received their long names, which did not impede their growth, and from here went forth, as they grew up, to all parts of our broad land.

In the town of Breadport, Vermont, lived Benjamin Moore. His dwelling stood on one of the beautiful hill slopes that sweep down to the waters of Lake Champlain. Here the ninth of his large family of children was born, on St. Patrick's Day, in the year 1814. As was the fashion at that time, they gave the baby a long sonorous name, calhng her Ehzabeth Ovanda Jane Moore.

In course of time, Cupid in wandering about, whether by design or not, sent his arrows flying direct to the hearts of the young man and maiden. As a natural result they were married April 5, 18B4, in Ticonderoga.

Mr. Chillson's life had until then been spent in the region rendered famous by the adventures of Gen. Putnam with the Indians. One of the most beautiful of mountain streams waters this region. By its banks and in its adjacent dells, occurred some of the most thrilling adventures of the general. Hence the stream is called Putnam's Creek. In this brook the subject of our sketch was baptized by immersion when he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Believing that the West offered great opportunities to the young and able, he took his few household goods, and with his wife came by vray of Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence onward to the almost unknown wilds of Michigan, reaching the state sometime in September, 18B6. A short stay at Belle Eiver convinced him that he did not wish to remain there, so he moved to Flushing, Genesee County. Here tney were often entertained by the music of howling wolves, their wild concerts being varied by the more hideous music of the savage Indians who came from time to time to hold their pow-wows a few rods from their dwelling.

In this home were born their two daughters, all the children they had. Cornelia was born October 14, 1843; Caroline June 13, 1846. During these years Mr. Chillson was trying to be a farmer. He had cleared and improved some acres, and had a good home well begun ; but agricultural pursuits were not at all to his taste, and hearing of the great lumber region of Saginaw Valley, which was just being opened, he came to Lower Saginaw prospecting, in the year 1849. As a result he returned, packed his goods and looked around for the best means of conveying them to Saginaw.

At this time a merchant named Clark occasionally sent vaiious products to the valley. His way of doing this was to build a rude square boat, load it wifch produce, and taking advantage of high water float the cumbersome thing down the Flint and Saginaw Eivers.

Here was Mr. Chillson's opportunity. He with his family and household effects embarked in the early Spring for their future home. Passengers and crew named the boat "The Ark," and with the aid of the current and long poles this Noahchian party made a journey of some sixty miles. Many a snag was only just safely passed, and they narrowly escaped serious damage by the falling of a burning tree into the stream just behind them.

One night severe cold came on, when the carpets, bedding and every available article on "Ark" board was called into requisition to keep crew and passengers, especially Mr. Chillson's two small children, warm.

The journey over at length, Mr. Chillson bought a house and some lots on what is now Water Street, Bay City. They were between First and Second Streets. Establishing his family here, he found employment in one of the mills, a business more congenial to him than farming.

The prosperity and future greatness of Bay City seemed to be as plain to his mental vision, as now in the fulfillment of his predictions years after his decease.

He was one of the first in helping to establish the first Methodist Church organization in Bay City, and for years acted in the capacity of class leader. He was as fully alive in temperance work as in religious affairs.

Like every sea-port town. Lower Saginaw was cursed with the rum traffic, which among the rough hordes gathering in such places, causes a wretched state of affairs, unknown in quiet inland towns.

Good laws were on the statute books but Lower Saginaw lacked sufficient good public opinion to enforce them. Mr. Chillson was elected justice of the peace, and, assisted by Eev. P. 0. Johnson, then missionary among the Indians settled along the Kawkawhn Eiver, sought to enforce the law forbidding the selling of intoxicating drinks to the red men. The long hues of Indians and squaws sometimes twenty at once, issuing from the saloons and reeling and screaming through the streets, was a matter of extreme annoyance to the order-loving class of citizens. Yet while many wished for better things, scarcely one, save these two, dared stand forth opposed to the whisky sentiment and demand compliance with the law. For many months these two did the best they could; at length Eev. Johnson moved away. About this time Mr. Chillson was taken seriously ill. Just before night, one day during his illness, he was moved from the apartment in which he had been hitherto into another room. No noise disturbed the household, yet the next morning revealed the fact that the windows of his abandoned room were broken, while several stones were lying on the floor in such places as to indicate that if the invalid had been there he would have suffered martyrdom for his temperance principles.

About this time, Mrs. Chillson was one afternoon walking from her door down the path to the gate. A man from a neighboring saloon came forth with a gun in his hand. He aimed toward Mrs. Chillson. She, realizing that flight would be useless, continued slowly advancing. The miscreant turned the gun a little to one side and fired, the ball wliizzing uncomfortably near her head. Mr. Chillson could endure persecution when directed to himself, but would no longer endanger his family.

After several years' residence in Bay City, he sold his property there, and with part of the proceeds purchased forty acres on the West Side. This piece of land was owned by a Mormon named Smith, who wished to move to some place where other Mormons lived. Mr. Chillson paid him $450 for the forty acres. Now it forms part of West Bay City, and many fine residences are built upon it.

Tramping through the woods with compass and line for his guide, Mr. Chillson looked over the neighboring wild lands quite thoroughly. A road was talked of being put through to Midland. He purchased a half of Section twenty in Town Fourteen North, of Eange Five east, saying that if ever a road was put through to Midland it would follow the quarter section line, dividing his purchase in halves. Others contended that the road would follow the section line north of this. After years proved the wisdom of his choice, the present road following the very line he indicated.

Becoming weary of farm life again, Mr. Chillson rented his farm and purchased a sash and blind factory located on the river bank just above Center Street, in Bay City. This was afterward sold to Thomas Carney, Jr. , and during his ownership was destroyed in the first extensive conflagration that visited Bay City.

To his family he had often remarked: '' Bay City will some day be a large city. You will live to see it, but I shall not." Now good roads led out of Bay City, railroads were talked of, regular passenger boats came from and went to various ports, a bridge across the river was commenced, and H, W. Sage had begun his great mill.

Four days Mr. Chillson worked about the beginning of this mill, then returned to his home, one March night, feeling ill. This was in 1864. He lingered in suffering and pain until the 3d of May; then, as the sun was setting briUiantly in the west, he closed his eyes to earthly scenes forever, leaving behind remembrances of a noble character, unsullied reputation, and a name from friend and foe alike cf being an honest man.

In all the struggles of life Mrs. Chillson had been a friend and helpmeet for her husband. Now she was left to bear the burdens of a state of affairs financially appearing very unpropitious. Endowed with a remarkable business capacity and sound judgment, she brought order out of chaos, and now, at the age of near sixty-nine, manages her estate with good success. She believes that we each have a mission in life. Her labor of love seems to be the caring for homeless children. Besides bringing up her own two, she has adopted four others, and has kept in her home, giving them all the privileges of her own children, for a period of from one to four years, thirteen other children. At the present writing three of these remain with her, while others have found good and profitable ways of earning their own living. Mrs. Chillson, in the year 1870, married Alexander Terbosh, a |)ioneer of Genesee County, and at the present time they reside on a farm one mile west of West Bay City.

William Moots was born in the year 1840 in Langensalza a city in Prussia. When he was eight years old, with his parents and the other members of the family, he came to America, and, after a few changes of residence, settled in Lansing, Mich. Upon reaching his majority, having learned the trade of a tinsmith, he, with Paul Euppf, commenced business together, opening a small hardware store. Convinced that there were better business places than Lansing, they began looking around the Michigan towns, and at last moved their little stock of hardware into a small wooden store in the then village of Wenona. It was the first hardware store in the place. Mr. Moots was not wrong -in his opinions about the growth of the place. Not a great while elapsed before he purchased a lot on Midland Street, and he, with Mr. Charles Babo, built the first brick block erected in West Bay City. Into this building be moved his stock, where he remained until purchasing the block now known as Moots' Block, on the corner of Midland and Linn Streets.

William Moots was a public spirited man, remarkably far-seeing in business, and using his utmost endeavors for everything calculated to benefit the city of his choice. He came to West Bay City in the year 1867, was married to Corneha M. Chillson in April, 1870, and passed away from earth December 26, 1880, leaving his wife and little daughter to mourn his departure.

The Year 1867

Was an important one in many respects, and was, in a certain sense, a kind of formulative period. The building of the new school-house, mentioned at length elsewhere, was an event of considerable interest and significance. The first serious fire occurred this year, and the first brick store was erected. The railroad was completed, an event which gave shape to the future of Wenona.

We give herewith some of the general occurrences of the year 1867 not mentioned elsewhere, in connection with the dates upon which they were recorded.

Messrs. Sage, McGraw & Co. are going to cut a canal through the middle ground from the west to the main channel, where they will erect a dock and w^areliouse.

One saloon keeper of the village, was brought before justice U. A. Ladd on Saturday last, and fined $10 and costs for selling intoxicating liquor.

The citizens are determined to put down the traffic in Wenona, and those who refuse to discontinue selhng will have an opportunity of testing the law, as the temperance people are in earnest, and intend to ascertain whether the prohibitory law is worth anything or not.

The excellent sleighing has caused a great increase of business on the Midland road passing through Wenona. Over 1,000 teams passed the toll gate during the week ending January 19th. The immense quantities of logs, ship timber, staves, fire wood, etc., on the line of this road gives employment to a large number of men and horses.

February 16 - A donation will be held at the residence of Rev. A. C. Shaw, for his benefit, on the evening of Thursday the 21st, instant. The supper will consist of oysters and such other good things as the generous ladie -^ of Wenona may in their liberality and knowledge of the tastes of the public see fit to provide.

Mr. N. Clark, wa3 sent as a delegate to Lansing last week by the Board cf Trustees, with a petition for a special charter for the village of Wenona, the present one not conferring sufficient power to enable the Board and officers to govern the village in as efficient a manner as its citizens desire, and as the public good demands. The petition and charter were placed in the hands of the Hon. N. B. Bradley.

The keeper of the saloon who was prosecuted and fined, a few weeks since, for selling liquor in violation of the state prohibitory law, has left. Another individual has taken his place who declares he will sell in defiance of those who are opposed to the traffic. If the citizens maintain their resolve to enforce the prohibitory law, he will occasionally find it necessary to disburse a few stamps for the benefit of the county treasurer. In order to carry on his business he will need funds to meet these sort of incidental expenses.

March 2 - A donation for the benefit of the Rev. D. B. Campbell, will be held at his residence, on next Tuesday evening, March 5th; all are invited. Refreshments will be provided. It is to be hoped that the worthy gentleman may be the recipient of a liberal sum .

"Railroad on the Brain" has broken out here to a considerable extent, but as yet there have been no fatal cases reported. The disease is contagious, and in a few days spread throughout the community. There is very little abatement yet, although there are a few individuals who are considered convalescent. The village board has granted the right of way through the corporation, in case we get a road on our side of the river first. The Wenoiia people feel disposed to act magnanimously toward the Bay City folks, "by allowing them to come over to our side and take the cars for East Saginaw on our railroad whenever they wish to travel in that direction. It is also proposed should Bay City at some future period apply to Wenona to he annexed, that the apphcation be granted.

Maech 16 - N. Clark has commenced the foundation of a new store on Midland Street, it is to be of brick, and two stories high. It will be the first brick store in Wenona,

April 6 - Eepairs and improvements are being rapidly pushed forward in the big mill with a view of starting in a few days. It is very dull times in Winona, in consequence of the mill being idle so long.

A few nights since, some person whose propensity for unsurpassed meanness is largely developed, hacked and pulled up by the roots five maple shade trees in tront of the residence of Dr. Chase. Whoever did it has earned the execration of the law abiding citizens, and if found out wnll find a serious joke.

May ll - Sage, McGraw & Co's mill started on April 20th, and has cut on an average 125,000 feet per day since then. The increase over last year's average is due to improvements made during the past Winter under the direction of Mr. J. G. Emery.

Miss Jewell has opened a millinery store on the corner of Midland and Henry Streets. A very fine stock of goods is displayed, and the ladies of Wenona will be able to supply their wants in this line nearer at home than formerly.

The Railroad Company have decided to lay the track on Henry Street, which has given much dissatisfaction to the property holders on it, and a protest agcxinst it is being talked of by them.

Mr. R. H. Rich, from Bangor, has rented Sage, McGraw & Co's boarding house, and in addition to regular boarders will accommodate transient customers.

A donation party was held at Johnson & Bolton's boarding house in Bangor, on Thursday eveninj, the 9th, and tbe sum of about f 50 was realized for the benefit of the Rev. A. C. Shaw.

October 12 - A young man named Henry G. Williston was drowned near Sage, McGraw & Co's warehouse, about 12 o'clock on Friday night, the 4th instant. He and Mr. C. E. Root, his brotherin-law, were engaged in moving a scow down stream, in order to enable the steamer "Emerald" to come up to the dock. It being quite dark at the time, he accidentally fell overboard, and the scow is supposed to have passed over him. He was heard to shriek as he went over, and although assistance was promptly on hand they were not able to find him. The body was found on the following day near the bridge. An inquest was held on it by Justice Clark and the jury returned a verdict in accordance with the foregoing facts. He was buried on Sunday, the 6th instant. Deceased was formerly from Turin, N. Y.

The injunction served on the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad Company, by L. Davenport, to prevent them from laying a track through Henry Street, has not as yet been raised. A proposition has been made by certain parties in conjunction with the village council to plank the street under the track and for sixteen feet on each side thereof, provided the Henry Street people will withdraw their opposition to the road. Whether they will accept the cornpromise or not remains to be seen.

bought a new site of Mr. C. Moulthrop, across the bayou, and are erecting a fine brick school house on it. The contract for building it was let to Mr. George Campbell, for. the sum of f 9,500. The work is progressing rapidly and the walls will be completed in about two ^^eeks. The sum of |10,000 was voted by the district to build the schoolhouse, also a tax of |1,500, which is to be appHed to seating and otherwise completing and furnishing it.

November 23. - A destructive fire occurred in Wenona about 2 o'clock on Sunday morning, the 17th inst., by which the Bunnell House, Charles Miller & Bro.'s meat market, and John Keith's barber shop were totally destroyed. The fire was first discovered in the building used as a meat market. A portion of the furniture of the Bunnell House was saved, also of the barber shop, but nothing was saved from the meat market. The loss of the Messrs. Bunnell is about |6,000, on which they had $2,000 insurance. Miller & Bro's loss is |1,000; no insurance. Keith's loss, |200; no insurance. Rev. D. B. Campbell owned the meat market building, and his loss is estimated at $800, which includes damages done to his dwelling house which was only saved by strenuous exertions. The origin of the fire is not known. The steam fire engine from Bay City came over, but was too late to save the buildings. A considerable amount of pilfering was done during the fire.

Mr. Melancthon Hicks, a much respected resident of Wenona, died at his residence on Wednesday, after an illness of only two days. He was sixty-two years of age, and his loss was deeply felt by the entire community. His funeral took place on Friday, the 22d inst. Services were held at the Presbyterian Church.

Messrs. Sage, McGraw & Co., entertained about 125 of their em-ployes at the Bunnell House, on Saturday evening the 16th inst. A very pleasant and sociable time was had.

December 7. - The walls of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Depot are completed, and the frame work is being rapidly put up. It is hoped that the road will be open for trafiic by January 1st.

The Messrs. Bunnell have already commenced the foundation walls of a new hotel on the site of the one recently burned. It is to be built of brick, 40x90 feet, three stories high, with a basement.

C. & 0. Miller have erected a new meat market on Lion Street. J. Keith has built a new barber shop on the site formerly occupied by him. Both of these parties were burned out at the late fire.

"The present plat of the village is about three-quarters of a mile square, and it is divided into blocks of 400x200 feet in size, each block containing sixteen lots, 50x100 feet.

The most prominent feature of the place is, of course, the great saw mill of Sage, McGraw & Co., it being the nucleus around which has gathered this flourishing and prosperous village. The work of building this mill was begun in May, 1864, and it commenced running on the 17th of May, 1865. The main building is 80x120 feet in size, two stories high. On the south side is a wing 20x30 feet same height, in which are the lath and picket mills. On the north side is the boiler room, built of brick, and constructed with great care to avoid danger from fire. The whole building is covered with a slate roof. In the first story of the main building are the engines, five in number, which drive the saws. In the second story are two stock gangs, two slabbing gangs, one circular and one muley saw, besides a number of edging and butting saws. Each gang has an engine to drive it, and by this arrangement, the breaking down of an engine does not have the effect of stopping the whole machinery of the mill.

Great care is taken in the manufacture of lumber at this mill. All boards are cut to exact lengths, and it is piled on the docks in such a manner as to render the seasoning of it very rapid.

The total amount of lumber sawed since the mill has been in operation is 51,875,200 feet, and of this quantity 22,601,051 feet were cut in the year 1867. During the same year, the manufacture of lath and pickets was commenced, and 1,783,800 pieces of lath and 21,904 pickets were made.

The number of men employed in the mill is on the average 120. The docks suirounding the mill foot up 7,814 feet in length, and an addition of 3,000 feet more is being made. There are also one and three-quarters miles of tramway.

A stock of 33,000,000 feet of logs will be got out for the coming season, and if run night and day the capacity of the establishment for eight months' work is not less than 40,000,000 feet. There is now on the docks 6,500,000 feet of lumber, and in the booms about 3,000,000 feet of logs.

In addition to the mill, Sage, McGraw & Co., have built a large number of other buildings, among which are a store 80x60 feet, two stories high; a warehouse attached 24x60 including wing; a boarding house, two stories high, 30x80; a brick office, near the mill, 20x60, two stories high, roofed with slate; twenty-three dwelling houses of various sizes; a tenement house 400 feet long and twenty-four feet wide, two stories high, divided into twenty-five suits of apartments, each having a back yard and wood shed. These dwellings are constructed for the use of persons in the company's employ.

These improvements have cost money, and it is not probably an overestimate to say that the company's investment in Wenona is not much short of 1 1,000,000.

A short distance south of Sage, McGraw & Co's mill, is the planing mill, sash, door, blind and molding factory of D. G. Arnold & Co. It was commenced in the Fall of 1864, and was completed in December of that year. It is two stories high and 44x82 feet in size. Mr. Israel Catlin, of Bay City, owns a halfinterest in it.

Railroad Depot

The depot of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Kailroad is situated near the mill of Sage, McGraw & Co., between the river and Water Street. It is built of brick, is 200 feet long, forty feet wide, eighteen feet to eaves and roofed with slate. In the north end are the ticket office and ladies' and gentlemens' waiting rooms. It was built by Mr. George Campbell, and cost $10,500.

Trains leave for Jackson at 9 a. m. and 2 : 40 p. m. An accommodation train leaves for Saginaw City at 8 p. m. which connects with a train at 6 a. m. from there to Jackson. Trains arrive at 8:30 A. M., 1:50 p. m. and 7 p. m. Mr. 0. J. Root is station master.

of Sage, McGraw & Co's boom on the sides of which they will have some 3,000 feet of dock, with water enough to allow the largest vessels to come up to them.

The only church in the village at present is the Presbyterian one, but the Methodists contemplate erecting a building as soon as they can raise the necessary means. They hold their meetings in Faxon's Hall, and their pastor is the Rev. A Gee.

During the past Summer, a fine brick schoolhouse has been erected. The main building is 30x60 feet, two stories high. It has two wings of the same height, 10x30 feet. The lower part is divided into two rooms, and the upper into one large room with small recitation rooms off it. The lower story is thirteen feet from floor to ceiling, and the upper fifteen. It will accommodate 360 pupils.

It is situated in the center of a block about 300 feet square, one-half mile from the river, on the Bay City & Midland Plank Roard. It was built by Mr. Geo. Campbell, and cost $9,500. The furniture cost $1,200.

It was opened on Monday, January 27th, and the number of scholars who attended on that day was 180. As there are some 350 children in the district, the attendance will probably increase. The superintendent is Mr. A. L. Gumming, who, previous to taking charge of the Wenona schools, was principal of the High School at East Saginaw. Mr. C. has earned for himself the reputation of being one of the most accomplished teachers in the State. He is assisted by Miss Stocking, in the Intermediate Department, and Miss Lester in the Primary.

The old wooden schoolhouse is to be removed from its present location to one near the brick building, and after undergoing some alteration will afford accommodation for about fifty children.

The present School Board consists of J. A. McKnight, Director; Chas. W. Rounds, Moderator; Richard Angell, Assessor; L. Roundsville, E. D. Blend and W. D. Chambers, Trustees.

Public Hall

The only public hall in the village is Faxon's Hall, which is in the second story of the building occupied by A. Chapman & Co. It is 22x36 feet in size, and will hold from 150 to 200 persons.

The "Irwin House," at the end of the bridge, is the only one which is open at present, the Bunnell House having been burned down on the 17th of November last.

Messrs. M. & H. Bunnell are building a brick hotel on the corner of Linn and John Streets. The basement walls and part of those of the first story are put up. Its dimensions are 42x90 feet, three stories high and a basement. The basement is nine feet in the clear, the first story twelve, the second eleven, and the third ten. The front of the hotel will be forty- one and a half feet above sidewalk. The dining room will be 58x25 feet, office 24x24, reading room 18x24, parlor 18x24, reception room 17x20. It is expected to have it comx3leted by May, 1868. The building will cost $16,- 000 and the furniture about $5,000 more. Campbell & Hennessey have the contract for the brick work and S. Wheeler for the wood work.

Stores, Etc

The various kinds of business are well represented. Sage, McGraw & Co. have an extensive dry goods and grocery house, as also have Allen & Hicks, Chapman & Co., groceries and boots and shoes; H. H. Aplin, groceries and clothing; Moots & Rupff, hardware; Neil Brown, groceries, etc.; Wm. Swartz, groceries, drugs

Telegraph Office

An office of the U. S. Telegraph Company was opened in Wenona in 1865, and on its consolidation with the Western Union Company the latter took possession of the office. Mr. J. H. Plum is the manager.

During the past year a large amount of sidewalk has been laid, amounting to over 10,000 feet in length. Midland, Water, Henry and Linn Streets are planked sixteen feet wide.

Population, Houses, Etc

The total number of houses cannot be less than 150, and the population will probably reach 1,000. There are no vacant houses in the place, and there is a constant demand for dwelhng houses from persons who are desirous of becoming residents.

Value Of Lots

On the main business streets lots 50x100 feet in size are valued at from |1,500 to |2,000, and in other parts of the village the range is from f 150 upward.

New Buildings

There are a large number of new buildings in process of erection at the present time. On Linn Street, near Midland Street some parties from Lansing are about to put up two frame stores 20x 50 feet, two stories high. On the corner of Linn and Midland Streets three brick stores are being built. They are to be two stories high with a basement. Mr. H. C. AUard puts up one of them and Wm. Moots and Chas. Babo the other two. In various parts of the village we notice preparations for buildings.

The Professions

The medical and legal professions have a fair representation. The doctors number four, Messrs. Baker, Chase, Eeid and Eandall. Of lawyers there are two, Messrs. C. P. Black and T. F. Shepard.

The Railroads

The great event that settled conviction as to the future of Wenona was the certainty of a railroad. The oldest inhabitant had hardly dared hope that such a thing would happen during his lifetime. The prospects of the road for business are good. The passenger traffic is growing rapidly, and the freight business is already quite large. Some 6,000 to 7,000 barrels of salt have been sent by this route to Chicago within the past month.

Societies, Etc Its Future

Of its rapid growth and the extension of business there can be no doubt. If its railroad should be extended southward to Fort Wayne, and northward to Mackinaw, it will form the most important point upon a great southern and northern route. The mineral wealth of the Northern Peninsula may be brought here for forges and mechanical purposes, and the provisions of the South to supply the operatives. Such a road would intersect all the east and west railroad lines between Southern Ohio and Indiana and Saginaw.

February 26. - Matheson & Comstock, from Lansing, have erected a building on Linn Street and opened a wholesale and retail flour and feed store. They also do a general commission business in their line of trade.

A Lyceum has been organized and denominated the "Wenona Lyceum," for the benefit of the school and all who desire to join it. It meets every Friday evening at the schoolhouse and is open to all. The question for this week is: "The Expediency or Inexpediency of Negro Suffrage at present." The prohibitory liquor law question will probably be the next for discussion.

The election which was to come off to vote on the loan to aid in the construction of the J. L. & S. E. E., failed to take place, as the election inspectors were not present and no one seemed disposed to have a board of inspectors organized.

Whole number of votes polled, eighty- eight ; number of candidates run, twenty- five; number of tickets run, four; number of tickets printed for ballots, 800, which were not quite all used.

The common council, whose term of office has just expired, assessed, collected and expended during the past year $4,500, mostly for grading and planking streets, repairing sidewalks, ditching, etc.

May 16 - The twenty-five cottages commenced by Sage, Mc- Graw & Co., a short time ago, are nearly all completed, and are occupied as fast as finished.

On the 7th inst. John Freeman had his left leg broken below the knee and his right one fractured by a pile of lumber falling on iiim, while engaged in loading a vessel. He was attended by Drs. Chase and Maiiatte.

June 20 - The formal opening of the Bunnell House will take place Thursday evening, June 25th. A supper and ball on the occasion. Tickets $5.

Geneeal Geowth

From this time on the growth of the village was rapid, and the character of improvements may he learned from the history of the various interests treated separately. The year 1873 was particularly a prospv^roiis one, and it was also marked hy a disastrous fire, which (Occurred May 6th, and hy which upwards of 1 15,000 worth of property w^as destroyed. The fire started in the meat market of Van Alstine Bros., on Linn Street, and hnrnedsix hnsiness places. The fire occurred in the morning, and the same night the firm of McKnight, Craft & Avery, whose store was burned, had a small frame building enclosed, and the remnant of their stock safely housed.

"In a businet^s point of view, the most noticeable of Wenona's advantages is her Igng stretch of river front, affording the best facilities for shipping by lake. This front is already well improved in many places. Upon it are located the mammoth saw mills of H. W. Sage & Co., and all the other appurtenances of a first-class lumber and salt manufacturing establishment. The Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw railroad has extensive slips just south of the Sage property, and still above these are the ship-yards of Capt. James Davidson and Capt. P. I). Hitchcock. Below Sage's is tbe siiip-yard of Ballentine & Co., the most complete estabhshment of the kind in the valley. From these yards have been launched some of the finest specimens of naval architecture of which the lake marine can boast. Besides the above-named establishments, there is a plaster mill operated by Smith, Bullard & Co., and supphed from their r)laster beds at Alabaster, and tiie Litchfield estate's saw mill.

"Midland and Linn Streets are the principal business streets of Wenona. They have a number of handsome brick blocks, prominent among which are the Sage Block, and tbe Babo, Aplin, Campbell, Allard", Moots and Bank Blocks. These are all well constructed business buildings, and would ornament the principal street of any Western city. Several of the best of these were completed in 1874, the village sharing in the prosperity which made Bay City an exception among the cities of the state during that and the preceding year.

"In the way of educational facilities, Wenona is well provided. Her central school building is a handsome three-story brick, costing about f 20,000, and capable of seating 500 pupils. There are several churches and more are soon to be built. St. Paul's Episcopal society has a chapel and will soon erect a church edifice upon a fine site, centrally located. There is a Baptist mission, and full organizations of the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations, with comfortable and commodious church buildings. The Cathohcs also have a prosperous organization, and the German Lutherans have lately built a church.

"Wenona is well supphed with hotels, both in number and quality. The traveler will find few houses more comfortably and neatly provided, and better administered, than the Eouech House, a three-story brick on Linn Street, and the principal hotel of the village. It is a first-class house. The Irwin House is located on Midland Street, at the crossing of the J., L. & S. railroad, and is a commodious and well-kept house, having a fine livery stable attached, and affording generally all things necessary for the transient guest. These are the most prominent of the hotels, though there are several others to make up the bountiful supply of Wenona in this line.

"The project of a water supply, principally for protection from fire, was agitated in the Fall of 1874, and the prospect was that the village would have such a supply before long. Several plans "were under consideration, either of which would answer the purpose. At present the fire department consists of an excellent Clapp & Jones steam fire engine, with an efficient company.

"Wenona has a fine farming country back of her limits, and this is being rapidly developed. The prosperity of the village is therefore well assured. When it is known that in 18G3 there were but two buildings in Wenona, the magnitude of her growth since that time will be apparent."

Annexation And Consolidation

From about 1871 until 1875 the question of annexing Banks, Wenona and Salzburgh to Bay City was agitated. Meetings were held at intervals, and the zeal of those in favor of the proposition suffered but little abatement until the utter hopelessness of their cause was established beyond a doubf.* "The people on the west side of the river were largely opposed.

In 1875 Wenona looked upon Salzburgh with covetous eyes and made an effort to change the southern boundaiies of the village so as to include that territory, but that attempt failed. *

Eaely Kesidents Of Wenona

The following are personal sketches of some of the early residents of Wenona. Others are mentioned elsewhere in conformity with the arrangement of our work :

J. H. Plum was born in New York City in 1839. His father, a carpenter and joiner, moved to Pennsylvania when John was four years old. He was placed in a store at the age of fourteen. Earned $60 dollars and board the first year. Second year, f 80, at the close of which time his father moved to Flint, Mich., where he entered the store of Grant Decker, general merchant. Salary first year, flOO; second, $200, increasing f 100 a year for five years. He next clerked for James Henderson, at Flint. First year's salary, $500; second $600; then two years at $700; at the end of which time 1864, he came to Wenona as manager of the store of Sage & McGraw, at a salary of $1,000 per year. At the end of a year and a half he became partner in the business, which continues to the present time, and is decidedly the leading mercantile house in the city, doing a heavy wholesale as well as retail business. He married Miss Marian A. Knickerbocker, of Flint, a native of Oakland County. He has five children, two sons and three daughters. In 1875 he bought lots on Midland Street, Chillson Addition, where he erected a splendid dwelling, the surrounding lawn being we]l cared for and ornamented. Mr. Plum has been an ardent supporter of all measures for the improvement of the city, and its people. He has been a member of the School Board for the past seven years: Mr. Plum's successful career affords a laudable example to those who begin life poor. It shows what may be done by perseverance and a firmness of purpose which aims high.

Lafayette Eoundsville was born in Deerfield, Tioga Co., Pa., June 24, 1833. His father was an invalid mechanic, and Lafe's boyhood days were strewn with few advantages. At ten years of age he was stricken with rheumatism of the hip, and remained partially crippled for twelve years. His father died in 1846, leaving a wife and five helpless children, Lafayette being the oldest. He left his humble home that same winter on crutches, being but thirteen years of age. A young farmer by the name of Alfred Congdon, who hved near by, took a liking to the boy cripple and offered him a home, which was accej)ted, and in the course of a few months he was partially restored to health and able to help about the farm; and before the year was out could peform hard labor for a youth of his years. He remained witb Congdon three years, when Congdon quit farm-

About a year after leaving Congdon's, he concluded to finish his education, so he attended what was known as the Union Academy for three months when his health failed and his education postponed indefinitely. After recovery he headed for a steam saw mill, a little one-horse affair in a dense forest in the township of Lawrenceville. His first position was that of a lumber piler. The mill cut from 4,000 to 5,000 feet per day. Being ambitious, he aspired to be a fireman or sawyer. The first vacancy as sawyer was given him, and he became an expert in handhng the '' bar," but tlie heavy lifting necessary in handling lumber in those days proved too laborious for his " physique," and he abandoned the saw and obtained a position as fireman, firing and learning to stop and start the 9x18 inch engine. This mill was owned by C. H. L. Ford, a relative of C. and B. F. Orton, of Bay City. Eoundsville continued firing and running small engines in Tioga and Bradford counties during the next three years when he emigrated to Canada, and in the httle village of Belle Evart, in the Winter of 1857, obtained a position as fireman in what was considered a large mill in that village on the shore of Lake Simcoe, owned by Sage & Grant. He was soon promoted to the position of second engineer. Eoundsville continued in the Canada mill until the fall of 1864, when Mr. Sage induced him to come to Michigan and manage the engines in his present mill in West Bay City. He gave her engines their first steam in the Fall of 1864, and has run them up to the present time. Mr. R. asserted that during all these years the relations between himself and his employer have been of the most friendly and cordial nature, and he feels some pride in the fact that he has so long 'enjoyed the confidence and esteem of a firm that ranks among the first in the country. Mr. Eoundsville was married to Mrs. Isabell A. Eoy, April 29, 1858. Mrs. Eoy was the widow of Monroe Eoy, of Wellsborn, Pa., and had one son, John M. Eoy, by her first husband, and by her present husband one daughter, Ada. Both are married. Mr. Eoundsville has held several positions of pubHc trust, as well as to run engines since he came to this valley. He was elected as one of trustees of the village when organized, about 1866, and served four consecutive years. Afterward he became president of the village of Wenona. He has held the position of treasurer of the Wenona Graded School continuously since its organization in 1867. He has also been collector in Wenona Council, No. 38, Eoyal Arcanum since 1878, and at present as alderman represents the Fourth Ward, West Bay City, in the City Council.

C. F. CoRBiN was born in Scipio, Tioga Co., N. Y., He was the youngest of four children, and the fourth generation from Enghsh emigrants who settled in Berkshire Co., Mass. When three years old he removed with his father to Batavia, Genesee County. He remained at home, attending district school as other farmers' boys, working Summers, after ten years old till sixteen, when he went to work at carpenter work. The next year he carried on plain work, building barns, putting up house frames, etc. In 1830 he attended two terms of school at Wyoming Academy, and the following Winter commenced teaching district school at $11 a month and "board round." He followed teaching till the Spring of 1834, when he engaged in traveling and collecting for the firm of Pettibone & Howe, clock dealers. He traveled in the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the then Territory of Michigan, for five years, with the exception of teaching for fchree Winters in Ohio. He returned to Batavia in the Spring of 1839. He continued teaching till 1842, when he married Miss Julia A. Joslyn, a native of Leroy, Genesee County, and settled on a farm near Batavia, still teaching Winters, and in the Summer of 1847 most of the time in the village of Batavia, teaching fourteen terms in the schoolroom, successful in all respects save in growing rich. In 1847 he bought wild land in Erie Co., N. Y., and in the Spring of 1848 commenced improvements thereon. He also bought soon after, in company with his brother-in-law, a shingle mill. His health failing in 1854, he sold out and returned to Batavia, purchased land and a home near the village and engaged in the raising of grapes and other small fruits. In the Pall of 1863 he came to the Saginaw Valley to visit a brother. Soon after his return he sold out, and came to Bay City in the Spring of 1864. The same season he purchased twelve acres of land on Section Twenty, which is now known as Corbin's Addition to Wenona. He commenced building in the Summer of 1866, and took up his residence there in 1868, where he stiU lives, surrounded by the comforts, if not the luxuries, of life. He has two daughters. At the first election under the city charter of Bay City he was elected justice of the peace. He served one term and a portion of second. He was under sheriff two years, under P. J. Perrott, member of the School Board of Wenona graded school for seven years, president of the village one year, recorder one year, assessor one year, supervisor of Second Ward two years. He is still in active business at the age of seventy.

David Corbin may be mentioned as one of the early farm pioneers of the valley. He was born in New York in 1805. He served as an apprentice at the shoemaker, tanner and currier trades from the age of fourteen to twenty-one receiving only board and clothes and at the end of the term flOOfor his services. He learned the trade after the good old style, filled out his contract, accumulated some means by journeyman work, married and set up business for himself. He came to Michigan, Lapeer Co., in 1853, and in 1855 made the first purchase of land of the government in Town Fourteen north, Eange Six east. He settled thereon, where he remained, carrying on his farm to the time of his death in 1880. A man, held in the highest esteem by aU who knew him, often entrusted with public responsibilities, but preferring a hfe of quiet and seclusion.

James A. McKnight is a native of Niagara Co., N. Y. In 1862 he entered the United States in the Sixteenth Michigan Eegiment. After his discharge he came to West Bay City in 1865, where he engaged in mercantile business - built the third store building in town. He has been chief revenue clerk for the Sixth Congressional District, ganger oi spirits and inspector of tobacco and cigars for five years, after which he engaged in the wholsale hquor business. He has held nearly every town office, including county treasurer, president of village and school director. He is now engaged in lumbering and putting down cedar block pavement - he has done nearly all the cedar block paving in West Bay City. He was married to Miss Kate Atchison, of Pontiac, Mich.

William Swakt came to West Bay City in 1864, and as that date will suggest, was one of the pioneers. Soon after his arrival he opened a general store and continued in the business till 1876. He built the second store in West Bay City. In 1877 he was elected town clerk for the town of Bangor, and served one term. At present Mr. Swart is engaged in farming, market gardening and looking after property interests in West Bay City. He was born in New York, June 8, 1835, and in June, 1872, was married to Miss P. A. Burtless, of East Saginaw.

EvANDER S. Van Liew, of West Bay City, is a civil engineer, and one of the most noted men in his profession in the West. He is a native of Ovid, Seneca Co., N. Y., and was educated in the seminary in that place. He came to Wenona in 1866, and has been prominently associated with the affairs of West Bay City and Bay County. From 1875 to 1882 he was recorder of the city and is city surveyor at the present time. Mr. Van Liew is a master of his profession, and has been in the employ at different times of several of the largest railroad corporations in this country. His local business now is but a small part of the interests entrusted to his judgment and management. He is married and has a family of four children.

Isaac E. Kandall, M. D., was born in Saratoga Co., N. Y. He graduated at the Albany Medical College, in 1866, also at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, in 1873, between which dates he had been practicing medicine in Wenona, where he settled in 1867. He married Miss Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of the late Eev. D. B. Campbell, and their family consists of three children.

Henry C. Thompson is a native of Ohio, and came to Bay City in 1862. Moved to West Bay City in 1864. He was elected city recorder in 1882, also surveyor for Bay County in 1878, and still occupies that position. He also held the office of school inspector prior to attaining his majority.

Martin W. Brock was born in Danby, Tompkins Co., N. Y. His early days were passed partly in New York and partly in Pennsylvania. He came to this state in 1856, remaining in Oakland County until October, 1865, when he removed to Bay County. He was elected an alderman when Lake City (afterward Wenona) was incorporated, and continued to hold that office for four years - he was a supervisor from 1871 to 1874. In 1874 he was elected sheriff of Bay County, holding that office four years. Is now manager of the West Bay City Manufacturing Company, and also farms. He was married in 1860 to Miss Sarah J. Armstrong, of New York State, and they have a family of two children living.

W. 0. Craft was born in Palmyra, N. Y., November 7, 1832. He came to Oakland Co., Mich., at four years of age with his parents. His father named the town of Kose, in said County. Eemained there one year then moved to Plymouth, Mich., where his father engaged in the hotel business and afterward continued the business at Swartzburg, four miles below, and subsequently at Leoni, Mich., where he remained five years, at the end of which time he returned to Plymouth and engaged in distilling. A year later he returned to the town of Kose, and was on a farm for a year and a half. About this time W. 0. Craft came to Saginaw and thence to Bay City, helping to start the Drake MiU, and was in Drake's employ two years. He afteward engaged in fishing two or three seasons for his health. In 1861 and 1862 he was filer for Moore, Smith & Co. After leaving their employ built a residence in West Bay City. In 1866 he engaged with Sage & McGraw as filer, remaining with them till the Winter of 1871, when he formed a partnership, known as McKnight, Craft & Avery, for carrying on a wholesale liquor business. After being burned out in 1872 the firm was dissolved. He then built on Linn Street, where he now does a retail liquor business. He was married to Mary Sheley, who died in 1872, and afterward to Carrie Gardiner, of Greenbush^ Mich. They have four children.

George A. Allen was born in Macomb Co., Mich., May 4, 1835. His parents removed to Clarkstoii, Mich., where he spent his early days. At the breaking out of the Eebellion he was in the southern part of Mississippi, and to escape being conscripted into the Southern army he returned to the North. He enlisted in Company A, Tenth Michigan Infantry, from Shiawassee County, in the Fall of 1861, as a private. He was in camp with the regiment at Flint, Mich., until April, 1862, when it went to Pittsburgh Landing,Miss. He was with the regiment during the fighting around and taking of Corinth, Miss., when it was sent to Nashville, Tenn. Here he received a commission as second lieutenant, dated March 31,1863. He was one of the first to "veteran," and marched with General Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea, " meeting with many narrow escapes - once having his horse shot under him - but escaping without a wound, nor ever having been made a prisoner. Was mustered out February 5, 1865. Eemained in Detroit a year and moved to Wenona in 1866, engaged in the mercantile business, continuing in it for several years, during which time he held the office of township clerk for several years, also city treasurer, and at different times was a member of the Common Council. Selling out his mercantile business he engaged in that of fire, life and accident insurance and real estate agent. Is married to Miss Emma Hicks, of Southfield, Mich., and their family consists of three boys and one girl.

Justus Ackermann was born in Kurhessen, Germany, in 1845. At the age of fourteen he commenced service to learn the tailor's trade. He served three years. He served the government two years as soldier, and then worked at his trade in Germany for two years. He came to America at the age of twenty-five, stayed a short time at Saginaw City, and then came and established business, merchant tailor, in Wenona. In April, 1880, he bought the Wheeler brick block on Walnut Street, where he now resides and carries on a popular clothing establishment, manufacturing to order from an extensive stock of the best quality of goods. He was married in 1872, to Miss Margaret Keiser, of Salzburg, a native of New Jersey; has five children, two sons and three daughters, all living. Without parental assistance Mr. Ackeri^ann has accumu lated a comfortable property, and is one of West Bay City's prosperous self-made men.

John Millek was born in 1827, and is a native of Germany. He emigrated to America in 1853, going to Alpena, where he spent thirteen months working in a saw mill, after which he removed to Marine City. He came to West Bay City in 1855, and worked in the Drake mill. In 1856 he purchased a farm of forty acres which is now within the corporation of West Bay City, where he still resides. Mr. Miller has been highway commissioner three years, and road commissioner one year, for the Township of Bangor. Is married and has three children.

Geokge Harrison of the firm of George Harrison & Sons, contractors and builders, came to West Bay City in 1862. Was ' born in Prince Edward County, Canada, in 1838, and was married in 1857 to Miss Hannah P. Minaker, of the same place. They have three children - two sons and one daughter - all residing in West Bay City. Harripon & Sons do an extensive business, keeping in their employ from sixteen to twenty men. Mr. Harrison is one of the pioneers of the place, the wing of his present residence being the first dwelling erected in the place, the lumber for which, he brought from Frank & Lewis' mill, by a road he cut through for the purpose. Of the many buildings in West Bay City erected by Mr. Harrison are fifty-three of the first dwellings, the first stores, the first and present postoffices, and fifty dwellings for Sage, McGraw & Co., besides many others.

George WAsmNGTON was born in 1850 in Eoscommon County, Ireland, and was brought to Canada in 1852, living in Wentworth County, near Hamilton, Ontario, until 1867, when he removed to West Bay City, where he was in the employ of H. W. bage & Co. for a time. In 1873 he engaged in the grocery trade, and is at present at the head of the firm of George Washington & Co., dealers in clothing, etc. Mr. Washington has held a number of public positions ; was at one time a member of the Board of Trustees of the village of Wenona, and in 1876 was president of that body. In 1878 he was elected mayor of West Bay City, and in the Fall of that year was also elected sheriff of Bay County. In 1880 he was re-elected sheriff, holding the office until the close of 1882, when by law he could not again be elected. In all positions of

Louis Zagelmeyek was born in Germany in 1825, and in 1850 emigrated to the United States, stopping first in New York two years, when he came to Saginaw and was employed as clerk in a store for a year and a half, after which he engaged in the manufacture of vinegar, and later cleared up a farm. In 1866 he came to West Bay City and opened a hme kiln, and in 1875 organized the Marine Ice Company which has now passed into the hands of his sons. Mr. Zagelmeyer was treasurer of the township of Bangor the year previous to its being merged in the corporation of West Bay City. He married Matilda Grahlow. They have had five children, four of whom are living.

Mks. Eebecca King, wife of Eusebius King, of West Bay City, died at their family residence in November, 1882, at the age of seventy-eight years. Speaking of her death a local paper said:

"She had passed more than the allotted three score years and ten, having been born at Mount Clemens, Mich., on the 12th day of August in the year 1805. At sixteen years of age she was married to Eusebius King, who is still living in the enjoyment of reasonably good health, though eighty-two years old. For sixty-one years they trod life's path together, minghng alike its joys and sorrows. There were bom to them twelve children, of whom there are now living Capt. George W. King, Capt. Frank King, Alexander King and Mrs. Sarah Haddock, of Chicago, all of whom with the venerable father, gathered about the bedside to receive the parting blessing of a loving wife and kind mother. The aged couple had resided for twenty-seven years in West Bay City, where the subject of our notice was widely known and highly esteemed for her many social quahties and Christian virtues. A deep gloom has been cast over her wide circle of friends who feel the deepest sympathy for the family in their sad bereavement. Her taking away was not the result of any apparent disease, but she passed from earth and its cares in the ripeness of her years, the machinery of life seeming to have performed its alloted work and stopped.

George G. Van Alstine was born at Adrian, Mich., in 1846, He lived there till sixteen years of age, attending school, when he enhsted in the service of the Union as a member of Company L, First Eegiment, Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, serving until the close of the war. In the Fall of 1864 he was taken prisoner and taken to Anderson ville, Ga., where he remained until the war closed. During the Winter of 1864-'65, half the inmates of the prison died, while he survived and reached home in June, 1865, where he had been long mourned as dead by his people and friends. When he was let loose from the Eebel prison he was but a skeleton, weighing only ninety-six pounds, but being possessed of a good pair of lungs and a strong will it brought him through. After his arrival home he gained one pound per day for seventy days, but, as the doctors say, it proved to be poor flesh and he again became a skeleton for three years when through the advice of a friend in April, 1869, he went on the lakes for his health, and in one of his voyages came to the Saginaw Valley, and saw thus early the advantages of the location.

On his return trip the vessel encountered a severe storm and was reported lost with all on board, but she nobly rode out the gale and on the fourth day of the storm entered the Detroit Eiver.

In May, 1869, he was married to Miss Christina Eevenaugh, of Detroit, and soon took up his residence in West Bay City. He has been thoroughly identified with its rise and progress.

In 1873 he was a member of the village council. In 1874 he was treasurer of the township of Bangor. He has mainly been employed as contractor and stevedore on the Saginaw Eiver, employing a large number of men, the management of whom seems to be his especial forte. Since 1881 he has been employed by the the United States Government in the internal revenue service, where he has shown good judgment and skill, wherein he has received the commendation of Jiis brother officers, and Gen. Green B. Eaum who had charge of this department of the government service, he having many letters testifying to his rare skill and courage in hunting moonshiners where they make so much illicit whiskey.

Geoege L. Mosher was born in West Troy, N. Y., became a citizen of Wenona, now a part of West Bay City, in 1871, and engaged in the hardware trade in 1875. He built his present place of business in 1881. It stands on the northwest corner of Midland and Linn Streets; is three stories high, 100x25 feet in size, with a wing 30x35 feet, used as a tin shop. It is one of the handsomest business blocks on the city. Mr. M. occupies the first story and the wing for his extensive hardware, stove and tin trade. The second is cut up into offices, and in the third are the rooms of Wenona Lodge, No. 256, F. & A. M. He has also an extension on the West Side, facing Midland Street, 45x75 feet, two stories high. The facing of the buildings is of red brick with stone window caps and dressings. Mr. Mosher was married in 1865 to Miss Sarah J. Locke, of West Troy, N. Y., and their family consists of two boys. In pubhc life Mr. Mosher was, during the years 1878-79, chief engineer of the fire department.

Theodore F. Shepard was born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1844, He was educated at Alfred University, Allegany County, N. Y. He then read law with Marshall B. Champlin, attorney general of the state of New York, at Cuba, N. Y. He also attended a course of law lectures at the Albany Law University. He afterward practiced his profession with Mr. Champlin, having been admitted to the bar in 1866. In 1867 he left Allegany County and came to Michigan, locating in what is now West Bay City, since which time he has been known as one of the most successful members of the bar in Bay County. The following are among some of the pubhc positions he has held: - city attorney for Wenona and West Bay City several terms; member of the School Board for the Second Ward of West Bay City and Wenona for ten years; chairman of the School Board for seven or eight years; prosecuting attorney for Bay County in 1873-74, and president of the Board of Water Works for the past three years, 1879-'82. He is also a member of the law firm of Shepard, Lyon & Clark. Mr. S. is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a leader in its Sunday school affairs. He was married io Mary M. Eandolph, of Cuba, N. Y., in 1868. They have two children living - a boy and a girl.

William M. Green was born in Norfolk County, Canada, in 1840, and came to the Saginaw Valley in 1862, where he engaged in "SCO wing" tiU 1868, when he engaged in the livery business in Wenona, now known as West Bay City, where he still continues and is doing a good business. In 1877 he was married to Miss Jane McKee, of Dunville, Canada. He has held several important offices, including alderman two terms, recorder to fill vacancy, village treasurer in 1875 and 1876, and city treasurer from 1877 to 1882.

John S. McMullan was born in Kingston, Ont., of Irish parentage. He remained at Kingston until twenty, at which time he left the parental roof and came to Detroit. He married Miss Margaret Holland, of Irish descent, then living in Detroit. He settled at Sault St. Marie. He remained two years, employed as engineer on the steamer "Baltimore," plying between the Sault and Ontonagon. From thence he went to London, Ont., and engaged in keeping a hotel for five years. The ensuing three years he farmed at Stratford, Ont., thence to Saginaw and engaged in jobbing at the lumber business. In 1869 he came to Wenona, continued in tlie same business, and in 1873 bought property on the Litchfield addition, and erected a dwelling, which is still his place of residence. He has recently added to and improved the same, making it one of the most pleasant locations in the neighborhood. He has had six children, four sons and two daughters, all hving. The oldest son is a mechanic, second a physician, and the other two are in partnership with their father in the lumber business. The oldest daughter is a graduate of West Bay City school, and since, teacher therein, and the second daughter is a pupil in the same school.

E. C. Moss was born in Perth County, Ont., in 1857, and is a carriage-builder by trade. He came first to West Bay City in 1864, but in 1870 came to reside permanently. He was connected with Mr. Phelps in livery and carriage shops, but having purchased Mr. Phelps* interest, is now conducting the business alone. Mr. Moss is doing a good business and merits the patronage of the public.

E. Jacob Pfeifer was born in Lima, Allen Co., Ohio, in 1846. He remained there until twenty, then came to Lansing, Mich., where he stayed a few months, then came to West Bay City in 1869. He bought lots in 1870 on Blend's addition, where he now resides. He has followed the business of carpenter and joiner, and for the past four years contractor and jobber at that business. He married Miss Harriet L. Tolfree, of Bay City, in 1873, a native of Ithaca, N. Y. He has one child, a daughter, eight years old.