Bay County, Michigan - Chapter 6: Creation and Growth of the Cities. Townships and Villages, 1905 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 6: Creation and Growth of the Cities. Townships and Villages

Incorporation and Growth of the Village of Bay City^ the Successor of Lower Saginaw and ' Portsmouth Village - Chartered as a City - Roster of City Officials - History of the Villages of Banks, Salzburg and Wenona and of Their Successor, West Bay City - Roster of Village and City Officials - The Townships of the County with Historical, Geographical and Census Data - The Villages of Essexville, Kawkawlin, Pinconning, Auburn and "Iceburg, U. S. A."

Having brought the available data of Bay County down to the present day, we must turn back to the pages of time, and review the inward development of the units comprising the county, - the townships, with their thriving little villages, and, above all, the twin cities, which until this year of grace, 1905, have been compelled by circumstances to live together in constant social intercourse, in joint business pursuits and transactions, one community of interests save that of political unity. It is well in this first year of the united cities, in the year which will ever be commemorated and blessed as the birth-year of Greater Bay City, to review the creation, growth and organization of the little hamlets and frontier cities, which first formed the nucleus of the metropolis of Northern Michigan.

the new county seat, in 1858, brought with it rosy visions of a mighty city, and the residents of Bay City at once planned to incorporate their village. The disappointed ones from Saginaw and Midland counties had their hammers out for Bay, and the anvil chorus was working overtime. But at the winter session of the Legislature, in 1859, Bay City was duly incorporated. In the 46 years since that incorporation the growth and development of that ambitious little village, on the border of an almost unknown wilderness in 1859, have surpassed the fondest hopes and expectations of its incorporators. Years after, when the new City Hall with its imposing high tower was being constructed, that veteran pioneer, Judg'e Sydney S. Campbell was taken to its cupola, and shown the beautiful panorama of the now beautiful city. The sight seemed to bewilder the sage pioneer. All he could say was : "Wonderful, wonderful," and "Who would have thought it 1" When the village of Bay City was incor- porated, it had probably 700 inhabitants. It was still a crude, booming, frontier lumber manufacturing settlement. The river front for some miles on the east shore was cleared of timber, the clearing extending back as far as Washington avenue. Most of the homes of the settlers stood in these clearings, with stumps all about, and the village could lay no claim to pastoral beauty. The place had ample school accommodations for the rising generation, Judge Birney, Dr. Fitzhugh, James Eraser and Judge Miller of the neighboring town of Portsmouth doing much for the settlers' education. The spiritual welfare of the pioneers was not neglected, and even the Indians had their own place of worship at this time on the banks of the Kawkawlin. The lumber industry furnished employment to the community, and offered ever greater opportunities for the owners and operators of sawmills. The seemingly inexhaustible supply of pine and other tiinber, and the constantly increasing demand for manufactured lumber brought new sawmills at ever shortening intervals. The fishing industry also furnished employment to many hardy fishermen, and fish formed one of the most important exports of the village. So busy were the pioneers with the cutting down and sawing of the pine trees, and the catching of the finny tribes in Saginaw bay and river, that farming was attempted only in isolated cases, and the fertile soil had to wait for future generations to reap the bounteous harvests which bless this valley, season after season. There was easy and ready money in lumber, and pine could be secured for a song. It was only after the pine trees had fallen under the a.xes of the picturesque backwoodsmen, and been devoured by the insatiable maw of many saws, that the virgin soil received the attention it merited. But for all that the village was highly prosperous. Wages were high, and living commodities were still simple and reasonable.

The boundaries of the new village, as it was incorporated, included all of the original plat of Bay City, and the territory originally in Portsmouth, extending from Columbus avenue to Lafayette avenue, which formed the section line. This was an error, for the lines of Portsmouth were then drawn along 24th street, and this block was for a time without both the municipal lines. At a later session of the Legislature this error was corrected by making the southern line of the village of Bay City extend to 24th street.

The first village election was held in the Birney Hall on Water street. May 2, 1859. Calvin C. C. Chilson and Dr. Louis Fuchsius were judges at the polls, and Albert Wedhoff was clerk. There were cast at this election 155 votes, of which Curtis Munger, merchant, received 92 votes for the office of president, against 63 cast for George Lord and Jonathan S. Barclay. Charles Atwood was elected recorder, John F. Cottrell was elected treasurer, while the trustees chosen were Albert Miller, James J. McCormick, Henry W. Jennison, Israel Catlin, Henry M. Bradley and Harmon A. Chamberlin.

The first meeting of the trustees was held in a room over the store of Jennison Brothers, located on what is now Water street and Fifth avenue, and wdiere, oddly enough, 46 years later we find the Jennison hardware store, with its great business managed by the descendants of those early pioneers. The trustees did little more than organize on May 5, 1859. but at another meeting, held May 2 2, 1859, they completed the government of the village by appointing John A. Weed, village marshal ; Henry M. Bradley, street commissioner, while the assessors named were Algernon S. Munger and

William Daglish. Evidently things politic were managed somewhat differently during those early years, than they are in this year of grace, 1905. The gentlemen named for assessors not only did not seek the honor, but felt that their private affairs did not allow them to do justice to the public duties. Consequently the village trustees appointed in their stead A. G. Sinclair and Charles D. Fisher. But Mr. Sinclair was equally scrupulous in the matter, and Col. Henry Raymond was chosen on June 6, 1859.

' One of the first official acts of the trustees 'was the ordering of board walks on Washington avenue from First to Tenth streets, and the opening of Jefferson street and Madison avenue, north of Center avenue. On June 3, 1859, Hon. James Birney was appointed attorney for the village at a salary of $75 per year! On June 27, 1859, a general tax for village purposes of $1,047 was certified to by the assessors, and they also levied a highway tax of one-half of one per cent. The efficient fire department of this community had its inception on December 19, 1859, when Israel Catlin, Henry M. Bradley and Harmon A. Chamberlin were appointed a committee on fire protection : on January 4, i860, they were authorized to rent a sufficient amount of leather hose for use until spring, and they also procured a triangle for the hose house.

The first year of the village was rich with promise of future greatness and development. The government census showed a population of 810 in Bay City, and 3,164 in Bay County. Saginaw County, even after losing Bay two years previous, had 12,693 people. This first year of Bay City as an incorporated community was marked by a large increase in population, and new impetus in the financial and social conditions. The first salt-well was sunk in i860, the lumber industry assumed larger proportions, and a few enterprising farmers proceeded to carve farms out of the wilderness of swamp and pine stumpage. The pioneers felt the need of better connection with the outside world, and about 1 1 miles of the plank road toward Tuscola County had been built before snow came that fall, and naturally the earliest farms were situated largely on this important highway. It has ever since been known as the Tuscola road. It was for. years a toll road, and toll houses were doing business there during the first drive the writer took over its wellworn surface in 18S2.

A roster of the village ofBcers reads as follows: 1861 : W. L. Fay, president; Sydney S. Campbell, recorder; B. Whittauer, treasurer. 1862: James Watson, president; J. L. Monroe, recorder; August Kaiser, treasurer. 1863: Curtis Munger, president; Nathaniel Whittemore, recorder; C. Scheurman, treasurer. 1864: Curtis Munger, president; Nathaniel Whittemore, recorder; C. Scheurman, treasurer. 1865: Jule B. Hart, president; P. S. Hiesordt, recorder; Ernst Frank, treasurer.

In January, 1865, the village showed a population of 3,359, and the Legislature was asked to give the community a city charter, which was granted.

On the first Monday in April, 1865, the city of Bay City perfected its organization, by electing a full set of city officials, including aldermen for the three wards into which the ambitious settlement had been divided. The pioneers of that city of a little more than three thousand souls, hardly foresaw that in the course of events, just 40 years later, at the election on the first Monday in April, 1905, this city of Bay City would be united in wedlock to the equally healthy and beautiful city across the river, and that the familv thus united

At the time Bay City was chartered, the site of future West Bay City was a beautiful grove of oaks and stately pines. The little elevation extending hack from the river was a favorite camping ground of the wandering Indians, and their bark and hide wigwams gave the western landscape a pretty and picturesque setting, as viewed from Bay City. But there was little evidence of the rapid development in store for that side of the river in the years to come. There was a settlement near the mouth of the river, which in 1865 became Banks, and an equally ambitious burg opposite Portsmouth fostered by Dr. Daniel Hughes Fitzhugh, which was called Salzburg by its German pioneers, a name which is still all its own. Since the years of agitation about uniting all these scattered and yet connected little communities under one head, the people hav§ often expressed wonder why they were not all included in the charter provisions of Bay City as originally drawn by the Legislature in 1865. But in view of the foregoing it will be apparent, that there was really nothing but virgin forest and a few roving Indians to take in at that time on the west bank of the river. In 1864, H. W. Sage began the erection of his "Big Mill" directly across from the heart of Bay City, and workingmen were hurrying to the new lumber El Dorado, but it was not until May, 1866, that the village of Winona was incorporated. Hence Bay City did not take in anything originally, except the central portion of what is now included in the corporate city limits.

The first election of city offices in Bay City resulted as follows : Hon. Nathan B. Bradley, mayor; William T. Kennedy, recorder; Ernst Frank, treasurer. In this year of grace.

1905, Hon. Nathan B. Bradley is still with us, the same public-spirited, enterprising, beloved and esteemed citizen, that he was just 40 years ago ! It is a rare anniversary in the life of a comnuinity and in the career of a public official. And during all those 40 years our "First Mayor" has been indefatigable in the work of building up these communities, and in blessing its inhaljitants. He is to-day the "Grand Old Man" of our city's surviving pioneers, just as Hon. James G. Birney w'as the "Grand Old Man" of the pioneer days of our county. Nor is Mr. Bradley alone in celebrating this anniversary, for the first city treasurer of Bay City, Ernst Frank, is still actively engaged in his business pursuits, occupying a suite of offices in the Crapo Block, from whose lofty pinnacle can be gained a fine view of the new greater city, so far ahead of anything the first officials of our city perceived even in their fondest dreams. Both of these veteran officials and sterling citizens held many offices of trust and responsibility in the years following the incorporation of our city, and contributed much to the de\-elopment of the city and county.

The first Board of Aldermen was as follows : First ^\'ard : George W. Hotchkiss and Jerome B. Sweet ; Second Ward : Alexander M. Johnson and Jeffrie R. Thomas; Third Ward ; James Watson and Herschel H. Hatch. Hon. Herschel H. Hatch is in 1905 a resident of Detroit, and one of Michigan's most distinguished lawyers. He, too, filled many places of trust and responsibility in this city, county, district and State, and lives to enjoy the 40th anniversary of the birthday of this city, and of his entry upon its public duties. On April 11, 1865, these councilmen fixed the bond of the treasurer at $3,000, and appointed Thomas Carney, Sr., street commissioner; Theophilus C. Grier, city attorney ; C. Feige, city marshal : and Andrew Huggins. city surveyor.

One of the first requirements of this bustling Httle "sawdust" town was more ample fire protection, and at a special election held the first Monday in September, 1865, the people voted in favor of purchasing a steam fireengine. Accordingly on September 30th the aldermen ordered the sum of $4,997.47 spread on the city tax-rolls for the ensuing year, and by resolution, adopted November 18, 1865, the new "Silsby" fire-engine was duly accepted. The valuation of the city's property during the first year of its existence was placed at $633,000.

Hon. Nathan B. Bradley came to Bay City in 1858, engaging in the lumber business, in which he has ever since been more or less interested to this day. He was one of the first lumber manufacturers to add the making of salt to his sawmill plant, using the refuse as fuel for the salt plant. In 1865, with that foresight which has ever made him the foremost citizen in all public enterprises in Bay City, he interested others with himself and applied for and secured a cliarter for building a street railway in the new lumber town ! Verily things were moving fast! Only seven years before, the supervisor from Portsmouth had to come down in a canoe, because the Indian trail and river road were both difficult and uncertain as a means of reaching the heart of the settlement, and now these settlers already have metropolitan ideas and want an up-to-date street car service! It is also to be noted in passing, that those sturdy pioneers did not enter any protest against giving away valuable franchises, about bartering away the people's rights without adequate return, such as have become the fashion of these latter days. In 1865 the residents of this booming lumber town \\'elcomed the prospect of rapid and easy transportation, such as the horse cars furnished all over the country at that time. Mr. Bradlev was the secretarytreasurer and one of the managing directors for many years of the local street railway system. He served this growing community with eminent distinction in the State Senate, 1866- 67, and in 1872 was elected to the 43rd Congress. He served on the committee of public lands, doing much to develop the interior of ?ilichigan, which then contained much of the country's public lands. He also secured large appropriations for dredging the Saginaw River and the harbors of his district, making them navigable for lake boats of the deepest draught, both of which measures were of vital importance to the commercial development of this city and county. The first mayor of Bay City stood like a stone-wall in defense of the electoral bill in the 44th Congress, believing it the only peaceful solution of the all important question. During all the 40 years since Mr. Bradley first guided the public affairs of the growing city, he has been conspicuous in every discussion of important public questions. He has presided at many city, county and district conventions, and there has not been an important political campaign during that long period that has not found him fighting in the very van for the principles he holds dear. Yet the love and esteem in which he is held by the entire community attest the fact, that he has never stooped to the guerrilla tactics, so common in partisan warfare during the heat of political campaigns. He has set the good example of placing his citizenship first ! Partisan considerations come thereafter. Hence while his neighbors might dift'er with him on questions of national economy and the particular manner of conducting our national affairs, yet they were, after all, his fellow-citizens, whom he knew to be as honest, as earnest and as sincere as he was himself.

city and county. For the first mayor of Bay City is to-day such a bright and Hving example of all that is noble, progressive, charitable, forceful and worthy of emulation by coming generations, that the pause in the narration of municipal events is really but an indicator of one of the leading factors in their consummation. It is usually easy enough to carry on a city government that has been well organized and properly started, and hence more importance attaches to the charter organization than to subsequent administrations, that had the benefit of the experience of the earlier officials. The esteem in which the first officials of Bay City were held, and the ability with which they served their young constituency, is best attested by the many honors subsequently conferred on Mayor Nathan B. Bradley and on City Treasurer Ernst Frank, who served continuously until April, 1869, and again in later years, and on Recorder W. T. Kenned}-, who served until April, 1867.

The roster of city officials from that day to this includes many prominent names in the annals of the city, men who stood high in the business world, and others who stood equally high in their chosen professions. Here is the list of the successors of the first officials :

The present city ofificials are as follows : Mayor, Frank T. Woodworth ; recorder, Octavius A. Marsac; treasurer, Edward E. Corliss; comptroller, Thomas W. Moore; city attorney, Brakie J. Orr; city engineer, Capt. George Turner; chief of the fire department, Thomas K. Harding; chief of police, N. N. Murphy; police justice, William M. Kelley; street commissioner, Henry Fox; pound masters, - John Rowell, Sr., and Michael Dombrowski ; librarian, Capt. Aaron J. Cooke ; superintendent of water-works, E. L. Dunbar ; superintendent of schools, Prof. John A. Stewart.

West Bay City

Banks. - In 185 1, Joseph Trombley, the far-famed Indian trader and pioneer, had 25 acres of his large land holdings on the west bank of the river, platted into village lots, which Thomas Whitney, of Bangor, Maine, who erected the first sawmill in that locality, named in honor of his birthplace, Bangor. In 1865 "Uncle Sam" established a post office in this little settlement, and finding another post office with the same name in Michigan, had it changed to Banks, which 40 years later still marks this enterprising portion of Greater Bay City. The village of Banks in 1865 was situated on section 16, in the township of Bangor, and had 350 inhabitants.

The village of Banks was incorporated by act of the Legislature, April 15, 1871, and this act was amended ?\Iarch 31, 1875, by extending the boundaries, which then included "all of Sections 15 and 16 lying north and west of Saginaw River, and the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 17, and all of said lands being in town 14 north range 5 east are made and constituted a village corporate by the name and title of the village of Banks."

The first village president in 1871 was Robert Leng, a prominent salt manufacturer. Under the new charter, the recorder, treasurer, and assessor were to be elected, instead of appointed, and this first election proved unusually interesting. Fred W. Bradfield, now manager of the Bay City Hardware Company, and still a resident within the old corporate limits of Banks, was elected president without opposition. Since most of the inhabitants were of French extraction, the officials elected reflected the predominant nationality. John B. Poirier won out for recorder with 40 votes to spare, Robert Leng was chosen assessor, with 53 majority, while Bernard Lourim, treasurer, had no opposition. The trustees were Joseph Trombley, John Brown and Peter Smith. The village management was very public-spirited, especially in the matter of public schools, the improvement of roadways, and the securing of new industries. In 1877, by act of the Legislature, Banks became a part of West Bay City.

the west bank of the river, and extending from the Lafayette avenue bridge north to the section line. The Laderach and other German families had settled here in 1861, and as the salt excitement ran high in the valley in those years, they named the embryo village Salzburg, after the ancient town of Salzburg in Austria. The village was never incorporated, yet fought vigorously against consolidation, together with its northern neighbor, W'enona village, in 1875, \vhen the central division sought to absorb the wings. In 1868 the post office was established in the flourishing village, and as Frankenlust and Monitor townships became settled, and the population rapidly increased, this office did a thriving business. In 1877, Salzburg became a part and parcel of West Bay City, but the southern suburb of the West Side will ever be known by the appropriate name accorded the hamlet by the early pioneers.

Wenona. - The beautiful grove of oaks and pines extending along the little sand-ridge above the river bank and river bottom, directly opposite Portsmouth and Bay City, was a natural park, as beautiful and pleasing to the eye as any park ever artistically laid out by the hand of man. It was the favorite camping eround of the Indians, and Indian trails led to this picturesque park from all directions. It was picked out by Henry W. Sage, capitalist and lumberman of Ithaca, New York, duringhis first memorable visit here in 1847, as a very likely location for a booming lumber town. Yet the years rolled by and, while the less desirable east side of the river grew and prospered, "Jolly Jack" Hays in his lone cabin, the man who operated the only ferry across the river for years, and the Indians, who at all seasons of the year returned to their favorite camping- ground, were the only people who enjoyed the many natural advantages offered b}' this site. The trail through the woods to Midland, 20 miles to the west, began here. On the edge of the grove stood the little cottage of George King, the second settler, and near by was the little school house, wdiere the children of Bangor township were taught, and wdiich also was the town hall of the few scattered settlers.

In 1862 Henry W. Sage proceeded to carry out the plans for building a sawmill on this promising site, which appeared to have waited all these 16 years for the return of the master mind that had so quickly grasped the advantages which appealed to later arrivals apparently in vain. After long and almost futile negotiations for the desired site, then owned by Dr. Daniel Hughes Fitzhugh and ]\Irs. Elizabeth P. Birney, who naturally desired to drive a sharp bargain, the late James Eraser succeeded in harmonizing the differences, and the great lumber firm of Sage, McGraw & Company transferred their activities from Lake Simcoe, in Canada, to the site of future Wenona, in 1863. They at once proceeded to erect the largest sawmill in the world, and the magnitude of the entrprise drew the attention, not only of this country, but also of Europe, to the shady groves of Wenona.

The little settlement gathering about the mammoth mill grew with leaps and bounds. The company at once laid out a village, selling the lots, 200 by 50 feet in dimensions, for $200 each, and named it Lake City, but w-hen they applied for a post office, it was found that another village in Michigan had prior claims on the name. The wives of Messrs. Sage and McGraw then decided to call it Wenona, after the lamented mother of Hiawatha, in the book of Indian legends and traditions of that name.

In May, 1866, the village of Wenona was incorporated by the Board of Supervisors, which described the village as lying in section 20, township 14 north, range 5 east. The first election was ordered held on June i, 1866, at the school house in Bangor township, and C. F. Corbin, J. B. Ostrander and W. D. Chambers were named as election inspectors. The following village officials were elected : President, Maj. Xewcomb Clark; trustees, - John G. Emery, William D. Chambers, Martin W. Brock, Lafayette Roundsville and Marcellus Faxon; clerk, Harrison H. Wheeler; treasurer, David G. Arnold; marshal, Ainsworth T. Russell ; pound master, J. B. Ostrander ; assessors, - John G. Sweeney and James A. McKnight; street commissioners, - Wilson O. Craft, Hiram C. Allard and Ainsworth T. Russell ; fire wardens, - William Swart, Ainsworth T. Russell and John H. Burt.

In February, 1867, the Legislature granted a charter to Wennna, and on April 2, 1867, the charter election was held, resulting as follows : President, David G. Arnold; recorder, Maj. Newcomb Clark ; treasurer, George A. Allen ; assessor, James A. McKnight; trustees, - J. G. Emery, M. \\'. Brock, Carlos E. Root, Wilson O. Craft, Lafayette Roundsville and Harrison H. Wheeler. The charter was drawn by Maj. Xewcomb Clark, the first president of Wenona, and speaker of the House of Representatives, 33rd General Assembly of Michigan. He was educated at Oxford Academy, served with distinction through the Civil War, with the 14th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, and later with the 102nd Regiment, U. S. (Colored) Infantry, and came to Wenona in 1865. For many years he held offices of trust in the rising community, and contributed much to the Ixisiness development of the village and later, of the city. Treasurer Allen, Assessor McKnight and Trustee Roundsville are still residing here, having watched through the varying fortunes of 40 years the gradual growth and increasing importance of the place that was infinite enough when it first assumed a place on the map of the county and State. They will likely live to see the cities united in April, 1905, and assume the place in our nation's constellation of great cities, to v^'hich they are entitled.

It was Major Clark who drew up the special charter, and carried it to Lansing for the Board of Trustees. He placed it in the hands of Hon. Nathan B. Bradley, then State Senator, and it was made effective in short order. While such men as Mr. Bradley served this constituency at Lansing, there was no "railroading" of home rule measures. The people through their accredited representatives had merely to express their wishes, and the representatives saw to it that they were gratified without alteration of any kind.

Wenona had high ambitions in 1868, when it secured the Michigan Central Railroad line to Jackson, and it is pertinent in this consolidation year of 1905, to know that on March 2, 1867, at a trustee meeting to grant the railroad the right of way through Wenona, one of the enthusiastic citizens announced that Wenona was disposed to be magnanimous to Bay City folks, who should be allowed to take the cars over there for the outside world, and that if Bay City applied in good form for annexation to Wenona, the application would be granted!

Nor was this assumption merely a play of words, for in 1877 Wenona reached out and annexed to itself it's not too willing neighbors, - the village of Banks on the north, and the village of Salzburg on the south, - and all three little burgs disappeared from the map, while by act of the Legislature there sprang up in their place the promising city of West Bay City. The residents of Wenona said this consolidation was a forcible illustration of the oftrepeated maxim : "In union there is strength !" The Legislative act was called "An Act to consolidate Wenona, Banks and Salzburg, to be known as the city of West Bay City," and the boundaries included so much of the township of Bangor as formerly belonged to \\'enona and Banks, and the plat of Salzburg included within the described limits.

The little city was divided into three wards, and the charter election was held on the first Monday in ilay, 1877. The vote in the First Ward was taken in the old Banks town hall, P. Lourim, Robert Leng, Alex. B. Moore, Thomas B. Raymond and Ephraim J. Kelton being the inspectors. The Second Ward held its election in the council rooms, David G. Arnold, T. P. Hawkins, James A. McKnight, Spencer O. Fisher and George G. Van Alstine being the inspectors. The Third Ward vote was taken at Davis' Hotel, Frank Fitzhugh, J. W. Babcock, Bartholomew Staudacher, Aaron Wellman and Robert Elliott being the inspectors.

The first ofificials of West Bay City were as follows : Mayor, David G. Arnold ; recorder, E. S. Van Liew ; treasurer, W. M. Green ; aldermen : E. J. Kelton, C. E. Root, William Davis, William J. Martin, W. I. Tozer and Michael Hufnagel. The mayor was an old and respected citizen of the rising community, and together with the Board of Aldermen did much in the ne.xt year to secure better fire protection, better roads and other local improvements. The salaries were fi.xed as follows : Recorder, $400 ; comptroller, $800; city attorney, $200; marshal, $300; harbor master, $100; while the mayor and aldermen received the munificent sum of 50 cents per session ! This did not deter many good men from serving the city in an official capacity, as is shown by the following roster of city officials, until the consolidation of the East and West sides in 1905.

B.\NGOR. - On petition of 18 freeholders, led by John G. Kiesel, John Gies, Charles Nickel, Scott W. Sayles, Frederick Kiesler and ]Mathew Miller, of Hampton township lying north and west of the Saginaw River, the Board of Supervisors on March 22, 1859, erected the township of Bangor, and on April 7, 1873, the township held its first election. Scott W. Sayles. John Raymond and Frederick Kiesler were the inspectors, and Scott W. Sayles was chosen supervisor. When West Bay City was chartered in 1877. Bangor lost most of its territory, wealth and importance. In 1864, for instance, Bangor paid $6,457.40 in county taxes, while for some years after losing the three villages the tax was less than $800, and the assessed valuation dropped from $259,- 885 in 1866. to a little over $100,000, in 1880. Since the land comprising Bangor has been thickly settled, some of the most important coal mines have there been opened, and the township is again taking a prominent place iti the affairs of the county, despite its mutilation. The popualtion in 1880 was but 271, while in 1894 it was 843. and in 1900, 1,195. Bangor township is bounded by Monitor and Kawkawlin townships on the west, West Bay City on the south and west, the Saginaw River on the east and Saginaw Bay on the north. The township officials for 1905 are: Supervisor, Stewart J\I. Powrie; clerk, N. D. Zimmer; treasurer, Charles Lind ; highway commissioner, George Walker; School Board, - Nicholas Casper and Stephen Corbin ; justices of the peace, - Joseph Carrier and John Zentz.

Be.wer. - In February, 1867, the Legislature created the township of Beaver, by taking from Williams "Towns 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 north, range 3 east." On the first Monday in April, 1867, the first election was held at the home of Levi Willard.

The inspectors were Levi Willard, Josiah L. Wellington and Oscar H. Kellogg. Levi Willard was the first supervisor. The new township was bounded on the north by Fraser (now Garfield) township, on the east by Kawkawlin township, on the south by Williams township and on the west by the Midland County line. It lies 10 miles west and five miles north of Bay City. During its early years considerable lumbering was done in its vicinity and the pioneers had no trouble selling their hay and other products right at their doors. Later the Midland Branch of the Alichigan Central Railroad was constructed five miles to the south, on an east and west line through Williams township, and an excellent road system provided excellent means of disposing of the products of their rich farms. As late as 1873 there were less than 50 families in the township, and the land brought from $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. In 1905 this same land, since improved, drained and cleared, brings from $75 to $125 per acre. Branches of the Kawkawlin River thread all portions of the township. The population in 1870 was 161 ; in 1880, 350; in 1894, 1,236; and in 1900, 1,539. The present township officials are: Supervisor, William Peoples ; clerk, John Endline; treasurer, Charles B. Craig; justice of the peace, Frank Nowak; highway commissioner, George Buchler. There are postoffices at Willard, Loehne and Duel villages.

Frankenlust township is bounded on the south and west by Saginaw County, on the north Ijy Monitor township and on the east by the Saginaw River. When the Legislature in February, 1881, took the township of Kochville from Saginaw County, it gave to Bay County at once one of its richest and most interesting additions. Rev. Ferdinand Sievers, born in Lunenburg, Germany, May 18, 181 6, was left an orphan at the age of seven years. His uncle. Rev. Philip Sievers, educated the promising boy, who graduated from Goettingen LTniversity in 1838. After teaching school for three years, he studied theology at the universities of Berlin and Halle, taught for three years more to accumulate a little fund of his own, and in 1847 was ordained for the Lutheran ministry. Led by Rev. Mr. Sievers, a number of German families immigrated to the Saginaw Valley in 1848, and with commendable perseverance and foresight estabo z lished the now prosperous township of Frankenlust. In May, 1850, Rev. Air. Sievers married CaroHne Koch, daughter of Rev. Frederick Koch, who had left the comforts of home to follow her affianced to the wilds of Michigan. Eleven children blessed their home, crude enough during the early years. Seven survive, but like most of the descendants of these early pioneers of far-famed Frankenlust, they have scattered over the surrovmding townships and to other pastures new. The early history of Frankenlust is the story of the life-work of Rev. Mr. Sievers and his devoted colony. Their judgment in selecting that neighborhood has been verified by the passing years.

Frankenlust is one of the richest townships, for its soil is fertile, its location higher than the east shore of the river, and by thrift and industry these hardy pioneers and their descendants have made it a verital:)le garden spot in the State. Here it was that the infant beet sugar industry found experienced antl willing culturists, and the prosperous farmers of Frankenlust willingly invested in the German- American Sugar Factory built at their very doors on the cooperative plan, and which in 1904 had a most profitable season's campaign. The discovery of coal added three mines to the industries of the township, and as a fine fire clay is found in these coal shafts, another industry of great possibilities is just beginning in the township, - the manufacture of building and paving brick. A busy little village has sprung up around the white spire of the German Lutheran Church at Amelith, while wellkept roads point the way to Bay City.

German hospitality is proverbial, hence the cozy farms and inviting cross-road hostelries of Frankenlust township are the most popular outing places in the county. A drive over those well-kept roads, past thriving little settlements and well-kept farms, either during tiie heat of summer, or over the snow on a crisp day in winter, is one of the townspeople's delights. It usually produces an appetite for the good things to eat which always grace the tables of these hospitable people. The township has five school districts, and four churches, three of them German Lutheran, and the fourth, German Methodist.

Upon the application of 75 freeholders, the Board of Supervisors of Saginaw County erected Frankenlust township, then known as Kochville township, on October 12, 1855, including "Town 13 north, Range 4 east; sections 6, 7, 18, 19 and the north half of Section 30, Town 13 north. Range 5 east ; and Sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, Town 14 north, Range 4 east." The first election was held April 7 1S56. at the home of Adam Goetz, in the little village of Kochville. G. Stengel, J. P. Weggel and J. S. Hebelt were the inspectors, and the following officers were elected : Supervisor, Luke \\^ellington ; clerk. John C. Schmidt; treasurer, Andreas Goetz; school inspectors, - J. G. Helmreich and Caspar Link; highway commissioners. - William Butz, Heinrich Hipser and Paul Stephan ; justices of the peace - Luke Wellington and Louis Loeffler ; poor commissioners, - George Henger and Andreas Goetz. Fiftynine votes were cast, and the action was practically unanimous, the German settlers S3^mpathizing with the oppressed black race of the South. They had left their native land seeking the land of liberty, and they had found peace and personal freedom in the wilds of Michigan, and their hearts went out to the chattel slaves of other days.

In 1851-52, John A. Leinberger carried "Uncle Sam's'' mail on foot l^etween Saginaw and Bay City. He would go up one day, and come back the next. One day he met the late James Fraser, Bay County's famous "man on horseback," in the woods, where both were following an Indian trail. Fraser asked Leinberger why he did not get a horse to carry him and the bag those 16 miles, and on being told that he could not afford the luxury of a horse, at the exorbitant value of horses in these wilds, Fraser told him to go to Fraser's stable and take his pick, which was promptly done the following day. Meeting Fraser soon after on the same trail, Leinberger asked how much he owed for the horse. "Well, John," Fraser replied, "when you get able, you can pay me $50, and if you never get able, keep the horse anyhow." That horse helped John Leinberger over many a rocky place in the road, and by dint of thrift and industry he soon owned one of the finest farms in Frankenlust. Since the Frankenlusters sold all their farm products in Bay City, they long desired to join the new county near Saginaw Bay, and in 1881 they kept John A. Leinberger at Lansing to lobby for the separation. Having brought about the union with Bay County, he was elected the first supervisor, and for years represented Frankenlust on that board. He had 10 children by his first wife, and was married again in 1883.

The pioneers erected a log hut, 30 by 40 feet, in the wilderness in 1850 for a house of worship, and a frame church, 38 by 70 feet, was built in 1870. The year 1905 will be made memorable in the township by the erection of a large and handsome new brick and stone church, the material for which is now being gathered, and work will begin this spring. The opening of the coal mines has brought new life and activity to Frankenlust, but it will reciuire some time for the staid, quiet and devoted German farmers to become accustomed to the influx of coal miners from other States, with customs and manners sO' foreign to their own, and clashes between the younger generations are not infrequent. The present township officers are : Supervisor, John J. De- Young; clerk, Philip Martens; treasurer, George C. Schmidt; justice of the peace, J. C. Neumeyer ; highway commissioner, Fred Kolb.

Fraser township was created at the session of the Legislature in 1875, and included "Town 16 north, Ranges 3, 4 and 5 east." On the first Monday in April, 1875, the settlers of Fraser township met at the home of William Michie, and elected their first officials. Mr. Michie, Albert Neville and B. W. Merrick were the inspectors. William Michie was elected supervisor; B. W. Merrick, clerk; and Albert Neville, treasurer. Fraser is one of Bay County's largest townships. It is bounded on the east by Saginaw Bay, on the north by Pinconning township, on the south by Kawkawlin township, and on the west by Garfield township. The Michigan Central and Detroit & Mackinac railroads traverse Fraser, stations being located at Lengsville, Michie and Linwood. Many French Canadians were among the early pioneers, and they have exercised a growing influence over the development and the destinies of the township.

Lumbering has been carried on for years in the township. After the virgin forest was denuded of pine, came the demand for the previously ignored and despised hardwood timber, and ere long the last giant of the primeval forest in that section will have fallen before the .axes of the industrious settlers and lumberjacks. As the forest disappears, new farms spring up, and the locality will soon compare favorably with the older townships.

reers, one of which will bear repeating. William Fitch, at the age of 21, was a sailor before the mast on the schooner "Henry Watson" when, in 1857, she collided with the brig "Giddings" on Lake Erie. With a boy as the only other survivor, he navigated the ship into the harbor at Buffalo, and was promoted to be captain of the ship. By 1868 he had wearied of a sailor's life and having a good opinion of Bay County, which he had often visited in his lumber craft, he purchased a farm in Eraser township. There were no roads, and his team of oxen were his only help in erecting his large log hut, and his barn, 38 by 28 feet in size, with posts 10 by 10 inches and 16 feet long. He cleared the land with his own hands, solitary and alone. Twice, falling trees injured him, once breaking his leg, and next breaking his arm. He was of herculean strength. He would take a barrel of flour, placed in two sacks, one on each shoulder, and carry it nearly four miles to his log hut. The first supervisor, William Michie, was murdered near his home in Eraser township in 1882. The post office at State Road Crossing is named in his honor.

The population of Eraser township was 301 in 1880; 1,444 in 1894, and 1,656 in the United States census of 1900. The present township officers are: Supervisor, Henry B. Lints; clerk, Benjamin F. Parsons ; treasurer, Joseph Loyer; justice of the peace, John Vincent; highway commissioner, George W. .Meddaugh.

G.A.RFIELD. - On October 18, t886, the following residents of Eraser township petitioned the Board of Supervisors to grant them a separate township : Elof Johnson, Gustav Menten, Valentine Knoedel, Owen Hazen, James Potter, Samuel L. Bishop. Francis Gallagher and Urban Lewenson. On October 19, 1886, the committee on township organization, - J.

M. Reichard, Charles Fischer, Fred School, J. Lourim and Jacob Dardas, - reported favorably on the petition, and by a vote of 18 ayes and no nayes the board concurred. In accordance with the action of the board at this session, the township of Garfield was organized, taking in the west half of Eraser township. Garfield township is bounded on the north by Mount Forest township, on the east by Eraser township, on the south by Beaver township, and on the west by Midland County. The first town election was held on April 4, 1887, and the following town officers were elected : Supervisor, Elof Johnson ; clerk, Joseph H. Waldron ; treasurer, Charles Johnson ; school inspectors, - Erick Erickson and James Potter.

There is still considerable hardwood timber standing in Garfield, while the farms cleared show the soil to be fertile, while the North Branch of the Kawkawlin and the Michie drain furnish both a water supply and drainage. The Garfield stone road gives a ready means of getting to market, and has done much to develop the interior of the township. The post offices are at Tebo and Crump, the latter named in honor of the late Hon. R. O. Crump, Member of Congress from this district. The population in 1894 was 302, and 555 in 1900. Industrious and thrifty Swedes form the bulk of the population, who have their own church services. The township also has ample public school facilities for the scattered population. The voters are largely of Republican faith, casting 98 votes to their opponents' 21 at the last election for Governor. The present township officials are: Supervisor, William H. Reid ; clerk, W. V. Renner ; treasurer, Francis Conrad; justice of the peace, Joseph Duben ; highway commissioner, Alonzo Dodge.

of Supervisors on December 3, 1888. On October 18, 1888, the following residents of Pinconning township petitioned for the separation : Garrett J. Stanton, Charles L. Bingham, S. S. Morris, William Carter, W. J. Shirley, L. A. Pelkey, Dr. W. B. Abbott, J. Edmunds, H. Shook, H. Gardner, Z. W. DeGraw, B. W. Stewart, J. Barie, M. Dowley, A. E. Bell, M. G. Bentley, Frank E. Bentley, E. M. Burlingame, O. G. Davis, Peter Edmunds, C. Peterson, O. S. Bentley, James Johnson, Ed. Walsh, Samuel AIcGlinchey, Abram Edmunds, William Edmunds. The organization was to date from April i, 1889, and on the first Monday in April, 1889, the town meeting was held at the school house in School District No. 5, Peter Edmunds, Frank E. Bentley and O. G. Davis being inspectors of the election. The following town officers were elected : Supervisor, Murray Bentley; clerk, Edward Walsh; treasurer. Smith Bowers ; school inspectors, Andrew Faulds and Lafayette Dento.

Gibson township is bounded on the north and east by Arenac County, on the south by Mount Forest township, and on the west by Midland County. The branches of the Pine and Saganing rivers traverse Gibson from west to east. It will be seen that Gibson township is really a projection into Arenac County, and the people of that county, which formerly was a part of Bay, have ever since their separate organization been trying to pry Gibson from Bay and add it to their own southern border. The eastern part of Arenac want the county seat at Omer, while the western part want to keep the county seat at Standish. Since Omer is more centrally located, Standish has to keep constantly on the alert to prevent the honor going to her enterprising rival on the east. The Standish people figure that with Gibson township added to Arenac County, the position of Standish as county headquarters would be secure for all time. The Michigan Central Railroad passes through Standish and hence is interested in the fight for Gibson because the Detroit & Alackinac Railway touches Omer.

These combined interests made an almost successful attempt to kidnap Gibson from Bay County in the legislative session of 1903. Representative J. J. McCarthy of Standish, Arenac County, introduced the bill, well backed by Senator Doherty of that district. The Bay County representatives turned up missing one fine day, and next morning Bay was notified that one 'of its most promising townships had been taken away, without one word of protest from Representatives Washer or Sheldon. Despite the protests from Bay, the separation bill was rushed through the Senate, Senator F. L. \'\'estover also turning up missing, and as the Bay representatives made no protest the efforts of Hon. T. E. Webster and others were unavailing. The bill was signed by Governor, Bliss and Bay had but 12 townships left.

When the citizens of Bay County realized their loss, they went to work with a will to save Gibson. The supervisors carried the case into the courts, claiming among other things that this steal of Gibson divided the 24th Senatorial District, contrary to law, besides causing no end of confusion in the affairs of the township and county. Judge T. F. Shepard of the 1 8th Judicial Circuit decided the case in favor of Bay ; his decision was later sustained by the Supreme Court of Michigan and Gibson brought back into the fold. The three representatives of Bay, who allowed the disruption of the county without active opposition, were relegated to private life at the 1904 election, and any future attempts of Arenac to profit at the expense of Bay will be vigorously contested.

The residents of Gibson township are as earnest in their desire to remain with Bay County, as we are to have those sturdy pioneers remain. They are many miles nearer to Standish than they are to Bay City, but they will soon have stone road communication all the way, the splendid macadamized road system reaching out year after year in their direction, and the Gladwin Branch of the Michigan Central crosses Gibson from north to south, furnishing a ready and cheap means of reaching the metropolis of Northern Michigan. Gibson had for years paid its share of this stone road tax, and by the forced separation stood to lose it all. The township and county affairs were naturally much muddled during the interim between the legislative separation and the Supreme Court reunion, but these matters have now all been satisfactorily adjusted, and things are moving as smoothly as if though nothing had ever happened in our sisterhood of townships.

Gibson township has the same rich Ijlack and clay loam soil which makes farming in Bay County so easy and profitable, and many of the farms there had enough standing hardwood timber to more than pay for themselves. Bentley is the shopping center and post office of this flourishing young community. The residents are public-spirited, look well after their schools and their spiritual welfare, and have many road and drain problems to solve in the immediate future. Like their neighbors in Garfield, they are of the political faith of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, almost to a unit, and by their vote have contributed much in recent years to the remarkable change of Bay County's political complexion. The population in 1894 was 494, and 761 in 1900. The present town officers are : Supervisor, Ezra Truax; clerk, John C. Smith; treasurer, Matthew Loeffler; justice of the peace, Samuel Yeager; highway commissioner, Charles Shoultes.

Hampton. - The history of Hampton township, the first organized in Michigan north of Saginaw, is the early history of Bay City, Bay County, and the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, from 1843 to 1857, when the county was organized. This township during its first years comprised more territory than many famed kingdoms of the Old World! As these outlying districts became settled, they secured separate organizations, until to-day the township comprises but "23 full sections, and 1 1 fractional sections." Its boundaries are Saginaw Bay and Saginaw River on the north, Saginaw Bay and Tuscola County on the east, Merritt and Portsmouth townships on the south, and Bay City, the Saginaw River and Portsmouth township on the west. Since Bay City became a separate corporation, the village of Essexville is the ambitious "capital" of Hampton, and the founders of the one are the pioneers of the other. Joseph Hudson and Ransom P. Essex, who came in 1850, were the first settlers of Hampton township proper. Their descendants have done much to develop the rich farming country, which in 1850 was largely marsh, swamp and bayou. Huge ditches and numerous drains have been aided by a slight drop in the water level of the Great Lakes in leaving that rich alluvian soil in an ideal condition for cultivation.

Three nationalities have distinct settlements in Hampton. The large colony of Hollanders, settled south and east of their pretty church property, found their advance guard in Henry

Rooiaker.Gerardus Vennix,A. Van Wert, Peter Vanerp, Anthony Walraven, Charles Goddeyne and P. Van Hamlin, pioneers of 1857- 60. The German colony, located in the southern section of Hampton, was led by Carl Wagner, Charles Wintemeyer, William Roecker, Michael Englehardt, Charles Weber, Philip Weber, Joseph Scheimer and John Meyer, all of whom took up the privations and incessant toil of pioneer life in Hampton in 1857-59. Louis Guilette, who married the widow of Leon Trombley, one of Bay County's first traders and settlers, and Joseph Paul DeCourval, were the first of the French Canadian nationality to appreciate the opportunities of Hampton, the former locating on a farm in 1858, the latter following the lumber and shingle business there since 1866.

One family has been signally honored by the township. Hon. Nathan Knight, a native of Maine, came to Hampton township in 1856 and hewed a farm out of the wilderness. He represented the Bay City district in the State Legislature of 1877-80, was justice of the peace for 10 years, and supervisor for 14 consecutive years. Li this office he was succeeded by his son, Hon. Birdsey Knight, who is still in the harness, and who also served four years in the State Legislature, - 1891-94, - from this district. Father and son were Democrats, but their personal popularity carried them safely over several political landslides in their bailiwick.

Joseph Eddy came to Hampton in 1858, and five sons and one daughter reside there now. Three sons, - George P., Edward and Albert H., - served through the entire Civil War in Company F, 23rd Reg., Michigan Vol. Inf., the former two being mustered out. when peace came to bless the land, as lieutenants, the last named with the rank of sergeant.

on Saginaw Bay, and the wooded ridge which skirts Saginaw Bay below Oak Grove, the most popular resort for family picnics on the bay, will some day surely rival che booming summer resorts on the west shore of the bay. The Center and Woodside avenue stone roads, with excellent cross-roads and all the facilities of the belt line railway, which skirts Hampton and connects with all the railroads centering in Bay City, give unrivaled shipping facilities to this rich farming country. The early pioneers paid $2.50 per acre of water, with here and there a visible speck of land thrown in for good measure, but by hard work, systematic draining and dyking in the lowest places, Hampton has been made one of the lirightest flowers in this most favored garden spot of Michigan, where farm property ranges now from $100 to $250 per acre.

The industries of the township center in Essexville, and it was there that the first beet sugar factory, the Michigan, was built in 1898, to be closely followed by the mammoth Bay City Sugar Factory. The projectors of these factories selected these sites because they are in the very center of the most fertile lands in the county, lands owned and tilled by a sturdy race of intelligent and industrious farmers. Mere land grubbbers could never succeed in raising profitable sugar beets. The soil must be right, then it must be thoroughly and properly prepared, the planting must be done as early as will be consistent with a proper germination of the beet seed, the thinning out requires good judgment and thorough work, and no crop requires such freedom from noxious weeds, as do the sugar beets. Frequent cultivation is essential to their full and sweet development. Fine discrimination is also required in their harvesting. It will not do to pull them too early, for every day of the ripening season adds sugar to their contents. Neither must they be left too long, lest they fall victims to one of the periodical cold waves, and freeze fast in the ground, as has happened to farmers in Hampton. Then, too, freedom from dirt and proper topping will reduce the loss from tare at the sugar factory, and a proper appreciation of the food value of the beet tops and the beet pulp at the factory will mean much profit to the beet grower. It will readily be seen that few farm crops require such constant study and close attention, but the wise farmers of Hampton township and the county at large also know, that no other crop will yield such liberal and certain returns.

Since Hampton township has the distinction of having the first beet sugar factory in IMichigan, a word on the industry in this connection is both opportune and appropriate. Hampton also had two of the first chicory factories, one on Borden avenue, which was destroyed by fire, and merged with the other plant recently enlarged and still doing a thriving business on Center and Livingston avenues, just east of the city limits. The location of these infant industries at the doors of Hampton reflect credit on the farmers tributary to these hives of industry. The investment of several million dollars was staked on the ability of these veteran farmers to supply the raw material needed and while there have been seasons when the farmers did not provide the acreage desired for a full operation of all these mammoth plants, still the experimental stage has been safely passed and, with better understanding all around, beets and chicory will take a foremost place in the crop rotation of the successful farmers of Bay County. Since these factories are operated late in fall and early winter, they offer employment to the sons of the country folk at the precise season in the year, when work on the farm is slack. Every acre devoted to sugar beets or chicory removes the competition of that acre from farm truck and other farm crops, which have ever since commanded higher prices. Hampton and the other townships have been correspondingly prosperous in recent years. Hundreds of mortgages have been lifted and hundreds of farms improved with the cash proceeds of these new industries. One has but to drive over the fine roads of Hampton to appreciate the amount and extent of improvements carried out on the farms of the township, to appreciate how much good has been accomplished in six short years ! Hampton's growth has been in keeping with these additions and improvements. The population in the State census of 1874 was 1,247; in the national census of 1880, it was 2.016; in 1894 it was 3,204; and in 1900 it was 3.319. In the fall election of 1904, Hampton gave a clean Republican victory, for the first time in its history, and on March 13, 1905. the village of Essexville also elected a Republican ticket, for the first time in many years. The present officers of Hampton, elected in April, are : Supervisor, Hon. Birdsey Knight; clerk, William J. Stagray; treasurer, Frank Sirmeyer; justice of the peace, John H. Sharp; highway commissioner, John VanSumer.

Kawkawlin. - On January 7, 1868, the Board of Supervisors erected the township of Kawkawlin by detaching its territory from Bangor, upon the petition of O. A. Ballon, Samuel Woods, John Sutherland, Charles Radcliff, Patrick Reynolds, Jeremiah Mack. Alex. Baird, A. G. Sinclair, Charles Powell, E. E. Gill, Paul Leme and Owen A. Maloney. The first annual meeting was held at the home of O. A. Ballou, in the village of Kawkawlin, on the first Monday in April. 1868, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon. O. A. Ballou, John Sutherland and Dennis Stanton were the election in- specters, and Alexander Beard was the first supervisor from Kawkawlin. The township is bounded on the east by Bangor township and Saginaw Bay. on the north by Fraser township, on the west by Beaver township and on the south by Monitor township.

Kaw-ka\v-hn, as the Indians pronounced it. is said to have been one of the aborigines' fa\-orite hunting grounds, and well it might have been. The old German settlers still say that when the primeval forest was first seen by white men, it was blacker and denser than the historical Black Forest of Europe. The Indians called the river "O-gan-con-ning", or "the place of the pike," for then as now the streams of that vicinity were favorite haunts of the pike.

One of the oldest trading posts between the pale face trappers and traders and the Chippewas was at the mouth of the Kawkawlin, where 0-at-ka summer resort is now situated, and Neh-way-go. the dare-devil warrior of the To-bi-co band of Indians, had his wigwam not far from where the modern water-works plant erected by West Bay City a few years ago is located.

Reluctantly enough, the Chippewas sold the 6.000 acres of their reservation along the north l)ank of the Kawkawlin in the treaty of 1837. for it was an ideal haunt for game of all kinds. The government sold it ere long for $1.25 per acre, and the purchasers realized fortunes from its wealth of pine and other timber.

From 1842 to 1864 "Uncle" Harvey Williams kept the Indian traders' station at the mouth of the Kawkawlin, and he was much beloved by the red men. His wise counsel and generous conduct did much to smooth the way for the first pioneers of Kawkawlin.

virgin forest on the Kawkawlin, utilizing the water power of the stream. For many years after, great log drives were brought down this river to be cut in the mammoth and modern sawmills at Bay City.

During the height of the logging operations along the Kawkawlin and its tributaries, the depth of the water in that river each spring was always a question of vital importance to the sawmill operators and employees. If the water was not sufficient to float the huge log jams, they would remain hung up all season. Eciually vital was the question of snow for the many logging camps during each winter, for without snow it was a hard problem to get the logs to the streams. In later years water sprinklers were used to make icy roadways for the immense loads of logs that were drawn from the logging camps to the banks of the rivers.

In 1847 the first church, a humble mission for the Indians, was built on the banks of the Kawkawlin. The place is called Indiantown, and is still one of the main settlements of the natives in the county, but the numbers have been slowly but surely diminishing. With the stoicism ever characteristic of his proud race. Poor Lo at tlie dawn of the 20th century bears his deplorable lot in grim silence. The old men of the tribe recall the days when all this wealth of timl)er and prairie was all their own, and the comparison of those wild and care-free days with their hard lot at present cannot inspire satisfaction. The industrious and thrifty pale faces settled all about the remnant of the red men, preach by their every-day lives an eloquent sermon on the only means by which to reach a higher plane of living, and how to attain the comforts of this progressive age. But apparently it is beyond the power of the average aborigine to forsake the deadliest foe of their race, and to take up "the white man's

Frederick A. Kaiser emigrated from Germany in 1849 and took up the work at the Kawkawlin's first sawmill for the late James Eraser. In 1862 he bored for salt, and during the next 15 years built a number of sawmills in that paradise of pine and hemlock. He was the founder of the villages of Kawkawlin and Pinconning, connected the two backwoods lumber camps by railway and did much to develop the natural resources of that section of the county. He cleared considerable of the land of its timber, and demonstrated that the valley of the Kawkawlin is one of the richest farming districts of the State, and thereafter the township became rapidly settled. When the lumber jack left, with his axe and saw, the farmer followed with the plow and harrow, and pastoral wealth and beauty now grace the shores of the Kawkawlin.

The population of Kawkawlin township in 1880 was I.I 18. In 1894 it had grown to 1,627. and to 1,964 in 1900. The real estate valuation in 1882 was $298,462. There were 452 school children in 1883, and the chronicler of those years notes with pardonable pride, that there were 67 births in the township, including "three pairs of twins" ! On the other hand the Grim Reaper gathered but 12 inhabitants to the Great Beyond, the healthful climate staying his hand in most instances, until the burden of many years enfeebled the pioneers. The townspeople were busy building roads, drains and bridges during those years and their task is still far from done. This very year of 1905 several new steel bridges are planned to span the Kawkawlin and its tributaries, the stone road system will l)e extended and repaired, and new drains begun. The township spent $1,600 for school purposes in 1883, and is still keeping up and enlarging this good work. The officers of the township for 1905 are : Supervisor, Peter Bressette; clerk, Robert D. Hartley; treasurer, John Murphy; justice of the peace, George Goulette; highway commissioner, Fred D. Paige.

^Ierritt township, which is Ixiunded on the north by Portsmouth and Hampton townships, on the east by Tuscola County, on the south by Saginaw County and on the west by Portsmouth township and Saginaw County, was erected by the Board of Supervisors at a session held July 8. 1871, upon the petition of 12 freeholders of Portsmouth township. On June 8, 1 87 1, 31 residents of the territory affected asked for separation. When the supervisors fixed the Ixnindaries of the new township as including "all of Township 13 north. Range 6 east, also Sections i, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, same Township^ Range 5 east", some of the residents of these nine sections on range 5 east protested vigorously against the separation. Their protest was filed on June 13, 1871. Two weeks later 11 of the remonstrators relented, and the separation and erection of Merritt followed. The first election was held at the home of Joesph Gerard on the Tuscola plank road. Gen. B. F. Partridge, Henry Hess and Martin Powell were named as election inspectors. Henry F. Shuler, a pioneer resident of Merritt, was elected to represent the new township on the Board of Supervisors.

Hundreds of acres of Merritt township have been redeemed for cultivation by draining, chiefly through the large Quanicassee ditch. These lands are exceptionally fertile, and all went well until Denmark and Gilford townships of Tuscola County directed their drainage into the natural depression in the southeast corner of Merritt, since which time the town- ship has been involved in an ahnost interminable legal tangle with their neighbors of the next county. Bay County has taken a hand, by voting some of the funds necessary to carry on the legal battle. Up to date the victory rests with Alerritt township, which has secured an injunction restraining the Tuscola County people from flooding Merritt. The Tuscola farmers are fighters, however, and the courts are still considering the efforts of Tuscola to dissolve the injunction.

Among the earliest settlers in Merritt were Rev. Thomas Histed and wife, who came here from Vassar with $3 in money, eight bushels of potatoes and a little flour. After cutting an opening through the woods for road purposes, building a cabin and draining his land, he created a fine farm. His crops were often destroyed by spring freshets and heavy rainstorms. He always found time from his farm work to preach the Gospel to his neighbors, who came many miles through the woods to 'hear the message of salvation. In 1854, Martin Powell was employed in the sawmills of Bay City, and with his savings located 160 acres in Merritt township at one shilling per acre ! After clearing it and making it habitable, he sold 30 acres for $1,450, and the rest is constantly increasing in value, being worth to-day about $100 per acre. Samuel M. Brown located and moved on his farm in Merritt township in 1859. Ex-Supervisor B. Schabel received 38 cents for 12 hours work in the Bay City sawmills during 1857-58, when lumber was down to $5 per thousand, and wisely bought 160 acres of marsh lands, which by dint of his industry are to-day ideal farm property. Nicholas Thayer, Robert Whiteside, William Treiber, John Fegert, Frederick Beyer, A. Love joy, DeWitt Burr, Joseph B. Hazen and John M. Lefever were among the first permanent settlers of the township.

The prosperous little farm community at Munger station, on the Bay City Division of the ]\Iichigan Central Railroad, is the trading center for Merritt township, and Arn is another thriving little settlement on the same railroad a few miles further south. Horace D. Blodgett, one of Merritt's earliest settlers, is postmaster at Munger; C. A. Howell, for many years supervisor from Merritt ; Henry Horton, for years representing the township on the Republican County Committee; and F. R. Tennant are among the best known and highly esteemed residents of the township.

With the advent of the beet sugar and chicory factories in Bay City, farm property has advanced in value in Merritt township, and some of the banner crops in the county are harvested by its intelligent and industrious farmers. The township had but 26 farms in 1883, while to-day there are more than 200. The school facilities are excellent, and each of the leading denominations is represented by its house of worship and its devoted flock of parishioners.

The sinking of the ^\'hat-Cheer coal mine in 1904 marks a new era for iMerritt. The mine has one of the finest coal veins yet uncovered in Bay County, and all the surrounding territory has been covered by coal leases, with indications of a number of other mines going down in that vicinity in the near future. The farmers of the county at first sold the coal leases outright, but experience has taught them that a good royalty is more profitable, and this is now their favorite course of action. The discovery of coal on the east side of the river will enhance farm values still more, and the hardy pioneers, who dared to enter the wilderness to bring order out of chaos and thriving farms from malaria-breeding swamps, or their descendants, are now reaping the well-merited harvest. The population of Merritt township was 1,217 in

1894, and 1,562 in 1900. The new railroad planned to cross the "Thumb" of Michigan from Bay City to Port Huron will pass Hunger, and it is said that the coal mine people are back of the enterprise, in order to get a direct route to deep water, and from there to the Eastern market.

Hunger township was named in honor of Curtis and Algernon S. Hunger, the veteran merchants of Bay City, who early invested in some choice farm property in Herritt township. The township officials elected in 1905 are: Supervisor, C. A. Howell ; clerk, Fred Beyer ; treasurer, Adam J. Schabel; justice of the peace, H. H. Rademacher; highway commissioner, Frank Laclair.

Monitor township was created by the Legislature of 1869, including "Sections 30 and 31, Town 14 north, Range 5 east, and all of Town 14 north. Range 4 east, except Sections i and 2". The first election was held at the home of Owen C. White, on the first Monday in April, 1869. Owen C. White, William H. Needham and William Hemingway were inspectors of election. William H. Needham was the first supervisor. The officials of Bangor township objected to the organization of Honitor, claiming it was done for political purposes, but since Bangor was then a very large township, the petition was granted. Honitor township is bounded on the north by Kawkawlin and Bangor townships, on the east by Bangor township and West Bay City, on the south by Frenkenlust township and on the west by Williams township.

The first settlers in Honitor were descendants and members of the German colony which settled Frankenlust. and the township has many of the characteristics of the older settlement. J. Rittershofer, Henry Kraner, P. Graul,

Charles Baxman, G. Schweinsberg and John Hunn were among the advance guard. Thomas Kent and five sons, James Felker, W. H. Needham, Jeremiah Waite, Fred Shaw, William Gaffney, Joseph Dell and T. C. Phillips were among the earliest pioneers oi Honitor. The wilderness was unbroken from the banks of the Kawkawlin to the Indian trail through Frankenlust. William Hemingway purchased 40 acres in 1858 in section 32. To reach his land lie had to go to Kawkawlin over the corduroy road, up the Kawkawlin River in a dug-out canoe to the South Branch, then over a meandering Indian trail four miles south. After erecting a log hut, his first work was the clearing away of the trees and underbrush for a roadway large enough to pass a team of oxen, which roadway was used for many years after. Hr. Needham always pronounced ^Monitor one of the healthiest spots in Hichigan, and as proof pointed with pride to his 12 children - six boys and six girls - all of whom attained their maturity. Joseph Dell settled on his "eighty" in 1859, cutting the trees, splitting the rails and erecting his log house, with rough oak flooring, and roofed with oak "shakes" ! Since then the township has been practically denuded of timber, and some of the finest farms in the county are within its borders. The Midland stone road runs straight through the center of the township, and just north of this fine highway is the Midland Branch of the Michigan Central Railroad, from which a number of spurs run to the coal mines, offering excellent shipping facilities to the farmers. ]\Iuch of the township was marsh and swamp when the first pioneer swung his axe in the silent forest, but many ditches and drains have reclaimed every acre for cultivation, and the two beet sugar factories on the West Side secure much of their supply from Monitor. The village of Kawkawlin is in Monitor township, and another thriving little settlement in the southwest portion of Monitor clusters about the German church and school erected in 1880. The township has four other schools, all of which are well attended. During its early years the township contained much railroad land exempt from taxation, which made the tax burden rather heavy for the pioneers. Henry Moeller, Samuel Hardy, Bernard Carroll, William Gillet, William Gaffney, and T. C. Phillips have done much for the schools of the township.

T. C. Phillips was one of the earliest business men in Bay City. In 1863 he served on the enrolling board of Bay County, this being the 85th subdistrict of Michigan, together with the late Judge Isaac Marston and R. P. Essex, of Hampton. Through the solicitation of Mr. Phillips at the War Department at Washington, Bay County's quota of men for the conscription was reduced 45 men, which meant a saving of $15,000 to the county, while the untiring efforts of the board to secure single and non-resident men was another material advantage locally. In 1870, Mr. Phillips was appointed postmaster at Bay City. In 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes issued the now famous civil service order, and 'Sir. Phillips tendered his resignation in the following terse letter: "I tender my resignation as postmaster of Bay City, to take effect as soon as my successor shall be appointed and qualified, for these reasons : I am now a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and chairman of the Bay County Republican Committee, and your civil service order obliges me to resign either the position of honor or profit. I therefore resign the office of profit" ! And he forthwith retired to "Xe-bo-bish" Farm in Monitor. What a contrast between those sturdy pioneers in public affairs, and our own modern day ideals, or lack of them !

township was $45,023, while in 1SS2 it had increased to $274,220. The population in 1874 was 554; in 1880 it was 931 ; in 1894 it had grown to 1,784; and in 1900, largely owing to the influx of coal miners, it was 2,150. The officers of Monitor township in 1905 are: Supervisor, Henry Moeller; clerk, Charles Thurau; treasurer, John H. Popp; justice of the peace, W. P. McGrath ; highway commissioner, Fred Schmidt.

Mount Fore.st township was erected by the Board of Supervisors on January 14, 1890. The following residents of Pinconning township petitioned for the separation : John T. Lynch, Clarence Fairchild, Charles Miller, Michael Paul, Lawrence, Joseph and George Wasielewski, Hugh Stevenson, John Barie, Fred Aloore, George Collins, John Jankowiak and George Capter. Supervisor George Barie, of Pinconning approved of the petition, and thus sections i to 36, township 17 north, range 3 east, were set apart as the new township of Mount Forest. Mount Forest township is bounded by Gibson township on the north, by Pinconning township on the east, by Garfield township on the south and by Midland County on the west.

The first election was held at the home of Clarence Fairchild, and John T. Lynch, Clarence Fairchild and Charles Miller were the election inspectors. The following were the first township officials : John T. Lynch, supervisor; Cash Kelley, clerk; John L. Hudson, treasurer ; Henry V. Lucas, school inspector.

Since Mount Forest is the youngest, so is it also numerically the weakest, of the 14 townships of Bay County. But its fine track of hardwood timber has been opened up with branch logging-railways from the Gladwin Branch of the Michigan Central Railroad, and the last large belt of primitive forest in Bay is gradually falling before the advancing settlers and pioneers. Fifteen years ago the logging camps followed the rivers, where the water furnished a somewhat erratic but cheap transportation for the logs. In this 20th century the "Captains of Industry" simply construct spur tracks into the timber tracts, and these are doing much to open up this virgin section to settlement.

Many of the settlers are Polish emigrants, rugged sons of toil, who know and appreciate the difference between tlie tyranny of darkest Russia, where every avenue of progress is closed to them, and the independence, enlightenment and opportunity open to all the children of men. The disastrous war which Russian autocracy is waging against progressive Japan has driven many emigrants to these shores within the last year, and a good proportion have gone into the wilds of Mount Forest to make their homes and their fortunes.

The village of Mount Forest on the Gladwin Branch is the trading center and post office for Mount Forest township, and lies a little west of where the Garfield stone road will cross Mount Forest. The population of Mount Forest township was 265 in 1894, and 350 in 1900. The next decade will find this more than trebled. The present township officers are: Supervisor, John Anderson; clerk, James Quigley; treasurer, James Bryce; justice of the peace, William Pregor; highway commissioner, William Quigley, Jr.

PiNCONNiNG Township was created by act of- the Legislature, approved February 28, 1873, in conjunction with Deep River and Standish townships, which with Aremc t'.ien belonged to Bay County, but have since been erected into separate county organization. Originally Pinconning consisted of township 17 north, ranges 3, 4 and 5 east. The first town meeting was held at the warehouse of Kaiser & VanEtten, on the first Monday in April, 1873. E. B. Knight, Louis Pelkey and H. Packard were the election inspectors, and Joseph U. Meechin was the first supervisor chosen at this election.

The Indians, who long made this part of the Saginaw Bay region one of their main fishing and hunting grounds, called the Pinconning River "O-pin-nic-con-ing", meaning "potato place," for wild potatoes grew abundantly in this neighborhood, and cultivation has since made this the potato belt of the county. The \\'hite Feather River in the northern part of the township was also named by the Indians in honor of one of the most famous Chippewa chiefs of the last century, who took the cruel "sun bath" on its shores. The large Indian settlements at the mouth of lx)th rivers are gradually dwindling away, but an old log mission church is a vivid reminder at the mouth of the Pinconning of the earliest efforts in Michigan to Christianize the natives.

As early as 1850, Louis Chapell owned and operated a small water-mill at the mouth of the Pinconning, and in 1853 L. .\. Pelkey began fishing there. The entire township was covered with pine in those years, and the giants of the forest soon attracted attention. In the early "si.xties" lumber operations began along both rivers, and when Frederick A. Kaiser of Kawkawlin entered the field, the township enjoyed a genuine l30om. In 1871 a fierce and destructive forest fire swept over part of these woods, leaving a wide trail of havoc and destruction behind. In 1873 Kaiser & VanEtten laid out the village of Pinconning, and the place has prospered until 1905 it is the leading village

In recent years the pine barrens have been taken up by practical farmers, and the township is rapidly taking its place as an agricultural community among the older and earlier settled townships. The hardwood timber is now quite valuable and ere long the last vestige of the great forest of Pinconning will have disappeared.

Mount Forest township was carved out of Pinconning in 1890, so that at present Pinconning is bounded on the north by Arenac County, on the east by Saginaw Bay, on the south by Fraser township and on the west by Mount Forest township. Many of the inhabitants, including a number of Indians, make a living by catching the finny tribes in river and bay, and many others still find work in the surviving sawmills, stave and heading mills and shingle mills, which in a comparatively small way are clearing up the remaining timber north of Bay City. The population of Pinconning township was 2,166 in 1894, and 2,104 in 1900. This apparent loss in numbers is due to the decline of the lumber industry, the scattering of the Indians and the removal of many settlers to the newly-opened townships on the west and northwest. The pretty village of Pinconning is the natural mart of the township and its neighbors of the west and north. The ^Mackinaw Branch of the Michigan Central Railroad has fine depot facilities at Pinconning, which is also the southern terminal of Gladwin Branch of the Michigan Central ; Woodville is the last station in Pinconning township on the Gladwin Branch, and White Feather on the Mackinaw Branch. The township has long been clamoring for stone road connection with Bay City, and the splendid stone road system of Bay County, one of the finest in the United States, is gradually being extended to Pinconning. This township is better drained than some of its southern neighbors, and has less trouble and expense to keep up the drain system. Great improvements are annually being made to the township roads. The school system of the township is of a very high order, the village offering excellent school facilities, in addition to the little rural seats of culture and learning. The township officials for 1905 are: Supervisor, George Hartingh; clerk, L. A. Pelkey; treasurer, William T. 'Morris; highway commissioner, Peter Codey.

Portsmouth. On March 25, 1859, the Board of Supervisors of Bay County erected the township of Portsmouth, and Appleton Stevens was its first supervisor. Being the oldest settlement, and lying somewhat higher than the village of Bay City, there was for some years a keen rivalry as to which of the two settlements should be the county seat. The trend of business, however, was to the north, to get nearer to Saginaw Bay, where many of the early settlers found profitable employment in fishing and trapping, and eventually the younger settlement forged to the front.

In 1855, William Daglish purchased a large portion of the plat of Portsmouth village, and had it surveyed and replatted by A. Alberts. Later additions were made to the plat by Medor Trombley and A. H. Ingraham. The settlement prospered with the passing years, new industries springing up along the river front, and an army of industrious mechanics and laborers, many of them from Germany and Poland, supplied the brawn and sinew for these manufacturing enterprises. In 1866, when the village was still independent of Bay City, the equalized valuation of Portsmouth was placed at $152,- 300, while in 1882, with the village consoli-

By act of the Legislature, approved April 15. 1 87 1, "Sections 19 to 36, the same being the south half of Township 13 north, Range 6 east" were detached from Saginaw County and added to Portsmouth township. The supervisors now considered Portsmouth too bulky, so on July 8, 1871, they erected the township of IMerritt, taking the territory largely from Portsmouth, and against the protests of all the settlers residing on "Sections i, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13. 14 and 15, Town 13 north. Range 5 east." But these differences were duly adjusted, and at the July meeting the super\-isors allowed the tax levy for Portsmouth, including the amount for building a new town hall.

In 1873 the village of Portsmouth was consolidated with Bay City. All the township officials resided in the village, and their last act was to vote the money for paying for the town hall, and to deed the lot and building to Bay City! The officers of the reconstructed township sued the retiring treasurer for all the moneys remaining in his possession, which they secured, but the property remained with the city.

On April i, 1873. the Legislature took the remaining portions of two sections, added 13 sections from Merritt and nearly six from Hampton, and created Portsmouth township as now constituted. The reconstructed township held its regular town election on April 5, 1873. Gen. B. F. Partridge was chosen supervisor, which office he filled for more than 10 years thereafter. Henry Hess was chosen town clerk, and Nelson IMerritt, town treasurer.

The township contains some of the richest farms in the county, and has ahvavs been well managed. The township officials have provided excellent drainage, good roads and three school houses for educational and meeting purposes. The business of the inhabitants is done entirely in Bay City, which is easily reached over two fine stone roads and the South End electric car system. Its present officials are as follows: Supervisor, William Wagner; clerk, Fred M. Hubner; treasurer, Herman Ruterbush; justice, Oscar F. Meiselbach ; highway commissioner, William Alberts. The population of Portsmouth township was 1,222 in 1894 and 1,363 in 1900.

Williams township was erected by the Midland County Board of Supervisors in 1855, and originally comprised all of towns 14, 15, 16 north, range 3 east and all of Arenac County. Charles Bradford was the first supervisor. In 1857 Williams township became part of Bay County, being with Hampton, the only organized township in the new county. George W. Smock was the first supervisor to represent Williams on the Bay County board. As the pioneers penetrated further into the wilds to the north and created new homes and new communities, they set up townships of their own, until to-day Williams is exactly six miles square, being bounded on the north by Beaver township, on the west by Midland County, on the south by Saginaw County, and on the east by Monitor township.

The pioneers, who made Williams one of the oldest settlements, laid the foundation for its prosperity as well as their own and their descendant.s'. In the fall of 1854 a party of land prospectors, including John Gafifney, Charles Bradford, George W. Smock, William Spofford and Charles Fitch were so well pleased with the well-watered region now constituting Williams township, that they forthwith went to the public land office at Flint and purchased the land upon which they soon after settled. John Gaft'ney felled the first tree on

November i8, 1854. About that same year, William W. Skelton, A. J. Wiltse and Amos Culver located near what is now North Williams. In 1855 came Samuel Rowden, John C. Rowden, David Jones, Josiah Perry, John Plant, and they were soon followed by other settlers who appreciated the many advantages of Williams township. Amos Culver and O. N. C. White erected the first square log house, with comb roof, and when Mrs. Culver and family arrived in January, 1855, the roof was only partially completed!

As we review the privations and the hardships of our pioneers, we are apt to forget that the women did as much practical work, dared and suffered as much as any of the sterner se.x. IMrs. Charles Bradford came to Williams township in February, 1855. A cousin, Lyman Brainerd, who also pitched his shack in this wilderness, carried her daughter, only 18 months old, for seven miles through the wood following the "blazed" trail cut by the pioneer surveyor, C. C. C. Chillson, on the line where he predicted the Midland road would be built, through mud, snow, ice and slush, to the log hut of her husband! Roving Indians were as common as roving packs of wolves, and both equally to be feared when hungry, thirsty or out of sorts. A blanket on a hard cot of oak slabs was a luxury after the hard day's work was over, while food and medicine had to be brought seven weary miles over the "blazed" trail from Bay City.

Amid such wild surroundings and under such dismal circumstances, with only the rugged husband and father for comfort and help, there was born to Mrs. Amos Culver, in 1855, the first white child to see the light of day in Williams township. In 1856 the first school was established at the home of Charles Bradford; Mrs. Charles Fitch, wife of one of the five original settlers, was the first teacher. The first marriage in Williams was also performed at the home of Charles Bradford, Otto Roeser, justice, tying the nuptial knot for William Hendrick and Mrs. Arvilla Stewart. Little Miss Bradford, who was carried into the wilderness when 18 months old, became the township school teacher at the age of 17, and for 14 consecutive years served Williams township in that capacity with credit to herself and profit to the scholars. The Bradfords were direct descendants of the illustrious William Bradford, second Governor of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts and one of the Pilgrim Fathers.

In 1866 the now thri\'ing hamlet of Fisherville, named after the redoubtable Hon. Spencer O. Fisher, Congressman, gubernatoral candidate and one of Bay County's most able and prominent citizens, was known as "Spicer's Corners," where Hotchkiss & Mercer operated a sawmill, which was cutting plank for the Bay City and Midland plank road, and incidentally did a grist-mill business on a small scale.

A resident of Williams in 1866 enumerated the Methodist Bible class at North Williams, supplied with preaching every two weeks ; a Universalist class, with preaching every four weeks ; and a Sunday-school kept regularly, with a good library in connection. In the southern part of the township they also had a Sunday-school class, with occasional preaching, and altogether the institutions of religion and ethics were not totally neglected in the wilds of Williams.

The township grew more ambitious by 1868. The same resident, mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, urged the need of a post office, invited settlers to try Williams, where wild lands with good soil and fine pine and other timber could be bought for $5 per acre, and lauded the plank road, then completed^ which gave tlie settlement an easy road to market, and doubled the value of the farms, as the pioneers were not slow to notice. In 1S68. W'illiams could boast one blacksmith shop, two saloons, and a Good Templar lodge of 43 members. Two sawmills and one shingle mill were being operated in the midst of the great forest.

The soil is a rich loam, lying high enough for cultivation, and the pine stumpage offered good grazing for cattle. From the first the soil has been easily tilled and very productive. The old plank road has been superseded by the stone road which is as far superior to the rotten old planks, as the original plank road was ahead of the "blazed" trail. The Garfield stone road crosses W'illiams township north and south, M'ith fine cross roads, so that the road problem is well solved. The Midland Branch of the Michigan Central Railroad crosses the very heart of W'^illiams, and since coal exists beneath the entire township the industrial development of that neighborhood will be both substantial and rapid. Four feeders of the South Branch of the Kawkawlin River furnish the water supply and drainage, aided by numerous drains and ditches, all leading to the Kawkawlin.

The Polish settlers of that vicinity have built a fine house of worship at Fisherville, while the churches at the pretty village of Auburn supply the several denominations. W^illiams has an excellent school system, and post offices at Auburn and North W^illiams. Some of the largest and richest farms in the State of Michigan are situated in Williams township, monuments to the industry, perseverance, and intelligent cultivation of its pioneers and their descendants. The town officers at present are : Linus W^ Oviatt, supervisor; George W. Matthews, clerk; E. E. Rosenkrans, treasurer; A. H. Buzzard, justice; August Constantine, highway commissioner.

Village of Essexville. - In 1849, Joseph Hudson, a roving sailor, chanced to visit this harbor, and during a prospecting tour was favorably impressed with the prospects of the low-lying lands on the east bank of the Saginaw River and very near its mouth. Returning to Connecticut to marry Fidelia D. Essex, he told her brother. Ransom P. Essex, of the promised land in the Northwest. In 1850 Mr. Essex took up 80 acres of low lan<l and ]\Ir. Hudson 40 acres adjoining, on which the thriving village of Essexville is now situated. Until 1855 the two pioneers followed the fishing business, but later took up farming.

In 1867, Mr. Essex set aside eight acres for village lots, the tract being the "west half of the northeast cjuarter of section 14, town 14 north, range 5 east." He called this embryo village "Essex" but the early settlers attached a "ville", and so the name has remained to this day, - "Essexville". An addition was soon laid out, to accommodate arriving settlers, and the humble homestead of the Essex family is to-day in the center of a hustling suburb of Greater Bay City.

The village of Essexville was incorporated by act of the Legislature in February, 1883. The charter election resulted as follows : President, J. R. Hall; clerk, W^illiam Felker; treasurer, George Hall ; assessor, Louis Felker ; highway commissioner, W^illiam Leighton ; constable, H. Van Wert ; trustees, - Philip Dargis, S. A. Hall, Joseph Hudson, Anthony Johnson, John Garber and Tohn Widen.