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PIage.
Preface 3
The Mears Family, - 5
The Hansons, --.. 8
S. J. B. Watson, - 9
The Daltons, - - - - - -Io-- Io
Early Experiences of the Hoblers, R.., 12
A 4th of July in '63, C. H. J., - - - - 4
A Retrospectioon, S. A. A., 15
Out Hero, - - - - - - - - - - - 17
An Aboriginal Spot, Fred Norman, - - - - - - - 8
The Glaziers, - - - -- - 20
The Churches, 1Mrs. J. T. Moore, 21
The Covells, - - - 26
Whitehall's First-born, Mllarga7ret Thompson Green, - - - - - 28
The Schools, F. J. Hendersot, - - - - - - - - 29
Montague's School System, H. H. Terzwillzger, - 33
Our School Days, J. J. Gee, - 35
Early Outings, A. T. Slayton, - - - - - - - 36
George E. Dowling, 40
Linderman Recollections, A. 7'. Linderman, - - - - - - 41
Some Whitehall Homes, - - - 42
Saunterings, C. I Redfcrn, 44
The Slocums, - - - "'...- 47
The White River Drive, 51- - -
The Days Gone By, Edit/z Gotts ltunznger, - - - - - 53
Hunting and Fishing, G. W., - - 56
Early Days of Blue Lake, Andersonz. Britton,. - 58
Mr. and Mrs. Lyman T. Covell, - - 6o
Twilight at the Beach, E. J. S., - - - 6
A Medieval Family, - - - - - 62
Michillinda, - - - - - _ 63
The Pioneer, Thomas Kelly, 67
Pepper and Salt, - - -. - - - 69
The Outlook, Ed. P/elan,...
N73
Number of Illustrations, Thirty-five.
JM.CHASAN STATE LIBtRAW,,
LANSING
2 11?
WAIL ORDER
HOUSE *
Write for Samples.
Special Lines of
Hosiery, Gloves, Corsets, Underwear, Curtains,
Rugs, Wash and White Goods.
8i1k and 1Grezz Good5. LateSt bNovedtie5.
ALDVERTISEMENYTS.
T~HE W~WILfiR
Tailor Haitter, Gelts Furnisher.
t ine to5 an e ptecpag l r ad
Montague, Michigan.
THEwHITElHALLR2LLER MILLJ, ~ * *
OLESEN &p TOQNBqsqIST, P FKOF)R J.
As one of Whitehall's most valuable and permanent industries must
be mentioned its Roller Mill which was first built-in 1884 and has since
then, owing to good manamgement and patronage, been enlarged and irnproved till to-day it stands as a first class merchant mill and as a custom
mill it has no superior in the State, always giving to the farmers the best
grade of flour that good wheat and latest improved machinery can produce in exchange for their wheat. Their special brand '"Ruby" is well
kno\vn in this community and has larger sale than any other brand of
flour in this market. By their system of grinding and bolting, their flour
produces a beautiful bread, rich in color and flavor and retaining its
moisture longer than most Winter wheat flour in the market.
A separate full roller system for grinding rye has this year been added
to the mill, which is capable of a kitrge yield and produces a very clear
flour with good raising qualities and preserving to the fullest degree the
full flavor of the rye.
Their Wheat, Rye and Buckwvheat flour has a large and constantly
increasing sale at home and abroad and the future prospects for this industry are bright.
V tA LUU I
AD T'VWRRTISEMEANTS.
______ (T4~
-I- ( /
I 7~_ 5 7
'I 'I
77 -1
)7)
1
Ellihof E. Stocum+
~ffircs in f lr Jfic7Ijan:
Trenton, Slocum's Junction,
Wayne Co. Slocum's Island.
DETROIT,
Wayne Co.
WHITEHALL, Muskegon Co.
SLOCUM'S GROVE, Muskegon Co.
074*
AD! ERITISEIINJS.
The0 Moiltague Roller Flour Millsi
owned and operated by
A. L. DICKINSON,
wvho is well known on W'hite Lakc and vicinity.
~ Mr. Dickinson came to \Vhitcbaill
ill 1878 LInC since 1882 has been1 L
/ '~" rcsidcnt of A\/ontat-ue. Ile has been
17i the imontag-ile Mills 0onlY a short
time but has built rip an enviaible
6_.__7 trade and is nmk1in.- a quiality of flour
that is surpassed by none.
GEE & CARR,
Grockery,
PainI5,
FURiNITURE.
/A\rr1c\1i1ural
)~( lraple men15
lsuAi'Ie5.
Whitehall, Mich.
IM. A.~ WOLFF,
Rodger, Boc,
Musego, Mich.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-AI) fi-IR.TISEJIIENTS'.
We se
FURNV
CARE
C
than any
Westert
Arc
about t(
SE
'II more.. Are you going to ride
TURE a Wheel
"ETS and 1, / We sel lthe
a-*5,ROCKERY ' N MONARCH,
other house " ELDRIDGE,
in CLEVELAND,
n Mlichigan. m~.; FLEETWING,
SENVOY,~~
SKI ITMPER!AL,
> YOU PHOENIX,
0 rcme and WOLFF American,
AE US, None Better on Earth.
ý5 tO Vanderlinde, G o, ~oe a nJ
N. C -ee U5.
7 and 9. West Western Avenue,
MUSKEGON, ~ ~ MICHIGAN.
youl
NI rq. d. yrzsorz,
Mears & Sweningston's Store,
COLBI VS T, TI 'ITEfIHA LL, Yf/cl-f.
HANS MARSHALL,
A Dry Goods,
Groceries,
Dealer in
Tinware,
Nails, Etc,
Goods First Class. Whitehall, Mich.
Pric~es Right.
ONE CENT For a Postal Card,
5VENT -and addressed to
o RISTI EqIE
Muskegon, Mrich.
with a description of the
TEA, COFFEE, BAKING POWDER
You are in the habit of using,
Will bring you, by return mail,
samples of each, which will
show you how we can
save you a great many
dollars in course
of.a year.
AD VE R TISE ME N7TS.
FECYLE SAY
READ'J
is the
Grandest and Cheapest Store
IN ITS LINES
IN THlE STA.TE, -.
GROCERIES Every Description.
BULK SEED,
CROCKERY,
TIN WARE,
CHINA,
and an Extensive Line of
General rV1ercandive.
Write for Prices. TV H. READ,
87, HTstern Avvc., MUSKEGON, Mzick.
0 0
Our Assortment of
' " Children's
SVESTEE SUITS
FOR
Boys of All Ages o
from 3 to 10 years,
is the
LARGEST L
ever brought to
MUSKEGON. 0
Thev are - eavtie
fV IT"5on"ble rrice5. 0
C. B. MANN & CO.,
49, W. Western Av., Muskegon, Mich.
s wrass a8 ~~~cssm s e
Have Your
SPho0t0fographs
taken
FTO
MUSKEGON.
We will open up our Branch
Gallery at Montague
about May First.
U5R eo.
1d11ig (2O0
*
Manufacturers
and Shippers of
~i~i
Flour, Feed,
Mill Stuffs,
ANb Grain.~
Our Celebrated Brands:
Fancy Patent,
Silver Leaf,
Home Rule,
Pearl.
MUSKEGON, MICH.
AD T,/ER TISEMHENTS.
C(
Uptc
D~ate
ED)
JoTO
mooR
' BOOTS S
SHOES.
oo b to lviar.
5oob to took bt.
/
*
Buy Footwear of the Exclusive Dealer and You are
pretty sure to get the Right Kind. We
deal EXCLUSIVELY in the
Best the Market Affords,
and sell at the
lo5e5t figvUre5 We majy.
WnEiTnALL M Cn0
4/
WORDEN GRO0CER CO.
InFORTERA~
HI1YH10 818 TI1B i9
W holesale Grocers,
QLKJ1VJL ~AHIIL5, LPN1HH1J
~ Fin@ Goods a 8peciat. ~ ~
AqlD VER TISEE N TS.
The Occidental Hotel, Muskegon, Michigan,
ESTABLISHED 1882.
Cor@lbhf, Jaha r" v/.
C. E. s v.e 3. 3 OV LL;,
All Kinds of
Shingles, Lum ber, Lath, Etc.
FRUIT AND FARMING LANDS
in Muskegon, Oceana, and W\hitehall, MIich,
Newaygo Counties, For Sale.
RYMRMELL DROS,
The tlears Avenue
Lowest Prices, Best Goods.
Whitehall, Mich.
WHITE
LAKE
EMINI SCEN@ES.
d oa e diioncie'PU -,
ED. J. SMIT, PRhINTER.
F'--
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SPref\ace.
1here are many, many "Ladies Books," and, no doubt, each one fills its
particular mission and has its coterie of admirers. The Ladies who took
upon themselves the collation of the present work counted the difficulties in' their
way, and had builded their hopes, not upon the pinnacles, but upon the turrets
of fame's battlements. Perhaps to make such a work successful from a literary
standpoint would require the guidance of a master hand, and when it is considered that the Reminiscences, Anecdotes, and Poetic Efforts, found between these
covers, were garnered fiom the four quarters of the globe, so to speak, from the
farm and workshop, as well as the office and parlor, we are sure of the indulgence
of our readers, for any wide divergence of thought, or scattering of rhetorical fire.
The illustrations have been gotten together in much the same way, from all
sorts of subjects by all sorts of processes. If they faithfully portray the dear
faces we would memorize, or the loving scenes we would depict, they have accomplished their and our purpose. \Ve feel sure the publisher has been painstaking, and with the material at hand, has done the best he could to produce a
credit;ible work and control his patience.
The spirit of "live and let live," shown by our advertisers, is commendable,
and while the display might have been more elaborate, we feel deeply grateful to
the wide-awake merchants of Whitehall, Montague, and Muskegon, who, from the
army of solicitors who besiege them, had the grace toselect our "Reminiscences"
as one of the mediums to m:ke their business known, we hope, with fruitful results.
In fine, it is with intense gratitude to all the dear friends who have assisted
us in the by no means easy task of getting these odds and ends together, in the
form of a book, that we lay down our pens, relax our visages from the hardened
expression of the canv;asser, thank everybody all around, and wish the world in
general Godspeed.
ILADIES AID SOCIETY,
June 1898. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
Whitehall, Michigan.
wi,
I.- il/;V/,,1_/ N
psi b
JX\I'fiXV O'O1c~k I\SI \iiI ~\ GCYO(V
MRS. JOHN C.L( V I 4 SXX J'RU6L':;. JOII\ ( I XX AIS.
JOSE PH1 I-IN( II\I XX M\RS. JOSI P11 IINC.I-IAIN.
1JN.ILLI OTT Tr. sLoCUM, )E-TROIT, MICII1.
~Scc plaFý(c JL8
--I
1~he~ ~~innii-z~. ~ ~ 0
~ ~ 0 TI~ Vje~r~ f&~til~/.
N all new countries we
find the first settlements
along the water courses
or harbors.
In May, 1836, Martin.. Rycrson;irrived in Mus/^'/ kegon as clerl forJoseph
Trotier, ("Trucky",) an. ^. Indian trader., Louis Ba* white man there.
The only roads at this time were Indian trails. One reached White River
at Burying-Ground-Point and from there
crossed over to the Trading Post, an old
cabin built of logs and used by Frenchmen to keep their stpplies while dealing
or "swapping" with the Indians. During the Summer of 1836, Chas. Mears
was at Muskegon and heard of White
Lake. He returned to his home in Paw
Paw and built a clinker boat. In April,
1837, he started by way of Paw Paw
river and Lake Michigan for WhiteLake.
He was accompanied by his brother
Albert, then a boy of fifteen, and two
men. They were capsized several times
and were nearly two weeks reaching
Grand Haven. Here they replenished
their stock of provisions and pressed on.
arriving about the first of May.
The outlet from the lake was a narrow, crooked, and very shallow stream,
considerably North of the present Government channel. At the Mouth was a
bar of white marl, and from this the
Indians evolved a name meaning White
River.
On entering Mr. Mears found a man
holding a claim for Hiram Pearsons, of
Chicago. On lhe flat where Mr. Bush
now lives, Wab-an-ingo's band of Indians had a small clearing and were planting corn. Mr. Mears proceeded up the
lake and at noon was at Burying-GrotndPoint. Here another party of Indians
were eating dinner. The party received an invitation to partake, but did not
accept. They soon after reached a clear
and shining stream to which Mr. Mears
gave the name Silver Creek.
Albert felled the first tree and within
two \\ eeks a cabin of split logs, 16X20
feet had been built, and a small piece of
ground cleared. Chas. then started on
foot for Paw Paw to get castings for a
mill, leaving Albert and the two men to
continue the work. One of these men
soon became tired and one night took
most of their bread and disappeared.
At the end of two months their provisions were nearly exhausted. Having
heard nothing from Charles they put
their effects into a skiff and started for
Paw Paw. At Grand Haven Albert
concluded he had roughed it enough
and took passage on a schooner for St.
Joseph.
Chas. Mears and Mr. Herrick returned in the Fall with the necessary castings for a water mill which they decided to build at what has since been called "The Brown Place" or more recently the Wilcox mill. The next Summer
Albert came again and helped cut the
6.
6f.'HITE LAKE REMINIVSCENTCES.
A IBERT
trees whose stumps can still be seen
above the water of the pond.
Charles again went away for more
material. As he did not return when
expected, Albert, after enduring great
hardships, started for home. At Grand
Haven he suffered from a painful felon;
getting this lanced he boarded a schooner and just as they were entering St.
Joseph harbor, saw his brother leaving
for White Lake. He kept very quiet
for fear of being recognized and taken
back. He did not return again until
July 4, 1861. Charles had built a sloop
"The Ranger," with a carrying capacity
of 5,000oo feet of lumber. John D. Hanson was, captain and they came to
White Lake in 1838, probably the first
sailing craft to enter the lake.
In 1844, Mr. Mears built the Duck
MEARS.
Lake mill and about this time James
Dalton built the Silver Creek mill. Hiram Hulbert built the one on Carleton
Creek and sold it to I. E. Carleton in
1851. In 1850 the Rev. Wm. M. Ferry
built the first ste:im saw mill at White
River or "The Mouth." Scott & Stebbins ran it until 1854. Each of these
mills formed a little community of its
own. A store and boarding-house
would spring up and the place soon
take on quite a city air.
Thomas Stannage, John Hanson and
John Barr were here in 1838; the Daltons and Lanfords, in 1845; the Hoblers, Cains, Burrows, and others, in 1850.
It is said they celebrated the 4th of
July, 1846, at the "Mouth" with a salt
pork dinner, after which they had a
swimming match.
WHI/ TE LAKE REM.INISCENCES.
MIS. ALBERT MEARS.
In the early 50's Mr. Mlears sold the
mill he first built to John 1Brown. And
ever since it has been -knomn as "The
Brown Place." The mill has long since
disappeared. Mr. Brown was a brotherin-law of C. C. Thompson, and built the
house now called the Wilcox boarding
house. At present Mr. and Mrs. Brown
reside at Fallon, Nevada.
In 1859, Charles Mears and Giles
Slocum platted the village of Mears,
now Whitehall. That year Mr. Mears
erected the store at the foot of Colby
St. The old landmark burned in 1896.
Chas. Mears married late in life and settled in Chicago where he died in May,.
1895. His wife died first and an only
daughter survives them.
After Albert Mears' rather abrupt departure, in 1838, he did not return to
White Lakle tuntil.July 4, 1861. At
that time hle purchased the store of his
brother and has. ever since been connected with the nmercantile interests of
Whitchall. He was the first Post Master and has held many positions of public trust. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mears
have good memories and tell many interesting anecdotes and reminiscences
of our early history. Mrs. M. remembers seeing a wild deer run down Colby
street, the present business thoroughfare, and plunge into the lake.
At present writing these aged representatives of their family, whose life is
so closely identified with Michigan's
early development, are in the enjoyment of good health and the esteem of
all who know them, residing in a comfortable home at Whitehall.
K~t
l~'IC b~ii~on5. ~ ~ ~
N^^
7HE,HE early history of
Whitehall, Muskegon
County, Michigan and
the lives of John D.
( 7) Hanson and his wife
Betsey, are hardly in the
nature of things inseparable.
To be sure, if the theory of the geologists be correct, Whitehall, or the
country where it is now located, existed
a short time at least, before the lives of
Mr. and Mrs. Hanson began.
Nature not only confides in us, but in the
memory of a few people
now living there is recorded the fact that in
1842 Whitehall,then unnamed, was nothing
more or less than a
dense wilderness. Not
a white inhabitant was
ever known to have entered its dark confines.
The bear, the wolf, the
panther, and the lynx
roamed unmolested and undisturbed,
except by the occasional visit of a tribe
of Indians armed only with the bow and
arrow.
In their semi-annual wanderings these
Indians were known to have visited the
shores of this little lake, and even now
may be found many proofs of their
camping grounds, in the shape of tomahawks, hatchets, arrow heads, and stone
knives. In 1843 the late Hon. Charles
Mears'discovered the great pine forests
with an occasional oak, which surrounded the Lake and grew near to the river
bank. The next year in company with
John D. Hanson, he "set his stakes" including a tract for future lumbering.
They first converted the tall pines into
square timbers which were shipped to
Chicago on the sloop Ranger, the first
vessel to ply between these two ports,
and of which Mr. Hanson acted as
catptain.
The next year 1845, Mr. Hanson was
married to Miss Betsey Austin, of Milwaukee. They moved at once to White
Lake and were thus the first white settlers in this vicinity. Nine children were
born to them, seven of
\whom are still living:
Mrs. G. C. Myers, Chas.
H., John D. S., Myron
W., Winfield M., and
Fremont M., all residents of Oceana County;
also Mrs. Lillie L. Peck,
of Montague,Muskegon
County. These were
the first white children
born at White Lake and
for some time had for
neighbors and visitors
only Indians, squaws, and papooses.
These, however, were neighborly, clever
and sociable. About the year 1848, Dr.
Thomas Phillips with his wife and parents settled here; also Walter Duke, a
familiar character for many years on
White River and vicinity.
These were directed by Mr. Hanson
to what was called the Claybanks, a
beautiful section of the country about
ten miles to the North-west, where Dr.
Phillips practiced until his death. He
was an able physician, and during his
first year on White Lake had many oc
WHIITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
9.
casions to demonstrate his ability. During this year a stranger appeared at the
home of Mr. Hanson. He was sick and
asked lodging. The house was full,
seventeen in all, but the hospitable
nature of Mr. Hanson would not permit him to neglect the poor man. He
was taken in, Dr. Phillips was sent for
and after diagnosing the case (declared
it to be small pox. Imagine the shock
to the household, eight men, besides a
family of small children, huddled together in that small log house, and
small pox, the most deadly of diseases,
in their very midst. The poor fellow
died, but so well did Dr. Phillips handle
the case that not one was taken down
from this exposure.
Fever and ague were the fashions of
the day, and some said that the atmosphere was so full of it that even the
cattle, dogs, and hogs wvould shake with
this terrible disease.
It might be well to follow the fortunes
of a few of these old residents:
Mr. John D. Hanson moved his family
from Whitehall to Claybanks in a yawl
boat in the year 1856. His farm house
J. B. WATSON and
family came in 1855
from Watertown, N. Y.,
to Chicago by railway.
They crossed LakeMichigin to Pere Marquette, now Ludington, on the steamer Huges. There they
boarded the sailing boat Ocean, Capt.
Benjamin Storms, for white River.
Here the Ferrys were operating a mill,
store, etc. Jos. Stebbins was manager;
Frank Baker, of Montague, engineer;
Peter Hobler, foreman, and Jesse D.Pull
was always headquarters for lawyers
and judges. He was always prominent
in the politics of the county and was a
republican with strong convictions. He
held the office of Deputy U. S. Marshal
for several years, and was Consul to
Sweden and Norway. for a nLumber of
years, which office he filled with credit
to himself and friends.
Mr. John D. S. Hanson whose portrait
accompanies this article, at present the
editor and publisher of the Hart Journal,
was one of the first white children born
in Whitehall, the date of his birth being
1852. He has served his country well
as a farmer, as Constable, Supervisor,
School Inspector, Sheriff and Deputy
U. S. Marshal. During his office as
Sheriff he studied law and at the expiration of his second term, passed a creditable examination and was admitted to
the bar, since which time he has been
Prosecuting Attorney, Probate Clerk,
and Village Attorney of Hart,
In 1876 he was married to Miss Ada
Tower at Whitehall by the Rev. D. M.
Ward, pastor of the M. E. Church, and
they now have an interesting family.
man, clerk in the store. Deacon Bennett raised garden vegetables. There
was no fruit or berries until the fire
went through the clearings; then wild
blackberries and raspberries came in
plentifully. By 1859 it began to seem
like civilization. Mr. Watson died in
1885. Sanford Watson now runs the
farm and "Col." Theodore lives in
Whitehall. Mrs. Watson, now a resident of Montague has an excellent memory and can give very interesting accounts of pioneer days.
PT ~lto5 ~ ~ 0
" AAMES DALTON, Sr.,
emigrated to St. Joseph,
Michigan from the
County Roscomon. Ireland in the year 1834,
with his daughter Cath" arine, then Ii years old.......-.. Two years subsequently
*^p^ Mr. Dalton was joined
by his 5 sons, Edward,
S the oldest, (then nine0 teen,) Joseph, James,
Peter and Andrew. In 1838 the family
moved from St. Joseph to Grand River
to the vicinity of Grand Rapids, where
they engaged in the lumber business
and neighbored with the Indians. About
1845 Edward and James, being ambitious to engage in business on their own
account, started on a prospecting tour
down the lake shore expecting to reach
Manistee,of which place they had heard.
The mouth of Muskegon River was
crossed on a temporary raft of their
own construction. Upon arriving at
White Lake, James gave out and the
boys obtained shelter from Chas. Mears,
who was then operating a small water
mill on the creek which empties into
White Lake, where the S. N. Wilcox
mill was located in more recent times.
Being favorably impressed with the
appearance of White Lake, the boys
concluded to look for a mill sight in its
vicinity, and, as water power was the
essential thing in those days, Silver
Creek was selected and the boys return
ed to their home on Grand River to
make preparations for carrying out the
enterprise. Edward having taken sick,
James was left to pursue the venture
alone. During the Winter a mill was
framed at Grand River and a scow built
to convey it to Silver Creek. -In the
Spring the outfit was successfully floated around to White Lake, along with a
supply of provisions, and in due time
set up at Silver Creek where several
"forties" had been "patented" in the
meantime and the making of pine
lumber, under all the early inconveniences was begun. The lumber, when
sawed, was rafted down White river to
the mouth, where it was loaded on
scows, towed out into Lake Michigan
and there laden on vessels and carried
to the then young and growing City of
Chicago, where the father of the Dalton
boys had started a lumber yard. Shortly after the mill at Silver Creek was
built, or about 1852, Peter Dalton came
from Chicago where he had been engaged with his father in the lumber yard,
making the trip on horseback.
A vessel was then bought to transport the lumber from White Lake and
Grand River to Chicago, and James,
who had spent considerable time on the
water when a boy, was put in command,
leaving Peter in charge of the mill at
Silver Creek.
About this time the Ferry mill was
built at the "Mouth" of White Lake,
and upon its construction was employed Mr. L. W. Lanford, a mill-wright,
who came from Grand Haven with his
wife, four sons, Warren, Henry, George,
and Louis, and two daughters, Maria
WHITE1f LAKE REMINISCENCES.
II.
and Effie. Mr. Lan ford subsequently
took charge of the Dalton mill at Silver
Creek, where his daughter Maria was
married to Peter Dalton in 1856.
The first steam boat now made its
appearance on White Lake. -The cr;ift
was constructed by building a deck over
two canoes, was propelled by a wlheel
at the stern driven by a small engine.
This primitive ship was named the
"Twin Sisters" but was commonly called the "Mosquito." She was imported
from Grand River by the Daltons and
used by them and Mr. Carleton for to\wing their lumber from their mills to the
"Mouth."
After several years, more or less successfully spent on the turbulent waters
of Lake Michigan, Capt. Jas. Dalton
found himself one morning late in the
Fall, clinging to the rigging of his
schooner, the "Blue Bell," off the port
of Racine. The crew were rescued during the lay and the vessel was righted
and gotten into port. Shortly after this
the captain concluded that it would be
more comfortable living ashore. He
married in I861 Miss Emily Burrows,
then a belle of White River.
In 1866, Peter and James Dalton built
-.a steam mill upon the site.. just below. where their
jj homes
- were
MUZZO/ after
\\ards built on the North bank of White
Lake.
Peter Dalton's wife, Maria, died in
1872. She was followed by Peter himself in 1876. They left surviving them
four daughters, Margaret, who died in
1881; Emily, now Mrs. G. I-I. Mason, of
Montague;Kate, now Mrs. W. A. Whitman, of South Arm, Mich.; Bessie, now
Mrs. B. M. O'Brien, of Grand Rapids,
Mich., and one son, James W. who resides at Menominee, Mich.
The mill built in 1866 was burned in
1879, when Dalton Bros. purchased the
Geo.Green mill which was located where
the Michillinda post office now stands.
This mill was moved to Menominee in
1883.
Capt James Dalton after several years
of failing health died in 1885 leaving
his wife Emily S. Dalton, now residing
at Portland, Oregon; two sons, Edward
E. and Joseph M., now residing at Menominee, and one daughter, Burrie Dalton, residing with her mother at Portland, Oregon.
Of the original Dalton family there
now survives, Catharine, a maiden lady
of 75 years, who enjoys, unusually good
health and resides at 217 Indiana St.,
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The family was renowned for its hospitality and many a story is yet told of
the generous entertainment accorded by
Capt. Dalton. His side-board was always well provided and the visitor never
left his hospitable roof without a. deep
sense of kind reception and of happy
treatment.
~r~c~c~
_
~.nrld ~rperie nceS, ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ rVlr. ^n?Vjrs. PetIer l~ol~e~r.
* " N the year 185o my
husband, myself and
baby, with a girl for
help, started from
Milwaukee in a lumber vsssel for the wild
pine forests of Mich** * igan.
After two days and
one night of rough
weather and sea sickness, we anchored at the mouth of
White River and came ashore in the
vessel's yawl. It was all two strong
sailors could do to keep the yawl along
side of the vessel until the passengers
could be let down into it. Among six
or eight shanties there was one somewhat larger than the rest, dignified by
the name of "Hotel," and to this we
were directed. Once inside we were
not only sea sick but homesick. We
were shown to a large room roughly
boarded up containing six beds, the one
we were to occupy having a small curtain to draw in front of it. Upon examination we fouud the mattress and
pillows to be made of marsh hay, with
bed-bugs, fleas and mosquitoes for company, and quarreling, drunken Indians
outside, making the night hideous.
Sleep was impossible. This was our
first experience with the dusky red men
and I was naturally very much frightened; but, worst of all, about one o'clock
ten men came tumbling in and took
possession of the other five beds. In
the morning on going down to breakfast, we found they were all negro
lumber rafters who had just. come down
with their rafts from a water mill about
five miles up the lake. This was of
course years before the colored people
were freed. The breakfast consisted of
black coffee, with maple sugar of the
Indians' make, and no milk; some fat
salt pork and cold beans poorly cooked;
some bread without butter, and black
molasses.
Our household goods had been brought
ashore during the night on a scow which
was used in carrying lumber to the
vessel. To load in those early days it
was necessary to anchor the vessel
about a quarter of a mile out, from
where a line was stretched to a post on
shore and in this way the scow was propelled by the sailors. I tried to make
ourselves comfortable for the next
night by furnishing a room in the other
end of the hotel with our own bedding.
Our attempts to sleep were baffled in-,
asmuch as the fleas and other insects
were quite as numerous and troublesome as on the preceeding night. You
will see that for a hotel this was a very
poor excuse. The landlady claimed to
be in poor health, induced I think, by
her dislike of work, her help being a
German woman just over who knew
nothing of our way of cooking.
In a few days my husband and another man went out to select a place to
build a shanty and succeeded in finding
the body of an old log house. They
secured the only team which was at the
mouth of the river and these were oxen
WHITE LAKE REMINISCEANCES.
IS~
there being no horses here then that we
knew of. He hauled lumber for the
floor and split some shakes to cover the
roof, we had brought some windows
with us and the next -day we moved in
and put up our beds with only half a
roof over us; but we had our first square
meal and a clean one too. The mosquitoes bit some but the bugs and fleas
we left at the hotel. We lived here one
year and it was nine months before I
saw a woman, and this was Mrs. Harvey
Tower; she and Mr. Tower came one
Sunday on a sled drawn by an ox team
and stayed all day.
SIn those days the timber was all on
"Uncle Sam's" land and no one thought
of buying any, but this could not always
last. Some one made a complaint to
the Government, the U. S. Marshal
came on and seized lumber and shingles
all around the lake and compelled the
people to pay for the timber, so it was
late in the Fall before shipments could
be made, and supplies purchased.
The "Twin Brother" was the only
boat which went between White Lake
and Milwaukee. The weather being
very rough it took three weeks toimnake
the trip, consequently our provisions
were well nigh exhausted befo,re-she arrived. One provident individual living
North of us raised some potatoes, and
we were fortunate enough to secure a
bag of them which was brought home
on two poles. Our bill of fare for one
week consisted- of. p-otatoes and flour
gravy, and.,.by. way of variety, flour
gravy and potatoes. This was pioneer
life in earnest but we were young and
not easily daunted.
'At.the end of a year we moved down
to the mouth of White River and in
August returned to Palmyra,:Wisconsin,
a place forty miles West of Milwaukee,
for a visit, and remained two months.
It may be interesting to know the diffeient ways we travelled in coming back
to White Lake. We came six miles to
Palmyra with a team, then took the
stage to Waukesha, from there by rail
to Milwaukee, and by-the-way this was
my first ride on the cars, it being the
only railroad then in Wisconsin and
but sixteen miles long. On arriving in
Milwaukee we found the Twin Brother
had sailed the day before, and upon inquiry found a small steamboat, on which
we could go to Grand Haven the next
day. Remaining in Grand Haven over
night, next morning we engaged a man
to take us to White Lake in a small
sail boat. We had only gone four miles
when we.had to put in at Black Creek
on account of the strong North wind,
and were wind-bound three days with
a family that kept the ferry. They lived
in a board shanty but were very comfortable,, having enough to eat and good
places to sleep. Then we boarded the
boat and with a fair wind went as far as
Duck Lake; and, as it was getting very
rough and dark, we concluded to remainp here over night.' The next morning the wind was fair for the captain of
our boat to go back to Grand Haven,
so my husband paid him, and we concluded to walk the beach the rest of.
the way. Each taking a child in arms
we started, leaving our trunk to be sent
later. After going about two miles we-,
came to a steep bank washed by the:,
water. If I went past it meant wet feet,
so my husband took both the children
and waded around the bank where he
put them on the sand, then came back
and carried me arouud. - We reached
home at noon, having been on the road
five days and a half and five nights going a distance of one hundred twentyfive miles. Such was the conveniences(?)
of travel in the early days. R. H.
P 4t of July in '63.
HE celebration of "The
Fourth" on White Lake
in 1863 was the principal event of the year.
The festivities included
a boat ride to the"Head"
S J P followed by a ball at
Caine's Hotel in the ev* e iing. Now the early
steamer was wonderfully made; a side
wheeler of rather imposing appearance,
and so nicely balanced that a slight inequality in the burden was sufficient to
put one of the wheels out of the water.
Therefore, a lady of considerable avoirdupois was generally chosen candlestick, her weight making it possible to
utilize both wheels at the same time.
On this particular Fourth everybody'
from Duck Lake to McCullom's Settlement, was invited to a boat ride and picnic at "The Head,"on a scow called the
Monitor, fitted with a boiler and engine
in the middle, and owned and manned
by Ferry&Dowling. Ed.Burrows manipulated the heavy plank which served
as a rudder. About eight o'clock the
crowd began to gather. There was no
hurry, no bustle. Every one was sure
to come and the boat waited until the
entire population, children included, was
aboard. Then she began to crawl up
the lake. Stops were made at Rathbun's, Luscomb's, Pierce's, and at the
old water mill, the rest of our unsightly
docks being yet unbuilt where fair green
banks and waving woodland then came
gracefully down to the water's edge.
Arrived at "The Head" the party
proceeded to a spot beyond the grist
mill On the North hill where they found
reinforcements from miles around. After
many friendly greetings had been interchanged, the program was given. Rev.
Mr. Griffin led in prayer. George Dowling was master of ceremonies; Theodore Depew read the Declaration of Independence, and Ed. Ferry gave the
oration. This is said to be the very day
that Noah Ferry lost his life at Gettysburg. The next thing was dinner.
Enough tables were arranged in a circle
to accommodate all the guests and the
baskets were opened. Such eatables!
Chicken pie, fried chicken,chicken baked, "riz" biscuit, and green currant pie;
in fact, the very cream of our mothers'
baking was spread upon those tables.
The waiters passed along inside the circle to see that everyone's wants was
supplied.
The ride home was a fit ending for a
perfect day. The party fell into little
groups, discussing the day's pleasures
and the coming ball, interrupted only
by a sudden "You're afire!" as a spark
burned its way through the voluminous
folds of ladies' skirts or padded broadcloth of gentlemen's shoulders. Most
of the party went on to White River to
the ball. As the low scow neared the
clock every one's feet were lifted until
the wave backing from the shore could
surge over the deck and draw off again.
The sun was dropping down into
Lake Michigan when the party returned home and everyone hurried away to
don his evening clothes that he might
trip the light fantastic toe to the music
of S. J. B. Watson's fiddle, until Morn's
gray light came stealing to the open
windows telling that the glorious Fourth
was over and announcing the coming
of the work-a-day Fifth. C. J. H.
~ ~
S. A. A.
'L and of the oak and lisping pine
I sing of thee. Oh! Muse divine,
Come from the dim primeval shade,
And touch mny harp inspiring maid!
Land of a thousand lakes and hills!
A thought of thee my bosom thrills,
Like drops of wine from Bacchus vint,
With every scent of myrrh and mint.
Land of my heart! My spirit knows
The honey of thy sweet wild rose,
As in the golden days of June,
When first it sipped thy nectared spoon.
That long lost June! Oh! fleeing days,
How soon ye sped the many ways!
Some passedin joys, some went with tears,
But all so many hurrying years.
That long lost June had such a sky!
The war clouds black had all passed by
And let the Sun of Peace full shine
On all the land. Oh! son Divine!
That long past June had such a breeze!
It played and sang with birds and bees,
And when the twilight shadows fell,
It slept with them in wood and dell.
That dear old June had such a shade! __
So soft and fresh and newly made!
And when the morning blushes came,
A picture hung in Nature's frame.
That dear old June! Its fragrance yet
Lives in my heart. Should one forget..'.
The rosy morn and soft sweet sky 5,^'-.
That shone in Love's first trusting eye?
Should one forget the birds and bees,
Whose songs tuned with his heart to please?
Should one forget the wild rose sweet'
That dropped its petals at his feet?
Or can his tongue deny the thought:
" 'Twas there we built and loved and wrought?"
May not one's pen the truth confess:
"There is the place of all the best."
Thus was the virgin plain and wood,
And there the rustic cabin stood,
Where thro' the leaves of pine and oak,
Ascending, crept the wreaths of smoke.
Behold, a vet'ran soldier comes.
Fresh from the beat of warlike drums,
With youth and strength, and hope and wife,
To weave the varied web of life.
How bright the morning paints the land
When youth and love walk hand in hand!
H-ow fast the air built castles rise
All guilded by the crimson skies!
The future has no cloud of doubt,
But brush of youth can paint it out.
The future has no gloom of night,
But Hope illumines with its light.
And so the soldier and his bride
'took'up life's labors side by side
Built many a lordlike castled wall,
Saw many an airy fabric fall.
And while his gleaming ax blade rang,
She kept the house and blithely sang,
And while he turned the virgin sod,
Her trust was great in time and God.
In looking backward down the years
To those old days and pioneers,
How Memory brings from out the shade,
The scenes we knew, the friends we made!
How plain the tumult from the mill
Comes surging tip that long steep hill.
Again Lars Jensen's honest face
Gives to that hollow life and grace.
I see b-imt there beside his bench,
W\ith pipe, and file, and setting wrench.
I hear his saw's exulting song
That chimed with Silver Creek so long.
I hear the far down waters roar
And feel the trembling of the floor;
And master, mill, and dim and strife,
Are all about me real as life.
In looking backwards to those days,
My footsteps seek the old pathways
That wound by grove, and hill, and lake,
SThose by-roads that all settlers make.
This foothpath led to neighbor C's.
SAnd marked so plain by ax-blazed trees.
' That wife and child by night or day,
Had never a fear to miss the way.
But now alas! I search in vain
For mark on tree, or hill, or plain.
T'he landmarks like the pioneers
Have vanished with the lapse of years.
This path led to the swaying beamn
That spanned the ofttime flooded stream;
For when the mill gave forth its song.
The brook a torrent surged along.
This by-road leading down the pond,
Takes one to Dalton's and beyond.
The Daltons: Peter, Edward James,
And sister Cath'rine! well known names.
And where White River rolls its tide,
Pat Riley and his wife reside.
For forty years his dear old stream
Has brought him sleep and blest his dream.
This road will show you Hayes' wood,
Scarce walked except by Solitude:
And farther on in darkening shade
The school house stands wvith roof decayed.
i6.
IVHITE LAKE REM-INISCENACES.
"Old Charlie's" shop! That old land mark,
Is dead to clang, and flame and spark,
And lonely as the hawk that sweeps
Above the sod where "Susan" sleeps.
On Mill Creek's bank and all alone
A hero lies! No mark or stone
Betrays the spot! You might step on
The unknown grave of Corrington.
He rode with Pritehard on that night
That stopped Jeff Davis in his flight.
Nor trumpet blast, nor war steed's neigh,
Can now disturb his mould'ring clay.
But time has wrought such change of scene,
That though these words may be as green,.
And air as sweet, my heart is sore,
They cannot charm me as of yore.
And yet I love each wooded hill,
Each shining pond and laughing rill,
The breeze that sings among the oaks,
A blessing on my head invokes.
With longing heart, I sought last week,
The lonely banks of Silver Creek,
And on a charred and rotting beam,
I sat to ponder, rest, and dream.
I pondered long, and one by one,
Took up the years and labors done,
Revived each hope, each plan reviewed,
Each flight of Fancy's wings pursued.
And what a thing is Life to give;
Is it a boon, a prize, to live?
Had we not been, were there less pain?
Or more of Heaven tharnHell to gain?
And what is Life? The secret spring
From whence allis? The smallest thing
A mite of sand. The worlds that roll,
The Universal All, The Whole.
All things have Life. The clod, the stone,
This rotting beam, yon broken bone;
As full of Life each in its sphere,
As is this brook now singing here.
Where was my Life ere I was born?
Whence came the bltsh of this fair morn?
From yesterday? That died last night,
And woke not with this morning's light.
Will you but think: IThis world is what?
A thing, a.pnit is it not?
And soime tiIe like this bit of clay,
Will cease to be, and pass away.
Will cease to be? Yes as this sphere,
But in sonme other form appear,
And still have Life, each part or whole,
In vapor, mist, or world to roll,
Life ever wsas: must ever be,
And have some fornm, a bird or tree,
A blade of grass, a singing stream,
A day's delight, a Sunmmer dreanm.
To-day ifts I,,now dreaniin i here,
To-morrow doomed to disappearr.
Myself it is to change or die.
The life to be some other I.
The atoms change, the small are great,
The Ego, Unit, separate
And reappear. Change affer change,
Is Natures plan, not rnew or strange.
My thought is this: Identity
May not live through Eternity,
But like all else is doomed by Fate
To pass away-disintegrate!
For Memory, The Soul, The Mind,
The Individual; canst find
A morning dawn; a future state,
Or would you this annihilate?
I cannot say. Before my birth
There was as much of life on earth,
As there is now. I did not add
One move of life to what it had.
What idle thoughts! A misanthrope!
\Vithout one poor, consoling Hope!
Oh give me leave, my longed for stream,
To hope for Life a while and dream.
I dreamed. The years all came again,
The June I lost, that flowing plain,
The birds and bees. sung just as sweet,
The same wild roses at my feet.
And I was young, and at my side,
Her hand in mine, my blushing bride:
The morning kissed the rosy sky,
I kissed my wife. she looked so shy.
Then rose the cot in yonder shade,
Then rang again my gleaming blade,
And.thronging up the long steep hill
The whirring clamor of the mill.
And now the days, how fast they fly,
S Like soft fleeced clouds that flick the sky,
And then one anxious longed for morn,
Our baby girl was safely born.
S Ah me! A dream can bring such pain,
*/** Andprobe the long made wounds again,
Our Ellen died one sad June day,
Tho' roses bloomed and birds were gay.
How could a June bring.such a grief?
How could her sweet life be so brief?
All months are sad to you or me,
All lives are brief! A mockery!
Perhaps our here is but a dream,
While resting o'er some lonesome stream.
Perhaps to die is but to wake,
And find our resting amistake.
I cannot tell, My dream I knew,
It made the old ways, all so true,
And friends and neighbors long since dead,
Smiled to me from the brook's low bed.
The Arab.1,Qves his Arab land,..
Although a waste of rock and sand,
With wife and child and tent and mare,
He's king of all the desert air.
There is a charm that woo.ds,alon.e
And desert places make their own,
Where ear.th and air and cloud and sky,
Make Heaven and God to man so nigh.
Home of a thousand lakes and sands,
Thou art my own loved Arab lands.
Thou hast the gift of desert air.
And all but tent and Arab mare.
Land of nmy heart! Where winds blow free,
Where sing the birds and wilding bee,
WVhere blooms the dainty, sweet, wild rose,
My Souil to thee in longing goes.
Our 3ero.
000
HE following extract is from a
pamphlet published at the time
of Major Ferry's death and kindly furnished us by Miss Mary A. White,
of Grand. Haven.
Noah Henry Ferry was born on the
Island of Mackinaw April 30, 1831. In
I834.l his parents removed to Grand
Haven. In 1854 he entered into business relations with his brother at White
River. Here he spent the remainder of
his business life.
In the Summer of 1862 finding that a
number of men resident at and near
White River were anxious to respond
to their country's call for soldiers to surpress the rebellion, and that they were
persistent in the wish that he should go
with them, though subject to some
dissuasive influence, he decided to go,
and at a war meeting held in the Public Hall, he announced such to be his
determination.
The following extract is from the
Oceana County Times of July 23, 1862
and is Major Ferry's identical language
at that Monday night war meeting. He
said "I believe you have called me for
some purpose, when you consider my
circumstances and the sacrifice I make;
how great the sacrifice no one knows
except myself and one or two others.
But if you say go, I will go and stand
by you till the last." That evening 82
men entered into the United States
i8.
W1HITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
service. The following day the Company was completed-an instance hardly paralled in the war; a full company
of 102 men ready for service within 24
hours from the time the first man enlisted. Together with him was E. C. Dicy
lieutenant, afterward captain.
He fell in battle near Gettysburg, Pa.,
about 4 o'clock Friday, July, 3, 1863.
A man had fallen at his side. He grasped the fallen soldier's musket, and with
it, firing as he went, called us onward
till the fatal ball pierced his head. He
died instantly as he had wished.
By order of Col. Alger his body was
buried beneath a tree near Cavalry
Headquarters. His father went and
identified his body and brought it to
Grand Haven for burial. A coincidence
may be here stated that at this hour
July 4, 1863, of Major Ferry's burial, an
elder brother Win. Montague Ferry, Jr.,
was accompanying Gen. Grant into
Vicksburg and a younger brother Edward P. was delivering an oration in
what is now Montague.
The following extract is from Gen.
Custer's official report Aug. 22, 1863:
"Gen.Alger a.ssisted by MajorsTrobridge
andt Ferry made such admirable disposition of their men behind fences and
other defences as enabled them to successfully repel the repeated advances of
a greatly superior force.
"Among the killed I regret to record
the name of the brave and chivalric
Major N. H. Ferry. of the 5th Michigan
Cavalry who fell while heroically cheering on his men."
His name is still loved and mentioned on White River and the G. A. R.
Post is there named for him.
\n boriinaRl Dpot. @ @
--.---- FRED. NORMAN.
] v-^ FyLONG the banks of. WWhite Lake are many
beautiful points that
were once the abode of
a prehistoric race whose
(^^* eexistence is proved by
__i_ the numerous relics they
4:-s left behind, buried in the
* earth and which the plow
or the shovel brings to
the surface in the shape
S of arrow points, stone
hatchets and bits of quaintly shaped
pottery, ornamented in a way that is
truly wonderful for a people who, taken as a whole, could have had but little
opportunity or material for ornament.
Sometimes a copper knife or string of
beads is picked up where the cows have
tramped their paths along the banks or
side hills and the searcher after those
relics is seldom disappointed if he looks
closely for them.
One of the finest spots, as well as one
of the most interesting, is BuryingGround-Point, about three miles above
the village of Whitehall. Just why it
came to be called by that name, no one
seemed to know as there was nothing
there to indicate that it had ever been
a place of burial for human beings. The
numerous mounds that are found on
the high grounds just back of and overlooking the places where the homes of
these people were made, show plainly
WHIITE LAKE REMINISCEANCES.
P9.
where their dead were buriedt.
But nevertheless it was known to all,
from the earliest settler down to the
present time, as Burying-Ground-Point.
Legends there \\ere, as there always
is, concerning such places, and I will
tell you one that was told to me by one
of the aborigines who was a familiar
figure in these parts at an early day.
Near the mouth of Silver
Creekwhich the Indians called Bishcgaindang (the beautiful) stood a little village presided over and governed by
an aged chief, who at the
time of my story had two
sons just grown to manhood.
These boys were the pride of
the old man's heart for they
were great in the chase, and
excelled in the ganmes that
these primitive people knew; the bird
in the lighest tree vwas not safe from
their arrows, while the finny tribe of
the river and creeks paid tribute to
their skill.
One morning in Autumn when the
wood and marshland was all aglow with
the red and gold of an Indian Summer,
these young men, taking their canoes,
started for the great water (Lake Michigan) and promised the old father that
they would be back before the fog and
shadows of night fell; a promise that
was never to be fulfilled, for the shadows
of night fell, and the days came and
went, but the pride and life of the old
chief's heart never came.
Leading straight up from the bank of
Silver Creek was a high bluff from the
top of which one could see for many
miles, and every afternoon as the day
was waning, the old man would climb
to the top of the hill and seating himself under the huge pine that crowned
the summit would gaze across the wood
and marshland towards the open waters
from whence his boys should come.
But, alas, being doomed to continual
disappointment and brooding over the
uncertainty of their fate his life went
out. His people found him dead under
the tree where he had daily watched,
and buried him where he died, his face
still turnd in the direction he had looked for their coming.
A few years ago some boys
who were fishing at the point,
noticed the partially decayed
prow of a canoe projecting
from the bank where, the
waters had undermined the
soft sand and exposed it to
view. Their curiosity was
aroused and going down to
Sthe village told of their find.
A party with shovels went
to the Point and digging into the bank
unearthed two canoes, each of them
containing the skeleton of a man. A
few simple implements and copper ornaments was all there were to tell that
these were not remains of white men..But ttl-e mystery of its name was now
apparent, and it was plain what became
of the old chief's sons. They had undoubtedly got that far back from their
trip when the shades of night and the
thick fog settling over the marshland
detained them from going farther, and
so had pulled their canoes up under the
projecting bank, making of them a bed
for the night, and while asleep were
caught by the treacherous bank caving
over them.
The mound at the top of the hill on
Silver Creek near the ruins of the old
mill, is still plainly visible. But the
huge pine that stood close beside it, has
fallen and lies decaying there. But
enough of it and the old mound are still
left to show their immense proportions.
20.
WIHfTE LA KE REAiINISCEYNCES.
PThe GlazierY5.
~ ~ ~
~::~;t~t~r:;~~--.~~~~
aix:::::~:~j~i~~~a~
~i,::q~::
ARLY in the settlement
of this country three
Glazier brothers came
from Scotland and Sewell Glazier, father of
Dexter Perry Glazier, was a descendant
of one. Dexter's father was also a relative of Franklin Pierce, once President
His mother was of German descent, her
maiden name being Perry, of the famous Commodore Perry line.
Dexter Perry Glazier was born in
Hampden county, Mass., Dec. 2d, 1823.
When a mere lad his father died and he
came to Western New York, near Buffalo, where he spent several years as an
apprentice in the shoemakers' trade, becoming very efficient. After that he
speint some time in Michigan and then
returned to Massachusetts for a tinic.
Later he came to Plymouth, N. Y.,
where he was married to Sarah E.
Swain, Aug. 22, 1854. In the Fall. of
1855 he moved to Gri-and Rapids and remainecd there until July Ist, 1856, when
he moved to Newaygo and engagedl iI
general merchandise. He was very succes-ful and held many offices of tiust.
In June, j866, he came to WVbitclihall
andl engaged in the saime business as in1
Newaygo. In 1870 he built the first
brick block in WVhitehall, no w klnown as
the Linderman block. Later he moved
to Ludington and died while on a visit
at the home of his oldest (dauehl1ter in
WVakefield, Mich., Aug. 5th, 1891.
K~t
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N the year 1 862 when the
village of h it e h all,
then called Mears, consisted of but a few houses
on the lake shore at the
SIfoot of what is now
known as Spring street,
in a small log house owned by A. Mears, the first
Sunday School was organized and held during the
r* Summer. As the place
grew, the want of divine service was
greatly needed and was secured through
the kindness of the Rev. Van Frank, a
retired minister living a few miles from
what is now called Whitehall. He came
and held service Sunday afternoons.
This continued until the year 1867
when a permanent organization was
formed by the Methodists, Universalists,
and Baptists, uniting together for their
good and for the best interest of the
community in forming, the first church
of Whitehall, which has always been
known as the First Congregational
Church. It consisted of four charter
members, Mr. and Mrs. George Rice
and Mrs. Vincent, the other being unknown.
The first pastor was the Rev. St.Claire.
The services were now held in the upper story of a small frame building known
as the Louis Bratz clothing store.
In August of the same year the Ladies
Aid Society was formed at the home of
Mrs. Vincent, among them being some
of the well-known ladies of Whitehall:
Mesdames St. Claire, Geo. P. Freeman,
E. D. Thompson, James Ocobock, A.
Mears, P. Hobler, W. H. IParks, Geo.
Rice. They have the honor of being
the first society of its kind ever organized in Whitehall and to whom much
of the prosperity of the church is due
by their untiring efforts in the early
struggles of its pioneer life, some of
which are hardly realized at the present
day, and their effective labors during
all periods of the church history. The
church also owed much to the help received at this time and for a number of
years from the Home MissionarySociety
of which the Rev. LeRoy Warren was
at the head in this State.
The next pastor was Rev. Giddings,
who, in turn was followed by the Rev.
Shafer. The services were now held
over Dr. Wheeler's Drug store, as larger
and better accommodations were needed
with the growth of the church. It was
during his pastorate that the foundation
and the beginning of the First Congregational Church of Whitehall was laid
on the corner of Spring and Division
streets. With some assistance furnished by the Congregational Building Society and with much perseverance and
self denial by the members and friends
of the church, it has been finished at
an approximate cost of five thousand
dollars. The Rev. Shafer was succeeded by the Rev. James Watts, during
whose pastorate the church was first occupied although not entirely finished.
Rev. Brown served as pastor during the
year of 1876 and a number of members
were added, making a total membership
of sixty-six.
Rev. C. H. Seaver served as pastor
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TWHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.:~:~"`b"-'
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WHITEHALL M. E. CHUR(
from the year 1877 to I88o and
t\|vwenly one new members were reSc:..ived into the church. Rev. 0.
B. Walters was pastor during the
* i year 188o and the parsona~ge at the
Scorner of Spring and Livingston. Itreets was purchased during that
year at a cost of $7oo.
IThe Rev. Bartlett was pastor
from 1a d as to i883 and wad follon tw
eers, fy the Rev. R. Lewis v iwho received a salary,f eight hundred
dollars per 'year. The next three
year. Rev. W. T. Beale was pastor,
C-I. the church receiving ne\.w growth,
A year 1892. Rev. O. B. Thurston next
of a served as pastor for the following two
reat- years, followed by the Rev. Preston for
or of one y,.ear. Rev. J. E. Smith was pastor
from 1895 to 1897, followed by the
r dur- present pastor, S. E. Lynd. Already
i8 to eighteen new members have been relars. ceived into the church during the latter's
were pastorate. The Y. P. S. C. E. and the
mak- Sunday School are both in a flourishing
uring condition, a number have been received
into the church through their influence,.cond and the funds for an annex or church
o the parlors have been practically raised. As
19 new members being received.
fine pipe organ bought at a cost
thousand dollars which has added g
ly to the attraction of the interi(
the church.
Rev. Henry A. Todd was pastor
ing-the next two years from 188
1890, at a salary of one thousand do
During the year thirty-nine dollars
received for missionary purposes,
ing the largest amount received d
any year.
Rev. W. T. Beale received the se
call to serve as pastor from 1890 t
the pioneer church of Whitehall,
the First Congregational will
ever hold a bright place in the
hearts and memories of the
people of White Lake and vicinity. MRS. J. T. MOORE.
It was in the year 1853 when
the first organization of the M.
E. Church, of Whitehall, was
formed at the Mouth of White
River, through the labors of W.
C. Ceruford. It consisted of
seven members. The first quarterly meeting was conducted by
the Rev. H. Penfield, called the
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MONTAGUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
24.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
Talmage Circuit, at White River.
In September 1858, White River Circui
including White River, Goodrich's, Gee'
Claybanks, and Muskegon, was organize(
The Rev. L. M. Bennett was the fir:
pastor appointed at a salary of three hui
dred thirty dollars per year. At the firn
Quarterly Conference there was but on
Sabbath School, two teachers and twentl
three scholars. At the close of the yec
there were three Sabbath schools, eight
scholars, with three hundred forty volume
in the library. The work has gone o
steadily increasing from that time. Diffe;
ent branches were organized. The Firs
Quarterly Meeting was held at Whitehal
(a small collection of houses called Mear
village) in the Spring of i86o, with Hiram E. Staples, as stewart, and class
leader. During the next two years the
membership increased from 16 to 90
members.
The pastor resided in a small parsonage at the Mouth; but in the years 1866
and 1867, the Rev. G. C. Draper being
then pastor, the parsonage was sold and
a small house was bought for that purpose at the corner of Slocum and Elizabeth streets, Whitehall.
In 1873 Whitehall was placed at the
head of the circuit with Rev. Chas. Chick
as pastor and it was during his pastorate
that the first M. E. Church was built at
a cost of $2,700, and a new parsonage
was erected on the site of the old one.
In the Winters of 1883 and 1884, the
Rev. J. C. Floyd, who was then pastor,
was assisted by the Rev. J. C. Higgens,
an evangelist, and fifty members were
received in the church as a result of
their labors. In 1887 it was found necessary to build an addition to the church
25x35 with a number of other improvements. During the year 1892 a larger
and finer parsonage was bought at the
corner of Mears Ave. and Spring St.
WHITEHALL BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Rev. Hoag is the present pastor,
and the church with its various societies
is in a flourishing condition.
In the year 1863, Nov. 7th, a meeting was held in the village of Mears,
Muskegon county, Mich., for the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church.
Rev. I. F. Fay was chosen moderator,
and Moody Firman, clerk. A church
was organized with seven members to
be known as the First Regular Baptist
Church, of White Lake. Meetings were
held at the homes of the members for
some time. -After a while they were
held in the school house, Rev. Fay
pre;aching.
In the year 1871 the school house
was closed for religious meetings, and
they were held in Hobler's Hall. In
1875 the present house of worship was
commenced but was not completed until 1883. At present there are no English speaking services. The Swedish
Baptists have meetings during the Summer months, conducted by students
from Morgan Park, Chicago.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
25 -
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WHITEHALL'S FIRST CHURCH.
The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran
Libanon Congregation, of the Evangelical Lutheran Illinois Conference of the
Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, was organized on the sixth day of
January, 1872, when the constitution
for congregations of the Evangelical.
Lutheran Augustana Synod was adopted. The parsonage building was erected in 1874 and the church building was
erected in 1877. The first of January,
1875, there were 140 communicants and
January, 1895, 276 communicants and
440 members. The first pastor was Rev.
N. A. Youngberg, for three years; the
second, Rev. O. Chilleen, for fifteen
years; the third. Rev. N. J. Lundahl,
for three years; and the present pastor
is Rev. P. A. Carlson, since Oct. 5th,'94.
We have been unable to secure data
regarding the other churches of Whitehall, and those of Montague, suffice to
say they are all upheld by earnest
Christian congregations who are doing
all in their power to extend the blessed
influence of the gospel among their fellow-men. Besides' those mentioned
Whitehall has a Church of the Redeemer, Wesleyan Methodist, Norwegian
Lutheran, and Swedish Mission.
Montague has besides the Presbyterian Church, above illustrated, the
Methodist Episcopal Church, recently
destroyed by fire,but now being replaced
by a handsome new brick edifice; the
Catholic Church which was first started
in Whitehall but was afterwards removed to Montague to be nearer the members of its congregation; the German
Lutheran and the German Methodist
churches which h ve a large following
among that nationality.
All about us arepretty little country
churches with devout congregations,
and on the whole this community may
be congratulated uppn the rapid development of its church societies and the
benign influence they wield in the affairs of life.
^^
*AMES Covell and
I family moved to
) Bradford County,
I. Pennsylvania in the
J year 1817. His son
G Calvin was then seven years old and for
Sthe remainder of his
life he knew no other
home. He married
and was the father of
twelve children. In 1856 the eldest son,
Andrew Jackson, tired of farming and
having some knowledge of lumbering,
started for the West. He first went to
Chicago and from there took a boat to
Muskegon. As he stood on the deck
and viewed the sand banks of Muskegon harbor he thought he was enroute
for Greenland and nearing its icy mountains. He worked in Muskegon until
Fall when he came to White Lake and
obtained work at Brown's mill now
known as the Water Mill. When he
first began work there was no need of
men at the mill so he was set to digging
potatoes not much larger than a marble.
This was worse than he was accustomed to at home.
Three years later Lyman came and
together with two others they began
lumbering in a small way. Their united capital was so small that one of the
party was bought out by the others for
a rifle. - In January, 1862, their brotherin-law, Joseph Hinchman, came. He
was accompanied by their sisterRebecca,
now Mrs. H. E. Staples. At Muskegon
there was no conveyance to be had so
Mr. Hinchman came on foot through
an almost pathless forest. On his arrival the brothers went to Muskegon
for their sister with a sleigh.
In May, Mrs. Hinchman and children
came and in December, Charles E. followed. There is an old superstition
that if you wet your feet in White Lake
you will never leave its banks. To make
sure of this charm, C. E., soon after arriving went skating, fell through the ice
and got wet all over. Augusta, now
Mrs. John C. Lewis, came in August,
1867; W. D., in 1868, and Mark B., in
1871. They all married and made their
homes in Whitehall.
A. J. Covell died in April, 1885. His
wife, now Mrs. Hambrook, and son reside in Los Angeles, California.
Joseph Hinchman died in 1887 and
two years later was followed by his wife,
leaving two children, Mrs. C. A. Ocobock, who lives in Whitehall, and Edwin Hinchman, of Berryville, Arkansas.
In 1891, Mary, wife of M. B. Covell,
died. He has since married Miss Mamie
Wilson and they have two bright little
daughters.
Calvin T., son of Charles and Jessie
Covell, died in April, 1894. They have
one more son and three daughters.
John C. Lewis died in Novemr-ber, '94,
leaving a widow and three daulghters.
Lyman has two sons who are both
married. W. D. has seven children, and
Rebecca two sons, one being married.
This family has long been and still is
closely associated sociallypoliticallyand
officially with the leading interests" of
Whitehall.
WVHITE LA KE REMINISCENCES.
7.
-~
ANDREW JACKSON COVELL.
HIS was the eldest of the Covell
Jbrothers. He was born at Ridgebury Township, Bradford Co.,
Penn., July 18th, 1833, and died at
Whitehall, April 2ist, 1885. October
22nd, 1867, at Huntley, Ill., he married
Eunice S. Parsons, now Mrs. E. Covell
Hambrook, of Los Angeles, Cal., and
one son, Charles T. Covell, survives him.
"Jack," as he was familiarly called, is
really Whitehall's patron saint. With
a heart as big as his capacity to give
aid, he was the friend and helper of
every man who sought to help himself.
Far above narrowness and bigotry, he
believed in the principle of "Live and
Let Live," and his death in the prime
of life was an irreparable blow to the interests of the community.
28.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
W IRe17llV fir5t-V orn. @ ~ ~
G) MARGARET THOMPSON GREEN, CHICAGO.
< FAIR CITY, kindly listen while I sing
A greeting song, thy daughter's serenade;
J Accept with love my grateful offeringY*% " Bury short-comings with forgiving spade.
I was the first zh/zzi'e baby born to you;
Pray, did you take your whiteness name from me?
No doubt a pole tax was your honiest clue,
This tax was paid in childish purity.
You're young in years I know and so am I.
You have few wrinkles, I confess to none.
Of lumber yards you have a large supply,
I'm proud of mine although I have but one.
You have no regal castles, nor have I;
No Spanish throne, no sceptre, king or queen.
These all are baubles. Lumber dry and high
I find will keep my name anid laurels Greein.
The red man built his wigwam long ago,
Beside your lake where now your children sail,
Paddled his light canoe where now you row;
Palefaces blazed highways by red man's trail.
As I was born much later than the town,
I cannot quite remember when it came;:
The first inhabitant was Indian Brown;
Next Smith, Jones, Green, each unfamiliar name.
They made their claims as others' claims are made,
At least I think that's what I have been told;
They came and went, but Whitehall came and stayed
And gathered other white folk to the fold.
I emigrated-yes some time agoAnd changed my name, this also I confess;
As tides of ocean often ebb and flow
I come and go, nor love my birth-place less.
There's sorrow here as well as otherwhere,
There's cruel hatred, enmity and strife;
But God be thanked there's also love and pray'r,
The golden gateway to the higher life.
The Past has been recorded-let it be,The Future lies before thee white as snowFor sow the seeds of love and harmony
And learn how rapidly they spring and grow.
Go scatter love so thick beside the way
That taxes of discord wither, starve and die;
Let Joy and Gladness clear the stony wayThe sunshine and the rain God will supply. '
TPP 0i 01ool5.
~ 9 ~.
F. J. HIENDERSHOT.
WHITEHIALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
[IIS the crowning glory of
'.'lx,, ou r e a r l y civilization
( that, however poor a. community may have
Sbeen, schools were pro4, vided and sustained.
___ The history of t lie
Sschools is a vital part of
\!^ ^ ~the history of the people.
.r A good school is one of
the (great uplifting, inspirS ing, civilizing influences
in a community. Never was this truth
more deeply realized than in the pioneer
ditys when little bands of people struggled to overcome the wilds of nature;
when, with almost pathetic interest, the
log school house was built in the midst
of the log dwellings; when with openmouthed wonder the children were wont
to listen to some interesting tale by the
teacher, who inspired with awe the
hearts of his little hearers.
THE FIRST SCHOOL.
In all written biographies there is one
thing strikingly common-each person
"was born," the very day and data having been duly recorded by the biographer. It is to be lamented that such
exactness cannot be followed in this
narrative; suffice it to say that the first
school in this vicinity of which anything
is known was held during the Winter of
1856, in the house of a Rev. Bennett, a
Methodist minister who lived at the
Mouth (of the lake). The minister's
wife was the teacher. The following
year a school house was provided, and
the school was taught by Mrs. Bennett's
sister. In 1858, Mary Ann Haseltine
took charge of the school. She died
during the year, and Amy Brown completed the term. "Aunt Polly" Allen
taught in 1859, and Phoebe Clark in
i86o. The exact length of the school
terms during these years has not been
determined.
30.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
In i86I the first school was opened
in the village of Whitehall. After the
country had been scoured to find ten
pupils, so as to draw public money, a
room was secured over a vacant store
just West of the present location of
Andrews' livery, and Miss Ellen Foley
was engaged as teacher. The same room
was afterwards used for the Good Templar's hall and for church services. The
next year the school was held in a log
house which J. D. Hanson had built on
the bank for a dwelling about ten years
previous. Miss Vanna Griswold, of Flint,
a cousin of Mrs. A. Mears, taught in
this building two Summers.
A STRANGE VISITOR.
While Miss Griswold was teacher the
school was the recipient of a very unusual visit. The strange visitor had
worked its sinuous way through a hole
between t'he logs, and was gazing quietly upon the busy little school; when the
teacher happened to glance in that direction her gaze fell upon the form of a
magnificent blue-racer. Ten feet, or
less, of it was already in the room, with
evidently more to follow. History does
not state just how the teacher acte'd the
few succeeding minutes, but if the reader will allow his imagination to play
freely and recall how a woman ordinarily acts under such exciting circumstances, he may be able to create quite an
interesting picture. The teacher may
have thought of Eve, but probably did
not say much; neither did she hear the
snake say anything, nor did she dispute
its right of possession. 'She merely sent
for her brother. She felt a crying need
of man just then. When this fact dawned upon the intellect of the snake, it,
feeling the better part of valor to be
discretion, began to back out. It is well
to note this fact, although there is no
positive knowledge that the cause of the
snake's departure may not have been
the scholastic dignity of its surroundings, or even the fact that th-ere were
no apples to offer the woman. History
does state,' however, that when the man
appeared the blue-racer was no where
to be seen, an(t that no great snakes
have ever been found in the school since.
In the Winter of 1864, the public
money having been used, the school
closed. A private school, was opened,
however, and taught by Mrs. Adsit. In
the Spring of 1864. a small building was
secured near the present location of N.
Fernrer's house, in the midst of oak grubs.
The only path leading to the house was
obstructed by a large log, over which
all who would enter must climb. Miss
Phoebe Clark, now Mrs. Moses Hall, of
Fremont, was teacher. This building
was also used for Church and Sunday
School services.
THE WHITE SCHOOL HOUSE.
That Summer Mr. Giles Slocum gave
to the district the two lots on the Southeast corner of Division and Slocum
streets and the White School House
was built thereon. The building would
accommodate about fifty pupils, and
was crowded the first term. A brother
of Rev. I. R. A. Weightman taught
during the Winter of '64 and '65, and
Miss Mary J. Sturtevant, the next Summer. Among the pupils who attended
the first term were J. C. Lewis, (C. E.
Covell, C. A. Ocobock, Ellen Carleton,
Rhoda Clark, and others w-ell known in
this vicinity.
In the Winter of '65 and '66, Miss
Hetty Griswold, a cousin of Mrs. A.
Mears, taught the school, and was succeeded by Nettie Buck the next Summer. The boys were pretty...1arge by
this time and made things so interest
WHITE LAKEi REMINISCENCES.
3I.
ing that the district fathers concluded
to hire a man. They secured a Mr.
Scott and directed him to teach the
school and keep order. Tradition states
that he faithfully executed his commission without doing the same to any of
the boys. It is to be understood that
none of the boys named in this history
needed any such strict discipline; it was
only the unnamed ones.
THE BROWN SCHOOL IHOUSE.
In 1867 the Brown School House,
now Skeel's bakery, was built. W. D.
Southworth was secured as teacher in
this building, while Mrs. Fannie Scutt
taught in the White. The pupils did
not seem to like the new house. The
windows were so high that only the
tallest could see out unless they stood
upon the desks. In the Spring E. W.
Hall succeeded Mr. Southworth.
The next Fall, 1868, A. C. Ellsworth
taught in the Brown School and Mrs.
Scutt in the White. The former enrolled
seventy-five pupils; the latter, ninety.
That Winter there were so many pupils
that an office, on the site of the barn
op!losite Charles Johnson's, was secured
of A. D. Hopkins for school purposes.
The building burned during school hours
and a room was secured over Ellis' barber shop. Miss Morrison was teacher.
THE SCHOOL ORGANIZED.
In 1869 the Brown House was raised
a story and the school was organized
into Primary, Grammar,and High School
departments. Mr. Ellsworth was retained as principal, Mrs. Ellsworth was secured as primary teacher, and Jennie
Yerks as grammar school teacher. The
next Summer the White School was
raised a story. Messrs. Hayes and Dowling were principals. An account of
this period has been most happily writ
ten by J. J. Gee. The article appears
elsewhere in this work.
The next principal was G. L. Miner,
who continued in that capacity until
the close of the Fall term, 1874. Mr.
Miner enjoyed the distinction of being
the highest salaried principal the schools
have had. His salary was $140 per
month. He was succeeded by A. C.
Martin who completed the school year.
The following year F. N. Hagar was
principal.
THE NEW BRICK SCHtOOL.
In 1876, A. W. Slayton was elected
to the principalship of the schools. He
soon began to plan for a new building.
The building was commenced the following year and was completed in 1878.
The building is two stories above the
basement, and at that time six school
rooms were provided, four on the first
floor, two on the second. On the upper floor, was also a large hall, which
has since been fitted forthe High School.
Two additional rooms have been made
in the basement to meet the requirements of the growing school. The janitor has his home in the basement. The
building is conveniently arranged, is well
lighted and commodious. The walls
of the different rooms are adorned with
pictures to the value of over three hundred dollars. Mr. Slayton purchased
most of these at his own expense, and
afterwards sold them to the district.
He took great pride and interest in the
school, and gave to it eleven of the best
years of his life.
THE WORLD LOSES A SCIENTIST.
It was during Mr. Slayton's time that
a scientist was lost to the world. Among
the pupils there was a young man who
was especially fond of animal life. He
would play with toads, turtles, and
32.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
snakes, and took delight in watching
them in their haunts. But no one encouraged him in his desire to learn of
these creatures. In fact discouragements were thrown in his way.
It occurred to this young man one
day that it would be a fine thing to surprise his teacher. So he took a frog,
and put it under the teacher's bell, with
the frog headed towards the teacher.
In the course of time the latter raised
the bell from the desk, and the frog
jumped lustily toward her. She screamed and -fainted. The boy received a
whipping-just what he expected. At
another time he put a little garter snake
on the floor during an examination.
Pretty soon a girl sighted the little fellow crawling along, and with a scream
she bounded to the top of her desk.
The other girls executed the same style
of gymnastics, both vocal and phy.ical,
while the teacher followed suit. As
soon as the boys saw what was the cause
of so much "uppishness" they engaged
in a lively scramble after the snake.
The harmless little fellow was soon dispatched, and quiet retored. The boywell, no one understood him, and he
was obliged to leave school.
THE COURSE OF STUDY EXTENDED.
C. M. McLean became superintendent in 1887, and remained five years.
The school course was extended to
twelve grades. In 1890 a commercial
department was added and continued
during the Winter term for two years.
E. M. Sly was chosen intructor.
In 1892, J. J. Bronson was elected
principal. Under his direction the Kindergarten was fully organized. One
grade was removed to the Baptist
church. The next year F. J. Hendershot was elected Superintendent which.
position he still holds. The Kinder
garten was discontinued in 1895, owing
to the financial panic of that time.
The school provides a strong English
course, with two years of Latin for any
who wish it. It ranks among the best
village schools of the State, and enjoys
the distinction of being on the list of
approved schools affiliated wihl the
State Normal College.
GRADUATES
The first graduate was Maggic EThompson, 1877. There have been in
all one hundred eight graduates down
to and including class of 1897. Fifty
four of these belong to, the last five
classes. The largest class was that of
1896, which numbered thirteen. Of
these graduates sixteen have been regular teachers in the school and four
others have been assistants in the primary department. A strong alumni
association was organized in 1897.
TEACHERS.
Since 1874 there have been eighty
teachers other than principals. Of these
seventy-five have been regular teachers;
five primary or kindergarten assistants.
Twenty three taught less than one year;
twelve, one year; eighteen, two years;
eleven, three years; five, five years; and
four, more than five years. Those who
taught five years are Vena Grunzel, Lilian Eadus, Alice E. Ring, Mae Daggett,
Dove M. Flinn. Sophie Chick, taught
seven years; Carrie Baker, six; Lillie
Ruggles, five and a term; Jennie Ford,
six and a term.
In 1874 there were only three teachers besides the principal. One more
was added in the spring of 1878, another in 1879; one in 1884, another in spring
of 1885; one in spring of 1888, and another in 1890. At present there are
nine assistant teachers.
W'HITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
33-.3
Mont3agUe'5 ic Hool lv5tem.
II. 1-1. TERWILLIGER.
@ @ @
MONTAGUE HIGH SCHOOL.
S m F the early history of the Montague public schools we have. found it difficult to obtain reliable data. The records in
the hands of the present
Director begin June 2d, 1876,
with D. C. Bowen, S. H. Lasley, A. F. Temple, B. F. Murden, Malcolm Hendrie and Martin Dodge as the
Board of Trustees. The present central
building had been completed a year or
two previous to this, and it is well known
that public school had been held for
several years before the construction of
that building in the building which now
serves as the German Methodist church,
which was purchased from the school
district by the church society and remodeled for their use as a house of worship. From a copy of the Montague
Syndicate, the first newspaper published here, dated December 16th, 1871,
we learn that the land where the village
stands was located twenty-one year, be
fore that date by Nathan Sargent, that
George Franklin and Benj. Farrington
bought it in 1856; that Maj. Noah H.
Ferry and the Knudsen brothers settled
here in 1858 when Maj. Ferry began
operations that promised rapid development of the rich resources of the locality ` that the enterprises were interrupted by the war, Maj. Ferry going to the
front with Company F., 5th Michigan
Cavalry, and gloriously yielding up his
life on the field of Gettysburg; that the
village of Montague was located and
platted in 1865, and that the construction of the new Government channel
and piers and the rapid extension of
local improvements followed; but not a
word do we find in this paper about
schools, although old settlers inform us
that schools were introduced as early
as there were children to be taught. It
is supposed the early records were destroyed in one of the many destructive
fires which at different times wrought
general havoc in the new town.
Among the teachers engaged in Mon
ITE LAKE REMINISC S
S34" i. 1u v j L Iu- LJ
tague in the sixties are remembered
Harry B. Strong and Pauline Fish.
Later came successively C. L. Rarden,
D. R. -Iigbee, Wm..Honey, C. W. Borst,
J. B. Estabrook, J. C. Bryant, W. R.
Moss, Lucy Angel, J. E. Farnham, D.
A. Teller and J. W. Chapman as principals.
Of those who have been most prominently connected with the Board of
late years may be mentioned.J. D. Wiltson, who served twelve years, retiring
in 1894; Thomas J. McKinstry, who is
just completing his fifteenth year of
service, and H. H. Terwilliger, who has
been Director since 1887 and is still
serving in that capacity.
The central school building was erected in 1875, at a cost of about $17,000
of which $i,ooo0 as borrowed at ten
per cent. interest, which rate of interest
was paid for five years before any of the
principal was due. The last of this debt
was paid in 1887. In 1884 the North
hill school building was constructed at
a cost of about $4,000, p. which $3,650
was borrowed at seven per cent., the last
of which was paid in 1891. Montague
has always endeavored to have the best
educational facilities for her youth, and
if she has not tad the best it is safe to
say it has not been because she has not
been willing to expend the proper
amount of money. Taking the cost of
her buildings and grounds, the interest
paid on the bonds, and the salaries and
expenses paid in the maintenance of her
scholars, Montague must be credited
with liberality fully commensurate with
her duty. That there has been at times
extravagance in expenditure is patent.
Ten per cent. was a ruinous and extortionate rate of interest to pay on such.L.-L IV I. I. V I I-) L. / -. I V u> JL_ .J ).
paper even in the high price times of
the early seventies. Six hundred dollars
was paid for the central school site, and
two hundred and fifty dollars for the
North hill site-prices which seem
fabulous in comparison with present
values. But we are now out of debt
and are operating two schools with eight
teachers at lower cost than \\as paid for
one school and six teachers in 1884.
The increase of school population accompanied by decrease of taxable values
results in a cancellation of the benefits
of freedom from debt burdens, yet we
shall maintain the excellence of our
schools, and shall make them as efficient
as possible, realizing that "The common
schools are the nurseries of the nation,"
and recognizing that good schooling is
the best provision we can make for our
children. The curriculum of the Montague schools embraces all the branches
usually taught in the graded schools of
Michigan villages. The subject of vocal
music by special teacher was introduced
several years ago with gratifying results,
and is now recognized as a very interesting feature. Non-resident pupils are
admitted to the high school at $i per
month tuition. Text books are furnished free to all pupils. A class of ten was
graduated this year. The plans for the
future contemplate improvement and
progress in the advancement of the
schools to a higher plane than they
have heretofore attained. Prof. Charles
H. Burgess and wife, of Williamston,
Mich., able and accomplished educators,
are to teach the high school next year;
and a full corps of grade teachers' of experience and talent have been selected
with wise forethought for the success of
the work.
C(BB N/j~ ~F~L,
~1 @C~, if=c~
IWHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
35 -
OuJr 5cl0ool ~Ii9y5.
9@ @. J. J.
tI f RADE work in our schools
was introduced by A. C. EllsS worth about 1869. Mr. Ellsworth was a small, nervous man
whlo moved about the school
room without touching his heels
to the floor to keep order. His
government while fair would have been
better if his ears could have helped his
eyes in detecting mischief. The high
school building wis the one now occupied by D. Skeels as a bakery, and stood
on the corner of Slocnn and Division
sts. His oldest pupil was guileless Fred
Nufer who had a wife and little Nufer
at home. Fred had to study out loud
in order to keep his mind on the lesson.
In the primary department was M. A.
Grant,age 30, as baldheaded then as now.
We had literary exercises in those
early days and some funny incidents.;
Ayoung gentleman, excelling in.declamation and very attentive to the ladies,
attempted to recite Saxe's poem, "The
Superfluous Man" and began as follows:
"I have often been puzzled to guess
And thus I have often said,
What the reason could really be
That I never have happened to wed
Although I love the girls-"
to save his life he could not think of the
next word. He stopped, looked around,
began to blush, hoping to save himself he
started in on the last line again with"Although I love the girls--"
and stopped again. By this time the
girls were all laughing and the sl)ealer
in confusion took his seat.
Good natured George Ocobock, was a
pupil and "Gene" Harwood knew how
to keep him laughing. George was
caught eating an apple and was sent
out of the room to throw it away. On
reaching the hall his appetite got the
GEE.
better of him and he filled his spacious
mouth with all but the core. As he
entered the room, "Gene" saw what he
had done and gave George a wink that
made him explode with laughter shooting the apple in all directions.
Prof. Ellsworth did good work. He
was followed by Prof. Dowling, a man
of about fifty, slow of speech, kind and
thoughtful. He moved about the room
in slippered feet with the stillness of a
cat and always wore a pepper and salt
suit. He was a splendid mathematician
and a reader of rare ability.
MIaggie Thompson was one of his
brightest pupils and Will Whitman, the
most mischievous. He was honored
with a chair by himself near the teacher's desk, and while he was seldom
caught studying, his lessons were most
always perfect. Dr. Don Marvin, of
Grand Rapi'ds, a great big, good natured, lazy student, gave little promise of
the success that awaited him as a physician. Dowling stayed one year and
was followed by Prof. Hagan, young,
fresh and tender, just from college, finely educated, always in earnest and never
knew when the young ladies made fun
of him. He came and went a single man.
Next came Prof. Miner, a man of energy, alert, active, nervous, with keen
black eyes that saw everything. A fine
disciplinarian, a thoroughly wide-a-wake
teacher, he came single and went double.
After a Mr. Martin whom we did not
know, came Prof. Slayton, a father to
the fatherless and a mother to the motherless, who never spared himself but
worked early and late for the progress
of our school, being largely instrumental
in bringing it to tie high state of excellence it has since enjoyed.
dr ~~\tr
/ 4 t 4 t L
v, ).. ....:....., -.....
MR. AND MRS. ASA W. SLAVT(.)N.
~Erly Outing.5
@ 0 @
A. W. S,AYTON.
F my school work in
Whitehall, others may
speak not I. Only this
can I say, my labors as
Principal of the Schools
began in September, 1876, and ended
in June 1887, thirty- three consecutive
terms and away only two days when
called to be at the death-bed of my mother. I began with 4 rooms and 3 assistants, and ended with 8 rooms and 7 assistants; but the increase in numbers
was not my fault; my last graduate was
Cora Hinman who began in the infant
class the term.I first posed as teacher in
Whitehall. Cre it should be given to
~:.:
Miss Maggie Tniompson as the first one
to complete the prescribed course and
to graduate in June '77. Let mcjustsav
that all of my assistants were good teatchers, and all of my pupils were good
children.
Soon after Thanksgiving 1876, it began snowing, and of the 60 following
days 57 were stormy, so the Episcopal
minister said, I h;ive not time to count;
I only know that I wielded the snowshovel much more than I did the ferule.
The following February was without a
cloud. The next Dec. was mild and
pleasant, and New Years day the 'hus
came over from Montague loaded with
'WHITEL LAKE REMINISCENCES.
37.
youn,'l chaps clad in liHnn coats and
straw hats, perched under parasols, and
vigorously fanniing themselves with
palmn leaves.
Now for the picnicing. In 1877 our
S. S. had their annual outing a day in
Crabb's Grove. Ju'y 4th 1878, we chartered a tug and went to the Mouth,landed on the pier, went up- the hill back
of the light house and had a lap dinner,
anl returned home at night pleased
with the trip. A few weeks later occurred the first family picnic that my
family helped about. As I recall the
families there were those of Mr. A. C.
Ellsworth, Dr. Johnson, Elder Seaver,
Mr. Hedges, Mr. Norman, Mr. Nearpass,
Mr. Carleton and perhap.s ot hers. We
iode down on the Charlotte Gray, and
landed near where the dock is now, by
running the bow of the boat uLp into the
sand, there two of us men waded ashore,
gathered loose plank, rolled a log or two
into the wa er, and isoon had all safely
landed. Boards were gathered and a
table lmade on tlhe left hand side where
the road up the valley first cuts tlhrough
the bank, a fire was kindled, the cloth
was spread, and after grace good appetites enjoyed their first picnic dinner
in the grove. After resting, and stretching, and yawning, and. visiting awhile,
we picked our way through the bushes
over to the big lake. There we gathered some edgings, stuck four in the sand
at the foot of the bluff, tied cross pieces
above to which we pinned one edge of
the ladies' shawls, thus making an elegant dressing room for the feminines,
for people have no eyes in the top of
their heads. Then we nmasculines retired to the privacy of the further side of
a dense willow bush, and having undonned our broadcloth and donned our
bathing overalls and undershirts, we all,
without introductions, assembled in the
water for a spatter and a splash, and a
duck and a dive, and a scream and a
swim, and a flounder and a float on improvised rafts, such as mortal never
knew the like before. The temperature
of air and water was just perfection,
and when we reluctantly returned to
earthly habits, we'found that two hours
hlad passed beyond our catching them
again. We got home but never forgot
that day.
The new school house was being built
the Summer of '79, and I was building
my house and was busy.
In the Spring of 1880 Mr. I. M. Weston, who tlen owned the land between
the lakes, had a clearing made on the
bluff on the East side and erected a
p;villion there and tables for the convenience of pleasure seekers, especially
dancing parties. This has been moved
down near the landing and is now the
waiting room. He also had piles driven
and some edgings piled in for a pier at
the end of the road as it comes down
from the woods. That year was started the regular weekly picnics, or "Wednesday picnics," which with each succeeding one increased in numbers attending and in enjoyment. Mr. Weston
had a stairway built down the.West
bluff, and the shed-roof bath house. As
all of us picnicers preferred the big lake
side, we had gathered boards on the
beach, built tables near where Mr. L. T.
Covell's cottage now is, also seats and
a sloping walk down the face of the
bluff, that being much easier than stairs.
Our number soon increased to 40 or 50,
and the little Charlotte Gray was taxed
to her utmost to carry us, and we men
wouldwink and sit very light on our
seats, and when the captain would sometimes stop on the return trip and take
on a gang of dock-wallopers and start
out telling us all to sit still, I had to
38 -
jWHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
watch Mr. Covell pretty close so he
would not get out and go on afoot. It
was generally agreed that we must have
a bigger boat next year.
In I88i the Magnet came from Pentwater to run on White Lake as a ferry;
before September came we often made
her a full load. We had heard that the
edgings had all washed out of our landing place, and we were planning for a
big picnic the 4th; so three days previously my family went down to prospect and found only the piles left, and
about ten feet apart was too long for
steps. Clad in bathing suits, Victor and
I easily measured the distance out to
deep water. Next day the mill men of
Whitehall soon contributed plank and
timber, and the hardware men spikes;
we got all loaded on a scow at noon of
the 3d, and the Magnet towed us down.
With three men to help me we built a
platform I6 feet square at the edge of
deep water to land on, and then laid a
walk 5 feet wide toward the shore. The
whole length was 220 feet and darkness
caught us half way there. Next morning Dallas Johnson and I hurried down
on the early boat, and before the last
plank was in place three boats all loaded with picnicers were pointing for our
plank pier.
Heretofore we had carried drinking
water with us from Whitehall or had
procured it at the lighthouse. This
year, I think it was, Mr. Weston lhad a
drive well sunk at the foot of the bank
at the right hand side of the road. Water
was found at 117 or ii8 feet, down, and
it flowed a 34 inch stream of good water
for two or three years until the pipe became clogged, and in an effort to repair
it was pulled apart and abandoned. Our
plank pier survived the Winter and with
some repairing served us the season of
1882. We took up a collection, bought
a second-hand stove and located it beside a stump in our sky-covered kitchen.
The Magnet served us well, although
there was a "Rival" on the route, and
50 to 75 was the usual number at our
weekly and often semi-weekly outings.
If anyone ever went home unhappy or
dissatisfied with the day's pastime, I
never heard of it.
In the Sprinig of 1883 the ice swept
away our pier completely leaving only
3 or 4 leaning piles to mark its locality.
The Myrtle McClure came from Grand
Haven to run on White Lake; and the
Rival also was a lively namne-sake. After
my school work had ended for the year,
I went around with a paper'one day and
soon had $137 subscribed in lumber,
work and money, mostly in Whitehall,
an-d invitations to come for more if needed. I next engaged the McClure to do
our towing, hired a pile-driver with its
crew, also a man to help me hunt logs
for piles, and next day we anchored under the eastern bluff. With the small
boat we had borrowed to hunt piles in,
we sounded along and soon found by
going a little further South that deep
water was much nearer the shore. The
pile-driver begani puffing, and so did the
rest of us and by the next day noon,
two lines of piles reachingout to 12 feet
of water were completed. Next, an
idle old scow was secured-but it was
not secure as we soon learned-taken
to a mill, loaded with edgings, towed
down one night, and next morning when
we got there to unload it we found it
sunk to the bottomn. Dallas Johnson
had been engaged to help me. He
went to the Mouth for more help and I
to Green's old mill, and before night
we had the edgings piled into our infant pier where they ought to be, and
the water baled and pumped back into
the lake where it ought to stay, and our
IWHITE LAKE RZEMINISCENCES.
39.
scow towed back for another load.
Thereafter we had it loaded in the forenoon and unloaded in the afternoon if
we could. Mr. Weston, then living at
the Rapids, had given us permission to
make any useful improvements we
thought best. Well diggers were engaged and they dug and curbed a well
up in the valley finding plenty of good
water at 14 feet. Mr. K. F. Morse gave
us a pump, and lugging drink-water
from town was no longer a virtue. While
waiting for edgings, Mr. Johnson and I
would cut and burn brush and logs,
and, in time, had the lake front of the
South bluff inhabitable. While we were
loading plank at the New York mill,
Mr. Alley shouted to us: "Take all the
plank you want; never mind counting."
Picnicing had begun as soon as parties
could land on the edgings, and about
the first of August the pier was completed, timbered and planked from end
to end 159 feet. We had also built a
plank walk with hand-rail down the
West bluff. Every cent received had
been expended, and I had added 31
happy days work of my own.
While the rides up and down White
Lake were always enjoyed, people began to think that the nights might be
pleasant at the "Resort" as well as the
days. Cottages were talked about, and
presently Messrs. Staples.Covell,Phelps,
Nourse and myself caused the same old
scow to be loaded with building material
and while we slept she played the same
old trick on us again by sinking at the
dock back of the Covell shingle mill.
She was unloaded till her upper edge
rose above water, then pumped out, reloaded, towed down and unloaded before she could dive again. A team was
taken around through the sand hills to
haul the lumber up from the new pier;
and Mr. Nourse by hiring help was the
first to have a roof there beneath the
sky, and to occupy his lake-side home
witli his family. Our stove lad been
stolen the previous Winter and another was taken down when work first began. More cottages were built the next
year, 1884; the Cayuga came round
from Detroit to stay in our lake, many
lived at the resort, picnics decreased in
size but increased in numbers. My own
family would go down Tuesday morning, return home Saturday night for
church Sunday and pick-up-day Monday, and back to the cottage again at
night or early Tuesday morning. All
the ferry boats then ran down the old
channel to the end, and a most picturesque trip it made for us. Visiting,
reading, bathing straying to Pigeon top
or the sand hills, occupied the days;
the evenings would find us gathered
around campfires built of driftwood on
the beach, parching green corn, roasting potatoes, spinning yarns, acting
charades, singing songs, guessing riddles,
listening to recitations, and when at last
the fires burned low, a good night hymn
would send us to our slumbers. Happy
times! Pleasant place!
I once asked a Pottawattamie Indian
who could talk very good English, what
their name for White Lake was. He
pointed to the lake and said, "Wab-agun-na-gee Skee-boo-goo Nee-bis." And
then he explained that the first two
words meant clay-washed, making the
motions of washing his hands as he told
it., and that Nee-bis meant lake. Ispoke
of the Clay Banks near the mouth of
the old channel, and he said "Yes! yes!"
To show the change of water level in
the lakes, I will say that when I built
our boat house, July, 1887 the front sill
was bedded in the water 23 its depth,
leaving the water within 2 inches of the
floor. All can see where the water is now.
Kt d.L
/EORGE E. DOWLING wa-s
<1 onq of Montitagueus eflj-st facin-.1 ed citizens. Born in Canada,
Feb. 26, 1839, h was brought to
Michigaii when an infant. He
c tie to White River in the ernploy of the Ferry interests as
early as 1857, but in 1858 got the gold
fever and went to Calif, rnia, returning,
however, in 1859 and becoming closely
connected with the lumberiing interests
of this localitv. Hie was aI rescerved buseCss man, but ar firm friend. HF-is la t eCr
years \vere passed looking:fter his banking interests, constructing~i the beautiful
retreat wxhich he named "Buttermilk
Springs,' aand pelrforming his Masonic
duties, of whichi order he became Grand
Ma.ster in 1893. He died at MIontagrue,
March 30. 1896, and his remains repose
in the cemetery of that place.
UWHI TE LA KE REMINISCENCES.
41.
Linelermat 1 ecolectionr. ~ o ~
A. T. LINDERMAN, EAU CLAIRE, WIS.
E moved to Whitehall in
August, 1875, with our
three children, Winnifred, Gertrude and
Arthur, and Leone was
added to our family in
1881.
There were 14 saw
* mills on White Lake and
all the bustle and business that naturally followed their operation.
There is an old saying that "a pro phet
is not without renown save in his own
Country," and it is likely that this is
true of places as well as people and explains how much more, from away, one
seems to appreciate White Lake and
its surroundings as the beautiful Gem
set in the liquid border of Grand old
Lake Michigan's crown.
As memory drifts back to these times,
reminiscences crowd so thickly that the
drift becomes a jam. The dancing
parties at Foster's Hall which no one
enjoyed better than Uncle John Widoe.
Frank Sturtevant who was never so
happy as when perpetrating some practical joke like s, lling a horse to a fellow
for $250, warranted to trot a mile in
three minutes, and when the man came
back the next day and declared that,
after repeated and earnest trials, and he
had his witnesses to prove it, the veiy
best the horse could do was four minutes, Frank simply said, as he paid him
back his money: "You must be in an
awful hurry if you couldn't wait a minute.'"
The night when Foster's Hall and a.great share of the town burned, and the
writer rushed into his factory in the dark
after some water pails. Meanwhile the
dead body of a man had been brought
from a burning building on a stretcher
and set in front of the factory door.
Coming out with lots of pails and haste
we all went down together, the sheet
from the dead man covering me instead
of him for a moment; the dead man's
face almost in mine. The unexpected
fall, the shock, the lurid sky, the uncertainty as to whether I or the other fellow was the dead man, in fact the appearance of things in general, powerfully suggested that I was mixed up
with the end of the world instead of a
village fire.
The "District School" and the scholars
who took part in it; that was before the
World's Fair was located; and', as the
Dutch bny that could do nothing but
"catch flies," I perpetrated upon a
patient gathering of neighbors a lot of
original verses, set to original music so
that it would come within the range of
the register of my four note voice, and
of which I can now only remember:
"New York thinks she's got the World's Fair all right
And holds her head most terribly high;
But don't you forget that Chicago's there yet,
And she may catch that fly.
Yes she may catch that fly,
That beautiful World's Fair fly.
Then quiet your fears; once in 400 years,
Chicago can catch a fly."
The fulfillment of the prophecy may
excuse its mention.
I cannot close without saying that
while business interests have made it
necessary for us to reside for the last
three years at this place, still we have
always a warm place in our hearts for
Whitehall and enjoy our frequent visits
to our home and friends there most
heartily.
42.
K1-LI1f/I LA KEIRIJIJGXCS
orne
~03
00
I~v~ ~x
The rcsclcncec
of Gco. A. I-obicr, above repi-cSenteci, is loc'ated~on tlieMears.
Ave. lak-e front.
The next is the
hioroc, of Robert
Goffin, located
on Colby street.
I"IIfill U AAu', RIEVIN.S'CLYNCJXS.
z13.
Above is given the home
of C. G. Pitkin, situated on
the Meiars Avenue lake front
anld followving is show'n the
residecnce of Fred Peterson,
at the corner of Colb~y and
flalc\\ In stree2ts;.
"Flierc are many pretty, 7anId
comlfort'able hiomes liniop the
deI(.CINselyshaLeci strecets of
'vhiteliodl, anid the ow\ners
taklle pride In keep~ig the(m
hr~tanld attraIctivel.
dr ~i
Jr~nte~rirncS.
~ 9 ~
JD
C. W. REDFERN.
OR the true lover of
Nature, White Lake
has many varied atStractions, a greater
j portion of which will
appear only after
careful and pains-.*i *0 taking scrutiny and
\ i l he cheerful task
to which we are assigned, the greatest
difficulty is to choose the most inviting
selected, much real pleasure may be had;
the round trip is about two miles from
the White Lake dock, and very full of
beauty from start to finish.
Another trip; this time by "Foote &
Walker's" line, and requiring at least an
entire day, is to go to the foot of Duck
Lake, then follow the road around to
the left, and you will have Duck Lake
50 feet below, and on your right a sand
dune or hilly bluff thickly wooded with
a most charming variety of deciduous
and conifer trees, while the banks are
literally covered with thick velvety
-- -- -~--~-~
THE OLD CHANNEL.
avenue that is nearest at ha-nd.
For visitors at Sylvan Beach, would
suggest the taking of a row-boat and
making a trip down past the channel or
entrance from Lake Michigan to White
Lake, and into what is known as the
"old channel." The banks are quite abrupt, the ground hard to the water's
edge, and if an early morning hour is
mosses in many shades of green, and
ferns in endless variety add to the rural
beauty; and last but not least tender and
delicate flowers that would not be out
of place at a fairy's banquet may be
found in abundance; then here.the
wintergreen revels in a luxuriance that
only comes from favorable climatic conditions; one may also find the squaw
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
berry vine with its waxy fruit playing
hide-and-seek with its coy and fragrant
neighbor, the trailing arbutus.
The sand-hill rises, wed: dare,not say
how high, but a long way up, and there
is a legend that one man actually mnade
the ascent, and when he came down,
said Muskegon, WVhitehall, Montague,
Shelby, Point. Sauble and Chi--, no
several other place.s were plainly visible.
There is a pretty little legend connected with one of the dells of this sandhill. One night the fairies were dancing,
when a young man, who had hidden
day in throwing a missile at a horse, it
hit his fairy wife, who instantly disappeared and forever. Her beautiful face
was never again seen by mortal, but one
evening these plaintive lines were whispered in the breeze, heard only by the
bereaved husband:
Oh! lest my son should suffer cold,
Him in his father's coat infold;
Lest cold should seize my darling fair,
For her, her mother's robe prepare.
Careful observers will find little difficulty in locating the exact spot where this
incident occurred.
As far as scenery goes, there is about
SCENE AT DUCK LAKE.
himself in a thicket rushed out and
seized a beautiful fay, who, it is needless to add, was alady. The rest instantly vanished, whilehe brought his prize
in triumph home.. After miny entreaties, she consented to become his,
wife on condition that if he should ever
strike, her with cold iron she would leave
him forever. The happy swain.had no
difficulty in entering jinto an engage-...
ment so readily, as lie thought, observed. They were married, and, in course.
of time, a son and daughter appeared.
on the scene; but, unfortunately one
three quarters of a mile along here that
is well worth looking at. Continuing
our journey, we naturally come to a
place in the road where there is a turn.
Keep to the right and go down past a
cleared field, (house and barn on right,
back from road) forabout half a mile,
which will bring us to the foot of Muskrat Lake, and within a stone's throw of
Lake Michigan.; follow the main travelled road, which is nearly,.level for.,.about three miles, which will bring us
to the.end of one of the finest tracts of
red oak in Michigan, and through a
46.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
dense virgin forest, where each step reveals new visions of beauty that will
amply repay any who makes the trip.
The jaunt may be made by conveyance from the Post-office at the old mill
site if desired, but if you go, take your
dinner, also our humble advice, and do
not hurry over the route--unless you
want to.
Statistics are dry or otherwise, and
we will not burden you with the number of different varieties of mosse-, ferns,
plants, etc., etc., the main reason being,
and the water,numerous springs abound,
and if you sample same, it will seem
that the last one is better than all the
rest put together; the water is clear, and
sparkles and dances in the sunlight, as
only pure water can.
The music of the incoming waves is
soft and quickly lulls to rest, while the
pure air gives a heartiness and buoyancy to the physical man, that nothing
else can do.; take a sunny day for this
trip, or what is still more enjoyable, a
night hen the moon is full and make a
A SECLU)DED DELL.
we don't know how many there are, but
do know the number to be large, and
as to their beauty, it will depend entirely upon the sense of appreciation the
visitor has who views the same.
To the robust, much pleasure maybe
enjoyed from a tramp from Sylvan
Beach to Duck Lake, on the beach; the
distance is a "long" two miles going,
and several times as far back, you will
think; on the left, in some places the
bluffs tower almost vertically with just
enough room to walk between them
long or short trip as fancy dictates.
The one who will get most pleasure
from these trips, will hear the droning
of a honey-bee, as he flits from flower
to flower, the cheerful chirp of the sharpeyed cricket, the semi-croon of the summer locust, the voice of the Katy-did,
the drumming of the partridge, the
plaintive note of the mourning dove,
the caw of the crow, the tinkle of a
cow-bell, and a thousand and one other
sounds and voices too numerous to
mention.
T1`' lelocLum5. ~ ~ ~
S/, HE village of
SUi Vhitehall
* - owes its crea- ~ tion and considerable of
its earlyv develope ment
Sto the ener*. gy and f ore -
Sight of Giles
S Bryan Slocum,
~ an old pioneer
of Michigan. He was born in Saratoga
County, New York, July IIth, I808,
and came of a fami'y noted for its
American lineage and the prominent
part taken from time to time in promoting and establishing the American
Independence. His boyhood years
were passed on a farm about two miles
from the scene of Burgoyne's surrender
and during his early manhood he taught
school in the neighborhood of Saratoga
and Lockport, New York. He spent
the Summer of 1830 farming in Northern New York on the AuSauble River,
and in 1831 he made his first visit West
landing at Detroit, Michigan. After
prospecting extensively in the interior
he settled for the Winter and assisted
in laying out the town of Vistula, now
Toledo, Ohio. He owned the first store
there and was engaged in getting out
timber for the first dock at the place.
The Winters of 1833 and 1834 he spent
in the store business at the head of Swan
Creek Bay, now Newport, Monroe Coun
ty, Michigan, where he established a
store and succeeded in getting the small
steamers, "Jack Downing," "Jackson,"
and "General Brady" to run up Swan
Creek from Lake Erie to his place.
Later on he built docks at Detroit,
Windsor, Springwells, Trenton, Sandwich, Gibraltar and Grosse Isles and established the first store and dock at
Truaxton, now Trenton. In the Spring
of 1834among other pioneer experiences
he paddled a canoe from Jackson down
Grand River to Grand Rapids. He was
a hardy youth and made the trip without an overcoat, his only weapon being
a fish spear. He passed many canoe
loads of Indians along the way and
camped for a while on a beautiful spot
-then a wilderness-but now where
the City of Lansing stands. He also
stopped at Rix Robinson's, an Indian
trading fort on Grand River near Grand
Rapids. After reaching Grand Rapids
he made a trip further North and went
through what was then a dense wilderness, but is now known as Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa Counties, thereby
getting a fair idea of the nature of the
country in that part of the State. It
was about 1847 when by a contract
made with the State of Michigan and
County of Wayne, to build two bridges
across the River Rouge and one across
the Ecorse River, for the payment of
which he was to receive State Lands,
that he selected and became the possessor of several large tracts of lands in
Muskegon County and this was really
the opening of his interests in Western
Michigan.
From that period much of his time
48.
WHITE LAKE RE MINISCENCES.
was spent there and he continued to enlarge and extend his possessions. In
exploring around he came upon the
beautiful country on and along White
River and White Lake, which at once
attracted his attention and he subsequently purchased large tracts of land
in that vicinity and in 1859, with Mr.
Charles Mears, of Chicago, who likewise
had made extensive- purchases in the
same locality, laid out and platted the
present village of Whitehall. He afterwards platted and laid out several additions, to the village, furnished means to
build homes, saw mills, etc., opened and
extended streets, many of which bear
names that were dear to him and he
donated to the public a block on Colby
street which is known as Slocum Park.
He was also instrumental in having the
new and present channel constructed
connecting White Lake with Lake Michigan, and encouraged such industries
and pursuits as might tend to improve
and benefit the place, one of the most
important of which was the Eagle Tannery. He made frequent trips to Whitehall, and spent much time there ari.d always manifested the greatest interest in
both the place and the people. While
there he usually stopped with the family of Hon. C. C. Thompson, where ihe
was accorded a warm welcome and
made to feel very much at home, a kindness he never forgot.
A, A,
'Fon.. Elliott Trvu, ý ltaocum.. ~ ~ ~
HON. ELLIOTT TRUAX SLOCUM, of Detroit, Mich., who has large
real estate interests in the Village and
Township of Whitehall, is the only son
of Giles Bryan Slocum. He was bornat Trenton, Wayne Co., Michigan, and
received his early instructions at a
School for Boys on Grosse Isle, conducted by Rev. Moses H. Hunter.
Later he was graduated from Union
College, Schenectady, New York and
from the University of Michigan. He
very early became connected and associated with his father in looking after
their large real estate interests in differ-.
ent parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
His first trip to Whitehall was made
about 1859. He was a youth of nineteen then and started from Slocum's
Grove, Muskegon Co., Mich., with Mr.'
David Abbott, who was a resident of
that place about thirty years, but who
is now a wealthy rice grower and a respected and esteemed citizen of Crowley, Acadia Parish, Louisiana. They
left Slocum's Grove on two French Indian ponies and went through the
woods to Newaygo and looked at some
land there. From Newaygo they went
to where the Village of Hesperia now
stands; Mr. Slocum's father owned some
of the land, where the village was" afterward laid out, but at that time no village was thought of. The water in the
river was so high and rapid they were
obliged to cross it by jumping from one
stone to another with the aid of a pole.
They remained one night at a shanty
about half way between Newaygo and
Hesperia. It was occupied by a gang
of toughs, who were engaged in making_
shaved shingles out of stolen timber,
and the experiences of that night' were
thrilling indeed. It was not known un
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
49.
til well along in the night, when some
of the party returned from one of their
midnight adventures, how really bad
the crowd were. It became necessary
for Mr. Slocum and Mr. Abbott to set
up a fearless defense, which had the effect of silencing them for the remainder
of the night and in the morning they
were allowed to depart in peace and
safety. Near Hesperia they found Oliver
Swvain in a log house and remained at
his place a day or two. From there they
crossed White River and went Southl
following the West shore most of the
time. Mr. Slocum's father owned several thousand acres of land on the North
and South branches of White River
which they looked at. They expected
to remain a night in Walter Duke's
shanty on section thirty Greenwood. He
was an intelligent colored man and a
good land surveyor, but when they
reached there he was gone and the roof
of the shanty had caved in. Mr. Abbott
made a bed from the bark of the old
roof and they used bark for covering.
They had a fire and slept fairly well, although an inch and a half of snow fell
during the night. They had no supper
that night and no breakfast or dinner
the next day, and the ponies browsed
on oak leaves.' They saw plenty of
deer and game along the way. Continuing South they struck White Lake
South of Whitehall and then went
North following the Lake until they
came across a log house near where Albert Mears' store used to stand. Here
they got something to eat and found
sleeping accommodations with a' man
by the name of Hanson, who lived on
the hill back of Whitehall. By this time
they were tired enough to thoroughly
enjoy a good night's rest, but in the
morning to their utter dismay they discovered their ponies were gone. With
out waiting for breakfast, they started in hot pursuit. They tracked them
through the woods about half way to
Cedar Creek when night overtook them
and they were obliged to sleep under a
pine tree. During the right a most
terrific rain and thunder storm came up
striking and demolishing t ri es and
everything in its course until for gieater safety they took to open space, notwithstanding the hi'eavy rain which
drenched them throug'i. At day break
they renewed the journey and by afternoon arrived atSh l 'pers onf Cedar Creek.
Here they hoped to get something of
some kind to eat, as they had been
all this time without a morsel, but the
only food in the house was one Ida'ff'o
bread which they devounred most greedily. They remained all night and next
morning started for Truckie's Trading
Post on the Muskegdn River" Where
Trucklie ferried them across the river in
a canoe. They then made a straight
line for home, thinking perhaps the
ponies by this time had gone there.
After tramping through the Moorland
swamp,some of the time wading through
water waist deep and crawling through
the worst kind of windf4lls and underbrush they succeeded in reaching Slocum's Grove but no pon:ies were there.
Not willing to give up they at once
set to work and made some moccasins
and in a day or two started back again
in search of the ponies!. They went
first to Newaygo, then to Sand Creek
reaching the latter place late that evening. It was a long and,tedious tramp
and by morning Mr. Slocum's feet and
limbs were so sore and swollen he could
not stand on them, but being young
and energetic he would not give up.
After having them thoroughly rubbed
with whiskey to allay the pain and reduce the swelling, he managed to get on
.50.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
the moccasins and once more they put
forth. They had not gone far this time
when they met a man who had seen the
ponies and succeeded in getting them.
After capturing them they spent several
days looking over the beautiful Lake and
surrounding country in and aboutWhitehall and got a good idea of the general
lay-out of the country. On their return
trip they followed down White Lake
and along Lake Michigan to the mouth
of Muskegon Lake in order to get across
as there was no way of crossing above.
Following up Muskegon Lake they
came to Muskegon and then out by the
way of Ravenna back to Slocum's Grove.
With the opening of his father's interests at Whitehall, he, too, became
interested and when his father laid out
his additions to the Village, it was Mr.
Slocum who did the surveying for him.
The first piece of real estate, which he
owned individually,was the Union Hotel
that burned in 1870. He got it from
Peter Hobler in exchange for a. vessel.
He also furnished the money to start
the first printing office, The Forum, in
1869. In 1873 when the Lumberman's
State Bank was organized he was the
Vice President-and one of the Directors
and later when it was re-organized into
a National Bank he served in the same
capacities. After the Union Hotel
burned down he erected a three story
brick block, which was also destroyed
in the great fire of 1881, together with
two adjoining wooden stores and a livery stable, rented to Mr. Sturtevant, in
which the fire originated, all of which
belonged to Mr. Slocum. He is at present largely interested in Whitehall and
vicinity and makes frequent trips there.
He has vivid recollections of many of
the old settlers and recalls with pleasure the great admiration he had for dear
"Jack"Covellof whom he was very fond..9.* S7 ** y 7
~17 te l p
A LEAFY NOOK AT THE HOME OF E. M. RUGGLES, WHITEHALL.
1Ie Whipt 1'iVer T rive. i ve
LL Winter the men and
4teams have been at work
in the woods haulinglogs to the river bank,
and when the snow and
ice are gonethey prepare
^ __ to float them to the
0 mmills. This is called,? driving logs.
Driving logs on White,. River in an early day was
* a business requiring considerable nerve as well as skill. The
men engaged in the work were constantly in danger of being drowned or crushed in jams and roll-ways. They were
generally a lot of hardy, active fellows,
who were ready to take the risk, as the
work commanded good wages and the re
was no lost time, Sunday. included,
from the day their names were enrolled
on the pay-list.
As the lonely Winter wore away and
signs of Spring appeared, rivermnen began to come in from the woods and congregate at Whitehall, the headquarters
for all the camps along White River.
From about the middle of March to the
first of April the saloon, did a rushing
business. The general rule for the river man was to first buy a suit of clothes,
including boots with a hundred corks,
(sharpened bits of steel) in each. A red
sash to tie about the waist completed
the outfit, and next to go to the saloon
and blow.'the balance of his cash. This
last proceeding generally terminated in
black eyes and a bloody nose. When
his money is all spent lie is ready to
start up the river to the point the superintendent assigns him twenty miles or
mo(re away. His friend, the saloon
keeper, has equipped him with two
quatrs of the execrable fluid and a package of peerless tobacco, shakes his hand
and off he starts on foot. All day he
trudges along a trail obstructed by fallen
trees often leading through swamp and
swale. About 9 p. m., footsore and
weary he arrives at the camp, which
consists of a heap of blazing logs 'round
which the men gather after the day's
work is over. Their wet garments hang
upon poles to dry, while they regale
themselves with all the delicacies a
wilderness affords, a tin cup of very
strong tea, a tin plate on which is served boiled potatoes, salt pork, baked
beans and warm biscuits. A little to
one side is a large tent furnished with
hemlock boughs and coarse blankets.
This is the sleeping apartment. On the
opposite side of the fire is a smaller tent
for the cook's supplies. Here is another fire where the cooking is done. Two
crotched sticks are driven into the
ground, a pole laid across to support the
two or three iron pots in which the boiling is done. Tin ovens open to the fire
are used for baking. This department
is presided over by a male cook who can
chew and smoke as much tobacco as any
of the boys. After supper the evening
entertainment begins. It is usually opened by White-Water-Bill and concluded
by a thrilling story from Roll-way-Jack..
At its conclusion the men "turn in" to
sleep if they can, or if wakeful to be
serenaded by "hoot owls" or the hum
of the hungry mosquito. At the first
flush of dawn the stentorian voice of the
cook is heard calling "Turn out boys,"
52.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
and soon the camp is alive. The men
appear with boots in hand that require
much pulling and kicking against stumps
with some very loud talking before they
are settled to their owner's satisfaction.
After a douse of cold spring water they
are ready for breakfast and the day's
work. They shoulder their pevies and
headed by the foreman they strike out
in Indian file through the swamp and
wood until they reach a high bluff.at
the foot of which is the head of the jam.
The logs are piled in great confusion
from bank to bank and extend up the
river for a mile or more in a solid body.
Below the river runs clear and smooth
and winds off through the swamp like a
huge snake., The men go down the hillt
and after considerable lifting, rolling
and chopping the jam is broken and the
logs begin to move. The great, body
of water' above sends them down with
ever increasing velocity often tearing
trees from the bank and sending them
breaking and crashing down stream with
the logs. This the river driver calls a
good haul. The hauling of a jam in
rapid water is very exciting work. Many
a man is thrown headlong into the water
for being more daring than the rest.
This is a common occurrence, and as
the sun rises higher and warms the air,
this little episode is soon forgotten as
the men jump on the logs as they go
rolling and whirling down the river,
often having to lie down on the log to.,.y,v, *' '
get under overhanging branches. Men
get to be experts and some will handle
a log as easily as others could a canoe.
The men scatter along the river in
places where the logs are most likely to
jam. The men above break them loose'
and those below keep them moving on
over this division to the crew below,
and so on to the sorting grounds at the;
mouth of the river.
Farther.up, is another crew.who clean
up the drive..It consists of two gangs'
of men called the jam. crew and the
sackers. During the driving some logs
are crowded out along the shorq. The
sackers roll these back into the. river
and are continually wading in the water
all day. When the logs are sacked into the rear of the jam, the jam crew.
breaks them loose and stops them a
mile or so below by swinging a boomstick across the river. This is done to
raise the water so the sackers can float
the heavier logs that always hang behind the jam. After the sack is brought
in the jam is again moved, and so on
until late in the season the last log is
sacked in and delivered at the mills;
then the men are paid. After fitting
themselves with clothes for'the Winter,
they soon deposit their remaining cash
with the saloon-keeper and taking his
receipt in sore heads and black eyes thley
are off again for the woods. Such was,
the life of the River Driver on White
River in the times that are past.
F g i ^ 0 C.,.7^
~v. ~ ~ ~
TTe; T"~ Gone {!
EDIITH GOTTS MUNGER.
SH OUGHTS of the days
I gone by bring such a
- train of visions and of
*. dreams of the long ago
that I close my eyes, let
go of the present, and
drift back into the past
softly repeating the
* magic words of the old
song"Backward, tuin backward, oh Time in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night!"
When lo! I am again a little whitehaired girl standing on the bank of old
White Lake overlooking a scene of great
activity. Below me all along both shores
are scattered many saw mills, surmounted by great black pipes from which may
be seen issuing enormous volumes of
smoke. The docks on which these mills
are built have huge long arms reaching
far out into the blue waters of the lake,
bustling with the masts of vessels from
far away ports. The town lying part
on the flat and partly on the natural
terrace on which I am standing, consists
chiefly of very small houses scattered
about among the numerous stumps,
mullen stalks and straggling pines and
hemlocks. The hum of business rises
with a cheerful sound, and around the
mill men are hurrying hither and thither
like bees around a hive in June. Some
with long poles are pushing the logs in
the water toward the incline up 'which
they will presently be hauled to take a
ride on the carriage and meet their ex
ecutioner, the sharp-toothed saw. Some
are loading trucks with the white clean
looking boards and rolling them out on
the long tramways to make higher the
mountains of lumber rising all along the
water's edge, while others leather-aproned and browned from much exposure to
wind and sun are transferring these same
huge piles to the vessels anchored in
the canal-like slips. The only creature
that seems to be taking the world slowly is a large heavy-footed horse moving
with an almost snail-like pace up a long
sandy hill, hauling a cart fashioned
somewhat after the Roman chariots of
old only rough instead of gilded as to
exterior and bearing not a triumphant
Caesar but a load of pitchy resinous
pine slabs to be burned in some one of
the households on the hill. The "clap
clap" of the lumber that is being loaded and unloaded rises as a sort of
monotonous accompaniment to. the
whirring whizzing sound that the,-saw.
makes as it cuts its way so relentlessly
to the heart of the once proud monarch
of the forest, and a faint puffing sound
that steals at intervals through the other songs of labor is found to issue from
some tiny tugs making their way bravely down the lake,;each trailing behind
it two or three huge three-masted vessels
so laden with the spoils of the mills as
to look as though parts of the docks
were being borne away. The spicy odor
of the newly cut pine is wafted o'er me
so deliciously that I dream that I too
am being borne away into the golden
glory of the sunset lands to groves
Elysian where the feathery branches of
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
the pines sway to and fro making sweetest music, and dropping their goldenbrown cones so generously into the lap
of Mother Earth, and where I feel so
akin to the fairies and all things magical
that the most wonderful palace rises
Aladdin-like at my command and I am
just entering its gorgeous portal when
my dream is rudely broken by a shriek
prolonged and loud, followed by a dozen
or more in rapid succession until each
one of the mills has given its own particular "t-o-o-o-o-o-t" to indicate that the
day's labor is ended, and begging Gray's
pardon.
"The millman homeward plods his weary way
And leaves the world to darkness and to me."
'Tis morning and the same small
maiden tightly grasping her first book,
a little primer of an emerald hue, is
trudging through the grove to the little
white school house beyond, thinking
with mingled feelings of dread, pleasure
and curiosity of the ordeal before her
in beginning her education. Arrived
at the seat of learning, however, she
soon finds so many companions, that
she loses all thought of dread in the delights of the play ground. Presently
the last bell rings its notes of warning
and then ensues the scene of"Forty little urchins crowding through the door,
Pushing, crowding, making a tremendous roar."
Followed by singing, roll call and then
the marshalling of the a b c class along
a crack in the floor and their initiation
into the mysteries of those arbitrary.characters to which there seems no reason or rhyme and from which there is
no escape. Happy should be the child
whio can begin in the true schoolfor the
child, the kindergarten, where he is
taught through and from what he already knows all that is truly useful,
beautiful and elevating instead of the
Gradgrind facts of those early primaries.
The hard tasks are mastered one by one,
interspersed with the red letter days
when we "spell down" or "speak pieces"
and last the greatest day of all when
we in our best dresses and shiniest and
squeakiest shoes, sit on the sharp edge
of expectancy with the hot and cold
chills chasing one another up and down
our spines, waiting to see if vwe are going to "pass" over to the brown school
house. When we do reach it how much
that longed for goal loses in.enchantment, and how much more when we
find ourselves p)erched on ugly wooden
benches so high that our feet dangle
like the last leaves on the tree in the
Spring and our longing eyes can see
nothing out of those high narrow
windows save a little patch of sky and
the tops of the fir trees still standing on
the corner, then we wish, though it
would never do to admit it, that we
were back in the sunny *little building
across the way, that we left so joyfully.
What we have to endure in physical
discomforts however we make up for in
the proud feeling that we are little
''primary" children no longer, and those
we have left behind must deem it a
great honor if we deign to play "Pull
Away" or "Crack the Whip" with them
now. Then too there is the fun of going foraging with the larger boys and
girls, who are of course much more daring than we have ever been. Ah, how
sweet to our childish appetites are those
raw potatoes, turnips and carrots, that
were scrubbed vigorously at the old
wooden pump, and eaten so slyly behind our geographies when tlhe teacher
is not looking our way! What patience
and perseverance that same much abused teacher, Miss Sarah Payne, shows in
helping us through the mathematical,
grammatical and geographical sloughs
in which we soon find ourselves floundering. That "big" geography on wxhich
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
55.
at first we gaze with so much pride,
soon becomes a veritable nightmare,
and as we con its pages o'er and o'er
day after day,those obdurate misshapen
countries seem to turn into wriggling
hump-backed monsters that glare at us
with a gorgon stare, growling 'Bound
me or I'll eat you up;" and the little
dots and stars of towns and cities expand into enormous humble bees which
threaten to sting if we do not locate
them correctly. But even this is eventually worried through and the next one
to reach out a helping hand to guide us
up the hill of knowledge, is dear, old
Prof. Slayton, who makes the formidable looking "ologies" and other unknown studies so plain to our dull minds
that time flies away as if by magic, and
soon we find ourselves over in the magnificent new brick school house in the
suburbs, and then before we have really
recovered from the-awe with wvhich we
watched the last graduates carry off
their honors and bouquets, we find our
own class mounting the rostrum on our
own commencement night.
For the first time we realize that, as
the log rolling up into the mill was the
nucleus from which sprang the beauti;
ful houses, churches and schools which
form the material center of civilization
called Whitehall, and the contents of
the despised little green primer the germ
of all the mentality we bring to our aid,
just so surely all we have thus far achieved in the years of mixed struggle and
pleasure, now past, is but the corner
stone of our real education which must
consist not so much of material facts as
of the development of the higher qualities as yet but little appealed to.
How vividly that graduating night
comes back to me now! The sea of
faces, the glare of the lights and scent
of the old fashioned roses, pinks and
rosemary all seem as real as though
they were present instead of in the far
away past, and that thought makes me
awake to the fact that I am a whitehaired little maiden no more but a
woman who can call Whitehall only her
old home, and who can make no excuse
for these rambling reminiscences
through fields and by-ways so olden, unless it be that I fell asleep over"0 the days gone by! 0 the days gone by!
The apples in the orchard and the pathway through
the rye:
The chirrup of the robin and the whistle of the quail
"\s he piped across the meadow sweet as any nightingale;
When the bloom was on the clover and the blue was
in the sky.
And our happy hearts brimmed over in the days gone
by.
"In the days gone by when our naked feet were tripped
By the honeysuckle tangles where water-lilies dipped
And the ripples of the river lipped the moss along the
brink
Where the placid-eyed and lazy footed cattle came to
drink,
And the tilting snipe stood fearless of the truant's wayward cry
And the splashing of the swimmerin the days gone by.
'0 the days gone by! 0 the days gone by!
The music of the laughing lip, the luster of the eye;
The childish faith in fairies and'Aladdin's magic ring,
The simple soul-reposing glad belief in everything
When life was like a story holding neither sob nor sigh
In the olden golden glory of the days gone by."
~. ~
G. T. W., WI
N the early sixties, while
yet a young lad, my parents moved to White
Lake and located near
what is called Carleton
Creek, then a dense wilderness. I was
a child of nature, loving the woods and
delighting in a rod and line. Then it
was with rimless straw hat and bare feet,
with my pocket full of bait, I would
steal away in the early morning light
to White River and catch my basket
full of fish, and return home in time to
have mother cook my beauties for breakfast. The river then abounded with fish
of all kinds, from the tiny minnow to
HITEHtALL.
~ ~
the mammoth muskellunge.
The greatest of all sport was fishing
by torch-light, and well I remember my
delight when invited by the Fogg boys
to go with them on such an expedition.
My boyish eyes bulged out with astonishment as awe-stricken I sat in the
canoe and saw the stick of pitch pine
lighted, and placed in the prow of the
boat to blind the fish. My, what a
catch! There were black bass, pike,
pickerel and bull-heads, but in time this
got to be a common thing. Speaking
of muskellunge reminds me of an incident that occurred in afteryears. Coming,
home one day shortly after bringing
my wife to Whitehall I found the doors
locked and the curtains down. Calling
my wife by name I was surprised to
have the door cautiously opened and
to be told to come in quick when the
door was again quickly locked. "What
is the matter?" I exclaimed, "Why are
you shut in this warm day?" Pale as
a ghost she whispers, "Indians. The
town is full of them. Two great big
Indians just went by with the largest
fish I ever saw. They had a pole through
its head and the ends of the pole on
their shoulders and then it dragged on
the ground, it must have been a young
whale." I told her it was a muskellunge, and when I got to the bottom of
the matter two Indians and a squaw
were all she had seen that day. How
I laughed at her, but they were the
first Indians the poor woman had ever
seen.
In later years the streams have been
planted by the State with speckled
4WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
57.
trout and other varieties of fish. A law
was passed that they should not be
molested for a period of three years. It
is now lawful to catch trout from May
first to September first. Game \wardens
were also appointed to see that the law
was enforced. Among the first appointed were Dr. Kenyon, Messrs. Whitman,
Brock and Haverkate. I was called upon at one time by Mr. Brock to go with
him up the river in search of law breakers. As we were skulking along in the
brush watching the river a man jumped
and ran, leaving his trout on the river
bank. He was too quick for us, and
when we turned laughing for-home, I
slyly picked up the trout and slipped
them in Brock's pocket; when we got
to Mont:ague I accused him of taking
them and told him if he threw them
away I would complain of him; he said
if I did, he would murder me "by gum
I will."
In an early day the woods were full
of wild game of all kinds, the black
bear, deer, fox, wild cat and lynx. The
wolf, too, often made night hideous as
they howled around the settler's cabin.
It was no uncommon thing to see the
deer browsing in sight of your door, or
even come to the house to eat potato
parings thrown out in the yard. I have
killed many deer myself but could never
bring myself to shoot one while eating
so near our door. Frequently we would
go out and shoot a deer in the morning
in order to have venison for breakfast
as that was the only fresh meat we had.
I have killed as many as five deer in one
day.
The bear was common in those days
and harmless if let alone. A stranger
came one day and wished me to show
him some land, he thought of purchasing. He stood looking at the timber
when I pointed back, he turned to look.
Instantly his hair began to rise on his
head, for there stood a black bear raised
up on his haunches, he soon dropped
down and ambled away into the woods.
Our land-looker said, "Let us go home,
I think I will look somewhere else" and
I guess he did for I never saw him
again. The wild pigeons were also
plentiful, and catching and shipping
them was at one time a prosperous
business, in which many were engaged,
myself among the number. They had
their nestlings in the swamps around
White Lake and vicinity. Pigeon Hill
on the shore of Lake Michigan received
its name from the fact that the birds in
flying over would be but a few feet
from the ground and people were accustomed to go there and kill them in
great numbers with clubs and poles. I
have often shipped as high as ten crates
a day, a crate containing from four to
five dozen birds. To catch them the
beds were made in the vicinity of the
feeding grounds, strewing them with
wheat. A net was then set with spring
poles at each end, and a stool pigeon to
decoy them on the bed. The net was
then sprung over them. The catch
would sometime be as high as twenty
dozen. I have frequently made as high'
as twenty-five dollars in one day.
The bull frog that makes night hideous with his croaking, was also another source of making money. They were
caught with hook and line, and crated
the same as pigeons. We realized from
seventy-five cents to one fifty a dozen.
I have made as high as ten dollars a
day at this business. Much money was
also made in trapping on White River
which once literally swarmed with muskrat, mink and otter. A good musk-rat
skin would bring from fifteen to forty
cents; a mink from one to five dollars,
and an otter from six to eighteen dollars.
58.
WHITE LAKE REMIINISCENCES.
I have caught otter that measured six
feet in length. A good trapper has
been known to clear from ten to fifteen
dollars in one night, and make as high
as eight hundred in one season.
But now all things are changed.
Where once roamed the wild deer and
Indian, free and unmolested cultivated
farms and beautiful homes may be
found. The log-cabin and river men's
shanties are no more.
It may be of interest to some to know
that the Trading Post derived its name
from the fact that the French traders
were accustomed to visit there at certain seasons of the year to buy furs
from the Indians. In 1859 Mr. Chas.
Johnson located there and remained
many years. The spot where now stands
Whitehall was once the feeding ground
of the deer.
Nearly3 all of the first settlers have
gone to their eternal home but there
will always be a tender spot in my
heart for those who remain to remind
us of the past.
E rlANDERSON Jf lue. BRTTON.
ANDERSON J. BRITTON.
N March, 1863, I concluded to leave York State
S for Michigan, and started April 4th from Dansville with my wife and
twin brother Andrew, arriving in Grand
Haven the 7th with just one dollar in
my pocket. The following morning
leaving my wife, and not having the
fare to take the one horse stage we
started afoot along the beach to White
River, the lake being so rough that we
were at times knee deep in water. At
about four p. m., we arrived at the old
Dalton mill on Silver Creek where I
had an older brother at work. We made
a bargain with Mr. Dalton to work for
him, and being very anxious to see my
brother to get the necessary funds to
bring my wife and trunks from Grand
Haven, we followed him to the "Mouth"
where he had gone. He loaned the
money and we hired a fisherman and
boat. This was my first ride on Lake
Michigan. We arrived at Grand Haven
early and started back with a fine fair
breeze, but soon a strong nor'wester
came up and we were compelled to find
shelter in Muskegon harbor. As we
were entering a heavy sea broke over
the boat, sousing my wife and a French
doctor who was with us and the Captain
as wet as could be, but fortunately I escaped the immersion. We stayed all
night at a boarding house kept by Mr.
Batise, and the next morniug we had a
lovely sail down to White River arriving
there in time for breakfast. We loaded
our baggage and ourselves into a lumber
wagon and started for Dalton's mill to
commence our first work in a lumber
boarding house. It was not then as
now; we did not have the best of everything; the pork was more rine than
meat; the butter when we lad any was
like the coat worn by the Child of
Promise, of many colors. It was too
tough for us. We worked long enough
to pay what we had borrowed and
enough to locate a homestead. Then
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
59.
May i 3th, 1863, we three brothers start
ed to the land office at lonia to take ui
the first homesteads in Blue Lake town
ship. On our return we commenced t<
make the necessary arrangements for
house by cutting and hewing pine logs
We first made a brush shelter to stay ii
until our home was ready. Our firs
night in Blue Lake was quite an event
ful one. We had gotten ready to retir(
when something set up the most un
earthly screaming we had ever heard
We could think of nothing but panthers
My brother had a rifle and we built <
large fire in front of our brush shantb
waiting anxiously for morning. W<
were about ten rods from Square (nov
called Britton) Lake. At day light w(
crept down very cautiously to the banI
expecting to meet some ferocious wile
animal, but to our surprisethere were
only two large loons resting on the
water. We had nev-er seen- any--before or heard them scream In a few
days my wife came up to cook for us.
She thought this quite a wild country and my house not a very good
shelter from storm. When it rained
I used to sit up and hold an umbrella
over her while she slept. Deer were
very plenty here at that time. It was
riothing to meet them in droves of six
or seven. I remember well their fondness for cabbage. It was most impossible to raise any, for they would
come in the night and eat them off.
There were also a few wolves p; owling around. I had a little adventure
with a black bear one day. I had been
over to the old Brown mill across the
river and as I was crossing the flats on
my return home I lost my way. It
was getting pretty dark and so I started to climb the bank. I heard a noise.
I tried to see what it was and he
tried to see what I was and so we
met. I will not tell which was the most
frightened but he ran and I could not.
The next year or two there were a
great many families moved in and Blue
Lake was a lively place. As long as
the pine timber lasted we used to have
jolly times and our picnics on the banks
of the big Blue were quite noted events.
There was a nice little boat owned by
some of the farmers which was a pride
and enjoyment' to all. We hope to see
these days again in the near future.
Blue Lake has already a reputation as a
summer resort and fishing ground.
Our first schools were taught in 1866.
The one known as the Wiegand school
was opened with 36 pupils enrolled. I
have spent 35 years of my life in Blue,
Lake and hope to spend the remainder
of my days besides the peaceful waters
of my little lake.
HARLO RUGGLES, WHITEHALL, AGE 86.
60.
TWHITE l A LAKE REMIIASCENCES.
N r. anel Vrv. 5
L..man 'T. Govella. -::
Lyman T. Covell adorn this page.
Although they are referred to in another sketch in this work, brief data
concerning them may not be amiss
here. Lyman was born at Bently
Creek, Pa., Sept 30th, 1835, comin,,.
to Whitehall in 1869, and engaged
wvith Joseph Hinchman in the shingle
trade, and later was engaged with
his brother A. J. in the lumber business. Then he entered in'o co-partnership with HI-n. H. E. Staples and
for years they were onie of the most
extensive lumber manufacturin concorns on the lake, Mr. Covell sill
owning and operating the plant.
Mr. Covell also possesses one of
the finest farms in the vicinity and
altogether his industry has resulted
in a comfortable fortune. His two
sons, George and Frank, both married, handle his interests successfully
Sand Mr. and Mrs. Covell devote much
time to church and society work.
Mrs. Covell was formerly Eunice C.
H:obler and a daughter of Peter Hob-:cr, a pioneer of Whitehall, and they
were married July 3d, I866. Although most unassuming people,their
spacious home on Division street is
the abode of contentment and hospitality. Whitehall's splendid sys tern of water works resulted from
Sastreet banter between Mr. Covell
- k!!and Ed. J. Smith in the Spring of
I89o. The former had a plan for running a pipe from the mill, and the
latter wanted a public plant. They
easily agreed, and the next year a fine
public plant was in operation.
"T~iU cA <tI 1^ "e.Gcl. ~ ~ ~
E. J. S., WHITEHALL.
sit beneath night's star-gemmed firmament,
So clear, so calmn, so immaculate,
_ Among whose twiiknling suns my soul intent
~ Seeks here or there its gleaming star of fate.
All Nature seems enwrapt in sleep profound,
Save now the cricket chirping at my feet;
Or yonder breakers which with muffled sound
Surge up the sand-paved shore in music sweet.
Now, too, from yonder copse, the whip-poor-will
Its plaintive song sends out to heaven and me;
And far away upon the air, so still,
The kennelled hound is baying to be free.
The nightingale, with sudden downward swoop,
Like some freed spirit of the sleepless dead,
Borne deftly through the ghostly shades that droop,
Just grazes, with its whirring wing, my headThen darts aloft; I turn to watch its course,
When streaming through the western sky afar,
Some fiery meteor shoots from infinite source
And seeks the jeweled breast of wooing star.
Aslant the rippling waters from the West,
A glinting, gleaming dazzling stream of light,
A quivering, gorgeous sheen from Luna's crest, '
Is thrown and draws to God the soul of night.
O'er all, in all, mysterious, grand, sublime!
The worm that creeps, the bird that soars above,
The twinkling pendants of high heaven's chime,
Is wrought the sacred atmosphere of Love!
So calm, so blest, and yet so strangely weird!
Sweet nature thus assures my faith, I wis;
No more myself shall by myself be feared,
For this is God, and I am child of this!
My yearning escapes its trial of life,
Floats out beyond Religion's narrow goal;
And, winging golden ways from creedful strife,
It mingles with the Universal Soul.
62.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.: ~:
r -
i~~t ~C~d.
~a~~sc
qye$iet'G\1 Fan;l~.
( @9
SBOVE are given the faces
A-. of Mr. and Mrs. Ed. J.
Smith, and their children Edna, Euna, and
Norval. Mr. S. came to
Whitehall in 1881, where he entered
upon the practice of law, but in 1882
he purchased the Whitehall Forum and
up to 1897 was its editor. He was born
at Grand Rapids,.Nov. 14th, 1856, and
worked his way to graduation in the
Latin-Scientific course of the Muskegon
High School. He was admitted to
practice law in 1881 ii the State courts
and subsequently to the courts of the
United States. He was Village Attorney of Whitehall for a long term of
years, was postmaster under President
Harrison, and was elected president of
the village in 1897. He has been an
earnest advocate of public improvements; and the pavements, water works,
and other substantial improvements in
Whitehall owe much to him. White
Lake's famous resort was named by him.
At present' he is conducting a law publisling business. His facile pen has
won him recognition in literary circles,
and his contribution on the foregoing
page will be read with interest. He was
united in marriage in 188o to Minnie S.
Floten, whose residence in Whitehall
antedates his by a decade. Of the three
children Miss Edna is a student at Akelev Institute and is developing much
talent at the piano. They have a cozy
home at the corner of Colby and Livingston streets, built on the site of the
old Robt. Hawks' farm house which in
the early days comprised forty acres in
what is now the heart of the town. Two,
Norway pines planted by Mr. Hawks
are still roof-trees to perpetuate the old
land-mark.
WHISTE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
MNichillinela. @ o ~
6j.
IKE its name, which is
derived from the names
of the three States first
repre-ented there, MichIll-Inda is made up of
variious elements and stands for much
or little, according to one's point of
view. Three years ago the name signified only the grounds of the "Michillinda Beach Association" organized for
the dev'elopment into Summer home s
of the forty acres of land purchased
Jan. 25th, 1895, from the farm known
permanence and popularity, that it has
given the name Michillinldato the whole
vicinity of the foot of Duck and White
Lakes, with the new store and postoffice,
and the old boat landing known variously to the past as "Green's Mill," "Dalton's Mill" and "Sprigg's Landing,"
under the control of Mr. Geo. Mason,
of Montague. The general public, in
speaking of Michillinda now include
the homes of the pioneer White Lake
cottagers, Messrs. Taggart, Wolcott,
Butterfield and the late Dennison, all of
THE PINES, J. R. AUSTIN.
as "The Pines." These grounds are one
and a half miles South of Sylvan Beach,
on the shore of Lake Michigan, and one
half mile South of the landing at foot
of White Lake. The wooded front was
divided into twenty-four lots and sold
to the members of the Association, who
were bound to buld good cottages within one (by extension two) year's time.
This resort has already grown to such
Grand Rapids, with Mr. Partridge's new
boarding house to the right and ' Fernwood" to the left of them, besides the
Association grounds with the newly
platted independent, additions to the
North and South, and adjacent Summer boarding places, "Beechmont" and
"The Pines." Thus it stands for alarge
number of people, gathered from many
different points but chiefly from Chica
64.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
go, and Moline, Ill., Grand Rapids,
Mich., and Beloit, Wis. The directory
of cottage owners at Michillinda will
this year besides those already mentioned give the names of Rev. Sleeper and
Prof. Smyth, of Beloit, Wis., at Beechmont; Association Pres. Hill and Treas.
Grimes, Messrs. Cooper, Allen, Stevens,
Keator, Ainsworth and Dr. Sloan, of
Moline, Ill.; Sec. Wallace, Messrs. Alexander, Barker, Rindge, Jennings, Watkins, Freeman and Coon, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Mr. Bippus, of Indiana; Geo.
Hill, of Minneapolis; Pres. Eaton, D. D.,
"the half had never been told." They
came, they saw, and, in spite of wide
experience at older resorts, they were
conquered. Led by suggestion these
three "spied, out the land" and found
the site of Michillinda Beach, with its
quiet beauty, its shade, ease of access,
living springs for a successful hydraulic
water system, its fine beach, its low
banks, and its privacy for family use,
with resources for produce at its very
gates. Mr. Coon, of Grand Rapids, a
pioneer of Sylvan Beach; advised the
enlargement of the scheme. to the
- -~-~ ~~ -- ~ ~ ~~----------- -;-- - ~ ~~ ~
FERNWOOD, W. D. PYNE.
of Beloit College; Rev. Binkhorst, of
Hart; Dr. Lyman, M. D., Mr. Fleming
and Mr. Swift, of Chicago. Probably
there will be other late additions as
heretofore each year.
Special mention should be made of
Rev. Theo. Willson, now of New Haven,
Conn., one of the early promoters of
Sylvan Beach, who, after his year of
sightseeing abroad, chose Sylvan Beach
for his home outing and brought with
him the families of Deacons Cooper,
Hill and Grimes of his church in Moline
that "seeing, they might believe" of the
many attractions of White Lake region,
purchase of forty acres for an association of lot owners. This was done and
Mr. Forbes, also of Grand Rapids and
Sylvan Beach, by his financial policy
and support saved the sale from falling
through and recruited the membership
in Grand Rapids largely. Some daydreamers now prophesy a continuation
of resorts along the shore of Lake Michigan from Sylvan Beach to Muskegon.
Michillinda is an aftermath, suddenly
sprung up from possibilities long latent
or at least dormant. Years ago the foot
of both lakes was the center of rich lumbering operations. Mills, stores, stage
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
65.
mail routes, large fleets of boats, hordes
of busy men and prosperous times belong to its history, but the wealth produced so lavishly here was carried away
to fill the coffers of ease or build up city
enterprise. "The mills of the gods grind
slowly," but now city money is glad to
spend itself in these despised work-fields
and camps. Slow, discouraging years
dragged themselves away. Hard won
homes were abandoned and precious
lives laid cdown during the wellnigh
hopeless task of Poverty and Labor
(always minus Capital and sometimes
He'd worked and cobbled while he sang.
Full soon a voice from Heaven rang,
"I miss the little human voice,"
Take heart in toil, "To labor is to pray."
Let none look on thy work and say,
"No master-hand here wrought to-day!"
Success is only faithful doing,
'Tis just our best, repeated o'er and o'er.
Slowly the change was accomplished.
The land began to surprise all strangers
by the amount and the quality of the
fruits and vegetables produced. Its
shipments were in demand and its products came to be mentioned as one of
the attractions to the region where cool
breezes and general heathfulness were
RETREAT OF J. P. PARTRIDGE.
minus Brains) to convert the stripped
pine lands and the sandy openings into
land good enough to support even the
simplest life of those undertaking it.
These were the days when people asked themselves about their limitations.
Who is doing what he would?
Fewer still do all they could.
Dost think thy task too mean and sm all?
God knows if larger spheres have need of thee.
Woulds't thou for greater tasks prepare?
Give now the least thy faithful care.
Is what we do the greatest test?
Not "what" but "how," the story tells.
Hast heard that "each thing in its place is best?"
One loosened stone endangers all the rest.
Dids't ever read of angel fair and bright,
Who took the place of one poor, weary man?
added to the appetizing and invigorating effects, and the fine bathing and
boating. These attractions, added to
the natural beauties of the region with
the great lake and little lakes, and the
ease and cheapness of access both by
boat and by rail, came to be recognized
as forming an unusual combination for
Summer outings. Thus the long-coming star of hope arose merging itself into
the star of progress if not of prosperity.
While people come to this place to
rest and lead the quiet family life impossible in the crowded fashionable re
66..WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
sorts, there are many delightful musical members had dwindled by death and
and social entertainments free from the removal to three. These becoming
exclusiveness, the dress and the formal- dissatisfied, withdrew from the connecities incident to such functions in city tion two years ago and have not since
life. Excursions by water and by land, joined any organization but hold thempicnics, beach fires, camp suppers, swim- selves and the school house open to any
ming, boating, tennis and social games orthodox service. It is probable that,
and amusements keep the large number at no distant day, a union chapel will
of young people busy, while the chil- be built at some more central point.
dren are as happy as the birds and the One of the editors of "The Advance,"
squirrels over their heads. Sundays at after a visit to Michillinda, wrote an
Michillinda are delightful. Morning article concerning it entitled "Arcadia
services are held on the grounds by the Is Found" describing its charms but
resident and visiting clergymen, afford- tantalizingly withholding name and loing a treat to all fortunate enough to cation; and remarking incidentally of
attend, as do also the gatherings for the number of people there, "There are
vesper music "by the sea shore." Each just enough and no more." However for
Sunday afternoon there is a service al- the right people there is still room.
ternately at some cottage and in the There is no longer room for doubt that
neighboring school house, conducted by Michillindcla has an assured and happy
a minister from Whitehall. It so hap- future as well as a phenomenal past.
pens that without any intention of - --..........
being a sectarian resort, most of the
Michillindians, including one family.:
of residents and two of the neighboring resort families of White Lake,
are Congregationalists. The religious..
history of this region, so far as there..., -
has been one, was connected until:::*...
two years ago, with that of the Wes- | "'
leyan Church of Whitehall. Twenty * _
years or more ago "Father" Streeter... -. '!
held the first religious service in its ": i
history at the Duck Lake school:.
house, since replaced by the one near
foot of White Lake on land donated
by John McNeil for the purpose, onr
condition that the house should always be held open for religious services. Miss Emma Gee organized the K
first Sunday School and Rev. Hulbert of the Whitehall Wesleyan
Church organized a branch membership of nine at Duck Lake and the v
con nection was kept up with regular
services until the number of resident SCHOOL COMM1SSIONER JOHN 0. RLED.
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
'P17e jpionre er. ~ ~ ~
67.
THOMAS KELLY, LINCOLN, MICI.
0 you remember when the trail was blazed,. SI And everyone was so much amazed
J At sight of the swamps and miles of pine,
i As they followed along the county line?
They found as God made them, lake, river and wood,
With the blue sky above where the cabin stood,
The soil had lain ages before their birth
Waiting for hands to make fruitful the earth.
How we lived that first long year
Has never since to my mind been clear;
But when sheltered in our cabin home
We had faith that seed time and harvest would come.
The pioneer suffered so long in the past
We think he deserves a pension at last.
There is one distinction--he never can miss
His name from the roll of the yearly tax list.
The country was new, but we were young,
The farmers were scattered, but everyone
Was ready to risk privation and harm,
For they came to the township to hew out a farm.
To clear up the land, to lumber and trade
Is the way the wealth of our county was made,
For no orchard or meadow or waving corn
Ever met our vision at evening or morn.
No sound of church bell ever greeted our ear
To remind us that God and Heaven were near.
The most common things were so hard to get then
That it took fifty cents to buy one hen.
Of neighbors three and miles between,
When all was told, had but one team.
How well we remember the children's gay laugh,
When we brought home the cow and her pretty red calf.
But the forest was green and the wild flowers gay,
And we visited far more than we do to-day.
To carry a baby and a pack beside
Was as easy then as it is now to ride.
We were sure of a hearty hand shake,
The warmest corner and a good corn cake;
On rare occasions we took great pride
In roasted venison or partridge fried.
68.
68. WHITE LAKIE REM71INISCENCES.
We came from New England, the prairie, the plain;
We had crossed the broad lake and come over the main
But when we talked over our hardships and fears
It seemed we had known each other for years.
'Tis a long, long time since that early day,
And some are weary and wrinkled and gray,
And some of our loved ones have passed to that shore
Where toiling and troubling and suffering are o'er.
All of us thought in the days gone by
When the forest shut out the light of the sky,
We would clear the land for the light and sun,
And have a good time when the work was done.
Then live in leisure and dwell in peace,
And gather the fruit of the earth's increase,
We felled the forest and cleared the land;
Where trees once stood, the farm house stands.
Where the wolf once howled around our sheep,
The fruit of our orchard we pile in heaps
The cattle are grazing on hill and plane,
And the store house is full of the golden grain.
Now out of our labor and out of the soil
Do we get full pay for all of our toil?
What is our share of the harvest vield,
When all is gathered from orchard and field?
The beautiful pine of the early day,
Has been drawn to the river and floated away;
Where the maple and oak and beech once stood,
Are farms in the sunshine fair and good.
Born of our toil,.w:e can point with pride
To the school house and hamlet on every side,
And culture and health and comfort and cheer
Result from the work of the Pioneer.
We can't build here for ourselves alone,
Others will gather where we have sown,
In the orchard we planted, on the farm we made,
Children will play in sunshine and shade.
When we with the living no longer abide,
But sleep in the vale or lone hill side.
The mansions above will be brighter when won,
And the Master has said "My servant, wel done!"
^^-"------------~J ~eg per (^nd ()l
t. ~ ~
A MISCELLANiE()US COLLECTION )1OF iE MINISC(JENIES.
In township I2 N., R. 17 W., which
comprises the present townships of
Whitehall and Montague, no record can
be found of any assessment roll made
prior to 1842, and that was as follows:
N. E. 1-4 of S. E. 1-4, Sec. fourteen, 40 acres
(which is the site of the old Dalton saw mill
on Silver Creek) Valuation 8 50.00
Lot 3, Sec. 33 (site of old Chas. Mears' saw
mill in S.W. corner of towsnhip) valuation 1,260.00
Lot 4, Sec. 33, Valuation 48.00
S. E. 1-4 of S. XV. 1-4, Sec. 33, rValuatlon i0.00
S. E. Fr'l of S. E. 1-4, Se. 32, Valuation 2.00
Total valuation of township 41,410.00
After this no roll was made till 1845.
Whitehall and Montague were at that
time included in Muskegon townlship
organization which consisted of the present townships of Muskegon, Laiketon,
Fruitland, White River, Montague,
Whitehall, Blue Lake, and Dalton. The
total valuation of Whitehall and Montague for that year was $1,746. There
was no annual meeting in Muskegon
township consequently nothingwas voted for township purposes. Geo. Ruddiman was Supervisor. In 1846 there is
no record of anly assessment in town 12,
17; but Timothy Eastman, chairman of
the Board of Supervisors of Ottawa
County, signed a certificate that the
valuation of the township of Muskegon
(which included the two tiers of townships from Norton on the South to Clay
Banks on the North) was $18,939 for
that year. The roll of 1847 shows a
valuation in Whitehall and Montague
of $877.64. In 1848 the valuation was
about the same and the valuation of the
entire territory of Muskegon township
was $12,535.86 and the State and County apportionment was $139.39.
Some recollections of Ebenezer Sprigg:
I left Old England for America in the
year 1856 intending to continue my
trade of manufacturing lumber. On arriving in Chicago I was directed to Chas.
Mears as a reliable man who always paid
his hired help. December 5, 1856, I
went aboard the schooner Japan, Capt.
Ryerson, bound for Duck Lake, Mich.
After a stormy trip we were obliged to
land at Grand Haven and walk the
beach to Duck Lake. At that time
Ottawa County extended from Grand
Haven to Manistee and it was said Mr.
Mears had the largest lumbering plant
in the county. He used both steam and
water power, had a general store and
post-office, and people came from miles
around to trade and get their mail. Indians were plenty and came to trade
too. Their "pappooses" were strapped
to a board and would be left leaning
against a tree or any convenient thing.
Animals were allowed to roam at will
and one day a fierce old hog attacked
70.
7,0lWHIT7E LAKE REMINISCENACES.
and partly devoured a baby. The Indians demanded the animal and it was
willingly given them. That night they
had a great fire and spirit dance and
burned the remains of the child with
the pig, hoping in this way to exorcise
the evil spirit, The country was almost
an unbroken wilderness but to me it
seemed full of God-given riches. There
was game, particularly deer; fish, fruit,
timber and good water in abundance.
Wolves were numerous but bears were
scarce. One need not be an expert to
kill a deer or catch fish. I caught many
muskellunge with a large hook clumsily
soldered to a tin tablespoon. Fever
and ague were prevalent and none could
escape its weakening grasp. In 1861 I
moved over to White Lake and have
seen the rise and fall of the lumber
trade. The pine trees are gone and
most of the mills too, but the lake is
now fast developing into a popular Summer Resort.
Mrs. F. A. Hinman, then Mary Brockman, came with her parents from Germany in 1858. After staying a few days
in Chicago they took passage on the
propeller C. Mears for Duck Lake. The
father and children walked to White
River where he secured a small boat
and went back for the mother and the
goods. She remembers the self adjusting tune of Bro. Friday spoken of in the
Muskegon Co. History. She married
F. A. Hinman in 1868 and resides now
on Division St., Whitehall. Mr. Hinman is at present assistant light keeper
at Manistee, Cora Hinman Jackson resides in M uskegon, Fannie is a '98 graduate, Fred, Jr., and Albert are at home.
George E. Gardiner came to Montague in 1873. He entered the Flouring
Mill to learn the business of milling,
which he followed during his lifetime.
He was away from here several years in
charge of large mills in Grand Rapids
and Rockford. In 1884 he returned to
take charge of the mill here. He was
married that same year to Miss Alice
Waugh, of Rockford. In 1894 he purchased a half interest in the mill. He
was prominent in village affairs, honorable in his dealings, and his early death
was sincerely mourned. He passed
away April ioth, 1896, after an illness
of several weeks duration.
Mrs. Betsy C. Rogers came from Kalamazoo with her husband in the Spirng
of 1854. The stage coach, sail boat,
and ox team were the only way of travelling. She has lived at various points
around the lake. While living at White
River she saw the "North Yuba," with
its load of winter supplies, go on the
beach a total wreck. From Long Point
she saw the steamer Oceana search for
the body of Geo. Rogers, (no relative),
who had fallen overboard and was
drowned. She now resides on Division
St., Whitehall, and we hope will live
many years yet to tell of her experiences.
Mrs. Serena Jansen came to White
Lake on the sailing vessel "Honest
John" in October, 1853. Herhusband,
Chas. Wilson, was first mate. She spent
the first Winter in the log house built
by Hanson. Mr. Wilson died and she
married Mr. Jansen. Her daughter,
Clara Wilson, a pupil in the first public
school, at present resides with her husband Myers Anderson in Wisconsin.
Dugold Leitch came to Maple Grove
in 186o. There were four of the children
at that time. Joe was born in 1864.
In 1875 Annie married Prof. H. Strong
and moved to Nebraska in 1878. The
parents and brothers followed. Joe was
elected a cadet to West Point in 1884,
he graduated in I894 and is now a First
WHITE LAKE REMINISCENCES.
71.
Lieutenent in the U. S. A. with the 24th
regiment. James went to Klondike Jan.
I, 1898. The remainder of the family
are in business in Centralia, Wash.
It is interesting to know how they
managed to load or unload boats in the
early time. There were no piers or
light house and a vessel would anchor
out, load or unload from a lighter. When
Jas. Jewel was building a mill on Heald's
Point the boilers were brought over on
a vessel. Frank Baker went aboard
and packed them so they were water
tight, then threw them overboard and
they floated ashore.
In 1859 Hon. Chas. Mears and Giles
Slocum platted and named the village
of Mears. In 1867 a petition was circulated and enough signatures obtained to change the name. It was sent to
Mr. Israel E. Carleton then member of
the State Legislature from this district.
The names suggested were already in
use in the State so the choice was left
to Mr. C., and Whitehall was the result.
I. E. Carleton purchased a water mill
of Hiram Hulburt on the creek that
bears his name in 1851. He came from
Port Huron, Mich. Mrs. C. died in '65
followed by Mr. C. in '71. Of their
children, Arthur resides at the old homestead., Susan Slater, 620,23d St.,Dcnver,
Col., Eliza Rogers in Grand Rapids, and
Edwin is a mail carrier in Muskegon.
J. W. Ocobock came to White Lake
in March, 1862. Whitehall was his
home the greater part of the time until
1885 when he moved to Hartford. Mich.,
where he died in April, 1892. His wife
and daughter, Mrs. Harriet Thompson,
and son, Geo. W. Ocobock, still live in
Hartford, James W., Jr., is in Chicago,
and Chas. A. remains in Whitehall.
The first "Fancy dress ball" was in
Cain's Hall, March 4, 1861, to celebrate
the inauguration of President Lincoln.
People came from miles around even
from Muskegon. The weather was so
cold it was impossible to keep the
ball-room warm with two stoves. After
supper the tables were removed and
they danced in the dining-room until
mornin g.
Isaac W. Berd, of the Sylvan Beach
Hotel, was born a slave in Virginia. He
was sold and taken to Shreveport, La.,
and afterward into the Southern army.
At LaGrange, Tenn., he joined the
Federal army and staid with them until the close of the war. He sailed on
Lake Michigan several years as stewart
on the passenger steamers. He then
settled in Montague.
About the year 1855 a man named
Wheat from Bradford Co., Pa., made
the first settlement at "Wheat Corners."
Nearly the same date Edwin and Truman Nichols came. They were followed by a brother, Gale. It was he who
drove the first stage between Muskegon
and Mears in the Summer of 1862. His
son A. W. Nichols lives at Big Rapids.
In 1855, Nathan Sargent built the
first house in what is now Montague.
The house is used by the Foundry for
a pattern shop at present. About '64
Andrus and Even Knudsen built the
first store building. Soon afterwards
'the Ferries purchased the ground and
platted the village naming it in honor
of the Rev. Wm. Montague Ferry.
In i856, the boiler of the Ferry mill
exploded and killed two men. The fireman was scalded, but the other man,
Fred Mitchell, was killed on the dock
by a piece of flying timber. A peculiar
circumstance being the soles of his new
boots were taken off as smoothly as a
knife could do.
72.
WTHITE LAKE REMINIISCENCES.
Mrs. B. F. Reed came with her husband in 1858 through an almost unbroken wilderness from Grand Rapids to
settle in the town of Ferry on White
River. She resides in Whitehall at present with her son, J. 0., the county school
commissioner. Mr. Reed died in 1896.
How many remember when the North
Yuba was wrecked and her cargo of
Winter supplies lost on the shores of
Lake Michigan? or July 4th, 1855, that
was celebrated by sawing the first board
in the new Long Point steam saw mill?
Hon. C. C. Thompson was for years
postmaster of Whitehall, and a pungent
newspaper writer. He was representative from this district and a familiar
figure in pioneer life. He died in 1891
and was buried a Whitehall.
C. H. Cook, formerly of Montague, is
prospecting for gold in Washington.
Mrs. C. H. Cook lives in Michigan City.
The daughter, Fannie, is married and
the son, John, is in a bank in Nebraska.
Samuel Raby was born in Plymouth,
England, in 1828. He learned pattern
making in his native land and came to
Montague in 1872 and has ever since
been in the employ of Wilson& Hendrie.
In 1864 the bridge was built between
Whitehall and Montague. Wm. Gee
and wife, of Coldwater, Mich., to visit
James B. Gee at the Gee Corners, were
the first team to cross the bridge.
Thomas Stanage, of Montague, is a
White Lake pioneer. Chas. Mears and
the Daltons were here before him. The
nearest postoffice was Grand Haven,
and the beach the only highway,
The Post Office was established in
1862, A. Mears, postmaster. Stephen
Hall walked to Muskegon and carried
the mail. J. Hinchman got first letter.
In September, 1870, the Booming Co.
was formed. The following October
the first train entered town. Rufus M.
Hedges bought tle first ticket.
Captain Dicey who served his country so well during the rebellion, in 5th
Mich. Cav., was last heard of in Saginaw.
Dr. John-A. Wheeler came in 1856.
He now lives with his wife and two
married daughters at Irving Park, Ill.
The Cains were among the very first
settlers on White River. Mrs. Cain and
children now reside in Seattle, Wash.
C. L. Streng, the popular Montague
merchant, came to the village in 1868
as bookkeeper for Ferry & Dowling.
Frank Blackmarr, who started the
first exchange bank in Whitehall in 1871
now lives in Duluth, Minnesota.
The first lawyer was Duane Thompson, 1865. The last heard of him he
was at Texarkania, Arkansas.
Many remember the genial W. H.
Woodbery. His present address is 767
Adams St., Chicago, Ill.
The first fire engine on the lake was
purchased by Montague 1873. Whitehall followed in 1874.
Mrs. Phebe Franklin's home is in
Grand Rapids. Mr. Franklin died in'95.
The first bank, The Exchange Bank,
was opened by F. Blackmarr, Sep. 14,'70.
The first newspaper on White Lake,
The Forum, was established in 1869,
The Tannery was built in 1866 and
sold to the Eagle Tanning Co. 1871.
The first steam mill in Whitehall was
built by Whittaker & Hall, 1856.
The first store building was built by
C. Mears in 1859.
L. G. Ripley came to Montague in '74.
The Outlook. ~ @
El). PHEILAN.
IM and rapidly growing
dim-ner are the pictures
that once went to the
makingLiup of the highly
colored panorama of
White Lake's racy past. The once conspicuous and important river driver, his
superlatively crimson mackinaw, with
sash and eye to match, and his peculiar
penchant for speedily divorcing himself
from his ninety days' salary, has now
ceased to be an important trade factor.
The fog of business stagnation hovering over us during the period of our
evolution from the lumbering interests
to more general ones is now lifting and
our little spark of hope for the mere
continuance of forming a dot on the
map has been fanned by substantial
proof into a flamne of certainty of not
only continued existence, but that our
pretty villages will win places well up
to the commercial front. The lumberman, the riverman, the pinery and the
mill have done yeoman service. To
them we owe our very creation. We
cannot, however, deem ourselves chargeable with any ingratitude if now we
wave to them a reverential osculation
from our finger tips and turn to extend
a welcome to the Summer outer, the
fruit grower, the farmer and the factory.
In the cases of the three first mentioned
every element of speculation has been
removed and the geometrical progression, which we cannot now check if we
would, must inevitably land us, if not
on the pinnacle, at least on the roof of
fame in their respective interests. Our
beautiful resorts ire perhaps entitled to
the first consideration as in conjunction
with their direct benefits there are auxiliary ones as sure as taxes to follow.
To capital a;ttracted by the beauties of
our lake, its harbor, shipping advantages and miles of unused dockage will
offer convincing argument that must
tempt to investment for factory sites.
In defense of our claim of being fruit
growers little need be said, since we
have in evidence some of the finest of
orchards in Michigan's famous fruit
belt, while the products of these sell
regularly as select or fancy fruit on the
Chicago and Eastern markets. It isbut
fair to add, however, that while we are
favored by the climatic conditions and
peculiar quality of soil that have made
the belt, of which we are the center,
famous, we have the important additional advantage of almost absolute absence
from frost, not afforded those sections
farther removed from Lake Michigan.
Regarding our agricultural advancement we only invite investigation of
of our almost marvelous growth during
the past ten years.
With a justified appeal to the manufacturer and a prediction that, unless
our "cable" be mysteriously cut, the
world will soon hear of our successful
bombardment of adversity, we are,
yours for advancement!
2t
SRI
v t, ýtl ý14 2
A D VHR TISE MIE N TS.
Ptl" Dtu~oon~aonUaBnk,
~)~~ Wusktsouo ~Zfaiiics*,u
H. N. HOVEY, Vice Prests.
J. F. DENSLOW,(
3 per cent. Interest paid on Savings Deposits.
Deposits received from One Dollar up.
Money loaned on Mortgage or
Other Satisfactory Security.
We voVld be tQd to 1GVe -jfrauk p. aiamontoirb,
o\aro do b\15ine55 \?t~ \, Cashier.
LYMAN T. COVELL,
LW1BER, LATH
*f SIIINQLES.
---ý ýýRI AND FARMING LANDS.
Wlt ll M
Dealer in General Merchandise, Furnl=
ture, Wall Paper, Carpets, Crock=
ery, Glassware, Hardware,
Stoves, Tinware, Agri=
FUNERAL FURNISHER and DIRECTOR. cultural Implements.
Embalming a Specialty. CARRIAGES, BUGGIES, ROAD WAGONS, and BICYCLES
calls Attended to Night or Day. Household Goods R,,esortj Ga Spcialty.
and Furnishings. ds\3ILUU~.3elry
No. 311, Colby Street, or Residence No. 323, Colby Street, W~hitehall, Mich.
AD VER. TISE-fENYVTS.
Trlmmlnp51
Feathler5.
Rtbbon5,?GncY Good5,
and alt trticte5 of
Headwear for Ladies
the proper place to go is
Wtrs* IL %&.I Rrtbb's,
Bank Block,
Montague, Mich.
Riabellsbioobt
1~. V. jSr~or, j~roptr.
is one of the
@&5ie5t l~e5ortc, on Wh1tite LGe.
Ample Room.
Nice Accommodations.
Rates Reasonable.
Address
F. D. PRYOR, - Montague, Michigan.
'Ulnion, Pbarhet.
Fresh and Salt Moats,
Poultry and Game,
in Season.
MOTTO': Good Goods at Going Prices.
WHITEHALL, - MICHIGAN,
R05CH1 BRO30
carry the representative
and most dependable lines in
CLOTHING,
SHOES,
FURNISHINGS,
HATS & CAPS.
THE FAM4IOM -S-.
"Hammersiough Bros. Clothes,"
"Hart, Shaffner and Marks Clothes."
These clothes are noted for perfection of fit,
finish and durability.
Prices $12 to $20 for suits.
Spring and Autumn Overcoats.
Excellent materials. $1 O0to $1 5.
29 & 31 Western Ave*,
MUSKEGON. - - MICH.
a-. IR. Buotitn, ]Ptroplr,
One of
The Leading Resorts
of the Shore.
Address ). R.AU5TIfI,
MICHILLINDA, HIGH.
Wttorner.
Real Estate and
Collections.
LAKE SHORE PROPERTY BOUGHT AND SOLD.
COLLECTIONS MA DE.
~Whitehall, - lich,
MICHIGAN
AD VAR TISEMENVTS.
ratSca '7 & uVienitgstoln,
Oeneral fiercbanotse.
The Best Place to Buy
Dry Goods, Carpets aud Draperies,
Dress Skirts, Capes, Hosiery'
(JUderwear, Groceries.
Best Goods at Lowest Prices.
WIHITEHA LL, HICH.
ARTHUR JONES. CHARLES D. KENNEDY.,Ojjoues & e i:mbj,
lttornep at Law.
Rooms 31, 31W and 32 Mason Block.
MUSKEGON. - - MICH.
Central flarklet.
dealer in
Fresh and Salt Meats, Produce, Game
and Poultry in Season.
Highest Cash Price paid for Orchard and
Farm Products. Car-lots a Specialty.
W hite hll, nIIic1.t
MaIISnager.
On
FersnoorWon
~eyort White Lake.
WHITEHALL, - - MICH.
3.l iE. Elunior c,
S. V. C. 0. lEbinbr gb.
t. f. i,. ant b. - lasgow.
Office over Pitkin's Drug Store,
Corner Colby Street and Mears Avenue.
Whdeite t, ~ ~ ~ NVic1.
E.~ E. 8811000 clCotf~lug Co.,
Clotbing.
Furnishing Goods, Hats, and Caps.
Fine Tailoring a Specialty.
First door west of Post Office, Colby St.
Whitehall, MAich,
cental Surgeon.
Gold Fillings, Bridge W Iork and CrowIns
a Specia/ty.
Vitilized Air and Chloroform given for the
Painless Extraction or Teeth.
Xlbiteball, tIWcb.
It. TE. oncs,
11bvsician ant surgeon,
Professional Calls will receive -
%jL-4f Prompt Attention.
Office in Ripley Block.
MONTAC GC UE, MICH.
tbnitj, Nints, o1 t & -ECru i,
fEttornegs.
FRANCIS SMITH,
F. A. NIMS,
H. J. HOYT,
DAVID D. ERWIN.
5tl~e~On, ~
9 Mcich.
Commizton AIercbant.
Fruits, Vegetables,
Baled Hay, Etc.
A Square Deal to all Alike,
WHITEHALL, - MICHIGAN
A DI) TJ~ER TISE-,IiENATTS.
SIpotogirap her.
Up-to-Date Work and Right Prices.
Kodak Work Finished.
IF.DllolW3,!5
is i-epalrtito o (10ll work in the
I es t a ntd mos t ] tmpri-o v e (I a i-ne nr.
Tettuth exti 'scin, filled and fm, n -
1w cicl'at res oable rates,'antd
satistfaction gunilran toot in e:,vcery
CI~Se
Wýitte4all,
~ ~ Ntick.
Oracer.
To/bi strivecs to mia/c an /zoncst Dollar by
Sc/llng First- Glass Groccrics at rcalsonabic prices. GiVc him a call.
Pvon{l\J,du~
~(~9Dc~
WHITEHALL,
-MICH+
Ube Prugg~ito
~ n ~ taiJe.
U-ouitagut7 troll IZmovt-,ý
Mon~atague, /IBcb.
Esta~blished 1871. mnfcueso
Incorjporated 189-3. mnfcueso
-~Z~iI7Stationery and Marine
Engines and Boilers. ~9
GENERAL MILL
MA CHINE R.
11b-till13ovu,
Oenerat ~BlacThomitb.
Horse Shoeiong a Specialty.
MONTAGUE,
1huggioto.
MICHIGAN.
AlIONTA GCUE,
(1vo. ID. Fharrik,
OlIGHF.
lraflot3ant) @rgams.
PIANOS.
Steinway & Sons.Hvr. Everett. ree. Wegman & Co.
Haines.
ORGANS.
Farratid & Votey. Packard. Stor.y & Clark.
Agent f or Wes tern Mich. for'The " Syniohon3"' or S elf -
playig orgn'I'. he Angelus and Orchestral,
ih vnderf ul self-playing piano
attac-chment.
21.23 So, Division St., 2nd Floor, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH,
Hosiery,
Underwear,
Gent's Furnishings,
Notions, Etc., Etc.
-MONTAGUE, AHIGH.,
ADV ERT
Vublisber,
The Whitehall Forum, The Two Lists
make A
Established 1869. PROFITABLE
The Montague Observer, COMBINATION
Established 1871. forAdvi-wake
fine 30ob 1Printin g our pecialtv.
TErickson, tvff "ve & o,
manufacturers of and dealers in
Dreoseb Lumnber.
SASH AND DOOR FRAMES MADE TO ORDER.
Estimates on all kinds of work
promptly furnished.
All our work is finishedin a firstclass manner.
We make Center TABLES,
BOOK CASES, WRITING
DESKS, etc., to order.
p~roprtetor,
The Nevw White Lake
0
aylvan seach Hotel. ( Mich.
Finest Summer Resort on the East Shore.
F6r Particulars Address
1. W. BERD, Prop'r., Montague, Mich.
Allbheo i~l~uttilr,
M1ontague, /Nlcb,
manufacturer of and dealer in
Boots and Shoes,
Harnesses and Buggies,
Carriages, Etc., Etc.
vilps. Subtetos.
Utilbiteball, Afich.
LIVERY AND FEED STABLE.
Rigs for Commercial Men a Specialty.
First Class Turnouts at Reasonable Prices.
ISEIMLENTS.
YNelso C & 11o.,
Oeneral IIIercbantbte.
Cor. Colby St. and Mears Ave.
Whitehall, ~ NQjich.
I D. F.c IleI
I[nsurance.
FIRE, LIFE and
ACCIDENT.,,Y
I represent prompt and reliable
companies and give careful personal attention to the business.
Call on me at Montague Bank.
boceie an rovirogatbon.
000CCUrSe aHO OCOSrofeONS.
MEARS AVENUE.
WHITEHALL, -
(tIjartes aorlib llm,
MICH*
Urop Zaunbrp.
GOOD WORK,
-IR PROMPTLY DONE.
Whitehall, ~ ~ VJich.
U. E. boaubbiell,
Orocertes anD orovtisons.
Fruits and Vegetables.
Chase and Sanborn's Red Seal Brand
of Coffee.
OntaLe, @ ( ~ NicD.
WM. D. HARDY CO.,
rIUSKEQON, rilc.,
SThe one store in.
Muskegon County
where you can find
everything to wear
under one roof
where only the
Most Reliable Goods
are offered for sale
and in every case
prices are made T
the very lowest obtainable in any of
-- the markets.
Your Moneg Back
If You Want It.
~ @ @ ~ ~@ @ @~
AzlD f "ElR TISEAJE N IS.
WSEASON 189&.-j
qGoodrich Transort tion Go.
WHITEHALL, In (onneclion With t e
MONTAGUE, y v> K E '~' N
CHICAGO Line, S R IRD Y9
Str. RYERSON leaves Whitehall
dock daily at 5,-p. in., arriving at Grand Haven
8, p. i., where close connection is made with Goodrich
Steamers for Chicago. Leaves Grand Haven, daily,,
6, a. i,, on arrival Goodrich Steamers from
Chicago, arrives Whitehall, 8, a. m.
top5 at ail l eI5O rt5 on WI7its La\e 1otI7 Weay5.
This is the Only Daily Line and the Only First-class Line
between these Points and chicago.
I AT $, RFreight shipped by this Line reaches chicago
FARE ONEWAY$,ROUND TRIP$, at 6, a. in., earlier than by alny other route.
Capt. DAVE WiLSON. Mgr.. W. D. ROSIE, Agt. G. T. Co.,
Whitehall.
Muskegon.
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in
Hard arc, ill and Vessel Suppliess
Lv l-bricatiln4 Oils, LCathe'r Fclt2Iiz, A laska Reff7 zgrtorS,
1/lu In 7 macting 7-Oils, Rullwr IBelting, G-an 1OS Rngs
Jctroit Eziry TV/icc/s. Eclzpsc Gaskets, PiziladEip/zia Lawa z A6'Iz'crS
~c~ Spi~(t Pz3's. Py1171zoutl/ Lath Ya7rn, S/heri'in-!Vz;llzanzs P)aint,
Oil Stoves fins &.tlserl GV, Pool5 n 0is1i a.
Raniges.i
Telephone 53, 45, W. Western Av.,
i M5;KEQONMl
(L-~ mu
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4Ab n 011
SREMEMBER THE MAINE
s object in buying
CLOTHINQ 5nOE5. is to trade where you are sure to get the
greatest value for your money.
It to go to 1USKEGON and trade at the
wi l Largest Store,
Pay yMost Reliable Store,
Pay The One Price Store,
YOu Strictly CasliyStore,
In Western Michigan.
With all these advantages we can and do sell Reliable Goods at
less price than the merchants doing business on the
"Charge It" plan, Think this over and go to
Muske A. I. CONNER & CO.
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WHEENCE
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