The Century Book
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THE CENTURY BOOK 1863 ESCANABA 1963 as years pass by..... Escanaba, its first 100 years! When Escanaba was young our pioneers lived with visions of a brighter future. Now we take for granted miracles of which they did not dream. How did our people work and live? What were their achievements? These and other questions are answered in The Century Book, which is not a "history" in the usual meaning but rather a commentary to the fact and an interpretation of the statistic. You'll read about the adventuresome era of the big trees, the plight of a little girl lost, Eli P. Royce wrote of city aldermen in his diary, and how the "fever girl" fooled the doctors. You may for the first time learn that there would have been no Escanaba at Sand Point if there had not been a dispute over land at Old Masonville; and you'll read about an airplane flight that took four days to hop from the ground to the top of a pine tree. Most of all you'll be impressed anew by the many good deeds of the people from many lands who, in the exercise of freedom, created in Escanaba their contribution to the American heritage. Foreword Escanaba was born in a period that throbbed with the excitement of the fast developing North Country. Nearby there could still be heard the occasional beat of an Indian drum. From the South came the disturbing echo of the Civil War. One hundred years ago, in January of 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation freeing the slaves. But it would be more than two years later, after Appomatox, that the war would end. Iron ore was needed to convert into steel for the armies of the North, for cannon, for ships. At Sand Point, selected as the Escanaba town site, streets surveyed by Eli P. Royce were dotted with pine stumps. The trees had been cut beginning about 1852 and a log house was built on the bay shore opposite the present House of Ludington. Construction of docks and railroads brought people and the need for housing and in 1863 three Aboarding houses@ for workmen were built - the first permanent settlement. Within the century there would be the sorrow of other wars, the hardship of depressions -- and the bright achievements and advances in social, scientific, industrial and agricultural fields. Escanaba and its people were to share in all of the these trials and troubles, in hopes and aspirations of the nation. The century was to see the development of libraries, hospitals, and schools both public and private. The telephone, the movies, the automobile, radio, television B each era ended but to set the stage for a new and different one ahead. This Centennial Book seeks to capture in some small measure the vigor of a people from many lands who, through the opportunity of individual freedom, became masters of their fate, builders of their future, and creators of an American heritage. Many persons of the Escanaba community volunteered time and knowledge in assembling material for this chronicle and commentary. The volume was inspired by the leaders of the Delta County Historical Society, was sponsored by the Escanaba Centennial Corporation, and received the generous support of business and industry. No expression of appreciation would be complete without acknowledging the gift of paper for the book from the Mead Corporation=s Escanaba Division through the courtesy of Mr. George Douglas, and the indefatigable researching aid given by Mr. Dave S. Coon, curator of the Delta County Historical Museum. Perhaps special thanks should be accorded the Centennial executive committee B Mr. Dean Shipman, Mr. George Harvey and Mr. Walter Lewke -B for their understanding and loyalty toward a project which at times seemed bewilderingly complex. That the Centennial Book will have a lasting benefit is the hope of the book committee. Its success will be due to the work of its many authors; its shortcomings must be ascribed to me. March 1, 1963 Clint Dunathan Acknowledgment The preparation of this volume was made possible through the assistance of many persons who researched, wrote and advised. Particular acknowledgment is due the following individuals and organizations. Art Slaughter, geologist, Michigan Department of Conservation. Mrs. Cornelia M. Jensen, director, Delta County Historical Society. John J. Mitchell, director, Delta County Historical Society. Carl J. Sawyer, president, Sawyer Stoll Timber Co. O.W. Brookes, trainmaster, Chicago & North Western Railway Co. A. V. Aronson, former city manager, City of Escanaba. Mrs. Amy Moberg, Escanaba Daily Press. John A. Lemmer, former superintendent, Escanaba Public Schools. William J. Duchaine, author, former newspaper and radio news editor. Arne Arntzen, G. Arntzen Architect & Co. Victor Powers, Escanaba Daily Press. J. L. Heirman, Delta County extension director, Michigan State University Extension Service. Arnold Alsten, business representative, Teamsters & Chauffeurs Union. Jean Worth, editor, Escanaba Daily Press. Harold Vanlerberghe, Mead Corporation, mayor of the City of Escanaba. Charles Follo, Upper Peninsula extension supervisor, University of Michigan Extension Service. Nels Bergeon, fire chief, and Harold Finman, police chief, City of Escanaba. Mrs. Fred Leighton, Mrs. Nancy Thomas, Atty. James E. Frost, Atty. John G. Erickson, Jack Foster. The Escanaba League of Women Voters. The Carnegie Public Library and Miss Mary Croteau, librarian. Ray Crandall, Escanaba Daily Press. With appreciation, contributions of photographs for this volume are credited to: The Delta County Historical Mrs. Paul Richter Victor Anderson B. F. Schultz The Escanaba Daily Press Gust Asp Robert Groos Arthur J. Harvey With understandable personal warmth the editor acknowledges assistance in research, manuscript typing and the unfailing encouragement of his wife in the Century Book project. Table of Contents This Pleasant Land Call Them Bays de Noc The Days Before Escanaba Eli P. Royce Of Men and Ships The Big Trees The C. & N.W. Railway A Town is Born Look to Heaven Let Us Have Schools The Belle Harvey Story A Letter to Mail The Hard Life For the Fun of It Come, Josephine All The News Carriage Society The Farmer Healing Becomes Science Century of Sports Organized Labor Laws, Courts and Crimes Old Calico The Fire Laddies People and Politics Law and Order Our Industries, Our Future With special acknowledgment the Escanaba Centennial Corporation recognizes the generous contributions in support of the Centennial program by the following industrial firms and business institutions: ESCANABA & LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD STATE BANK OF ESCANABA MEAD CORPORATION FIRST NATIONAL BANK HARNISCHFEGER CORPORATION ESCANABA NATIONAL BANK This Pleasant Land Perhaps as few as 2,500 years ago, about the time of Confucius, Chinese philosopher, the land on which Escanaba is built was awash beneath the waves of an ancient lake. This lake was larger than the present Lake Michigan and was fed by meltwater of retreating glaciers. Beach ridges and sand dunes, nearly all destroyed or removed by street and home construction, crossed the lands on which the city has been built. They marked phases of advance or retreat of the shoreline of higher lake levels. The gentle slopes and generally flat nature of the townsite, broken by ridges and dunes still evident along Lake Shore Drive and the Escanaba Country Club golf course, provided a stable foundation for building, good drainage, and facilitated the layout of broad streets. Sand Point, only a few feet higher than the level of Little Bay de Noc, is a striking feature of the Escanaba shoreline. Built up by sands deposited by currents of water, Sand Point has just east of it (hidden by the waters of the bay) and 85-foot-deep channel that was once a drainage river. Geologist believe the narrow steep sided channel, well known to fishermen and mariners, was formed late in the glacial period when Lake Michigan water was 350 feet below its present level. Except for water, the Escanaba area and the whole of Delta County is not known to be rich in mineral resources, and the only minerals production is a little sand and gravel for construction purposes and road aggregates. The total value of this production is less than one-half million dollars annually. In years past explorations have been made for iron, coal and oil. Some limestones have been burned to make cement, and Stonington Peninsula shales have been used for brick manufacture and fertilizer. Douglas Houghton, first state geologist, visited the ALittle Bay de Noquet@ area in an exploration for minerals in 1837, the same year that Michigan was admitted to the Union. With George H. Bules, botanist, and three carsmen in a small boat with a sail (probably a Mackinaw boat) Houghton coasted the Little Bay de Noc shore and camped overnight at Breezy Point, three miles south of Sand Point, on August 20, 1837. Michael Gunter and Chris Skaug in a search for coal drilled two holes, one 640 feet and the second 848 feet deep on the H. Wagner farm at Stonington in 1900. No coal was found but Gunter=s interest in other minerals was stimulated. In 1918 he appealed Ato the patriotic men of Delta County to join in making use of the big beds of potash and other valuable minerals that have been discovered by him in the county.@ ADelta County will break the strangle hold which Kaiser Wilhelm is exerting on the people of these United States, since withholding the German potash . .@ Gunter promised. It was the Gunter spirit rather than Delta County potash that helped with the war, however. Interest in oil and gas possibilities date back to 1900. A Milwaukee company drilled a well seven miles north and east of Rapid River in that year and in 1927 a local firm put down a well near Highway U.S.