Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY, MICHIGAN by Florence McKinnon Gwinn Huron County Pioneer & Historical Society, 1922 [page 27] CHAPTER II RUBICON TOWNSHIP Where the township of Rubicon now is was for many years the site of lumbermen's camps. Forest Bay was quite a large place then. The meeting to perfect [page 28] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY the organization of this township was held April 4th 1859. W. D. LUDINGTON was elected the first supervisor. It is almost impossible to tell at this date just who the first settlers were. 1855 is the date of the first ap- pearance of the white race at this particular part of the county. Hunters and trappers as well as fishermen from St. Clair and Sanilac counties used to make it their headquarters. About the year 1850 shingle weavers came up the shore and plied their trade here. In 1855 a man by the name of DIAMOND came along and camped for some time in the vicinity. Later he took out several United States patents of timber land. The river that flows through the township is named after him. He was here two years and during that time Port Hope was named in this manner, according to a paper given by Mrs. BISBEE of that place. Mr. SOUTHERD and Mr. WITCHER, put off of a steamboat outside of here, tried to reach the shore in a small skiff. They rowed all night with no success and Mr. SOUTHRER declared that if ever they reached the shore they would call the place of landing a port of hope. They finally landed at the site of the present docks and true to their word named it Port Hope. In 1857 W. R. STAFFORD came from Lexington and purchased the claims of SOUTHERD and DIAMOND and the rest of his company took out United States patents on the balance of the land. A saw mill was erected in 1858 and the town grew all around this mill. This plant of STAFFORD'S was entirely destroyed by the fire of '71 Over 100,000,000 feet of choice lumber was manufactured here. Mr. STAFFORD drove the first double team over the lake shore road and also brought in the first buggy. Later he drove the first cutter into Port Austin. W. F. CLARK, of Port Austin, editor of The Huron County News, in an article on Port Hope in 1871, speaks of Mr. H. E. BAKER, one of the editors of The Detroit Tribune, making a trip up the shore. Mr. BAKER was [page 29a] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY [Portrait of Albert E. Sleeper] [page 29] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY especially impressed with the town of Port Hope in that day and says: "Port Hope on the whole is the handsomest village in general appearance above Lexington. It has a popu- lation of 400 and a large mill owned by STAFFORD & HAY- wood. The unusually neat and thrifty appearance of the town I attribute to the fact that its proprietors have wisely sold their village lots to all who desire to pur- chase and hence most of the houses are enclosed with neat fences, painted and surrounded by gardens. There is nothing like giving a man ownership in the roof that shelters and the spot of ground in which it stands. Rent- ed tenements are not improved by the occupant for he has no inducement to do it and the landlord has scarcely more. Port Hope stands out conspicuously in this regard from all the towns along Lake Huron's shore. There is also a large tannery here, partly owned by the town proprietors and partly by Messrs. DEAN, who run it and who are bred to their business and understand it to the minutest detail. Here may be met the very unusual sight of father, son and grandson all at work and inter- ested in the same business enterprise. The hides that are consumed are purchased in Toledo and other down- lake ports, the freight in upward bound vessels being small while hemlock bark is of the best quality and in an unlimited supply. Their large yearly product finds a ready market in the New England States. There is talk of soon building a meeting house. This village is a rival of Sand Beach for the harbor of refuge. It is said that Port Hope possesses much better anchorage ground, but the whole matter is a question of facts easily as- certainable. The town is about midway in the county north and south with roads diverging into interior towns so that it will command a goodly portion of the trade. The town itself is laid out into 40 or more squares or blocks and commanding one of the finest views on the entire lakes. On the south is a large grove or park which has been named for General MEADE, who in former years erected a tower that now stands for observations while [page 30] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY surveying the lakes. The grove has since been improved and drives made through it so that all may enjoy a walk or drive beneath those wide-spreading branches that have withstood the storms of ages. Vessels coming up the lake cannot get but a short distance above Port Hope with a northwest wind as the land breaks off to the west above this point and a heavy sea always meets them from Saginaw Bay. Vessels bound down the lakes on their regular course make the land at this point and change their course for St. Clair river." Port Hope had two schools, an English school and also a German school, of from 40 to 60 pupils under the charge of Rev. TH. SCHOECK. This town was the trading center for the adjoining townships of Bloom- field, Gore and Huron. It had a fine location, extending back from the shore about three-fourths of a mile. The sand ridge which is supposed to once have been the bank of the lake and skirts the county here nearly meets the shore, giving the village an elevated appear- ance with an even slope to the water. The first religious services held in the town were by the Methodists. Rev. JOHN KAY preached to the Presbyterians in 1875. The first school in Rubicon township was taught by THOMAS NICHOLS, afterwards a Methodist preacher. Mrs. JAMES E. HAYWARD was the first teacher in the village public school. W. R. STAFFORD was the first postmaster and held that position 22 years. The tax roll of 1864 shows STAFFORD personally assessed for two houses, a carriage and a watch. He paid $1.72 tax on the watch. WILLIAM LUDINGTON named the township which had been known in the years before by the settlers of Sani- lac and St. Clair as "town 17." It was the headquarters for their lumbermen and fishermen. It had their dense forests of pine, beech, maple, birch, ash, basswood, cedar and hemlock. The soil is varying in character, in some parts dry and in others a sandy loam. In time [page 31] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY the timber either had been cut into logs or burned and many squatter farms appeared all around the little village. Much of the lumber was shipped to Ohio. When once a week mail was received it did much to melt the forest-line which separated the little village from the outside world. The great forest fires of '71 and '81 did untold damage but it enabled the settlers as at so many other points in the county to clear with rapidity and cheap- ness and the result has been excellent farms. The track of the fires can only be traced today by the new structures which have taken the place of the old ones, neater and better buildings, showing the en- terprise and thrift of the community. Some of the most noticeable farms were those owned by JAMES MILLER, ROBERT HUNTER and JOHN McWILLIS. W. R. STAFFORD'S farm contained 800 acres all under cultivation. He also had another farm called the "Mill Farm", used for stock, containing more than 1,000 acres. The first salt well in the village owned by the Port Hope Salt Company made annually about 45,000 bar- rels of salt. The second one was owned by R. C. OGILVIE and had a capacity of 200 barrels per day. W. H. LEUTY had a general store; BERT MORRIS, the hardware busi- ness; F. BECKWITH dealt in boots and shoes, while Mrs. J. GELTZ was the milliner. A fine hotel, of which ROBERT WINTERBOTTOM was the genial proprietor, stood on Main street. As the lake cuts off on the east side a portion the total area of the township is about 23 square miles. The extremes of temperature are in a great measure pre- vented by the influence of the surrounding waters mak- ing the climate very favorable for the cultivation of fruit. ==========================================================================