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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 66] CHAPTER III EARLY TOWNSHIP HISTORY LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT At the annual meetings of the Board of Supervisors, October 15, 1872, W. W. WHITELAM in the midst of a heated discussion between the towns for a permanent location of the county seat offered a resolution which on motion of Mr. HANSELMAN, seconded by Mr. SCOTT was carried by a handsome majority, designating the pres- ent site of the county seat of Huron County. Woods & Co. donated the county 40 acres to be used for county purposes. During the coming summer the contract was let to "SEP" IRWIN for clearing the site and erecting a temporary building for the use of the county until the completion of a brick court house. Mr. IRWIN had the building ready for the October meeting of the Board of Supervisors in 1873. This was the only building within several miles and the members of the board brought bedding with them and boarded in a temporary shanty erected for that purpose. In the fall of that same year Mr. IRWIN commenced the erection of a large hotel which was destroyed in the fire of '81. It has been replaced by the present hotel IRWIN. Mr. IRWIN thus describes the fire which nearly swept everything before it: "In 1881 the 4th of September, which happened to be my birth- day, we had this second fire. About 11 o'clock the fire was about two miles west of us. I came in just before [page 67] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY dinner and said to my wife - 'You had better get the girls over to the court house. We are going to have a big fire and there will be no chance to get away.' Well, they went to the court house. My son, who was about 17 or 18 had been to the west fighting the fire. He came in and as he was very hot took off his shoes and left them just outside. It so happened that after the fire came the boy had no shoes. My wife was undaunted by our loss and said: 'We will have to build again.' With all the energy we had we went to work and built the sec- ond house." Just after Mr. IRWIN completed the first building L. MATHEWS put up a building in which he car- ried on a general store. The following season ROBERT PHILP built a store which was burned in the fire of '81. Mr. PHILP immediately rebuilt and in 60 days his business was in running order, building completed, stocked and trade in full operation. Being away from all means of transportation, either by rail or water, the town of Bad Axe had but slow growth for the first seven years. The population at the end of that time was only 179. The post office was first opened about three miles west on the state road. This was in 1868 and the mail was carried in on the back of a horse and received but once a week. The people of today can hardly appreciate what it means to live in an isolated town with few mail facilities. CHAS. BROWN was the first postmaster, retaining this office until 1875 whe "SEP" IRWIN was appointed. The pioneer paper was the "Backwoodsman", started by BELLE IRWIN in 1876. In 1880 it was sold and the name changed to the "Huron Tribune", GEORGE A. MAYWOOD and JOHN MAYWOOD being the proprietors. Later JOHN MAYWOOD had entire control of the plant. The Bad Axe Democrat was started by E. J. DIAMOND and later sold to JACOB RORICK. Among the pioneer lawyers we find the names of HIRAM CHIPMAN, W. T. BOPE, GEORGE MAYWOOD and Mr. CARPENTER. Mr. CHIPMAN came to Bad Axe Aug. 3, 1875 and was prominently identified with the growth and de- [page 68] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY velopment of law in that town. He told the story of that day in these words: "When I arrived in Bad Axe there were just 18 people living there. The first man I saw was "SEP" IRWIN sweeping off his steps. There were very few settlers and they were all Canadians as far as I could find out. Good, generous sort of fellows. When the fire of '81 burned this village I was coming down main street by the hotel, or where the IRWIN hotel had been, now a heap of ruins and ashes. Mr. IRWIN had men engaged in putting up a barn. As I passed by I heard "SEP" IRWIN say "he-yo-he"! Phoenix-like he was there raising a barn over those ashes. I thought that is the spirit of our people. No matter if you do burn them up the next thing you hear is "He-yo-he"! Mr. CHIPMAN was elected prosecuting attorney of the county in 1881. W. T. BOPE came to Bad Axe in January 1879 and established his business in company with GEORGE W. CARPENTER with whom he was associated for one year. Later he was associated with HIRAM L. CHIPMAN. Mr. BOPE was the first president of the Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society and always took an active part in its welfare until ill health compelled him to resign his position. "Col." BOPE was intensely interested in the county's pioneer days and in one of his addresses before the society said: "We hope that chil- dren in thier cradles today may be 50 years hence con- tinuing the work of this Historical Society." He was elected president emeritus of the society at the annual meeting of 1918, which position he held until his death in the winter of 1919. Among the men prominent in the early affairs of the county we find two especially deserving of mention - RICHARD SMITH and CHARLES E. THOMPSON. Mr. SMITH came to Port Austin at the close of the Civil War in company with a comrade who had been with him in the army. They purchased 120 acres on which they spent the winter. In the spring Mr. SMITH worked in [page 69] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY Port Austin a couple of months, then entered the em- ployment of CHAS. B. COTTERELL whose name is also on the pioneer roll. From the fall of 1866 he held various offices in county affairs for 12 years moving to Bad Axe in 1873, living there until 1877, when he opened an abstract office in Port Austin. Mr. THOMPSON came to Huron county with his parents in 1854, being absent only during the time he was in school in Detroit. He worked in New River, Port Hope and Huron City until he was nominated and elected county clerk in 1876 on the Republican ticket. Held this office two terms. In 1880 he was elected county treasurer for two terms and in 1884 he was elected register of deeds, holding this office six years. C. D. THOMPSON is his son and ranks high as a county historian. He held the office of president of the Huron County Pioneer and Historical Society and aided in getting the system of county parks organized. THOMAS MORROW, who built the MORROW House in 1883 came to Port Austin with his parents in 1854. He was overseer of the county farm for seven years and also foreman in lumber camps for several years. Among the early physicians were W. H. DEADY, M. C. McDONNELL, H. GALE, E. C. DAVID and J. B. DIXON. Bad Axe is well known today to all the medical fraternity as the home of the late Dr. HERRINGTON, whose fame as a surgeon was not confined to this state. B. F. SCOTT was one of the enterprising men of that period locating here in 1879. He manufactured lumber and flour, had a large elevator and did a general mer- chandise business. At that time he cut about 3,000,000 feet of lumber annually. REUBEN RAPSON had a wagon shop, which he started in 1874. In the jewelry trade were W. S. SMALL and N. I. CUMMINGS. E. A. JOHN- son was the proprietor of a harness shop. GEORGE C. CLARK had a grain elevator, J. S. DEADY and J. M. HONEY, drugs; F. H. KRAUSE, furniture. Blacksmith shops, CHAS. [page 70] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY McAVOY and REUBEN RAPSON. Planing mill, BELLE IRWIN; hardware, L. C. TRUAX and JAS. STILLWELL; meat market, ANDREW & Son and KELLEY Bros.; shoe shops, C. FOSTER and J. S. EMERY; real estate, the MAYWOOD Bros. The millinery shop was conducted by ROSSITER & BROWER. Other well known men in Bad Axe were O'DELL & COLLINS, GEORGE SMILEY, JAS. E. ROBERTS and J. A. MORGAN. Mr. MORGAN was born in Wales and came to America in 1848. He was a tailor by trade and was noted as a superior workman in that line of business. He came to Bad Axe in 1877, erected a building and established a fine trade there. After his death his daughter, Miss RUTH MORGAN, successfully carried on the business for several years. She was an excellent buyer, a better seller and altogether an admirable example of what a woman can accomplish when she sets out to do for herself. His other two children, W. T. MORGAN and Miss MARY, have been identi- fied with the best interests of Bad Axe for many years. Miss MARY is now the only member of the family living. She is an influential member of the Pioneer and Historic- al Society and has served on the executive committee ever since its inception. It is worthy of note that she has lived in the same house continuously for over 43 years. She has charge of the public library of Bad Axe and makes a most efficient librarian. The site upon which Bad Axe is built is an elevated plateau sloping gradually on all sides into low bottom lands. The soil consists of a gravelly loam with sub- stratum of gravel. The nature of the soil is such that it absorbs the heaviest rain in the course of a few hours, leaving the ground as dry and pleasant as before the shower, yet the soil is sufficiently retentive of moisture for the growth of good gardens and beautiful lawns. Stretching away from the city is a broad acreage of fine farming land. Very early in the history of Bad Axe the people turn- ed their attention to religious matters and the various societies began the work which has resulted in the [page 71] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY establishment of several fine churches. In the Huron County News of 1883 we read the following item: "A Presbyterian church was organized in Bad Axe with 26 members by the Rev. JOHN KAY and E. P. CLARK. The following persons were chosen elders: DONALD McTAG- GART of Sheridan, JOHN McKENZIE, of Colfax, Mr. RAP- SON, Sr., of Verona and DONALD SHAW, of PARIS, thus rep- resenting four townships. Many of the members of the organization resided quite a distance from the town and this fact led to the disbandment of the society later on." Finally the United Presbyterians established a so- ciety in 1881. Another paper states that the First Pres- byterian church was organized in 1878 under the labors of Rev. J. BEECHER. The first church had seats around the wall. The choir generally used these while the con- gregation often utilized cord wood for seats. When they had evening services each family brought a lamp to light the room. After the fire of '81 the services were held in the homes. The present church edifice was com- pleted in 1900 and has a seating capacity of 500 with basement under the entire building. Dr. FULTON was the chief factor in building up a fine organization in Bad Axe. The Westminster Society celebrated its twenty- fifth anniversary in 1919. Of the first members of this organization only four remain: Mrs. BURGESS, Miss MARY MORGAN, Mrs. DIXON and Mrs. C. E. THOMPSON. Rev. ROBERT BROWN is the present pastor. The Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 1878 under the labors of Rev. GEORGE WALKER and two years later a class of 13 was established. Mr. and Mrs. DURFY and Mr. and Mrs. WILLIAMS were members of this class. The senior member being THOMAS O'DELL. The first church building was erected in 1883. Before that the parsonage was used as a place of worship. As the society increased in members, needs and resources, the old church was outgrown and a more capacious build- ing became necessary. In the spring of 1899 under the direction of Rev. J. W. CAMPBELL ground was broken for a new building. It was eventually completed and [page 72] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY dedicated June 17, 1900, E. A. MOORE, pastor, at a cost of $11,000. This society has had a steady growth and is now one of the best appointments on the Port Huron District. Both church and parsonage have all modern equipments. Rev. FRANK H. COOKSON is pastor at the present date. The Baptist church was organized in 1878 with eight members. Rev. ALFRED AMEY was the pastor. In 1879 the first church was built at a cost of $2,500. This was due largely to the unflagging interest and great zeal of the faithful membership. Only a year later the great fire of '81 that nearly wiped Bad Axe off the map burned this structure. Under the energetic leadership of Rev. JAMES McARTHUR the present house of worship was erected at a cost of $3,000. The parsonage was built in 1897 under the pastorate of Rev. C. T. JACK. This society is also in a prosperous condition today and has an important duty in the religious life of the city. Rev. DRURY MARTIN is the present pastor. St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church was estab- blished as early as 1880 by holding services in the school house under the care of Rev. W. H. SMYTHE. The church building of this society was completed in 1882 and a rectory built in 1883. Some Catholic families settled in Verona long be- fore the village of Bad Axe was founded, but for many years they had no place of worship. To the zeal and activity of the late JOSEPH MURRAY may be credited the forming of the present well organized and flourishing parish. In his home in early days the few Catholic set- tlers would gather to meet the missionary priests who came to say mass for them. Not until 1885 was any effort made to have services in Bad Axe. At this time Rev. GEORGE LANGEL established a mission and once a month came from Ruth to have mass in the home of Mr. McAVOY. The society prospered and it became necessary to rent a hall to accommodate the growing membership. In 1888 the people decided to erect a [page 73] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY church and the following committee was appointed to look after the work: JOSEPH MURRAY, MICHAEL SCULLY, CHAS. McAVOY and MICHAEL HOLLAND. The present church is the result of their efforts, assisted by MARTIN CONATON and Dr. M. C. McDONELL. A rectory has been built since then and the church building remodeled and renovated. The people of Bad Axe have been instrumental in establishing an excellent school system and now have a high school building that is up to date in every respect. The district is a fractional one embracing parts of the townships of Verona and Colfax. It was incorporated some years ago by the state legislature. In 1882 an impetus was given to the growth of the town by the entrance of a railroad - the western branch of the Port Austin and Northwestern was completed through Bad Axe to Port Austin. Later the Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron division connected Bad Axe and Saginaw. The Pere Marquette has control of this road now. The Grand Trunk railroad entered the town from Cass City in 1913. ===========================================================================