MNA - Remember When - July 2022

ARCADIA

BEAR LAKE MARILLA

ONEKAMA

KALEVA

BRETHREN

MANISTEE

Manistee County REMEMBER WHEN 2022

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE MANISTEE NEWS ADVOCATE

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

ARCADIA AREA HISTORICAL MUSEUM 3340 Lake St. | Arcadia, MI

Open Hours: 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment: 231-889-4360 Visit: www.arcadiami.com | Contact: 231-889-4360

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

Pictured is the steam barge Arcadia, laid up for the winter.

Steamer barge Arcadia made first Manistee appearance in 1888

By Steve Harold For News Advocate EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was originally published in the Manistee News Advocate on March 24, 2001.

Henry Starke, a German immigrant who founded Arcadia, achieved success in the new world as marine contractor at Milwaukee.

His first visit to Manistee County was the result of a successful bid for local harbor improvement at the time of the Civil War. He later “retired” in 1880 to a life as a developer and

lumbermen at the town which is known today as Arcadia.

By 1887 his project had developed to the point where it could support its own freighter to connect it with the rest of the world; thus, the steam barge Arcadia was built.

The contract for the new vessel was let to the Milwaukee Dry Dock Company in the fall of 1887. Some accounts report the materials for the new vessel were all sawn in the mill at Arcadia in the summer of 1887.

In any case, the new craft was built at

Milwaukee the following winter and by early spring it had been launched, ready for the installation of machinery. The small freighter was quite naturally christened Arcadia and had an overall length of 127 feet with a beam of 26 feet.

The Arcadia made its first appearance in Manistee in early May 1888 and a local paper reported: “The handsome new steam barge Arcadia, built and owned by Starke Brothers, came in today. She is a beautiful boat and carries about 225,000 board feet of lumber.”

Coincidentally with the

construction of the vessel, residents of Arcadia petitioned congress to improve their harbor.

This was not done and the Starke family brought their own equipment from Milwaukee to construct and maintain the harbor.

The Arcadia served its builder for 16 years. Its primary use was carrying lumber from the Starke mill at Arcadia to markets in Milwaukee and Chicago, but it also carried goods for local farmers. Whenever Starke did not have cargoes for the freighter for several weeks, it would be chartered to others, frequently carrying

lumber or salt from the Manistee mills.

Among those who could be recalled in 1955 as having worked on the little steamer were: August Acher, Fred Adams, Peter Adams, S. Ammusen, John Burns, John Beller, Johm Cantwell, John Cooney, John Cook, Will Culver, James Daley, John Eble, John Eagan, Martin Ellison, J. H. Huff, Gus Johnson, John Kirchmeyer, Charles Kupher, Chris Larson, John Mooney, James Mathers, Frank Martin, John Peterson, Theodore Richley, H. E. Roberts, Peter Serta, J. Seymour, Len Swiger,

R. Swiger, Joh Weise, R. Walker and John Weitzel.

Henry Starke died in 1898 after which his family continued to operate the business and mills at Arcadia.

Then on Aug. 3, 1906, the large mill burned to the ground and the Starke family decided to build a smaller mill to supply a new hardwood furniture factory.

As a result of this decision, the Arcadia was no longer essential to the business and was sold to outsiders the following year never to return to local waters.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

BEAR LAKE HISTORICAL MUSEUM 7750 Main St. | Bear Lake, MI

Open Hours: 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment: 231-690-2210 Visit: bearlakeareahistory.org/museum.html

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

The Bear Lake Museum is located at 7750 Main St. in Bear Lake. Submitted photo/Bear Lake Area Bear Lake Equipment was located in Bear Lake in the Historical Society.

1950s

A look back at 1950s businesses in Bear Lake

By Kathrine Schafer For News Advocate EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was originally published in the Manistee News Advocate on March 24, 2001.

This year has certainly found us all staying much closer to home. As the economy seems to be inflated to the point that everyone is now considering local business options, planting our own small vegetable gardens, planning to

maximize every trip with our car, etc. Staying close to home is now becoming the new norm.

Reflecting on the past does make us wonder if we are better off in 2022 or, perhaps, we were blessed in more ways than one when everyday living was much simpler and we stayed closer to our home towns.

As we, at the Bear Lake Museum, have contemplated life in our small town it is fun to remember all the advantages living in Bear Lake

offered.

Here are just a few places to fondly remember.

Let’s look back at the 1950s lineup:

Grocery stores The ladies could walk downtown with their shopping carts and pick up all their groceries from their favorite store: Williams Food Market on Lake Street (U.S. 31) owned by Cap Williams, Erickson’s Market owned by Forrest and Mary Erickson and A & P Grocery. Williams

Market even offered free delivery anywhere in the village. Ladies would pick up the mail on their return trip.

Restaurants Very few local folks ate out, however, tourists staying around the lake or just passing through had several spots to choose from: The Huddle (known for their strawberry pie with a sugar cookie crust) was owned by Howard and Edna Skerratt.

The Sisters Restaurant

offered home cooked meals, owned by Mrs. Powers and her sister.

The Coffee Pot, owned

by Jerry and Jenny Kristy, featured homemade cream pies and fresh pancakes with real maple syrup.

Edgewater Resort, owned by Robert and Edith Huffman, offered ice cream, hamburgers and French fries (they stayed open late for the movie crowd).

The Bear Lake Bar mainly provided the

only libations found in town and was owned

by Berwyn Bruce and Douglas Six.

Gas stations/auto repair In the 1950s most households only had one automobile, farmers in the townships often had a pickup truck as well.

Bernie’s Service was the place to go for automobile repair but also had gasoline and was owned

by Bernie Keillor.

Blarney Castle mainly provided gasoline and

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

Gilmore's Standard Service was located in Bear Lake in the 1950s. It focused on gasoline and was owned by Frank Gilmore fuel oil (most homes burned coal which was usually acquired from Norwalk). It was owned by Dennis F. and Floyd J. McCarthy.

Gilmore’s Station focused on gasoline and was owned by Frank Gilmore. Wildwood Garage, owned by Carl Krathwol, only provided repair service.

Young folks There were lots of activities available — only a bike ride or walk away — pinball at The Huddle with 5 cent cherry cokes at the soda fountain. Magazines and records at Richmond Drug Store as well as ice cream sundaes.

Swimming at the public beach had a large dock and raft for the kids in the area. School dances were held in the gym after every home basketball game. The latest movies played at the Cub Theatre run by Stanley and Barbara Dilly.

Hardware Let’s not forget the fellas who could find anything they wanted for home repair from Kay Miner’s Hardware and Shreve’s Hardware.

Gasoline was less than 20 cents per gallon — not near $5 as it is today. Bread was either made at home or bought from our local bakery (DeBlake’s) for 20 cents a loaf — not $8.50.

Times have changed, people have not, we now must weigh the price of heading out of town or frequent the local merchants in all of our little communities.

Supporting the farmers who have wonderful fruit and vegetable produce. So let’s keep it local.

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

Wilson’s Radio-TV was located in Bear Lake in the 1950s.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

BRETHREN HERITAGE MUSEUM 14300 Court Ave. | Brethren, MI

Open Hours: 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays, June through September Visit: allartsmanistee.com/brethren-heritage-association Contact: Janet Stroup at 231-477-5526

Submitted photo/Janet Stroup

About 90 Dickson Rural Agricultural School (Brethren High School) students and faculty are shown during the school’s first full year of classes in spring of 1922.

The beginnings of Dickson Township’s consolidated schools

By Janet Stroup and Mark Hillsamer For News Advocate A celebration in Brethren, this year of 2022, marks the 100th anniversary of the institution of higher learning in Brethren.

Legally, Dickson Rural Agricultural School, located on the corner of Brethren’s High Bridge Road and Coates Highway, the building was labeled and came to be known as Brethren High School, although it included students in all grades K-12 in Dickson Township plus a few stu-

dents from surrounding communities.

Prior to school consolidation in Dickson Township, there were scattered across the township 11 country schools of various sizes and with a wide variety in number of students. Research, at this point, has not determined the reasons for residents having decided to consolidate at that particular point in time (1922), but the decision resulted in many adaptations in the lives of school children as a consequence.

A May 10,1920 edition

of the county paper, the Manistee News Advocate, contained the following news release: “At a special election held at Brethren, the proposition to bond Dickson Township for $20,000 for erecting a schoolhouse there carried by a large majority. The building will be fourrooms of cement block construction.”

Obviously, subsequent decisions were made, because the resulting school had two floors and eight rooms, and it was of brick construction.

Reports indicated the

science room was state of the art.

Records show that the first Christmas program was held in December 1921. So, considering the logistics for putting together a Christmas program it might be assumed that education had started in the new school in the fall of 1921.

The first graduating class of five students was in the spring of 1922 consisting of Roy Brower, Ray (Babe) Hillsamer, Kenneth Leckrone, Thomas (Spike) Payne and Nina Somsel.

A 1923 photograph exists

of all the students of the earliest Dickson High School student body including the teachers Donald Crouch, Ivan Leckrone, Glen Hillsamer, Gladys Flarity, Dorothy Secore and others not yet identified. About 90 students were in the picture.

A greatly enlarged copy of this 1923 picture will be available in Heritage Lane in Dickson Township Hall during Brethren Days on the Labor Day weekend that will be celebrating “100 Years of Education.” If anyone knows of ancestors, family members,or others

who may have attended school year 1922-23 and might be in the picture, we would appreciate their being identified.

Remember “Dickson High School” at that time was K-12.

Approximately four years later, a new gymnasium was added to the north end of the building with a basketball court. A stage was in the east end and a large study hall was above that. The study hall eventually was divided into two classrooms.

One student from the era of the ‘40s recalls that James Earl Jones

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022 recited from memory “The Raven” from the stage for a PTA event.

A student born in 1930 recalls that many plays, cakewalks and numerous other events occurred in that gymnasium. Also, the school was the social center for Dickson Township and other surrounding townships and small communities.

School population grows In 1938, with expanding student population, a small two-room building was moved to the site just north of the gymnasium.

It housed the kindergarten and first grade classes that met there for a number of years.

Former students interviewed were born in various years from 1925 to 1939, so the information obtained concerning the buildings varied as the student populations

changed.

One student born in 1925 was fortunate enough to spend all 12 grades plus kindergarten in the “big brick school.” Such was not the case in some later classes.

Another student born in 1937, who likely started kindergarten in 1942 or 1943, reported having attended four different buildings during her school career. Having started in the small building behind the brick school for kindergarten and first grade, she moved to the “big brick building” for the next three years.

As attendance expanded, she spent fourth and fifth grade in Mrs. Flarity’s home, down the street from the school, that was “really crowded” — while Mrs. Flarity and her mother lived in the back

of the house. Subsequently the student with her class moved to the new high school across the street for the remainder of their schooling.

Apparently it wasn’t deemed necessary to provide lunches to students when the school was new. Students would need to bring their lunches in lard pails or some other container.

Somewhere along the line a need was seen for a hot lunch, but no cafeteria yet existed in the school. The basement of the local Church of the Brethren across the street from the school became the lunchroom. Heat was not a problem there since a furnace in the center of the basement provided ample warmth. Additionally, students received some fresh air every day on their way to and from

Submitted photo/Janet Stroup

The first graduating class (1922) of Brethren High School (Dickson Rural Agricultural School) included Roy Brower, Ray (Babe) Hillsamer, Kenneth Leckrone, Thomas (Spike) Payne and Nina Somsel. lunch, walking across the street from the school.

The way to school Prior to consolidation, many students needed to walk to their country

schools. In heavy snow, some of the younger students were carried by older students.

Following consolidation most students were treat-

ed to bus rides. However, buses were a totally different prospect in the early days. Buses were

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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8 owned by the drivers, mostly local farmers. Bus bodies were placed on a simple truck chassis and could be lifted off and in the winter placed on sleds or sleighs pulled by horses. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, education had to go on.

No heat was forthcoming from the bus bodies, so the drivers would heat in their home-stoves bricks that would be placed near the center of the bus to put forth heat. Not a few boots sustained damage from coming too close to the bricks.

After depositing their students at school, bus drivers could spend their day with other drivers in the “horse garages” exchanging “news” until it

REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022 was time to pick up their students, returning them to their homes.

A further note of interest concerning the buses, was that it was not uncommon for folks walking to town to hitch a ride with a passing school bus to quicken their arrival to town.

Notes of interest The community of Brethren at the turn of the 18th century was naturally integrated with Native American and African American children who mixed freely. A number of the teachers were members of the Church of the Brethren in town and encouraged all the children to fulfill their potential.

For approximately 30 years, the building in Brethren was Brethren High School with school colors of red and white.

In 1951 consolidation took place between Norman Township (Wellston), south of Brethren, and the school became Norman-Dickson Rural Agricultural School with green and gold school colors.

Norman Dickson School lasted about 15 years before consolidation with Maple Grove Township (Kaleva) took place, thus becoming Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools with blue and white school colors.

An additional note of interest is that originally, with consolidation of

Submitted photo/Janet Stroup

School buses (home grown) were owned by local residents. Pictured is Art Anson and his bus. country schools, Brethren High School was one building K-12. Later, elementary schools were built in Kaleva (Maple Grove Township) and

Wellston (Norman Township). However, in recent years because of declining enrollment, both elementary schools have closed and once

again one building in Brethren, KND Schools, houses K-12.

What went around came around. Some history repeats.

Historic Kaleva school gets new life as community center

By Ramona DeGeorgio-Venegas For News Advocate Submitted photo/Cynthia Asiala

Pictured is the Kaleva school campus including Dorn school, which was moved from its location formerly as a country school.

In 1960, an elementary school was built in Kaleva; later around 2000, an addition was constructed.

I was able to substitute teach there several times, before it closed in 2009. I enjoyed the teachers and students, and seeing The Bottle House across the street.

Sadly, the building was unoccupied after 2009.

Like other Manistee County schools, it was waiting to be torn down.

Submitted photo/Cynthia Asiala

Pictured is the original Kaleva school, which was built in 1914.

The Kaleva Elementary School was built in the early 1960s when the former K-12 Kaleva Ru-

ral Agricultural School building was condemned. This coincided with the consolidation of the district with Norman Dickson, thus creating Kaleva Norman Dickson Schools.

From then until 2009, students in grades K-6 attended the local school. In 2009 when the school closed due to lower enrollment, the students were transferred to Brethren, forming a K-12 central campus.

The school stood empty until Maple Grove Township decided to purchase the building and move governmental offices there. With local donations, the township

purchased the building for the appraised value.

That was only the beginning.

Fast forward to 2022.

The Maple Grove Township Community Center has become the poster child for sisu. The local Finnish folk well know what I mean. For others, sisu is a Finnish concept representing resilience, tenacity of purpose, bravery, hardiness and grit. Another definition states, “going beyond one’s mental or physical activity.”

The classrooms have morphed into community spaces. The Maple Grove Township and Village of Kaleva offices have relocated there.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022 Named after the 19th century epic poem “The Kalevala” by Elias Lonnrot, the immigrants to Kaleva worked hard to improve the land and eke out a living. Many came here escaping Russian oppression, poverty and crop failures. Others came to join family members who had come first. Some pioneers arrived in boxcars that traveled over The High Bridge railroad structure over the Manistee River. They brought traditions, foods, saunas and stories.

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In the “creation of the earth” epic poem, a sampo is constructed by a blacksmith, and it was taken in a robbery. Perhaps these community center “make-it-happen residents” have found their own sampo, a mythological device that brings riches and good fortune to its owner.

Cynthia Asiala, with the Kaleva Historical Society, contributed to this article.

Visit: kalevamich gan.com/bo tle-house-museum Submitted photo/Cynthia Asiala

The Kaleva school is now home to the Maple Grove Township Community Center.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

MANISTEE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM 425 River St. | Manistee, MI

Open Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (days of the week vary by season) Visit: manisteemuseum.org | Contact: Mark Fedder, 231-723-5531

Submitted photo/Manistee County Historical Museum

The lumberyard of R.G. Peters in Manistee, circa 1900.

Manistee a leading lumbering center of the east shore

By Steve Harold For News Advocate EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was originally published in the Manistee News Advocate on Oct. 6, 1984.

In 1890, the timber industry of Manistee had stabilized with an annual output of 250 million board feet of lumber.

As other Great Lakes lumbering centers were declining in importance, Manistee was trying to expand its industry to include hardwood furniture.

Recognizing these factors, the leading industry journal, the Northwestern Lumberman, published the following article about Manistee early in 1890: “The topography of

Manistee bears in its general features, especially when viewed from the lake, a remarkable resemblance to most of the east shore ports.

There is the usual array of sand bluffs and knobs bristling with a scraggy, straggling growth of brush and stunted pine and cedar, the conventional government piers skirting the channel to the harbor, light houses and life-saving station.

“The city of Manistee, which to the outer world includes the immediate suburbs known locally as Eastlake, Filer City and Stronach, skirts the river and lake, stretching inside the main shore and extending inland some miles to the head of the lake, where the last named village is situated.

“The business portion of the city proper occupies a narrow plateau paralleling the river, which between its mouth and Manistee Lake is a narrow stream.

From this plateau, the residence quarter rises rather sharply 50 to 75 feet, and stretches back to the right going up stream, toward the main shore of Lake Michigan. A rather singular geological freak here is the presence of a clay formation in the midst of a wilderness of sand.

“The early days of the place are invested with the usual legendary romance that the poet and novelist have thrown around the Indian character. Even the name ‘Manistee’ is linked with the ‘Spirit of the Woods’, and whether

having any foundation not purely fanciful may be wrought into pretty word pictures by no means obnoxious to the imaginative.

“To come down to the more practical matters which concern us in Manistee, a city now estimated, with the suburbs named, to contain in the neighborhood of 16,000 people, it is found that the place claims pre-eminence in several very important particulars. It is asserted that there is today more pine timber owned by the tributary to Manistee lumber manufacturers than can be claimed by any other point on that shore, if not in the state.

The claim is also confidently put forth that vessel ownership

vested in Manistee parties exceeds that of all other east-shore ports combined. The largest and best salt blocks are also said to be located in Manistee.

The place affords six weekly publications, has a good water supply, library, reading room, gymnasium, public hospital, a full complement of churches, splendid public schools, a fine hall — the gift of Mrs. R. G. Peters— and other accessories of social and religious advancement all well abreast of the times.

“Of course, Manistee is nothing if not essentially a lumber town, although holding out peculiar attractions to other manufacturing industries, particularly that of furniture, her

resources in that direction being practically inexhaustible. Three well-ordered plants have already been established in that line, and in view of advantages equaling those of any other point, and their superiority to the majority, the prospects for future additions are certainly very encouraging.

“The Flint & Pere Marquette railroad was the first to enter the place, beginning operations in 1881. The city water works — Holly system — were established the following year.

The boom companies of Manistee and Filer City were organized in 1862, the latter to operate on the little Manistee River, tributary to the lake. These

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022 two companies handled from 1869 to 1882 annual inputs ranging from 96,000,000 to 221,000,000 feet and amounting for that period 2,171,083,714 feet. The annual product of the mills since 1882 has been about 250,000,000 feet running largely to a superior class of bill stuff.

“In 1881 the initial step was taken to develop the salt industry, which has since reached enormous proportions of nearly 1,000,000 barrels a year. The deposit in rock form lies at a depth of 2,000 feet and is said to be 35 feet thick. As is generally understood, the prosecution of the industry is in connection with sawmills, an alliance rendered necessary by the economic exigencies of the traffic.

Cheap steam needful for evaporation purposes and the use of otherwise refuse pine in making the barrels, are essentials in the production of salt at going prices to avoid loss.

“The output of the mills of Manistee has always found its principal markets in Chicago and Milwaukee, the only exclusively car-shipping yard being that of G. F. Stearns & Co., a concern of good business standing and promise. The R. G. Peters Salt & Lumber Company does a considerable car-shipping business; but with these two exceptions, the entire volume of Manistee shipments is believed to be by water. The towing fleet of the port is made up of exceptionally fine and powerful tugs.”

Find more historical Manistee County information online at manisteenews.com

The salt block of

Downtown Manistee

SEE YOUR PATH CLEARLY IN 2022

Buckley & Douglas at the east end of Sixth Street burned in 1920.

Ruggles & Rademaker Salt Company built their beginning in 1921.

In 1927, Ruggles & Rademaker built a new grainer block.

On December 22, 1930, the Manistee News Advocate announced that Morton Salt Company had

“Our building long before it became Coastal Woods Vision.

Stop in and see if you can spot the original meat coolers from back when it was a grocery store.”

bought Ruggles & Rademaker at a public auction.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

MARILLA MUSEUM & PIONEER PLACE 9911 Marilla Road Copemish, MI

Open Hours: 1-5 p.m. every Saturday through October Contact: Jan Thomas at 231-362-3430 The Marilla Church of the Brethren was first established in 1919.

History of Marilla Township, Church of the Brethren

By Jan Thomas For News Advocate In a publication titled “History of Manistee County,” Marilla Township was described in this manner: “Until the month of June, 1860, the territory now included in the township of Marilla was a dense forest of maple, beech, hemlock, and pine, and inhabited only by birds and beasts.

At that time, a man by the name of C. Churchill, who had left the Empire State with his family to find a home in the new West, arrived here and was pleased with the appearance of the country.

There were numerous springs and streams, and the soil promised fruitful returns. He built a log cabin and in the dense solitude of the forest formed a home.”

A community began Other brave souls soon followed and they began making decisions about

what was needed in order to establish a good place to make a living, raise a family and to make a difference where they lived.

Where would the children be educated? Who would teach them? How can we carve roads to help us travel? Where can we worship? Where can we market what we grow?

Where is the nearest place to get supplies?

The questions were many and the people tackled the issues by forming a government that would help make things happen.

The people were risk takers, persevering and equipped themselves to deal with hardship and deprivation in order to build their community.

By 1878, according to the “History of Manistee County,” “As the settlers increased, various school districts were formed and comfortable buildings erected. Two of the school buildings are especial-

ly fine, costing about $1,000 each. The town has a well filled public library, which speaks well for the enterprise and intelligence of the people.

There is a very handsome cemetery located near the central part of the town, which is well fenced and handsomely decorated with trees. The church societies are a Congregational and Baptist. The former was organized in 1872, and the latter in 1876.”

By 1874, there were 188 people in Marilla. Farmers were raising wheat, corn, several varieties of grains, potatoes, hay and also produced wool, butter, and maple sugar for trade, marketing and for family use. Imagine being in on the ground floor of establishing a community. It took many people and some strong leaders to make that happen.

Marilla Church of the Brethren

One of the churches that was an integral part of this community was the Baptist congregation that was established in 1876.

By 1896, the congregation undertook the ambitious project of building a church.

According to an early pioneer named Rueben Nichols in a letter to Church of the Brethren pastor Galen Barkdoll in November 1943, “In the spring of 1896, I started out with a subscription for to build a church with my name at the top for $10.00. F. P. winters signed $10.00, and his mother for $5.00. In a few days it had grown to over $1,000.00. Then George Patterson deeded the lot. Then a building committee was elected: Rueben Nichols, H.W. Studley, and Irving Clark.

Mr. Studley, refusing to act, Mr.Clark said ‘Go ahead, it’s alright with me.’ From that time on I had full charge and the

advice and help of George Brimmer. It was built that first winter. We had a ‘bee’, cut the logs and delivered them to the mill and had them cut for all the rough lumber. The Ladies Aid gave the windows and around $10.00 besides. Rev. George Crook went to Manistee and solicited from some business men and got a little over $1,000. Then at the dedication, pledges were taken for less than $15.00 making it free and clear. Right here the name of Josiah cook, Free Methodist, as a carpenter was a wonderful help and needs honorable mention in his work.”

Henry Studley as a boy drove teams that hauled lumber to the church property. He recounts the following:

slowing down the loaded teams acting as a brake.

John Smyth (Henry’s uncle) driving a lumber team regretted that his team must pull its load up the planks, then pull the load downhill in the sand. So he made one downhill trip on the planks. The fast moving load was more than the horses could manage and he narrowly avoided a smash up. Atop the next hill, still on the planks in order to save his team, he assayed to take the load of lumber down the planks by hand, the unmanageable wagon ran over him and lodged in the loose sand. Uninjured, John Smyth brushed the sand out of his hair saying, ‘I wouldn’t own such a smooth running wagon.’”

“The improved roads of that day had planks laid to assist and loads going uphill. On the downhill, the driver took the loose sand as it aided in

Now for the Brethren connection. The following was taken from the minutes of the Baptist congregation Dec. 11, 1912:

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022 “A meeting of the old members of the Marilla and Cleon Baptist Church for the purpose of making arrangements concerning the Church property was called to order by the old clerk, Geo. Brimmer and Bro. Edward Williams was chosen chairman of the meeting. After prayer

by Bro. Crook, meeting proceeded to business.

Present Edward Williams, John Holly, Glen Clark, Rueben Nichols, L. F. Hall, and W. F. Hall.

Also Rev. R. A. Shaw and (Rev.) George Crook.

Moved and seconded that we elect three trustees, one for one year, one for two years, and one for 3.

Carried. Rueben Nichols elected for 3 years, George Brimmer, for 2 years, and Welcome Hall for 1 year. Moved and supported that the church property be sold by the trustees to the best of their ability. Carried.”

In the early 1900s, many Brethren families were lured from Indiana to far northern Michigan by real estate agents who promised good farmland.

The available farmland in Indiana was limited and with the Brethren typically having large families, there wasn’t enough farmland to support the growing population. So they packed up their belongings and families, rented railcars and traveled by train to what is now Brethren, Michigan.

They met with a bleak situation. The land that they purchased, sight unseen, was not productive. Among those who were part of this Brethren migration was the family of Hezekiah and Rachel Grossnickle.

Grandchildren of Hezekiah and Rachel were told by their parents that Rachel and her daughter, Grace, were in the barn

milking the cow and weeping about their dire situation when Rachel cried “Why did Hezzie bring us to this God forsaken country?”

In spite of the hardships, the Brethren however persevered and found ways to survive and make a living. Hezekiah and Rachel tried a different path and traveled further east and north of Brethren to Marilla Township and found an already established community and suitable land.

The family moved once more and settled in and established a successful farm. As time went on, Hezekiah Grossnickle with the help of J. Edson Ulrey, Church of the Brethren pastor, headed a delegation of people who entered into an agreement with the Marilla Baptist congregation to purchase the present Marilla Church of the Brethren.

The Brethren and other assimilated community members thrived in their place of worship and their descendants continue to come to “meeting” in this historic place as the Brethren called it in long ago times.

Because of the early Brethren migration, several Churches of the Brethren were established in Manistee County with three surviving today: Lakeview Church of the Brethren, Marilla Church of the Brethren and Onekama Church of the Brethren.

Through these many years, Marilla Church of the Brethren has significantly impacted Marilla Township through its focus on service to others and extending the hand of fellowship to all.

Manistee Danes and the Great Fire

By E.M. Favrholdt For News Advocate

OLD KIRKE MUSEUM

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is from the Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church 1923 history book, “Labour in the Vineyard.”

304 Walnut St. Manistee, MI

It would be impossible for the old pioneers among the Danes in Manistee ever to forget the great fire of 1871. The town was partly destroyed, and the loss of property that burned amounted to about $1 million.

The catastrophe came as a terrible shock. After smaller forest fires had prevailed for some days previous the alarm sounded in Manistee Sunday morning, Oct. 8, at 9 o’clock.

A spark had been carried from the woods bordering the town and had set fire in the vicinity of Gifford and Ruddocks mills in Fourth Ward. About 2 p.m. while the fire in the Fourth Ward was till raging, an alarm whistle was heard from the east side of Manistee lake and through the thick smoke it was now discovered that the large steam mill of Magill & Canfield on Blackbird Island was in flames.

Meanwhile a gale had risen coming from southwest. As soon as darkness began to close in a lurid light appeared in the southwest on the shore of Lake Michigan showing that the pinewoods, which then lined the banks, were on fire.

Then at 9:30 p.m. just as churchgoers had returned from evening services (at what is now the Old Kirke Museum), the fire alarm again was sounded and everybody was stirred with terror.

Up along the sides of the river came now the roaring flames eating their way through John Canfield’s mill and boarding house, and also about 25 humble dwellings. The burning sawdust whirled by the gale in fiery clouds filled the air. A large fleet of vessels, wind bound, lay at the mouth of the river, and furious efforts were made to remove these vessels toward the little lake.

Here on Lake Manistee women

Submitted photos/ Old Kirke Museum

The Old Kirke Museum is the former Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, located at 304 Walnut St.in Manistee. and children were crowded in the vessels, boats, barges and tugs; it seemed the only safe place. The heat was intense and the tempest appeared to increase every minute. By midnight it had become a tornado — and the fire now blazed through a stretch of dead hemlocks in the Second Ward. There were flames 80 feet high. Men, women and children fled for their lives, some clad in the nightclothes only.

Old Danes mention how various people that night thought that surely the world was coming to an end. Most of the Danes lives in “shanties,” along the river and on the west coast of Lake Manistee.

Hurriedly they buried their few belongings in the ground and while the women and children were rushed out on the lake for safety, the young men — and they were nearly all young — formed a line and fought desperately to protect their modest dwellings from the flames, handing water buckets along from one to another as they were standing in a row. This form of work was necessary because the fire engine had burned almost at the beginning of the fire.

The efforts of those hard laboring men were crowned with success.

The fire was checked at the east

Open Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first two Saturdays of the month from July to August

Contact:

oldkirkemuseum@gmail.com end of River Street, near the M & N E railroad depot, in time to saw two sawmills beyond belonging to Thyson & Robertson and also Jorgen Lintrup Sorensens Danish boardinghouse on River St. where about 50 people boarded.

At Third St. the fire had been stopped close to Hancock Street.

Mathies Petersen’s Danish boarding house on Sibben St., where 30-40 Danes had their temporary home stood untouched; likewise a third Danish boarding house on the corner of Lake and Smith Streets, managed by a Mrs. Hansen, later Mrs. Colbjornson, mother of Mrs. H.B. Larsen, Manistee, was rescued. But J. Mortensens Danish boarding house on Clay Street was devoured by the flames.

Monday morning, Oct. 9, came blank and gloomy. Two thirds of the town was in ruins. The mayor, R.G. Peters, had indeed a great task bringing relief to the suffering. A thousand people had been made homeless, and it was heartbreaking to see them search among the ruins for lost treasures.

At Walnut Street our church (the Old Kirke Museum building) stood untouched — while buildings all around had been laid waste. Stumps of trees in the close neighborhood were still on fire, but the church was beyond danger.

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REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

History of Onekama’s Trinity Lutheran Church, school Pictured is the interior of the old Trinity Lutheran Church; the doors to the right are the entrance to the annexed school building.

By Kathy (Schimke) Cyr For News Advocate EDITOR’S NOTE: Information for this article is from “75th Anniversary Trinity Lutheran Church, Onekama, Michigan” compiled and written by Rev. E. A. Mueckler on Dec. 2, 1962 and Wellspring, “The Lutheran School” published in 1981.

Through the decades of the 1860s and 1870s, many German and Scandinavian families settled in Onekama and Bear Lake townships.

Among these early settlers were Christian Smith (1861), Gottlieb Schimke (1863) and August Zosel (1866) who later became charter members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Onekama.

Early on, those of shared religious beliefs banded together to worship in private homes on an occasional basis. Then sometime “prior to 1885 there was a small church located in the southwest corner of section 25 in Onekama Township. A small group of German Lutherans met there occasionally for worship services conducted by a certain Pastor Hale from Springdale. However, this church burned down.”

“Later a group of German Lutherans in the Onekama area met regularly for worship once a month in Submitted photos/Trinity Lutheran Church a little church located in the extreme southwest Pictured is the Trinity Lutheran Church and school in corner of section 20 of Onekama, built in 1898 and 1933 respectively.

Bear Lake Township. This

On Aug. 14, 1898 the first resident pastor, Rev. William T. Schalm was installed. It was his first parish and for his services he was to receive an annual salary of $300.

Pastor H. Schmidt Submitted photo/Trinity Lutheran Church

church was later moved to the top of the hill, remodeled” and became a home which exists to the present day.

Four Lutheran families in the vicinity of Onekama invited a pastor from Arcadia, Heinrich Schmidt, to conduct services for them. By the latter part of 1887 a group of 22 families were ready to organize a congregation.

On Dec. 26, 1887 the congregation was formally organized and officers were elected in the home of Richard F. Wendel.

The first resolution of the congregation was to build a church. The church, which was dedicated Nov. 17, 1889, was to be 23 feet by 50 feet and was to have a steeple.

Other resolutions of significance from the 1887 meeting were: services were to be held every second Sunday of the month; and every member of the congregation was to be under obligation to pay $5 annually toward the support of a pastor and other expenses of the congregation.

A parochial school was immediately established with the pastor as teacher, an arrangement which was continued until the school closed in 1921. At first classes were conducted at a village store, which burned, and a new school building was constructed next to the church in 1900.

Mrs. Martha (Briske) Schimke who attended the school recalled, “It was a regular one room school with religious classes in the morning and reading, writing and arithmetic taught in the afternoon. Pastor Schalm single-handedly taught the whole school which consisted of 20 to 25 children, fifth through the eighth grades. In order to be confirmed into the membership of the church you attended this school instead of a public school.”

With the resignation of Pastor Peters on Jan. 9, 1921, the school closed.

The new resident pastor, Rev. F.W. Wiese installed on Aug. 7, 1922, faced with the problem of finding new ways to provide religious instruction to children of the parish started a Sunday school with 40 pupils. Sunday school was taught in the former parochial school building located adjacent to the church.

In 1933, there was a change in the appearance of the church property. The congregation resolved to annex the school building to the church building. The school building was moved and turned to form a right angle that was attached to south side of the church. At the same time a basement was put under both the church and the attached school.

Church services were in German and the first reference to a service conducted in English was in 1904. During the pastorate of William Schierbaum an attempt is made to provide a regular time for English services and it was resolved to hold English service every fourth Sunday of the month. Over the next four decades the German services gradually reduced in number and in a meeting held on Jan. 1, 1946 the congregation resolved to discontinue them altogether.

Under the pastorate of Rev. O.N. Behringer in the 1950s, the congregation grew. Plans were proposed for the remodeling of the existing church or the building of a new church to accommodate the growth in membership.

In May of 1958 the congregation voted to build a new church. The new church was dedicated on Sept. 9, 1962 and is still in use by the current congregation.

15

REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

The Filer Fibre plant

in the early 1920s.

A photograph of American Box Board circa 1950s.

Circa mid 1950s and shows wor kers of American Box Board moving piles of lumber using cranes.

1866: One of the area's 15 sawmills was founded in 1866 by D.L. Filer & Sons in an area now known as Filer City.

1915: Elihu G. Filer agreed to contribute land and $50,000 to the construction of a pulp mill in Filer City.

1916: Filer Fibre Company was organized.

1947: Filer Mill became a part of the American Boxboard Company.

1959: American Box Board Company consolidated with Ohio Box Board Company and Central Fibre Company including their Mapes Molded Pulp Company subsidiary to form the Packaging Corporation of America.

1965: A further consolidation Packaging Corporation of America became a part of Tenneco.

PACKAGING CORPORATION OF AMERICA Manistee, Michigan • 723-9951

16

REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2022

REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS CALLED AMERICAN BOX BOARD? and since, we have expanded!

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PHOTO CREDIT : Special Thanks to the Manistee Co. Historical Museum

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BEAR LAKE BRANCH

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