Manistee County Remember When 2021

COPEMISH

ARCADIA

BEAR LAKE

MARILLA ONEKAMA

KALEVA

BRETHREN

MANISTEE

Manistee County REMEMBER WHEN 2021

A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE MANISTEE NEWS ADVOCATE

Portage Point Inn early 1900s.

(Courtesy photo)

Portage Lake Channel and Lake Michigan 1912. (Courtesy photo)

North is at the top of the map. Just northwest of the numeral 33 is where the cut occurred.

Just north of the number 28 is Portage Creek, which was Portage Lake’s only natural outlet to Lake Michigan until the cut was made. (Courtesy map/Manistee County Historical Museum)

The history of Onekama and ‘the cut’ John Wemlinger For the News Advocate It began as little more than a 4-foot wide by 2-foot deep ditch, but in the early morning hours of May 14, 1871, before any light of the new day, it became much more.

Approximately 30 men, nearly all of them homesteaders with land abutting Portage Lake, had spent two weeks digging the cut. It was only 500 yards long, but that relatively short distance fails to tell the entire story. Most of that distance was through a mature forest so dense only shovels, picks and axes could be used to dig.

It’s fair to ask why would anyone care? The answer brings us to the crux of the problem. The Chicagobased Porter & Company owned and operated a sawmill located at the northwest corner of Portage Lake.

The sawmill’s saw was driven by a water wheel that depended upon water from Portage Creek which was, at that time, the only natural outlet between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan. Left to its natural condition Portage Creek would never have been powerful enough to drive a sawmill. But Porter & Company

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dammed it up, much to the dismay of the farmers around Portage Lake.

The dam caused that lake to rise some 12 to 14 feet above its normal level and that flooded out valuable farmland. Adding to the farmers’ misery, when the sawmill opened the dam to utilize the water, the lake level lowered slowly and pockets of stagnate water formed to breed mosquitoes which carried a malarialike illness the farmers called the ague.

The homesteaders took the lumbermen to court and won … almost. On May 25, 1870, Circuit Court Judge J.G. Ramsdell issued an injunction against Porter & Company that should have stopped the damming.

The writ allowed the mill seven months to cease and desist. However, due to a technicality in the way the writ was written, the injunction was never properly served. The spring of 1871 saw Porter & Company continue to dam Portage Creek, long after the writ’s grace period expired.

The irate farmers threatened to take matters into their own hands until cooler heads prevailed. Their restraint kept the law on the farmers’ side, even though the injunction

was doing nothing to protect their interests or their health.

It is at this point they made the decision to make their own cut anticipating a gently flowing stream similar to what Portage Creek had been prior to the lumbermen’s damming of it.

The southwest corner of the milelong isthmus between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan was its narrowest segment and it was here that the farmers planned to dig the cut between the two lakes.

This parcel of land was owned at the time by Theodore Heiss. There is no record that the farmers sought Heiss’s permission to dig the cut, but neither is there any record that Heiss objected. The answer to the question is left to the reader.

The men who dug the ditch along with their families reveled on the evening of May 13, 1871, as the cut neared its completion after two weeks of back breaking labor.

At some time after midnight, but before first light on May 14, the farmers’ bulwark holding back Portage Lake was pulled down and the “little ditch” they’d dug became a raging torrent of water.

In a matter of minutes, it grew to

over a hundred feet wide and 10 to 12 feet deep, sweeping an entire forest 2 to 3 miles out into Lake Michigan.

The revelers, standing entirely too close, suddenly fled in terror from the ever-widening torrent of raging water. It is amazing that no lives were lost in that early morning’s darkness.

The sawmill closed and along with it so did the settlement of Portage, but the Village of Onekama sprang up just a few miles east along Portage Lake. Over the next 20 years the farmers’ cut succumbed to Lake Michigan’s relentless winds and waves.

In 1892 it was too shallow to be navigable when the schooner The City of Toledo foundered in a storm a few miles west of Portage Lake. The vessel and all hands were lost because the ship could not make safe harbor.

In 1893, Congress finally put money toward maintaining the channel and Portage Lake again became a safe harbor. Today, it is one of the most beautiful safe harbor channels on the Lake Michigan shoreline and certainly one with a rich and fascinating history.

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In about 1919, three brothers, Harvey, Hurshel & Raymond began a logging salvage on the Manistee River using oxen, horses, steam machinery and manpower. In 1925 they named their business Somsel Brothers and operated a sawmill at 3 locations on the Manistee River.

Several years later, Hurshel purchased this 1927 Chevrolet truck to aide in the logging operations at the river and in 1931, Somsel Brothers opened their first retail lumberyard in Kaleva. In 1956, Somsel Brothers incorporated to form Somsel Lumber Company and is still serving Manistee County and surrounding areas as a 4th generation family business.

The truck eventually retired until 1999 when it was brought out of storage and restored to its original condition.

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A look at the history of Danish Lutheran Church of Manistee Mary Ann Grabowski For the News Advocate The Danish Lutheran Church located at 304 Walnut St. in Manistee was established in 1868 and holds the honor of being the oldest Danish Lutheran Church in America still with its doors open to the public.

It functions now as an historical building and museum.

A book entitled “Labour in the Vineyard” written by E. M. Favrholdt and published by the congregation states that on a motion of Rev. T. H. Wald, a plan for the erection of a Scandinavian church was held at the Congregational church on Second Street in Manistee on May 5, 1868.

Meeting at the home of Jorgen K. Hansen held on July 5, 1868. Lots 1 and 2 of block 14 were purchased from Messrs. Tyson and Robinson for the sum of $700. Louis Sands paid $300, and the owners of the lots paid $200. The remaining $200 was to be paid within two years again by Mr. Sands.

Dimensions were 50 feet by 32 feet with 18 feet from floor to ceiling. There were windows: three on each side and three in the front of the church facing Walnut Street.

The first president was Chr. Petersen with 25 votes. Also selected were: D. M. Fuglestad, Hans Rasmussen, L. Sands and J. K. Hansen. However, the doors and windows were not.

The Rev. J. A. M. Rodholm was selected in October 1915 as the Rev. V. S. Jensen departed.

As was his predecessor, Rev. Rodholm, was fluent in English but was disinclined to use the language during the regular services of the church.

The life of the congregation was marked by the effects of the war. Many of the young men entered active service and some also gave their lives. The women were busy sewing and knitting for the boys, and the men led by the pastor, raised a considerable subscription for Liberty bonds.

Indeed, our synod gave a significant and clear expression of loyalty and devotion, when at its convention in Ashland, Michigan in 1917, it was resolved to send the following telegram to President Woodrow Wilson: '"The Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America sends greetings heartily endorsing the

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OLD KIRKE MUSEUM 304 Walnut St., Manistee, MI Open Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first two Saturdays of the month from July to October Contact: oldkirkemuseum@gmail. com or John Hanson at 231-723-2744

Manistee’s Danish Lutheran Church was established in 1868. (Courtesy photo)

principle of justice to smaller nations and liberation of oppressed nationalities so nobly expressed by you. May God from whom alone comes power and wisdom to wage the battle for justice and liberty strengthen and guide you and your advisers during these for our beloved country so critical times. N. P. Gravengaard, President."

Delegates attending were M. P. Nielsen and Mrs. A. T. Seeley.

On Sept. 5, 1917, Rev. Rodholm announced his decision to accept a commission as army chaplain. Nothing came of this however and he was still with us to welcome the boys home in January of 1919.

Rev. Rodholm left on Nov. 4, 1919.

Rev. Hans O. Jensen was approved by the 95 members of the congregation. At this time the economic condition of the congregation was also improving. This was very well received as the increase in the cost of living after the war had been felt by all.

English returned as the language of the congregation with one service each month said in English. The elder members were supportive of these efforts. The younger members however found it increasingly difficult to continue the task of mutual good understanding. Rev. Jensen left on June 1, 1923.

The beginning of this book: “Our young pastor has asked me as the oldest member of the congregation to bring a greeting to the readers of this book.

“Rev. Favrholdt has thought to derive benefit of my assistance in going through part of the material, which has been at disposal for the composition of the book. I wish to say then, that it has been a pleasure to me to help, as far as I have been able to, and that, in my opinion the book may justly be considered a testimony of our congregational life. During the many years, I have felt at home in our church, the hours I have spent there have been the most precious I have lived. I have known and loved the pastors from the time of Rev. Rosenstand and up to our day, and as a layman, to our pastors for their preaching. The pastors have varied but the keynote is ever the same.

As an old man I would like to urge the present and coming generations to faithful work for our church, our congregational life — yea, for Him to whom we with the words of the disciple Thomas confess: ‘My Lord and my God.' “And I find an exceeding treasure in Bishop Grundtvigs beautiful hymn: Years full of splendours, which to offenders, Earth may afford. Never can measure, Spent with Thee, Lord. When on the wings of Thy quickening word, Souls are uplifted and Thou art adored.

This story as told by Hans Nielsen of Manistee, Michigan in October 1926.

The information for this article was compiled by J. Carter for the Old Kirke Museum.

The Danish Lutheran Church in Manistee is now the Old Kirke Musuem. It is the oldest Danish Lutheran Church in America still with its doors open to the public. (Courtesy photo)

The Danish Lutheran Church, located at 304 Walnut St. in Manistee, was established in 1868. (Courtesy photo)

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R.G. Peters gave a first-hand account of the Great Fire of 1871 to the Manistee Exchange Club in October 1923. (Courtesy photo/Manistee County Historical Museum)

Manistee as it appeared around the time of the Great Fire. (Courtesy photo/Manistee County Historical Museum)

‘Like a sheet of fire’: A firsthand account of Manistee’s Great Fire Mark Fedder For the News Advocate In most cases a first-hand account of a particular event is something to be treasured. Whereas researchers and authors can dig up various facts and pieces of information, it’s more interesting and more entertaining to hear or read it from someone who lived through said event, even if some of the details are little embellished.

In October of 1923, R.G. Peters, one of Manistee’s most revered lumber barons, gave a speech to the Manistee Exchange Club during Fire Prevention Week in which he himself told of his first-hand account of the events surrounding the Great Fire of Manistee that took place on Sunday, Oct. 8, 1871.

The following is the story of the Great Fire told by Mr. Peters through the use of his supplementary notes for the speech he gave to the club. Portions of those notes, reprinted in the Manistee News Advocate on Oct. 10, 1923, are as follows: “Fifty two years ago today is a day long to be remembered by Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, for on that day the great conflagration took place which destroyed a large part of Chicago, Manistee, Holland, and Peshtigo, Wis. “About noon on that day, perhaps a little after noon, the fire came into the city, which was quite thoroughly built out as far as the Fifth Street on Maple. Connecting at Fifth Street it destroyed property on both sides of the street, forming as it were, by its destruction northward, the shape of a wedge driven in from the H.B. Larsen residence,

REMEMBER WHEN • JULY 2021

MANISTEE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM 425 River St., Manistee, MI Open Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday (days of the week vary by season) Visit: manisteemuseum.org Contact: Mark Fedder, 231-7235531 which would be in the middle of the conflagration when it reached the Manistee River.

“The gale of wind would take shingles away from houses as they were loosened by the fire, and hold them against the next house until that was wholly in flames. We were without adequate fire apparatus with which to help ourselves and the fire came on like a tornado – sand, smoke, and wind, driving everything before it, so to speak.

“About the time one half of this destruction was accomplished, J. W. Calkins, a gentlemen who had moved here from Chicago, took his wife and General Cutcheon’s wife across the river and cleaned off a place on top of the sand hill very near, where the east end of the Manistee Manufacturing Company’s plant now is. He covered them with a blanket and sand on top of that, to keep them from burning, by

reason of the fire igniting their clothes until he could give his time to fighting the fire at the sawmill which he and Cushman had bought from the Engelmanns, located on the land now owned by Patrick Noud.

“General Cutcheon, in his loss of home and bewilderment, lost his wife, as he knew not when she had gone, and in his terrible state of mind, he went as far as Maxwelltown in search of her. I do not know how long it was after that before he became aware of where his wife was.

“When the fire reached the river, it burned a vessel, which was in the river close to the bridge, to the water’s edge, and also burned the wooden bridge. As the first paper states, there were but two sawmills destroyed by that fire here at Manistee, with their lumber piles and other combustibles.

The sawmills at Maxwelltown had to be guarded by watchmen night and day, for 48 hours after October 8, to prevent the S. Babcock & Co.’s mill and my own mill from being destroyed.

“The danger was so great to the buildings around these two mills, and they being located so close together, that a vessel at my dock took on board all the women and children, I think on Monday, the ninth, and went out into the middle of the lake, which of course, was not to exceed 100 feet as the lake is very narrow at this point. The was done as safety for the workmen’s families, who might not be able to get out of the way in case some of the buildings caught afire, causing the destruction of the entire village.

“I might repeat here that it was estimated one-third of the homes of our little city had been destroyed by this fire. As to how

extensive the destruction was at Holland, I am not aware at this time. My own home, located on Second Street, one block east of Maple, was burned, and in its reconstruction, almost everything I had was burned. Mr. Tibbits, a brother-in-law, lived at Maxwelltown, to whose home, I took my wife, also Mr. and Mrs. Isa Ellsworth, and the little girl, who were visiting us from Milwaukee.

The roads to our city, especially in the suburbs, yes even on River Street, were covered with sawdust. In some places this was to cover up the sand, in other places to take care of the clay, giving us a better road to drive on than would the top soil of the earth.

“The sawdust extended from the Buckley & Douglas Mill, as known to us in later years, as far south as the Reitz Hill, and to the sawmills before mentioned.

When I was taking these friends of mind and their little girl to Maxwelltown, I had to drive through blazing fire, at least a foot high, that being the surface of the sawdust, like a sheet of fire, covering the entire distance on the road to Maxwelltown.

“A strange thing about this fire is the fact that not a church or schoolhouse of the city was destroyed. Whether that was accidental or whether Divine Providence, if we believe in that, knowing what the wicked little City of Manistee needed, intervened in our behalf to the extent that we should have left to ourselves these necessary buildings for our children and the people at large is something that you can think over and conclude about as well as I can.”

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Village of Copemish first incorporated in 1891 Steve Harold For the News Advocate EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in the Manistee News Advocate on Feb. 9, 1991.

Downtown Copemish, circa 1900s. (Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

The Copemish Band. (Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

A depot in Copemish. The village was incorporated in 1891.

(Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

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A hundred years ago on Feb. 10, 1891, Copemish elected a village council and became an incorporated village in Manistee County. The irony of this first is that Copemish was also the newest village in the county in 1891.

Surveyors for the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Northern Michigan and the Manistee & Northeastern railroads had determined the location for the future village by fixing a point where their two lines intersected. The first residents of Copemish had arrived in the summer of 1889 to serve the needs of construction crews for both the railroads. The surveyors concluded their work by plating a portion of the railroad owned property at the intersection of the tracks as a village.

Copemish developed very rapidly due to the fact it was a transportation community built in a virtual vacuum.

The pioneers of the community had had to walk 30 to 50 miles for all their outside needs: politics, legal problems, medical help, supplies, grist mills and often even churches.

Produce from the homesteads had to be freighted to market a like distance unless they could find a closer logging camp. Consequently, with the arrival of not one but two railroads in 1889, the local people rushed to use the transportation center and the junction quickly became a sizable community.

State law specified that whenever a community of more than 300 people lived in an area of less than a square mile they could petition the county Board of Supervisors to become an incorporated village.

Copemish met this requirement by 1891 (318 people in one square mile) and thus 15 residents filed a petition with the Supervisors at their organizational meeting in 1891. The petition was granted on Jan. 7, 1891, with the actual incorporated village to commence after an election of officers

COPEMISH AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Blog: Copemish Area Historical Society - http:// copemishhistoricalsociety. blogspot.com Facebook: Copemish Area Historical Society and Library Contact: Marlene at marrobinson2000@yahoo.com or Linda at 231-378-2616 on Feb. 10.

Following the election the Manistee Times-Sentinel carried the following proud announcement from a Copemish correspondent: “The village of Copemish contains about four hundred inhabitants, and was incorporated Tuesday, by electing the village officers. There were three tickets in the field – Citizens, Village and Union – and the contest was a spirited one. The Citizens Ticket was victorious, the following officers being elected: President, C.B. Caniff; Clerk, Walter W. Gibb; Treasurer, George H. Marzloff; Trustees, James B. Loshbough, David Barry, Charles H. Taylor, John Tweddle, Cassius R. Bunker, Columbus W. Kingsley; Assessor, David A. Cornell; Street Commissioner, Thomas A. Fralick; and Constable, William Fenner.

“Copemish is a little over a year old and one of the most enterprising and progressive villages in northern Michigan. The buildings are of a substantial character, and everything about the village has the air of life and vigor. The $8000 company grist mill is one of the finest in the state, being supplied with all the modern improvements. It has given satisfaction in every instance, and farmers come twenty and thirty miles with their grists. Many other enterprises in and about the village are worthy of mention.”

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The oldest photograph the Copemish Area Historical Society has of the village.

(Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

The oldest house in Copemish, which is still standing.

The Armstrong House was built before 1897.

(Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

The second school in Copemish was located on Fourth Street, circa 1908. (Courtesy photo/Copemish Area Historical Society)

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My story about growing up Reta Howes Russell Marilla Township, born in 1920 Russell, Vernon, and I played outside a lot in the summer. Our lawn wasn’t mowed and the long grass would get between my toes, and it felt good!

I kept up with the boys very well.

Of course, the older boys had a good time teasing us. I remember one time they dared us to swallow an egg yolk (whole). They were going to pay us, probably a nickel. Mom and Dad weren’t home at the time. None of us made it!

We went to Sunday school every Sunday and were brought up to believe in and live a Christian life.

We walked to school and came home for lunch because we lived so close (1/4 mile west on Bigge Road, top of hill on the left). I would rather eat at school because that gave us more time to play. We always had a ball game going and would run back to school so we didn’t miss much.

Saturday nights we went to the “Free Show” at Mesick. A large crowd would gather and we saw black and white movies, a lot of westerns, and they were silent. So the action was great and they would run captions under the pictures that told the story. Then we would walk up and down the streets visiting with friends and get an ice cream cone, 3 dips for a dime! The people that sold the ice cream were dwarfs. She stood on a stool back of the counter and dipped the ice cream. They were so nice to everybody!

Ruth, because she was ten years older than I, was my grown up sister and my idol. She wore spiked heels and make up, also short dresses, and she taught school.

Pictured is the Howes family, including Reta Howes Russell (front, third from left).

(Courtesy photo)

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I think that I had a lot of them!

One was when I was baptized along with 13 others. I was 13 years old.

I graduated from 10th grade at Marilla School. Then I rode the bus to Kaleva School and graduated in 1939 from there. I stayed home, worked at school for $15 a month and helped my brother Vernon milk the cows.

MARILLA MUSEUM & PIONEER PLACE 9911 Marilla Road Copemish, MI Open Hours: 1-5 p.m. every Saturday through October Visit: marillahistory.org Contact: Jan Thomas 231-362-3430 Then, oh happy day when the superintendent at Kaleva School got a scholarship for me to go to central Michigan College to become a teacher! My dad went to the bank and borrowed money to pay other expenses. It cost me $300 to go for 2 years. Then I began teaching.

GIRLHOOD DREAMS My dreams were that I wanted to grow up, marry, and have a family.

I had teaching on my mind, but I didn’t really think that I could do it, because they weren’t having County Normal teacher’s training like my sister Ruth had for one year.

Now, you had to have at least two years of college, and we didn’t have any money. But it did work out. I taught for 30 years.

LOVES OF MY LIFE After retiring, Jim and I did a lot of traveling and had many good times until his diabetes got him down. I worked many years at our Marilla Museum. Our two rooms in the basement really went over big.

Moving the log house from Yates Corners, rebuilding and furnishing it was a big accomplishment! Then the building of Nels Johnson’s cabin and the museum barn were great privileges to be a part of doing.

I always thanked God for all of these things and always was in church and had the privilege of being a Sunday school teacher and helped wherever I could.

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How Arcadia’s first museum came to be Lyle Matteson For the News Advocate

Henry Clay Matteson’s 25 diaries. William Matteson saved these for his museum. They tell much about pioneer life in the area. (Courtesy photo/Arcadia Area Historical Museum)

The Painted Lady Saloon is the oldest operating saloon in Manistee.

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William Matteson (1864-1949) was a prominent citizen of Arcadia, Michigan best known as the owner of Matteson Manor, a hotel and restaurant at the corner of Lake Street and M-22.

William Matteson was the son of Henry Clay Matteson (1839-1899) of Pierport. Like many early settlers in the area who came here after service in the Civil War, Henry had a variety of occupations including working at the Huntington sawmill, as a teamster and as a farmer.

By 1871, he worked as a cabinet

maker for C.W. Perry in Pierport. At a time when most people were earning $1 per day or less, Henry’s skills earned him $2 a day.

Henry C. Matteson is also known to us today for his diaries, 25 of them dating from 1861 to 1899.

According to son William, “The diary began in a hospital in Alexandria, Va. where he was confined for six months [for Malaria], and lasted until within nine days of his death which occurred in Arcadia twp.”

He kept track of everything he did including things as simple as planting potato peels on his farm. William saved these diaries, and in 2004,

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Manistee County Historical Museum Director Steve Harold taught a class on the history of Arcadia relying heavily on Henry’s detailed diaries.

According to his obituary in the Manistee County Pioneer Press, William Matteson came to the area from Wonemoc, Wisconsin in a covered wagon with his mother and father Henry.

In 1884 as a young man, William worked in Frankfort at Woodward’s General Store and stayed at the Forest Air house at the corner of 6th and Forest, one of the “modern hotels of those days.”

This would help him when he became the owner of his own hotel. Later, William worked as a telegrapher for the M&NE railroad where he received the first telegram sent to his station. He saved this telegram in his ever-growing collection of historical artifacts.

Later, like his father, William went to work as a builder and cabinet maker. In the Arcadia area he built a number of homes, stores and the Matteson hotel.

In 1900, he and his wife Sena began operating Matteson Manor.

Their hotel included William’s workshop on the west side and a room dedicated to William’s museum. Many people had small collections of Arcadia

ARCADIA AREA HISTORICAL MUSEUM 3340 Lake Street Arcadia, MI Open Hours: 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment: 231-735-5157 Visit: arcadiami.com Contact: Lyle Matteson, 231-4281153 history artifacts. Still do.

As a boy when I visited my grandmother, I would look forward to reading issues of the Saturday Evening Post she saved and to looking through her collection of rocks, fossils, and Indian artifacts including a grinding stone verified as authentic a few years ago by local archeologist John Williams.

William Matteson had a fully cataloged collection on steroids housed in a special room of the hotel that boarders and restaurant goers could see.

His 19-page type written catalog, “The

An ad for the restaurant at Matteson Manor. The hotel restaurant was famous for Sena Matteson’s chicken. (Courtesy photo/Arcadia Area Historical Museum)

Collection of William Henry Matteson,” listed pictures, framed collections, arrowheads, rocks and other individual artifacts.

Some museum pieces came with incredible claims such as wood supposedly from the Griffin, which still has not been discovered according to today’s shipwreck experts. The catalog describes it as “Wood from Griffin.

First ship built on the Great Lakes and lost at the Straits of Mackinaw with full

crew. Loaded with furs, on its first trip.

Disappeared 1660, the remains were discovered by fisherman about ten years ago.

“On two poplar pedestals made from timber grown in the yard in Arcadia to a height of 90 feet, 30 inches in diameter, all grown in thirty-five years, rests a walnut plank cut near the Indiana line from a log rolled over a pit and whipsawed. … The purpose of this plank is to support a collection of rocks

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gathered over a lifetime.… In the wall case is to be found arrow heads of this region, also a few from Indiana. There is Mound Builders’ pottery which [was] no doubt in use in this locality about seven thousand years ago.”

Excerpts from William Matteson’s Collection Catalog “An oil painting of Arcadia Valley and Lake Michigan from Peek’s hill formerly Homestead of H. C. Matteson---June 1867. …

“One oak frame containing pictures of the White Birch cabin here in Arcadia and the Wren’s Nest on Lake Michigan, both of which were built by W. H. Matteson.

“Pictures of the parents of W. H. Matteson. …

“One frame containing pictures of six generations, from the great grandfather of W. H. Matteson, to his grandson.

“A frame of four sections containing--starting from the left: 1. Mound builders copper arrowhead. Arrowhead taken from mound where a skeleton 8 feet in height was unearthed. …

“Silver cross found at Pierport, Mich.

Presumably lost by Indian woman getting a drink from spring. …

“2. The first original wire to be received by W.H.M after taking up his duties as station agent for the M.&N.E. in Manistee, Mich. …

“3. Confederate money – Twenty dollars-issued in 1864.

“4. Letter received by W. H. M. from Col. Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. …

“A little copper teakettle which went on a gold hunting trip with W.H.M.’s father Henry Matteson, to the Black Hills, & Pike’s Peak in 1863. Also used for making coffee during the latter part of the Civil War, in the Cumberland Mountains.

“First steel axe used in Michigan, likely by government surveyors, found on Indian planting ground near Pierport, Mich.

“Two dueling pistols…

“The business end of a flint-lock musket, found on the shore of Lake Michigan, the rest of which no doubt buried in the sand. Very rare. The lock is still in full cock as though the user had been ready to fire but had been either wounded or killed before he had a chance.

“A heavy sturgeon spear, found on the Indian planting ground at Pierport.

Made either for the Indians or the early Americans.

“Thirty three specimens of Canal Zone woods. … Secured by George Robinson, an ex-school teacher in the Arcadia School.

“The balance of the rear end of the den contains a twenty five year collection of the American Builder-bound, beginning with the first edition. It makes one of the

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Matteson Manor in 1925. The hotel had what was believed to be the first museum in Arcadia with a detailed catalog describing William Matteson’s collections. (Courtesy photo/Arcadia Area Historical Museum)

Part of William Matteson’s collection. (Courtesy photo/Arcadia Area Historical Museum)

best building libraries in the country.

“Brass scuppers off the freighter Minnehaha…

“Ox shoes used in the early lumbering days of Michigan. …

“Specimen of wood from 142-feet down-an oil well drilled on Chamberlain farm in Arcadia Twp. … Wood deposited here about 24,000 years ago.

“Wood from largest and finest pine in Michigan, 100 years ago. 8 feet in diameter. W.H.M talked to man who saw it standing 3 miles east of Arcadia.

“Eight stone axes and six skinning tools. Used by the Mound Builders. …

“Knife, fashioned from flint, eleven and one half inches long. Used by prehistoric man and lost in the swamps east

of Arcadia. Found by Joseph Tondu.

“A twenty five volume journal. A diary kept by W.H.M’s father, Henry C. Matteson, from 1861 to 1899. …

“Dining room table: Hand made by W.H.M. Special type top---will extend 12 ft. Rock maple from the Homestead.

Buffet to match in the same Homestead maple. Made in 1919.

He was particularly proud of his tools and the chest he made for them.

“Tool chest: Cherry and oak (Homestead timber). It contains largest assortment that any cabinet maker would need. Four sliding trays made of California Redwood, red cedar bottoms which hold small tools. Full size drawer at bottom made into compartments.

Resting on ball bearings from an old Cadillac car, can be moved about by finger pressure. Steel engraving of “Stag at Bay” transferred to under side of cover, which is hinged with steel hinges—bolted into place. Finished with an old lock from an old chest.

Handles are made for double handhold.

Matteson’s own construction.”

This is just a few of the items described. His catalog also listed 294 books in his collection and said he had 193 copies of National Geographic.

As modern museums do, William Matteson collected, preserved and shared his collections, but he added a dash of whimsey.

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The Somsels harvested and cut lumber. (Courtesy photo)

The scow in action. (Courtesy photo)

Cleaning up after the timber slaughter Gene Lagerquist For the News Advocate Shafts of sunlight filtered down from between the fresh cut pine boards. They were left leaning against a center ridgepole that ran parallel to another ridge pole on the other side of mini railroad track that divided the lumber yard.

These lumber drying teepees were over a hundred feet in length and about three feet in width at the ground. Squeals of laughter came from under these manmade caves as three children played a game of hide and seek within them.

Alpheus Keith and Earl Keck came down the track, pushing a wagon loaded with fresh cut boards in front of them. They were headed for the far end of the track where they would continue to stack the boards on end with the tops leaning against the ridgepole.

The two men labored with the lumber, while cognizant of the children underfoot. This was not unusual. This was a frontier setting where the family lived at the work site and the site was just upstream of High Bridge on the Manistee River.

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The year is 1936 and the children are Bob, Wink and Rita Somsel. The oldest daughter is Millie, but she is helping her mother prepare supper at the small cabin that provides them with shelter.

Their parents, Hershel and Eliza Somsel, are part of the Somsel family partnership that is sawing lumber at the site. There are two other brothers to Hershel working at the mill, Raymond and Harvey, but only Hershel has family living there.

The family business plan is to lease the property from Consumers Power, which has recently completed the Tippy Dam project. The Somsels are reclaiming pine logs that have been lost on the shores and log jams and were not sent down the river to be sawed at one of the many sawmills on Manistee Lake.

These logs have been waiting for decades for someone to drag them out of the sand and debris. Many have been submerged in part or entirely and their heavy weight reflects this extra water. Complicating the entire process is the fact that they lie at the river’s level. They must first be lifted about 80 feet to the level of the mill and then trucked uphill another 80 or

BRETHREN HERITAGE MUSEUM 14300 Cart Ave., Brethren, MI Open Hours: 1-4 p.m. Saturdays June-September Contact: Iola, 231-477-5533 or Janet, 231-477-5526 100 feet before they come out of the river valley. This is no small feat for the equipment and methods of 1930.

Shortly after breakfast on this June day in 1936, Raymond, Keith, and cousin Sam Somsel go down to the river’s edge. There is a shallow bayou that extends off the main river at the base of the hill where the mill is set up.

In this bayou floats a scow made of cypress timbers. This rugged raft is not made for speed, rather it is a workhorse for moving logs. Two of the men climb aboard the scow and the other man boards a small rowboat. The scow has a small motor that turns a propeller pushing the

clumsy craft out into the current.

They float downstream until they come to clump of logs forming the edge of the stream. They drop an anchor that keeps them in position while Alpheus climbs onto the logs.

He has a line tied to a grapple hook that is suspended by a winch cable that runs through an A-frame on the back of the scow.

The A-frame is made of timbers that are attached to the cypress pontoons on one end and they come together at their far ends, forming the letter A. At the top of the letter A is a snatch block pulley that has the winch cable threaded through it. The cable goes to the other end of the scow where a small gas engine is running.

This engine is connected to a winch which will wind up the cable and thus pull the log off the bank. This is similar to a short fishing rod and reel; the reel being the winch which winds up the line and the A-frame being the fishing rod. The snatch block is the end guide on your fishing pole.

As Raymond winds up the cable the log quickly pulls free and splashes into the river. It comes up at the back of the scow where Raymond wraps a chain around the end of it, securing

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it to the back of the scow. He then releases the winch and Alpheus pull the rope that is attached to the grab hook pulling the hook to him so he can attach it to another log.

As Raymond winds the winch cable up the log refused to move. Raymond keeps winding up cable and the scows back end dips several feet into the river. This puts a strong strain on the log and with some of the rivers water flowing into the void created by the removal of the first log, the suction is broken and the second log heads to the back of the scow.

This is a pattern repeated throughout the day. When six or eight logs are gathered, Earl Keck takes the line from Keith and rows upstream to an old stump just onshore. He pulls the log grapple through the water and hooks to the stump. This allows Raymond to winch the scow upstream with the help of the small motor, which cannot move the loaded raft with its load of logs dragging bottom.

This process must be repeated several times before they enter the bayou where they will untie the logs.

Back at the cabin, Millie has been helping her mother, Eliza, bake bread. They have mixed the ingredients and kneaded the dough.

It sits near the wood stove slowly rising in pans.

They now need some better firewood to get the oven up to baking temperature. For this, Millie secures the help of her younger siblings.

They need to scour the woods for pine-knots. When the oldest pines died or were blown over in storms, the sapwood rotted away over the decades.

What did not rot were the rosinfilled knots, or tree limb growths that were embedded within the hearts of the tree stems. They lay in a long pattern where the tree had fallen, much like rib bones from an animal skeleton. One had only to locate such a pattern and then pick up hand-sized knots and carry them back in a crate or basket.

As Millie led her brother and sister out into the woods, she fired off numerous orders and commands. Being the eldest of a large family held few rewards. The right to act as a tyrannical sergent was not only allowed but expected.

Quiet complaining was accepted or ignored. Refusal to work was met without mercy. She soon had all the containers filled with knots and headed back to the mill site.

When she returned, Eliza stocked the stove with four or five of the resin filled knots and soon had a roaring fire. She and Millie baked the several pans of bread and were ready for

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Pictured are Raymond, Harvey and Hurshel Somsel. (Courtesy photo)

several meals. A store of dry beans and fresh fish were on the menu along with the fresh bread. Quantity was an important aspect of feeding mill workers who burned up several thousand calories each day.

While the scow crew pulled up logs, the rest of the crew were busy filling up the log deck for the mill. The logs were all at the bottom of the hill half afloat in the bayou. The mill crew had devised a sluice for bringing them up the sharp hill bank.

At the top was anchored another winch line and twelve horse Fairbanks/Morse vertical winch. An A-frame was constructed at the edge of the bank and a rough wooden halftube was built to the water’s edge.

Another smaller trough was built right beside the first. With Hershel running the winch motor, Harvey dropped the decking chain attached

to the winch line into the small trough. A line was tied to it and at the bottom of the hill one of the Keck boys pulled it by hand down the tube.

After he hooked it to the end of a log, Hershel began to wind up the cable.

As the log neared the bottom of the sluice, Keck often needed to roll the log into position. He did so with the use of a cant hook or peevee pole.

When the log slid to the top of the hill, Harvey lowered it down, but not onto the ground.

The Somsel brothers had previously laid down about 80 feet of railroad rail in two parallel lines from the base of the sluice to the edge of the sawmill. The two rails were about eight feet apart and they were level.

This allowed Harvey and Hershel to roll the freshly reclaimed log along the tracks up to the mill, which was not yet running. They repeated this

process until they had the entire track full of logs side by each, about forty of them. The logs were mostly 16 feet in length, but some were shorter. Their diameters ranged from three feet to one foot. Each was waterlogged to some degree and their weight, in most cases, was more than if they had just been felled.

Lunchtime came but it was a catchas-catch-can affair. A sandwich, a drink and maybe some dried fruit was consumed, but the workday continued without interruption. At this point, all six of the men met at the head-saw to begin the process of cutting logs to lumber.

The mill was a stationary circular saw of about five feet in diameter. It is fixed in an upright position much as one of our table saws would be in our wood shops. What is different is the log is too heavy to push by hand into the saw, so a carriage with small wheels runs right next to the saw.

This low little log wagon can carry a huge load and it has spikes fixed to the framework to hold the log in place.

The first log is rolled onto the carriage and the spikes are forced into the wood to hold it. Harvey is the Sawyer and he ratchets the log toward the main-saw. When it is set, he pushes a long wooden handle that controls a clutch, and the carriage moves forward cutting off the first slab. This is similar to cutting a thin strip off a carrot on a meat board. It leaves a flat side on the carrot and the same occurs to the log.

Harvey reverses the carriage and when it clears the saw blade, he unlocks the dogs that hold the log and rolls it until the flat face is on the bottom and flush on the carriage. He locks the dogs and runs it through the log leaving a log with two flats at right angle to each other. He now has a cant to cut, a log no longer.

He will do this to a third side and then he can began cutting board off the cant in widths of one or two inches. The slabs first removed have little value except for firewood and they must be hauled away or dumped into the river. As the boards are cut, one of the Keck brothers piles them onto the low wagon. This process goes on until the log is cut into lumber material and then another log is rolled into place by the other Keck brother.

While this is going on, Hershel is busy tending the steam engine. This wood burning machine is similar to an old train locomotive. Instead of using the power to turn the train drive wheels, this engine turns a round shaft that has two or three pulleys attached to it.

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Flat belts about 10 inches wide run from the steam engine pulley to a similar pulley on the sawmill. This belt turns the saw at a high rate of speed in order to cut the pine wood.

The other pulleys can run an edger or other small wood trimming device as needed.

The steam that creates this power is generated by burning wood or coal.

In this case, the slab wood discarded from the logs is cut into pieces short enough to fit the firebox of the engine and an extremely hot fire must be kept going to provide the power needed for the mill. Harvey has his hands full keeping this power station running at top speed.

As the others are cutting fresh lumber, Alpheus and Sam are busy unloading the dry kiln. This is a building of some 20 feet in length, eight feet high and eight feet in width.

It has a large door on one end and the two men are taking lumber out of it and piling the boards onto the company’s truck.

It has a flatbed behind the cab and they pile a load of much lighter lumber onto it. The dry kiln has a series of pipes about six inch in diameter set into the opposite end from the door. The pipes are connected to a fan system that blows a huge amount of fresh air into and past the stacked lumber.

Each layer of lumber has wooden stickers about an inch in height that separates the boards from each other.

As the fresh air moves thru the kiln it dries the boards and blows the moist air out the other side of the building.

They then reload the kiln with lumber that has just came off the planer machine. The planer removes a thin layer of wood from the top of each board as it passes through it.

The boards come off the main saw a little too thick and are not precise in their thickness. The planer corrects this and spits our boards exactly one inch thick, or whatever thickness is desired.

When Sam and Alpheus are finished, they start up the planer and run the boards that have been standing upright in the sun. As Sam takes a planed board off the machine, he stacks it onto a wagon that waits beside him. The pre-drying helps to lower the time needed to reach an acceptable level of moisture in the lumber within the kiln. It takes these extra steps to dry the wood because much of it has been sitting in river water for decades.

All of this work keeps the entire crew busy for the whole day. When quitting time arrives, Harvey must slow the fire up in the steam engine.

He will not allow it to go out and he

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BEAR LAKE AREA HISTORICAL MUSEUM 7750 Main St., Bear Lake Open hours: 1-4 p.m. every Saturday through October Visit: bearlakeareahistory.org One of newest museums in the county is the Bear Lake Museum, located in the former Bear Lake First Baptist Church. The museum was started by the Bear Lake Historical Society and covers the history of Bear Lake Township, the Village of Bear Lake and Pleasanton Township.

BOTTLE HOUSE MUSEUM 145551 Wuoksi Ave., Kaleva Open hours: noon-4 p.m. Saturdays through Labor Day Visit: kalevami.com

The Fairbanks-Morse Hoisting engine used in river operations. (Courtesy photo)

will need to revive it sometime before they begin sawing the next day.

He must also keep a close eye on the level of water in the engine. As the steam power is used some water is lost to the atmosphere. Harvey must always keep the level of water at a safe level and he will top it off before operations start later. Raymond will be busy feeding his team of horses and providing water. There is some grazing ground near the site, but hay must be purchased and trucked in for his team and his brother Harvey’s team of oxen. When this is done, he can then think about feeding himself.

Cousin Sam is occupied at the river edge. Sam provides the camp with fish for the frying pan and smoker.

He does this with enjoyment and would be doing it even if the camp did not need it. He is renown as a great provider of fish and game. Sam often has the willing help of Bob and Wink.

The two boys would gladly catch fish before gathering more firewood, but the choice is seldom theirs to make.

As the sun sets, Sam cleans the fish he has caught and puts them into a salt brine bucket to stay fresh.

Some will be smoked and much eaten

the next day. With no refrigeration the storing of meat and fish is a challenge. Some will be salted to prevent rot while those that are smoked will last for many days.

A kerosine lamp lights the cabin as the sun sets, but it will only burn for a few minutes. Everyone is tired from this rugged life and the promise of more work in the early morning extinguishes the lamp light.

This recount of the Somsel mill site activities is due in large part to the memories of Wink Somsel, one of the children in the article. The site can be visited in Section 28 of Dickson Township south of Brethren.

It lies on Federal Forest land just east of the historical marker noting the High Bridge Railroad crossing of the Manistee River. Going about 600 yards east of the marker and following the old two track down the sidehill, one can witness the concrete remnants of the water tank and dry kiln. Photos of the operation and crew can be seen at the Somsel Lumber store in Kaleva, which still harbors the old truck used to haul the lumber from the mill to various market places.

The Kaleva Bottle House is well known and was created in 1941 by John Makinen St. using more than 60,000 glass bottles on the exterior of the building. Makinen had plenty of access to a limitless number of used soda pop bottles in his position as owner of the Northwestern Bottle Works.

A short distance away is The Kaleva Depot on Walta Street, and the history of this building dates back to the early 1900s and originated with the lumber industry. It was the Buckley & Douglas Lumber Company that started the railroad in that area for hauling logs with their lumber industry.

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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

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

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MAIN BRANCH

28th Street in Filer Township South of Manistee

PARKDALE BRANCH

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

On US 31 Across from Munson Medical Center North of Manistee

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BEAR LAKE BRANCH

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