Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1876-07-26

History of Alpena County.
BY WILLIAM BOULTON.
CONTINUED.

Of starvation" staring him in the
face, and the bottom of the -four
barrel will often look reproachfully
at him. But year by year comforts
begin to gather around the settler
and his family; first a garden is
planted; fresh vegetables adorn his
table; fowls cackle about his door
his cellars or root t-houses begin to
be filled with potatoes, turnips, etc,
and he has some to spare. A COW
is then added to his stock his
barn begins to be filed with hay
and grain; he becomes the pos
SCISSOR of a horse or two, and at last,
after few years of heroic self-de-
nial and toll, he sees his dreams
fulfilled; he has earned home for
himself and family; he has attain
ed an independence by his own
hands; he has obeyed the Divine
mandate "to earn his living by the
sweat of his brow" and now, when
the work has been done, and the
hardships, sufferings, tolls, and pri-
vations lie in the past, regrets not
the struggles he has gone through
in attaining it.
But while the settler has been
acting the hero, his wife has not
been idle; she has suffered when
he suffered; rejoiced when he re-
joiced, and encouraged him when
he was disheartened. Nobly has
she allied his efforts, and the vic
tory is due as much to her as to
himself.
What better recommendation
could we give of this county and
the advantages it offers to settlers,
when we can point out hundreds of
persons, who commencing with no
capital, or skill in farming, have,
in few years, made for themselves
and their families good comfortable
homes; and the same can be done
by any other enerjetic person, who
is willing to apply himself vigor-
ously to the work of clearing and
improving the wild lands, and ten
years of unceasing industry will
give him sure independence, and
make him the possessor of a piece
of property worth many hundreds
of dollars. 1t needs only applica-
tion and labor, and the reward is
sure.
In 1866, Greeley & Erskine made
a commencement Mt farming, in
that part of the country known as
the Greeley settlement. The parties
had 20S acres of land, and cleared
up 130 acres. The place is now
owned by Harrington & Emerson.
Mr.. Chas. B. Greeley reports selling
the first $500 worth of farm pro-
duce that was raised in this county.
The same year Mr.. James A. Case
made commencement on piece
of land on the North Branch, and
says that on the night Of his arrival,
he argued the question, mentally,
as to whether he should proceed |
with his work or not. 1t did not
appear probable that there would
be any settlers who would be apt |
to come there and settle. How
ever, Mr.. Case decided to make a
commencement, and to-day, settlers
may be found many miles further
out in the wilderness, and more
going. Another settler who COM
menced farming in 1866, was Mr..
Richard Naylor, whose place is To-
Gated about three miles from the
city. Mr.. Naylor has remained on
his place up to the present, aud he
has made valuable improvements
on it.
In 1867, James Dempster, VIM.
Pulford, David Dunn, and the writer
of this sketch, settled in the east
ern part of Alpena township
About the same time, and the few
years following, numerous persons
settled in various parts Of the
county, and farming began to as
sumo a little more than an expert
ment. 1t began to be a success.
In 1871, the region about Long
Lake began to be settled, anu many
of the farmers in that part of the
county have as much as thirty
acres of land under crop. The
timber in that part of the country
consists principally Of maple, the
soil is good, and the location un-
equaled. More land about Long