The Lake County star., 1876-07-13
the following

4 In the year 1853, with Lorenzo j. Conklin, a
the pioneer settler, who located February 22d
of that year, on Sec. "a, in the Township O
Chase. In September following, Milton c
King located on the same Section; and In De
cember, of the same year, Jesse AckermanI
added his name TO the list OF homesteaders
who also located on the same Section. Thes
three persons with their families comprise tn,
whole number that came to the county i'm 1858
Hence we can safely presume that the homo
OF being the pioneer Mossbacks of Lake Co.
must, and Of right, ought to be awarded Il
them. Many years prior to the advent ofthes,
early settlers, Lake county was well known
To the white people ofour State, and had beer
the resort Of the hunter and trapper of wild
game; and also the speculator In pine lands
AS early as the year 1850, John Stronach, Of
Manistee, purchased, and became the owner
of the q. II Of the N. e. n Sec. 8, In 0-l4, In the
Township of Elk. subsequently, I'm 1872
James Stronach, Aloney ID. w. Rust and Capt
Il. b. Ward, purchased thousands of acres OF
pine lands, in the northern portion of the
| county, near Pine River.
In the Spring of the year 1857, the first town
ship I'm the county was organized, and named
after ex Governor Chase, of Ohio. This town
ship then comprised the four extreme eastern
towns In the county, and was attached to Me-
costa county. Then, by an act of our State
Legislature, approved March I'D, 1860, another
change was made in the boundaries of this
township, by attaching towns II, IL, 10 and 20
N. Off. II West and dattachingt the whole town
ship to Osceola county; which county was or
ganized I'm February, 1869. And, by a similar
act, fthe same date as the one last mentioned,
Lake township was organized, comprising the
s.l,
attached to Mason county. The seat of gov
ernment, for the Township ofChase, from fS67
TO 1860, was Big Rapids; and from 1860 to 1871,
for the Townships OF Chase and Lake, Hersey
and Ludington, respectively. This condition
of affairs, however, was destined to be OF very
short duration; for in 1871, and In accordance
with an Act ofthe State Legislature, approved
the 18th of March, Of that year, together with
an election held pursuant to the Act afOre-
said, the one great count above all others, in
the history Of Lake county, occurred, namely:
Its existence as an organized county, by itself,
with all the rights, privileges and powers, to
which, by law, the inhabitants of fother organ-
ized counties Of this State are entitled.
In connection with the organization of the
county, the Legislature also provided for the
organization Of the Townships of Pinora, Els
cOunty's organization, there were but five
townships in the county. The same Act which
provided for the organization of the towns
heretofore mentioned, detached the territory
now known rs the Township of Pleasant
Plains, from the Town Of Lake, and, for rea-
sons Qf there were any wholly unknown to
the writer, made no provisions for its organ
ization. However, at the first meeting of the
Board of Supervisors, held on the ninth day
of May, 1871, at the residence of the County
Clerk, in the Township of Pinora, Pleasant
Plains was organized; and was represented on
the Board of ofSupervisors, during the remain
der of the year, BY Melvin Baker. The other
Supervisors elect were w. j. Holcomb, Au-
gustus TOwner, T.. &. Monroe, Austin y. RAN
dali and Henry Flynn. These six men were
the pioneer Supervisors of the county.
Since that time, six other townships have been
organized, and the name ofone cliangcd-from
Killbuck to Glencoe. The changing of the
name OF this township, reminds the writer of
rather u spirited, ii not amusing correspond
encc, which occurred between himselfand the
Sup't of Public Instruction, of this State, in
relation thereto: The Sup't claiming that he
must have report from Killbuck, which the
writer positively knew they had got, except
perhaps, in name, which he very well knew
they were not entitled, because of the change
OF the name of that township. The matter
happily Terminated, in receiving from the
Supt, "a communication which ran thus
"Name Of town changed, Local Acts, Mich.
p. 2, Act No. 239. Peace be to the ashes of the
buck, which will stay killed, to haunt us no
more"
The settlers who came to the county as early
as the year 1858, as well as many who settled
subsequently, submitted to, and endured
many bardships. In many instances, it was
with extreme difficulty that they procured
even the necessaries of life; they were often
not 80 much concerned about the quality, as
the quantity, and were thankful for even the
plaincst of fare, in sufficient amount to sus-
tain life The furniture and implements of
the households were of a primitive manufac-
ture; board benches for chairs and rough board
platforms for tables. But. nevertheless these
pioneers of the county were intelligent, strong
minded men, To do and dare to plan for tile
future, to struggle with obstacles and dversi-
ties, and to overcome them. They have de-
velOped great capacities, vigor and enterprise,
as the progress and present prosperity Of the
county shows.
In those early days, IL took four days to make
the journey from Grand Rapids, while now,
IL can be travelled in as many hours. The read
er will pardon the writer, for giving here, "a
humorous account OF his first nights lodging,
when looking land In the North Woods, in tile
Spring of ~: lie stopped mt u log cabin which
had been recently erected, and was partitiOned
with blanket partitions. After pleasant
evenings chat, and the evening had become
somewhat advanced, a member of the family
suggested that IL was time to retire. There be-
ing several ladies present, the writer of this
sketch, mOdestly said, that If his presence i'm
the house, interfered with any arrangements
which they desired to make, preparatory to
retiring, he would step out doors. Not In the
least, exclaimed the lady Of the house, guess
xs.st .lE l.1r In.
woods. All there Is of 1t, when one wishes to
go to bed, we blow the light out, and the per-
son hops In.
Lake county is bounded on the North, by
Manistee and Wexford counties; on the East,
by OsceOia county; South, by NewaygO coun-
ty. and on the West, by Mason county. AstO
physical aspects, the central portion IL gener-
ally level; the eastern and western portions
are mostly undulating, with few elevations
which may be denominated, hills.
The population I'm 1870, was 5is, and accord
ing to the census taken In 1874, the population
had reached l $685.
The principal objects of interest, are Its
plains, bearing their wild fruit, and its Inn
inense forests of timber lands. There are four
rivers I'm the county-the Pere Marquette, Lit
tie Sauble, Little Manistee and Pine ali emp
tying into Lake Michigan, except Pine River,
which flows into the Big Manistee. There are,
numerous other small streams, affOrding cold
and sparkling water, especially the branches
of the Little Manistee. These rivers afford
many excellent mill sites, with ample power
animals are yet numerous. These consist of
the deer, black bear, wolf, wildcat, lynx, fox,
raccoon, marten, porcupine, skunk, weasel,
gopher, rabbit, several Varieties of squirrels,
marmot, mink, otter, beaver and muskrat.
The forests abound with the usual varieties of
wild fowl, and the lakes and rivers afford az
good fishing ground, for some varieties of fish,
as any on the globe. These streams are the
resort OF amateur sportsmen, from distant
States, who come to spend the hot Summer
days, I'm angling for the grayling, which they
afford In abundance.
From information gained from very reliable
sources, IL Is ascertained that there Is now, In
the county, 5,S5S acres of improved land; sew
entecn mills for cutting lumber and shingles
thirty y-one school houses, for the education of
the young, and numerous church organiza-
tions, one of which, now has the foundation
laid, preparatory for the erection Of the pio-
ncer church.
AS to political matters, we shall refer to but
one, simply for the purpose ofcontrasting the
present status of the voting population, with
that in the county's infancy. In the Spring
of 1871, the several county officers were chosen,
and the total vote polled, was l6i. James M.
Foster was elected to the Office of Judge of
Probate, over his opponent, Henry Saunders,
by IA majority; George w. Collier, for Sheriff,
over i. w. Howe Inv , m iority nf Ok. INV i,i