Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-04-24
"REMINISCENCES OF ALMA.


In the fall of 1865 Rev. Jonas Denton
of Massachusetts, Il missionary sent by
the Presbyterian society, came TO Alma,
and made his home with s. +. Ander
son. He rendered great service in the
Sunday school work, but in no way more
appreciated by the members of the school
than III securing contributions of books
for the library, papers and magazines
from schools in the east.
AS Il result of his labOrs in this county,
the Pompeii church, (now defunct,) the
Lafayette church, and the church i'll st.
Louis was organized. 1t was Mr. Den
tons intention TO have the last-named
church located i'll Alma, and Il meeting
for this purpose, and at which the soci-
ETY. was organized, was held in the old
school house here January Is, 1866. But
TO the surprise of all resolution was
adopted by the provisions of which the
society then organized was located i'll
st. Louis. AS il result of the action at
this meeting Presbyterian society was
organized i'll Alma February s, 1866, of
which ;. +. Anderson was chosen long
term trustee. This organization was not
recognized by the proper church author
tiles, and for the course pursued by Mr.
Denton i'll this matter he was superseded
by Rev. Clark. Mr.. Denton remained
III Alma until the spring of 1871, and
was Il great help i'll the religious work in
the place.
During these years preaching services
We're held III the old school house by
ministers of different denominations,
chief among whom were Revs. Church
and Nelson.
There was need of a temperance or
ganiZatiOn in the little hamlet on the
Pine, and through Mr.. Anderson's ef
forts a lodge Of Good Templars was or
ganized here March 20, 1886. Al. Yer
ington and wife were Worthy Chief
and Worthy Vice Templar respectively,
and Mr.. Anderson was assigned the
duty of looking after the devotional ex
ercises and spiritual interests of the
lodge. Just how much good was ac-
complished by the organization may
never be known, but the stated meet
ings Of the lodge were the occasions
when all the young folks" in the
'neighborhood' gathered for good
time.
Another occasion for the stated gath
ering of the younger portion of the
community, and particularly for the
unmarried portion, was the singing
school which was organized in April,
1866. Miss Maggie Chaplin Mrs L. a.
Ely was the leader of the singing
school, III which work she was ably
assisted by her sister Miss Ella Chaplin
Mrs. W. o. Watson of breckenridge.
The writer has endeavored, but un-
successfully, to ascertain the names of
some of the boys who attended this
singing school. He has not been told
that "Town" Ely was IA regular atten-
dant, but Judging from very import
amt society event which occurred not
many years later, it is believed that
Town" was not far away when the
evening sessions of the school were at
an end.
Some idea of the cost of living here
thirty years ago, may be had by noting
the cost of few staples" taken from
S. +. Anderson's expense book: June
20. 1860, is a memorandum of one barrel
of flour, so; in September of the same
year, another barrel of flour was pur-
chased for $3.50. There are several
entries of kerosene oil, at 81. 30 gallon.
Butter during this year ranged i'll price
all the way from % to 90 cents pound;
tea, - per pound; potatoes from 90 to
10 cents for Il half bushel; five pounds
crackers, so cents; eggs from 10 to %
cents per dozen; one-half gallon syrup,
81; three pounds cheese, 30 cents; four
pounds of sugar, 81. The price quoted
on flour is good road prices; if the
roads were bad, as was too often the
case, not infrequently the price ad
vanced to SO. If the purchaser could
not buy IA barrel of flour, he must pay
for what he did buy at the rate Of from
IL to 10 cents per pound