page_title: Charles Mears
section_title: Ludington
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Mears / Western Michigan development / Ludington
caption_attribution_description: English: Lincoln settlement 1861 in Mason County, Michigan
context_page_description: Charles Mears was a Michigan lumber businessman, a Chicago, Illinois capitalist, and a developer of the western part of Michigan. Mears State Park in Pentwater is named after him.
context_section_description: Mears built sawmills in the Ludington area in settlements then called Little Sauble (1851) and Big Sable (1854). These two settlements were later renamed by Mears to Lincoln and Hamlin in 1861 in honor of the successful Republican Presidential ticket. 
  Mears served in the Michigan senate and was a member of the Republican Party. He was a personal friend to Abraham Lincoln and had the town he lived in near Ludington renamed to "Lincoln."
  The Mason County Courthouse was moved from Burr Caswell's farmhouse to Lincoln in 1861 to the first building specifically built as a courthouse for Mason County, Michigan. The county seat moved into the city of Ludington in 1873 when Mears built some sawmills in the area.
caption: Lincoln settlement 1861 in Mason County Michigan near Ludington.
exif: {}