CHAPTER XI.

Features

BOUNDARIES--TopographICAL FEATURES-OrganizaTION OF COUNTY— COUNTY OFFICERS-FIRST MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT-MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF CIVIL HISTORY-THE COUNTY BAR-FIRST ATTORNEYS-LIST OF SUPERVISORS.

Cheboygan County is bounded on the north by Lake Huron and the Straits of Mackinaw: on the east by Lake Huron and Presque Isle County; on the south by Otsego and Montmorency Counties, and on the west by Emmet and Charlevoix Counties. It has an area of 792 square miles, and had a population in 1880, of 6,524, which, however, is nearly doubled in 1884.

The surface of the country is greatly diversified, level plains being found in some localities and rolling lands in others, the hills on the borders of the lake sometimes rising to a height of two hundred feet. It is watered by the Rainy, Black, Pigeon, Cheboygan, and Maple Rivers, also by Cheboygan, Black, Mullet, Burt, and Douglass Lakes. Several of these lakes are navigable, affording excellent opportunities for transportation of wood, bark, etc., and the rafting of logs. The streams furnish good water power in various places.

The soil is composed of red clay in some portions and sand and clay loam in others, generally rich and productive. The timber consists of maple, beech, pine, cedar, hemlock, poplar, elm, and basswood. The principal crops are wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes, and vegetables, all of which are successfully grown. Apples, plums, cherries, and berries do well, but peaches and pears are not as successful.

There were 7,741 acres of government, 14,712 acres of state swamp, 9,220 acres of primary school, 5,408 acres of agricultural college, and 67,593 acres of Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw railroad land subject to entry May 1, 1883. Unimproved lands can be had at from $3 to $10 per acre, while improved farms are held at from $15 to $60. A state road runs from Cheboygan to Petoskey, and one from Cheboygan to Rogers City. construction traverse the county.

Other roads of more recent

The lumbering interests are very extensive, employing at remunerative wages a great many men, and as fast as the land can be cleared new farms are being developed, which add yearly to the wealth and resources of the county. Fishing is also extensively engaged in.

The Michigan Central Railroad (Mackinac division) passes through Cheboygan, and lake vessels of the largest size enter its two harbors, one of which is in Cheboygan proper, the other at Duncan City, a mile distant. The railroad was built in 1881. A valuable feature of this county is its large lakes, Burt and Mullett Lakes being specially worthy of mention. They both derive their names from the surveying engineers, Mr. Burt and Mr. Mullett, who surveyed the adjoining lands. These gentlemen made the surveys between 1840 and 1848. They made their home at the Metivier House, on Mackinac Island, which was then kept by

Medard Metivier, who purchased the hotel from the old John Jacob Astor Fur Company, who had previously used it as their place of business. Burt Lake is nine miles in length and five miles in width; Mullett Lake is twelve miles long and from five to eight miles wide. They reach in depth from the shore to sixty and ninety feet respectively.

The water is clear as crystal, mostly fed by springs. They are the habitat of various kinds of fish, such as white, pickerel, bass, trout, muskallonge and the kinds generally found in Lakes Huron and Michigan.

Cheboygan River is the outlet of the chain of lakes, Mullett, Burt, and through Crooked River into Crooked Lake, thus extending, with their connecting rivers, over a hundred miles into the interior of Cheboygan and adjoining counties, and traversing vast forests of valuable pine and hard wood timber, and also passes through a rich agricultural district. At a distance of about threefourths of a mile from its mouth, the flow of the river is arrested by a dam which affords an excellent water-power. Locks prevent obstruction to navigation. About three miles above the dam is the junction of the Cheboygan and Black Rivers. The river banks are high with a sloping ascent. The soil is a mixture of gravel and clay, the latter predominating. Thrifty crops and a vigorous growth of timber give evidence of its fertility. Ascending Black River in a southeast direction, about twelve miles, Black Lake is found, a body of water about ten miles in length and six miles wide. Its eastern shore is within seven miles of Hammond's Bay or Lake Huron.

Near Black Lake is Long Lake, which empties into Black River. Its waters contain a great abundance of fish, affording the finest of angling. Ascending the Cheboygan River about four miles above the junction, the broad expanse of Mullett Lake appears in view. It is a most beautiful sheet of water, about twelve miles in length and five miles wide. Its waters are of the crystal clearness and abound with fish. The shores ascend gradually, and beyond are successive rises of ground. At the head of this lake is the entrance to Indian River, which is three miles in length and forms the connection between Mullett and Burt Lakes. The latter is twelve miles in length and six miles wide. It receives as tributaries Maple and Crooked Rivers. Crooked River proceeds from a lake of the same name which in turn receives a river which takes its rise within about a mile of Little Traverse Bay. Tributary to these lakes are several rivers from the south which drain a water-shed which embraces Otsego, Montmorency, Cheboygan and a part of Eminet Counties.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION.

In the year 1840 all that portion of the state lying north of the line between Towns 36 and 37 north, and east of the line between Ranges 4 and 5 west was laid off as a separate county to be known and designated as the county of Cheboygan, and attached to Mackinac County for judicial purposes. In the same year all that portion of the state in Towns 33, 34, 35 and 36 north, Ranges

1 east, and 1, 2 and 3 west, was laid off as a separate county to be known and designated as the county of Wyandot, and attached to Mackinac County for judicial purposes.

The name Cheboygan is of Indian derivation. Cha-boi-gan, was the Indian name of the river. The original word, Chabwegan, signifies "a place of ore."

In the year 1849 the county of Cheboygan was organized by the legislature into a township, to be known as the township of Sheboygan. In 1850, by an act of legislature, the name of the town of Sheboygan was changed to that of Inverness.

In the year 1853 the counties of Cheboygan and Wyandot were consolidated and organized into one county, to be known and designated as Cheboygan County, and so much of Range 4 west as had been included in Cheboygan County was detached from the same and annexed to Emmet County.

The act under which the county was organized is as follows:

SECTION 1. The people of the state of Michigan enact, That the counties of Cheboygan and Wyandot shall be organized in one county, by the name of Cheboygan, and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities to which by law the inhabitants of other organized counties are entitled.

SEC. 2. There shall be elected in the county of Cheboygan, on the first Tuesday of May next, all the several county officers to which by law the said county is entitled, and said election and the canvass shall, in all respects, be conducted and held in the manner prescribed by law for holding elections and canvasses for county and state officers: Provided, That the canvass shall be held in the village of Duncan, in said county, on the Monday next following said election; and said county officers shall be immediately qualified, and enter upon the duties of their respective offices, and their several terms of office shall expire at the same time they would have expired had they been elected at the last general election: And provided further, That until such county officers are elected and qualified, the proper officers of the county of Mackinac shall perform all the duties appertaining to the officers of said county of Cheboygan, in the same manner as though this act had not passed,

SEC. 3. The board of canvassers of said county, under this act, shall consist of the presiding inspector of each township therein, who shall organize by appointing one of their number chairman, and another secretary of the board, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county canvassers, as in ordinary cases of elections for county and state officers.

SEC. 4. The county of Cheboygan shall have concurrent jurisdiction upon Lake Huron, and Thunder and Saginaw Bays, with the other counties contiguous thereto.

SEC. 6. The county seat of Cheboygan County is hereby fixed and established at the village of Duncan, on Cheboygan River, in said county.

SEC. 7. The counties of Presque Isle, Alpena, Montmorency, Otsego, Crawford, Oscodo, Alcona, Iosco, Ogemaw, and Roscommon are hereby attached to the county of Cheboygan for judicial and municipal purposes.

SEC. 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
Approved Jan. 29, 1858.

COUNTY OFFICERS.

The first officers were elected at a special election held May 1st, 1855, for the term of service commencing January 1, 1855. They consisted of the following named:

County clerk, James S. Douglass; register of deeds, Hiram A. Rood; judge of probate, Bela Chapman; sheriff, Medard Metivier; county treasurer, Bela Chapman; prosecuting attorney, Samuel H.

Price; circuit court commissioner, Samuel H. Price; county surveyor, Hiram L. Burr; coroners, Richard Knight, Lorin P. Riggs; fish inspector, Daniel L. Strang.

The following list is of principal officers elected since the organization of the county:

1855-Sheriff, Medard Metivier; clerk, James S. Douglass; register, Hiram A. Rood; treasurer, Bela Chapman; probate judge, Bela Chapman; prosecuting attorney, Samuel H. Price. Total vote, 65.

1856-Sheriff, Moses W. Horne; clerk, James S. Douglass; register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, W. M. Belotte; probate judge, Hiram A. Rood; prosecuting attorney, Hiram A. Rood. Total vote,

55.

1858-Sheriff, John S. Riggs; clerk, Daniel L. Strang; register, Daniel L. Strang; treasurer, James F. Watson. Total vote, 79. 1860-Sheriff, Moses W. Horne; clerk, Lorenzo Backus; register, William Bartholomew; treasurer, James F. Watson; probate judge, William H. Maultby. Total vote, 94.

1862-Sheriff, Moses W. Horne; clerk, Francis Sammons; register, William Bartholomew; treasurer, Lorenzo Backus; prosecuting attorney, Lewis Betz. Total vote, 45.

1864-Sheriff, William E. Maultby; clerk, Francis Sammons; register, Peter McDonnell; treasurer, William Smith; probate judge, William H. Maultby, prosecuting attorney, Moses W. Horne; Total vote, 84.

1866-Sheriff, Medard Metivier; clerk and register, A. D. Woolston; treasurer, Charles Brannock. Total vote, 123.

1868 Sheriff, William A. Gray; clerk and register, A. D. Woolston; treasurer, Charles Brannock; probate judge, William H. Maultby; prosecuting attorney, John Barber. Total vote, 210. 1870-Sheriff, Peter A. Paquin; clerk and register, A. D. Woolston; treasurer, William H. Maultby; prosecuting attorney, Daniel R. Joslin. Total vote, 310.

1872-Sheriff, Peter A. Paquin; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, William H. Maultby; probate judge, George W. Bell; prosecuting attorney, Watts S. Humphrey. Total vote, 424.

1874-Sheriff, George Paquette; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, William H. Maultby; prosecuting attorney, Watts S. Humphrey. Total vote, 324.

1876-Sheriff, George Paquette; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, William H. Maultby; probate judge, J. P. Sutton; prosecuting attorney, James J. Brown. Total vote, 707.

1878-Sheriff, William W. Strohn; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, Watts S. Humphrey. Total vote, 727.

1880-Sheriff, Charles H. Nuite; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, Watts S. Humphrey; probate judge, Edwin Z. Perkins; prosecuting attorney, Frank Shepherd. Total vote, 1,247.

1882-Sheriff, William Harrington; clerk and register, Medard Metivier; treasurer, Edwin Z. Perkins. Total vote, 1,255.

The first meeting of the board of supervisors was held at the office of the county clerk Oct. 8, 1855. Jeremiah Woolston was chosen chairman. The assessment rolls were examined and equalized. The aggregate personal and real estate assessed was $55,The board decided to raise the following sums: To cancel the indebtedness of the county, $87.40; to defray current expenses, $133.91; the amount of mill tax required by law, $55.32. Total, $276.63.

326.

346,952.

In 1876 the total equalized valuation in the county was $1,In 1888 the total equalized valuation in the county was $3,578,000.

COUNTY SEAT.

The county seat was first located at the village of Duncan,

which place at that time was making a gallant effort to become a metropolis. It was destined to be shorn of its prestige as a shire town, for at a meeting of the board of supervisors held Aug. 9, 1856, a resolution was adopted setting forth that the interests of the county required the removal of the county seat. The town of Inverness was designated as the most suitable place to which the county seat should be removed, and the last Saturday in September, 1856, as the time when the question of removal should be submitted to the qualified electors of the county. The results of this election were as follows: In the town of Duncan 17 votes were cast, 13 of which were for removal and 4 against. In the town of Inverness 27 votes were cast, all of which were for removal.

The first session of the circuit court was held in the United States land office at Duncan, July 22, 1856, and was presided over by Judge Samuel F. Douglass. Judge Douglass was succeeded by Judge Douglass was succeeded by Judge B. F. H. Witherill.

James S. Douglass, the first circuit court commissioner, was admitted to the bar in a somewhat different manner in those early days from the course now taken. It was necessary in order to carry on the business of the circuit court in 1857 that a commissioner be appointed. So Judge B. F. H. Witherill asked Mr. Douglass, the man regarded as being the most eligible, whether he had studied law, had read Blackstone or Kent? He replied, "No." The judge handed him a copy of Blackstone and a pair of green spectacles, and told him to read it at once. After perusing its pages a few minutes to become posted as best he could upon the points of law of which it was necessary he should be informed, the judge asked him a few questions, and he was admitted to the bar and appointed to the office of circuit court commissioner.

The first jail was in the second story of Bela Chapman's house, where court was held after its removal from Duncan. In 1858 a log jail was built by H. N. Stevenson. Its dimensions were 20x24 feet, and it stood between the present court-house and the jail. The present brick jail was finished in 1880.

The present court-house is the first one built in the county. It was built in 1869 by J. F. Watson. It is a two-story frame building 28x55 fect in size, with count-room above and county offices below.

CHAPTER XII.

ORGANIZATION OF TOWNS-FIRST TOWN OFFICERS-FIRST ENTRIES OF Land in the several Townships.

In the year 1853 all that part of the town of Inverness lying east of the middle of the main channel of Mullet Lake and Cheboygan River, and a line extending due north from the mouth of said river to the north bounds of the county was, by the legislature, organized into a separate town to be known as the town of Duncan. These two towns, Inverness and Duncan, continued to be the only organized towns in the county until the year 1860.

The town of Burt was organized by the board of supervisors in the year 1860, and comprised so much of Cheboygan County as was embraced in Townships 33, 34, 35 and 36 north, of Ranges 1 east, and 1, 2 and 3 west. In 1862, Township 36 north, of Range 1 west was detached from Burt, and annexed to the town of Dunnorth, of Range 1 east, was also by the board of supervisors decan by the board of supervisors, and in the year 1869, Township 36

tached from the town of Burt and annexed to the town of Duncan.

The town of Grant was organized in 1870 and embraced all that part of Township 38 north, of Range 1 west, lying east of the Cheboygan River; Township 38 north, of Ranges 1 and 2 east; Sections 1 to 12, inclusive, in Township 37 north, of Range 1 east, Sections 1 to 12, inclusive, in Township 37 north, of Range 1 west; and Sections 4 to 10, inclusive, in Township 37 north, of Range 2 east. Hon. Geo. W. Bell, of whom these facts are obtained, says that there was evidently a mistake in the organization of this town. The action of the board of supervisors, if it did anything, organized the township of Grant from the territory above mentioned, which, of course, would have the effect of leaving the balance of the territory embraced in the old town, and not included in the above description, under the same organization as before, in the town of Duncan. The action of the board would also have the effect to take from the town of Inverness those parts of Sections 6, 7, and 8, in Township 37 north, of Range 1 west, that lie west of Cheboygan River. It would seem, however, that it was not the intention of the board to accomplish any such thing, as the officers of the town of Duncan as it had previously existed, continued to exercise the duties of their several offices in the territory organized into the town of Grant, and the citizens of the other portion of the territory of the old town of Duncan, proceeded to and did, as they supposed, complete the organization of the town of Grant

by the election of the proper officers. Neither the towns of Duncan or Grant attempted to exercise any control over that portion of Inverness above mentioned, which by the action of the board was made to constitute a part of the town of Grant. In 1879 the towns of Duncan and Grant were reorganized by act of legislature, and the

difficulty heretofore existing was remedied.

The town of Benton was organized by act of legislature in 1871, from fractional Township 38 north, of Range 1 west.

The town of Beaugrand was organized by the board of supervisors in 1871, and embraced Townships 38 and, 39 north, of Ranges 2 and 3 west, which territory was detached from the town of Inverness.

Tuscarora was organized by act of legislature in 1877, and embraced Townships 34 and 35 north, of Range 3 west, then forming a part of the township of Burt.

The town of Nunda was organized by eet of legislature, in 1877, and embraced Townships 33 north, of Ranges 2 and 3 west, then forming a part of the town of Burt. In 1879 this town was vacated and the territory attached to the town of Tuscarora. In 1882 the