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MAY 9, 1938 – A 2,500 POUND STONE WORTH 6 CENTS

A letter from Orville J. Glerum of Evart dated March 22, 1938, and directed to Samuel V. Blair of Flint begins the matter.  The letter reads

       “You were at our office today and made inquiry about a certain stone.  Because of the  attitude which predominated your visit, the writer had determined, that the stone to which you referred is of such value that under no circumstance would any disposition of same be considered.

        I wish to inform you now that any trespass upon my property where stone is located is strictly forbidden.”

On reviewing an Affidavit for Writ of Replevin by Sam V. Blair, JP Kyle McKinnon issued a Writ of Replevin on April 1, 1938, for the seizure of “One stone with granite base and variegated formation on one side, weighing approximately one and a quarter ton” from Orville J. Glerum, apparently the owner of Northland Dairy Company, of Evart. The stone had been present on the street in Evart for over 20 years, however Orville J. Glerum seemingly with permission removed the stone and placed it as part of “water barrier wall” at the “summer cottage” property owned by his wife, Lottie Glerum, located in Clare County, Section 29, Garfield Township on 8 Eight Point Lake. 

On Clare County Under-Sheriff Deputy Henry Doll, ‘protected’ by a $2,000 bond provided without surety by plaintiff Blair, seizing the stone, it was appraised at $20 by E.B. Collins and Lance Thayer.   Under-sheriff Doll ‘returned’ the stone to plaintiff Blair.  The interest /ownership of the stone on the part of plaintiff Blair is not disclosed in the legal paperwork, however, in the opinion of this writer it may well be that plaintiff Blair had ‘second thoughts’ as to keeping the stone or for some undisclosed reason wanted to ’jab’ defendant Glerum.

Attorney William …   More

Harrison's C.W.A. Community Building

 Clare County Cleaver

December 15, 1933

HARRISON TO HAVE COMMUNITY BUILDING Work to Start Immediately on $18,000 Structure. Must be Finished by Feb. 1-5

If plans which began to take form this week do not go awry Harrison will have a new high school gymnasium and community hall before the end of winter. At a meeting held in the council room Monday evening a committee consisting of Mayor Burns, Mynard Maybee, and Bryan Fanning was appointed to confer with the powers in Lansing relative to securing Federal funds for the work. At the state capitol officials of the C.W.A. [Civil Works Administration] were willing to approve the project provided assurance was given that the work would be completed without delay.

On Wednesday a public meeting was held at the court house and a committee appointed to have charge of the work. Fred Zubler, Maynard Maybee, Frank Stuckman, B.F. Hampton and Bryan Fanning are members of the committee.

The building as planned will be 50x150 feet in dimensions, with basement. It is to be provided with a heating plant. Several sites have been suggested, but a lot adjoining the school grounds on the east will probably be selected. Work must be started immediately and completed by February 15, 1934. The estimated cost will be about $18,000. Projects to rebuild the present water tank and make other improvements to the municipal water system at a cost of $4,000 and another to improve the west wing of the school house by finishing up the basement for a manual training room, also for the building of two tennis courts have been approved by the C.W.A. officials.

Clare County Cleaver

June 22, 1934

COMMENCEMENT FIRST  EVENT IN NEW HARRISONCOMMUNITY BUILDING

Brief Dedication Ceremony Precedes Exercises, Mr. Robinson and Dr. Beck First Speakers

A crowd of about 600 people gathered at the new Community Building, Thursday evening, June 14th to witness the Commencement exercises of the 1934 graduating class, and the …   More

CLARE COUNTY’S FIRST TOWNSHIP BOOK

Clare County’s first township was not Grant, Sheridan, nor Surrey Township, it was Three Lakes Township.  According to Forrest Meek in Michigan’s Timber Battleground (1976) in “January of 1869, unknown to the [Michigan] Legislature . . . Joseph Bucher, William Crawford and James Green met and organized a township called ‘Three Lakes’ in Clare County.”  The Isabella County Board of Supervisors approved the detachment and thereafter, Joseph Bucher was appointed Supervisor.  The new township continued for about one year.  Unfortunately the Michigan Legislature had detached eastern Clare County from Isabella County in March of 1869, thereby nullifying the detachment of the Isabella County Board of Supervisors. The real Grant Township was established by a detachment by the Midland County Board of Supervisors and that detachment allowed for the organization of Grant and Sheridan Townships in March of 1870. One year later Surrey Township was organized. The entity known as Three Lakes Township included what is today Grant Township (except 40 acres), Hatton Township, Hayes Township, and Frost Township (except 6 Sections).  Clare County historian Tom Sellers located the Justice Docket of the Township of Three Lakes and it is presently preserved at the Clare County Historical Museum.  It does not contain the ‘official minutes’ of Three Lakes Township, but it does contain the Justice of the Peace docket reports of Grant Township beginning with the case of  T.H. Hinchman & Sons  v Wright E. Fierst and Henry Travidick, July 19, 1871, E.D. Wheaton, Justice of the Peace. This writer suspects that the Justice Docket was ordered by the officials of Three Lakes Township and by the time it arrived, Three Lakes Township did not exist and so the Justice Docket was utilized for another purpose.  In any event, the Three Lakes Township Justice Docket is not a lost piece of Clare County history, it just isn’t what one would …   More

Ernest Merrill may be the most photographed man in early Harrison history

Ernest Merrill may be the most photographed man in early Harrison history.  Viewing so many photos of Harrison it became easy to spot Ernest Merrill in each photograph.  The same jaunty hat, side posture and every so slight smirk was instantly recognizable.  He appears in some photographs so removed from the scene that if there was Photoshop in the early 1900’s it may have been used to plop him in the back ground.  This became a fun hide and seek as Cody Beemer and myself began to write and edit the book Harrison, published in 2014.

Imagine my surprise one day running across a wedding announcement of Ernest’s daughter Beverly.  I see Bev on a regular basis at the library and the Trowbridge family has donated many historical items to the Library.

Ernest was born in Meredith, Michigan to John and Emma Merrill.  John was a rail road man and his sons Charlie and Ernest followed in his footsteps.  Ernest attended Harrison schools and went to work at a young age. He may have worked at the Heading mill in Harrison as he is featured in several photographs and we know he went on to work for the Flint and Pere Marquette R.R. 

In 1923 Ernest’s brother Charles Merrill was killed in a railroad accident. A Pere Marquette R.R. passenger train derailed and overturned near Midland and killed Charlie and the engineer of the train Thomas Kelley of Saginaw.  Kelley died at the scene and Charlie Merrill died on the train taking him to the Saginaw hospital after he had received treatment at the Dow hospital in Midland.  The official cause of death on his death certificate is “nervous shock due to scalding in R.R. accident.”

Charles was already a widower having lost his young wife just three years before in 1920. Charles was buried with his wife in Saint Henry’s Catholic Church Cemetery in Isabella County. 

  More

Spikehorn Meyer Passed Sept. 19, 1959

"Spikehorn" Comes Home

(Obituary from the Shepherd Argus)

Spikehorn Meyer came home Tuesday to Shepherd, MI when he was buried in the Salt River Cemetery following services which were held at the Stephenson Funeral Home in Clare.

He passed away at the Gladwin Nursing Home at the age of 89, where he had been cared for the past eighteen months.

Spikehorn, as he was known far and near, was born John A. Meyer July 15, 1870 in Stark County, Ohio, and came to Shepherd in 1876 with his parents to farm two miles north of Shepherd.

He grew up in this community and for some time operated a deer park before moving to Clare County, where he had a bear den and deer park since the early thirties on US-27 near Harrison.

Spikehorn worked as a farmer, guide, woodsman, hunter, trapper and lumberjack and many were the tales he told of the early days, some of which had pretty much of a Paul Bunyon flavor. He chose to dress in pioneer costume with buckskin jacket and always wore a 1ong flowing beard and long hair according to the memories of those who knew him. He long claimed to be in his eighties and by his appearance, looked it, but was only 89 when he died Saturday.

He was quite a hand to invent and manufacture machines. Among them was a sugar beet lifter, tile and chairs, and one especially remembered by local residents was a logging tractor which proved to be so heavy it could scarcely remove itself, engines in those days not being so powerful.

He advertised his bear den as the only bear den in the world where visitors were allowed to shake hands with the bears and as a result he faced law suits from visitors who were mauled by his bears. He was also taken into court by the Conservation Department for failure to get a permit to keep bears and was consistently criticizing the department.

In 1948 Spikehorn was campaigning for state representative to the legislature from the Clare Isabella District and ran afoul of the law when he distributed defamatory …   More

Essential Clare County History Reading List

Often people ask for local history books and here is a great list of books to read if you are interested in Clare, Farwell, Harrison or Clare County history:

Clare by Robert Knapp (Arcadia Publishing, 2012) Pictorial history of Clare  in the Images of America series.  

Clare Remembered 1879-1979 by the Clare Area Centennial Committee (1978)

Cut and Run! Railroad Logging in Clare County by Dr. James S. Hannum M.D.  (Hannum House Publications 2014)

Farwell by Angela Kellogg and Nick Loomis (Arcadia Publishing, 2016) Pictorial history of Farwell  in the Images of America series.  

Harrison by Angela Kellogg and Cody Beemer (Arcadia Publishing, 2014) Pictorial history of Harrison  in the Images of America series.  

Josiah Littlefield, Lumberman-Conservationist: An Autobiography 

Michigan's Heartland by Forrest Meek

Michigan Timber Battleground by Forrest Meek

Mystery Man Gangster, Oil and Murder in Michigan by Robert Knapp (Cliophile Press 2014)

Sacred Buildings: Historic Clare Michigan Churches by Ken Lingaur (2018)

Small Town Citizen, Minion of the Mob: Sam Garfield's Two Lives Purple Gangsters, Meyer Lansky and Life in Clare, Michigan by Robert Knapp (Cliophile Press 2018)

Spikehorn  The Life Story of John E. Meyer by T.M. Sellers (1994)

Ticket to Hell by  Roy Dodge

Where They Lived by Ken Linguar 

The Road to Marion Town  by J. August Lithen

Clare County at 150: History and Stories 1871-2021  by Jon Ringelberg (2021)

From Pine Forest to Market City: The History of Clare Michigan's Downtown  by Ken Linguar

Clare County Murder 1871-2020 (2020) by Jon Ringelberg

For light reading here is some just-for-fun  fiction about the Clare county area:

Harrison Town: Discovering God's Grace in Bears, Prayers and County Fair by Michael Newman (2011)

Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund (2012)

Do you know a book that should …   More

Brass Baggage Tag Stands the Test of Time

Every once in a while, a piece of history pops up that makes me stunningly happy that it exists. Recently, I purchased an unusual piece of Harrison history on an auction site.

While coat checks and baggage tags aren’t unusual, one that is over 140 years old and from a business in a rough and tumble logging town are very hard to come by. This brass tag is from the Johnson House of Harrison that operated from May of 1880 through the 1890s when it was changed to the Lockwood House.

The brass tag was made by John Robbins of Boston. How it got from Harrison into the hand of a metal detector who rescued it near Saginaw is anyone’s guess. We can fictionalize a shanty boy (as lumberjacks were called in the 1880s) that checked his belongings at the Johnson House but somehow left Harrison with the baggage/coat check tag but without his property. Maybe it was a hasty retreat from the saloon or a street brawl, as Harrison was famous for in its lumber heyday.

The tag was found by Mark and his father Archie. Their hobby throughout the 1970s and 80s was weekend warrior treasure hunters. Mark cherishes those days they got up 5 a.m. to enjoy their hobby together. In retirement he is sorting through some of those treasures, researching the history and thankfully with this item, selling them.

The Johnson House opened on May 24, 1880 according to the Clare Press. The building is still standing today as part of the Surrey House, soon to be the new home of Harrison District Library. The southern half and third story were added after 1900.

After it was built it went through many remodels as the rough and tumble business of feeding and sheltering gruff businessmen and entertaining shanty boys took its toll. In the 1880s Harrison had the reputation of being Michigan’s “toughest” town. It was then a sprawling metropolis of 2,000, containing 22 saloons, a dozen restaurants, 5 hotels and many business houses.

The local newspapers report things …   More

A Saga of Harrison

The year was eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and it was the early part of April. It had been a winter of deep snowfall, but a sudden rise in temperature and a warm southwest wind had first settled it into a compact mass and then cut small spiral in it which the warm air was sticking the snow crystals back to their original composition of water, with the result that the bottom of the mass was slush.

The ice was breaking in the smaller streams that formed the headwaters of the Muskegon. The swamps were filling with water, the red willows, which fringe both streams and swamps were swelling their buds, and winter’s cold grip was at last broken.

It was early morning and small black clouds drifted across the face of the stars shutting off their gleams. Then they rekindled again, it resembled the snuffing out and relighting of a million candles.

At the edge of a small clearing surrounded by a dense forest, the moon, for a moment unobscured by clouds, threw a long, black and grotesque shadow up on the snow. It was that of a man, but its upper part seemed strangely out of proportion, as though he were a hunchback, or had some unnatural growth.

The contour shadow was not caused by any peculiarity of form in the person whose reflection it case, but by the fact that slung across his back from the top of his right shoulder and under his left arm was a grain sack tied together with a strong cord running across his breast.

The sack was well-filled, in it closely folded and tightly packed were heavy suits of blue mackinaw pants, red knit underwear, coarse woven checkered woolen shirts, six pairs of home knit lumberman’s socks, and some blue bandana handkerchiefs.

Except for his outer garments, this sack and its contents constituted his entire wardrobe, and with sixty dollars in his pickets were his only assets representing ten-years of life in the lumber woods.

The sack he called his ‘turkey’ and the money was his …   More

A Look Back at Gateway Lanes

Clare Sentinel, 29 October 1948

75 Years Ago

Gateway Lanes Grand Opening Friday Evening Mayor Pro Tem Albert Haley Dedicates New Recreation Center in North End

The grand opening last Friday evening of Gateway Lanes, Clare’s new bowling alley and roller skating rink, marked a red letter day in the community’s recreational life. Larry Beck, secretary of the Clare Bowling Association presided as master of ceremonies and presented Leo Russell, president of the association, who complimented Peter and Thomas Caredis, owners of the business, and mentioned that the alleys and rink would provide wholesome recreation for people of all ages. George Wisler, prominent local bowler, was presented and voiced his approval and pleasure of the opening of the alleys.

Peter Caredis was called up on and said that when he first came to Clare he was a little skeptical of living in a small city, but after living here a year found it to be as good a town there was anywhere in the United State. He said he was happy to have a place for the children to enjoy, as well as the bowlers.

Peter Caredis’ son Jerry Brown, manager of Gateway Lanes, and his assistant Albert Church, were presented and each responded with a few appropriate remarks. Mayor Pro Tem Albert Haley then dedicated the alleys, saying that this recreation center was something we have needed a long while and wished the management all the success in the world.

Although the alleys have been open for bowling, the moment Mayor Pro Tem Haley, no mean bowler in his own right, broke the ribbon and sent the first ball rolling down the alleys was an eventful inspection and are A.B.C. approved. Robert Chapman with 226 and Phyliss Schaaf with 251, were each awarded a bowling bag for high score in the bowling contest. Steve Lemmen with 95 and Betty Hahn with 30, were presented with shoe bags as consolation prizes. Mrs. Louise Gibbs, who named the alleys, Gateway Lanes, won first prize in the “name it …   More

Surrey House Almost Named Colonial House-1945

Clip from the front page of the Cleaver in 1945, one year before the Surrey House opened to the public and became a regional attraction.

Northern Michigan and Harrison in particular saw a booming post-war rise in tourism.  While the same building now has drawings to retrofit into the Harrison District Library, the building remains largely unchanged. The name, owners, and the times may have changed but this building has been standing in Harrison since 1880.   More

Clare to the UK: Mystery Woman

I recently purchased this beautiful CDV (Carte de visite) from an auction site that came out of the UK. It was mailed from Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. The woman is not identified adding to the dozens of unlabeled photos we have in local collections at the library and historical society.

It’s not impossible to eventually identify old photos. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a duplicate online or in a family tree and be able to make a match.

This photo intrigues me because I’ve often wondered if photo albums in other countries our ancestors immigrated from are full of unidentified ancestors who sent photos back to their remaining relatives. I rarely local items for sale from other countries. How did a Clare photograph come to be found in England?

Another way I have often been able to narrow down a photograph from another place is by searching for people using both known locations. If matches pop up on ancestry sites, then I can look at family trees and see if family members match the places and dates and look for photos and information that might lead to identification.

It's tedious work but if it leads to success those moldering photos albums of unknown relations can be identified and shared.

We do know that the photographer E.H. DeVogt (Eugene Henry) was a photographer in Clare from 1884 to 1911. This style card was most likely in the 1880s or early 1890s.

My searches were unsuccessful to find a match for this mystery woman but perhaps someone will see a resemblance or owns the same photograph, and she can be identified. Either way, she’s right back home in Clare County.

Recognize this photo? Would you like help identifying any local family photos? Contact Angela Kellogg at editor@clarecountycleaver.net or 989-539-7496.

Clare County Press, 22 August 1884

Mr. Devogt, of the firm of Nix and Devogt, photographers, left this week for Clare, Mich., where he will engage in the photograph business. Mr. D is an …   More

Clare County Inventions-A Better Surveying Instrument

A Better Surveying Instrument

In 1850 William Austin Burt had surveyed the section lines in Grant, Sheridan and Surrey Townships in Clare County and most likely used a solar compass which he invented and patented in the 1830’s.  The solar compass (a/k/a sun compass and/or astronomical compass) was particularly important when surveying in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan because the solar compass was not affected by the Upper Peninsula’s iron ore deposits as was the usual surveying compass.  Note that the Upper Peninsula’s iron ore deposits created a magnetic field which interfered with the common surveying compass in finding magnetic North.   Wm. A. Burt’s invention got around the problem.   See Meek, Michigan’s Timber Battleground (1976), pages 4 and 15 and Wikipedia.

    More

The Harrison Wagon

This product by its name might suggest a connection to Clare County given that the Clare County seat is named Harrison – however, such is not the case.  The Harrison Wagon, while most likely purchased and used by Clare County farmers, was manufactured in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from about the 1850’s to 1907 when the company produced the Harrison automobile and was renamed the Harrison Motor Car Company.   More

Anna was also “Mussell the Druggist”

By ANGELA KELLOGG-HENRY

Cleaver Managing Editor

My friend, Clare resident and local metal detector/bottle digger Matthew McCown recently purchased a bottle he shared with me. Of course, he wished he had found it digging but couldn’t resist buying it when he found it for sale. The bottle is marked ‘Anna E Mussell & Son Central Drug Store, Clare, Mich.’ and it’s in almost perfect condition.

Local bottles are rare. And bottles that feature a woman running a business near the turn of the century are even rarer.

Anna Mussell was born Anna Husted in 1865 in Oakland County Michigan. She was the daughter of Julius and Francis Husted. Julius Barton Husted went by Burton or Burt and ran a hotel, saloon, opera house and other businesses in Clare beginning the 1870s. He also had a store and saloon in Gladwin. He was a businessman all of his life. He married twice and Anna had nine siblings.

Anna married Robert Mussell July 11, 1882, in Clare when she was 17 years of age. They had one child, a son born in 1885. After her husband’s death in 1902 she ran their drug store. She told a reporter that she had become a pharmacist in 1885 after passing the examination given by a traveling State examiner.

Her son Arthur was a doctor and also a pharmacist and lived in Clare most of his life. He graduated from Loyola Medical College in 1912 and served in WWI. He died in 1956 when Anna was 91 years old. The undertaker took his casket to their home for several hours to console Anna on the death of her son as she had been bed ridden by that time for 9 years. She was cared for by her various nieces for the last decade of her life.

In 1955, the Cleaver reported, “Mrs. Anna Mussell was remembered by friends Sunday honoring her 90th birthday anniversary. M.s Jennie Sersaw is her bedside companion and caretaker, and she remains interested in local activities in spite of the years confined to her bed.”

In 1956, Anna was featured …   More

Snow Snake Celebrates 70 Years

As early as December of 1948 the Clare Sentinel and the Clare County Cleaver were reporting the development of Snowsnake Mountain by James D’Arcy, local real estate developer.

 

December 1948

Snowsnake Mountain, a new northern Michigan winter sports center, is being established eight miles north and a half mile west, of Clare and now only awaits sufficient snowfall for its opening. A forty-two by twenty-four foot restaurant with glass front affords a beautiful view across the bowl to the skiing area and a twelve by twenty-four foot warming house for the comfort of guests and for waxing skiis is situated at the foot of the rope tow installed to help skiers up the mountain. Seven ski runs at different degrees of steepness will provide skiing for all types of skiers from beginners to experts and slopes are provided for beginners, intermediates and experts. Snowsnake Mountain is the closest ski area to Clare and southern Michigan, reducing travel distance of down state skiers by almost fifty miles, and night skiing under lights will be provided. The new skiing location lies four miles north of James Hill, north Michigan snow divide, and all runs and areas are laid on north and northwest slopes, assuring skiiers of continued skiing here during the season. The slopes have been bulldozed, removing all stumps and logs, to provide unobstructed courses. Snowsnake Mountain is being developed by James D’Arcy, well known realtor, who announces that the place is now open for inspection and will be open for skiing as soon as weather permits.”

In the winter of 1949, the Cleaver was running regular items about the activities at Snowsnake:

1949

“A record crowd enjoyed the week end of favorable ski weather at Snowsnake Mountain. The slopes were well covered with the right kind of snow for the first time this winter. Tow machinery was continually kept busy.”

“A ski meet will be held at Snowsnake Mountain Saturday and Sunday …   More

(2020) No “Play Ball!” Heard This Year

Saturday would have been opening day of Little League in Harrison, Michigan.  I'd have already sat through a month of freezing cold practices as the 1,783 sports season of my Mom life begins.  The ski equipment and winter gear were just cleared out my car, but baseball equipment didn't replace them.

There is no Little League parade this year and no Spring sports season.  No lining up to watch for the sea of color-coded kids walking to the fields to sing the National Anthem and hear the loud booming voice of league president Jim Neff yell, "PLAY BALL."  He's really good at that.

I know most of the kids in the parade.   I snap their pictures and wave.  The parade is one of my favorite parts of baseball each year.  The Veterans Honor Guard is always there to do the salute and raise the flag. 

Though I've always been somewhat of a reluctant sports Mom the thought of telling our kids the season was canceled was difficult.  Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to sit at the fields with my friends watching our kids. 

Most parents feel the same way. Our social media accounts are popping up with memories of seasons past, opening days, great plays, and bittersweet defeats.  It’s not fun to lose or sit in the freezing rain and a watch a game or a practice.  But afterwards when your child says, “thanks for staying out there with me Mom” or buy ice cream to celebrate or sooth it feels like a rare parenting victory. 

Not having a baseball season or any other sports season is painful for many.  It’s one of the many reminders how quickly our lives have changed and the small and large things we are sacrificing.  Sports was never very important to me until I had four boys to raise and watched them learn, work hard, and be coached to be better players and better people by playing sports.

We can live without playing a season of Little League and a great many …   More

Happy 150 Clare County!

One of the earliest documents relating to Clare County history forms the Farwell City Company. It was formed in 1870 as a joint stock company by prominent businessmen Gurdon Corning, Lorenzo Curtis, Edmund Hall, James Hay, Thomas Merrill, James Pearson, Erza Rust, and Ammi Wright. Theses businessmen, lumbermen, and mostly millionaires invested widely in many business ventures, of which Farwell was one. Several streets in Farwell are named for founding members of the company.

Farwell was once the largest and most important community in Clare County. As the first county seat, it was the beginning of county government and a hub of lumbering and business activity. Farwell was off to a prosperous beginning, and many businesses came to Farwell to serve lumber camps, settlers, and new farmers. This was interrupted in July 1877 when the courthouse burned in a suspicious fire. The cause of the fire was never determined, but it sparked controversy and debate that continues today.

A temporary courthouse was put in use, and the squabble began over where to locate a new one. The county seat was sought after as it brought jobs, business, and prominence to wherever it was located. Clare and Farwell both lobbied for the county seat. The Michigan legislature had passed a law that county courthouses must be as centrally located as possible. Though it was still a wilderness, the town of Harrison, in the middle of the county, was being planned as the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad was making its way north.

There are conflicting stories about influential lumbermen like Winfield Scott Gerrish paying his men in drink to go to the polls for keeping the county seat in Farwell. His logging railroad was nearing the Budd Lake area as he continued to clear lumber and profits from his Lake George & Muskegon River Railroad. This story was likely newspaper fodder to rally the farmers against lumbering and business interests by claiming men like Gerrish could influence their men …   More

Cleaver Forming Readership Advisory Committee

The Cleaver seeks to form a Readership Advisory Committee for the purpose of providing content suggestions. As a subscription-based newspaper our obligation is not just to our advertisers but also our readers. Readers are important partners in keeping the newspaper relevant to our communities in Clare County.

A lot has changed in the world since the Cleaver first printed on Main Street in Harrison in 1881. The Cleaver has survived to serve the community through economic ups and downs, wars, and 140 years of changes in how we live. As the owner and editor of the paper I consider myself just the steward of the Cleaver. If anything, it owns me, and the responsibility to carry it through my working life and beyond is something I take seriously.

Volunteers are sought from a wide demographic, but all must be avid newspaper/news readers and hold the highest regard for journalistic integrity. Ideally, the committee will be comprised of a mix of Democrats, Republicans, and a those who consider themselves apolitical and those ages 15 years and older. The six- to eight-member committee will meet two to four times a year in person or via Zoom.

We will be asking (and hopefully answering) what is important to readers, what types of local, state and national news best serve our readers, and reaching out to our readership at large for feedback.

If you would like to apply and be a part of the next 140 years of the Cleaver, stop by the office at 183 W. Main St. in Harrison for a short application or send a note of interest to the office at P.O. Box 436, Harrison, MI 48625 or to editor@clarecountycleaver.net.   More

Extraordinary Photo Captures Northern Michigan Prize Log

This photo is extraordinary for several reasons; it’s size, that it captured the log marks so clearly and the photographers who took the photo.

The cattle brand of the lumbering business, log marks were important outposts of law and order in pioneering communities where law enforcement was often weak. A mark on a log carried the right of ownership and was recognized on every lake and stream in Northern Michigan.

The owner of the log is Patrick Glynn, an immigrant from Ireland who started his career as a land looker and then went into lumbering by buying 4,000 acres in Midland and Gladwin Counites with several Saginaw businessmen in 1871.

Glynn’s camp was located four miles east of Coleman which was on the Flint and Pere Marquette rail line. The camp was located at the junction of MacGruder and Shaffer Roads.

William Goodridge, photographer, visited the camps in the winter of 184-75 and took a set of 12 stereo views of the operation. Goodridge and his brothers operated Goodridge Brothers Studio out of East Saginaw. The family is known as one of the most prolific African American photographers in North America. Their work was highlighted by John Vincent Jezierski in 2000 with a book called Enterprising Images: The Goodridge Brothers, African American Photographers, 1847-1922.

Several other photographers created stereo view sets of logging in Michigan, including a Goodridge competitor J.A. Jenney. While Jenney or Goodridge didn’t create any stereo view sets in Clare County, the men and the logging processes highlighted in the photos were on their way to Clare County in a few short years.   More

Sleuthing in History-The Tatman House in Clare

Recently the Clare County Historical Society came into possession of two old undated photographs which appeared to have been taken in about the same general time frame.  One photograph was of the Samuel E. Saul house which was located on E. Adams Road in Hatton Township, 1 and ½ miles East of Old-US 27.  The house is no longer standing. 

The second photograph was of the Tatman House built in 1891, located on W. Sixth Street in the City of Clare, formerly the law office of Richard S. Allen, and presently owned by Greg and Jody Robinson, and operated as a B & B.   

The historical questions were – When were the photographs taken?  And,  was there a connection between the two photographs?   A small bit of historical sleuthing provided the answers.                 

The Saul house photograph had on the back side a listing in order of appearance of individuals of the Robert Armstrong Allen family – Everett, Hazel, Perrie, Dorothy, Josephine, Floyd, and Arm. 

A newspaper search on the internet at Central Michigan University, Clarke Historical Library, Michigan Digital Newspapers resulted in the finding of Perrie Allen marrying Leo Smock, in 1915, at age 19.  In the photograph, Perrie, the 3rd individual from the viewer’s left, appears to be about age 6 to 8 and so the photograph can be reasonably dated to about 1902 – 1904.

On the back side of the Tatman House photo there appears “11-12-__2” and there seems to be a very small zero below and just to the front of the “2” – so most likely the date of 1902.  If so, the Tatman House photograph was taken approximately 10 years after the building of the Tatman House. 

In providing further evidence of a connection between the Saul and Tatman photographs, Robert Armstrong Allen’s wife was Dorothy …   More

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