Remembering Our Ancestors Through Genealogy

A History of Iron County Michigan by Jack Hill Published in 1955, "A History of Iron County Michgan" gives the history and other interesting facts about this Upper Peninsula county. The book was originally printed in two columns. In order to improve the readability of the pages on a web browser it was converted to single column by combining every two original lines. With this exception the transcription was done without changes or corrections. Chapter 10 - County Goverment

42    HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN     Chapter X   COUNTY GOVERNMENT      The matter of setting apart of certain lands in the southern ex- tremity of Marquette County for the purpose of establishing a new County to be known as the County of Iron was placed before the Mar- quette County Board of Supervisors at their meeting of February 12, 1885. Ely Township which originally embraced all the lands of Marquette County situated west of Range 27 was organized in 1871 and was now requested to release additional lands for the new coun- ty. Earlier divisions of this township had been made in 1875 dur- ing the formation of Baraga County and the separation of Republic Township, in 1882 with the release of Iron River and Crystal Falls Townships and in 1883 upon the organization of Felch Town- ship.    At the afore mentioned meeting a petition was presented by Super- visor C. T. Roberts, praying for the separation in behalf of the residents of the area. Following a recess, the Board came out flat- ly against the move on the grounds that it was detrimental to the in- terests of the larger taxpayers. Mr. Roberts at this time was the superintendent of the Paint River Mine at Crystal Falls.    Apparently undaunted by this reverse, the leaders in the propos- ed county proceeded with their undertaking for on April 3, ad- ditional lands, namely Townships 45 and 46 of Ranges 34, 35, 36, and 37 were separated from the Township of Republic and were divided between Iron River Township and the proposed Township of Bates.    Through perseverence and a cooperate Legislature, the County of Iron became a reality in the month of September 1885, the Act au- thorizing said organization also providing for the creation of Bates and Mastodon Townships. Thus with the Townships of Iron Riv- er, Crystal Falls and Felch, the County consisted of five Town- ships.    Felch Township embraced the lands of Township 42 and 43 of Ranges 28, 29 and 30, had the Villages of Metropolitan and Felch at the extreme boundary thereof and remained a part of the county until the organization of Dickinson County in 1891.    The County Board was organized on September 19 upon the re- quest of Supervisors Roberts and Weimer. At this meeting it was decided to hold a special organization meeting on September 29. It will be remembered that the   HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN     43   village of Iron River was orginally designated as the County seat and all early meetings were held there.    Supervisors in attendance at this meeting were Charles Olson of Bates Township, C. T. Roberts of Crystal Falls, Dr. L. A. Frede- ricks of Felch, John B. Weimer of Iron River and J. H. Buddle of Mastodon. Supervisor Fredericks of Felch was named chairman and S. D. Hollister who had been appointed by the Governor to hold office until elections would be held, took his office as the first County Clerk.    Other interim appointees qualified were A. B. MacKinnon of Iron River as Treasurer and John MacLean of Stambaugh as Sheriff. The sum of $2,000 was provided for salaries for the first year and was apportioned as follows; Sheriff $250 per year, Clerk $250, Judge of Probate $300, and Prosecuting Attorney $600. Meetings of the Board were held very irregularly during the first years and only upon the accumulation of urgent business. Business matters of interest disposed of in the last period of 1885 were the establishment of a wolf bounty of $8, arrangements made with the Village of Iron River for the repair of the jail to accomo- date County prisoners and the purchase of field notes of all county lands from the State Land Office for the sum of $420.    The County Board and officers were also required to make a de- fense against the Lake Superior Ship Canal & Iron Company who challenged the constitutionality of the act that created Iron County and Bates and Mastodon Townships and Attorney Richard A. Montgomery of Lansing was retained for the purpose.    The following figures gleaned from the record show the total acreage and valuations of each of the townships in the year of 1886. Felch, 116,000 acres       $ 819,000 C. Falls 117,178 acres     1,047,380 Iron River 150,476 acres   1,207,488 Mastodon 81,246 acres        767,183 Bates 98,930 acres       __  922,724    On June 14, 1886, a petition of the people of Iron River and Bates Townships asking for the organization of a new Township to be known as Stambaugh Township was presented to the Board for its consideration. The matter was approved and Dr. W. T. Car- penter, James T. Corcoran and Robert Barclay were designated to register the voters and preside at the first election to be held in the offices of Dr. Carpenter on July 12.    In the fall months of 1886, the matter of the permanent location of the County headquarters was discussed and it was decided to place the issue before the electors at the November general election. For reasons unknown, the Board of County Canvassers adjourned "sine die" without canvassing the votes on this particular question.    What transpired behind the scenes in the ensuing several months were not recorded and the facts may never be known. It is obvious however, that every trick was resorted to by both east and west at this time to secure the County seat. It will be re- membered that Felch at the moment was far removed from the County seat at Iron River and required the expenditure of two days in the attendance of meetings.    Furthermore, the greater voting strength of the east side which included the mining districts of Mansfield, Mastodon and Felch in addition to Crystal Falls placed the advocates of Iron River as the County seat at a decided disadvantage.    The last meeting of the Board at Iron River was held on Feb- ruary 15, 1887. Supervisors present at this meeting were Frede- ricks of Felch, Roberts of Crystal Falls and Scadden of Mastodon, the representatives of Iron River, Stambaugh and Bates being ab- sent. There being no quorum, the Board adjourned to meet in the offices of Mr. Hollister at Crystal Falls on March 8. This meeting was held with all supervisors present.    A bill presented by Deputy sheriff Charles Bush for $15 in   44     HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN   payment for moving the County goods to Crystal Falls was reduced to $4 and paid and John McLeod was paid $7 for moving the safe. A contract was made with Supervisor C. T. Roberts for the rental of his building on the corner of Marquette and Fourth streets to provide quarters for the County offices for a period of two years for the sum of $30 per month.    Among other matters disposed of at this time was the approval granted to the Jennings, Sargent & Gilky Company to erect dams on the Paint River and clear the stream for log transportation from the east line of Section Seven, T44 R 35 to the northline of Sec- tion 19, T 44 R 36.    The April elections brought many changes in the Board of Supervisors when Henry M. Atkinson was elected in Felch Town- ship, C. T. Roberts now from Mastodon, William Doncett, Cry- stal Falls, A. B. MacKinnon, Iron River, W. Nesbitt, Stambaugh and Charles Olson of Bates Township were elected as supervisors. Dur- ing this year, Elisha Morgan was appointed the frist Mine Inspector and also the first Deputy Game Warden of the County.    At the annual meeting of the board held on October 8, 1888, a petition was presented by J. B. Abbot of Iron River in behalf of a number of freeholders of that village for the detachment of a portion of the Township for the purpose of forming a new town- ship to be known as Hemlock.    The petition, however, was dismissed on grounds of insufficient notice. This was the first of several petitions that culminated in the setting apart of Atkinson Township.    On February 28, 1889, a resolution was adopted on the motion of H. M. Atkinson of Felch that Felch Township be relinquished to Delta, Menominee or any other County that may desire this Town- ship. It may be added here that this Township was incorporated into Dickinson County which came into being some two years later.    At the same meeting a resolution was also adopted to remove the County seat to Iron River and that the matter be placed before the electors at the ensuing spring elections. Election results showed a total of 2,193 votes cast on the issue with 1,050 favoring removal and 1,142 being against the proposed change.    This appears to have settled the controversy and as the stipulation exacted by the large taxpayers at the launching of the County; that no Court House be constructed for a period of five years, was now nearing fulfillment, the more public spirited leaders turned their energies in this direction.    No official action was taken, however, until one year later when on February 14, 1890, a committee consisting of Gordon Mur- ray of Felch Township, William Tully of Iron River and C. T. Roberts of Mastodon were appointed to determine the cost of the proposed Court House and jail. The committee recommended the raising of $30,000 for the purpose and that the proposition be plac- ed before the electors at the forthcoining annual Township elections.    The bond issue was approved by a vote of 1,164 to 567 and on April 22, the Board proceeded with the steps necessary to carry out the mandate. The contract was subsequently let to Louis Weber of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In February 1891, an additional sum of $15,000 was provided for the work and the project was completed in the month of August.    At its regular meeting held on March 9, 1890, the Board approv- ed the incorporation of the Village of Stambaugh. The area em- braced by the Village was the West half of Section 36 and the East half of the Northwest quarter and the Northeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 35.    Township valuations for assessment purposes in 1890 were Bates, $731,940, Crystal Falls, $919,155, Felch, $724,730, Iron River, $1,027,962, Mastodon, $553,290 and Stambaugh, $434.738.    As the year 1890 came to a close, the movement for the formation of another county to the east was   HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN     45   well advenced and there appeared the likelihood that Iron County would be deprived of Felch Township. Thus on January 5, 1891, the following resolution was adopted on the motion of C. T. Roberts:    "Resolved, that it is the sense of this board, that under existing circumstance and geographical position of the City of Iron Moun- tain and vicinity, the division of the County of Menominee and the establishment of a new County as asked for is advisable but we oppose the detachment of Townships 42 and 43 North of Ranges 28-29 and 30 from the County of Iron unless Townships 45 and 46 North of Range 31-32-33 and 34 West be detached from the County of Marquette in lieu of territory proposed to be taken."    At the next meeting, J. F. Crandall, Dr. J. B. Gaston and Attor- ney M. H. Moriarity were appointed to go to Lansing to pro- test the detachment of Felch Township, "because the move would materially injure the interests of Iron County." The mis- sion proved successful and the lands requested in the resolution were detached from the Township of Republic and temporarily plac- ed with that of Crystal Falls.    In the division of Crystal Falls Township that immediately fol- owed, the western half of these lands were given to the newly formed Township of Hematite in addition to twelve sections along the northern border of Town 44, Range 33, and three geographical townships were set apart to form the new Township of Mansfield. Thobert Gibson, the first Supervisor of Hematite Township was seated on the board on August 13 as was also John Erickson the first supervisor of Mansfield Township. Other business dispos- ed of at this time was the appointment of Martin Lalley as game warden at a salary of $700 per year and the selection of Miss May Berkhart as the first commissioner of schools. Provision was also made for the care of indigent persons with the rental of the former quarters of the county offices for the purpose.    On September 28 a petition of the freeholders of Iron River and Bates Townships was presented by Supervisor St. Peter of Iron River requesting the organization of a new township to be known as Paint River Township and to be formed from lands detached from these townships. The matter was tabled and brought up again in October 1892 when approval was granted for the organization in the name of Atkinson Township.    The new unit embraced the following lands: Town 46 Range 37, West half of T 46 R 36, T 45 R 36, T 45 R 35 except Sections 1- 12-13-24-25 and 36, East half of T 44 R 36, T 44 R 35 except sec- tions 1-12-24-25-26 27-34-35 and 36 and Sections I-2 and 3 in T 43 R 36. Zebina MacColman, Thomas G. Atkinson and David B. Henley were designated to register voters and preside at the first election.    The Panic years were now nearing their peak and various methods were prosoped to alleviate conditions. In January 1893, a special meeting of the board was called for the purpose of taking action on the building of a state road from Atkinson Mills to Sagola and to petition the State Legislature to appropriate the sum of $30,000 for its construction.    Money was also provided for the construction of steel over the Paint River at Crystal Falls and over the Michigamme River at Mansfield. More adequate facilities for the care of the poor was discussed at length at the April meeting and a committee was ap- pointed to study the matter further. As a temporary measure, the boarding house at the Armenia mine was rented to relieve the situation.    In May, the question of buying land for a county farm was stu- died and in June the building committee was authorized to close a deal with Casper Aberle for the Northwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 25, Town 54 Range 33 for the sum of $1,000, this being the site of the present Iron County Hospital   46     HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN   grounds.    An additional sum of $1,500 was borrowed from S. C. Bennett for the purpose of building the first structure. The building was com- pleted in August when thirteen inmates were admitted and another structure to be built of logs was undertaken immediately to pro- vide hospital facilities. Ole E. Nelson was duly appointed the first Superintendent of the Poor.    Among the measures taken to effect public economies at the moment was the placing of stoves in various offices of the Court House wtih the furnace being fired during court sessions only. Wood for the stoves was cut from the new Infirmary lands at a cost of eighty cents per cord.    The question of the adoption of a county road system was refer- red to the electors at a special election on July 3. Upon approval of the issue, another election was held to name the commissioners and David C. Lockwood, Manville B. Waite and Olaf Helgemo were seated on the Road Commission in the month of August. One of their first acts was the recommendation of a levy of $2.00 on each $1,000 valuation for county road purposes.    On the 8th day of September, the county was shocked by the news of the Mansfield Mine disaster when the river flooded the workings and resulted in the death of twenty-seven miners. C. T. Roberts was the current inspector of mines and had com- pleted his regular inspection of the mine several days preceeding the accident.    Electric lighting for the Court House was inaugurated on Jan- uary 1, 1894. The electrical current was provided by Roberts & Fitzpatrick for the sum of $250 per year. It may be of interest to note that the cost of light and water for the year 1949 was $567.39.    The Panic had now reached its height and of the twenty-six mines in the county, only three were in operation in 1894. They were the Dunn Mine which employed seventy men, the Masto- don Mine with thirty men and the Schaffer Mine which also en- gaged thirty men. Andrew Gulgren of Iron River was appointed mine inspector by the board on April 19 to replace former in- spector C. T. Roberts.