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 22 - Crystal Falls Township

114    HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN     Chapter XXII   CRYSTAL FALLS TOWNSHIP      The Town and Range lines of the original township of Crystal Falls were surveyed in the year 1846 by crews under the super- vision of William A. Burt. The subdivisions into sections were made by three deputy-surveyors namely, John Burt who completed the work in Range 31 ni 1849, Zelotes B. Searl that of Range 32 also in 1949 and Guy Carleton those of Range 33 in the years of 1851 and 1852.    The earliest land transactions in the area that have come to the attention of the writer and which later played a large part in the ultimate organization of the township, were those of Edward Brei- tung of Negaunee that began in 1866. At this time Mr. Breitung secured government patents on Lots 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and the North- east quarter of the Southeast quarter of section 20, T 43 R 32 and Lots 6, 7, 8, 9 and the west: half of the southwest quarter of section 28, also of T 43 R 32.    In the ensuing flurry of transactions during that year, undivid- ed one quarter interests in all these lands were secured by Nathan Eisendrath, Herbert Williams and Ursula Smith, with the Williams interest subsequently going to Robin Wilson Davison and Solomon S. Curry. Other lands in the area, namely, west half and southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and lots 1, 3, 4, and 5 section 28 were secured by Lumbermen Augustus A. Carpenter and Abner Kurby of Menominee at this time.    The interest shown in these lands around the falls of the Paint River makes it quite obvious that iron in merchantable quantities was known to exist here, even at this early period. It will be re- membered that this early search and exploration for iron ore bear- ing lands was an expansion of the Marquette Range at the moment and were it not for the discovery of ores on the lower Menominee Range at this particular time, the   HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN     115   local ores would in all probability have found their way to lake transport through the port of Marquette rather than Escanaba. While most of the lands along the Lower Michigamme and Paint Rivers were selected throughout the years 1866 to 1873, the hard- wood bearing highlands more distant from these streams were pur- chased in the following decade, mainly through the years 1875 to 1885. Hundreds of land examiners, timber cruisers and mineral seek- ers roamed the forests in these early days, transporting their needed provisions in canoes along the streams and lake routes or packing them on horses or as manpacks overland.    No attempts were made toward the establishment of a settlement until early in the year 1880 when the railroad had reached the thriv- ing village of Florence and assurances were received that any ores mined would have a rail outlet. At this time the Maltby broth- ers and Ephraim Coon secured an option no the old Crystal Falls Mine lands and also on what became known as the Fairbanks Mine.    Later in the fall, Dr. D. M. Bond and Donald C. MacKinnon of Iron River opened the Paint River Mine. This appears to have been the beginning of permanent settlement of that part of Marquette County which was soon to be set apart as Crystal Falls township.    Other mines were opened in rapid succession, the Great Western and Youngstown at Crystal Falls, the Mastodon Mine at Alpha and the Calidonia at Mansfield and the iron "boom" was on in full swing. Miners, lumbermen, settlers, merchants and others came to the new country in an endless stream, summer and winter, from the railhead at Florence.    The lands under discussion were at the moment, a part of Ely Township and the seat of Township government was at Hum- boldt. In the transaction of business it was therefore necessary to make a several days journey from Florence by way of Escanaba and Negaunee on the railroad or an arduous one overland along the rough forest trails.    This inconvenience hastened the separation movement and on the first day of May 1882, the Marquette County Board of Super- visors acted favorably on the petition of J. H. Elmore, superinten- dent of the Crystal Falls Iron Company, J. T. Howe, S. D. Holli- ster and other freeholders and the new township was launched.    The area set apart consisted of Towns 42, 43, and 44 in Ranges 31, 32, and 33, the entire parcel thus being eighteen miles square. Don- cett's Hall was designated as the place where the first elections would be held and Solomon D. Hollister, William Doncett and Patrick E. Dunn were delegated to preside and act as inspectors. Coincidentally, this action took place in the same month as the first railroad train arrived in the recently platted village of Crystal Falls.    Like many other early governmental units of Iron County, Cry- stal Falls Township was headed by mining office personnel and the records were kept in these offices. They were often therefor, neglect- ed and the first volume of the general record of this Township is not available.    The writer was informed that some moldy records of early pro- ceeedings were discovered several years ago during the dismantling of the old Tobin Mine office buildings. These records however, had suffered exposure to repeated rains and nothing of value could be salvaged. Thus it becomes necessary at this point to piece to- gether the history from other sources.    The first township officers were Patrick E. Dunn, supervisor, Wil- liam Carlin, clerk, Asa F. Leopold, treasurer, Edward Curran, com- missioner of highways, and O. O. Welch, D. T. Adams D. Banner- man and Thomas Cutler, justices of the peace.    While work on the whole was adequate for the needs of the new settlers during these early years, the operation of the mines was sporadic. In 1883, a strike of the   116     HISTORY OF IRON COUNTY, MICHIGAN   miners brought about a temporary suspension of activities and a year later the depressed iron market forced the operators to close all the mines except the Paint River property which continued to provide employment for some twenty men.    Lumbering on the other hand, had increased many fold and dur- ing the latter year the Village of Crystal Falls was the base for some thirty camps engaged in removing the pine. The larger com- panies maintained their warehouses along the railroad near the village and were not dependent upon the local merchants for their provisions and other needs.    Upon the organization of Iron County in the year of 1885, the area of the Township was divided to make way for the Township of Mastodon. Further changes were effected in 1891 with the tem- porary annexation fo Towns 45 and 46 of Ranges 31, 32, 33, and 34 from the Township of Republic and the subsequent separation of Mansfield and Hematite Townships therefrom.