History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
containing a full account of its early settlement; its
growth, development and resources

In 1883, portions of Dickinson and Iron Counties were located within the boundaries of Menominee County.

Surnames found on these pages: BART, BAY, BOPART, BRUSH, CARPENTER, CHAPPIEU, CHEVALIERE, DECOTO, DUNCAN, EVELAND, FARNSWORTH, HALL, HARDWIK, INGALLS, JACOBS, KIRBY, KITTSON, MARINETTE, MCLEOD, PREMEAU, QUIMBY, SAXTON, WABASHISH, WALTZ, WHITNEY Pg. 473   MENOMINEE COUNTY   The history of Menominee County is full of recollections of the past. The Indian and pioneer history of this division of the State contains much interesting and instructive history, while the history of our own times is a complete review of all that modern enterprise may accomplish, even when battling with the wilderness. The following history is based upon E. S. INGALLS' centennial sketch, supplemented by the notes of our historical writers, and prepared for press with the greatest care. "Tradition," says Mr. INGALLS, "affirms that the first white man on the Menominee was a negro, although old Joe BART, as he was called, a half-breed, always claimed the honor." This entire paragraph is an American Hibernicism, for neither the negro nor the half-breed can be called a white man. Continuing, Mr. INGALLS says: In support of the first claim, however, traditionary lore informs us that in early times a negro Indian trader, accompanied by a Canadian voyageur in his employment, visited this shore many years before CHAPPIEAU came here, and that both were killed at a point on the Peshtigo River several miles above where the village of that name now stands. It is said he had previously traded with the Indians and given them credit, and that at the time he was killed, a party of Indians living at Sturgeon Bay came across to trade with him; that he insisted on their paying up for goods for which he had previously treated them, before he began to trade with them again, which they consented to do. This took about all the furs and deer skins they had with them, and after he had got square with them he refused to trust them any more or to sell them anything for which they could not pay down. This arrangement did not suit the Indians. They thought the trader had taken an unfair advantage of them, and got their furs and peltries. They lost sight of the fact that they had for many months' before had their pay for them, and had so many months' enjoyment of the trader's property, and thought they had been wronged because he had got his pay for the property they had previously bought of him. There are very many white men at the present day who reason just like them, but unlike the white men, they had the remedy of their fancied wrongs in their own hands, which they immediately applied; that is, they lifted the hair of the negro and his companion and confiscated his goods, and thus paid their debts, and obtained a large supply of plunder at the same time. This is a tradition common among the early settlers. The only proof we have to support it is the fact that there is a place up the Peshtigo River called "Nigger's Hill," where, the tradition says, the unfortunate trader lost his wool. The reader may call this history or tradition, which he chooses, but in early times there were many who believed it, and there are some even now who believe he buried quite a sum of money in silver which still lives there. The first white man who came to Menominee to live was Chappieau, an Indian trader, who came here as an agent for the American Fur Company, and established a post in 1796 or 1798. At that time, many thousands Indians visited the Menominee River every season, while at the north and about the head quarters of the river and toward Lake Superior, the Chippewas had numerous villages which were accessible by birch canoes. There was an abundance of beaver, otter, mink, muskrat, martin and fishers, bear, deer and less valuable game throughout the country, and this post became an important trading point. CHAPPIEAU was a French Canadian voyageur, with sufficient education to keep what books were necessary for an Indian trading post, and was apparently the right man for the place. He was strong and active, and had sufficient courage and nerve for any emergency that might arise. He had a large number of men, picked up from that class of Canadian voyageurs who preferred a life in the solitude of the forests to a home with civilization, and his post sometimes presented the appearance of a well-garrisoned fort, and at other times he was left almost solitary and alone to defend it if hostile Indians approached. His post was solidly built of logs with palisades made of heavy timbers set in the ground around it. Some portions of the one near Chappieu's Rapids were remaining, when the writer of this came to the country in 1859. A story is told illustrating his nerve in danger as well as the uncomfortable position an Indian trader is sometimes placed in when his post is far out on the frontier, away from civilized men. I state the story as it was related to me by the late John G. KITTSON, several years before his death. All of the white men belonging to the post had been sent away on various expeditions, leaving only CHAPPIEAU and one white man. A band of Indians from a distance who were none too friendly came to the post, and before CHAPPIEAU had discovered the character of his visitors they had come within the stockade and inside the building used for the store-room. At first they began peaceable to talk of trade, but soon got noisy and threatening, and it was not long before he became satisfied from their actions that the object of their visit was to rob him of his goods, and probably to lift of scalp. To fight them was out of the question, for not only were they inside the stockade, but were crowding around his small counter inside of the store building, and all of his reliable men were miles away and where he could not recall them. He tried by pleasant words to still the storm and avert the danger without avail; they grew more and more threatening, and when, as he thought, the crisis had nearly approached, he rolled out a keg of gunpowder which was open at the end, and was catching up a loaded pistol he chocked it and pointed it into the gunpowder, and with flashing eyes turned to their chief and told him that if every Indian was not out of the stockade in two minutes, he would fire into the gunpowder, and send them and go with them into the happy hunting grounds. They knew by his tone and by the flash in his eye that he meant business, and being suddenly impressed with the idea that discretion was the better part of valor, in less than two minutes not an Indian was to be seen inside the inside the stockade. The best of the matter was that they became so favorable impressed with his bravery they immediately made friends with him, and he got a good trade with them, and they always remained his friends, and often afterward pg. 474   visited him and the American Fur Company's great profit. CHAPPIEAU built his first trading post on the Wisconsin side of the Menominee River, near where MARINETTE's house now stands, and not far from where the railroad bridge reaches that bank of the river. He carried on his trade with the Indians for many years, until dispossessed by FARNSWORTH & BRUSH, as will be hereafter stated. After being disposed of his property by them, he crossed the Menominee River, and built a new trading post near the foot of CHAPPIEAU's Rapids, which were named after him, about five miles up the river from the village of Menominee, where he remained trading with the Indians until he died in 1852. He surrounded his post with palisades in the same manner as he did the first one, and some of these remained standing until after I came into the country. CHAPPIEAU took to himself a squaw whom he lived and raised children, as was the custom with the traders in those days, but to whom he was never married. Some of the descendants a few years ago were, and probably are now, living about the Peshtigo River, in Oconto County, Wis. The next permanent white settlers who came were William FARNSWORTH and Charles BRUSH, who came the same season, and operated together after their arrival. They arrived in 1822. They were stirring, wide-awake business men, but without so nice a sense of meum and tuum as would stand particularly in the way of their carrying out any enterprise that they might undertake. About the first important enterprise they entered into was to root out CHAPPIEAU from his trading post, before alluded to. Unfortunately, CHAPPIEAU, through want of discretion, or perhaps forgetting that he was then the only white settler in the country having authority, opened the way for them and made the opportunity, of which they were only too ready to avail themselves. Owing to some difficulty, CHAPPIEAU, soon after they came on the river, got into a quarrel with the chiefs Spaniard and Shenegesick and a brother of the latter. During the fracas he lost a thumb. Making more of the matter than prudence required, he caused these chiefs to be arrested and taken to Green Bay (Fort Howard), and imprisoned in the fort there by the United States troops stationed at that place. These chiefs were told that they were to be taken to Detroit and imprisoned there, and in some way they got the idea that as a punishment for the loss of CHAPPIEAU's thumb they were to have their teeth knocked out. These stories were undoubtedly started by some of the white men, and told the Indians to get a sell on them (to use a slang term). The Indians being very credulous, believed the reports, and told the chiefs, who, as well as their followers, were very much frightened, and supposed the offence was a very serious one. This was an opportunity for FARNSWORTH. For many years before he came to Menominee, he had been employed by the American Fur Company, and was well acquainted with Indian customs, their language and habits of thought. Possibly he had something to do in circulating the stories, though that such is the fact tradition saith not. At any rate, the chance was too good to be lost, and when their terror had approached its climax he made his way to Green Bay and interceded for the chiefs with such good effect that he obtained their release. This made the tribe his fast friends for life, and a blow was thus struck at CHAPPIEAU's popularity from which he never fully recovered. The good will of the chiefs did not end with words. They strove to show their appreciation of one who had proved a friend indeed when they were in need, by making him a grant of all the land on that side of the river, from the mouth to the rapids, the grant including CHAPPIEAU's trading poet. How far back from the river the grant extended tradition does not show, and as there is no written record of the grant, there is now no means of ascertaining, but as land at that time had no stated market value, it is presumable that it extended as far back as he might choose to consider it, so that it did not interfere with anybody's rights who might be living on the Peshtigo River. This presumption is strengthened by the fact that the Indians, who only wanted the land for hunting purposes, could continue to have just as much use of it as if they had not given it away. The one thing that FARNSWORTH did want he got, and that was CHAPPIEAU's trading post. One day when the latter was away, taking advantage of his absence, FARNSWORTH and his followers entered and took possession of the post. They piled the goods, wares, whisky, squaws, papooses. etc., out, and as writs for "forcible entry and detainer" were not in fashion then on the Menominee, and the aggressors were the stronger party, CHAPPIEAU on his return, feeling completely disgusted with the turn things had taken, piled his traps into his canoes and paddled them up to the foot of the rapids which still bear his name, and there built another stockade, as I have before stated, and made a final stand for his rights.   While the course taken by FARNSWORTH in this matters may not have been strictly according to the code now supposed to regulate the acts of the people of the State of Wisconsin, it was one step forward in the course of civilization on the Menominee River; in fact, it was the first step or led to it. Though FARNSWORTH was an Indian trader, he was also something more; he had good business opportunity, and BRUSH, who was associated with him, had quite as good. They were not long in coming to the conclusion that there was something better than furs and peltries, and when they cast their eyes around as they journeyed up the Menominee and saw the tall pines on its banks, they began to speculate on their probable value if sawed into boards and got into market where white mon lived; also seeing the schools of whitefish coming up the river out of Green Bay, the thought struck them that they could be caught and packed in barrels and shipped to some place where whitdish would be esteemed a luxury, and return to them many a silver dollar for the silver scales of the whitefish. Green Bay settlement was just where the city now stands, but there was very little of it then. There was the fort on the Fort Howard side of the Fox River and a small rumbling village on the Green Bay side, whose inhabitants were principally fur traders or men who were employed by the traders, and here and there for a few miles up the river were some of the old voyageurs, who, getting old and tired of wild life, had taken land and opened up small farms. But those men were not to be discouraged by the untoward prospects of a market. If there was no market in the West, there was in the East, and they would find one somewhere; besides, they believed in the future of the Western country, and they lived to see their belief verified, though not to the extent to realize themselves all the advantage which they expected to derive from their labors. Their first enterprise was the building of a saw- mill, which was commenced in 1832, and was the first mill built on the Menominee River. It was a water mill, and was built on the Wisconsin side, a short distance above where the Chicago & North-Western Railway now leaves the bank in crossing. A dam was constructed across to one of the islands, which gave them a pond and head of water, and what we would now call an old-fashioned saw mill was built, one that would cut six or eight thousand feet of lumber each day,   pg. 475 and not such a mill as we have at present, with clock work machinery and the capacity of from one to two hundred thousand feet of lumber each day. The mill was run by them a few years. At some time not precisely known, one Samuel H. FARNSWORTH bought an interest either in the mill or in the water-power formed by the rapids. It has been stated, however, that this mill had been sold at Sheriff's sale for debt, and the bid for it was purchased from the bidder, D. M. WHITNEY, of Green Bay, for eighteen barrels of whitefish, by Samuel N. FARNSWORTH. I cannot learn fully at what time or how he was interested, but only learn the fact that, about the year 1839, Dr. J. C. HALL came on the river and bought out Samuel H. FARNSWORTH's interest, and also bought into the mill with FARNSWORTH & BRUSH, and within two or three years after that time the dam went out and the mill was abandoned, and in 1844 Dr. HALL built another mill and dam, which will be hereaftar referred to. Besides furnishing the power for sawing lumber, the building of the dam opened the way for the fish business. After it was constructed, they built a wier along on the apron below the dam, and in the season when the fish were running they caught great quantities with no other trouble than going out in the morning with scoop nets and scooping them out of the wier. In some seasons they caught as many as 550 barrels, with no expense, comparatively, except dressing, salting and packing. William FARNSWORTH was lost on the steamer "Lady Elgin," which was sunk in 1860 by a collision with a vessel between Waukegan, Ill., and Chicago. It is not now known what became of BRUSH, or whether he still lives.   The next white man to follow those above mentioned and take up a permanent residence here, was John G. KITTSON. He came in 1826 as a clerk for the American Fur Company under CHAPPIEAU. He was the son of a British officer who was or had been stationed in Canada. Mr KITTSON spent the remainder of his life in this vicinity, and died in 1872, his death being hastened, as it is believed, by the exposure and suffering he and his family were subjected to on the night of the great woods fire, in October, 1871. He was a very intelligent and stirring man, and was all his life actively engaged in the fur trade or in farming, and he had the honor of clearing and working the first farms ever opened in this county, one at Wausakee Bend, above Grand Rapids, and another at CHAPPIEAU's Rapids, near the old trading post, where he resided for many years before the great fire. He had great influence over the Indians, and was at all times a friend to their interests. The Indians always spoke of Mr. KITTSON as "the writer," a name they gave him on account of his doing all the writing for them in their various transactions with the Government. He has left many descendants, who still make the Menominee their home. One son, John KITTSON, was killed in the war of the rebellion, in Sherman's march to the sea. In 1826, came also Joseph DUNCAN, who was employed as a packer by the American Fur Company. He was a brave soldier, and fought at the battle of Plattsburg. He might be entitled to a pension, only unfortunately, he was fighting on the wrong side. He was a British soldier, is till living and makes his home with Charles MCLEOD, believes himself to be between eighty and ninety years old, though he cannot tell exactly. The next white men who came to stay permanently were Baptists PREMEAU and Charles MCLEOD, who arrived in 1832. They are still living here at Menominee, Charles MCLEOD being now sixty-four years old. Joseph DECOTO came the same year, and is still alive. He is living on a farm at White Rapids, and is now seventy years old. A good story is told of DECOTO, who is French, and does not talk the best of English. A few years ago he had a lawsuit with John G. KITTSON, with whom he was not on the best of terms, about a horse which KITTSON replevined. DECOTO could not speak the name KITTSON, but always called it "Dixon." Soon after the time of the suit with KITTSON, a Catholic priest, who made occasional visits to the Menominee River and through the wild settlements, came here and visited DECOTO at White Rapids, so DECOTO made him a present of a pony to assist him in his travels on his missionary journeys. The matter of his suit with KITTSON would occasionally come up, when he invariably worked himself into a passion, and after exhausting every explosive in the Canadian-French vocabulary, he would cool off with, "Vel1, I give vay, two hoss; I give von to the Lord and I give von to the devil; I give von to the priest, nod I give von to John Dixon." In this connection it may be well to state that the JACOBS have since an early day been a prominent family, and although their residence was on the Wisconsin side of the river, their history is blended with that of Menominee County, and it is proper that it should have its place in this brief sketch. When William FARNSWORTH first came to Menominee, MARINETTE was a blooming young woman, bright and intelligent. She was the daughter of a daughter of WABASHISH (the Marten), a chief of the Menominees, and Bartholomew CHEVALIERE, a white man.   When Bartholomew CHEVALIERE came to the Menominee, or whether or not he ever made his home here, tradition saith not, but from the best information obtainable it is thought that he never did. Joseph Bartholomew CHEVALIERE (Joe BART), a brother of MARINETTE, was his son, and it is owing to that fact that he made the claim, as before stated, that he was the first white man who lived at Menominee. It is not known whether or not MARINETTE was born on the Menominee. The first we know of her is that John B. JACOBS, a man from Canada, who was employed in the fur trade in early times, had her for his wife at Mackinaw. While they lived together they had several children, two of whom, John B. JACOBS and Elizabeth MCLEOD, are still living. John B. JACOBS is now fifty-eight years old and resides in Green Bay, Wis.; Elizabeth MCLEOD is isxty years old, and lived here in Menominee, the wife of Charles MCLEOD. For some reasons not known, John B. JACOBS, Sr., parted from MARINETTE at Mackinaw. Afterward, William FARNSWORTH became so enamored of her, and took her for his wife, and when he came to Menominee in 1822 brought her and her children of him. He had children by her, one of whom, George FARNSWORTH, of Green Bay, Wis., is still living. John B. JACOBS (the son) grew up on the Menominee, and became closely identified with its interests, and was prominent in all enterprises which were started for its advancement. For many years, he owned and run the steamboat "Queen City" between Menominee and Green Bay. MARINETTE died in 1863, highly honored by all the residents about the river. She was seventy-two years old when she died, had been looked to as a mother by all the early settlers and Indians, for she had always been ready to assist the needy and comfort the distressed. The first orchard of apple trees was set out by her, which is still standing in Marinette Village, and is the first frame house built on the Menominee river. The earliest settlers came form Canada in batteaux, sailing and poling them up the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, and, before the Welland Canal was constructed, up the Niagara River, by portage around the falls pg. 476   into Lake Erie, up Lake Erie and Detroit River through Lake .and River St. Clair, along Lake Huron and through the straits of Mackinaw into Lake Michigan, and up Green Bay to the Menominee River, the voyage requiring several months and being attended with great hardships and exposure. It was many years before a steamer was seen here, or before even sail vessels became frequent on the waters of Green Bay. The Country was then wilderness from the Detroit River to the Pacific Ocean, excepting a few trading posts, those at Mackinaw and Green Bay being the only ones in this section. We who can now step on the cars and in forty-eight hours reach Montreal can hardly realize that less than fifty years ago it took a whole season to come from there; nor can we understand the hardships the early traders had to endure when they made tho first settlement in Menominee. The next permanent settler was Andrew EVELAND. He came in 1842, and in 1853 built the first frame building in what is now the village of Menominee. He is still living here. His business has usually been fishing. Charles MCLEOD built a frame house in 1852, and still resides in it, on the river bank, just outside the village. This was the fist frame house in the county. Next among the old settlers is John QUIMBY, who came in 1845, and died in 1874 aged sixty-five years. At first he had charge of the fisheries and the boarding house of Dr. HALL's water-mill at the rapids. He afterward built a tavern where the KIRBY House now stands which was destroyed by fire in 1859. QUIMBY immediately began to rebuild. He first put up a small building, which he added to from time to time until, with the exception of one addition made since he sold it, it formed what is now the KIRBY House. Here he kept the only hotel in Menominee until 1864. when he sold the property to S. P. SAXTON, and its name was changed to SAXTON House. SAXTON sold the house to a man named BOPART who made the last addition to it, who sold it to Fred WALTZ, who sold it to Abner KIRBY, of the firm of KIRBY-CARPENTER Company and ex-Mayor of Milwaukee, who fitted it up again, and named it KIRBY House. John QUIMBY was a man of marked characteristics, and either a warm friend or a good hater. There was never any trouble in learning which relation he bore to a person, for he never hesitated to make it known, yet he was so kind-hearted that if he saw an enemy suffering and in want he would be the first to assist him. He was a great fighter, and so long as his opponent resisted would never give an inch, yet he never bore malice, and when the resistence was over, if his opponent came to grief, he was the first to extend a helping hand. He was also a great hunter, and found his greatest enjoyment in going with rifle; going with a few friends to some place along the shore of Green Bay, there to camp out for a few days and run deer into the bay, and with a boat to catch them. When the writer first came to Menominee, he frequently joined him in these expeditions, and many a deer have they taken together. QUIMBY owned very much of the land on which the village of Menominee now stands, and fully performed his part of the work in building it up, though he could never fully realize that Menominee was to become a large place. When the writer first came, and after he had resided here long enough to become acquainted with its resources for building up a large town, he frequently talked with him about building a railroad through the county, and his reply usually was that he never wanted to live any longer than to see a railroad through these woods. He did live to see one several years. His widow is still living here, and she has always been considered a mother to the white settlers on the river, and many a footsore and sick traveler or woodsman has been relieved by her care and sympathy; some there are who, without it, would have been long ago in their graves. She is now nearly seventy years of age, and is still active. I have given a short history coming of the first settlers, none of whom are now living, except Charles MCLEOD, Almira QUIMBY, Andreas EVELAND and Baptiste PREMEAU, who may be truly called old settlers. Moses HARDWIK came here in 1826, and lived here several years. He is still living at Bay Settlement, on the. east shore of Green Bay. Another class who may also be called old settlers as compared with late comers, and who built the mills now on the river and gave the country its real start in prosperity, but who came later than those hereinbefore referred to, will necessarily be named in connection with the buildings of the several mills, and will thus appear in the order of their coming here. INDIAN SKETCHES When the first white man visited Green Bay, the Menominee River was the home of the Menominee Indians, than very numerous, and Menominee was their most populous locality. The abundance of fish running out of Green BAY into the river, the check they received in climbing the rapids two miles from the month, and the abundance of game in the woods around, enabled them to obtain a living very easily. Their favorable location, too, on the shores of the bay rich with fish, and at the mouth of the river whose branches enabled them to penetrate, the vast regions of the north with their birch-bark canoe - these advantages drew large numbers about the mouth of the Menominee. The peace in character of the Menominees was early noticed by the white traders, and although they were brave as a people, yet wars rarely arose between them and other tribes, and violence was seldom committed on those who visited them. Tradition tells of but one battle within the limits of Menominee County, and that was between the Indians living near the month of the river and those living in the villages near White Rapids and Grand Rapids. The first were Menominees, of course, but it is not certainly known whether their opponents belonged to the same tribe or were Chippewas, but the presumption is that they belonged to the latter tribe. The battle was fought near the house of Charles MCLEOD, and along the banks of the river - near Burying Ground Paint. The trouble occurred in this way: The Indians in the village near the mouth of the river were living on the fat of the land, that is, Sturgeon, which they caught in great abundance on the rapids. But an abundance was not enough, for sturgeon is the special delight of the red man. The chief, therefore, ordered dams of stone to be built across the river at the rapids in order to prevent the fish from ascending the river. This caused great suffering in the upper villages, for the Indians there were largely dependent upon sturgeon for their subsistence, so the chief at Grand Rapids sent his son down to ask the potentate at the mouth of the river to tear away the obstructions, and let the finny monsters wend their way up the stream as usual, stating at the same time that his people were suffering from the need thereof. But to this most reasonable request the chief turned a deaf ear, and sent the son back to his father with an insulting message. But sturgeon his people must have or starve, and this fact, coupled with the insults heaped upon him by the chief at the mouth of the river, roused his fighting blood. Calling together his warriors and those from the tribes farther up the river, who were in a like condition, he prepared for war. With "sturgeon" for a war cry, they set out down   pg. 477   the river to punish the inhabitants of the village that had wronged them by cutting off their supply of food. At early dawn, the war-whoop broke the stillness of the morning, and as its death-telling echoes and re-echoes were wafted upon the morning breeze, it fell with terrible meaning upon the ears of the Menominees at the mouth of the river, and every warrior was quickly in arms and ready to fight in a warfare that showed no quarter and sought no mercy. The battle was short and sharp. The squaws and children fled to the swamps or crossed the river to safety. The fight raged up and down the river bank and upon the island for two or three hours, when the village fell into the hands of its assailants, and the shore chieftain was a captive in the hands of his enemies. He was made a victim of the most terrible torture that savage ingenuity could devise, which was ended only by death The loss was great on either side, but much more severe on the side of the down river tribe. The conquerors, foregoing further bloodshed, tore away the obnoxious dams, and returned to their homes, followed up by the unsuspecting sturgeon, which were again caught in peace and plenty. The writer received this account from the late John G. KITTSON and he in turn received the traditions from the Indians living on the river when he came here. The tradition as handed down, is much more full than is here given, but the object of this record is rather to preserve the fact of its existence than to make a story, and therefore much of the minutiae is omitted. The Menominee Indians are fast fading away, and where there were thousands when the white man came, it is rare now to find one. When the writer came here, it was very common to see a village of wigwams at the rapids, the occupants busy catching and smoking a season's stock of the staff of life, i. e., sturgeon, as a supply of provisions to last until the deer were fat enough to eat. It was also common to see fleets of bark canoes loaded down with squaws and papooses coasting along the shores of Green Bay. Nearly all of these now live on their reservations at Keshena and Shawano. Many of them have become civilized, and have good common schools and churches. A few yet remain around Menominee but their days are numbered. Like the pines of their native forests, they cannot withstand the effects of civilization, and the time is not far distant when there will not be an Indian left on the Menominee to cherish the memory or even preserve the name of the peaceful tribe that once roamed over these hunting grounds, proud in the freedom of savage life. Surnames found on these pages: ABBOTT, ALLEN, BAILY, BANGS, BIRD, BLEEKER, BLESSINGHAM, BOSWELL, BRABOIS, BREEN, BROOKS, BURCHARD, CARPENTER, CHAMPNEY, CHANDLER, CHAPPIEU, DAVIS, DESART, EASTON, EVARTS, EVELAND, FARLEY, FERRIER, FLESHIEM, GEWEHR, GINTY, GOODWIN, HAGGERSON, HALL, HAWLEY, HAYWARD, HOLMES, INGALLS, IRELAND, JENKINS, KIRBY, KITTSON, LUDINGTON, LYON, MACY, MCCULLOUGH, MCIVER, MORDAUNT, MURPHY, NASON, NELSON, PARENT, PARMENTER, PENDALL, PENGILLY, PHILLIPS, PORTER, QUIMBY, RICHANLY, RICHARDSON, ROWALL, RUSSELL, SALOMON, SAXTON, SOMERVILLE, SOULE, SPAULDING, STEPHENSON, SULLIVAN, THOMAS, VANAUKEN, VANSCHAICK, WALTON, WELLS, WHITE, WHITNEY, WILLIAMS, WOOD  pg. 477 COUNTY ORGANIZATION At the time of the first settlement of Menominee County, all of the country from the Menominee River to Lake Huron belonged to Mackinaw County; it was a wilderness with neither civil officers nor white people to fill offices. Subsequently, a county was established, reaching from Lake Michigan to the Menominee River, and called Delta County. There were but few white men in it when it was organized and it was attached to Mackinaw County for judicial purposes. In 1861, Anson Bangs, who then resided at Marinette, Wis., and owned considerable land on both sides of the river, and had a short time before built a small mill on Little River, a branch of the Menominee, was at Lansing during the session of the Legislature. He, having private subjects in view, without consulting the people of Menominee, obtained the passage of an act to create a new county the name of BLEEKER - an old Albany name - he afterward marrying into a family there by that name. There were many provisions of the act which were obnoxious to the settlers in the county, and they refused to organize under it. At the time appointed for the meeting to elect officers and perfect the organization. BANGS was not in this section of the country. The meeting was to be held at QUIMBY's tavern, and on the day set there was quite an attendance of settlers, but they refused to organize a meeting, and instead of doing so got up placards and charcoal sketches of Bangs, which were not complimentary to him. By the provisions of the act, if the people failed to organize, the new county was to be attached to Marquette County for judicial purposes. I am now brought to a point where I must arise and explain my position. I dislike as much as any one any exhibition of egotism. I am well aware that when the pronoun "I" appears too often, people are apt to form the opinion that the writer desires to make an exhibition of himself. From this time on I am so mixed up in the affairs of Menominee County that I cannot write it correctly without bringing myself into it, and for the purpose of avoiding the use of many words or frequently my name, I shall use the pronoun when it becomes necessary hereafter. As I must come into the arena, I may as well tell how I came hero. One pleasant evening, in July, 1859, I was landed at the dock of the Menekaune warehouse with my pony, buggy, tent, rifle and dog from the little steamer "Fannie Fisk," Daniel M. WHITNEY, master. I pitched my tent in that village for a few days with the intention of looking around to see the country, which was not a very easy task unless as a walkist, for there were no roads leading out from that river in any direction that could be traversed by a wagon. Being fully satisfied that Menominee had a bright future, of which its splendid water-power, abundance of pine timber, hardwood farming lands and fine port on Green Bay gave promise, I made up my mind that it was a good place to set my stake. It is true it did not look encouraging for a lawyer, but I had become tired of the practice of law, and my health much impaired by close application to the labors necessary in a properly regulated law office. My idea was that I would follow some active out-door business which would improve my health. Not being blessed with an overstock of this world's goods, it was something of a study what business I should go into, or rather how I should get into it, feeling somewhat like "Micawber," I resolved to wait for something "to turn up," and that the writing might not be too expensive I went down the bay shore about three miles to the mouth of Little River. Shortly afterward, Andrew J. EASTON (who afterward married my eldest daughter) joined me. We concluded to stay awhile, so went to work picking up lumber on the bank and built a small house; then I sent for my family which soon afterward joined us.   We planted a few acres of ground, hunted deer; fished, and, by practicing self-denial and economy, managed to get a living. In 1861, the rebellion broke out, and all the people about the Menominee were patriotic. In fact, it was the worst possible place for a copperhead, and, although we had two or three, their mouths were shut as tight as if closed with sealing wax. I became actively engaged in getting volunteers, and our able-bodied men being aroused began to volunteer. My son-in-law was among the first. Missing him and feeling very lonely, there being no neighbors nearer than Menekauno, three milos from where I lived, I moved my family in the fall of 1861 into Menekauno, and remained there during the winter. It was in the spring of 1861 that the meeting referred to in the commencement of this chapter was held. There being no settled lawyer nearer than Oconto, the people on the pg. 478   Michigan side of the river were quite anxious that I shouuld come over and counsel with them in regard to organizing a county and I came. After I moved to Menekaune, the Michigan people frequently urged me to come over and become a Wolverine, so in the spring of 1862 I complied with their wishes. During the summer, I built a small house in the now village of Menominee, though it was then in the woods, and moved into it late in the fall.   The next session of the Legislature commenced in January, 1868. The people here concluded to send me to Lansing to procure the passage of an act to organize a county; they raised money for my expenses by contribution, and on New Year's Day, 1863, I started. When I reached Lansing, the Legislature was organized and in working order. They had elected Hon. Zach CHANDLER Senator the day I reached there, and many of them were feeling so good over it that night that they must have woke up the next day with their hair pulling.   The member from our district was James S. PENDALL, from Marquette. I prepared such a bill as I thought we needed, and Mr. PENDALL presented it and had it referred. Soon afterward it was reported favorable, passed and became a law, and Menominee County took its place in the list of counties of the State. Its boundaries, except a slight alteration, were the same as the BANGS act: Embracing the fractional Townships 35 and 36, Range 24 west; all of Range 25, from the bay shore to Town 41, inclusive; all of Range 26 and 27 to Town 41, inclusive; all of the towns and fractional towns in Ranges 28, 29, 30, 31, to Town 41, inclusive. The name Menominee for the county had been decided upon by the people before I left home. At that time, there were no settlers in the county except those living at Menominee and up the river, and those living at the mouth of the Big Cedar River; therefore, the county was divided into two townships, viz.,the township of Cedarville, which embraced all the towns in the new county in Ranges 24, 25 and 26 west, and the township of Menominee, which embraced all of Range 27; and the towns and fractional towns in Ranges 28, 29, 30 and 31 west. So far as territory was concerned, this furnished two pretty good sized towns. The town of Menominee is about as large as the State of Rhode Island, being sixty-one miles long aud thirty milos wide at the northern end, and tapering down to a point at its southern extremity. By the provisions of the act, the county seat was to be located in Town 31 north, Range 27 west. John QUIMBY, Sr., Nicholas GEWEHR and E. S. INGALLS were appointed to locate the same. The Commissioners in the spring of 1863 located it on what is called "Court House Square," is Menominee, opposite the QUIMBY Hotel (KIRBY House), where a Clerk's office and jail were afterward erected.   In 1874, the people having decided to build a court house, the Board of Supervisors bought two acres of land on Ogden Avenue, and removed the county seat to that place. The old Court House Square grounds were sold to the original owners.   The first election of county officers was to be held on the first Monday in May, 1863, and was so held.   The act provided that John G. KITTSON, Nicholas GEWEHR and John QUIMBY, Sr., of the town of Menominee, should be a Board of County Canvassers to canvass the votes of the county, and approve all the bonds of the county officers elected, and should meet on the Tuesday following the first Monday after election, and immediately after the vote was declared, notice should be given to the officers elected, who should qualify and their terms commerce. By the middle of May, 1863, the officers had all qualified, and the county was fully organized. The county when organized became part of the judicial district of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was made a part of the Representative District, composed of the counties of Menominee, Chippewa, Schoolcraft and Delta, and was then included in the Thirty-second Senatorial and Sixth Congressional Districts. By act of 1875, the counties of Menominee and Delta constitute a Representative District.   The first county officers were: Judge of Probate, Eleazer S. INGALLS; Sheriff, John QUIMBY; County Clerk, Salmon P. SAXTON; Prosecuting Attorney, E. S. INGALLS; Register of Deeds, Josiah R. BROOKS; Circuit Court Commissioner, E S. INGALLS; County Treasurer, Leroy T. IRELAND; Coroners, Samuel W. ABBOTT, Andrew MCIVER.   Town officers of Menominee - Supervisor, Samuel M. STEPHENSON; Town Clerk, Austin W. CHAMPNEY; Town Treasurer, Joseph VANAUKEN; Justices of the Peace, John G. KITTSON, O. B. RICHARDSON, Nicholas GEWEHR, William HOLMES; School Inspectors, E. S. INGALLS, Joseph VANAUKEN; Commissioners of Highway, John G. KITTSON, O. B. RICHARDSON, William HOLMES.   Town officers of Cedarville - Supervisor, Josiah R. BROOKS; Town Treasurer, Salmon P. SAXTON; Justices of the Peace, Josiah R. BROOKS, Robert MCCULLOUGH.   The county officers for the present years are: Judge of Probate, Thomas B. RICE; Sheriff, John HANLEY; County Clerk, Joseph FLESHIEM; Prosecuting Attorney, E. S. INGALLS; Register of Deeds, Joseph FLESHIEM; Circuit Court Commissioner, E. S. INGALLS; County Treasurer, James H. WALTON; County Surveyor, J. Weston BIRD.   Town officers of Menominee - Supervisor, Samuel M. STEPHENSON; Town Clerk, John J. FERRIER; Justices of the Peace, Henry NASON, William H. JENKINS, John BREEN and Charles PARENT; School Superintendent, B. T. PHILLIPS; School Inspector, William SOMERVILLE; Town Treasurer, William H. JENKINS.   Town of Cedarville - Supervisor, E. P. WOOD; Town Clerk, John P. MACY; Town Treasurer; George F. ROWALL; Commissioners of Highway, John FARLEY, Alfred BRABOIS, W. E. EVARTS.   At the session of the Legislature in the year 1867, an act was passed providing for the organization of a new township to be known as Ingallston. It included in its boundaries all the townships in Range 26, from Town 33 to 41, inclusive. There being but few settlers in the township, it did not adopt a township organization until 1873.   The first officers elected were: Supervisor, Samuel C. HAYWARD; Town Clerk, Samuel THOMAS; Town Treasurer, John F. NELSON; Justice of the Peace, Nathaniel THOMAS; Mathias BAILY, Charles Smith; Commissioner of Highways, John R. WILLIAMS; School Inspectors, John R. WILLIAMS, Daniel SULLIVAN.   The present officers are: Supervisor, John MURPHY; Town Clerk, Charles ALLEN; Town Treasurer, George HAGGERSON; Commissioner of Highways, James MORDAUNT; Justices of the Peace, Lucius RUSSELL, Louis DESART, John BLESSINGHAM. When the county was first organized, the whole duty of doing or seeing done the duties of county officers was thrown upon me, they all being in business, could not afford to devote their whole time to county affairs I went to Waukegan, Ill. for George W. JENKINS to come and act as Deputy Circuit and County Clerk He gave good satisfaction, and was elected the next year and held the office until his death in 1871.   At the time of the organization, there were no judicial circuits in the Upper Peninsula. We had a court styled   pg. 479 the District Court of the Upper Peninsula, with the same powers as Circuit Court.   The Hon. Daniel GOODWIN was Judge, and has held the position since the district was first judicially organized. He has long been identified with the judiciary of the State, and was President of the Constitutional Convention of 1850. He is a resident of Detroit, and was sent from Wayne County to the Constitutional Convention of 1868, of which I was also a member.   The Upper Peninsula was organized into a judicial district at the session of the Legislature of 1851. The act providing for its organization took effect July 8, 1851. The Judge was elected on the last Tuesday of that year.   In 1863, the Legislature passed an act creating. the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in place of the District Court, and Judge GOODWIN continued to preside as Judge of the circuit.   In 1865, the Legislature passed an act creating the Twelfth Judicial Circuit from a part of the Eleventh, leaving the counties of Menominee, Delta Chippewa, Mackinaw, Cheboygan and Manitou in the Eleventh District, and Judge GOODWIN has continued to preside in this circuit. He was re-elected in 1870 for a term of six years, commencing in January, 1876. Judge GOODWIN has, during all this long period, performed his judicial duties with such impartiality and ability that he has won the approbation and respect of every person in the district or circuit. There were but few people here when the county was organized, aud many of these being transient men were not voters. At the first election held in Menominee, the number of votes cast was forty-five, and in the town of Cedarville, ten. The officers of the county were occupying a dwelling house owned by John QUIMBY (the house where his widow now resides). The Circuit Courts were held in the hall of the QUIMBY House (now KIRBY House). At and before the organization of the county, all mail tor Menominee came to Menekaune, Wis.; but having organized a county seat it was necessary to have a post office, and the Department established one at Menominee in the year 1863, and Norman R. SOULE was appointed Postmaster (although I performed the actual duties of it), and held the office until the next year, when Samuel W. ABBOTT was appointed, and has held the office ever since. At first he had to go to Menekaune for the mail bag in the summer season, and sometimes in the winter. In summer, the mail came three times a week from Green Bay by boat, and in winter by stage. At that time trees covered the ground over where the greater part of the village of Menominee now stands, and the writer has shot deer aud assisted in a bear hunt in what are now the most public places. Where Main street now is was the best place to hunt wild pigeons in this section of the country. In the spring and fall, the river was a favorite resort for wild ducks and sportsmen who hunted them. There were no roads in the county, except a very poor supply road leading up the Menominee River, which the mill companies had cut out for a winter road, and which could hardly be traversed by a wagon during the summer.   When Anson BANGS was in Lansing during the session of the Legislature of 1861, he did do one thing which proved of great benefit to the county which ought to be set off against his mis-move in trying to organize the county of Bleeker. He caused an act to be passed granting two sections of land to each mile for the purpose of constructing a State road from Menominee to Masonville in Delta County, to be called the Green Bay & Bay du Noc State Road, and the same amount for a road from the month of the Menominee River to a point in Marquette County, to be called the Wisconsin & Lake Superior State road. It generally thought that no person could afford to build any sort of a road for the grant. At that time, plenty of land was to be entered for $1.25 per acre, and by buying road scrip, State lands could be obtained for $1 per acre. It was thought that the country was so swampy between Menominee Village and Delta County that a road could not be built without great expense. The only way the people of Lake Superior could get to the outside world, as it was then called, in the winter, was by crossing the divide with dog trains to the head of Little Bay du Noc, and then follow the beach to Green Bay.   Hon. Peter WHITE, of Marquette, once told me on one occasion when he was compelled to come down into Wisconsin in the winter, it took him three weeks to make the journey from that place to Green Bay City. They were therefore very anxious to have a road opened, and often wrote to me on the subject, and during the winter of 1863-64, when coming through, talked of it, and urged that the Menominee people should take some step to have a road constructed In the summer of 1883, C. T. Harvey had opened a road from Masonville to Marquette.   Accordingly, in the spring of 1864, application made to the Governor, and Josiah R. BROOKS was appointed Commissioner to lay out and cause the road to be constructed, and he had the road surveyed (R. L. HALL having charge of the survey), and took steps to let a contract for its construction. But the greatest difficulty was to find any one to undertake it, and when the time appointed to let the contract came there was not a person to put in a bid. Being determined that a road should be built, the writer put in a bid to construct all of the road that lay in Menominee County for the grant, and executed the necessary papers. So sure were the people that a road could not be built for the grant, that on the day my men met to commence work on it, one of our prominent public men told me that he would give me his ear if I did not fail in the enterprise that year. I told him that I would call on him for the ear before the snow would fly. My contact only required that the road should be cut through sixteen feet wide that year, so that the road ,would be available for winter use, and provided for its completion afterward. I called on the gentleman for the ear, but I have not received it yet, although I am entitled to it, according to the offer. On the 5th of December, my men had got through, and T. T. HAWLEY coming through shortly afterward, and finding that he could carry the mails through on it, in a few days had a line of stages running over it, and thus secured the mail route tor Lake Superior through Menominee, instead of by way of Ontonagon, where parties interested were trying to secure it.   When I was at Lansing in the winter of 1863 to obtain the passage of the act to organize the county, I found the Legislature favorably disposed toward the people here, and desirous of aiding them in opening the county to settlement.   We had no bridge across the Menominee River, and the only way of crossing in the summer was in small boats for men, and scows for horses, which was very inconvenient. I became impressed with the idea that a land grant could be obtained to build a bridge. The people here could not afford to build it without help. I had friends in the Wisconsin Legislature, among whom was Col. George C. GINTY, of Oconto County. I drafted a bill for an act giving five sections of land in Michigan to aid in the construction of the bridge, and another for the Wisconsin Legislature, giving ten sections, and sent it to Col. GINTY. Pg. 480 My reason for making that ten sections, was that the lands in Michigan were much more valuable than in Oconto County, Wis, where the lands would be located. I then wrote to Hon. Isaac STEPHENSON, of Marinette, and S. M. STEPHENSON, of Menominee, about the matter, asking them to use their influence for the project, and to have petitions signed and forwarded to each Legislature, which was done by them. The Michigan Legislature readily passed the bill, and Col. GINTY had no difficulty in obtaining the passage of the bill sent there, but it failed to became a law, although it killed the Governor of Wisconsin so far as his political aspirations were concerned, and gave Wisconsin one of the best war Governors the State has had. During that session, there was a strong feeling aroused on the subject of using the State swamp lands for the improvement of roads in the counties where the lands were situated. All of the members from the northern and northwestern parts of the State, which were new, were in favor of it, while those from the southern and southwestern parts, which were old and had their roads built, were opposed to it. The bill passed with so largo a vote in its favor that it was evident that it could be passed over any veto the Governor might give.   The Governor (SALOMON) lived in Milwaukee, and his feelings seemed to be with the opponents of the bill, for instance of vetoing, and giving the Legislature an opportunity to pass it over his head, he put it in his pocket and kept it there, to the great indignation and disgust of its friends. That killed the bill for that winter. It happened that the next summer when the State Convention met, Col. GINTY was a delegate, and found that a majority of the convention were members who had supported the bill the winter previous, and not having got over their disgust at Gov. SALOMON's act (who was a candidate for re-election for Governor), they laid him on the shelf, and nominated James T. Lewis, who proved one of the best Governors Wisconsin ever had. The next winter the bill was again passed as originally drawn, and became a Law. Meanwhile, the people here thought the fifteen sections of land insufficient to build the bridge, the length of which would be about one-third of a mile, and the value of the grant could not be estimated at over $1 per acre, as lands could be located with script at that price. The next winter (1865), I again had occasion to go to Lansing while the Legislature was in session, and our grant had expired by limitation, for the reason that the bridge had not been built. I had another bill presented extending the time for building it, and giving ten sections of land, which passed and became a law, making the whole grant from both States twenty sections. The Commissioners appointed in the law to have charge of building the bridge, were the Board of Supervisors of Menominee County. and the Board of Supervisors of the town of Marinette, Wis. Still there were difficulties in the way of its construction. The Menekaune interest and a part of Menominee wanted it built near the mouth of the river, the Marinette people and a part of the Menominee people desired it tn be built across the river up near the Dr. HALL place, or at least across Thibault Island, where the railroad now crosses. The contention about the location of the bridge lasted nearly two years, when it was decided to build it in its present location, and the N. LUDINGTON Company took the contract to build it, and it was built for the land grant in 1867.   In 1866, the mill companies on both sides of the river being desirous of having a better road up the Menominee River than the supply road on which they had been compelled to rely, I was appointed Commissioner to locate and build the Wisconsin & Lake Superior State Road, which runs up the Menominee River. The Board of Supervisors appropriated the necessary money to defray expenses of survey. The survey was immediately commenced, and carried through to completion. The contract was let to the KIRBY-CARPENTER Company, R. STEPHENSON Company (now LUDINGTON, WELLS & VANSCHAICK Company) and SPAULDING & PORTER Company, who commenced the work without delay. The next season I resigned as Commissioner, and William HOLMES was appointed in my place, who continued in charge of it until work was stopped. The road is now completed forty-two miles, and nearly up to the KIRBY-CARPENTER Company's farm, and is a very good road. In constructing to that point, nearly or qu te ten miles in distance is saved compared with the old route.   Our county kind been without a court house, holding our courts in public halls. Our officers had all believed that it was better to wait until a good building could be erected than put up a cheap one.   The county had always been out of debt. When first organized, it was decided that "pay as you go " was the best policy, so we have followed that rule, and the only debt the county had ever incurred that was not paid during the same year, was the sum of $5,000 borrowed on bonds to pay soldiers' bounties during the war. These bonds were drawn to run five years, and were all taken by the people living here, and were paid at the expiration of three years. When the county was first organized, the assessable property in the county was valued at about $160,001.25. It is now valued at $1,363,319.83. Our people, in view of these facts, came to the conclusion that we could well afford to take the risk of building a good court house, and issue the bonds of the county to raise money for its construction. Accordingly, in 1874, the necessary steps were taken, and the bonds issued. They were readily sold, and the building was began that year and completed in 1875. Now the county has a court house which would be no discredit to any city of the State. It is built of brick and stone, the first or basement story being occupied as a jail and room for residence of the jailor. The cells are entirely of stone and iron. The second story is fitted up for offices, with fire and burglar proof vaults to every office; while in the upper story are the court room, jury and judges' rooms. It is constructed with all the modern appliances and conveniences. It cost in round numbers $32,000. During the same year (1874), the township of Menominee constructed a good brick town hall at a cost of $8,000; the first story of which is used for an engine room for the steam fire engine owned by the town; the second for a town hall, town library and office for town officers. The building is a substantial one, and would do credit to much larger and older towns.   Two years preciously, the people of the town organized a library, so that in 1876 it contained 1,200 volumes. SCHOOLS The first school now remembered to be kept in Menominee was by Emily BURCHARD in 1857, in a part of Henry NASON's house, at his shingle mill on the shore of Green Bay. It was supported by subscription. There is a tradition that one had been previously kept at the old watermill by a daughter of A. F. LYON, but nothing definite is known of it.   The first schoolhouse in the county was built by A. F. LYON, Henry NASON, W. G. BOSWELL, Andreas EVELAND, E. N. DAVIS and a few others in 1857, near where the railroad now crosses Ogden avenue in the village of Menominee. pg. 481   It was built of hewed timber by voluntary labor and contribution. It was used but one term. When the county was organized in 1863, the school laws were put in force, and districts were organized. District No. 1 in Menominee, embraced all of the village lying along Green Bay and near the mouth of the river; District No. 2 included that part of the village now called Frenchtown; District No. 3 was organized, embracing within its limits all the settlers about John G. KITTSON's place near CHAPPIEU's Rapids. Since that time, a district has been organized at Birch Creek settlement, and another at Railroad Section 22 (twenty-two miles from Menominee), now called Stephenson.   The township of Cedarville had one district established, and has usually kept a school there since.   Since the organization of the township of Ingallston, two districts have been organized, one at SPAULDING (Railroad Section 42) and one at English (Railroad Section 39).   In all these small districts, schools have been regularly kept since their organization, except the one at CHAPPIEU's Rapids, in the township of Menominee, where the people failed to perfect their organization. In the village of Menominee, which has always contained the bulk of the population, the greater attention has been paid to schools. The first School Inspectors for the village of Menominee were E. S. INGALLS and Joseph VANAUKEN; the first District Board were E S. INGALLS, Moderator, and Robert PENGILLY, Assessor.   The present School Inspectors are Benjamin T. PHILLIPS, Superintendent, and William SOMERVILLE, Inspector.   The present School Board of District No. 1, Menominee, are Samuel M. STEPHENSON, Moderator; Edward L. PARMENTER, Director, and Robert STEPHENSON, Assessor.   The first schools held in District No. 1, Menominee, were in a small building owned by Samuel W. ABBOTT, which had been built for storing fishing nets It was about 16x18 feet, built of rough boards and filled between the joists with saw dust (the same building was also the first post office building after Mr. ABBOTT became Postmaster). The seats were long, narrow benches, better calculated for the punishment of children than for their comfort, but they did not mind that much, so long as they could while away the time, when the teacher's eyes were not on them, by digging sawdust out from the cracks.   I shall never forget the disgust exhibited by the first teacher that went into that building to teach. I had been to Green Bay City and employed a lady teacher, and had given her as good an idea of the advantages and disadvantages as I could in words. But she could not understand the nature of a schoolhouse in a new place just starting until she came in person, yet she stuck to it until the term was out, and kept a good school. It was not long, however, that such a building had to be used. The people determined to have a better one, and in 1864 built and furnished one 24x28 feet. It was thought that this would be large enough for many years, but we soon learned our mistake. Settlers came in so fast that in a short time not half of the scholars could be accommodated. So the schoolhouse was sold, and in 1868 another was built, planned for a graded school. This, though a wooden building, was a good one, costing $7,000. The first story is divided into two apartments, the second story is all in one, though two teachers (the professor and assistant) are employed therein, making it equivalent to two schools.   For the last four years, Prof. J. Wesley BIRD has had charge of this and other schools in this district, and we may safety claim that our schools are as good as any the State.   It was soon found that this building did not furnish sufficient room, and another schoolhouse was built in the district on Holmes avenue, and another building rented for a school room on Ogden avenue.   District No. 2 also built a schoolhouse, which they have found too small, and during the year (1876) erected a large two-story building, which will probably be sufficient for several years. In 1880-81, the large red brick school building was erected at a cost of $17,000.   POPULATION The first general returns of population were made from Menominee in 1870. Cedarville was credited with 194 inhabitants, and Menominee with 1,597, including nine half-breeds and three Indians.   The population of Menominee County in 1880 was as follows:   Breen Township, 546; Breitung Township, 4,559; Cedarville Township, 229; Holmes Township, 158; Ingallsson Township, 195; Menominee Township and Village, 3,947. The total was 11,988, including 119 Indians and three half-breeds.   WAR RECORD   In the general history references are made to the private soldiers and commissioned officers furnished to the Union armies from 1861 to 1865. The county expended $390 for the relief of soldiers, families. The county is not credited with an appropriation for war purposes.