Transcript File
Archeology: Week
#3 Notes
The History of Marlette
Native Americans:
Paleo-Indians: Sanilac Petroglyphs
Woodland Period:
Saux
Ojibwa
Chippewa
Ottowa
French:
Voyagers:
Fur Trapping
Jesuit Priests:
Missionaries: Father Marquette
Apple and Pear trees brought to this area
Forts – Protect Trading Interests
British:
French and Indian
Wars
British Claim Territory
Control French Forts:
Detroit,
Michilimackinaw,
Saginaw Bay
Pontiac’s Rebellion
Native Tribes submit
to British control
Americans:
Revolutionary War:
Treaty of Ghent
American Territory
British military presence stays – Control
the Great Lakes
Northwest Ordinance: 1787
Michigan created as a separate territory
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin
Northwest Ordinance:
Counties formed:
Townships created:
36 sq miles
16 section – fund
public schools
No slavery allowed
Set up process for
becoming a state
Resources:
White Pine – Lumber
Wheat – Farming
Salt – Detroit
Fishing – Great Lakes
Abundance of Land
Early Settlers:
1st White Settler:
Joel Carrington
Cutting wood planks
for shipping
John B. Hyde:
Brought Oxen
Cleared maple Forest
Used Shingles for
money
1,000 Shingles = $1
Early Settlers:
Scotch-Irish:
Land
French-Canadians:
Land and Freedom
New England:
Land and Timber for
Shipping
Civil War:
Sanilac Wolverines:
Elite Fighting Group
1st Volunteers from
Marlette
Co. D 10th Michigan
Infantry
Capt. Israel Hucking
Left Flint: April 1862
Civil War: 10th Michigan
Battles:
Tuscumbia, Alabama
Siege of Nashville
Stevenson, Alabama
Chickamaga
Sherman’s March to
the Sea
Grand Review –
Washington DC
Civil War: 10th Michigan
Counting the Cost:
1788 men served
59 Killed in Battle
29 Killed from
wounds
211 Killed from
disease
Civil War: Sanilac County
Women’s Role
Soldier’s Relief Society
Women’s Auxiliary
Red Cross
Village of Marlette:
Village settled in
1865
Named:
Irish settler’s maiden
name – (Marlet)
Carved on a post
Named after a steam
ship used to transport
lumber
Great Fires:
2 Major Forest Fires
1871 and 1881
Timber cleared – Remains left to dry
Dry weather
Unusual winds
Great Fire of 1871:
Dry Weather
Farmers burned
debris to clear land
Burning got out of
control
Hurricane winds
spread it up into the
“Thumb”
Great Fire of 1871:
Burned most of
Sanilac, Huron, and
Tuscola Counties
$4,000,000 in lasses
5,000 people loose
all their property
Possibly started by
the Biela Comet
Great Fire of 1881:
September 5th
Disaster for Marlette
Caused: Fuel left
over by 1871 Fire
Over turned Lantern
High Winds
Great Fire of 1881:
Burned all of the “Thumb”
Destroyed homes and farms of 3,231
families
$2,300,000 losses
Red Cross used for
domestic disaster
1st time
Great Fire of 1881:
Effects:
Red Cross used for
other domestic
disasters
Michigan Legislature
builds 46 new schools
Cleared unusable
land for agricultural
use
Ash made soil rich for
farming
Village of Marlette: 1870’s
Formed on land
owned by:
Benjamin Hobson –
North
Robert Wilson – East
Charles Harwack West
Development of Marlette:
Churches:
1st Baptist – 1871
1st Methodist – 1871
1st Presbyterian – 1868
First Church Building
Development of Marlette:
Marlette Leader: Newspaper
Founded in 1878
“Unsectarian in Religion, Non-Partisan in
Politics, and Independent in all Things.”
1900 – Republican in Politics
Schools:
First School: 1858
Miss Mary Ball
Taught in a local
home
1860 – Log School
Built
1889 – 1st Frame
Building
1st High School
Marlette Schools:
1896 – 3 story brick building at current
High School location
1936 – 2 story addition
Oldest part of existing building
School Consolidation
1954 – Bea McDonald School Build
Marlette Schools:
1965 – Additions to High School
Tear Down the original brick building
1975 – Middle School Built
Brown School:
Former 1 room school (7 miles north and 4
miles east of town)
Moved in 1937
Kindergarten Cottage
Marlette Schools
Activities:
Band – 1906-1911
Athletics:
1895 – Golf
1908 – Marlette Baseball
1910 Football
Several county and state championships
Businesses:
1st Post Office – 1864
Gordon Rudd – 1st Postmaster
Delivered mail 3 times a week
Planing Mill – 1884 – E.W. Ellsworth
Marlette Plow Factory – 1878 – Kilgor
and Mavis
Grist Mill – 1880 – E.J. Warner
Businesses:
Saw Mill – 1866 – John McGill and
George Fenner
Steam Elevator – 1881 – H.W. Wilson
Flour, Feed Store, Lumber Yard, Grist
Mill, W.B. McGill
General Merchandise – Joseph Morris
Temperance Store
Businesses:
Hotels: “Northern Hotel – 2nd Frame
Building in Town – T.H.Sheppard – 1868
Barber Shop – H.H. Pralt – 1881
Marlette Bank: Charles Messmore –
1881
Clothing and Furniture – J.A. Medler –
1881
Businesses:
Dress Making Store – Mrs. A.M. Vliet –
1877
Attorneys – McMahon and McClure –
1880
Dentist – Dr. N. Vliet – 1877
Doctors: 1880’s
McCrea, Dodge, Harris, Drummond
Businesses:
Pharmacy – 3 in 1880’s
S.H. Warner
C.H. Reynolds
S.B. Shaw
Hardware: J.W. Councilor – 1875
Groceries: H.C. Sloat – 1885
Meat Market: N.S. Fancher - 1878
Businesses:
Bakeries:
W.D. Ragan – 1881
G.H. Bullock – 1884
Harness Shop: H.C. Burget – 1881
Jewelry and Music: R. Powell – 1879
Blacksmith: J.H. Hayden – 1882
Undertaker: Rotz Brothers - 1884
Railroads:
Port Huron to
Mayville:
September 1881
Major Train wreck –
West of Marlette
May 26, 1903
Historic Train Depot:
Renovation
Marlette District Library:
1921: Built with Carnegie Foundation
Grant
$15,000
1st Librarian: Kate McGill
1987 – Michigan Historic Site
Mobil Home Industry:
Marlette Mobil Homes Plant – 1935
Built tank boxes - WWII
Hospital:
Opened in 1951
Only accredited hospital in a town of
1,600 of less in population
Served 11 villages in 3 counties