Marine City High School - Mariner Yearbook (Marine City, MI)

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“When a person strolls up Main street his attention is called to the Water- works building. This large red-brick edifice was built in 1884 and still stands firmly. It will be well not to visit the place right at the noon hour, because the building contains a whistle that emits the most unearthly wails as the clock on the waterworks shelf registers the hour of twelve. It also acts as a fire alarm, and then, too, at 9 o’clock at night, the time when little children should be home, it wails the doomed hour when all play must cease. “The village was now growing steadily. Then a way for quicker and better travel came when the D. U. R. was introduced. The franchise was bucked by “Old Timers,” because they didn’t want their land crossed by the intruding engine. Be- fore the D. U. R. came to Marine City the people travelled by stage coach. The roads were terrible, and many times the carriages have been mired to the hubs on Main street.” I had been listening to the talker for a couple of hours. These are only a few of the numerous and interesting things about Marine City that he told me. He asked if I would like to look the town over. I gladly accepted. We visited about every business place in town, and 1 was delighted at the air of prosperity they displayed. Of all the places I visited one of the most interesting was the Marine City High School. They had a lovely new building with all modern equip- ment and an industrious assembly of students. As we were leaving the building the funniest old rattle trap of a Ford was coming down the street. It was a 1925 model and looked as though it had been through many wars. I laughed, as it was surely a funny sight. My informant then said, “If you think that funny, 1 wish you co uld have seen the first automobile that came to Marine City. It was a one-cylinder Oldsmobile and was owned by W. F. Sauber. When it came down the street it sounded almost as bad as a threshing machine. “Speaking of Mr. Sauber,” he went on, “he was the founder of the Marine City sugar factory. It was a refining factory. The expense was so great that it closed down for awhile, only to be opened again, but the second attempt also failed.” It was now time for me to return to the city. Leaving Marine, I noticed the noble bridge spanning the swift, deep and treacherous Belle river — a structure famous for the length of time it took to build — begun in 1922, finished two years later. When asked what I think about Marine City I always answer, “It is one of the nicest little spots on earth. It is a paradise where people may live in beautiful homes, with wonderful lawns and flowers; where one may go boating, fishing and swimming and indulge in all such sports to his heart’s content.” Such is “Marine on the St. Clair.” 8 — By Edith G. Kessel.

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“Here is an instance which shows you she was a courageous woman. One day a band of Saginaw Indians, in their war paint, suddenly came into the house when every man in the settlement, save one cripple, was gone to a town miles away. They demanded whiskey, then kept in every cabin, even by men, like her father, who never drank it. She put her hand through the latch of the door where the liquor was kept, then armed herself with a broomstick, and struck stoutly all who came near. The chief said, in their tongue, which she understood, ‘Leave her to me; I’ll put her to sleep.’ This she knew meant her death, but she looked him steadily in the eye, stood firm and called to her sister outside: ‘Go and call the men,’ which strategem led the Indians, after brief consultation, to leave in haste. She knew if they found the whiskey that all of them would be murdered. This is only one of the numerous acts in which she played the part of a true heroine. She established an Academy, the first in this part of the country, in Marine City, thus pioneering in the cause of higher education as well. It is not every town that can boast of a heroine such as Emily Ward. “The Union school house was built in 1870, for $15,000, on the site of the Emily Ward private Academy and of the present high school. The first principal was George R. Whitmore. The building was 60 ft. in length by 58 ft. in width, with a total elevation from the ground to cupola of 77 ft. in three stories. The edifice was built in the form of the Greek cross, from designs by Benjamin S. Horton. The mason work was performed by Stephen Mitig of St. Clair, and the joiner work by George Langell, of Marine City. “Ship building was one of the leading industries of this time, 1870, and Marine City still holds this honor. You see boats made at the McLouth shipyard in many of the big lake ports today. “On December 14, 1874, the Marine City Stave Company was incorporated. This was a great success, and for many years a thriving industry. It was located down on the point. There was also a general store connected with the mill, where people could purchase everything from tooth-picks to furniture. Then at the foot of Main street was a lumber yard owned by Curtis and Lester. They had the ten hour working day and paid $1.00 a day for labor. Here they made the hand-hewn masts for many of the sailing vessels. “On July 22, 1882, it was revealed to the people of Marine City that they had a salt well that was second to none in the country, and unquestionably the best in Michigan at that time. There were other salt wells discovered later — the Wonsey- Davison Block and Lester-Roberts Block. The latter burned in 1907. Marine City can still boast of a salt block. It is called the Michigan and is situated in the southern part of the city. “The Reporter” was founded by Messrs. Blood and Huntoon. In 1882 the office passed into the hands of W. W. Miller. The present editor is Frank Sutton. Before the “Reporter” there was the “Gazette” in 1874, and the editor was P. D. Bissell. Later on the “Marine City Express’ was published by the St. Clair Republican — and more recently the “Independent,” published here. 7

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MARINE CITY AS IT USED TO BE (An Interview With Mrs. John Hawthorne) By Ruth May “Aunt Emily” Ward was born in 1829. She was probably a young girl in her teens when she moved here from Ohio. When Mrs. Hawthorne, then three years old, moved to Marine City (then Newport), “Aunt Emily” Ward was in the neigh- borhood of fifty. She was a large, masculine-looking woman, with three little curls hanging down over her shoulders; the rest of her hair was done up in a little knot on the back of her head. She dressed very plainly. The story is told that she made the laborious voyage to Detroit in a print dress and sunbonnet. The Wards owned a shipyard extending along the water front from where Henry Holland now lives, to Cottrell’s dock. Their sawmill was where Dr. McLean’s house now stands. The land since washed away then extended out three lots. Mrs. Holland’s father was the manager of the sawmill. The workmen rafted the logs down Belle River and up St. Clair to the mill, where they were arranged in a “boom.” A boom is a “fence of logs” made by chaining them together. An iron car the size of a railroad repair car rolled down the incline. The raftsmen, who wore spikes in their shoes, then loaded a log onto the car, which also was provided with spikes to hold the log in place; the car was then hauled up the slope and the logs saved. The Wards also owned a store — grocery, dry goods and shoe store combined. Up stairs pillow-cases, towels, tablecloths, mattresses, etc., were made. Aunt Emily Ward superintended the sewing. Of course, it was hand-sewing. It was conducted something like this: the linen was stamped in this room, a dozen or more stamped pieces given to each woman in the “factory,” who then took them home and overcast them by hand. They were then returned to the factory and inspected by the Superintendent, Aunt Emily Ward. The Wards owned also the two blocks from Water to Main and St. Clair to Union. The house where Mr. Roach and Mr. Hanks now reside was part of her house, and the green house where Smiths and Bells now live, was part of the same house. Her barn was located where the Hose House now stands. Aunt Emily Ward was mother to everyone in Marine. She brought up five children left by her brother, and the children left by her sister. She adopted nearly all the orphans about town. All told, it is said that she raised, or helped start in life, fifty-seven people. All have made their mark in the world, among whom are Chris. Ogden, who is General Superintendent of the Milwaukee Iron Company, and Theobald Ogden, who is a lawyer and was for twelve years a Con- gressman from Wisconsin. She also raised the Brindall girls (the husband of one is now living in St. Clair), and the Owen girls. Aunt Emily Ward taught the academy, whose site was where the big school now stands. This was a private school of about one hundred pupils, all told. A parent had to secure her permission before his child could be sent. Certain of the workingmen’s children were excluded because even then the pioneers did not feel willing to allow their children to play or associate with the “lower class.” Her niece, Miss Brindall, gave music lessons before and after school hours, on the school piano on the platform. 9