Introduction to Osceola Co. History 1884 Portrait & Bio Album

The forests of Osceola County have been but recently subdued by the enterprise of a civilized race, preparatory to the establishment of comfortable and permanent homes for a dense popilation. The early surveyors which the Government sent out to make the survey of this part of the State reported that it was an irreclaimable waste and not fit for cultivation in any quarter, the soil being of that character which precluded the propagation of cereals. The subsequent rapidity of settlement and enormous crops of everything in the line of cereals has demonstrated conclusively their mistake, for no acreage surpasses Northern Michigan in productiveness. Notwithstanding the oft-repeated tales of want and hardships told by their earthly sires, men of energy, with their families and all their earthly possessions loaded upon wagons drawn by oxen, pushed their way step by step, through the unbroken forests of Osceola, until they found suitable locations. With a spirit of heroism have they toiled until the forests were laid low, and their herculean labor is manifest in the broad acres of highly cultivated land, upon which stand palatial residences and outbuildings of the most expensive character. Over the grounds where the red man chased the bounding deer, and the wildcats and wolves held their nightly vigils, may be seen herds and flocks feeding and reposing in content; where useless weeds and unused timber cumbered the ground, the husbandman may now be seen gathering the golden harvests; and where the savage's miserable wigwam occasionally appeared, now stands a dwelling which by comparison is a mansion, with here and there a school-house or a church, the greatest distinctive feature of all in contrast with the aboriginal paganism. Transportation of goods by ox teams has given way to the power of steam, and a commerce has been opened up with all parts of the civilized world. Prosperity in a high degree has smiled upon her people, who, taking age into consideration, are fortunate in living in the most healthful, beautiful and productive States in the Union. The history of this county is possessed of no small degree of interest. While other counties were connected with the frontier by large bodies of excellent lands, this seemed for a long time shut off from the gaze of shrewd speculators by reason of its heavy growth of timber. They were destined to become the heritage of an honest, industrious people, and the income derived from the timber and products of the soil has given many of the first comers a handsome competency.

HOW OUR FATHERS LIVED.

The young men and women of today have very little conception of the mode of life among the early settlers of Osceola County. In but few respects are the manners of the present time similar to those of a quarter of a century ago. The clothing, the dwelling, the diet, the social customs, etc., have undergone a total revolution as though a new race had taken possession of the land. Pioneer life in Osceola County finds its parallel in almost every county in the State and throughout the entire Northwest. The land ws to be cleared of forests, and the skill of human art used to transplant to the fertile region the civilization of the East. Cabins were to be erected, wells dug, and the rivers and creeks made to labor for the use of mankind.

As many living citizens can well remember, the pioneers had many difficulties to contend with, not the least of which was the journey from civilization to their forest homes. The route lay through a wild and rough country; swamps and marshes were crossed with great exertion and fatigue; rivers were forded with difficulty and danger, night were passed in the dense forests, with mother earth for a couch and the trees and foilage for a shelter; long, weary days and weeks of travel were endured, but finally their eyes were gladdened and their hearts beat faster when a vision of their future home burst upon them.

The first thing upon his arrival was to set about building a cabin. While this was being done the family slept in the wagons or upon the grass, while the horses or oxen, tethered to prevent escape, grazed on the grass around them. Trees of a suitable and uniform size were selected, felled and prepared for their places. The day for the raising was announced and from far and near came other pioneers to assist in the labor. The structure went up, a log at a time, those engaged in the work stopping now and then to "wet their whistles," and soon it was ready for the clapboard roof, which was held on by huge weight poles. A door and a window were cut where the good wife directed, a chimney built, and the building was ready for its occupants. The space between the logs was filled with split sticks of wood, called "chinks," and then daubed over, both inside and out, with mortar made of clay. The floor was sometimes nothing more than earth tramped hard and smooth, but was commonly made of "puncheons," or split logs, with the split side turned upwards. The roof was made by gradually drawing in the top to the ridge-pole and on cross pieces laying the clapboards, which, being several feet in length, instead of being nailed were held in place by weight-poles, reaching the entire length of the cabin.

For a fire-place, a space was cut out of the logs on one side of the room, usually about six feet in length, and three sides were built up of logs, making an offset in the wall. This was lined with stone, if convenient; if not, then earth was used. The flue, or upper part of the chimnet, was built of small split sticks, two and a half or three feet in length, carried a little space above the roof, and plastered over with clay, and when finished was called a "cob and clay" chimney. The door space was also made by cutting an aperture in one side of the room of the required size, the door itself being made of clapboards secured by wooden pins to two cross pieces. The hinges were also of wood, while the fastenings consisted of a wooden latch catching on a hook of the same material. To open the door from the outside, a strip of buckskin was tied to the latch and drawn through a hole a few inches above the latch bar, so that on pulling the string the latch was lifted from the catch or hook, and the door was opened withoug further trouble. To lock the door it was only necessary to pull the string through the hole on the inside. Here the family lived, and here the guest and wayfarer were made welcome. The living-room was of good size, but to a large extent it was also a kitchen, bedroom, parlor and arsenal, with flitches of bacon and rings of dried pumpkins suspended from the rafters.

The old cabins are rapidly being superseded by modern frame and brick structures, yet with almost tearful eyes we watch them disappear. Every log and chink has a history; could they speak, they would tell us of the days of toil and privation under gone by our fathers, of the days made sacred by the birth or death of his children, of the religious services which were held there when no church was yet buolt in the neighborhood, or the merry-makings which the neighbors for miles around attended, when logs were to be rolled, and a dance given in the evening; the whole to conclude with a supper, the delicacies of which consisted of venison, maple sugar and corn bread. One by one of the old log structures are being removed; but it seems almost a sacrilege to tear the down, so closely have they been connected with the success of our pioneers, many of whom now state that although they are now wealthy and have every comfort and luxury that money can procure, yet the days spent in their primeval home and the kindness which everywhere prevailed among neighbors, brought more happiness than is now enjoyed, although their barns are filled with grain, their pockets with gold and their lands dotted with herds of cattle and sheep.

VALUE OF LOCAL HISTORY.

The great dread of mankind from the remotest ages has been to be forgotten. The means employed to prevent this and to perpetuate his memory has been in proportion to the amount of intelligence he possessed. It has been conceded now by scientists that the principal object of the Egyptians in building their pyramids was to perpetuate the name and deeds of their their great leaders and rulers. The walls in the extensive apartments beneath those huge stone monuments are covered with paintings illustrating the deeds, both in peace and war, of her illustrious princes, and in chronological order. These colors are as bright, apparently, as when they were first laid on, and the work shows great skill and artistic design. The exhumations made by the archeologist of Egypt from buried Memphis indicate a desire of these people to perpetuate the memory of their achievements. The walls of these palaces found buried here are decorated with historical emblems representing the lives and deeds of these people. In Memphis they displayed a higher art. They carved out in marble elegant and life-loke statues of their distinguished princes, accompanied with hieroglyphics, illustrating their deeds. The erection of those great obelisks were for the same purpose. Coming down to a later period we find the Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monuments, and carving out statues to chronicle their great achievements, and carry then down the ages. It is evident that the mound builders, in piling up their gross mounds of earth, had but this idea, to leave something to show that they had lived. All these works, these representations, though many of them costly in the extreme, give but a faint idea of the lives and character of those whose memory they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of the people that them lived. The great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain, objects only for scientists or curiosity seekers; the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crumbling into dust. The monuments, statues and other relics are being gradually conveyed to the different museums of the world, and soon there will nothing remain in these countries to illustrate the lives of the people who once dwelt in them.

Generation after generation comes and goes like the leaves of autumn. Nations have been born, have had their rise and fall, and then passed away leaving scarcely a riffle on the great ocean of time to show that they ever existed, so imperfect and mutable has been their means to perpetuate their achievements. It was left to modern ages to establish an intelligent, undecaying, immutable in that it is almost unlimited in extent, and perpetual in its action; and this is through the act of printing. Nations may become disintegrated and pass away, monuments and statues may crumble into dust, but books will live. This art has been rapidly advancing from its first inception until now it would seem that there were no longer any further fround for improvement. This is pre- eminently an age of printing, an age of books. To the present generation, however, are we indebted for the introdction of the admirable system of local history and local biography. By this system every man, though he has not achieved what the world calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate his life, his history, through the coming ages; so alike has every community.

We come to the work before us. To our patrons, we say, that the scythe of Time cuts down all; nothing of the physical man is left; the monument which his children or friends may erect to his memory in the cemetery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated by this book through coming ages. Shakspeare has said:

The evil men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.

Our aim in this work has been only to preserve the good. We have sought to gather from the best sources of information obtainable, the conditions and incidents of the early pioneer life, and to present that, together with the present development of the county. Many of the pioneers came into these primeval forests without a dollar in their pockets, and with but the ax on their shoulder to carve out their fortunes and build up a country. With undauntd hearts, and a courage equal to that of the great heroes of history, they began life. The land where the wild animals once roamed undisturbed, where the Indian later on built his wickeup, has been transformed into cultivated fields , or is occupied by business houses, dwellings, schools adn churches. Here now may be seen all the elements of an advanced civilization: the husbandman at his plow; the artisan at his forge; the merchant with his stock of goods; the railroad train steaming through the country; the youth gathering into schools, and the people into their places of worship.