My mother submitted this paper in 1962 for an English class at Central Michigan University.  It is reprinted more or less as it appeared in the Wilderness Chronicle, Issue 19, Fall, Winter, Spring 1990; Issue 20, Summer, Fall, Winter 1991, and Issue 21, Spring, Summer, Fall 1991.  The original was misplaced somewhere between printing and returning.  Given the difficulties of typing, there were no duplicate copies.  There seem to be a few things that have probably been modified to make a more journalistic presentation.  Many of the place names mentioned in 1962 have become even more faded in the intervening 40 years.  - Nelson R. Herron, November, 2002.

 

A History of the Place Names of Alpena County

 

Introduction

 

The slim, gangling youth hunched close between the bodies of the plodding oxen unconsciously seeking their warmth as well as the protection they afforded from the danger that lurked beyond.  The snow crunched sharply beneath his feet, and the frost collected upon his cap and eyebrows.  He was but dimly aware of these things as his eyes strained to pierce the darkness in an attempt to discern the skulking forms of wolves, for the area was littered with the bones of deer who had fallen prey to the hungry beasts.

 

Such is the picture painted by the late Charles Herron of his boyhood days in the lumber camps along the “Little Wolf.”  From it we receive an inkling of the derivation of the name Wolf Creek now applied to the “Big Wolf” and its tributaries as well as to the peaceful farming community sprawled along its banks.

 

When we seek to write the history of the place-names of a region, we must write the story of its people, for the history of place-names is, indeed, the history of people.

 

Of the bygone inhabitants who have left their imprint through place-names in Alpena County, three elements are most significant: the Indians, the lumbermen, and the agricultural pioneers.

 

The Indian Influence

 

The true meaning of names of Indian origin is often doubtful due to the difficulty of reproducing, in English, sounds uttered by the Indian.  Whether or not the exact meanings have been retained, we know that the idea of thunder is an important element in the locality, for they contain syllables referring either directly to thunder, or to the partridge, or “thunder bird,” so called because of his characteristic drumming.

 

Three tribes, representing the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawatamies, made their homes along the shores of Lake Huron in what is now Alpena County.  Two villages were located near the mouth of Thunder Bay River, one on the present site of Alpena, and one at Flat Rock, now known as North Point.  The third was on Devil River at the present site of Ossenike.

 

Long before the coming of the white man, these Indians had a name for their own portion of Lake Huron.  They called it “An-a-ma-kee,” Thunder Bay, the idea being derived from an old legend that the waters of this bay were peculiarly affected by electrical storms.  This name corresponds to the term Anse du Tonnere which appears on an old French map dated 1688.  In the text of Art Work of Lake Huron Shore, (footnote 1) we find another explanation for the name Thunder Bay.  The author describes the thundering sound made by the waves plunging into cavernous recesses worn under an overhanging cliff of harder rock at a point extending into the bay.  The Indians called this spot “Aw-pe-na-sing,” meaning Partridge Point.

 

The native village at the mouth of the “An-a-ma-kee-zebe,” or Thunder River, was called by the Indians “An-I-mi-kee,” The Partridge.  Here dwelt a small band of Ottawas who had as their chief the aged Mich-e-kee-wis, or Spirit of the Wind.  Mr David Oliver describes Chief Mich-e-kee-wis as one who was much admired by his people, and who had much influence over them (footnote 2).  At the time, 1840, he had seen nearly one hundred winters, and had attained the age of one hundred and ten years when he died in 1857.

 

Though over one hundred years have passed since the old chief’s death, Mich-e-kee-wis is a household word in “The Partridge City” where a community park commemorates his name.

 

The story of Alpena actually begins shortly after Michigan became a state in 1837.  Douglas Houghton was assigned the task of surveying the northern part of the state and establishing county and township lines.  In 1840, after Houghton’s task was completed, Henry Schoolcraft, then an Indian agent in Sault Ste. Marie, selected an Indian name for each county.  However, an analusis of these county names shows that in many instances “improvised” would have been a beter word than “selected.”

 

Alpena County was first named “An-a-ma-kee,” or “Thunder,” in honor of an old Chippewa chief of the Thunder Bay band who had signed a treaty negotiated Schoolcraft in 1826.  After studying the Indian legends around the word “An-a-ma-kee” (or Animikee), Schoolcraft concluded that the name was not completely appropriate.  Then he manufactured the name Alpena from “Al,” an Indian syllable meaning the, and either “pinai,” an Arabic word meaning “partridge,” or “peanaisse,” an old French word meaning “bird.”

Whichever he used, his name has not proved too pleasing to the cunty’s historians.  D.D. Oliver tells us that the rendering should hav e been “Awpena” to mean “partridge,” that as it is now spelled, it means “not quite a partridge.” (footnote2)  Perry F. Powers, in his History of the lake Huron Shore, says that Schoolcraft should have left the name alone, and that he presents two derivations even in his own writings.

 

Another name Schoolcraft manufactured is Alcona, the name of the county adjoining Alpena to the south.  This county was originally called “Newegon” for a Chippewa chief who was a friend of the Americans during the Revolutionary War.  Schoolcraft took the Indian syllable “Al” (meaning “the”), “co” from “coda” (meaning “prairie”), and “na,” a termination meaning “excellent,” put them together, and produced Alcona.

 

The name Presque Isle was assigned to the county north of Alpena by Schoolcraft.  It is an adaptation of a French term meaning “almost an island,” and had previously been applied to a point on the Lake Huron shore which marked the only white settlement between Mackinac and Bay City.

 

Now we must turn our attention back to Alpena County itself.

 

The first white settlement on Thunder Bay was at Ossineke, near the mouth of Devil River.  D.D. Oliver tells us that when he first visited there in 1839, two large stones stood near the mouth of the river.  The spot where the stones stood was called by the Indians “Shin-gaw-ba-wa-sin-eke-go-ba-wat.”  According to Indian legend, Shin-gaw-ba was a Divine Chief who lived long ago.  He told his people that after his death, his spirit would come back to these stones for gifts they might leave near them.  “Waw-sin-eke” signifies “Image Stones.”  “Go-ba-wat” signifies to put down more things than one.  When the territory was organized as a township, Mr. Oliver, who had located a saw-mill on Devil River, named it “Waw-sin0eke,” the whole name being too long.  As has so often happened with Indian names, it was misspelled Ossineke, the name that it retains today.

 

Devil river was named by the early French-speaking, half-breed mail carriers.   Before any white settlements were located on Thunder Bay, mail routes had been established between Mackinac and the settlements in southern Michigan.  In some seasons of the year, it was necessary to transport the mail by an overland route making use of a sort of sledge pulled by husky dogs.  Because of the difficulty they experienced in crossing the marshes between the mouth of the fiver and the south point of Thunder Bay, these mail carriers gave it the name Riviere au Diable.  Thus the river earned its name, not because of its own nature, but because of the company it kept!

 

Squaw Bay is not a name of Indian origin, but it does have a rather amusing little story as related by D.D. Oliver. (footnote 2)  He tells that in the winter of 1850, Robert McMullen, one of the early lumbermen, was walking across the bay when he saw someone fishing through the ice.  He decided to approach the person not realizing it was a woman because of the blanket which almost completely enveloped her.  Suddenly the girl, hearing his footsteps, looked up and revealed herself to be the daughter of old Chief Michekeewis who was camped at Partridge Point.  The girl was so frightened of the white man that she bounded away toward the wigwam without waiting for Mr. McMullen’s apology.

 

Mr. McMullen related his experience to Mr. Oliver who then suggested the name Squaw Bay for that particular bit of water.

 

Names from the Lumbering Era

 

The site of the present city of Alpena seems to have had white inhabitants prior to 1840, because surveyors found the remains of a burned house when exploring the Thunder Bay River.  A few transient fishermen also made it their home, stretching their nets for the whitefish so abundant in Whitefish Bay near Whitefish Point.  These names are retained today, though whitefish are no longer plentiful in the area.

 

However, it remained for the lumbermen to stir the wilderness and encourage the growth of a city on the tamarack swamp at the mouth of the river.  As the lumber industry pushed northward, “timber lookers” explored the area and spotted the excellent stands of pine in the lands tributary to the Thunder River.

 

In 1855 the lands around the mouth of the river were purchased by John Oldfield, James K. Lockwood, John S. Minor, and George N. Fletcher, Mr. Fletcher owning one-half interest, and the others a smaller share.  In the fall of 1856, these men decided to visit the lands they had purchased, arriving here by schooner early in November.  They were accompanied by a surveyor, E.A. Breckenridge, and were met by a Mr. Daniel Carter who had moved his family to the area that fall in the interest of Mr. Fletcher.  (Mr. Daniel Carter was the first permanent white settler, his wife and daughter the first resident ladies in Alpena.)

 

Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Minor, and Mr. Oldfield were ardent supporters of John C. Fremont, the Republican candidate for president of [the] United States, and carried a Fremont banner with them.  They decided to name the place Fremont and proceeded to erect their Fremont banner.  Some old accounts of this event tell us that the above mentioned gentlemen had been imbibing the juice of the vine rather freely and experienced considerable difficulty in erecting their flagstaff.  Accordingly they asked Mr. Daniel Carter to assist them.  Mr. Carter, being a Democrat, refused to do so telling them that he wouldn’t help raise a flag he could not support.  He then walked a short distance away to watch the proceedings.  (Evidently he later reported on it also.)

 

Once the flag was in place, the gentlemen proceeded to lay out the city of Alpena.  River Street was the first street located.  Mr. William Boulton tells us that the crookedness of River Street was due to the Fremont celebration. (footnote 3)

 

At any rate, Fremont was born, and thanks to the sound finances of Mr. George N. Fletcher, managed to struggle through its first years when a business depression made it almost impossible for the proprietors to continue the development of their project.

 

In 1857, a post office was established in Fremont under the charge of Mr. Daniel Carter.  As there was another town named Fremont in Michigan, there sometimes resulted a certain amount of confusion In the mails.  For a time then, the post office was designated Alpena, then on January 4, 1859, was changed to Thunder Bay.  (This seems to have been the name preferred by George N. Fletcher.  In all of his letters he used the term “Thunder Bay” rather than “Alpena” or “Fremont.”)

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Daniel Carter and some other good Democrats, who had never been satisfied with the name Fremont, petitioned the State Legislature to have the name changed to Alpena.  On February 29, 1859, by an act of the Michigan Legislature, Fremont became officially Alpena.  However, the name Fremont still appeared in the Tackbury Atlas published in Detroit in 1873.

 

Alpena County was organized by the State Legislature on February 7, 1857, and the counties of Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Oscoda were attached to it.  A special Board of Supervisors was named, two of whom were Daniel Carter and David D. Oliver.  Their first act was to organize the township of Fremont which included all of the present Alpena County.  Fremont Township became Alpena Township at an early date.

 

The first tax roll for Fremont Township, made out in 1858, showed only nine residents owning real estate.  Of these nine persons, six names are now perpetuated as street names in the city of Alpena.  They are the names of David D. Oliver, George N. Fletcher, J.K. Lockwood, John Oldfield, J.S. Minor, and a partnership of Campbell and Chisolm.  [Note: this gives seven street names from six tax entities]  We notice here the names of the four gentlemen who purchased the first land and raised the Fremont flag.

 

According to the original Proprietor’s Map (now in the possession of Mr. Fred Trelfa of Alpena), James Campbell and William White were also proprietors of the original settlement.  Their properties lay about one and one half miles west of the mouth of Thunder Bay River.  Here they erected their mill, soon to be joined by the mill of C. Thompson and Company.  These two mills employed about fifty men who were obliged to live near the mills because there was no road through the swamp which lay between them and the village of Alpena.  This mill settlement came to be known as Campbellville.  When the Detroit and Mackinac Railroad came through Alpena, it was really Campbellville, rather than Alpena which was the stop.  A school erected there and known as the Campbellville School was in operation until 1889, though by that time Campbellville had been absorbed by Alpena.

 

It might be well at this pint to sketch very briefly the stories of a few important men of the lumbering era, most of whose names are familiar today as street names in Alpena.

 

Of all the names connected with the history of Alpena, Fletcher is probably the most outstanding.  As we have seen, Mr. George N. Fletcher was a key man in developing the lumber industry in Alpena County.  The name Fletcher occurs with amazing frequency throughout all the major writing on Alpena history: the first store, the A.F. Fletcher lumber mill, Fletcher and Pack mill, the first tourist hotel, and a number of public offices.

 

Perhaps the two most notable contributions of Mr. George N. Fletcher were the Fletcher House and the paper mill.  The Fletcher House, opened July 12, 1872, was an imposing three story tourist hotel, constructed at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, an enormous sum in those days.  The Alpena Sulphite Fiber Company mill, owned by George N. Fletcher and Sons, was constructed in 1866 on the corner of Fletcher and Pine Streets.  It was the first mill in the United States to attempt the utilization of saw mill waste in the making of paper.  The business still operates as the Fletcher Paper Company.

 

Other present day holdings of the Fletcher family include the Alpena Power Company, with a power dam and three reservoir dams plus thousands of acres of floodage, and the Fletcher Motels.  Places bearing the name include Fletcher Dam, Fletcher Pond, Fletcher Street, and Fletcher State Park. 

 

In 1867, there came to the village of Alpena another young man destined to become one of the “giants” of the lumbering era.  He was Frank W. Gilchrist, a native of Ohio who had been educated at Oberlin College.  Backed by his father, a man of considerable means, he proceeded to erect the Gilchrist Mill which employed about twenty-four men.  Perry F. Powers tells us that F.W. Gilchrist was ranked as the wealthiest lumberman on the lake Huron Shore. (footnote 4)  With the depletion of the good saw timber in this area the Gilchrist interest moved on finally locating in Gilchrist, Oregon.  We have only Gilchrist Street and Gilchrist Creek to keep the name alive.

 

Another well-know character in the early history of the city was Samuel E. Hitchcock, known by all as “The Deacon.”  He arrived in Alpena in 1861.  In 1863, in compliance with an agreement made with the Board of Supervisors, Hitchcock erected a large building at the corner of Washington and Chisolm Streets (about one block from the present Hitchcock Street).  This building was finished to include rooms for county offices and a court room – the latter to serve also for holding church and Sabbath School.  It was known as “The Deacon’s Court House.”  Here Deacon Hitchcock organized the first Congregational church, calling the members to worship by striking a portion of a large circular saw with a hammer.  Later he purchased a bell, the first in Alpena, and hung it in the dome of the Court House.  One early historian tells us that on the quiet of a Sunday morning, the tolling of the bell was a welcome sound indeed.

 

We owe much of our knowledge of the early history of Alpena County to one David D. Oliver, a man who came to the region as a government surveyor, remained to aid the organization and building of the community, and finally, became its chronicler.  His Centennial History of Alpena County, Michigan was published in Alpena in 1903, though it was written earlier and carries the history only through 1876.  This volume has proved a rich source of reliable information and is frequently quoted by other authors.  It would seem that a man of such importance to the community should have been accorded a more fitting memorial than the one unimportant street which bears his name. 

 

On the western outskirts of Alpena we find Potter Hill and Potter Park.  These, along with Potter Street honor the name of E.K. Potter who, according to William Boulton, had the honor of scaling the first pine saw-log cut in Alpena and of measuring the first cargo of lumber shipped from Alpena.  D.D. Oliver disputes this in A Centennial History of Alpena County, saying that he himself shipped the first cargo from the county, and that Boulton should have said the first cargo shipped from the city of Alpena was scaled by Hitchcock.

 

Time and space will not permit us to write even the briefest sketch of all the early men whose names are still familiar as street names in Alpena, but a partial list includes the following: Hugh Johnson, Robert White, James Cavanaugh, Jonathan Tuttle, Francis Mirre, Frank D. Spratt, Prentiss, and Avery.

 

Other interesting results of the lumbering era were the development of the “stopping house” and the appearance of the many flag-stops on the railroads.  The lumber camps were scattered over a large area, and with the poor means of transportation, the traveler between the camp and “town” had to plan to spend one or more nights on the road.  Large houses were erected at strategic points by persons who made their living supplying food and lodging.  Some of the better know were the Rayburn Ranch and the VanSipe House in Spratt, The Greely House between Alpena and Hillman, the Rose Stopping House at the confluence of the Upper South Branch and Thunder Bay River, the Male House on the North Branch, and the Half-Way House, or Soup House on the Alpena-Hillman road near the Lower South Branch.  Most of these have been destroyed, but the Rose, Male, and Rayburn Houses still stand, and Rayburn Ranch appears on a recent map of Alpena County distributed by the Chamber of Commerce.

 

With the coming of the automobile, railroad service throughout the county was discontinued, and the flag-stops disappeared.  Names such as Paxton, Paisley, McHarg, and Salina are seldom heard, and only in the minds of a few old citizens do these places have warmth and meaning.

 

One of the old stops which has survived is Dafoe, though it is now known as Emerson.  Dafoe, located on the Hillman branch of the Detroit and Mackinac Railroad, was named in honor of Lemuel G. Dafoe who came to Alpena County from Canada in 1862 as a child of five.  He taught school in Wilson Township, then took up the practice of law.  Finally, he was elected Circuit Judge.  Through the years this spot, now a small village with a growing residential area, has become associated with the name of a well-know farmer, Roy Emerson.

 

Agriculture

 

Even while the forest rang with the shouts of the woodsmen, while the bandsaws whined in the mills and the steamers wafted their menacing sparks towards the bark and refuse heaped along the shore, men of vision foresaw the end of the lumbering era, and realized that some other means of livelihood must be found if the settlement were to survive.

 

Though various attempts were made to establish agriculture in the cut-over lands outside the city, it was not until 1866  that farming actually became a permanent occupation.  That year a Mr. H. King purchased in what is now Wilson Township, the first of the “burnt lands” to be used for agricultural purposes, and became the first permanent farmer in the county.  Today the names King Settlement and King Creek mark the region of his ventures.

 

In 1867, two farmers from Maine, Charles B. Greely and George Erskine, purchased a tract of land about twenty miles west of the city.  They cleared the land and planted potatoes and rutabagas which found a ready market in this area where salt pork and beans were daily fare.  The first year they sold over one thousand dollars worth of produce!

 

This great financial success of their venture was not accompanied by personal happiness, though.  George Erskine had brought to the wilderness a lovely young bride around whom his life centered.  While expecting their first child, Mrs. Erskine returned to Maine to visit her parents.  There she died while giving birth to the child who survived only a few days.  When this word reached Mr. Erskine he had no heart to continue with the farm.  Accordingly, both he and Mr. Greely sold their interests and moved into Alpena. 

 

However, the story of their farm had spread in Maine, and Greely, as it was called then, became a focal point for a large number of emigrants from Maine.  There were Greens, Boyds, Richardsons, Kimballs, Sylvesters,  and Flanders to name a few.  They built their characteristic long “State of Maine” houses, cleared the land, and became prosperous farmers.  Today the long houses are mostly gone, and one no longer hears the crisp New England dialect, but such names as Flanders Corners, Greely Baptist Church, Kimball Hill, Richardson Hill, Sylvester Lake, and Green Township bear evidence to the occupance of these thrifty people.

 

Other farming communities include Cathro, named for George Cathro, a prominent farmer; Spratt, which received its name from the Spratt family who were prominent lumbermen in the area; Leer , a Norwegian settlement named for Leer, Norway, by its early settlers in the 1870’s; and Indian Reserve, which was originally an Indian settlement, but was later occupied by French farmers.

 

Both Long Rapids Township and the village of Long Rapids derive their names from the long rapids of the Thunder Bay River where the village is located.  About four miles south of Long Rapids is another village associated in name with the rapids.  This is Lachine, named, it is reported, for the Lachine Rapids in the St. Lawrence River.

 

Miscellaneous

 

Having explored the main lines of derivation of place names, we still find several names of diverse origin whose stories would seem to warrant their being included.

 

The prosaic name, Sunken Lake, marks one of the most intriguing spots in the Alpena area.  As the North Branch winds its way toward Thunder Bay River, it passes through an area of rough, fractured, limestone country. 

 

When early lumbermen drove their logs down the river in the spring, they found one place where a strange current dragged the logs from the main channel up into a lake of swirling waters which disappeared into a subterranean river.  Here the logs would drift in eddies until the lake was filled with them, and the drivers could not get them back to the main stream.  In fact, it was only during the spring freshets that the main stream carried enough water past Sunken Lake to be of much value to the loggers.

 

Whether of not we believe the story of the little French river driver, Leon Mainville, that he once rode a log down through the abyss and came out in Misery Bay so fast that his pipe was still burning, Sunken Lake presented a sore trial to the lumbermen.  Finally, they dammed up the far end of the lake which then drained revealing its limestone basin marked with cracks and fissures.  Recently, part of the area has been commercialized under the name Mystery Valley.  Fletcher State Park occupies the area where the dam is located.

 

The names of many schools bear mute witness to those early men who realized the value of education even in a pioneer community.  Ella White tells us that the McPhee School was named in honor of trustee Malcolm McPhee, a  pioneer lumberman of the city, after a petition signed by a large number of citizens and requesting this honor for Mr. McPhee was presented to the Board of Education. (footnote 5)

 

The Obed Smith School which was destroyed by fire in 1922 had first been named Lincoln School, but was changed to Obed Smith to honor one of the early trustees. 

 

It was a bit disconcerting to learn that the Churchill School was named in honor of Ella M. Churchill, one of the charter members of the Alpena Scholarship Association, rather than Miss Florence Churchill about whom Willian Boulton gives us this interesting comment: (footnote 6)

 

“April 6, 1895, Miss Florence Churchill appeared on the streets of Alpena riding a bicycle and wearing bloomers, being the first lady to wear that style of dress in Alpena.”

 

More recently (1950) the Ella White School was named in honor of Miss Ella White, who served the schools of Alpena in various capacities for fifty-two years before writing A Century in the Alpena Schools.

 

The modern industrialist and philanthropist, Mr. Jesse Besser, will be remembered for his gift of Besser Technical Center currently being constructed as an addition to Alpena Community College.  The Anna Besser Elementary School was named in honor of Mrs. Besser.

 

Between the pioneer days and the present, we find one important name from the days of World War I.  That is the name of Captain Phelps Collins who gave his life on March 18, 1918.  Young Phelps Collins, gay and carefree, had been educated at Thornton Military Academy.  At the age of seventeen, he ran away, lied about his age, and volunteered for service in the Lafayette Escadrille.  He had six official planes shot down before his final mission and was unofficially credited with the seventh to qualify as an “Ace.”  Though he had transferred to the United States Air Force [Army ?] before his death, he was honored by the French government and is buried in France with other members of the Lafayette Escadrille.

 

When the local airport was dedicated in 1928, it was named Captain Phelps Collins Field.  An attempt was later made to change the name to the Alpena County Airport, but largely through the efforts of Harry Fletcher, the original name was retained.

 

Thus as we search for the histories of place names, we find the stories of people.  From the aged Mich-e-kee-wis who dwellt by the shores of Lake Huron, from the ship-wrecked sailors who suffered through a winter of hardship so great that the scene of their sojourn has since been known as Misery Bay, from the lumbermen who reaped vast wealth from the pine forest, from the farmers who left the rocky soils of Maine, from the high-spirited youth who rushed to meet death in the flaming skies over France come the stories of greatness, the stories of people, and the place names which memorialize them.

 

Having discovered these stories, the names of paces assume a reality and a warmth for the reader.  Greely will hence forth be the story of a young wife who died in childbirth far from her husband.  Wolf Creek will be a skinny lad huddled between two oxen, and Hitchcock street, the “Deacon” with his bell.

 

Conclusion

 

Wilderness Chronicle is grateful to Catherine Herron of Apratt, Michigan, for submitting this paper prepared for English 455 at Central Michigan University.  It was a requirement of Mr. Hodgins’ class in 1962.  The accompanying bibliography will also be of interest to readers who appreciate the history of northern Michigan.  Mrs. Herron’s teacher commented: “You have taken a subject which many scholars make deadly and have given it a lively and thoroughly readable treatment.  I appreciate your care in writing this paper – attention to detail, unified approach, conclusion, etc.  The only appropriate grade is A.”

 

The Wilderness Chronicle version appeared in three successive issues so the footnotes appeared as footnotes to each issue.  I have collected them into one contiguous set. – Nelson R. Herron

 

1. Art Work of Lake Huron Shore is not credited to any author, being a collection of photographs published by W.H. Parish Publishing Company, Chicago, in 1894.

 

2. Oliver, D.D., A Centennial History of Alpena County, Michigan, Alpena, The Argus Publishing House, 1903, pg 18.

 

3. Boulton, William H., History of Alpena County, (revised 1895) Scrapbook edition consisting of clippings from the Alpena News.  (Actually, probably the Argus and Echo, which were the Alpena papers prior to the Alpena News approximately 1915 – 1916.  At least, I think that is how it works.  In the Alpena library, the microfilmed editions are of the Argus and Echo in the early days.)

 

4. Powers, Perry F., A History of Northern Michigan and Its People. (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912)

 

5. White, Ella M., A Century in the Alpena Schools (Alpena: Published by popular subscription, 1959)

 

6. Boulton, William H., History of Alpena County, (revised 1895) Scrapbook edition consisting of clippings from the Alpena New, pg 23.

 

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Bibliography

 

Art Work of Lake Huron Shore, (Chicago: W.H. Parish Publishing Co., 1894)

 

Atlas of the State of Michigan, (Detroit: Tackabury Co., 1873)

 

Boulton, William, History of Alpena County, Michigan (Alpena: Argus Publishing House, 1875 – Trelfa collection)

 

Boulton, William, History of Alpena County, Michigan, revised 1895 (scrapbook edition of clippings from Alpena News)

 

Bowen, B.F., Biographical History of Northern Michigan (Indianapolis, 1905)

 

Farmer, Silas, Farmer’s History of Detroit and Michigan, Biographical sketch of George Fletcher (Detroit: Silas Farmer, 1884)

 

Fuller, G.N., Historic Michigan, Vol. 3 (National Historical Association, Inc., 1924)

 

Fuller, G.N., Economic and Social Beginnings of Michigan (Lansing: Wynkoop, Hallenbeck, Crawford Co., 1916)

 

History of the County Archives of Michigan, No. 4 (Alpena County) (Lansing: Michigan Historical Society)

 

History of the Lake Huron Shore (Chicago: H.R. Page and Co., 1893)

 

Michigan Biographies (Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1924)

 

Moore, C., History of Michigan (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1915)

 

Oliver, David D., A Centennial History of Alpena County Michigan (Alpena: Argus Printing House, 1903)

 

Powers, Perry F., A History of Northern Michigan and Its People (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912)

 

Quaife, Milo M., Michigan’s County Flags and Histories (Detroit: J.L. Hudson)

 

White, Ella M., A Century in the Alpena Schools, (Published by popular subscription, sponsored by the Alpena News, 1959)

 

Newspapers and Pamphlets

 

Alpena Argus, February25, 1903 (Trelfa Collection)  [the collected Argus is available on microfilm in the Alpena Public Library]

 

Alpena Evening Echo, October 18, 1902 (Trelfa Collection)  [the collected Evening Echo is available on microfilm in the Alpena Public Library]

 

[I don’t know the current status of the Trelfa Collection, but I believe it has been bequeathed either to the Jesse Besser Museum or the Alpena Public Library]

 

Alpena News, December 8, 1956

 

Alpena News, November 19, 1957

 

Alpena Michigan – The Town Where It’s Fun to Live (Mimeographed sheet distributed by Alpena Chamber of Commerce)

 

Knowing the Thunder Bay Region (Compiled by workers of Writers Progam of WPA in Michigan, Official Sponsor, State Administrative Board)

 

Miscellaneous

 

Original Map, Counties of Alpena, Presque Isle,  and Montmorency (Compiled and drawn by Victor Stevens, 1859 – Trelfa Collection)

 

Original Proprietor’s Map of Alpena, Alpena County, Michigan (Trelfa Collection)

 

Original Map prepared for Wood’s Official Railway Guide of Michigan, 1887 (Henry R. Stebbins, Map Publisher, Chicago)

 

Vial, John C., Alpena, Dates and Events (The [Alpena ?] News, 1914)

 

Personal interview with Mrs. Aldric Aube, an older resident of Indian Reserve, November 23, 1962

 

Personal interview with Mr. Stanley Godfrey, Secretary, Alpena Chamber of Commerce, October 22, 1962

 

Personal interview with Mr. Fred Trelfa, Collerctor of Historical data on Alpena, November 23, 1962