Old Settlers 

of

 Grand Traverse Region, Michigan

A hodgepodge of miscellaneous material gleaned from one of the many 'versions' of the book, Old Settlers, about the Grand Traverse region. There is a version of this book still for sale but is not a full version of the one I used for this extraction.  

     The first post office ever located in this northern region was at Old Mission, its name was Grand Traverse. Lewis Miler became the first postmaster and he paid out the first money that this government ever paid out in the Grand Traverse Region. Mr. Miller paid the money to pioneer A. Tracy Lay for having the contract to carry the mail from Traverse City to Old Mission. This was carried on foot, before there were any roads between here and there.

     Soon after this a little village sprang up at the head of the bay and it was named the Traverse City Post Office, and the Grand Traverse Post Office was changed to Old Mission.

     A little schooner landed at Traverse City, May 15, 1851 and had on board, besides the boilers and machinery for the Hannah, Lay & Co.'s, a new saw-mill for them. Among those who were on the boat:

James K. Gunton, millwright
Thomas Cutler, engineer
Frank Hannah, brother to Perry Hannah
A. Tracy Lay
William Rennie, foreman for the lumber camps
Cuyler Germaine was to be general foreman

Among the passengers were Mrs. William Voice and three little girls, one to be Mrs. Wilbur Steele.

We often hear the phrase of "being frozen out",  in Great Lakes water regions, but here is a story about being frozen in, and why a part of how this gent became a pioneer of this region. Captain Emery, (the eldest) sailed into Bowers Harbor late in November, 1854, and before he was able to get out, the bay froze up solid and was therefore "frozen in". The next spring Capt. Emery homesteaded near Bowers Harbor.

Mrs. S.C. Depres remembers of a contest for votes to be cast to determine who was the handsomest girl in town. Winner of the day and prize was Miss Carrie Gunton, later to be Mrs. B.J. Morgan.

Mrs. and Mrs Kratochvil came to Traverse City the fall of 1855 with 3 daughters and 4 sons (all unmarried), Mrs. Cuyler (Anna) Germaine, Mrs. I.G. (Mary) Winnie, Mrs. John (Kate) Dunn, Frank, Wencel, Enoch and John. They came from Chicago on the sailboat Telegraph, and were one week coming from Chicago.

The town was almost a wilderness at that time with only; a saw-mill, blacksmith shop, boarding houses, general store and five dwelling houses.

This particular issue has many pictures included. This is a partial listing of the photos.

Thos. T. Bates .... Perry Hannah .... E.L. Sprague .... A. Travy Lay ..... Reuben Goodrich and wife .... Dr. M. L. Leach .... J. G. Ramsdell and wife.... J.K. Gunton and wife .... Jesse Gram .... L.W. Tinkham ..... W. Milliken and wife .... C. K. Buck and wife .... A.S. Wadsworth and wife .... Mrs. Beckwith .... Mrs. Rowley .... Mr. E.P. Wilhelm .... J. W. Markham and wife .... John Wilhelm and wife .... Charles and John Wilhelm .... William Slawson ....  Roderick Gray .... Mr. J. T. Hannah .... Samuel Garland .... Mr. H. Montague .... Mr. W. W. Smith .... Dominic Dunn .... Mr. W. Holdsworth .... Sam Anderson and wife .... Lanson M. Beers .... Charles M. Beers .... S. Moffatt .... Harvey Avery .... Harvey Avery's brother .... Dr. I. Thompson .... Mr. B. J. Morgan .... John T. Beadle .... Jas. Johnson .... Joseph Sours .... Lowell Sours .... Mr. E. O. Ladd .... Mr. E. P. Ladd .... John Gillis .... Mr. T. H. Gillis .... Mr. R. Hobbs .... William Hobbs .... O. C. Moffatt .... Mable Anderson .... Dr. B.D. Aston .... Dr. C. Kneeland .... S. Moffatt .... S.C. Depres ....