July 4th, 1876

The following is an address given by Uri Raymond on July 4, 1876.

In 1776, one hundred years ago, the State of Michigan was almost an unbroken wilderness. It was then reckoned as part of the North-west Territory.

In 1835, our state was admitted into the union, as a sovereign state, entitled to all of the privileges and representation of any other state. Only 41 years ago Michigan commenced her career as a state.

Less than 100 years ago, the Indians roamed unmolested through our forests.

 At the time our township was organized, the county of Sanilac was attached to St. Clair county for judicial purposes.

The township of Sanilac is bounded north by Forester, west by Bridgehampton, south by Lexington and east by our majestic Lake Huron. The county of Sanilac has been noted for its large and valuable pine forests and particularly the township of Sanilac was rich in the best pine and hemlock as well as almost all other kinds of timber grown in the state.

 The township of Sanilac was organized on the third day of April, 1848 at the house of Jacob Sharpe, at which meeting there were 14 legal voters present.

They proceeded to organize a township board of inspectors. Joab Babcock was called to the chair and elected viva-voce moderator. And William Austin was in the same way elected clerk and Jacob Sharpe and Marshall F. Hurd were elected inspectors of said township meeting, were duly sworn in as the statute provides, whereupon the polls were declared duly open for the inspection of votes.

 It was then voted by the electors present that they would raise $100.00 to defray the expenses of the current year. 

 Wm Austin was elected supervisor by 14 votes, being all the votes polled.

 Ensign Hill was elected Treasurer and Alex Hitchcock was elected clerk.

 The justices of the peace elected were, Ensign Hill, James Perry, Henry Davidson and John Adams.

The highway commissioners elected were, Jacob Sharpe, James Perry, and Hiram Whitcom.

The constables elected were Jacob Sharpe, Alex Carney and Ensign Hill.

The directors of the poor were Wm Austin and Jacob Sharpe.

 We find by the records that there were 11 town orders issued amounting to $104.08 to pay the expenses for the first year and of that amount Wm Austin got $25.12 for doing the work of supervisor in the township of Sanilac, which extended at that time from Lexington township on the south to Saginaw Bay on the north and Tuscola county on the west which now comprises the largest part of Sanilac and Huron counties.

At this time most of the land was owned by the government and was open to all at $1.25 per acre, and all that wanted to could pre-empt 160 acres and have one year to pay for it.

 As in most places, the pioneers, the first settlers, were somewhat rough and cared but little for the refinements of old society, so it was here they came from Canada, Ohio, New York and other states and bought or pre-empted a farm. But very few considered what they had undertaken. They did not consider it was a lifes work to hew a form out of the green forest. So many sold out and left for other parts and others benefited by their labor.

But this was not the case with all, some still hold on and these are the solid men among us.

In the first settlement of our town, the one great industry and almost the only thing that could be done was shinglemaking and getting out shingle bolts to ship.

 Shingles were legal tender and the trader who would not take shingles for pay would likely never get it. Shingles sold for $1.50 per thousand on the shore and there were large quantities shipped, mostly to Ohio where they found a ready market. In those days shingles were not made as now. A man with an axe, saw, frow and shave went to a large pine tree, felled it, sawed it into bolts 4 ½ feet long, then sawed it into billets 18 inches long, then with his frow split it into shingles, then shaved them and they were ready for market.

At this time there was no road north of Lexington and all traveling was done by water or on the shore of the lake.

But now we have good roads, good farms, good houses and barns and orchards and gardens. The first steamboats, the old “Huron”, “Ruby” and “Pearl” came along the shore and we went out in lighters to get passengers and freight ashore. So with all kinds of stuff that was shipped, it was taken out and put aboard with lighters. Lumber was rafted on the shore and hauled out to the vessel and put aboard.

The fishing interest in Port Sanilac has been a large and profitable business for twenty years. It has been and still is one of the best points for fishing on the shore of Lake Huron. It is carried on mostly by gill net fishing and the fish taken are mostly white fish and trout.

Another source of profit has been getting out and shipping tan bark and cord wood of which there have been thousands of cords sold.

But these were in the days that are past.

The fire that occurred in the fall of 1871 left scarcely a green tree in the township, doing great damage in timber, fences, and some barns and houses. Yet as a whole, I think it is conceded by most that it helped the farming interest vastly, for since the fire our farmers have gone at it with a will and our township compares well with any other in the county. The soil is good for farming, much better than it was supposed to be by the first settlers.

In the place of importing, we are now exporting grain, hay, wool, cattle, and sheep. Then in those days there was no road that a team could haul a load over, only trails through the woods, known by the blaze on the trees. There are men amongst us now who remember how they packed pork, flour and whiskey from five to ten miles through the woods or along the beach and were glad to get it that way.

 A few words on our war record. In the late rebellion, every loyal and patriotic citizen was called on to do what he could to save our country from ruin. The town of Sanilac came up to the scratch nobly and did honor to herself. Although were subjected to the draft, yet it was through a mistake as we had at the same time put in our quota. We have among us today, men who are carrying honorable scars, received in facing the enemy.

When the first settlers came here they could hardly find the sabbath. Yet the itinerant Methodist minister (Alexander Gee) found them out, got them together in their shanties and revived recollections of earlier days.

Then there were no churches, no sabbath schools, no temperance societies. Now there are no less than five churches, eight school houses, two of them graded schools, and six sabbath schools.

Our town has not only improved in material things, but intellectually and morally.

Fellow citizens, take courage, we have a good inheritance. We have good land, we can raise good crops and we have a good healthy climate. And we have strong arms and willing minds to work and with Gods blessing we can be a contented and happy people.

U. Raymond

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This is the last item in the Times but one. The following dated fifteen years later is as follows.

May 14th, 1885

We have fine weather now and I think we will soon get around to business. We are going to have a singing school in town this week by Misses what you call her by shiminy as Toney Leins says. Yours truly, G.H.S.

February 19th, 1941

Dear Reader:

     So closes the Bark Shanty Times. Perhaps some sort of an explanation is due at this time. I will go back to the year 1884 and quote from Chapman Brothers Portrait and Biographical Album of Sanilac County.

     “A relic of pioneer life is the Bark Shanty Times. Bark Shanty was the original name for Port Sanilac, and the Times was the first institution for the public weal. No types or presses were needed to conduct this enterprise; it was self-executing and the editor was not howling continually for the subscribers to pay up. The community in general took a hand in editing the paper but Mr. U. Raymond acted as janitor and property man, though he disclaims any responsibility for its publications. He simply allowed blank writing paper to remain on the counter of his store and any and all were at liberty to write anything they chose and the public were at equal liberty to go and read without money and without price. As the pages were written they were sewed together.-It is of foolscap size and numbers about 200 pages.” unquote.

 This will give you some idea of just what the Bark Shanty Times is. I have endeavored to copy the Times, word for word and letter for letter. If any words are misspelled, blame it on those who wrote the Times. These men were not all scholars, but we must admit some of them show rare wit and sometimes extreme brilliance. By reading between the lines we learn much about the life and times of the early Michigan pioneers.

 My grandfather, Uri Raymond, came to Bark Shanty in the summer of 1849, just one year after Oldfield and Thomson built their saw mill which was the real beginning of the settlement. Wm Austin however was the first permanent settler in what is now the village proper, having settled here in 1841. Raymond taught the first school (1850) and opened the first store (1850). Erskines and Vancamp built and operated hotels, Coppernoll, Mead and Thomsons all had stores in the early fifties. These men and many others are mentioned in the Times.

 Many of these men were contributors to the Times and in spite of what Chapman Brothers say, Uri Raymond as a contributor. In fact about one quarter of the Times is in his handwriting.

To my knowledge the Times is the only thing of its kind in existence. It was just last fall when I discovered this ancient volumn in the attic of the house my grandfather built in the seventies and which happens to be the house where I was born and where I now live. The condition of this paper is excellent. Some of the contributors were very poor penmen while others wrote in that excellent style peculiar to those early days.

Those men mentioned in the Times are all gone to their reward as are the contributors. There are still men with us who remember them, in fact some of them lived in my time, though they were old men and I was a mere boy. Among those whom I can recollect are John S. and Wm Thomson, Wm Vancamp and Dr J.M. Loop. Perhaps the publishing of this book might keep alive the memory of those who settled this land in which we live and those generations yet to come might be enabled to learn what these pioneers had to contend with and what sort of life they lived.

Oliver Raymond