The Road to Marion Town: The Settlement of Osceola County, State of Michigan

by J. August Lithen

Overview

Written in the style of a man who knows James Michener (1907-1997) well, The Road to Mariontown is meticulously researched, engaging and entertaining. The book presents a richly detailed history of Osceola County and early Michigan. This long-view history of Osceola County, Michigan, focuses on geologic history, native cultures, exploration by European and American Whites, Entrepreneurial development, governmental formation, railroad-building, and a rich social history. Lithen’s history—twelve years in the research and writing—is a labor of love unparalleled in writing of the area; taking the reader on a journey through time that concludes with with the devastating village of Marion fire of 1904.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624911163
Publisher:	Parkhurst Brothers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	1012
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

 A retired high school teacher and local newspaperman, Lithen devoted twelve years to researching and writing this history, with help from librarians and archivists. He resides in Marion, Michigan.

Read an Excerpt

“A mature forest had taken root on the slants of the vacant Missaukee mounds and nature had been at work for two hundred years filling in the surrounding moats by the time

East Coast colonists arrived and began keeping the first written records of man on North American soil. This was the beginning of North America’s historical period and in no way did it become more pronounced than by the fur trade. This pursuit of furbearing wealth began about the time colonists stepped off the first boats, and would ultimately lead to an aggressive European exploration of the mid-continent with Michigan becoming a pivotal locus.”

Table of Contents

Preface Table of Contents Part I - A Historical Primer: A Geologic, Prehistoric & Early American Discussion Regarding the Origin of the State of Michigan Chapter One - Prehistoric Michigan Chapter Two - The Fur Trade & the Onset of Historic Michigan Chapter Three - The Rendevouses of Madam LaFramboise & Rix Robinson Chapter Four - Northwest Territory & the Great Migration 1805–1837 Chapter Five - "Yea Yea Yea in Michigania" & the Treaty of Washington Chapter Six - Coming to Osceola 1837–1850 Part II - Doc & Tom - A Historical Novella Chapter Seven - Doc & Tom Chapter Eight - Doc & Tom Go Up River Chapter Nine - Logging on Doc & Tom Lake Part III - Osceola Territory 1850–1869 Chapter Ten - The 1850's - Opening to Settlement Chapter Eleven - The Civil War & Settlement Along the River Road Chapter Twelve - On Up the River Road Chapter Thirteen - The Watson Brothers, Pin Hook & Jan Vogel Part IV - Osceola County Established 1869: The Early Years of Osceola County Chapter Fourteen - Pioneering in Osceola County Chapter Fifteen - The Coming of the Iron Horse & the Booming at Muskegon Crossing Chapter Sixteen - The Flint & Pere Marquette Arrives at Hersey & Todd's Slashing Chapter Seventeen - North on the Grand Rapids & Indiana, the Advent of Dr. Tustin, & the Rising of Clam Lake Part V - The 1870's, the American Centennial, & the Origin of Marion Town Chapter Eighteen - The Advance of the Pine Line Chapter Nineteen - A Centennial Trip to Philadelphia & The Lake George & Muskegon River Railroad Chapter Twenty - The Origin of Marion Town Chapter Twenty-One - Marion Town Established–1877 & Brigadier General Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox" Part I - The Emergence of Clarkes Mill, The First Decade of Marion Town, Middle Branch Township & A River Trip - 1877-1887 Preface Chapter Twenty-Two - The Middle Branch of the Muskegon River & Early Days at Clarkes Mill Chapter Twenty-Three - Clarkes Mill Moves into the 1880’s Chapter Twenty-Four - Down River into the Town of Middle Branch Chapter Twenty-Five - From the Middle Branch to the Masquigon, A River Trip - Part I Chapter Twenty-Six - On Down the Masquigon & Beyond, A River Trip - Part II Part II - Hartwick & Highland Chapter Twenty-Seven - Hartwick & Avondale Chapter Twenty-Eight - Highland & Section 34 Chapter Twenty-Nine - Highland & the Avondale Road Chapter Thirty - Highland at Milburn & West Marion Part III - North & East of Clarkes Mill into Missaukee & Clare Counties: A Regional Prospectus Chapter Thirty-One - The Dawning of South Missaukee Chapter Thirty-Two - Clare County & the First Decade of Harrison Chapter Thirty-Three - Winterfield - Part I Chapter Thirty-Four - Winterfield - Part II Chapter Thirty-Five - Winterfield - Part III Chapter Thirty-Six - Watson Road - Part I Chapter Thirty-Seven - Watson Road - Part II Photos & Artwork Part I - The Ann Arbor Cometh Preface Chapter Thirty-Eight - Governor Ashley's Grand Adventure Chapter Thirty-Nine - The Wooing of the Ashleys & the Toledo, Ann Arbor & Cadillac Railroad Chapter Forty - Marion Town - Part I: "Comin' Down Out of Cummertown" Chapter Forty-One - Marion Town - Part II: The Rails Roll Into Clarkes Mill Chapter Forty-Two - The Osceola County Railroad War Chapter Forty-Three - The Ann Arbor Cometh & The Winter of 1888 Part II - The Booming & Incorporation of Clarkes Mill Chapter Forty-Four - The Disappearance of Campbell City & the Advent of Temple Chapter Forty-Five - The Booming of Clarkes Mill Chapter Forty-Six - The Boom Peaks at Clarkes Mill Chapter Forty-Seven - The Incorporation & Renaming of Clarkes Mill & The Early Days of the Village of Marion Part III - The 1890's - A Frontier Elegy Chapter Forty-Eight - The End of the Frontier & Marion's Missing History Chapter Forty-Nine - A Requiem for the Early Days Chapter Fifty - Doc & Tom Redux Epilogue References Index

Interviews

J. August (Jim) Lithen has lived his life in the village of Marion, MI. He was the editor and publisher of a monthly village newspaper, The Marion Millennium, until August of the year 2000. For the final issue of his publication, Jim published a historical and contemporary prospectus regarding the Middle Branch of the Muskegon River and the Marion Millpond, a dammed body of river water located entirely within the corporate limits of the village of Marion. The thrust for this undertaking was the State of Michigan, which at the time was proposing, for ecological reasons, to remove the Marion dam and millpond. Since its inception in 1879 the millpond, also known as Lake Marion during the middle years of the 20th century, had long been central to the identity of the village. Jim felt that because of the village’s attachment to this dammed body of river water and the growing controversy regarding its possible removal, that a thorough examination of such was timely and essential.
 
While researching the material for the final issue of The Marion Millennium, Jim continuously stumbled across new and unknown information, not only about the origin of Marion Township, but also about the fledging community of Clarkes Mill, which the village of Marion was then called.  Beyond that, information surfaced, shedding new light on the origin of Marion’s Osceola County and in particular its northeast quadrant. As a result, Jim was suddenly and unexpectedly exposed to a stimulating body of historical information that, if researched further and presented properly, portended to not only enrich the region’s historical profile, but possibly to challenge a few deeply engrained beliefs.
 
For the story to be told, somebody had to tell it, to research and record in meticulous detail what actually happened. This book has taken ten winters, the first three spent in research only, the remainder in intermittent research and full-time writing, at which Jim has labored to not only inform but also entertain the reader. It seems the import of any viable historical undertaking is to encourage mankind in the understanding of himself and his world. In this case that has been hopefully accomplished by telling the long story of those that have come before, a long story diligently rooted in the best efforts at detail and truth.

Editorial Reviews

… Jim Lithen has spent thousands of hours in libraries reading old newspapers and taking notes. He read endless local histories and talked with many interesting and interested folks who had a kernel or two of truth to offer. The result is The Road to Marion Town, a book that makes history come alive, for which the history lover, truth seeker and storyteller in many of us will be truly thankful.”

Julie Berry Traynor