Chesaning in 1877 Part 7: …and the Rest

We conclude our tour of Chesaning in the year 1877 with a few last points of interest scattered throughout the village.

Our first stop is along the boulevard, at the intersection of Broad Street and Line Street.

Harness Shop
General Store
Dr. Edward Clark

Here is the harness shop (1) owned by William Dredge (1841-1914)

Manufr and Dealer in Harness, Saddles, Whips, Robes, Blankets, &c. All work promptly and neatly executed.

Atlas of Saginaw County, F.W. Beers (1877), pg. 126.

William was born in Simcoe, Ontario, but later moved to nearby London, where he opened that town’s first harness shop. He also opened the first harness shop in Chesaning upon his arrival here in 1865.

He was elected justice of the peace in 1872, and continued to serve in that office for many years. He also had a small law practice, was a notary public, and also operated an insurance agency.

Across the street is the general store (2) belonging to James Goodale (1832-1908).

James was a clergyman’s son from New York who came to Michigan with his family as a young boy. He settled in Chesaning around 1859, and first made his living here as a blacksmith.

James left to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War, and upon his return opened a dry goods store on the east side of the river. This store later burned down, and he relocated to the west side.

He served as proprietor of the Chesaning House for a period of time, and became the co-owner of a local sawmill alongside his older brother Solomon Goodale (1829-1882). The lumber business was good to James, and he was able to purchase timberland near Grayling, and operated the first sawmill there.

Goodale left Chesaing and moved to Grayling in 1879, but relocated to Salem, Oregon a few years later.

The last building of note is the residence (3) of Dr. Edward Clark (1823-1885), a physician and surgeon.

Edward Clark was born in New York, and began studying medicine there at the age of fifteen.

He later attended Buffalo Medical College, but just one month before he would have graduated, he was called into service. He spent 1864 as an army surgeon at Fairfax Semi-nary Hospital, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Edward Clark settled in Clinton County, Michigan after the war, and came to Chesaning in 1868, where he built up a large and successsful practice.

Let’s head on over to the corner of Front Street and Church Street, where there are a few more points of interest.

Methodist Church
Dr. Henry Marsh
George Chapman

It appears that many of the earliest settlers in Chesaning were members of the Methodist church, although in those days there was no organized congregation and worship gatherings were held in private homes.

The town’s first school house was built on the east side of the river in 1845, and it also served as the town hall and became a center of religious services. When the school and town hall were relocated to the west side in 1853, the congregation also moved to the new building.

This continued until funds were finally raised by the local Methodist Episcopal Church
organization to construct Chesaning’s first purpose-built church (1), which opened in 1869. This structure has the unique distinction of being the only public or commercial building from 1877 that has managed to survive down to the present day.

Horse sheds were later installed behind the church and parsonage for the use of those at-tending services.

The house (2) next to the church served as the parsonage, and was acquired in 1878 from the previous owner, physician and obstetrician Dr. Henry Marsh (1847-1901).

The pastor in 1877 was John McIntosh (1834-1921), who had arrived in Chesaning the year prior to take over from the scandal-ridden Franklin May (1825-1880).

The Rev. F. W. May, a Methodist minister at Chesaning, Michigan… has been found guilty of adultery and perjury, and suspended from the ministry.

The St. Cloud Journal, April 13, 1876.

Just around the curve to the north is the home (3) of George Lyman Chapman (1837-1924), the co-owner of Chapman Brothers dry goods and grocery store.

This must have been one of the largest private residences ever constructed in Chesaning up to that point, and it seems that the only other home that could rival it in size was the mansion of lumber baron Robert Nason.

The pleasant and commodious home on Front street was built in 1872 and remodeled in 1884. Previous to this time Mr. and Mrs. Chapman resided in a small house built on the same lot.

Chesaning Illustrated, Ische & Ingalls, pg. 33.

The building was later subdived into apartments and eventually became the original Chesaning Rest Home. It was torn down in order to build a nursing home facility.

Just a block away was a section of land between Chapman Street and Line Street. It is bordered by Church Street to the south, and Saginaw Street to the north.

Sort of…

It appears that the portion of Saginaw Street that runs between Chapman and Line Streets did not yet exist in 1877, and the section of land it now occupies was originally two residential lots.

There was a street here back in 1877, although it was known as School Street, and it ran between Chapman and Line Streets just south of where modern Saginaw Street is located today.

School

The schoolhouse (1) may have been the first brick structure ever built in Chesaning, and was probably the first major civic construction project since the bridge over the Shiawassee River.

Before its completion, students had been attending classes at a wooden frame building, built in 1853, that was located just a block away from the brick schoolhouse. This location served the community as a combined schoolhouse, church, and town hall.

In the spring of 1869, Chesaning became an officially incorporated village, and it was around this same time that the town hall was deemed inadequate to serve the needs of the local school district.

This new schoolhouse was built and furnished at a total cost of $14,000, and students began attending classes here in December of 1869.

The studies pursued in the grammar department included those required at the time for second grade certificates. For a few of the more advanced and ambititious pupils time was found for instruction in geometry and Lation.

Chesaning Illustrated, Carrie Ische & Blanche Ingalls (1903), pg. 61.

Despite it’s size, it still wasn’t large enough to keep up with Chesaning’s growing student
population, and within a few years the primary grades were moved back to the old town hall.

This arrangement continued until 1885, when an annex was built onto the brick school-house, and the town hall was no longer used for school purposes.

This new annex was added to the north side of building, and would have extended out onto School Street. It appears that this is when School Street was shifted slightly north to where Saginaw Street is now located today.

Cooper Shop

Over on Line Street, just south of Mason Street, is the home of Warner Lobdell (1828-1888).

Warner Lobdell was born in New York, but came to Michigan with his family when he was around twelve years old, settling in Argentine Township, near Flint.

It seems that Lobdell first came to Chesaning just before the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted in the Union Army, in October of 1861, and joined the 3rd Michigan Cavalry Regiment.

The shop (1) that sat next to Lobdell’s home is labeled “C. Sh” on the 1877 map of Chesaning.

Warner is listed as a cooper (barrel maker) in a few sources, so this may have signified that this was a cooper shop, although it could also have been a carriage shop, based on his previous association with horses during his time serving in the cavalry.

The Chesaning Argonaut

Chesaning in 1877 Part 7: …and the Rest

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