Archeology: Week
#3 Notes
The History of Marlette
Native Americans:
 Paleo-Indians: Sanilac Petroglyphs
 Woodland Period:
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Saux
Ojibwa
Chippewa
Ottowa
French:
 Voyagers:
 Fur Trapping
 Jesuit Priests:
 Missionaries: Father Marquette
 Apple and Pear trees brought to this area
 Forts – Protect Trading Interests
British:
 French and Indian
Wars
 British Claim Territory
 Control French Forts:
Detroit,
Michilimackinaw,
Saginaw Bay
 Pontiac’s Rebellion
 Native Tribes submit
to British control
Americans:
 Revolutionary War:
 Treaty of Ghent
 American Territory
 British military presence stays – Control
the Great Lakes
 Northwest Ordinance: 1787
 Michigan created as a separate territory
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin
Northwest Ordinance:
 Counties formed:
 Townships created:
36 sq miles
 16 section – fund
public schools
 No slavery allowed
 Set up process for
becoming a state
Resources:
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White Pine – Lumber
Wheat – Farming
Salt – Detroit
Fishing – Great Lakes
Abundance of Land
Early Settlers:
 1st White Settler:
 Joel Carrington
 Cutting wood planks
for shipping
 John B. Hyde:
 Brought Oxen
 Cleared maple Forest
 Used Shingles for
money
 1,000 Shingles = $1
Early Settlers:
 Scotch-Irish:
 Land
 French-Canadians:
 Land and Freedom
 New England:
 Land and Timber for
Shipping
Civil War:
 Sanilac Wolverines:
 Elite Fighting Group
 1st Volunteers from
Marlette
 Co. D 10th Michigan
Infantry
 Capt. Israel Hucking
 Left Flint: April 1862
Civil War: 10th Michigan
 Battles:
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Tuscumbia, Alabama
Siege of Nashville
Stevenson, Alabama
Chickamaga
Sherman’s March to
the Sea
 Grand Review –
Washington DC
Civil War: 10th Michigan
 Counting the Cost:
 1788 men served
 59 Killed in Battle
 29 Killed from
wounds
 211 Killed from
disease
Civil War: Sanilac County
 Women’s Role
 Soldier’s Relief Society
 Women’s Auxiliary
 Red Cross
Village of Marlette:
 Village settled in
1865
 Named:
 Irish settler’s maiden
name – (Marlet)
 Carved on a post
 Named after a steam
ship used to transport
lumber
Great Fires:
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2 Major Forest Fires
1871 and 1881
Timber cleared – Remains left to dry
Dry weather
Unusual winds
Great Fire of 1871:
 Dry Weather
 Farmers burned
debris to clear land
 Burning got out of
control
 Hurricane winds
spread it up into the
“Thumb”
Great Fire of 1871:
 Burned most of
Sanilac, Huron, and
Tuscola Counties
 $4,000,000 in lasses
 5,000 people loose
all their property
 Possibly started by
the Biela Comet
Great Fire of 1881:
 September 5th
 Disaster for Marlette
 Caused: Fuel left
over by 1871 Fire
 Over turned Lantern
 High Winds
Great Fire of 1881:
 Burned all of the “Thumb”
 Destroyed homes and farms of 3,231
families
 $2,300,000 losses
 Red Cross used for
domestic disaster
 1st time
Great Fire of 1881:
 Effects:
 Red Cross used for
other domestic
disasters
 Michigan Legislature
builds 46 new schools
 Cleared unusable
land for agricultural
use
 Ash made soil rich for
farming
Village of Marlette: 1870’s
 Formed on land
owned by:
 Benjamin Hobson –
North
 Robert Wilson – East
 Charles Harwack West
Development of Marlette:
 Churches:
 1st Baptist – 1871
 1st Methodist – 1871
 1st Presbyterian – 1868
 First Church Building
Development of Marlette:
 Marlette Leader: Newspaper
 Founded in 1878
 “Unsectarian in Religion, Non-Partisan in
Politics, and Independent in all Things.”
 1900 – Republican in Politics
Schools:
 First School: 1858
 Miss Mary Ball
 Taught in a local
home
 1860 – Log School
Built
 1889 – 1st Frame
Building
 1st High School
Marlette Schools:
 1896 – 3 story brick building at current
High School location
 1936 – 2 story addition
 Oldest part of existing building
 School Consolidation
 1954 – Bea McDonald School Build
Marlette Schools:
 1965 – Additions to High School
 Tear Down the original brick building
 1975 – Middle School Built
 Brown School:
 Former 1 room school (7 miles north and 4
miles east of town)
 Moved in 1937
 Kindergarten Cottage
Marlette Schools
Activities:
 Band – 1906-1911
 Athletics:
 1895 – Golf
 1908 – Marlette Baseball
 1910 Football
 Several county and state championships
Businesses:
 1st Post Office – 1864
 Gordon Rudd – 1st Postmaster
 Delivered mail 3 times a week
 Planing Mill – 1884 – E.W. Ellsworth
 Marlette Plow Factory – 1878 – Kilgor
and Mavis
 Grist Mill – 1880 – E.J. Warner
Businesses:
 Saw Mill – 1866 – John McGill and
George Fenner
 Steam Elevator – 1881 – H.W. Wilson
 Flour, Feed Store, Lumber Yard, Grist
Mill, W.B. McGill
 General Merchandise – Joseph Morris
 Temperance Store
Businesses:
 Hotels: “Northern Hotel – 2nd Frame
Building in Town – T.H.Sheppard – 1868
 Barber Shop – H.H. Pralt – 1881
 Marlette Bank: Charles Messmore –
1881
 Clothing and Furniture – J.A. Medler –
1881
Businesses:
 Dress Making Store – Mrs. A.M. Vliet –
1877
 Attorneys – McMahon and McClure –
1880
 Dentist – Dr. N. Vliet – 1877
 Doctors: 1880’s
 McCrea, Dodge, Harris, Drummond
Businesses:
 Pharmacy – 3 in 1880’s
 S.H. Warner
 C.H. Reynolds
 S.B. Shaw
 Hardware: J.W. Councilor – 1875
 Groceries: H.C. Sloat – 1885
 Meat Market: N.S. Fancher - 1878
Businesses:
 Bakeries:
 W.D. Ragan – 1881
 G.H. Bullock – 1884
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Harness Shop: H.C. Burget – 1881
Jewelry and Music: R. Powell – 1879
Blacksmith: J.H. Hayden – 1882
Undertaker: Rotz Brothers - 1884
Railroads:
 Port Huron to
Mayville:
 September 1881
 Major Train wreck –
West of Marlette
 May 26, 1903
 Historic Train Depot:
 Renovation
Marlette District Library:
 1921: Built with Carnegie Foundation
Grant
 $15,000
 1st Librarian: Kate McGill
 1987 – Michigan Historic Site
Mobil Home Industry:
 Marlette Mobil Homes Plant – 1935
 Built tank boxes - WWII
Hospital:
 Opened in 1951
 Only accredited hospital in a town of
1,600 of less in population
 Served 11 villages in 3 counties