HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY

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COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION

ORGANIZATION OF BAY COUNTY

The territory comprising Bay County was originally a part of Saginaw, Midland and the whole of Arenac Counties. Arenac being attached to Midland for judicial purposes, including all the territory in Town Thirteen north, Range Five east that lies east of the Saginaw River, and all of Fourteen north, Range Three, Four, Five and Six east, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen and Eighteen north, Range Three, Four and Five east, and all of Town Nineteen and Twenty north, Range Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight east, and also the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay.

This county lies around the shores of Saginaw Bay, and including the Saginaw, Kawkawlin, Pinconning, Pine, Rifle, AuGres, and Quanicassee Rivers emptying into the Saginaw Bay.

This territory was organized into Bay County in 1857. Then but two townships were in full organization in the county. Hampton and Williams had been organized in 1843 and 1855, as already stated.

The first election of county officers was held on the first Monday of June, 1857, under the act to organize the county, and elected Wm. Simon sheriff; Elijah Catlin, clerk; James Watson, treasurer; Thomas M. Bligh, register of deeds; S. S. Campbell, judge of probate; C. H. Freeman, prosecuting attorney; Stephen P. Wright, Circuit Court commissioner; Benjamin F. Partridge, surveyor; Wm. C. Spicer, coroner. And these officers were duly qualified and were ready for business, but Saginaw County pro tested against any such unwarranted proceedings.

The organization having been disputed by Saginaw and Midland Counties, who assumed all judicial power over the entire county, paralyzed the operation of the courts and the collection of taxes till the Supreme Court decided a case arising in Bay County, the jurisdiction of which the Saginaw Circuit claimed, which decision was that Bay County was duly organized.

THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE

The history of the memorable struggle for an existence, which attended the efforts to organize Bay County, has been admirable written by Gen. B. F. Partridge, of Bay City, and was published in 1876, by direction of the Board of Supervisors. It constitutes an important part of a history of Bay County and we quate from Gen Partridge’s paper as follows:

“Of the first efforsts I only know in part; from others I glean the rest. The first efforts for it organization were made in 1855, when the Hon. J. S. Barclay, who was elected a member of the Legislature from Saginaw County, in November, 1854, and who resided in Lower Saginaw, then a part of Saginaw County, now Bay City, presented a favorable opportunity for the scheme and with hope of success. The Hon. Judge Albert Miller and the irrepressible Daniel Burns (Mr. Burns was then in the prime of life, with a bright future before him, more so than the common lot of man), were sent to the ‘Third House’ for that purpose; and two more fitting men at that time, and at that juncture, could not have been selected for such a mission; but such was the opposition to the bill at that early and first effort that, although the bill came near passing, yet it was defeated by a small majority.

“The opposition to the bill in the ‘Third House’ was strong, numerous, and influential. The indifferent yielded to their influence and importunities.

“At this time Lower Saginaw was hardly known, save to our ‘up town’ neighbors (those above Carrollton bar), and was their bugbear and coming rival, an East Town and Saginaw were in all their glory and prosperity; and the then ‘Little Giant,’ Lower Saginaw, was struggling for an existence against odds that seemed superhuman to overcome, but with will and dare to do it, finally succeeded.

“Also at that time the indifferent allowed the claims of it opponents that the matter was too premature, --wait and see’, and if necessary the organization, if hereafter it should be deemed proper, could be allowed. Just as if a right was to be allowed, and not at once conceded! The argument generally submitted to by the indifferent and urged by our opponents –those whose interests opposed our organization, or thought their interests were so opposed, --claimed they could defeat all subsequent bills of the kind. The effort, although it failed, was not without its effects. It brought the matter somewhat before the public, and the indifferent ones began to inquire more particularly in regard to the same, and many of them admitted the justice of the claims for our organization.

“Again, in 1857, the Hon. James Birney, Col. Henry Raymond, B. F. Partridge, and some others, were selected as a committee to the ‘Third House, to press the matter of our organization, and if possible to procure the passage of an act for the same. The Hon. T. Jerome, of Saginaw City, representative from Saginaw County, and Henry Ashman, from Midland County, who were elected in November, 1856, in that session of the Legislature, both of whom, as they undoubtedly supposed their interests demanded and their supporters required of them, opposed our organization. They undoubtedly acted conscientiously in their opposition and consistently with their pledges before election, but I will say here, I do not know, and it is not charged, nor ever has been to our knowledge, that either of them did anything in their opposition dishonorable or unmanly. I give them credit that they acted, without doubt, as they thought their duty demanded. The Legislature at this time, one may say, was the same as unanimously Republican and those sent to the ‘Third House’ to represent our interest and organization were wholly so, we hoping thereby a ‘fellow feeling’ might arise, and thereby the former opposition might abate somewhat. Such

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was the general effect. After a great deal of effort on the one side to secure our organization, and on the other to oppose and defeat it, a compromise was finally settled upon by the members of the ‘Third House’ and the members for Saginaw and Midland Counties, by the efforts and advice of the friends of the several parties interested; and it was a local matter, and the members of the counties interested therein finally approved of the bill, it passed the Legislature, and was approved by the Governor, February 17, 1857.

“The territory of Bay County at that time contained but few voters compared to Saginaw County, for Bay County only took a small part from Saginaw County. Its largest territory came from Midland County, viz.: the unorganized County of Arenac, in which territory at that time, aside from Indians, perhaps not ten voters resided.

“THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE.

“As long, story, and arduous as the efforts were to get the bill for our organization through the Legislature, yet more difficult and arduous were the labors to firmly determine and consummate the same, - that is, our sure and settled organization. Section 1 of the act organizing Bay County reads as follows:

“’That the following territory (described) shall be organized into a county, and shall be known and called Bay County (refer to the act of organization for the description, etc.), and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other organized counties of this state are entitled’

“The original act presented, or to be presented, to the Legislature was drawn by C. H. Freeman, then and now of Bay City, and practicing law. The description of territory was made by B.F. Partridge, and had that bill passed as then drawn no question would ever have arisen as to the legality of our organization as a county, but the opposition to it was so great that the compromise heretofore spoken of was effected, and changes were necessarily made in the bill, and Section 2 was added, which became the bone of future contention.

“This said section, when first added, originally read at the commencement and ending as follows: - ‘This act shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of Saginaw County, at the township meetings to be holden in said county (here providing how the vote should be taken, and the section ending), and in case a majority of the said votes upon the approval of this act shall be in favor of such approval, then this act shall take effect upon the 20^th day f April, 1857; but if a majority of said votes shall be against such approval, then this act shall not take effect, but shall be void.’

“The honorable member from Saginaw County was perfectly satisfied that the act should pass in this shape, provided it was left to his constituents to say whether they should oppose it or not, or kill it and relieve him of the unenviable honor, as that would remove the contest from the Legislature to his constituents, who would kill it at once, for it was well known that there would be ten against to one for the act, if Saginaw County people had any right to vote on the question. Therefore the member for Saginaw, and others who opposed the organization, ceased their opposition to the bill in the Legislature, expecting to kill the whole thing at the polls; but ere the bill passed, there came in this good fortune for Bay County, if so it may be called. The member for Midland County thought Saginaw County should not have all the honor of slaughtering in its embryo the future organization of this county, but thought, and perhaps justly so, that his constituents also should have a hand in the game of killing the ‘Little Giant,’ while yet its nurse was trying to dress it in its swaddling clothes; and for such purpose offered and amendment to said section, by adding immediately after the words ‘Saginaw County’ the words ‘Midland and Arenac Counties’ so that the act as passed reads:

“’This act shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of Saginaw County, Midland and Arenac Counties, at the township meeting to be holden in said county.’

“The said vote was taken on the said first Monday of April, as provided for in the act, Saginaw and Midland also voting thereon. In the territory comprising Bay County, the vote was almost unanimous in favor of organization, there being 204 for, to 14 against, so much so as to be essentially unanimous against us. Great was the rejoicing of those opposed to the organization of Bay County, especially in Saginaw City, as the county seat was there. About one third of the cases in the Circuit Court hailed from this part of Saginaw County, and necessarily contributed largely to their prosperity.

“Mr. Freeman always claimed that the act only left the vote of its approval to the voters of said county-that is Bay County, - and he now more vehemently than ever, as he saw from the opposition from the upper towns that the truthfulness of his position was the only probable chance of success, set the same forth as the only true construction of the act, and advised the election of county officers to take place as provided in the act of organization. Accordingly, the election was held on the first Monday in June, 1857. All the officers elected qualified.

“As I have heretofore said, the bone of contention was Section 2 – or, I should say, its true construction was such – and as the approval of the act, incident upon the vote of Saginaw and Midland Counties, was largely against its approval – that is, if the vote of Saginaw and Midland Counties was counted, but not otherwise – Saginaw and Midland now claimed that the act was not ‘approved,’ and that therefore it ‘never took effect, ‘and was void,’ and claimed jurisdiction severally of that portion of Bay County set off from them; and more especially so did Saginaw County, for its interests were greater, and in proportion to the magnitude of its supposed or real interests, it set forth its claim. It set the same forth, and claimed jurisdiction over that portion of Bay County taken off, as described in the act, the same as if such act had never been passed, claiming that the same was null and void, for it had failed to be approved by the votes of Saginaw, Midland and Bay Counties, and the writs from the Circuit Court of that county continued to be issued by their county clerk, and to be served by the sheriff thereof, the same as if Bay County did not in fact exist, in all the territory taken from Saginaw County, including that in Bay County.

“The citizens of Bay County saw the dilemma and confusion matters were getting into on account of the conflict of jurisdiction, and many of them – and we may say the principal of them – advised an acquiescence in the claim of Saginaw. And allow me here to say that a very fortunate thing it was for Bay County that Mr. Freeman had an undying and irrepressible belief in his position, - that is, that the intention of the Legislature was to submit the approval of the act to the electors of Bay County only, - and who now, in this crucial time of our existence (for as a fact we did then exist, although it may be it was in a doubtful state, yet, as a fact nevertheless true), put forth and argued his position more vehemently and persistently than ever, and a few, - and I believe I am justified in saying a very few, - partly to encourage him and stay his hands, and partly because they saw no other hope of success, gave him encouragement, hoping against hope that he was right, yet doubtful of the correctness of his position, still willing to give him all the encouragement they could until a final decision of the Supreme Court might settle the matter.

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“Some of the more prominent persons of the upper towns who opposed our organization, as I have always understood, consulted quite a number of the best lawyers of the State of the question, and all were of but one opinion, and expressed but one, and that was that the vote was left to Saginaw, Midland, and Arenac Counties (Arenac was then an unorganized county, and was attached to Midland for judicial purposes), and that the vote was in the negative of the act of organization, and that therefore the same was not approved,’ but was ‘null and void.’

“Tus matters drifted, with clash of jurisdiction, and confusion was getting worse, when an opportunity was presented to test the question in a suit, wherein Mr. Freeman was attorney for the defendant, and Hon. John Moore, prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, was for the prosecution. For the opportunity to so test this question Mr. Freeman had long been waiting, and as he knew some such case must come he patiently bided his time, as I shall narrate very soon. The late Hon. William M. Fenton was associated with Mr. Freeman as counsel, and when he was retained by the defendant, pronounced at first sight, as all others had done, against the organization of Bay County; but when his attention was called more particularly to the wording of the act, and a few of the plain rudimentary principles of the construction of statutes, he saw at once his error, and entered into the spirit of the case. From that moment Mr. Freeman had a powerful assistant, true and faithful.

“ANOTHER FUTILE EFFORT.

“Before going on with this case further, I will return to the Winter of 1858, when there was an extra session of the Legislature. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Daniel Burns were sent to the ‘Third House’ of that short session to see what could be done in settling the organization of Bay County, and if possible to get the county definitely and permanently organized by the Legislature. Mr. Jerome, of Saginaw, and Mr. Ashman, of Midland, now as strongly as ever opposed us, or any act tending to legalize the organization. They saw the confusion matters were in, but said it was all ourselves and our figuring that had brought it about, by pretending to organize when we ought not to have done so. But on this point they were informed others differed with them, and as there were differences of opinion, even if nearly all were one way (here I will mention the fact that the chairman of the committee on towns and counties believed that Section 2 could have no other construction than such as Mr. Freeman gave to it, and he felt the necessity of something being done in the matter), yet the few had some right to demand respect. This they admitted, but still set themselves against anything like an organization. Many members of the Legislature, however, after they were shown how matters stood, thought that if we were not a county we ought to be one, and had shown ourselves worthy and well qualified to have an organization; but then as it was a rule, although an unwritten one, that all local matters should be left to the members representing the district to be affected thereby, they did not wish to interfere, but they thought something should be done to settle the matters that were in litigation, by appeal or otherwise, and they were willing to assist in such a way.

“The chairman of the committee on towns and counties was in favor of our organization, and assisted greatly in getting the bill through the Legislature.

“Quite a number of suits had been commenced in the township of Hampton. Some laid their venue in Bay County, and some in Saginaw County, and some in Saginaw County, just as the caprice of the plaintiff might suggest. The most of these suits were commenced in justice courts, and in most cases the defendant in the case, where judgment was rendered against him, appealed to Bay or Saginaw County, knowing that if it were Bay County, the appeal to Saginaw would end the suit, and vice verse; and the record shows that nearly all the suits wee and a few cases had been commenced in Bay County Circuit Court.

“Mr. Freeman had carefully prepared three bills before he started for the ‘Third House.’ These bills were approved by those interested for Bay County, and it was understood that if the members from Bay County to the ‘Third House’ could not get the one through that they wished, then they were to do the best they could.

“The chairman of the committee on towns and counties readily approved bill number one, that had been prepared, which would, if passed, at once settled our organization. But Messrs. Jerome and Ashman had to be consulted. They could not be induced to be silent, should either of these bills be offered to the Legislature, and then the Governor would only recommend such a bill as all parties could agree upon, as general business demanded their attention before local bills. However just the Governor may have supposed he was, it only had the effect to give the members from Saginaw and Midland more power to kill the efforts made by our members to the ‘Third House.’ But the latter went to work with a will, and Mr. Freeman then made an effort to prepare such a bill as the members from Saginaw and Midland would not oppose if they could not approve. So, after several days. It was accomplished.

“The bill provided that the circuit judge of the district in which said County of Bay was situated should hold court in Bay City, in said territory, and should hear, try, and determine all suits commenced in said Circuit Court, in said territory, and all appeals to the same, etc., with other sections confirming jurisdiction in said territory.

“This bill meeting the approval of the members for Saginaw and Midland Counties, was duly recommended by the Governor and passed unanimously. The Governor had promised to approve the bill, but it having passed on Friday, to late to be approved by the Governor before he left the capitol, he did not receive the bill until the next week. Messrs. Freeman and Burns left the capitol for home on Saturday evening, well satisfied. When the Governor received the bill for approval he saw at once its force, I understand, -that is, that the bill really established the organization of Bay County, -and he sent for Messrs. Jerome and Ashman, as I am informed, and drew their attention to this fact, and wished to know if they desired him to approve the bill. Mr. Jerome did not wish the bill approved, and it was not approved, although several other members urged the Governor’s promise that the bill should be approved.

“Here it will be proper for me to say that one great objection raised to our organization was that it would be a Democratic county. But all joined in the assurance that such was nothing like a certainty, and that the probability was that a Republican member from Bay County would be in the person of James Birney, and Mr. Freeman stated that under the circumstances Mr. Birney would be his choice. This was the last effort ever made through the Legislature toward an organization. Mr. Freeman and his friends saw that any further effort must be through the courts, based upon the act of 1857, and acted accordingly, and resolved to fight it through on that line, and the war went on.

“Mr. Freeman and Mr. Wright arranged a suit to be sent up to the Supreme Court for a Decision. But the suit upon which the question was finally settled had been commenced in good faith. I now give the parties, as well as the attorneys, in this suit, and they were all interested on either side equally, as to the organization of Bay County, and the battle must now be fought on that line. It was Bay County or no Bay County. All parties prepared for action, each sure of the case in his favor.

“The case was one of great significance. The late Dr. Dion Birney was the complainant vs. Daniel Burns. Burns was charged with

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perjury, said to have been committed June 29^th, 1857, at the township of Hampton. The defendant filed a plea of abatement, alleging that ‘the said supposed offense, if any was committed, was committed with the jurisdiction of Bay County, and not within the jurisdiction of this court’ –meaning the jurisdiction of the Saginaw County Circuit Court. Upon this plea issue was taken, and a case was made and certified to the Supreme Court, and was heard at the May term, 1858, at Detroit. Mr. Freeman had staked his reputation as a lawyer upon the result of this suit, and he prepared a full and exhaustive argument in the case, and whoever may read the same will come to the same conclusion.

“A little incident in the passing events of the suit I feel called upon to relate quite fully, as it tends to show the opinion of the legal profession on this question, and the worth and character of the late Hon. William M. Fenton, of Flint, perhaps as no other thing could do. And this is my apology.

“It was well known that Mr. Freeman did not attend the Supreme Court on the argument of this case, for the reason that a few days before the case was to come on for argument, Mr. Freeman was confined to his bed with a fever, and was quite as insensible of what was going on in the case as ‘Rip Van Winkle,’ except that the suit was uppermost in his wild and feverish head. Now, Mrs. Freeman comprehended the situation, and know that Mr. Freeman could not possibly recover to be in Detroit to argue the case, so she sent all the papers with the argument prepared (in writing) to Mr. Fenton, informing him of the situation of her husband. Mr. Fenton replied to her, ‘All shall be attended to,’ and the result shows that it was. The first time Mr. Fenton met Mr. Freeman after the case was decided, he said to him that when he arrived in Detroit several of the most prominent lawyers, (giving names), advised him to give up the suit, and not expose himself to ridicule, but to let Mr. Freeman alone, to fall, etc. He informed them that Mr. Freeman was sick and could not be there, and Mrs. Freeman had requested him to see to the suit, and he had written her that he would; that he was of their opinion till his attention had been called to some of the words and language of the act, and he should soon call theirs to the same points. He had not gone far in the argument when it was conceded that his premises in the case were correct. The case was submitted, and the next morning the court upon opening gave the decision, which may be found commencing on page 114 of Fifth Michigan Reports - - First, Cooley-sustaining the plea and thus declaring Bay Count organized.

“The next morning after the decision was made, the news was received here by the Detroit boat, that being the most reliable and shortest route we had. There was a route by rail, stage, and canoe, and sometimes steamboat by the river in the season, and by skates and sleighs on the ice of the river in its season, but not any road for general travel nearer than East Saginaw, on this side of the river, and Zilwaukee on the other. There being no cannon here, and no military company with fire-arms, with which to sound the glad tidings of the reality of Bay County, the only anvil in the county was pressed into service; and such cannonading would drown, and did drown, the sleepy ideas of some of the sleepy people of this infant city, and send them along the path to prosperity and to wealth. The news brought the people to their right senses, and the city and county have rushed along the rough track of building up, and burning down, and rebuilding in more substantial style.”

When the decision upon the question of organization was rendered, the county officers were yet in power, but the sheriff, William Simon, had removed from the county, and the vacancy was filled by the appointment of B. F. Partridge.

FIRST SUPERVISORS’ MEETING

The first meeting of the Bay County Board of Supervisors occurred August 10, 1858. The Board was composed of Sydney S. Campbell from Hampton, and George W. Smock from Williams, and every member was present. Sydney S. Campbell was elected chairman by a unanimous vote. At this meeting the Board allowed and paid fourteen wolf certificates, eleven of which were to Indians, total amount, $112; total constable bills, $70.43; total justices’ bills $66.61; giving notice of election, claimed, $10, allowed, $5; total amount of A. Kaiser’s bill for boarding prisoners was $1.

Total assessed valuation of the county in 1858, as equalized by the first Board, was $530,589. This Board levied $1,165 county tax.

The first superintendents of the poor were E. N. Bradford, Israel Catlin and J. B. Hart. At the first meeting of the Board, October 10, 1858, the county treasurer’s report showed county orders paid to the amount of $78.14, leaving in the treasury $2.85. Thus it will be seen that the county expenses were extremely light, and all the bills allowed are recorded as having be allowed by a ‘unanimous vote.’ But these two supervisors put on record a resolution that the chairman should be ‘entitled to vote on all questions before the Board.’ They paid the prosecuting attorney $50 a year, and other officers in proportion.

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION

At a special meeting of the County Board, in February, 1859, the township of Arenac was erected into a township, with Daniel Williams, N. W. Sillibridge, and Daniel Shaw the Board of Inspectors, Peter Marksman being elected the first supervisor. But Peter Marksman resigned and M. D. Bourasso was appointed and took his seat.

At a special meeting held in March, 1859, the Board erected the town of Portsmouth. J. M. Miller, A. Stevens and William Daghsh were the first Board of Inspectors. Appleton Stevens was elected the first supervisor. In 1859 the town of Bangor was also erected into a township, and Scott W. Sayler was the first supervisor. So that the Board consisted of George E. Smith, of Hampton, chairman, and four others at the bar meeting in 1859.

The State Legislature constructed the township of Beaver in February, 1867, by detaching territory from Williams, and the town elected Levi Williard, one of the oldest and most intelligent men in the town, its first supervisor. The Board of Supervisors, in January, 1868, passed an act to organize the town of Kawkawlin fro the territory of Bangor, and Alexander Beard was the first supervisor to the Board.

The township of Monitor was made a township by an act of the Legislature in 1869, and William H. Needham was elected the first supervisor, and in 1870 the Board took a slice from the township of Arenac and formed the town of Au Gres, which sent the young lawyer, W. R. Bates, who had settled there, as their first supervisor to the Board, and in the same year another town was created for Arenac, called Clayton, and one of its hardy pioneers, William Smith, one of the most upright and intelligent men in the county, was its first supervisor. It will have been seen ere this that the county had rapidly advanced in population, and that they were distributed nearly all over the county, and other territory was being settled so fast that the inhabitants were driven to seek new organization of towns in order to construct roads and bridges for their use in getting in and out of this vast wilderness, and in 1871 the old town of Portsmouth was divided and the town of Merritt constituted and Henry F. Shuler was first supervisor. In March the charter of Bay City was so amended that it covered the village of Portsmouth, leaving a small amount of land without the limits of any towns or

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city. So that the present town of Portsmouth was carved out of that part left, and a portion of Merritt and a portion of Hampton, and created into a town called Portsmouth, by an act of the Legislature, in March, 1873, and the town was fully organized the next week, B. F. Partridge being elected their supervisor, and he has been re-elected ever since, holding the office of chairman of the Board.

In the year of 1873, the towns of Deep River, Standish, and Pinconning were organized by act of the Legislature, and they sent from Deep River, John Bullock, known all over the country as an intelligent gentleman; from Standish, Menzo Havens, whose father moved to the town years before from Ohio; from Pinconning, that old pioneer, Joseph U. Meech, as first supervisors to the Board.

Still further north the country was settling, with the true men of the nation, the soldiers of the late rebellion, upon the rich Government lands, and in 1874 the townships of Moffat and Mason knocked at the door of the Board of Organization, and were admitted, and the first supervisor from Moffat was Alvin N. Culver, and Henry M. Smith was the supervisor from the town of Mason, and the town from that time settled rapidly.

The next in order at the door for representation, was the town of Fraser, which the Legislature authorized to organize in 1875, sending William Mitchie as its first supervisor.

In 1866 the city sent to the Board from her three wards, Jerome B. Sweet, J. H. Little and Angus Miller, and in 1867 the Legislature had authorized the comptroller and city treasurer members ex-officio of the Board, and again in the Spring of 1873, the city having acquired the village of Portsmouth and four additional wards, and being allowed four more supervisors and the city attorney and the recorder ex-officio members of the Board, the Board of Supervisors then counted a membership of twenty-eight; and then in the Spring of 1877, the city of West Bay City having been chartered with three wards, and allowed to send its recorder as ex-officio member, the Board consisted in 1877 of thirty-two members, and at the January session of the Board in 1880, the towns of Lincoln and Whitney were organized, which gave the county of Bay, in October, 1880, a membership of thirty-four.

The township of Frankenlust was detached from Saginaw County, and annexed to Bay by act of Legislature in the Winter of 1880-’81. The supervisor is John A Leinberger.

COUNTY SEAT.

Immediately after the organization of the county, the county seat was located in Bay City. A resolution was passed at a subsequent meeting, changing it to Portsmouth, but it never went into effect, and was afterwards, at the next meeting of the board, changed back to Bay City. The two lots, where the court house and jail now stand, were set apart by the proprietors of the village for county buildings. In the Fall of 1858, while Gen. Partridge was sheriff, a wooden building was erected for a temporary jail, on Sixth Street, near Saginaw Street, and was used until destroyed in the fire of 1863. A wooden building belonging to James Fraser, on Water Street, was leased for a court house, and was used as such until 1868, when the present court house was built on the site before designated. After the destruction of the jail in 1863, a one story wooden building, erected for the purpose by James Fraser, was leased until 1870, when the present jail building was erected on Center Street, nearly opposite the court house. This is an elegant modern style, two-story, white brick building, combining a residence for the sheriff, with iron lined jail in the rear, the cells of boiler iron being two stories in height in the center of the main room, with large corridors between the gratings and the outer walls. The upper story of the building is fitted with accommodations for females and fraudulent debtors; the whole structure is furnished with the most approved modern appliances for the safe and healthy detention of prisoners, pending their trial. Water pipes and closets are arranged with an eye to the comfort and health of the prisoners, while measures for their proper use of the same are fully provided for. The jail is esteemed a model one, and both it and the court house are taken as patterns by surrounding counties in similar erections. The cost of the jail building and court house was about $75,000. They are a credit to the county, and ornaments to the city. A view of each is given in this work.

COUNTY FARM.

In the year 1866, the Board of Supervisors purchased a tract of prairie land, on the east side of the Saginaw River, near the bay, comprising about 120 acres, upon which suitable buildings have been erected, including a hospital, and retreat for mild cases of insanity, and the grounds have been thoroughly ditched, drained and cultivated to a point, relieving the county of a large portion of expense attending the care of the few paupers who make claim as charges upon the county.

In 1863 a one story brick building was built just in front of where the jail now stands, for the use of the county offices.