Isabella County
Histories, Biographies
&
Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections

Act of the State Legislature Establishing Isabella County
Isabella County was formally organized on February 11th, 1859

Portrait and Biographical Album, Isabella County, Michigan

containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County.....
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1884, 590 pages

Sketches of County History
By Chas. Taylor, from the North-Western Tribune, February through April of 1888
This is the transcribed version of the original newspaper articles, which follow in scanned
versions.

The following are the scanned newspapers of the Sketches of County History. 

Sketches Concerning the Settlement of Isabella County, by Chas. Taylor
North-Western Tribune, February 24, 1888

Pioneer Days, The Disappointments and Hardships Endured by Settlers, by Chas. Taylor
North-Western Tribune, March 9, 1888

Pioneer Days, The First Church Service Held in the County, by Chas. Taylor
North-Western Tribune, March 16, 1888

Pioneer Days, Miscellaneous Notes Relating to Early Settlers, by Chas. Taylor
North-Western Tribune, March 30, 1888

Obituary of Charles Taylor, North-Western Tribune, July 16, 1897

Faces and Places Familiar Mount Pleasant, 1906  by Charles J. Seeley and R. A. Miller, Mt. Pleasant: Courier Press, 1906

Past and Present of Isabella County Michigan
by Isaac A. Fancher
Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Company, 1911, 729 pages

Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1860, George W. Hawes, Detroit: R. F. Raymond and Company

Sherman Township, Isabella County, History and Anecdotes
by Fred L. Kent from the North-Western Tribune 1888

From the Enterprise: History of Isabella County by Fred Delo, Sr.

The Autobiography of David Ward.
This privately-printed narrative, written by a self-made millionaire for his descendants, provides a personal mirror of Michigan's development during the nineteenth century. Born in 1822 in Essex County, New York, Ward moved with his family in 1836 to a farm on the St. Clair River near Newport, Michigan, and spent the next thirteen years working at a variety of jobs while recovering from respiratory ailments. Trained by his father as a surveyor, he used his skill to benefit himself and others, laying claims to the best stands of Michigan pine as soon as they became available. By the late 1850s, he had run his own lumbering operation in Sumner township on the Pine River (where he served as town supervisor), and set up residence in Saginaw with his wife, Elizabeth Perkins Ward, and their children. In 1863, when his vigorous prosecution of "log thieves" caused his children to be harassed, the family moved to a farm at Orchard Lake (Oakland County), near Pontiac, and lived there year-round until business responsibilities obliged them to winter in Detroit. From this new base, Ward began lumbering on the Tobacco and Chippewa rivers and, later, the Manistee. He expanded his forest holdings in Wisconsin as well as the Upper Peninsula and served for two years as president of the First National Bank of Pontiac. During the 1870s and 1880s, Ward traveled extensively, describing his impressions of West Coast forests, and journeying to the Southern Appalachian region where he purchased land containing forests and coal and iron deposits. He also purchased extensive stands of California redwood. In his later years, he continued to make trips into the woods and actively supervised such operations as grading railroad beds for lumber transport. Throughout his career, Ward had to contend with sharp business practices and unscrupulous associates--some within his family. It seems that he wrote this autobiography in part as a warning and as a compendium of good advice.

Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections for Isabella County and the State of Michigan
Multiple article related to Isabella County History, Michigan History and the Saginaw Valley, from the Michigan Pioneer and Historical publications.

Auxilary to the Grand Army of the Republic Women's Relief Corps Roster
WABUNO Post No. 56 Isabella County, Michigan
From the records at the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University of  Ella Viola Powers, Papers, 1874-1969.
List of the members of the post and their activities.

Isabella County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, early membership lists, 1912 - 1923

Miscellaneous News and Notes from Isabella County Papers

The Enterprise - Cass Mosher, Louis Stearns

The Enterprise - listing of WWI fatalities and soldiers from Isabella County


MISCELLANEOUS ENTERPRISE CLIPPINGS 1881 - 1886

The Enterprise - First Train

From the Enterprise:  By Mrs. Zelina Coszatt 

From the Enterprise:
REV. ROBERT SHELDON
Written by Father Sheldon’s daughter; Mrs. Frank Butler
Eastland, Maryland
Jan. 25, 1922

From the Enterprise:  Enterprise Clippings by Lafayette P. Deming

From the Enterprise:  Wednesday, February 9, 1881

From the Enterprise:  Friday, March 17, 1922
Sketches of Isabella County early history compiled by Charles Taylor (deceased) of Chippewa Township and first published in 1888; the writer tells of his own experiences as a pioneer.

From the Enterprise:  Enterprise Clipping By Mrs. Martha Cullimore

From the Enterprise:  April 18, 1924 The story of the Adelbert Merrill family.

From the Enterprise:  Adelbert A. Lance's Story

From the Enterprise:  Enterprise Clippings by Vianna (Harper) Carr

From the Enterprise:  Charlotte Sophia Sheldon

From the Enterprise:  Charles Sheldon

Vol. 9, no. 24, of Isabella County Enterprise, August 1874
.

ISABELLA COUNTY ENTERPRISE
        MT. PLEASANT, MICHIGAN - FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1897

ISABELLA COUNTY ENTERPRISE
        MT. PLEASANT, MICHIGAN - FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1897
VOL. XXXILL                                                                   NUMBER 18

ISABELLA COUNTY ENTERPRISE
VOL. XXXIIL     MT. PLEASANT, MICHIGAN         FRI., MAY 28, 1897

NORTH-WESTERN TRIBUNE, VOL 13, NO. 6
        MT. PLEASANT MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1891

        
                         E. S. BOWEN & SON, EDITORS

NORTH-WESTERN TRIBUNE
        VOL. 13    MT. PLEASANT, MI - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1891
                                   E. S. BOWEN, Editor

VERNON TWP, ISABELLA COUNTY, MI
Historical News and Notes

[Information given by Mr. James C. WALSH, twp, Supervisor - October 25, 1941]

Isabella County Post Offices

History of the Isabella County Sheriff's Office

Roses for the Living
Biographical series from the Weidman Messenger, circa 1939, written by R. E. Roe.
The series highlighted the lives of prominent people in Weidman, Isabella County,
Michigan and the surrounding area.

Weidman Boys Who Have Done Good - from the Weidman Messenger
Hervey A. Beutler, Gerald Bywater, George Smith, Frank Smith

Weidman Girls Who Have Done Good - from the Weidman Messenger
Lucille Wiley

History of Weidman
    Rev. J.B. McGinnis
    George Middlesworth
    John Otterbine

History of Beal City
    Rev. Father Alexander Zugelder, Part I
                                                         Part II
    Priest's House

Neighboring County Histories, Biographies and Statisticals

Gratiot County, Michigan, Historical, Biographical, Statistical
by Willard D. Tucker
Saginaw, Michigan: Press of Seeman and Peters, 1913

Portrait and Biographic Album, Gratiot County, Michigan containing
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens
of the County.........
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1884

Portrait and Biographic Album, Mecosta County, Michigan containing Portraits
and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County.....
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1883

Portrait and Biographic Album, Midland County, Michigan containing Portraits
and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the
County........
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1884

Portrait and Biographic Album, Northern Michigan, containing Portraits and
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Area.......
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1895

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