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HISTORY OF ALPENA COUNTY BY WILLIAM BOULTON IN 1876
Alpena had to furnish her proportion of soldiers for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion, and about thirty of her citizens were taken at various times for that purpose. Among those who went from Alpena to the battle fields of the south, were J. D. Potter. Moses Bingham, Arthur Irwin, Denton Sellick, James Whalen, John Ellsworth, John Kaufman, and Solomon Evans.
At a special election held June 23, 1864, it was voted, unanimously, to raise one hundred dollars for each volunteer, either by loan or bond.
About June, 1864, the steamer Forest Queen with a large number of passengers on board, arrived at the mouth of Thunder Bay river. There had been some extensive fires in the woods, and both bay and lake were covered with a dense smoke. It thus happened that although the Forest Queen was close to Alpena, yet the city could not be seen, and the passengers who had expected to get a view of their future home as they approached, were disappointed. The Forest Queen had hardly got anchored when boat loads of mill hands came out to pay her a visit, and to get, what was of far more interest to them, something to drink, for it must be borne in mind that spirituous liquors were not allowed to be sold in Alpena. It was no unusual event when a steamboat with a saloon on board anchored off the river, for the mill hands to leave their work and go out to her—the mill in the mean-. time being left to take care of itself. The Forest Queen, as was usual with the occasional steamboats that came to Alpena, had more passengers on board than she could provide sleeping accommodations for, and at least seventy men were forced to sleep on the floor. A sofa was considered a luxury and the fortunate possessor was much envied.
Michigan
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