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HISTORY OF ALPENA COUNTY BY WILLIAM BOULTON IN 1876
Another settler who commenced farming in 1866, was Mr. Richard Naylor, whose place is located about three miles from the city. Mr. Naylor has remained on his place up to the present, and he has made valuable improvements on it.
In 1867, James Dempster, William Pulford, David Dunn, and the writer of this sketch settled in the eastern part of Alpena township. About the same time, and during the few years following, numerous persons settled in various parts of the county, and farming began to seem a little more than an experiment. It began to be a success.
In 1871 the region about Long Lake began to be settled, and many of the farmers in that part of the county have as much as thirty acres of land under crop. The timber in that part of the country consists principally of maple, the soil is good, and the location unequaled. More land about Long lake would have been settled upon and cleared, if non-residents had not got possession of large tracts of it. By this time the Burnt Land settlement had started, and now forms the leading agricultural district in the county.
Farming implements now began to be shipped to Alpena, but so little was known of farming in this county that a Bay City paper, on the occasion of the shipment of a large number of fanning mills to Alpena, began to poke fun at the farmers of this section, inquiring if they were going to separate the sawdust from the sand. The ignorance of the Bay City itemizer may be overlooked when we consider that the same lot of fanning mills was th'e cause of much wonder to the city people, for it is a well known fact that the people of Alpena city knew very little about the progress that was going on among the farmers, being altogether occupied by lumber and the business connected with it. Reports had been circulated from time to time about what was going on, but very few believed them.
ALPENA COUNTY MICHIGAN
Page 23
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