The formal history of Mason County begins in the year 1855. Surveyors gave this region its name in honor of Stevens T. Mason who came from Virginia as a youth of 19 under an appointment as secretary of the territory of Michigan. He was twice elected governor of the state after its admission to the Union in 1837.

Mason County was organized by an act of the legislature at a session in Lansing on January 3, 1855. Under that act, Manistee, Mason and Oceana counties were organized out of Ottawa County.

Until the organization of Mason County, the settlers here never had a vote, there being no township organization. Deeds and mortgages of land were sent to Ionia or Grand Haven to be recorded. In the case of an arrest, the respondent was taken to Grand Haven for trial.

The county was originally divided into three townships, namely: Freesoil, Little Sable, and Pere Marquette. This was a natural division of the territory made by the three rivers of the county, then the only possible highways of travel away from the shore of Lake Michigan.

Pere Marquette Township took in the tier of townships through which the Pere Marquette River runs, and all of the county lying between the river and Oceana County.

Little Sable Tonwship comprised the region drained by the Little Sable River, together with a little of Pere Marquette Township, so as to include the mouth of the river.

Freesoil embraced the northern tier of townships now Grant, Freesoil, and Meade, drained by the Big Sable River.

The first county election was held April 2, 1855. The whole number of votes polled was forty-one.

First county officers were as follows:

The Board of Canvassers was composed of Hiram Orser, Thos. Anderson, and George B. Roys, clerk.

The first annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at Little Sable, October 8, 1855. The first official business transacted was an order to borrow $27 of Charles Mears. Another order, that one Timothy Fletcher be engaged to transfer records from the books of Ottawa County, provided he would wait a certain length of time for his pay, closed the first session of the Board.

The business of the second session was of a financial character. Richard Hatfield, having interviewed three wolves with fatal results, was voted $24, as bounty. For three years, wolf bounties made up the heaviest item on the list of county expenses.

The first struggle of the supervisors with the problem of public highways was at their annual meeting in October 1863, when the sum of $200 was ordered to be levied and was appropriated to construct and repair what was known as the Lake Shore Road, for a distance of about five miles. Mr. Sewall Moulton was appointed a commissioner to expend the money.

At a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held November 11, 1856, it was ordered that the county seat be located in a frame building on the Burr Caswell Farm. In those early days, Judge Littlejohn held court there. Judge and lawyers used to come on horseback, and stop at Mr. Caswell's.

Charles Mears was proprietor of Little Sable, now called Lincoln, and was anxious for the removal of the county seat to that location. He used his influence to that end, and in May, 1860, the Board voted to submit to a vote of the people a proposition to remove the county seat to Lincoln. The proposition was voted upon and carried at the fall election. In January, 1861, the removal took place.

The change was unpopular to the people in the southern part of the county. In 1861, after the Ludington Record Appeal was started, the issue was more publicly discussed. At this time, the makeup of the county officers was rather remarkable, as follows:

The people of the southern portion of the county were angered at having county affairs monopolized to such an extent, and there was continual friction for several years.

Extracted from "Historic Mason County, Michigan - 1980", published by the Mason County Historical Society in 1980. For information on purchasing this book, contact the Society at:

WHITE PINE VILLAGE

Visit White Pine Village's web site.

info@historicwhitepinevillage.org

Historic White Pine Village general information