Michigan historical collections. [Vol. 17]

190

ANNUAL MEETING, 1890.

TOWNSEND NORTH.
Townsend North died June 12, 1889. He was born September 24,
1814, in Ulster county, N. Y., in which vicinity his boyhood days were
spent. He came with his father to Washtenaw county, Michigan, in
1835, and followed the business of carpentering for several years, during which time he built the first dormitory building for the university
at Ann Arbor. In 1845, he moved to Flint, where he opened up a
lumber yard, and also kept a hotel for three years. During this time
he took the contract to build the. first bridge over Cass river at Bridgeport, and received in payment therefore a grant of 3,000 acres of land,
which he located along the Cass river, being attracted by the fine pine
timber and excellent soil. The grant covered all of the land the village
of Vassar now stands on and much other valuable territory.
Mr. North was the founder of Vassar, and many of the advantages
and industries which we enjoy today, are due to the energetic work
which he put forth in early days. In the spring of 1849, he dedicated
the site where Vassar now stands, to civilization, and opened up the
gateway for the settlement of Tuscola county. Together with his partner, the late Jas. M. Edmunds, work was begun on the dam across the
river and sawmill the same spring, and soon after a start in business
had been made, the company laid out a few streets, and four years
later platted the village. Since that time there is scarcely one of the
many enterprises which today make us a thriving and populous community, but what he has been interested in and identified with. He
opened the first store of general merchandise in Tuscola county, built
the first saw mill and the first grist mill. In 1865 he sold his saw and
grist mill property together with a quantity of pine lands to B. F. McHose. In 1867 he bought the Bunnell mill, which he operated for
about seven years. During this same year he started the Vassar woolen
mills, an institution which is now known all over the State, having
been re-organized into a stock company in 1882, with a capital of $25,000. Mr. North was a stockholder and president of this company at the
time of his death. In 1875 he started the first bank in the county,
which was re-organized into the First National Bank of Vassar, capital
$50,000, with Mr. North as president, a position which he has held
ever since. Aside from his various business interests, he operated two
large farms, located in Denmark and Fremont.
Although Mr. North was never an office seeker, he has held many
official positions of responsibility and trust. He was the first register
of deeds of Tuscola county, after its organization in 1850. In 1862 he