History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, profusely illustrated with portraits of early pioneers, rare pictures and scenes of olden times, and portraits of representative citizens of today, [Vol. 2]

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

The names of these landholders include such well known personages as Eber
B. Ward, Douglas Houghton, James Davidson, John Gallagher, Darius Rust,
J. J. McCormick and Egbert F. Guild, none of whom ever became settlers on
the lands. The resident owners who came after purchased their lands through
a third party, and in some instances through a line of eight or ten owners.
Organization
On February 17, 1863, the board of supervisors considered an application of the freeholders of this portion of the county, and passed a resolution
creating the township, as follows: "That township 10, North, of range 4,
East, be, and the same is, hereby erected into a township to be called and
known by the name of the township of Albee. The first annual township
meeting thereof shall be held at the house of William C. Albee, on the first
Monday of April, 1863, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and at said meeting
Isaac Savage, James Darling and Thomas S. Craig, three electors of said
township, shall be the persons whose duty it shall be to preside."
A meeting in accordance with this order was held April 6, 1863, with the
officers mentioned and twenty electors, Seth Sprague acting as clerk. The
election resulted in the choice of James Darling for supervisor; C. C. Sprague,
clerk; Seth Sprague, treasurer; and Isaac Savage, Lewis Shoolts and H. K.
Sloan, justices of the peace.
Other names of men who took a more or less active interest in the affairs
of Albee, during the following decade were: Allen Barnum, D. Gould, J. C.
Coombs, J. N. Slocum, Joel Savage, Jared Robbins, H. G. Ives, John C.
Herpel, W. C. Albee, J. B. Fairchild, W. S. Stuart, J. McDonagh, Charles
Sutton and Frank Irvine.
Nature of the Land
Like the township of Spaulding, which lies directly on the north, much
of the land of Albee is low and marshy. It is the settling basin of a vast territory to the west and north, and its bottom is only about three feet above the
normal level of Lake Huron. The soil of this portion of the township, comprising practically all its west half, is a rich muck capable of growing wonderful crops. When properly drained and protected by dikes to hold back flood
waters, this marsh land becomes the most valuable in this section of the
country. Nearly all this low land in Albee is in a high state of cultivation,
due chiefly to the fact that about twelve thousand acres are incorporated in
one immense farm project.
A Great Farm Enterprise
This vast acreage, comprising nine square miles of land in the northwest
portion of Albee, and other land in adjoining townships, is known as the
Prairie Farm. The work of reclaiming the waste land began nearly thirty
years ago, and by well defined stages has advanced to a degree in which the
project assumes enormous proportions. Perfect drainage of the big farm is
accomplished by a system of ditches and canals which empty surplus water
into the Shiawassee River, several miles to the westward. More than seven
thousand acres of this highly productive land are under the plow; and the
farm is probably the largest enterprise of the kind east of the Mississippi.
Beans, sugar beets, corn, oats, hay and peppermint are the chief products
grown in great quantities.
Jacob DeGeus, the well known stockman and agriculturist, is the efficient manager of this large enterprise; and his headquarters and home are at
the village of Alicia, situated near the center of the vast fields. During the
height of the growing season more than three hundred and fifty laborers,
hostlers and mechanics, together with seventy-five three-horse teams, are
steadily employed on this farm. The workmen and their families form a thriving farming community at Alicia, a village of eighty houses, several boarding