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

styled the "Bank of Zilwaukee," was projected by Johnson Brothers. But before the bank was opened for business the Johnsons failed; and nothing now
remains as a reminder of vain hopes but a relic-a rare specimen of the bank's
currency. No money of the bank was ever circulated, but the specimen is
worn and torn by much handling, merely as a curiosity. An amusing story
about the currency of this bank, as related by the late Ezra Rust, as well as
a fac simile of the specimen, is given in the chapter "Banks and Banking," Vol.
1, pages 745-6.
Coming of the First Railroad
The building of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad directly
through the village, in 1868, gave a new impulse to trade; and the manufacture of salt, which at the time assumed some importance, added to the general activities. John F. Driggs and brother were engaged in making salt there
under the Chapin system; and Rust, Eaton & Company and J. H. Jerome had
saw mills in active operation.
Although the land was rather low in the immediate neighborhood, the
cultivated ground and fruit farms a short distance back on higher ground,
proved that the soil was peculiarly adapted to agriculture, and which is in
practical evidence today. In 1868 the village of Zilwaukee contained about
five hundred inhabitants, and gave promise, according to Fox, the early historian, of becoming a place of considerable importance.
The Township is Organized
Zilwaukee Township was organized January 20, 1854, and comprised all
the land within its present limits and a large tract on the east side of the river,
afterwards annexed to Buena Vista. The application for organization presented to the Board of Supervisors was signed by John L. Richman, P. N.
Davenport, L. Wellington, Louis Duprat, Antoine Duprat, John Davis,
Daniel Johnson, Jerry Davis, B. J. Fisher, Jacob Wright, James Barrett,
Casper Schulteis, Michael Walker and J. H. Schoeder, representing forty-one
electors then in the township. The territory thus organized comprised the
south half of township No. 13, north, of range 4, east; the south half of
township No. 13, north, of range 5, east; the fractional section 6, and all that
part of fractional 5 lying west of Saginaw River, in township No. 12, north,
of range 5 east.
The request of the applicants was granted on January 3, 1854, and the
first annual meeting for the election of township officers was held at the office
of D. & S. Johnson, in Zilwaukee, on January 20. Luke Wellington, Charles
Danes and B. F. Fisher, three electors of the township, were appointed to preside at such meeting. Charles Danes was elected supervisor; Charles H.
Brower, town clerk; Charles Lewis, treasurer; Louis Duprat, commissioner of
highways; Benjamin F. Fisher, school inspector; Daniel Johnson, B. F.
Fisher, William H. Marsh and Casper Schulteis, justices of the peace; Asher
Parks, Henry Flatan, John G. Brindle and Jeremiah Davis, constables, and
Jacob Wright and Louis Duprat, overseers of the poor.
Present Township Officers
Since that time many other residents have filled the township offices to
the advantage of their constituents and with honor to themselves. In 1917
the government was in the hands of John Baird, supervisor; Fred Bauer,
clerk; George Luplow, treasurer, and Fred Otto, commissioner of highways.
The educational facilities of Zilwaukee comprise two schools, one a public
institution which is largely attended, and the other under the control of the
Lutheran Church. There are two churches-of the Roman Catholic creed and
of the Lutheran faith, in flourishing condition and of influence in the community.