In his letter, William provides a wonderful description of his life and his work in the logging industry of Alpena, Michigan. To give you a little background, William is about 36 years old, living with his wife
Sarah (Miller) Faught and their two sons; Francis and Philip. Based on another letter that was found and previous research, we know that he had moved from the Sanilac County area to Alpena sometime after January 13, 1864, and before October 17, 1870.
Below is the letter that William wrote to his brother
George Faught on August 21, 1871.
Transcription of the letter written from William Faught to his brother George Faught
Before talking about the letter any further, I would like to provide you with some background on the logging industry in Northern Michigan during this time period.
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In the 1840s, Eastern states were beginning to exhaust their timber resources, and news of Michigan pine began to spread. Lumbermen began flocking to the Great Lakes State. There were a couple of advantages that helped Alpena become a major lumber port. The first was the ease of access to Lake Huron through Thunderbay and the rivers that flow into it. The second was the abundance of white pine in Alpena and the surrounding counties.
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Most of the lumber was cut during the winter months and transported to the river bank by horse-drawn sleds. The large logs were stacked and held until the spring thaw. Once the spring thaw began, the logs were floated down-river to retention ponds, where they were sorted and sent to the sawmills for cutting.
Typical Lumbering Camp Near Alpena
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Logging Operations Near Alpena
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The men pushing lumber down the Thunder Bay River.
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In his letter, William says that he has been lumbering for the past two months
"I am lumbering this last 2 months putting in logs 27 miles from Alpena. Timber of my own that I just bought this summer and I today bought 2 million feet for a winters job."
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I was curious to know where William might have been putting the logs in. He said he was 27 miles from Alpena. So I did a little detective work. Using Google Maps, I created a circle with a range of 27 miles from the center of Alpena. You can see the white line in the image to the right. I also highlighted the path of the Thunderbay river in blue.
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If you follow the path of the river to where it intersects with the 27-mile radius circle, it seems likely that William was logging just outside of Hillman in Montmorency County.
"I have got 3 spairs of horses of them 2 is mine and I have got five hundred thousand to put in this fall. I have got 10 hundred and 18 logs in now. I had to pay 5 hundred dollars a spair for horses here. Logs is a good demand here now and I have the best chance on the river to put in logs I boat in from 20 to 25 thousand a day with 3 spairs of horses."
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William notes that he paid $500 for a pair of horses, just to put this in perspective, that would be $9,803.92 in today's value.
"I am home today for a load of supplys. I have got 10 men in the woods besides cook if a man wants to do anything in lumbering this is the place."
William goes on to tell his brother that if someone wants to "do anything with lumbering" this is the place. He was correct, between 1870 and 1900 the lumbering industry was at its peak in Northern Michigan. By 1900 the lumber industry started to decline.
William is writing this letter to his brother George while he is home for supplies. From what I can gather from the letter, it seems that William is away from home for a good part of the year. He notes that he has 10 men, plus a cook working for him in the woods. Based on my research this was a fairly small operation for the time period. Some camps housed 100 or more men at a time. But William seems to be doing well. We can see that from the rest of his letter.
"I bought me a nice lot and new house for 8 hundred dollars and paid him in logs for it. I had a lawsuit in circuit court with a man that owed me on settlement 5 hundred and 29 dollars and beat him. There is 3 boats running here from there and I think you might all come up and pay us a visit now. Give our best respects to all inquiring friends. If you come up I will give you a great excursion on Thunderbay. I have got a new sail boat that I bought this summer used for a pleasure boat from Alpena to Thunderbay Island. I have her rented now."
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William tells his brother of his new home on a nice lot that he bought for $800 ($15,686.27 today). He also mentions that George and his family should come to visit for a "Great excursion" on Thunderbay with his new sailboat.
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He closes his letter by sending his best to their sister Ann and her husband Henry McMillan and their children. He must have also enclosed a photo of their children Phillip and Frank. Unfortunately, this photo has been lost with time.
Give our best to Henry Ann and all the children. I am going to make you a present of the picture fortegraph of our two sons Phillip to the right and Frank to the left.
Nomore from your affectionate brother William Faught.
I truly enjoyed reading this letter, it was full of personality and shows William's hopeful outlook for the future. On top of that, It provides a peek into Alpena's past during a time of tremendous change and growth. I feel a little more connected to the town I grew up in, as well as the ancestors that help build it.
Thank you for allowing me to share William's story with you.
Love this Becky. So very interesting.