Photo Donors Flock to Historical Museum; More than 250 Old Photos Scanned
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Casey Hill was born and lived in Traverse City all his life and until a few years ago had never visited Bay City.
Little did he know that he was related to one of Bay City's most famous residents of days gone by.
A few years ago his wife, Denise, a college English professor who had been teaching at Alpena Community College, got a job at Delta College.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)
So the family moved to Bay City and found a house near Erie and Vermont on the West Side.
It was only then that Mr. Hill found out more about a famous relative in Bay City history, Rousseau O. Crump, his great-great grandfather. Crump was a lumberman and Congressman representing this area in the 1800s.
Not only that, the Hills discovered they had uncannily located in the same neighborhood where his great-grandfather and family had lived. The Crump home was located only a few blocks from where the Hills live today.
Crump was one of the most noted businessmen and politicians in Bay City history.
In 1881, Crump leased a site for a new lumber operation from A. C. Haven in West Bay City. Crump and his uncle moved their lumbering business to West Bay City constructed a large mill that began operating in 1881. Crump's Manufacturing Company was incorporated as a stock company, with Crump as the principal shareholder. His brother, S. G. Crump was president, R. O. Crump was secretary and manager, and his son, Shelley C. Crump was treasurer. The company became one of the largest box and package manufacturing plants in the country at that time, employing over 100 persons. Crump also operated a sawmill in Roscommon with his son.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)
Crump and his wife raised one son, Shelley, and four daughters, Millie, Mabel A., Enid and Susie.
His home on Mountain and Ohio included a library with built-in safe. Photos of the exterior and well-appointed interior rooms were donated by Mr. Hill to the history book project, as well as a Crump family portrait.
Crump served on the West Bay board of aldermen from 1889-1892. In 1892, he was elected mayor, serving 1892-1895. In 1894, he was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 10th congressional district to the 54th United States Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1895 until his death in 1901. In the 56th congress, he was chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining.
Crump died, while in office, in West Bay City just three weeks before his fifty-eighth birthday, and is interred in a mausoleum in Elm Lawn Cemetery of Bay City.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)
Of course Crump's name is memorialized in the name of a tiny Northern Bay County community in Garfield Township, Crump.
Crump family photos and many others will be in "Through the Lens: A Visual History of Bay County to be published in November by Pediment Publishing Co., Vancouver, Washington, in cooperation with The Bay City Times and the Bay County Historical Society.
Local residents have donated use of more than 250 historic photographs for the book, a turnout called "great participation" by Brad Fenison, publishing firm representative.
"These are some of the better photos I've seen," said Fenison, whose firm has published about 340 titles from cities in 42 states across the nation. "There are a lot of originals," he added, that will go with photos from the Bay County Historical Museum to make up a local pictorial history of 144 or 160 pages.
Ron Bloomfield, acting director of the museum, said the historical society will get 100 copies of the book to sell and copies of all the pictures scanned in two days of public participation. Those copies will go into the museum's digital archives.
"The biggest benefit is getting all the early photos, and I've seen some really good ones," he said.
One of the most interesting shots, according to Mr. Bloomfield, is an interior picture of one of the old Bay County coal mines. Another is of the original Essexville Lumber Co., plus drawings of a building erected in 1938 that incorporated the old structure.
Eric Jylha, president of the Historical Society, and Alan Flood, research volunteer in the museum library, were among those interviewing donors and gathering information for the book.
The museum will retain intellectual control of the entire project, said Mr. Bloomfield.
(MyBayCity Photo by Dave Rogers)
Interested persons may reserve copies of the book with the pre-publication price of $29.95, plus tax of $1.80, a $10 discount from the price to be charged when it is published in November. Orders may be placed through the Bay City Times, 311 Fifth Ave., Bay City, MI 48708-5853.###
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