Talkin’ Trash in Manchester---Part 4 of 4
by Alan Dyer and Ray Berg In July 1879, the Council received complaints concerning the dangerous conditions that existed in the tannery area, the bank of the upper pond where a pig sty was located, and certain unnamed premises on Exchange Place. The following week the village attorney was asked to draft an ordinance relative […]
Talkin’ Trash in Manchester---Part 3 of 4
by Alan Dyer and Ray Berg Introduction In Parts 1 and 2 of “Talkin’ Trash in Manchester”, the authors described the excavation of rural middens, or accumulated trash heaps which originated locally in the 19th century, on Ray Berg’s property in Freedom Township. These middens yield artifacts which provide insight into the living habits, diets […]
Talkin’ Trash in Manchester--Part 2 of 4
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer In Part 1 of this series on early trash disposal methods around Manchester, we examined the excavation of a Freedom Township midden, and the discovery of layers of artifacts which reveal aspects of the pioneers’ lives. Other objects removed from this rural midden include various A. Overholt whiskey bottles, […]
Talkin’ Trash in Manchester---Part 1 of 4
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer Introduction Over a four-part series, the authors explore a feature common to both of their home sites – the presence of a large canyon with steep land, unusable for most practical purposes. Unusable as it may be, this feature provides an opportunity to gain some understanding of the […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester---Part 6 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer By 1905, the national “wet vs. dry” debate was fully underway. A “local option” campaign was advocated by the Anti-Saloon League to allow individual cities or counties to express their choice. In the spring of 1909, both Jackson and Lenawee counties voted to go dry, as did several […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester--Part 5 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer Introduction Parts 1 through 4 of this series discussed the political and cultural conflicts which developed in Manchester due to the influx of German immigrants to the village following the Civil War. The Germans’ need for lager beer led to the opening of the Michigan Southern Brewery in 1872, […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester -- Part 4 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer Continuing with the story of the Michigan Southern Brewery in Manchester and the opposing temperance and prohibition movements… John Koch The Michigan Southern Brewery was taken over by John Koch in late 1884. Koch was born in 1840 in Ulm, Bavaria, and emigrated to Detroit in 1865. He established […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester -- Part 3 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer Introduction In the first two parts of this series, we discussed the influx of German immigrants and their rise to economic and political power in Manchester Village in the post-Civil War period. A second area of examination was that of “nativism,” a movement that viewed these immigrants as […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester -- Part 2 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer The Templars Arise The opening of breweries, distilleries and saloons in Manchester led to the growth of both the “temperance” movement, which sought to educate the public and reduce alcoholic beverage usage and its subsequent abuses, and the “prohibition” movement, which sought the outright banning of alcohol as a […]
Lager, Lymph, Germans and Templars in Manchester -- Part 1 of 6
by Ray Berg and Alan Dyer Introduction In previous articles, we noted the post-Civil War economic boom in Michigan that caused a renewed demand for consumer goods and led to higher commodity prices, conditions that benefited both farmers and merchants. A second railroad in 1870 opened Manchester to new markets, especially those in Indiana and […]
