Fire, Smut and Disease in Manchester, Part One of Four

By Ray Berg and Alan Dyer

(Note: This article is an update of research previously published four years ago, with new information and findings included herein.)

The history of Manchester offers several examples of natural occurrences and unfortunate decisions which affected the development of our village. Quite often, the perceived solution to one problem led to another problem, resulting in a chain of events with unforeseen consequences. We offer herein such a connected story of seemingly unrelated 19^th century Manchester events, centered around our historic downtown Manchester Mill. These events assisted in the development of modern epidemiology in Michigan.

The Great Fire of 1853

Manchester began as a water-powered mill community in 1832, with several mills located along the River Raisin where a significant elevation drop in the water flow provided abundant hydraulic power. John Gilbert developed the first flouring mill on the west bank of the river, and the village was platted in 1833.

This original Manchester Flouring Mill is shown in Figure 1, a sketch of the village made from the top of the original Ann Arbor Hill around 1852. It shows a three level wood mill structure on the left side, which is similar in appearance to a photograph of the Huron Mills also built by Gilbert in Ypsilanti in 1835, shown in Figure 2. Gilbert is known to have also constructed mills in other southern Michigan towns such as Jefferson and Rochester in the same time period, and is presumed to have used a common set of plans for these structures. The Manchester Mill and other downtown properties were sold to the brothers Stephen and James Fargo in 1835, who then led the early development of Manchester.

Figure 1 – View of Manchester from Ann Arbor Hill circa 1852,

 Showing Original Manchester Mill on Left

Figure 2 – Huron Mills in Ypsilanti, Built by John Gilbert in 1835

The village grew steadily through 1838, then lagged for several years during an economic depression caused by the wildcat bank failures of 1837. By 1848, economic health had returned and Manchester was growing again. The strong growth period beginning around 1848 suffered a setback on Sunday morning, May 1, 1853, when fire erupted at the Manchester Flouring Mill and quickly spread throughout a large part of the north and west downtown area. This event has been briefly chronicled in several publications, including Chapman’s 1881 History of Washtenaw County, Michigan, and subsequent Manchester histories provided basic transcriptions of the event from Chapman’s account.

The authors researched this event more thoroughly by attempting to locate contemporary accounts of the fire. Manchester had no newspaper in 1853, so newspaper files from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Tecumseh, Jackson and other local towns were reviewed. The best contemporary report was located in The Michigan Argus, Ann Arbor, May 4, 1853, written by a reporter known only as “H.”

Fire at Manchester

Manchester, May 3, 1853

“Mssrs. Editors:

Nearly one-fourth of our village on the west side of the river lies in ashes.  From the bridge to the Hotel, extending north to the extent of the village, is a clean sweep.  On Sunday morning, the 1^st inst., about six o’clock, the flouring mill belonging to Mr. Vreeland, was discovered to be on fire.  The flames had broke [sic] through the roof.  The fire commenced in the third story, supposed to have originated from the custom smut machine.  The wind blew briskly from the south east and soon the three buildings of H. Bower, next to the river, and John D. Kief’s store were in flames, between which and the store occupied by Kief and Merriman was a space of some fifty feet.  Here a vigorous effort was made to stop the fire; but soon a two story building, still west and in forty-six feet of the Hotel were found to be on fire.  The only hope of saving the north-west quarter of the village depended upon the Hotel, which was at best forlorn, with two quite large buildings reaching to within forty-six feet, wrapped in flames with the wind unfavorable; it was at one time abandoned as lost, and the furniture removed, when, of a sudden, the wind shifted nearly to the south, and by renewed exertions, after several holes were burned through the roof, the fire was extinguished.  The barn belonging to the Hotel, between which and the wood-shed was only a space of about twenty feet, was burned; also J. D. Kief’s house and barn was several times on fire, so was Dr. Bessac’s.  While the mill was burning, the house across the street west, occupied by the Rev. Wastell, was several times on fire, and it was by the most vigorous and persevering exertions by our citizens that it was saved.  The loss is estimated at from forty to fifty thousand dollars.  Insurance from twenty to twenty five thousand.”

This report mentioned several merchants on the north side of Main Street who suffered major losses, the Manchester Hotel (located where the Marathon gas station is now), and the homes of prominent residents William Bessac and John Dey Kief. The Tecumseh Record added some additional detail: “The Manchester Mills, and stores of J. D. Kief, H. Baxter, Vreeland, Kief & Merriman, and one saddler’s shop were destroyed.” These structures were, for the most part, made of wood. The majority of Manchester’s current downtown brick architecture was largely a product of the post-Civil War era. Of particular note is both the strength and direction of the wind at the time of the fire. It came primarily from the southeast, an unusual direction for Michigan, causing devastation along the north side of Main Street west of the bridge, and out to Clinton and Madison Streets, but spared the rest of the village. The 1856 plat map of the village still showed significant gaps in buildings along the north side of Main Street three years after the fire.

Chapman’s 1881 History stated that the fire began at 6 AM on a Sunday morning, which infers the mill was not operating. It also mentioned that fourteen business houses and one dwelling were destroyed. Annetta English, in her 1930 History of Manchester Township, added that John Dey Kief and Dr. William Bessac, whose homes were severely threatened in the fire, were “in the East” procuring fine goods for their homes and business. Kief lost both the mercantile business he owned with his brother Lucien, and another store co-owned with George Merriman, his brother-in-law. At the Kief store, “In the excitement of the hour, some [clerk] grabbed a basket of eggs to carry them out, when Lucian Kief gave the basket a vigorous kick and asked why the person did not carry the silks and expensive goods from the shelves, as eggs were often worth but six cents per dozen and, at times, there was no sale for them.”

Another prominent Manchester resident affected by the fire was John W. Cowan, who had arrived in Manchester in 1838. In 1848, he had purchased a stock of bankrupt goods from Zachariah Chandler (a future mayor of Detroit), and established a store in Manchester, but then lost it all in the fire. He rebuilt his fortune first by farming, then in rapid succession carriage-making, meat-marketing, running a livery stable, making brick, auctioneering, building and contracting—all activities that helped to rebuild Manchester. Manchester Village’s development to the north along Ann Arbor Street, including the Riverbend and Auburn Streets area, was due to Cowan’s perseverance after the fire.

The Michigan Argus news report noted the cause of the fire as the “custom smut machine on the third floor of the mill”. This was a violation of safe mill design practices, and leads to the next part of our story.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Ray Berg