Tammy's All Things History

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19th Century History

Belding Gets a New Newspaper

Belding Home News, June 19, 1879. Courtesy of the Alvah N. Belding Library-Belding, Michigan.

On June 19, 1879, E. Mudge & L.E. Kendall published volume one, issue one of the Belding Home News newspaper. The proprietors/editors of the paper stated on the front page that the paper aimed to provide a one-stop source of information for Belding and the surrounding towns and counties. This information was meant to enrich the lives of all of these residents. They also explained that they created the paper without affiliation with any political party or religion. Newspapers up until this time were commonly owned and published by political party or their affiliates. With just 600 early subscribers as an investment, the editors dreamed that even though the paper started out small with any luck, it would grow larger and more prosperous.

The first business printed in the press was the meeting “held at the school-house” to plan a 4th of July celebration. On the committee sat folks from Belding, Orleans, Otisco, Grattan, Eureka, and Smyrna. Ladies present at the meeting provided refreshments. They discussed a charity dinner also to be held during the celebration to benefit the Belding Cornet Band. The food was to be provided by folks attending (1).

The paper published various types of announcements in the local section of the newspaper. These included basic things such as the status of R. M. Wilson who had been, “suffering from fever,” a new church erected at Palmer station, as well as the return of DR. G. Conner from Pennsylvania. Another was the mention of Mrs. L. E. Knedall who had “been sick for several weeks with pleurisy” and Dr. C. of Greenville the attending physician. This information was useful to know if you needed a doctor who could treat lung illnesses in the late 19th century. Another mention was the concern Belding residents had over the recent competition in “wool-buying” that had been economically successful in the nearby town of Ionia. The city of Belding wanted in on the action (2).

Ashley Grove held a Strawberry Festival and the proceeds paid for a new church organ. A familiar name in the local section was that of Levi Broas who built a new addition to his farmhouse at the head of Broas street and that “those who know Mr. Broas’ way of doing things will anticipate a fine thing in style and finish.” News of a recent tragedy announced that a young man named Miller whose parents hailed from Fallasbourg, ” was accidentally shot a few days since” and that his internment had been “the Sunday past.” He had been working away from home when the accident occurred (3).

Some more positive news states that Belding had a Literary Club and well-known Elocutionist (a literary reader) Miss Georgia Gates performed some classical readings for a small party of guests who were impressed and well entertained. Also, an announcement mentioned was the successful Strawberry and Ice Cream Festival run by the Ladies Mite Society of The Christian Church that included such festivities as Croquet. Guests had been encouraged “to stay as long as they please.” They had invited everyone to attend (4).

Two gentlemen by the names of Professor J.H. Pixley and S. M. Grannis who were known all over the state to be excellent musicians entertained the “Beldingites.” On the farm of H.H. Belding and maintained by Mr. S. Case the paper announced, that the from the cattle raised there farmers produced cream in the “Cooley Creamer”, and then directly shipped the cream to Chicago at the price of twenty cents per pound. This was a good business exchange for the town and worth noting (5).

Advertisements in the paper show that the city provided transportation in town by way of a horse-car. This car connected folks with the D.L. & N.R.R. and brought mail to and from the town (6).

The first new newspaper in Belding shows the attitudes folks had about their town and how they felt about community. Sharing good and bad news surely brightened folks’ days when they read the information presented there. Even though there is no newspaper today for the city of Belding, the town still shares information through social networks online and by word of mouth. They continue to show support for their fellow citizens and ensuring everyone is included in the town activities which are created to enrich lives and bring prosperity.


1. E. Mudge and L.E.Kendall, eds. Belding Home News, (Belding, 1879), 1.

2. Ibid, 2.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.; The History of Jasper County, Missouri: Including a Condensed History of the State, a Complete History of Carthage and Joplin, Other Towns and Townships … (Mills & Company, Des Moines, Iowa, 1883), 287. Accessed November 12, 2016). This page lists Georgia Gates living in Carthage Missouri that proves she did indeed exist.

5. Ibid, 3.

6. Ibid.

President Lincoln Addresses Two Critical Issues in 1863

President Abraham Lincoln

During the Civil War and in the summer of 1863 the fighting between the Northern and Southern parts of the United States was closing in on a climax of death and destruction. At the time President Lincoln faced two particular problems with the situation. First, how to end slavery and second how to keep the ranks of the Union Army from becoming depleted. After considerable thought, he chose a solution for both problems: an emancipation proclamation and a wartime draft.

Emancipation Proclamation

The proclamation itself focused solely on ending slavery by making it illegal in the United States. It did not give enslaved Blacks the full freedom that White Americans enjoyed. One reason for this is that Lincoln favored buying time for the South to come to terms with the new law,  and to gradually allow Black slaves an opportunity to choose a life for themselves once freed. Both Northern and Southern Americans had conflicting views on slavery as a whole, but the majority of all cared little for slaves once free and even disliked their assimilation into American society even more. Perhaps Lincoln felt by allowing a slow progression of this adaptation, a change that might prove easier to adapt to for all.

Draft Poster

The wartime draft allowed an unlimited supply of able-bodied men, either age between 25 and 35 or between ages of 35 and 45 depending on their marital status, to serve in the Union Army by way of a lottery system. The lottery system was a recruitment tool used to draft individuals and not just sweep any and all men that qualified. It was meant to be a fair system. However, if you were wealthy you could get out of the draft by paying a bit of cash. This was hardly fair to those of lower income classes who never stood one chance to dodge the draft. Many folks in New York also perceived this solution as particularly federally intrusive to their lives. It  increased focus on slavery politically as three groups vied for their attention on the national stage: the New York Democrats which included Irish migrant workers, Republicans who remained neutral on the topic of slavery and Abolitionists who vigorously rallied the public support for the end of slavery with marches and speeches.  Finally, it incited anger with the White male working population who felt the law was tipped unfairly toward them by favoring Blacks and immigrants to whom the draft law did not even apply.

Political Cartoon depicting effect of Draft Riot and Emancipation Proclamation

These groups clashed in July with deadly consequences. On the 13th, the day of the draft lottery, violence erupted, as tempers grew out of control. Working class men began attacking the very people they felt the federal government aimed to support in the draft. They attacked Irish immigrant workers naive of the American justice system. They attacked Blacks: women, children and elderly. These victims were easy targets and could not defend themselves because they did not have the same right within the law as White Americans. Another reason rioters targeted African Americans was because of their progression toward upward mobility. For example, they destroyed a black-owned orphanage, a  business created for the sole purpose of Blacks helping Blacks. These institutions’ did not interfere with White society, so why was this threatening? Perhaps the upward mobility by free or freed Blacks was a threat politically to Democrats and a reason for them to publicly protest the Republicans and the government itself.

Lincolns two solutions did affect the United States significantly, but it did not unify the nation, as he had desired. To quell the riot and fighting federal troops were ordered in to control crowds, establish curfew and authority and, bring order to the city. The draft stayed, and the anger and rage lingered on for years to come. Tensions increased between ethnic groups and whites. Now the country was not only divided by north and south but between race and ethnicity as well.

Some White citizens did support African Americans and came to their defense to try and fight back against or protect them from violence. However, there were too few of these groups to make a difference. No one directed their attention to the political systems in place that seems to incite further racial problems between different ethnicity in New York at the time.

The Draft Riots remains a spot of contention within the history of the United States as a nation. What has yet to be determined is why the nation focused more on the government to end the war and bring peace and less focus on ending racial tensions and bringing the nation together racially and ethnically.


References used:

The New York City Draft Riots of 1863

New York Draft Riots

Four Days of Fire: The New York City Draft Riots



African-American Woman Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman, via Wikipedia.



Development of the American Pharmacy Part 2








detroit images





(3) Sonnedecker, 6.

Development of the American Pharmacy














2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., x.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid., xi.


Conserve, Re-use, Recycle

People at tea in the Victorian Age. A way to show off social status.

Our current time is full of creativity and innovation. One area we see this is by sharing ideas of conservation, reuse and recycling to preserve and protect our precious metals and environment. This is not new really but seems to be a pattern in history. As people evolved throughout the centuries and in their societies, they found ways to improve their daily lives. Conservation seen progressively shows these changes. Each generation finds a problem that is likely to affect future generations and they set about to solve it. People used creative thinking and a bit of tinkering to provide solutions for theirs and future generations while at the same time preserving their heritage. They passed the information down and this is important because in our time when we struggle with something we look to the past to see what worked and what did not. We then discover starting points for new areas to consider. Still, it is interesting to gauge change over time by looking at how much ideas have evolved. This leads to the wonder of what kinds of things helped to form the ideas for change. Some would say that people of the past were unskilled or un-knowledgeable. This may be true in some cases and in others, it can be judging them because we fail to take into consideration of how people lived, their environment and how much or how little inspiration for ideas they might have had. The outcome just might be that people in the past were as smart as we are today, or even had a little more advanced intellect.

417 - Victorian Dresser Set with Brush, Mirror, cut glass Hair Receiver & Pin holder
Two containers pictured to the right were used to store hair from brushes and combs.

In the Victorian Era, it was common for conservation, re-use and recycle. Women and girls, for example, re-used their hair, fallen out in brushes and combs, to create beauty or for other household uses. Men repaired and rebuilt broken dishes or other items of daily use. People conserved, reused and recycled porcelain dinner plates carefully and tenderly mended them not by tape or glue (a modern convenience) but by stapling metal pieces into them thus holding them together. Men shaved broken areas to create a new pattern or look that was unique to each family. In the Victorian Age, uniqueness was a status symbol for which individuals and families could be proud.

Broken plate that is repaired using string and metal staples.

Like Nancy Feldbush, says in her published article in the monthly magazine of the Michigan Historical Society’s, Chronicle…“The next time you visit a museum with household items, keep an eye out for this wonderful historical sample of conservation at its “greenest.” (1)

I certainly will. I have seen plates like this before in museums, but I thought they were just preserved that way by museum staff. Now when I observe the plates I can imagine further what kind of status symbol it was for the family. I will wonder how much importance this piece was to the many lives that touched them.

Reference used:

(1) Nancy Feldbush, Historical Tidbits: A Riveting Tale of Conservation, ” in Chronicle: 37, no. 3 (Fall 2014) :10.

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