Mary Rasch Alt - Alpine Township

In this early photograph of Cranberry Lake, only trees can be seen, no homes. On the plat map of 1876, the W. D. Moody farm was on the north side of the lake. The N. Armock and J. H. Card farms were on the south side of the lake.

Every settler who came to establish a farm in the earliest days of Alpine Township had to clear the forest. It was heavy work to cut and haul the lumber. When a photographer stopped this sleigh from the Courtade property, all workers jumped on board after making this pyramid of wood.

These loads show how large the trees were that were taken out of Alpine Township. One can hardly imagine loading these huge logs and then have only two horses pull them to their destination. The Courtade family, like many others, sold loads of lumber to builders in Grand Rapids and Chicago.

It is said that Michigan lumber built Chicago twice. Chicago was rebuilt after the great fire of 1871. On the Cranmer farm, they are debarking the logs with this equipment.

Richard English had one of the lumber mills in Alpine Township. He employed many men at his mill in 1888. Strong horses were needed to work with the men. Big wheels on the wagon must have helped move a heavy load.

The village of Englishville was formed as Richard English gave his workers wood and property to build their homes. After trees were cut, debarked, and split, the wood was stacked to age. Note how, in this 1888 photograph, the wood is placed so that air can circulate to dry the wood.

Winifred English, daughter of Richard English, is the young girl on the far left, standing in front of the woodpile. She married Julius Joseph Erhart on April 3, 1897. The cooks for the lumber camp stand behind her in this 1889 photograph. The workers on the right stand with the tools of their trade.

Solomon Wrights home was the first wood-framed house built in Alpine Township. This house became the Wright/Wilson home in 1873 when Helen, the daughter of Solomon and Mary Wright, married Albert Wilson. This farm is now Gracewil Country Club Golf Course, located at Four Mile Road and Walker Avenue. Solomon was at the organizational meeting of neighboring Wright Township. He was the oldest person in attendance and agreed to let them use his name for the township.

Adam Antor came to America, arriving in New York on July 26, 1850, on the ship Marathon at the age of 28. He had come from Obermoellrich, Bavaria, Germany. In 1854, Antor married Dorothy Day Albert in Ohio. He moved his family to Alpine Township around 1864.

Dorothy Day (Albert) Antor gave her husband five children: William, Albert, Mary, Margaret, and John. William married Josephine Rothenthaler; Albert married Elizabeth Rusche, then he married Rosa Krupp; Mary married Joseph Fleet; Margaret married George Miller; and John married Helena Heinbeck.

Elisha T. Brown married Laura Brodish. They bought 80 acres of land on section 29 in Alpine Township. When they purchased the land there was not even a footpath through the woods. Their first house on the property was 20 feet wide by 26 feet long. It would be added on to and lived in for 28 years. They had five children: Julia, Francis, George, Martha, and J. Warren.