A History of Pickford Area Pioneer Families

The following pages are the complete text of A History of Pickford Area Pioneer Families 1973. The text is unaltered from the last update in 1973 and is presented on the internet for the first time. No update work has been attempted in recent years, but the door is open to anyone who wishes to.

This site is organized much in the same way the original book was, with a few exceptions. The book's chapters have been replaced with a hierarchical listing by topic. This system is intended to allow easy access to the material. One chapter, Historical Incidents Recalled, has remained in its linear form. This is due to the nature of the material, and will remain in this form until a more efficient method can be found.

Much work can still be done to update this site. In addition, there may still be spelling or formatting errors. Anyone wishing to update, correct, or contribute to this site is urged to email Daniel Morrison at ps00danm@student.eup.k12.mi.us. All help is welcome, and so are reports of any problems you encounter.

Contents of this site are offered to the public under the Open Content License and may be redistributed or republished under the terms of that license. More information about Open Content is available at Opencontent.org.

This site is the product of a Pickford FCCLA project undertaken by Wendy Galer and Daniel Morrison and assisted by Angie Mishler and Sara Ramsey. The project won a gold medal at the 1999 Michigan FCCLA State Leadership Conference.

INTRODUCTION

Shortly after the Civil War, in the year 1877, James Clegg, John Crawford, and William Gough came to a wooded, remote valley called Munuscong and picked spots to make their homes. They returned to Canada and upon returning next year, found that Charley Pickford had taken up residence on some of the land they had chosen. Thus, Charley Pickford gave his name to what was few years later a tiny cluster of frame buildings on a muddy street. Shortly after came the Taylors, Greens, Millers, Raynards, Bests, Wilsons, Quinnells, Harrisons, Ryes, Morrisons, Hannahs, and many others about whom you will read in the following pages.

Most of the names are still with the town and many descendants of these early pioneers still operate the business places, walk the same streets, and live on the same land as their hardy ancestors.

The Second Edition was published in 1960 by the Freshman Class.

This Third Edition of the history of the Pickford Area was undertaken to include, as much as possible, all the descendants of the original pioneer settlers. Although it may still be far from complete, it is hoped that it will preserve some of the early history of this area.

Most of the credit for this book should go to Mrs. Hannah Follis Graham who conceived the idea while teaching Michigan History to the Pickford Eighth Grade in 1957. She has worked many long hours completing this Second Edition in 1972.

The way Pickford was built was exactly the way the rest of America was built - - by muscle, sweat, and tears. The story of our town and its people is the story of America.

W. D. Morrison, Superintendent
Pickford Public Schools

A History of Pickford Area Pioneer Families

Table of Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION