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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 AN EXPLORATION OF SEVERAL EARLY MICHIGAN COUNTY FAIRS AS COMMUNITY ARTS ORGANIZATIONS OF THE 1850s, 1860s, AND 1870s Volume I By Julie Ann Avery A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Arts and Letters Interdisciplinary Program 1992 ABSTRACT AN EXPLORATION OF SEVERAL EARLY MICHIGAN COUNTY FAIRS AS COMMUNITY ARTS ORGANIZATIONS OF THE 1850s, 1860s, AND 1870s By Julie Ann Avery To date the early county fair has not been recognized for its role as a community arts organization. During the last half of the nineteenth century the county fair was often the only place where area residents could view a collection of creative works. This artwork spanned a broad spectrum of creative endeavor from needlework to photography and painting. Through the fairs, individual successes in the arts were acknowledged, and community standards were both reflected and created. The county fairs of this study sought and encouraged quality in the arts through their activities and were often the only community based agency facilitating involvements in the visual arts. Through four county case studies, the agricultural societies, their fairs, and the cultural life of these remote communities are explored during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. St. Joseph County, Ionia County, the Grand Traverse region, and Ontonagon County were selected based upon the numbers of occupied farms reported to the census, and to represent the state geographically. The history and development of the agricultural fair in America, and the cultural life available in these remote, rural communities are discussed. These early fairs are reexamined in light of the purpose and goals of contemporary community arts agencies. Primary data for this exploratory study was gathered through the weekly newspapers of the period. These early county agricultural societies viewed themselves as leading their communities towards the future. The fair was an inclusive, democratic agency involving a true cross section of the community. The discovery and recognition of quality was the predominant reason for competitions at the fairs. Premiums rewarded the work of individuals and inspired individual and community pursuits. These activities both reflected and contributed to the aesthetic values of the community, and the inclusion of the arts spoke to their value in the life of the community. The creative activities at the fairs had a significant impact on the cultural life of the communities they served. In a surprising number of ways, the activities of these early county fairs parallel the contemporary work of today’s community arts agencies. Copyright by JULIE ANN AVERY 1992 V Dedicated to Charlie Kimes & the Js vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many individuals—colleagues, friends, professors, and family— have contributed significantly towards this accomplishment. From each of their different disciplines, my guidance committee posed questions and offered reactions throughout this process. Thank you, Professors C. Kurt Dewhurst, Sadayoshi Omoto, David C. Ralph, and Frank Rutledge, for your support and assistance; and also to Conrad Donakowski for your observations. Your interest in my concerns, and the ‘broad view’ was most appreciated. Several historians and researchers contributed in numerous ways from their areas of expertise: Val Roy Berryman, Sue Husband, Ilene Schechter, Peg Siciliano and David Tinder. Susan Burack, Judi Dow, Jessie Kimes, Frank Lee, and Stephen Stier read and observed and provided the opportunity for valuable discussion. Lucian Parshall and Denise Smith offered technical assistance, and the “Z” made the process much easier. Jennie Kimes, my sister with the ‘grammar genes,’ was a wonderful editor. The ongoing encouragement and support of my family and friends was crucial. Appreciation is also felt for the encouragement and influence of Douglas Cameron and Barbara Carlisle; and especially for my Dad, who asked me to think about what I really wanted to do. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1 METHODOLOGY 7 PART I - THE BACKGROUND Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 18 Community Arts Today: A Window to the Past Arts in the Community: 1850-1900 The American County Fair Chapter 3 THE MICHIGAN COUNTY FAIR NETWORK 67 First Fairs Arts At the Fairs PART II - CASE STUDIES PREFACE TO THE CASE STUDIES 109 Chapter 4 ST. JOSEPH COUNTY 113 Chapter 5 IONIA COUNTY 171 Chapter 6 THE GRAND TRAVERSE REGION 255 Chapter 7 ONTONAGON COUNTY, MICHIGAN 326 PART III - CONCLUSION Chapter 8 CONCLUSION 353 viii APPENDICIES A - MUSEUM & HISTORICAL SOCIETY SURVEY 373 B - COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY SURVEY 382 C - OTHER ITEMS LOCATED 387 D - MUSICAL MATTERS 389 E - IONIA BAND TO PRO BONO PUBLICO 392 F - STATEWIDE REPRESENTATION, FORMATION OF STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 395 G - OTHER FAIRS AND THE ARTS BIBLIOGRAPHY 397 402 ix List o f Tables 1 Occupied Farms in Region One 9 2 Occupied Farms in Region Two 10 3 Occupied Farms in Region Three and Four 11 4 Date of Organization of Agricultural Societies 61 5 Distribution of Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, 1858 65 6 Distribution of Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, 1868 66 7 Overview Progress: Annual Fairs—St. Joseph County Agricultural Society 170 8 Occupied Farms and Population in Ionia County 173 9 Population for Ionia County Villages 173 10 Overview Progress: Annual Fairs—Ionia County Agricultural Society 254 11 The Union Society’s Growth 289 12 Overview Progress: Annual Fairs—Grand Traverse Region Agricultural Societies 325 13 Population Statistics: Ontonagon County 328 X List o f Figures 1 Michigan Map: Four Parallel Regions of Study 6 2 Model Data Collection Schedule -- Each Decade 14 3 Piano Popularity in the Nineteenth Century 43 4 Founding Dates-Early Michigan County Agricultural Societies 76 5 Standing Scrap-bags and a Toilet-basket 83 6 Fret-work Scroll Saw Advertisement 85 7 Cross in Perforated Card Board Work 88 8 Cone-work Frame and Acorn Leaf 94 9 Leather-work Flower Patterns and Picture Frame 96 10 Moss-work Frame 97 11 Skeleton Leaf Design for a Glass Shade 99 12 Soatter-work Design 100 13 Tools and Molds for Waxwork 101 14 St. Joseph County, 1877 113 15 Residence of George I. Crossette 119 16 Photograph Gallery Wagon 121 17 Crayon Painting Advertisement 123 18 Crossette’s Constantine Band 130 19 The Flower Queen Programme 134 20 The Constantine Lecture Association Schedule 138 21 Season Ticket, Twenty-Fifth Fair, 1876 149 xi 22 Ionia County Map, 1881 171 23 H. W. Boozer’s The Union School House. 1866 177 24 Tucker and Baroth Advertisement 180 25 Musical Convention Announcement, 1869 183 26 Broadside for 1866 Concert 184 27 Broadside for 1874 Musical Institute Concert 185 28 S. C. Cornell - India Ink Artist 190 29 Ionia’s New Bandshell 196 30 206 1868-1869 Course of Lectures, Young Men’s Association 31 Comparison of Premium Categories, 1870—1874 225 32 Combined Grounds: Driving Park Association and the Ionia County Agricultural Society 228 33 H. W. Boozer's Photographs of Ionia 239 34 Creative Arts Categories - Progression and Change 241 35 Poster: The Annual Fair--1873 245 36 Grand Traverse Region, 1873 255 37 County Evolution in the Grand Traverse Region 258 38 Fourth Annual Fair Announcement 300 39 Poem: Come to the Fair 305 40 Pioneers of Traverse City 310 41 Charles Kroupa and Crucifix 319 42 Grand Traverse Regional Fair Grounds, 1908 320 43 Entertainment Programme of 1869 337 44 Entertainment Programme of 1870 338 45 Me Manus Brothers Photography Tent 365 46 Exhibits in Grange Hall "At the Fair," Bariyton, Michigan 367 47 Coulbum Family at Lunch in Floral Hall 397 INTRODUCTION The early county fair has not been widely recognized for its role as a community arts organization. During the last half of the nineteenth century, the county fair was often the only place where area residents could view a collection of creative works. These artworks covered a broad spectrum of creative endeavors including needlework, decorative works of wax and found objects (hair, shells, mosses, seeds), ornamental brackets and cushions, photography, drawings, and paintings. The importance of the county fair in advancing the agricultural interests of society is generally acknowledged for this time in America, when increasing self-sufficiency was a strong motivating factor. That these efforts included crops and livestock is well known, but the interests of the early agricultural societies also extended to domestic manufactures as well. The production of cloth, and especially wool, took the concerns from the farm into the home as well as the factories. At the earliest fairs, domestic manufactures were the products of the home and farm: foodstuffs, cloth and needlework, tools, and doors. These included quilts, hearth rugs, samplers, drawings of cattle, paintings of farm scenes, as well as adapted tools and home cabinets or toolboxes. 1 2 Through the fair, individual successes, as well as new techniques and methods, were shared and acknowledged. Farmers, their wives, and children were inspired and intrigued with what they saw, and went home to try something new or adapt their own techniques. Elkanah Watson, known as the “Father of the American Agricultural Fair," had created a new type of democratic agricultural society, which engaged the common farmer and acknowledged all aspects of his life. Watson was both a learned and traveled gentleman. He had done business on both sides of the ocean, privately and for the government; he was also a patron of the arts. He brought all these aspects of life into a new model for county agricultural societies. To make an impact, the fair had to truly engage the whole community, and this meant the farmer and his wife and all of their pursuits. Watson's first fairs included exhibits and awards across the range of agriculture and home arts. Men and women participated, and they learned and celebrated both agricultural and domestic achievements. Today the artistic community continues to expand the boundaries and definitions which explain art. We are accepting an expanded concept that real art can include more than just the museum or performed masterpieces. University and community professionals alike recognize the importance of accepting a broad range of creative efforts and extending access to the arts to all levels and races within our society. Even with the controversies concerning public funds and the arts and to the extent arts education should be a part of a total curriculum, attention to the arts is becoming more inclusive than exclusive. Since the late 1950s, community arts agencies throughout the country have been working to create access to a broad range of arts for all people. We acknowledge that the traditional dances, decoy carvings, and quilts of our ancestors are valuable, creative, and artistic endeavors that can be respected, enjoyed, and learned from, similar to a symphony performance or a sculpture. With this evidence of a willingness to reexamine and reevaluate the past and to expand for the future, it is interesting that the movement places its beginnings quite recently in time. Histories generally point to the first local community arts agencies in the late 1950s. The formation of the National Endowment for the Arts, in 1965, spurred the development of a national network of state and local community arts organizations. Earlier activities which foreshadowed and encouraged community arts activities included the Chautauqua of the late 1800s and early 1900s and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs in the 1930s which brought arts centers into many communities and murals into many post offices. However, both the established Chautauqua circuit and the WPA could be described as being imposed from without. Growing from within the community is, a characteristic of a true community arts agency. The early county fair, through a local board of directors or trustees, set its own course and was truly an indigenous reflection of the agricultural and domestic interests of its extended community. Though these fairs did receive encouragement from the state agricultural society, there were no directives from outside. The county fair was shaped by the community and its interests. While agricultural interests were primary, the arts were there from the beginning. They were embraced in the bylaws and competitive 4 categories and were evidenced by the items entered in exhibitions and by the enthusiasm generated by those items within the community. This is an exploratory study examining several Michigan county agricultural societies and their fairs during the 1850s, 1860s, and 1870s. Michigan educator Kenyon Butterfield, internationally recognized for his work promoting agricultural education, designated this period as the “Golden Age” of the agricultural fair. At this time, fairs were primarily educational activities. Exhibition and judging were core elements, with the awarding of premiums/prizes providing a method to recognize individual achievement. In order to cover the state geographically, for this study, Michigan has been divided into four parallel regions, as illustrated in Figure 1 at the end of this introduction. Three societies of the lower peninsula are examined. Case studies examine the cultural life of the time, the agricultural societies, and their fairs. Case studies are St. Joseph County, Ionia County, and the Grand Traverse Region. In the fourth area, Ontonagon County, in the Upper Peninsula, is examined, although not in as great detail. The cultural life of the community is addressed through the arts organizations and arts opportunities available to area citizens. Individual artists are not included unless they were active within the framework of a community arts organization or provided a service, e.g., painting or music lessons, to community members. Architects and photographers, for example, are included in some cases because of their entries and exhibitions at a fair or their work with community cultural organizations. Community literary and musical organizations and, sometimes, dramatic clubs were active within each of the communities of this study. With rare exception, the only opportunity for individual involvement in the visual arts within the community existed because of the county fair. The purpose of this study is to provide an arena within which to examine the early county fair and document it as a community arts organization as well as an agricultural one. Through the inclusion of a broad range of creative work, the fair filled a void that was not addressed by any other community agency. It may also become necessary for contemporary community arts professionals to look further back into their own past in order to capture an accurate picture of their history. The research has utilized the newspapers of the times as a resource which recorded the activities of community arts organizations, agricultural societies, and their fairs. 6 REGION 4 H oughtoi O ntonagon Luce G ogebic M arquette Alger Iron S choolcraft M ackinac D elta Emmet M enominet A lpena M ontm or­ ency REGION 3 O acoda M ason Lake O sceola O ladw in H uron M ecca ta Isabella M idland Bay New aygo DITATOV I nacoia M ontcalm G ratiot Genesee Lapeer C bnton Kent O akland Barry REGION 1 Van Buren C alhoun W ashtenaw B ranch B cm en Figure 1 Michigan Map: Four Parallel Regions of Study W ayne M onroe SL Q a ir Chapter 1 METHODOLOGY Identification of Focus Counties The first challenge of this study was to identify Michigan counties which were representative across the state and where early records were available. Michigan's more populated and metropolitan communities were eliminated from consideration. Attention was focused upon the more remote and rural regions of the state, in order to determine if the arts would appear as a part of the county fair activity outside of the influence of the more sophisticated population centers. Direct contacts with county fair agencies throughout the state provided very little historical information about the fairs of this period. Where organizational or fair histories existed, their information often did not reach back this far in time other than with a cursory mention of dates and dollars or premiums awarded. County histories published in the 1870s and 1880s often mentioned agricultural societies and fairs, giving brief overviews or interesting anecdotes. Period newspapers provided primary information about the fairs and the community life of the times. Because the fair was a prominent annual event, it received extensive coverage with more description and detail than other community or regional events. Editors themselves were often active in encouraging the formation and maintenance of the 7 agricultural society, and in encouraging citizen participation. Reports of the society business and progress were also extensively covered. Most cities of any significant size had newspapers during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In the 1960s the Michigan Newspapers on Microfilm Project of the State Library of Michigan identified these newspapers and coordinated a statewide effort to microfilm and preserve those that remained to ensure this source of historical information would not be lost. One of the most complete microfiche collections of Michigan's newspapers exists at the Library of Michigan, the state library agency. The major research and historical library collections in the state cooperated in this project, as well. These include the Bentley Historical Library, in Ann Arbor, and the libraries of Eastern Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. Population growth generally moved from Michigan's southern border to the north. Agricultural interests, one of the first activities of a newly populated area, also developed from the south to north. The emergence of agricultural societies and fairs followed in this pattern as well. The organization of societies in most southern tiers of counties began early in the 1850s. Further north, societies in the Grand Traverse Region began in the 1860s, and Upper Peninsula societies did not appear until the late-1860s and early 1870s. This pattern is also reflected by statistics gathered in early censuses which tallied the number of occupied farms per county. The period between 1850 and 1870 is considered the “Golden Age" of the agricultural fair. Early in this period the southernmost three or four tiers of Michigan counties had occupied farms. At about the center point in the lower peninsula, farming existed primarily along the west coast of the state at this time period . There were hardly any occupied farms reported in the census for the north-central and northeastern lower peninsula counties. Michigan's Upper Peninsula counties reported few occupied farms during this period. Charts reflecting the numbers of occupied farms in the counties of each region were constructed to aid in identifying focus counties. Figures were gathered from the 1850, I860, and 1870 censuses. Table 1 Occupied Farms in Region One (Sources: Statistics of Michigan in 1850. Compiled for the United States Census. (Lansing, 1861), 323-329. Statistics of the State of Michigan Compiled from the Census of I 860. (Lansing, 1861)310-318. Statistics of the State o f Michigan Collected for the Ninth Census of the United States. June 1. 1870. (Lansing, 1873) 274-278, cxvii.) Oakland Washtenaw Lenawee •Jackson Calhoun Livingston Wayne Branch Hillsdale St. Joseph Macomb Monroe Kalamazoo Ingham Cass Barry Eaton Berrien Van Buren Allegan 1870 1860 1850 3,559 2,546 2,471 9. 9.82 1,834 1,653 1,632 1,436 1,411 1,354 1,317 1,284 1,100 1,084 952 750 747 694 488 270 Oakland Lenawee Washtenaw Hillsdale Calhoun Jackson Wayne Macomb St. Joseph Branch Monroe Kalamazoo Allegan Cass Livingston Berrien Eaton Ingham Barry Van Buren 4,252 3,258 3,230 3.162 2,843 2,596 2,493 2,484 2.233 2,162 2,139 1,940 1,828 1,789 1,779 1,656 1,606 1,576 1,470 1,395 Lenawee Oakland Wayne Washtenaw Hillsdale Jackson Macomb Calhoun Kalamazoo Monroe Barry Van Buren Branch Livingston Ingham Berrien Eaton Allegan Cass St. Joseph 4,315 4,076 3,637 3,585 3,472 3,310 3,039 3,020 2,896 2,894 2,792 2,779 2,709 2,692 2,680 2,481 2,415 2,411 2,403 2,204 10 In Region 1, the most southern area of the state, all 20 counties had occupied farms in each of these years. Table 1 lists, by year, the count of occupied farms from highest to lowest. The numbers of occupied farms in Region 1 ranged from 270 to 3,559 in 1850. By 1870 the numbers had grown to between 2,204 and 4,315. Table 2 Occupied Farms in Region Two (Sources: See Table 1.) 1850 Genessee 1,476 885 Kent Shiawassee 746 652 Clinton 628 Lapeer 613 Ionia 204 Ottawa 88 Sanalac Saginaw 79 Montcalm 26 13 Tuscola 12 Newago 4 Midland Gratiot Huron Isabella Muskegon Oceana Mecosta Osceola Mason Bay Lake Clare Arenac Gladwin 1860 Kent Clinton Ionia Genessee Lapeer Ottawa Tuscola Shiawassee Saginaw Sanalac Gratiot Montcalm Muskegon Huron Newago Bay Isabella Oceana Midland Mason Mecosta Osceola Arenac Clare Gladwin Lake 1870 2,634 2,074 2,027 1,781 1,544 1,174 882 826 564 408 333 298 194 148 107 102 99 83 71 43 30 3 Kent Genessee Ionia Ottawa Clinton Shiawassee Montcalm Lapeer Gratiot Tuscola Sanalac Saginaw Huron Isabella Muskegon Newago Oceana Mecosta Osceola Mason Bay Midland Lake Clare Arenac Gladwin 4,065 3,568 3,168 2,904 2,600 2,328 1,878 1,877 1,764 1,637 1,511 1,322 1,079 881 526 516 487 469 349 310 271 185 40 13 11 In Region 2, as illustrated in Table 2, the numbers were much smaller; only 13 of the 27 counties had occupied farms recorded in the 1850 census, and this count ranged from 4 to 1,476. By the 1870 census there were still several counties that did not show occupied farms, but the figures had risen from 13 to 4,065. In the Upper Peninsula and the top third of the lower peninsula, this picture changed quite dramatically, as is illustrated by Table 3. Table 3 Occupied Farms in Regions Three and Four (Sources: See Table 1.) Region Three 1850 1860 1870 Alcona Alpena Antrim Benzie Charlevoix Cheboygan Crawford Emmet Grand Traverse 30 55 183 70 620 o r\ U V/ lU O tU Kalkaska Leelanau Manistee 1 Missaukee Montmorency Ogemaw Oscoda Otsego Presque Isle Roscommon Wexford 11 23 385 365 227 31 54 51 570 37 5 2 2 62 Region Four 1850 1860 1870 Alger Baraga Chippewa 48 Delta Dickinson Gogebic Houghton Keenaw Luce iv ia w n a ia w 1 A x *i Marquette Menominee Ontonagon Schoolcraft 43 16 56 14 25 89 15 Q u n AL> L J • * AAAAVA AL>L4 rAAAW TV» p proo+i'nn r \f L<