Produced
in advance of the 2021 150th anniversary of
both Presque Isle County and Rogers City, MOLITOR:
The Murder of a Northern Michigan King is the story
of Albert Molitor, the man most responsible for the
founding of both the county and city.
In 1875, he was murdered by a large group of farmers
from the area around Rogers City, but it took sixteen
years before anyone was charged with the crime.
“Everything about the murder was a little bizarre,” says
author Mark Thompson.“There were 15
local men involved in killing Molitor, almost all of
whom were hard-working, God-fearing farmers from the
surrounding area.There were 13 in
the actual ‘murder squad’ that came into town to kill
him on the evening of August 23, 1875.That’s fairly unusual as murders go, but even
more unusual is the fact that while evidence suggests
that a couple of Boy Scouts working on ‘crime
prevention’ merit badges could probably have rounded up
at least a few of the guilty party before the sun came
up the day following the murder, nobody was charged with
the crime for 16 years.The whole
affair was sort of frontier justice at its worst.”
Thompson says that he is particularly proud of the
amount of new information included in the book,
especially from European sources.He
credits a group of “avid amateur genealogists” who
formed a closed Facebook group to help him track down
information from government agencies, churches, and
other sources, mainly in Germany.The
group included Julian Hoppe, Christopher Paul, Tammy
Szatkowski Reeves, and Brad Tadajewski, all natives of
the area.Christopher Paul’s mother
Lisa, a native of Germany, also aided in translating a
lot of the documents.“All I had to
do was put my questions on the Facebook site and they
would go to work,” said Thompson.
“They were able to find answers to a lot of questions
that were previously unanswered.”
The
Molitor book is the eleventh in the museum’s Local
History Book Series that was started in 2006 by Thompson
and the late James Hopp.It is
available for $20 in the museum gift shop in the Hoffman
Annex, across the street from the Bradley House, at
Radio Shack in Rogers City, or online at
www.thebradleyhouse.org.All proceeds
from the sale of the book go to fund the museum’s
programs and activities.
Now available in the Gift Shop
$20.00
or
order online $20.00 + $6.65
shipping!
Early Histories of:
Hagensville • Hawks • Metz
Millersburg • Onaway • Posen
Also Including:
Providence • Polaski • Case
Liske • Ocqueoc • Orchard
Bunton • Hurst • Crow Dam
They were all lumber
towns during the last years of Michigan’s great lumber boom. Some
were small settlements; some were large. For most of these inland
settlements, their prosperity was dependent not just on the forests, but
on the Detroit & Mackinac Railway.
Most were “boom towns.”
Like shooting stars they emerged from virtual obscurity and flashed into
prominence almost overnight. Unfortunately, their lights dimmed
almost as fast.
When the speculators...and the
lumberjacks...and the failed business owners left, it was the stalwart
farmers who allowed the communities to survive.
While a few
became ghost towns, most still exist, but in a dramatically altered
state, their “golden years” now generations in the past.
Now available in the Gift Shop $20.00
or
order online $20.00 + $6.65 shipping!
The Museum Store
"Almost an
Island"
A New Local History Book By Gerald Micketti & Mark Thompson
•
The Real Story of the
Founding of Rogers City
•The Most Complete
Story of the Murder of the Notorious Albert Molitor,
the Self-Appointed “King of Presque Isle County”
• Stories of the Ghost Towns of Bell, Thompson’s Harbor,
Crawford’s Quarry, Spensville, Clay Banks, Hammond, and Grace
Price: $20.00 Plus Shipping : $6.65
in the continental U.S.
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Michigan Historical Society award winner
"Calcite and the Bradley Boats
"
A Pictorial History
Centennial Edition
By Gerald Micketti and Mark Thompson
In
celebration of the 100th anniversary
of the start of production at
Calcite and the launching of Steamer Calcite,
local historians Jerry Micketti
and Mark Thompson have teamed up to produce the
definitive history of the
Calcite Plant and the Bradley Transportation
fleet. In text and photos, they
trace the history of Calcite from the
incorporation of Michigan Limestone &
Chemical Co. in 1910 to the plant’s recent
purchase by Carmeuse Lime & Stone. Much
of the material in the book has never appeared
in print before,
including insider details from the early days of
the company that were gleaned
from minutes of the corporation’s Board of
Directors. The text is profusely
illustrated with historic photos, primarily from
Calcite’s own massive
photographic collection, now in the historical
museum’s collection.
Anyone with
ties to Calcite, the Bradley boats, or the
Rogers City area
will want this book in their collection.
The book is based on 21 tape recordings that
Grambau made between
1994 and his death in 1997. Grambau was a
native of Rogers City who
earned a teaching degree at Michigan State
College and returned to his
hometown to teach. In 1944, he was appointed
high school principal and
in 1950 he became Superintendent of Schools. He
held that position until
his retirement in 1973. An inveterate local
historian, Grambau’s tapes
recounted his memories of growing up in the
Rogers City area and provide
many unique insights into the history of the
community. To publish the
book, Hopp and the staff of the Presque Isle
County Historical Museum
spent a year editing a transcript of the tapes
and adding illustrations to the
text.
NOW IN A BOUND VERSION WITH THE
ORIGINAL NINA FERDELMAN LETTER!
"Virgin
Forest to Modern Homes"
A History of Rogers City, Michigan, 1870-1947
Simply the best early history of
Rogers City. What makes it
remarkable is that it was written in 1947 by
Mrs. Nina Ferdelman’s
7th grade class. Based on interviews
of early residents, the book
contains fascinating stories from the early
history of our community.
142 pages. 89 illustrations.
Nothing better captures the
horrors of the Metz Fire than the words of
Pastor
Ernest Thieme of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church:
“Sunday,
I buried, at one funeral service, ten of the
members of our church who died in the fire. It
was a
strange worship service, which I conducted with
a loudly
sobbing congregation alongside a church in
ashes,
conducted over open graves. I never experienced
such
despair in my whole life. At first, I could not
even begin.
I leaned against a lonely standing fence post
and wept,
perhaps the first time since I was a child.”
Rogers City: It First 100 Years by
the Rogers City Centennial Committee
1903 Plat Book
of Alpena, Presque Isle and Montmorency Counties
Local and Regional
History Publications
Millersburg United Methodist Church
Village of
Millersburg Centennial Book
Mail by the
Pail (Children)
Eight
Steamboats
Copper-Toed
Boots (Children)
Paddle to the
Sea (Children)
Tin Stackers,
a History of the Pittsburgh Steamship Fleet
Iron Fleet,
Great Lakes Shipping During World War II
Freshwater Fury,
the Best Account of the Great Storm of 1913
Deep Woods
Frontier (Children)
Legend of
Michigan (Children)
The Cedarville
Conspiracy
Great Lakes
Bulk Carriers, a Complete Guide to All the Bulk
Freighters Built on the Great Lakes, 1869-1985
Black November,
the Sinking of the Steamer Carl D. Bradley
Historical Photos
We carry a large
selection of historical photos from the museum’s various
photographic collections. We carry photos of all of the
ships of the Bradley Fleet, the
Great Lakes Fleet, and most other fleets that have
employed sailors from our area. If you
don’t find a photo of the ship you’re looking for in our
collection, we can get one for you!
These make great gifts for the sailors and former
sailors in your family.
Many photos from The Calcite Collection are available
for purchase. Included is
a series of photos that includes images of all the
“company houses” on Lake Street,
First Street, Second Street, Tank Addition, Woodward,
and Ira.
We
are in the process of adding many photos by Ferris
Parsons to our gift
shop inventory. Included are numerous photos of
confirmation classes, first
communion groups, school classes and activities, service
clubs, church events
and activities throughout Presque Isle County. Look
through the photos, you may
find a picture of yourself!
Other Items
“I Went to the
Old Yellow School” T-Shirts
“Bradley
House—Presque Isle County Historical Museum”
T-Shirts
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