Taken from, "The History of Tuscola County," H. R. Page, Co., Chicago, 1883. Transcribed by Bonnie Petee.

Postoffice

The name of the postoffice is May, it having never been changed. The "ville" was added when the village arrived at a christening age. Arthur Veitch has been postmaster since March, 1876, when he succeeded his father, John Veitch.

Mr. Crittenden was appointed postmaster of Mayville, July 19, 1865, and kept the office in the new building finished a week or ten days after he received his commission.  He had no drawers, no boxes, no case.  For all intents and purposes he might have carried his mail in his hat.  His salary was munificent, and together with perquisites amounted to $9.50 per quarter.  The mail was carried by a Mr. Pierson, who carried it every Thursday from Piersonville through May to Vassar and return.  It is sad to relate we had no money order office then, postal cards or narrow gauge railway.  We did not pay for lock boxes, and as a sequence did not have to pay for a lock if we lost the key.  The mail was carried on horseback, and no vehicle was used for years afterwards.

May Mills

In 1875 Cornelius Kealand build a grist and saw-mill in the village of Mayville, which, in 1876, he sold to the present proprietor, Allison L. Bryant. In 1877 Mr. Bryant added a shingle-mill to the establishment. The grist-mill has three run of stones, and has a capacity of forty barrels per day, of ten hours. It is a custom and merchant mill. The saw mill has a capacity of 20,000 feet per day, and cuts a considerable amount of hardwood lumber, such as maple, oak, cherry, birch, ash, etc. The shingle-mill will cut 20,000 per diem. Run by steam power.

Bryant & Fox’s Elevator

Bryant and Fox's Elevator was built in 1882 by Bryant & Fox, and is alongside of the track of the Saginaw branch of the Port Huron & Northwestern Railroad, in the village of Mayville.  It has a capacity of 2,500 bushele, which can easilly be increased to 7,000 or 8,000 bushels.

Religious Incorporations

The county records show the following religious societies to have been incorporated in the town of Fremont:

At a quarterly conference held in the Dayton and Kingston circuit October 16, 1869, the following persons were duly elected as trustees to be called "The Trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in the village of Mayville." viz: Nelson Cody, John Keefe, William Frend, William Choate, Harris Shepard and George Richards, of the town of Fremont; A. D. Hardy and John McKay, of the town of Dayton, Tuscola County, and Lewis Wilcox, of the town of Rich, Lapeer County.

Articles of association having been entered into and a constitution adopted for the "Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paulus" in Fremont Township, "the male persons of full age belonging to a church and society in which divine worship is celebrated according to the rites of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the United States" met at St. Paulus Church, "where the congregation of St. Paulus had statedly met before," and elected three tustees, viz: Conrad Weller, Frederick Blasins and Peter Brier.

January 9, 1879, articles of association and incorporation, constitution and by-laws were adopted for the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Church and Congregation of Fremont Township, and at an election at which the Rev. John Hass presided; Conrad Weiler, Sr., John Muntz, Sr., and William Ellwanger were elected trustees.

At a meeting held in Randall’s Hall in the village of Mayville January 19, 1878, for the purpose of organizing a religious society to be known as the Baptist Society of Mayville, articles of association were adopted and the following trustees elected, viz: William Turner, Isaiah Crandall, Aaron B. Randall, Jacob Harris, W. B. Curtis, James B. Crosby and Eli Brooks.

School Matters

From the annual school report of the town of Fremont for the year ending September 4, 1882, the following facts are obtained: Directors for the ensuing year, A. Veitch, John Haas, F. H. Kitchen, Henry Knibbs, Gustavus A. Frenzel, S. B. Hovey and John Barron. There are five whole and two fractional districts, with six frame and one log school-house. Number of children of school age, 501; attending school during the year, 407.

JUNIATA

This place is a station on the Port Huron & Northwestern Railroad, and is situated in the western part of the town of Fremont. There are a saw-mill and postoffice, the principal business being the shipping of ties and bark.

July 1998