The first permanent settler was Ebenezer Davis, who arrived in June, 1836.

Local tradition awards to Edwin Ellis the honor of being the first settler in Tuscola.

This honor is of too doubtful importance to warrant any controversy, and yet if the distinction is worth of any consideration, it is deserving of accuracy. If the title to the honor of being the first permanent settler in this county is closely analyzed it will be found to belong to the late Ebenezer Davis. Mr. Ellis came, as already stated, in December 1835, and remained until the summer of 1837, when he went to Saginaw and did not again takeup his residence in Tuscola until 1840.

Ebenezer Davis and family arrive in Tuscola in June, 1836, and remained here until his death. About the time of Mr. Davis' arrival the people who were here left, and during the following three months, Mr. David family were the only white people in the county. Mr. James H. Davis, a son of Ebenezer Davis, who came with his parents, is still a resident of Tuscola.

The first birth was that of Ellen, daughter of Ebenezer Davis.

The first death, that of Adaline, daughter of Dennis Harrison.

The first marriage, Sarah, daughter of Dennis Harrison, to Nelson Hurd, of Pine Run. The ceremony was solemnized by Lovira Hart, Esq.

The first school was taught by R. L. Hurd. The first school district was organized in 1839. To effect this Lovira Hart walked to Lapeer and back, a distance of about seventy miles, following an Indian trail. The first school-house was built that year by Dennis Harrison, and a school taught by Jerusha Harrison, then Lee. The old school-house is still standing on the bank of the river at the lower end of the village.

The first sermon was preached at the house of Dennis Harrison in 1839 by Rev. Mr. Whitwan, an Englishman and a brick mason by trade. He traveled on foot and always carried a gun.

The first physician in the county who regularly attended upon a patient was Dr. Fish, of Flint. The first resident physician in Tuscola was Dr. Wm. Johnson, now of Vassar.

The first lawsuit was tried before Lovira Hart.

The first grist-mill in the county was built about 1841 on Perry Creek by Alfred Holmes.

The first fanning-mills were brought from the State of New York by Lovira Hart, about the year 1840. They were brought from Bridgeport in a skiff, one at a time.

The first postmaster was Ebenezer Davis, and his son James H. Davis was the first mail carrier, the route being from Bridgeport to Tuscola. This was in 1846 or 1847.

The first frame dwelling was erected by R. C. Ripley in the year 1842, and is still standing.

The first tannery was built by R. C. Ripley, in 1842-43, where the woolen-mill now stands in the village of Tuscola. He also built the first saw-mill on Cass River.

The first frame barn in the county was built in the year 1840, by Dennis Harrison, and is now the property of William Harrison, in the village of Tuscola.

The only citizens of Tuscola who went to Lapeer to vote were Lovira Hart, Dennis Harrison, E. W. Perry and S. H. Downs.

The first mail ever brought into the county was in December, 1835. Edwin Ellis, R. L. Hurd, and Charles Hayes had just arrived, and Martin L. Miller had come out to look at land. They wanted their mail, and Mr. Miller said if they would furnish him a pair of skates, he would go to Saginaw and bring it. They got the skates and Mr. Miller made the journey on ice, and brought up the desired letters.

From a memorandum in E. W. Perry's old account book would seem that Charles Hayes was the first tailor in the county. The memorandum, made in 1836, reads as follows: Charles Hayes lost one day, while making his pantaloons."

The first event which had a bearing upon the future destiny of Tuscola County, was the clearing of the Cass River, thereby opening its channel for the logging operations of subsequent years. The flood-wood in the river had collected into five formidable dams, which completely obstructed passage. The early settlers were subjected to great hardship on account of these, as at each one the canoe would have to be unloaded, and both canoe and cargo transported over the flood-wood. These obstructions had been increasing in magnitude for years, and perhaps centuries. The legislature of the State had offered to pay the sum of $1,000 for clearing the river, but no one would undertake it. After Mr. E. W. Perry purchased the interests of his partners in the saw-mill, he determined to open a channel to float his lumber down the river. Considering the extent of his means, it was a gigantic undertaking, but about the year 1839, he succeeded in clearing the channel of the river, having expended about $1,500. The importance of this enterprise has never been fully realized. In pine regions lumbering always precedes agriculture. The Cass River was skirted with the finest cork pine in the world, and, until it was lumbered, there would be no general progress in agriculture. There could be no lumbering until the obstructions in the Cass River were removed. In doing this, Mr. Perry achieved the first great triumph for progress in the county, and made it possible for North & Edmunds, to inaugurate an era of general development ten years later. Mr. Perry never received but a small portion of the amount he expended in this enterprise. It has, however, connected his name with the growth and prosperity of the county.