Washtenaw County’s supervisors had a busy October. They voted to start putting the dog tax right on the assessment roll and told the clerk to go collect a $1,000 pledge for the new courthouse clock. They also tallied up courthouse costs to date: a grand total of $82,153.10. (Yes, in 1879 dollars.)
Back in town, the week was anything but dull. Chelsea saw auctions “of every variety of goods,” even buggies, and a dust-up at a dog fight where a lady was knocked down—“nobody hurt,” the paper assures. The Chelsea Band went on a “musical spree,” serenading friends until nearly daylight.
Civic housekeeping popped up between the amusements. The post office published its list of unclaimed letters. If you were Ralph T. Watson or Mrs. F. Barber, your mail was waiting. The editor prodded the “City dads” to resume their meetings. Meanwhile, the marshal’s new “boarding house” (read “lockup”) had tramps suddenly “getting scarce.”
On the safety front, boys were warned to quit jumping onto Michigan Central trains after one teen was hauled before a justice and fined $5.20, no small sum for a stunt.
And for entertainment? A new dancing school was set to open Friday at Tuttle & Thomas’ Hall, with a full orchestra promised, plus an auction out by Lima Center on Saturday if you preferred livestock over waltzes.
Market note: wheat prices jumped; white wheat fetched about $1.28–$1.35 per bushel, news your average 1879 farmer watched as closely as we track gas prices.
Then as now, the week mixed budgets, bylaws, and a dash of small-town drama, with music drifting late into the night and everyone hoping the youngsters would quit doing dangerous things near the tracks.
👉 From the Chelsea Herald, October 23, 1879.
