2026.01

11 in

8-1/2 in

WILLIAM G. BUTLER, COMMISSION & FORWARDING MERCHANT In addition to being the first settler of Allegan County, a trader and storekeeper, William G. Butler was a commission & forwarding merchant. In partnership with John Griffith, Henry B. Hoffman and S. E. Mason, he purchased property at the mount of the Kalamazoo River for a warehouse, which they paid $728 for. I think, however, in an agreement with H. H. Comstock that they decided not to build at the mouth because it was Comstock's intent to build a warehouse there. In a letter dated May 8, 1834, Mr. Butler talked on contracting with a carpenter to build him a warehouse. This person was no doubt Joshua Weed, another early pioneer who came from Wayne County, Ohio. Butler sold him two lots in Saugatuck for $100 each, $20 more than he was getting for each lot. Butler was already exporting lumber and wheat as part of his business. That warehouse cost him $700, but one of the problems Butler faced was that great distance between the warehouse and the mouth of the river. This gave H. H. Comstock and his partner S. D. Nichols an advantage with their building right at the mouth of the river. A short trip over the sand bar and out to waiting schooners made their enterprise much more desirable. How did Butler handle this shortfall? In 1832 he had already built the sloop, Groton, which he used to carry goods down the river, around the oxbow and out to his customers. In the History of Allegan/Barry Counties, Michigan, p. 325, it states "William G. Butler sought to share the business controlled by Nichols, and early in 1835 built a warehouse on the riverbank, two miles from the mouth, but the location was a poor one, and the enterprise was substantially a failure." It was also the middle of a panic or depression.. I have always wondered where this warehouse might have been located.. We know it was on the river and that it was to be built at the lower end of his plat. This would have placed it at the north end of Water Street, the end of Lucy or on Gay Street which is now called Newnham Street. But, here is a mystery! If you look at just about any plat of Saugatuck, you will discover that the original plat had 244 lots. If you look closely, two lots are missing from the plat on those early maps. They are numbers 235 and 236 and I believe these two lots represent what was, at one time, Willow Park or Mosquito Park, whichever you prefer. This used to jut out into the river, but in recent years was eroded away by high water causing the loss of land and willows. Every time the water rose and over-ran its banks, it would flood that and of town and enter the sanitary system and you would see Don Bryan, supervisor of Public Works, with a pump, pumping the water into the lift station that would carry it away. This ended when Saugatuck built a new plant for sewage and Willow Park was reconstructed. It is only half of its original size; a high sand mound covered in rocks with a deck on it, and all the old willow trees are gone. I think Butler's first warehouse stood right there! In 1842, Butler decided to build another warehouse. This one was built at the mouth of the river across From Comstock & Nichols warehouse. So, 1841 marked the end of Mr. Butler's warehouse in Saugatuck. I'm fairly certain that it stood for some time, but was used for other things. A curious paradox occurred at a later time. The Comstock & Nichols warehouse at the mouth of the river, stood for the longest time. In 1847 when the Dutch arrived, they used it for living quarters where it held 60 people until they could get settled in Holland or neighboring areas. It would not surprise me if this was the beginning of Fishtown because Rs. A. C. VanRaalte sent colony members to the Kalamazoo River to learn to fish from the Americans. In 1860, John Shore bought the old warehouse and moved it up to Saugatuck and used it as a boat shed immediately north of the ferry crossing. In 1901, it was converted to the Tourists' Home Hotel with additions added and it burned in 1959 after 125 years of use! NEWARK NOTES AND QUOTES FROM 150 YEARS BY CHARLES J. LOREZ BY CHARLES J. LOREZ COPYRIGHT 1991