The Escanaba Daily Press (Escanaba, Michigan) 23 January 1944, Sunday. Page 5:
When this country was new the Escanaba river was not the placid, dam confined ribbon of water today, but rather a stream that went on wild rampages when raging torrents of water claimed lives and destroyed property. Heavy rains in the fall of 1881 raised the river level to the highest point in the memory of then oldest inhabitant of this section. That unexpected freshet occurred when at a time when Benjamin Young, father of Bert and Ben Young, of Escanaba today, was engaged in the construction of the first bridge over the river and much damage was done to the uncompleted structure, in addition to claiming the life of one man.
The bridge for years in comparatively recent times was known as the "old state road" bridge and spanned the river at a point about two miles above the present Gladstone road bridge in Escanaba township.
Drowned In River
Mr. Young employed a large crew of men on the bridge and among them was his cousin, Benjamin Young, who came here from Canada to work on the job. When the crest of the river was at a record high for October, Mr. Young and two companions attempted to come down the stream on a raft. When the party reached Chandler's Falls, now the site of the Upper Pennnsula Power & Light Company's dam No. 3, the raft was broken up on the rocks and
Mr. Young was drowned in the raging waters almost instantly.
His two companions were finally saved, one of them after a frenzied effort that extended over 28 hours, by the crew of the N. Ludington Company's mill, then located at Flat Rock.
The body of Mr. Young was finally recovered and rests today in the Young family lot at Lakeview cemetery.
For more, see: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3959720//
When this country was new the Escanaba river was not the placid, dam confined ribbon of water today, but rather a stream that went on wild rampages when raging torrents of water claimed lives and destroyed property. Heavy rains in the fall of 1881 raised the river level to the highest point in the memory of then oldest inhabitant of this section. That unexpected freshet occurred when at a time when Benjamin Young, father of Bert and Ben Young, of Escanaba today, was engaged in the construction of the first bridge over the river and much damage was done to the uncompleted structure, in addition to claiming the life of one man.
The bridge for years in comparatively recent times was known as the "old state road" bridge and spanned the river at a point about two miles above the present Gladstone road bridge in Escanaba township.
Drowned In River
Mr. Young employed a large crew of men on the bridge and among them was his cousin, Benjamin Young, who came here from Canada to work on the job. When the crest of the river was at a record high for October, Mr. Young and two companions attempted to come down the stream on a raft. When the party reached Chandler's Falls, now the site of the Upper Pennnsula Power & Light Company's dam No. 3, the raft was broken up on the rocks and
Mr. Young was drowned in the raging waters almost instantly.
His two companions were finally saved, one of them after a frenzied effort that extended over 28 hours, by the crew of the N. Ludington Company's mill, then located at Flat Rock.
The body of Mr. Young was finally recovered and rests today in the Young family lot at Lakeview cemetery.
For more, see: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3959720//
The Escanaba Daily Press (Escanaba, Michigan) 23 January 1944, Sunday. Page 5:
When this country was new the Escanaba river was not the placid, dam confined ribbon of water today, but rather a stream that went on wild rampages when raging torrents of water claimed lives and destroyed property. Heavy rains in the fall of 1881 raised the river level to the highest point in the memory of then oldest inhabitant of this section. That unexpected freshet occurred when at a time when Benjamin Young, father of Bert and Ben Young, of Escanaba today, was engaged in the construction of the first bridge over the river and much damage was done to the uncompleted structure, in addition to claiming the life of one man.
The bridge for years in comparatively recent times was known as the "old state road" bridge and spanned the river at a point about two miles above the present Gladstone road bridge in Escanaba township.
Drowned In River
Mr. Young employed a large crew of men on the bridge and among them was his cousin, Benjamin Young, who came here from Canada to work on the job. When the crest of the river was at a record high for October, Mr. Young and two companions attempted to come down the stream on a raft. When the party reached Chandler's Falls, now the site of the Upper Pennnsula Power & Light Company's dam No. 3, the raft was broken up on the rocks and
Mr. Young was drowned in the raging waters almost instantly.
His two companions were finally saved, one of them after a frenzied effort that extended over 28 hours, by the crew of the N. Ludington Company's mill, then located at Flat Rock.
The body of Mr. Young was finally recovered and rests today in the Young family lot at Lakeview cemetery.
For more, see: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3959720//
When this country was new the Escanaba river was not the placid, dam confined ribbon of water today, but rather a stream that went on wild rampages when raging torrents of water claimed lives and destroyed property. Heavy rains in the fall of 1881 raised the river level to the highest point in the memory of then oldest inhabitant of this section. That unexpected freshet occurred when at a time when Benjamin Young, father of Bert and Ben Young, of Escanaba today, was engaged in the construction of the first bridge over the river and much damage was done to the uncompleted structure, in addition to claiming the life of one man.
The bridge for years in comparatively recent times was known as the "old state road" bridge and spanned the river at a point about two miles above the present Gladstone road bridge in Escanaba township.
Drowned In River
Mr. Young employed a large crew of men on the bridge and among them was his cousin, Benjamin Young, who came here from Canada to work on the job. When the crest of the river was at a record high for October, Mr. Young and two companions attempted to come down the stream on a raft. When the party reached Chandler's Falls, now the site of the Upper Pennnsula Power & Light Company's dam No. 3, the raft was broken up on the rocks and
Mr. Young was drowned in the raging waters almost instantly.
His two companions were finally saved, one of them after a frenzied effort that extended over 28 hours, by the crew of the N. Ludington Company's mill, then located at Flat Rock.
The body of Mr. Young was finally recovered and rests today in the Young family lot at Lakeview cemetery.
For more, see: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3959720//
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