Otis Sanctuary - Land Ownership Questions and Answers

Farm Silos - glazed & concrete block

The original land patents for the acreage that became Otis farm was first sold in 1856, fairly late for land grants in the southern part of Michigan where most land was snatched up by 1839.  Ownership was divided into two parcels, the first part of a 280 purchase by John Cameron of Calhoun Co. The second part is more interesting; those 40 acres (NW 1/4 of SE 1/4) went to James Manning, Private in Capt. Clark's Company Georgia Militia Florida. Now how did a Georgia lad get this Michigan property? It was thru the "1850 Act granting Bounty Land to certain Officers and Soldiers who have been engaged in the Military Service of the United States".

Bounty land played a vital role in bringing settlers to the Northwest Territory. Unfortunately, due to scurrilous rumors from early land exploration Michigan was deemed to be swamp land and unsuitable for designation in the bounty land program! Thus Ohio and Indiana benefitted from soldiers getting land in lieu of pay accounting for a head start in development.

Now James Manning assigned his parcel to Sherman C. Prindle. One has to assume two things: he didn't want to resettle in Michigan, and Prindle paid him for the land.

John Calhoun is difficult to trace. He also purchased quite a bit of property in Calhoun Co. in 1839. There are also countless John Calhoun in the Michigan land grant database. Most likely he engaged in land speculation as did so many of those first patentees.

During this time of pandemic the county register of deeds office is either closed or visited with a mask.  So only a bit of research was completed before lockdown.

Betsey Otis purchased the Otis Farm property Jan 10, 1880 from Leo Myers. It was passed to Fred Otis Aug 30, 1886. Why Betsey and not her husband Parsley? And did Fred buy it from her? Closer examination of the actual transaction is needed. And who was Leo Myers! Need to delve further into the land records when pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Baker Sanctuary - Oil in Them Thar Hills?

In the early 1970's oil companies took an interest in the land under the sanctuary. They wanted to start testing. The Michigan Audubon Society President in 1975, Robert Bradburn, favored oil drilling. He saw a tremendous income potential for the Society. Among those much opposed to the drilling was Mabelle Isham - later bequeathed land to expand Baker Sanctuary.

Hubert Zernickow

In 1976 Mobil Oil offered MAS a 2 year lease offering $2,000 in rental fees, $18,000 incentive bonus and 1/8 of oil production revenue. The Society also had a new President - Hubert Zernickow. incidentally he died in Jackson, MI Aug 2019 at age 97.

An amendment to prohibit oil testing was rejected by the board who was concerned it would restrict future drilling requests in other sanctuaries. The proposal was submitted to the membership. How did they vote?

By Nov 12, 1976 Mobil Oil gave up. They said they "lost interest" in the plans to drill at Baker.

Lake Bluff Sancutary - History

Like Otis Sanctuary, this property came with a house and out buildings. While initially it seems a great idea, it poses many problems for organizations who get donated buildings. Generally structures are old, historic and in need of maintenance. Increasingly these organizations simply don't have the funding to take care as is needed for unused structures. A good example is the National Park Service; buildings conflict with their mission to keep properties natural, so in the past they've demolished and removed buildings. At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a different problem arose - they have a whole lot of buildings! The park encompasses Port Oneida farm community of farms typical of the century. It is rare to find such a large collection of older farms free of modern development.  However there now exists the Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear group that has partnered with NPS to preserve the 360 buildings. (Sadly this was my favorite site in the park as no one else visited!)

John M. Peterson

This brings us to Lake Bluff. John M Peterson began Lake Bluff Farm at the turn of the 20th Century. John was born in Denmark 1859; by age 22 he lived in Greenville, MI. He made his way to Manistee and Buckley & Douglas Lumber Co. where he worked his way up from bookkeeper. Then he became the purchasing agent for Manistee & Northeastern RR. He was involved with the construction of Ruggles & Rademaker Salt Co. then became their purchasing agent in 1920. His work history reflects Michigan economic development.  Meanwhile he operated a model fruit farm at Lake Bluff for 20 years. He retired in 1928. And In 1936 sold the property to the Grays. He died in 1939.

The Ruggles factory was built on the site of the Buckley Sawmill! Worked out well for John. In 1930 the salt factory was purchased at auction by Morton Salt, a name that comes up in the Gray family history. The Visit Manistee County website has great information about Manistee's history (even if it mistakenly attributes the house as being built by the Morton family).

For a time a Bed & Breakfast operated in the home. Audubon closed all facilities at Lake Bluff in Oct 2016. Sanctuaries are free to visit, relying on Michigan Audubon for financial support. A request for proposal was issued by MAS for an organization to run and maintain the facilities. Lake Bluff Farms Inc was formed hoping to get ownership of the property. They have a website and Facebook page but the actual status of the property is unclear.

Lake Bluff Sanctuary

In 1988, the Michigan Audubon Society received as a gift the M.E. and Gertrude Gray home and property, which later became Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary.  Atop an 100- foot-high bluff overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan, Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary boasts over 1,700 feet of Lake Michigan frontage on its 75 acres located just north of Manistee, MI. Originally landscaped as an arboretum, many notable specimens have been preserved on the grounds surrounding the home such as California Redwood, Ginkgo, and two Michigan Champion Trees, a Giant Sequoia and a Sycamore Maple.  Over 170 different types of birds have been seen on the property, there are many resident woodpeckers, and eagles are frequently seen flying up the beach or perching in the trees along the shore.

The grounds are open to the public year-round, every day from dawn until dusk. There are 2 miles of maintained trails and beach access.

In October 2016, the Michigan Audubon closed the facilities at Lake Bluff. The following year a group of like-minded individuals interested in protecting the history and integrity of the property met to see what could be done to insure that Lake Bluff is still around for future generations. The group put together a corporation called Lake Bluff Farms, Inc. to form a non-profit in response to the Michigan Audubon Society issuing a Request For Proposal in order to transfer ownership of the property. Lake Bluff Farms, Inc. is one of the applicants hoping to preserve the property of the farm. At this time the status is unknown.

2890 Lakeshore Rd., Manistee, MI 49660

Lake Bluff Farms Inc. has a website with gorgeous photos of the house and grounds. They also have a Facebook page. Lake Bluff Farms – Manistee, MI 

Bernard W. Baker

1941

He was born Aug 3, 1900 in Cressey, Barry Twp., Barry County to John and Kate Baker. They were farmers. 1920 he lived in Battle Creek . After his first marriage in 1924 he and his wife Hazel moved to Kalamazoo, 1108 Douglas Ave. Bernard was a station salesman and Hazel a nurse. The site of their house is now a big parking lot.

1924 to 1930 he was partnered with his two brothers in Baker Bros Auto Parts in Kalamazoo. His sold his share in 1931 and moved to Grand Rapids where he opened Baker Auto Parts on Alpine and Leonard. Over the next years he opened several locations throughout the state. 

Around the early 1930's he started studying and photographing birds. At that time he moved to Marne, Tallmadge Twp, Ottawa Co, just outside Grand Rapids not at all far from where I once lived. About that time he also divorced. In 1943 he married Emilie Stepanek; his son Bernard Jr. was a witness at his marriage. He was a real estate owner with a 75 acre property near Marne, considered a sort of bird sanctuary de luxe in that area. The house was on old M-16, a section of which is replaced by I 96 as it slices thru Tallmadge Twp. Next time I'm up that way have to see if the house is still there; doubtful that the birds still have any sanctuary. But by the 1960 he and Emilie lived in Spring Lake.

His 1943 draft registration describes him as 6"8" 170  with blue eyes, brown hair. I've noticed these draft descriptions are sometimes way off. Might they have meant 5"8"?

In Oct 1948 the Holland Tulip Garden Club hosted Bernard to speak on birds and their habitats. They called him the Birdman of Marne & Michigan. He had a picture library of over 3,000 prints, including those photographed on trips to Cuba and Guatemala. Several prints were tinted by Emilie who also operates the projector at his lectures. (Wonder where are those prints now?) Years later in Nov. 1969 Grand Valley State College hosted an art exhibit of his works in the Manitou Gallery.

He purchased the Sanctuary land in 1941. Growing up in Cressy he likely became familiar with nearby land, especially the Big Marsh Lake. With only 2 years of high school he became President of his auto parts company and then went into real estate and left a lovely legacy for Sandhill Cranes and Michigan residents.

Bernard died Jan. 29, 1981 in Warrensville, Ohio at age 81. No record of a grave site.