The Bay City Times - February 28, 1937 - Michigan Centennial Edition
GUARD EARLY RELICS
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Group Was Organized As Outgrowth of Pioneer Club.
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An outgrowth of the old Pioneer society of Bay County, a unit of the Saginaw Valley Pioneer society, the Bay County Historical society was organized in April, 1919, in a spontaneous effort to recapture the traditions of the land on which so many of its members were the direct descendants of the earliest known residents.
A group of prominent citizens of the county gathered in April, 1919, for the organization of the society, spurred by the interest shown in relics of the early days of the county by William H. Gustin, then editor of The Times.
Advisory Board Listed.
On the advisory committee for the formation of the organization were Mrs. Homer E. Buck, secretary of the society since 1921; Mrs. H. B. Smith, Sr.; Mrs. C. J. Smith, Mrs. Carrie Moots Richardson, Miss Eva Bothe, Samuel G. Houghton, the late Seeley R. Birchard and Joseph C. Goddeyne.
Among those who attended that first organization meeting, and who had evinced enthusiasm for the society, were Howard N. MacDonald, Mrs. Clara Thomas, A. C. MacKinnon, William Jennison, Robert V. Mundy, George L. Lusk, E. B. Perry, Mr. and Mrs. George Dilas, Miss Ann Brown, C. L. Sheldon, D. J. Kavanagh, E. T. Jones, Otto Garber, and Victor Manary.
W. H. Gustin was the society’s first curator. It was he who gathered and labeled the various objects, of both historical and sentimental interest., that first made their appearance with the growing interest among Bay county residents of the background of their native heath.
First Collection Small.
First collection of the society hardly large enough to be termed a museum, was displayed in the public library, later being lodged in Central High school.
In May, 1928, a Junior society was organized, which still maintains a large membership, both of young people whose parents are members of the senior group, and those who find membership a valuable extension of their school work.
The society’s present headquarters, on the second floor of the county building, were opened with the occupancy of the beautiful new building in March 1934.
Spacious chambers provide ample space for the ever-growing collection of historical objects, documents, and pictures, with the office of Mrs. Maude L. Patterson, curator, and board rooms for the society’s directors.
Present officers are: George E. Butterfield, president; Mrs. F. W. Braman, first vice-president; Miss Erma Hodgson, second vice-president; Mrs. Ellen Wynn, third vice-president; Fred Asmun, historian; Mrs. Buck, secretary, and George X. Allen, treasurer.
None at this time.