This fire broke out on September 5, 1881. It devastated the St. Clair,
Lapeer, Tuscola, Huron, and Sanilac counties which are located in the thumb
area of Michigan. It was caused by sudden gales which blew fires which
farmers had lit to burn the brush in the fall as they usually did. It was
also the first disaster relief effort by the American Red Cross.
This information came from "Michigan - A History of the Wolverine State" by
Willis F. Dunbar & George S. May, 1995, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., p.
349.
Regards,
Michael
-----Original Message-----
From: Lsabin1313(a)aol.com [mailto:Lsabin1313@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 08:56 PM
To: MIGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [MIGEN] Fire of 1881
On the US fire site they mentioned the ten most destructive fires in our
history and Michigan in 1881 lost 1,000,000 acres and 190 lives. Now that is
about when the Sabins migrated to Gratiot Co. Mich. and I was wondering
where
this fire was at that time? I have asked several retired teachers thinking
that should have been in the books but they didn't know. This must have been
terrible for the state and it's population! Any help - I have looked
everywhere for information except here! Linda in Ohio