WILLIAM JOHN GETTY, the oldest child of James and Matilda Getty, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, May 14, 1832. His baptism record was not found at either the Craigs Parish Church or at the Presbyterian Church at Cullybackey, as were some of the younger children, so the family may have lived in a neighboring parish at this time.

In 1848, at the age of 16, Will came to the United States, landing in New York. While in York State, he taught public school, and studied medicine for three years. In 1852 he returned to Ireland to escort his mother, sisters and brothers to America. His father had come over the previous fall. In 1853 he left New York and headed west to Michigan. He looked up Leticia Neeley, daughter of old family friends, and the day after Christmas, December 26, 1853, they were married in the Presbyterian Manse in Tecumseh. Will was 21 years old, and Leticia was 18.

Will wasn't sure if he wanted to settle in Michigan, so he and his bride went to Indiana, where he learned the blacksmith trade. They lived in Millersburg, Noble County, for about a year. His various occupations were repairing railroad bridges, keeping a boarding house, and dealing in logs and lumber. Emeline Elizabeth may have been born during their sojourn in Indiana. No birth record was found. They returned to Michigan and Will set up a blacksmith shop in Ridgeway.

In April of 1861, when war broke out between the states, Will enlisted at Monroe, Michigan, in the 1st. Michigan Cavalry as a trooper and a veterinarian. The first enlistment was for three months as it was thought that the rebellion could be defeated in that time.

The 1st. Michigan Cavalry was organized by George Custer. This unit moved into Ohio to come under the command of General Phil Sheridan. Sheridan used the 1st. Michigan to form two units: the 1st. and 3rd. Michigan Cavalry. William found himself in the 3rd. Michigan which was ordered to Washington, D.C., where it was immediately used to confront the confederate forces in the first battle of Bull Run.

This ended in a rout of the Union Army and loss of all records, supplies and equipment. In the process, Will was wounded and was sent back to Tecumseh to recover. He had joined the cavalry because of his love of horses and of his knowledge as a veterinarian. The terrific slaughter of horses in battle turned him against the cavalry, so he reenlisted in the 6th. Michigan Infantry and was allowed time for his three months enlistment plus his recovery time. This unit, under Gen. Buell, served in the campaigns of Memphis, Chattanooga, Murfreesboro, Chicamauga and south.

At the end of the 6th Michigan Infantry's term of service the veterans petitioned to reactivate it. The petition was granted but was reinstated as the 6th. Michigan Heavy Artillery and was assigned to Major General E. R. S. Canby in the Mississippi River Campaign.

The last battle of any magnitude fought in the war was at Mobile, Alabama, where the 6th. Michigan was used to reduce Fort Morgan on Mobile Point and Fort Gaines which defended the entrance to Mobile Bay. The 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery mustered out on August 20, 1865, in New Orleans.

In April 1861, William John Getty was described as 29 years old, 5 ft. 9 in. tall, blue eyes, sandy hair and light complexion. In August 1865 he mustered out with an identical description as being 29 years old, which indicates his record had been continued since 1861. This may have been the reason why his birth date was 1835 in his obituary instead of 1832. The three year error in his age stuck with him for the rest of his life.

While William was home in Tecumseh just before the Mississippi River Campaign, Leticia became pregnant for their second child. When he came home from the war in August of 1865, his wife and baby were dead. They both died July 26, 1864, when the infant was 18 days old. They are buried on the Neeley lot in the tiny North Adrian Cemetery on Shepherd Road.

Right after the Civil War, William worked for a short time on the Union Pacific Railroad. He was in charge of a Chinese Coolie work gang.

On October 16, 1866, in Adrian, Michigan, Will took for his second wife, Adeline B. Baird, formerly of Vermont. They were married by the Rev. John T. Staunton, in Christ Episcopal Church in Adrian. The witnesses were William and Eliza J. Underwood. In November of the same year, they moved north, locating in the wilderness of Antrim County.

It was strange country, and they stayed with friends until they were able to take up temporary quarters in Helena Township, near Clam Lake. William filed for homestead on the NE fractional 1 of Section 4, T. JO N. of R. 8 W. and it was near Clam Lake (Helena Township) that their first child, George Baird Getty, was born in 1867.

At the end of the township survey notes it describes section 4 as having the best soil with numerous springs and small water courses. The new settlers that had some knowledge of land and soil looked to the type of trees that were growing there. Hardwoods required good soil while the pines grew on rather sandy infertile soils. William must have known this, as he picked land that had sugar maple, beech and elm growing on it, all indicating rich soil, but the best indication of all was the basswood which requires the richest soil of all.

Part of the homestead, however, was in a big stand of virgin pine which had to be cleared. There was no indication on the surveys of any habitation or trails or anything on the original plats of the entire west side of Antrim County. The two original patents granting to William the land which became their homestead were granted by President Grant on October 6, 1874.

Shortly after their first child was born, the family moved to the new homestead to "prove up" and they named it Forest Home. This later became Forest Home Township. At that time the main routes of travel were over old Indian trails, one of which went to Old Fort Michilimackinac. The main source of supplies came in by boat to Elk Rapids and had to be packed in from there.

William filled in his ownership around the homestead until he had more than a full section of land at least 671 acres all told, half of which was in Forest Home Township and half in Central Lake Township. Central Lake Township was where his brother, James, Jr., took out Homestead in 1865, and John Hanley, Will's son-in-law, later homesteaded on land that became part of the town site of Central Lake. Because Will owned land in both townships, he could take an active part in each. He had a hand in laying out the original town sites of Bellaire and Central Lake.

There were many Indians in the area that were associated with the Ottawas and Algonquins. Kewadin was an Indian village on the north end of Elk Lake. The last chief, Kewadin, left a daughter, Maggie, who had been born in Fort Michilimackinac when it was held by the French. At the time the Getty family homesteaded in Antrim County, Maggie was getting old, and she was taken in and cared for by them. William always had a houseful, as there was always someone that needed help. They thought she might have been an Algonquin. She spoke only a very little broken pigeon French, interspersed with Indian dialect and a lot of cuss words. The Gettys tried to figure out what her name was and settled for calling her "Old Missus". In time they put together her story that she had been a young girl at the French fort of Michilimackinac and had experienced the fighting between the French and English, and had witnessed a massacre there during the French and Indian War. From those dates, it appeared that she must have been at least 110 years old.

Maggie was very quiet but observed everything and was a perfect mimic. She spent most of the summer days on the front "stoop" in a rocking chair fanning herself.

The following is a letter to James Getty from October 31, 1875. I have typed most of it because his son, William Getty, dated it is very difficult to read.

Maggie Kewadin came with the Getty family to Kalkaska, and spent her remaining days in their home. When she died she was buried on their lot in the Evergreen Cemetery.

Addie was left alone at the homestead many times while William was off to Elk Rapids to pick up supplies which he carried on his back over trails, and later, by horse and buckboard. While he was gone, Indians would come to the cabin and ask for bread and Addie was too scared to say no to them, even though it was so hard to bring flour in with which to make the bread. The Indians would camp out front until she made the bread and then they would give her hides and other articles in exchange for it.

Sometimes, while William was gone, Addie would go fishing and she used a small lapel compass which William had bought for her to find her way around. Later on, after Addie had become accustomed to the Indians, she would sometimes walk to their camps to help out when one was ill. She used this same compass to find her way back home.

About the only playmates the children had were Indian kids, and they all felt at ease with them. They frequently went brook trout fishing with the Indians to Cedar Creek.

William and Addie spent several happy years in their log cabin on their Forest Home homestead. It is said that he planted the first apple orchard in Antrim County, and it was cuttings from these trees that formed the vast orchards in later years. Lorena, William, Jr., Elizabeth and Frances were all born while they lived here. However, in 1883, since there were no clearly de­fined schools in Antrim County, they decided to move to Kalkaska County.

While the southern part of the lower peninsula was developed fairly early for farming, the northern part was wild and it wasn't until the lumber barons moved in that there was much activity. This started in the early 1870's and the heyday of pine logging was pretty well washed up by 1920. When the Chicago fire occurred in October 1871, there was a mad rush for the timber in the north part of the lower peninsula. In time a large saw mill was set up in the middle of a large tract of white pine in the area now known as Kalkaska.

The general rule, when logging ended, was that the saw mill would mysteriously burn (for insurance purposes), and that is probably what has happened in the picture below. You will note there are still logs to be seen in the yard but that was a setting that was used to convince that arson was not involved. If there was more timber available the mill would have been rebuilt. Cut over lands were let go for taxes and, for a few dollars, anyone could get a quitclaim deed from "The Company" for large acreages.

It is believed William got some of his land in or near Kalkaska in this manner. He was a horse trader and knew opportunity when he saw it and was able to pick up large tracts of land from the timber com­panies after the pine was cut, the first of which was near the Board­man River just south of town.

 William managed to get the Michigan Central Railroad to route through Kalkaska by donating lands for right of ways, station, yard, track, etc.

William purchased the old Broomhead Livery Stable, which he conducted for some time, and he continued to follow his professions of veterinary surgeon and dentist, blacksmith and far­mer. He owned a drugstore, and he served as supervisor and justice of the peace for several years.

At one time he owned a large chunk of Mackinaw City and the surrounding area, including platted portions of the city. He probably had a mind to make a big killing on the properties in a short time, but this never happened and he lost the lands for nonpayment of taxes. After William died in 1902 most of his holdings in Kalkaska County were disposed of from time to time to pay taxes, and for income.