Story and photos by Stewart A. McFerran
Little did Jan Thomas know that the piece of metal that formed the edge of her flower garden was the wheel of a giant logging rig that once operated in Marilla Township. That is just one of the stories Thomas has about the Marilla community and its history.
Recently, when I was in the vicinity of Marilla, I mentioned Thomas to some of the residents. Faces lit up and I was informed that Jan had been their kids’ teacher. Fond memories of all the things the now-retired teacher accomplished have not been forgotten.
One of the Marilla Historical Society board members told Thomas that the metal in her garden was a logging wheel. They dug it up and moved it to the Marilla Museum and Pioneer Place, 9911 Marilla Road, where it is now on display. Art Wilbur suggested hanging the wheel from the loft of the museum barn. Visitors can walk through the 18-foot wheel and imagine how it once moved massive logs of old-growth trees.
Thomas, director of the Marilla Historical Society, her husband Bob and many others were instrumental in the preservation of historic buildings and artifacts within the Marilla Historical Museum. She relays fascinating stories about the lives of Marilla pioneers and cooperation within the community vital to their survival and prosperity.
“I’ve always had a great interest in history,” Thomas began. “Even as a child, I wanted to know about the olden days. When I retired from teaching, we became even more deeply involved in the historical society here – along with other people, many of whom have already passed away … Restoring these buildings was a huge effort and took a lot of perseverance and strength, but we did it and this is the result.”
Thomas’s book, “Marilla: The Woods, The Farms, The People” was published in 2019. She labored on the book project for six years, researching and finding resources within the museum, and meeting three or four times a year with Tom Vranich, an Elk Rapids’ consultant who works with historical societies.
The museum printed 250 copies, and Thomas said buyers hail from all over the state. The Michigan Historical Society featured the book in Chronicle, its venerable membership magazine.
Her large-format book is bound with a soft cover and includes lots of first-person accounts, pictures, newspaper articles and maps. It is a good complement to a visit to the Marilla Historical Museum. There is a picture of a “Big Wheel” on the cover. They were made by Silas Overpack’s Manistee company and used to pull logs out of the woods. The giant-wheeled logging rigs were shipped all over the country.
Thomas said that Marilla – as a small, rural township with no commercial development – is not unlike so many others across the state.
“Our story could be the story of how any community begins,” she said, adding that the book opens with the Native Americans who lived along the river.
She also writes about another beloved Marilla teacher by the name of Eveline Ritchie. “Miss Ritchie” taught in Kaleva in the 1920s. She was an avid botanist who focused her artistic talents on the roots, stems and flowers of local plants. Miss Ritchie roamed the Marilla environs with her sketch pad summer and winter. She produced a book with 97 pages of fine watercolors that is also available for sale from the Marilla Historical Society.
The “Wild Flowers of Orchard Hill Farm, Marilla, Michigan” was not the only project Ritchie completed. She painted a large curtain that was used during performances in the Marilla school. (Curtains of this type were often used in opera houses and theaters of the day.) Ritchie also wrote a book, “Taking Out My Bucketful,” published in 1978. Her canvas curtain, complete with ads for local products and services, still hangs in Marilla.
Thomas, her husband Bob, and the community of history enthusiasts have come together to create something special at the Marilla Township Hall and Community Center. She spoke about the importance of community in Marilla and said it is as important now as it was in the “olden days.”
While standing amongst the historic tableaux, she observed:
“I think, today, people can feel that they have had a loss. They don’t know what it is, maybe because they have never experienced it. These small communities (were), this one, (was) very isolated for a long period of time. Their survival in the early years depended on … cooperating together, working together, helping each other, and there was that closeness of community that we are lacking. It would be wonderful if we could bring some of that back.”
“Marilla: The Woods, The Farms, The People” is $35 (plus shipping, when needed) and is available for sale by calling Jan Thomas: 231-362-3430. Proceeds go toward helping support the work of the Marilla Historical Society: www.marillahistory.org. A donated copy is on loan from the Betsie Valley Library in Thompsonville.
