1875 Barnes Paper Mill Fire

Series: Industry of Rochester

Location: Rochester

Region: South East Michigan

In the summer of 1875, a fire destroyed the Barnes Paper Mill in Rochester Michigan. Modern stories make claims of arson, but many of these tales lack details about the incident. Join me on my adventure as I explore the newspaper archives at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm and travel to the Oakland County court house to discover the history behind this event. I’m Jason and Michigan, this is part of your story.

 

Update – February 27th 2018

Shortly after posting this episode, a final, but important piece of evidence was provided to me.  The issue of the Pontiac Weekly Bill from June 23rd 1875 had a reported interview with Ann Strong when she was being held in jail.

The image above includes her response to why she burned down the mill.  It would appear that all the details about how Ann Strong burned down the mill come from her testimony.  Testimony which also includes references to “crazy spells”.

The rest of the article can be found on Central Michigan’s Digital Michigan Newspapers.

Sources

• Rochester Era – May 6th 1875  – View Online
• Rochester Era -May 13th 1875 – View Online
• Rochester Era – July 8th 1875 – View Online
• Observer and Eccentric – From the Rochester Museum Archives.  Unknown Date
• Remembering Rochester – View Online
• Lawerence Daily Journal – June 15th 1875 – Newspapers.com
• Pittsburg Newspaper – June 14th 1875 – Newspapers.com
• Detroit Free Press – June 16th 1875 – Newspapers.com
• New York Times – June 1875 – From the Archives of Kresge Library at Oakland University
• Various Court Documents – Oakland County Circuit Court Case #1217
• Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farms – Website
• History of Oakland County with Illustrations from 1877 – Free Ebook
• Atlas of Oakland County, Michigan. – 1872 – City of Rochester Hills Library

Intro Music – Leaving Home from Pond5.com