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Antoine Ephrem Cartier

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Antoine Ephrem Cartier
Antoine E Cartier c1900.jpg
circa 1900
BornMay 16, 1836
Trois-Rivières, Canada
DiedMarch 1, 1910
Resting placePere Marquette cemetery,
Ludington, Michigan
OccupationBusinessman, lumberman
Known forDeveloping Ludington, Michigan
TitleGeneral Manager
Spouse(s)Eliza N. Ayers
ChildrenNine

Antoine Ephrem Cartier (May 16, 1836 – March 1,1910) was a 19th-century American businessman who assisted in the development of Ludington, Michigan. He was a business owner, stock speculator, lumber tycoon, sawmill owner, and real estate investor. He was mayor of Ludington from 1880 through 1888 and progenitor of a line of mayors sharing his Cartier name.

Biography[]

Genealogy[]

Antoine's father, Jean-Baptiste Cartier Jr (1790–1846) was a farmer born at his parents' farm estate in the Maskinongé area of Quebec by the river of the same name.[1] His grandfather (Jean-Baptiste Cartier Sr.) was born at Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec.[2] His mother was Rosalie (Courchesne) Cartier.[3] Antoine had six brothers and two sisters,[3] but by 1895 only he and four siblings had survived.[4] His ancestor, Jacques Cartier (1491–1557), the famous French explorer, claimed what is now Canada for France.[5][6][7] Antoine's direct and complete family line has been traced to 1428 through records in archives, town registries, repositories and church documents.[8] Jean Cartier is the earliest known ancestor of the Cartier family, born in 1428 at Saint-Malo, an ancient French seaport on the English Channel in Brittany.[8][9]

Early years[]

Antoine Cartier was born on a paternal farm (like his father) in the Maskinongé area of Quebec, Canada, on May 16, 1836.[6] He was baptized in the Maskinongé village church the next day.[10] As a boy he labored on the family farm, but had no interest in agriculture. Since his work was needed on the farm, he had little time for formal schooling.[11] In 1846, Cartier's father died, and Cartier's older brother took over the management of the farm. Cartier seized every opportunity to explore the woods and towns along the St. Lawrence River, amassing life experience in lieu of schooling.[10] At 16, he left Canada for Chicago.[6][12] For months he worked as an unskilled laborer unloading lumber ships. French sailors told stories about the territory across Lake Michigan, the source of all the lumber, and one April day in 1853, before he was 17, Cartier stowed away on board a vessel bound for Manistee, Michigan.[6][11][12]

Cartier was a strong, healthy teenager and became a lumberjack for the Manistee lumber firm Filer, Tyson & Robinson where, after two years, he was promoted to foreman. The town's ethnic mix at this time included French and Swedes along with Irish and Native Americans. Cartier became a friend of Irishman Jim Dempsey. Dempsey called Cartier "Joe", which became his lifelong nickname.[10] Wanting to get into business for themselves but needing investment, they decided on a partnership floating logs down the Manistee River to the mill owners who sawed them into lumber.[13]

Cartier and Dempsey hired a working crew for the drive, then contracted with enough mill owners to make the operation work, projecting that 50 million linear feet of delivered logs would be profitable. Their customers agreed to provide up-front credit for the food and tools they needed over the three-week drive. Cartier was 20 years old, Dempsey, 24, when they embarked on their first business venture. Word got around that mill owners saved money and their log transport business increased because of Cartier's and Dempsey's management skills. Within two years they were the exclusive log transporters on the Manistee and its tributaries. They earned enough to purchase a sawmill, renaming it the Manistee Lumber Company. Cartier handled log conveyance; Dempsey managed producing and selling the finished lumber.[10]

Cartier also developed new business and discovered a large mature tree land parcel south of his mill about halfway between Manistee and Ludington, Michigan. The lot had been originally logged by Pardee, Cook & Company. After Pardee's death, Cook waited to sell out. Cartier urged Dempsey to buy the business with him, but Dempsey wanted to remain in Manistee. Cartier sold his Manistee interest to Dempsey and purchased the Pardee-Cook holdings. In 1877, he moved to Ludington and went into partnership with Frank Filer, operating a sawmill as Cartier & Filer. Three years later Cartier sold his interest and purchased a waterfront mill with its own dock. Now a sole proprietor, he named it Cartier Lumber Company. He traveled east and purchased thousands of acres along the Au Sable and Pere Marquette Rivers in western part of northern Michigan, as well as woods far into Lake County and other nearby counties. His land timber holdings and sawmill operations were vast in and around the town of Ludington.[14]

Mid Life[]

Marriage and family[]

Cartier's Manistee home 1860–1877

Cartier married a school teacher, Eliza N. Ayers, in Manistee on December 3, 1859.[11] They lived a two-story house on River Street in Manistee and raised a family of eight children. There was a ninth child, a daughter who died in infancy.[15]

  • Antoine E. Cartier

  • Eliza Ann Ayers

  • Rosa
    born March 31, 1861

  • Louis
    born January 6, 1863

  • Warren
    born January 12, 1866

  • Ida
    born November 8, 1867

  • George Robinson
    born May 26,
    1869

  • Desire
    born January 31, 1871

  • William
    born February 5, 1873

  • Charles Ernest
    born March 24, 1875

Businesses[]

Cartier became a partner in the Dempsey-Cartier firm of Manistee in 1873 with Jim Dempsey. The Dempsey-Cartier firm purchased and renovated the Green & Millmore sawmill of Manistee and made lumber from northern Michigan white pine. They changed the name of the company to Cartier & Dempsey.[14] Sometime around 1877 Cartier purchased the Stanchfield mill and considerable timberland and property around Ludington. In 1882 the mill was sold to Butter's Company.[14] Cartier then purchased the shares of the Cartier mill owned by William Allen and George Goodsell and developed the Cartier Lumber Company by 1892.[16]

Cartier became a partner with D. L. Filer in the large lumbering firm Cartier & Filer sometime around 1878. It operated a sawmill and store. As of 1882 Cartier was half owner of Danaher & Cartier (a shingle mill business) and a member of Dempsey, Cartier & Company at Manistee.[17] Cartier became a large stockholder in the Northern Michigan Transportation Company from 1904 to 1910.[18] Cartier's business axioms included; Pay every working man in cash, and at once when it is due and No orders, no store truck.[19]

Ludington House[]

In 1878, Cartier built a Victorian style home at the northeast corner of Ludington Avenue and Lavinia Street near downtown Ludington. The house is now Ludington House, a bed and breakfast.[20]

Cartier's Ludington house, c. 1880 sketch

  • heater

  • bun warmer

  • bathtub

  • fireplace

Cartier's Ludington house, June 2010

  • window

  • living room

  • dining room

  • staircase to 2nd floor

Politics[]

A member of the Democratic party,[14] Cartier was elected Ludington's mayor in 1880 and 1881,[21] beginning a lineage of mayors with the Cartier name, including two of his sons, Warren and Charles.[18] He was also a member of the Manistee city council for four years.[22]

Religion[]

The Cartier family has been practitioners of the Catholic faith for hundreds of years. Cartier was also Catholic; he was a member of the local Ludington St. Simon's parish.[14]

Personal life[]

Cartier became a United States citizen, according to his naturalization papers, on February 27, 1870.[23] He was the first in this Cartier line to become a United States citizen. Cartier died March 1, 1910,[6] and was buried in the Pere Marquette cemetery at Ludington on March 4. Stewart Edward White drew upon the experiences of Cartier and his associates for some of his novels. For example, Cartier was the hero of White's novel The Riverman.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Cartier 1957, p. 44.
  2. ^ Cartier 1957, p. 41.
  3. ^ a b Cartier 1957, p. 45.
  4. ^ "Antoine E. Cartier / Portrait And Biographical Record Of Northern Michigan Containing Portraits And Biographical Sketches Of Prominent And Representative Citizens". Chicago Record Publishing Company. 1895. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Powers 1912, p. 1187 "Antoine E. Cartier traced his lineage back to French origin and was a descendant of the American explorer of the name.".
  6. ^ a b c d e "City Mourns Chief Citizen". Ludington Record-Appeal. Ludington, Michigan. March 3, 1910. p. 1. Born in the direct line of the great explorer, the Cartier blood throbbed through his veins.
  7. ^ Cabot 2005, p. 38 "Born near Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Antoine E. Cartier (1836–1910) was kin of the explorer Jacques Cartier.".
  8. ^ a b Hawley, Rose D. (November 12, 1957). "Cartier Family / Installment 1". Ludington Daily News. Ludington, Michigan. p. 3. Retrieved July 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  9. ^ Cartier 1957, pp. 79–99.
  10. ^ a b c d e Hawley, Rose D. (December 7, 1957). "Cartier Family / Installment 5". Ludington Daily News. Ludington, Michigan. p. 5. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  11. ^ a b c Page 1882, p. 30.
  12. ^ a b Powers 1912, pp. 1187.
  13. ^ Cartier 1957, pp. 109–119.
  14. ^ a b c d e Powers 1912, pp. 1187–1190.
  15. ^ Powers 1912, p. 1190.
  16. ^ Cabot 2005, p. 25.
  17. ^ Page 1882, p. 1187.
  18. ^ a b Powers 1912, p. 1188.
  19. ^ Page 1882, p. 1189.
  20. ^ Cabot 2005, p. 91.
  21. ^ "Past Mayors". Ludington Daily News. Ludington, Michigan. September 4, 1940. p. 1.
  22. ^ Page 1882b, p. 30.
  23. ^ Cartier 1957, p. 47A.

Sources[]

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