Caro, Biographies, Indian Fields, Tuscola Co., MI

This history was extracted from "History of Tuscola and Bay Counties, Mich.
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of their Prominent Men 
and Pioneers", published in Chicago by H. R. Page & Co. (1883), p. 93-104

This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives.



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AUGUSTUS D. CILLEY. The subject of the following sketch was born in Canton, 
Wayne County, Mich., where he lived until he arrived at the years of manhood. He 
was for some time in business at Canton, but leaving there he went to Detroit 
and was for a number of years engaged in business as a general commission 
merchant. Having become the owner of some pine lands in Tuscola County, he came 
here in 1865 to look after them. While here he decided to remove to the county 
and build a saw-mill, which he did, building it in the township of Almer, about 
two miles east and four miles north of what is now the village of Caro. The 
difficulties in the way of erecting a mill in those days, 1865, were very great, 
as everything had to be brought by teams from East Saginaw. The roads were 
primitive ones, and their condition was such that it took six spans of horses to 
haul the boiler from the last named place to the site of the mill. There was no 
foundry or machine shop nearer than East Saginaw at the time capable of making 
mill repairs, and any breakage in the machinery necessitated a shutting down of 
the mill until the necessary repairs were made, which of course involved a trip 
to the last named place. Tuscola County now ranks among the first in the State 
as an agricultural county, but at the time Mr. Cilley was building and running 
his mill he could not purchase enough here to feed his people, consequently it 
had also to be brought in by teams. He operated the mill until 1872, when it was 
destroyed by fire, together with a large quantity of valuable lumber, entailing 
a loss upon him of about $30,000. After the fire on account of ill health he 
went to California with the hope that a change of climate might prove 
beneficial. It failed to have the desired effect, however, .Mr. C. dying at 
Sacramento, Cal., in December, 1872. His body was brought home and buried at 
Canton, Wayne County, Mich. Mr. Cilley was a man who was much esteemed by those 
who knew him, and in leaving a comfortable home with pleasant surroundings in 
the city of Detroit and locating in what was literally a wilderness at that 
time, he was a veritable pioneer, and to a great extent a public benefactor. 
There are few houses in Caro or the adjoining townships which were built 
previous to the destruction of his mill by fire in 1872, the lumber used in the 
construction of which was not cut at his mill. The farmers and others in the 
neighborhood had to haul lumber for long distances over bad roads, and Mr. 
Cilley's enterprise was a great saving in both time and money to them, a benefit 
which many very freely acknowledge grounds, and was used for a number of years 
as a court-house, but to-day, and also speak in high terms of him.