Eli Parsons Royce

Eli Parsons Royce (November 29, 1820 – May 26, 1912) was a surveyor, businessman, postmaster, and an attorney. He was the founder of the city of Escanaba, Michigan.

Eli Parsons Royce

Early life

Royce was born in Clinton, New York, November 29, 1820. His father, Phinehas Royce, was born in Massachusetts, and of Quaker descent. He married Deborah Parsons of Connecticut, who was the daughter of minister Jonathan Parsons. They had five children. Royce is their fourth son.[1] He received his middle name from the maternal side of the family.[2]

Career

Royce grew up in Putnam County, New York. He attended public schools in the county. His parents moved to Ohio with the family when he was fifteen years old. There Royce got a job as a handyman helper to a corps of surveyors that were working in a timber area, three miles west of Oberlin, Ohio. He learned field techniques in the process, like being able to travel about without the use of a compass and not getting lost. After some time, he moved from the Oberlin area to Sandusky, Ohio and had different jobs. One was working at a horse railroad that was commissioned by the city of Sandusky. He worked in the construction and repair work of the railway, which was about twenty miles long. After a year, he moved to Adrian, Michigan.[1]

Royce in 1869

During the next three years he worked on the railroad between Adrian and Hillsdale, Michigan. He also taught school for two years. Royce later returned to Sandusky and from there went to Chicago by steamship. He got various jobs in Chicago then from 1840 - 1842. At this time, he became acquainted with William B. Ogden, Chicago's first mayor and worked with him. Royce then went to Michigan City, Indiana, and worked surveying the shore of Lake Michigan and building piers. He later returned in the summer of 1849 to Chicago and married to Sarah J. Barras, a descendant of Colonel Barras. Sarah was born in the state of New York.[3]

Royce moved from Chicago to Green Bay, Wisconsin and was employed in surveying for lumbermen. He was in charge of an exploration party which prospected for a railroad to be built west to the Wisconsin River.[3] Royce first explored the Escanaba territory in 1855. In 1861 lumberman Nelson Ludington requested Royce to explore Escanaba for a suitable harbor for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. After doing surveying work for Ludington, he went back to his home in Green Bay. He returned to the Escanaba area in 1862 and started to lay out a town. Royce laid out the original town as it now stands and had it recorded in the county in 1864.[4] Many additions have since been made to the original recorded plat. Royce is the pioneering resident of Escanaba and was known in the Upper Peninsula as a businessman. He held city offices of postmaster, attorney, mayor, and engineer.[5] He eventually brought his family to the new town in 1864.[3]

Royce is considered the founder of Escanaba, Michigan.[6][7][8] He had taken an active part in local affairs as a citizen of the city and is given the credit for the wide streets of the city he laid out.[3] The name "Escanaba" means flat rock in the Chippewa language of the indigenous American Indians. The Escanaba River bottom contains many smooth flat rocks made that way by the currents of the river.[9]

Death

Royce died May 26, 1912, at the age of 91.[10][11]

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References
  1. Sawyer 1911, p. 1394.
  2. Dickson 2002, p. 53.
  3. Sawyer 1911, p. 1395.
  4. Charles, Vader (November 1, 2007). "Escanaba". Michigan History Magazine. High Beam Research. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. Dunathan, Clint (April 25, 1969). "Post Office Downtown Anchor". The Escanaba Daily Press. Escanaba, Michigan. p. 5 – via newspapers.com .
  6. Dunathan 1963, p. 27.
  7. "Founder of Escanaba is taken by death at 91". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. May 27, 1912. p. 6 – via newspapers.com . A few years later he made the expedition which led to the founding of Escanaba.
  8. Nursey 1890, p. 18.
  9. The Commission 1918, p. 356.
  10. "Founder of Escanaba Taken by Death at 91". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. May 27, 1912 – via newspapers.com .
  11. "Royce Is Called City's Founder, Helped Name It". Escanaba Daily Press. Escanaba, Michigan. June 29, 1963. p. 110 – via newspapers.com . Nelson Ludington gave the name of the City of Escanaba.

Sources
  • Dunathan, Clint (1963). The Century book. Photo Offset Printing Co. For many years before his death May 26, 1912, Eli Parsons Royce was recognized as the 'founder and pioneer citizen' of Escanaba.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Dickson, Karl (2002). Stories of Small Town Sports. K. Dickson.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nursey, Walter R. (1890). City of Escanaba, Michigan. Lew A. Cates. Mr. Royce may therefore be regarded as the patriarch of the Iron Port of the World.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sawyer, Alvah Littlefield (1911). Northern Peninsula of Michigan. Lewis Publishing Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • The Commission (1918). Michigan History Magazine. The Commission. p. 356. The early days of Eli P. Royce were spent in his native county and he received a good education in the public schools and at an academy.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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