A series of 49 essays that Henry Hudson Hutchins, 1853-1933, wrote for area newspapers beginning about 1898 on the history of Allegan county, a large county located in southwestern Michigan, bordering on Lake Michigan. He discusses the wild animals the early settlers found inhabiting the woods, the life of a pioneer housewife, the founding of the fruit industry, and the installation of the first cooperative rural telephone system in the country.
From the Back Cover
About 1898 fruit farmer Henry Hudson Hutchins began to interview the old timers of western Allegan county to get their memories down on paper. Several years later, "as no one has appeared to use my notes" he wrote a series of 16 historical "letters" to the local newspapers which were published in 1919. In 1925 he folloed with an additional 19 letters. although their ortanizations is rambling, the quotations from interviews with the olders generation and Hutchins' own memories form an invaluable historical and genealogical resource. In this book the 35 original letters are joined by 14 additional letters contributed by Hutchins in later years, when someone brought him interestng historical documents or artifacts and when he feared the thread of history was being frayed by others. The letters are fully indexed for ease of access and illustrated with contemorary maps, engravings and drawings.
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