Gladwin County, Michigan: History
=== Prehistory ===
Gladwin County is a headwaters area. Most of the water that flows out of the county via the Tittabawassee River comes from Gladwin County, only a very small portion flows in from Clare or Roscommon counties. Native Americans crossed this area, and even spent summers here where the fishing was good and summer berries plentiful.
Research is underway to determine the importance of an ancient trail that was noted by the crew of the 1839 re-survey of Township 17 north Range 2 west, which later became Beaverton Township. The eastern terminus of the "Muskegon River Trail" was plotted at the confluence of the three branches of the Tobacco (Assa-mo-quoi-Sepe) River in the northwest corner of Section 12. It is possible that an early cross-country route from Saginaw Bay to Lake Michigan proceeded up the Saginaw, Tittabawassee, and Tobacco Rivers to a point west across Ross Lake from the Beaverton City Cemetery. At that point, the canoes would be portaged along the trail to the Muskegon River, then floated down to Lake Michigan.
Many native artifacts have been found along that route that attest to seasonal occupation, but so far, no signs have been found to indicate a permanent settlement.
The earliest documented visitors to the area were surveyors who platted the lands under provision of the 1787 Northwest Ordinance. Most of the early work was completed during the 1830s, although some of the survey work was faulty - the surveyors reportedly doubted that the area would ever be settled.
The earliest census to mention residents in the area was in 1860.
The county is named for Henry Gladwin, British military commandant at Detroit in 1763 during Pontiac's War. The county was set off and named in 1831, and its government was organized in 1875.
The year 2011 marked 150 years since the first permanent settler of record, Marvel Secord, took up residence along the Tittabawassee River in what is now Secord Township. He was a trapper and trader who provided supplies to lumbering camps in the area. Another man, William Brayton, may have been an earlier settler; the 1860 census listed 14 residents, including two families with children. Of these, 11 were associated with lumbering camps that had begun to appear that year, and three were listed as "hunters." One of the "day laborers" at a camp had brought his wife to the area. The first issue of the Gladwin County Record (1878) mentions his 20 acres (8.1 hectares) of wheat under cultivation. His stepson, Dr. Russell E. Finch arrived in the area in 1875, becoming the county's first physician. William Brayton died in 1895. His claim to being the first permanent settler appears valid, except that just before the 1880 census was taken he and his wife went to Lynn, Massachusetts to care for his dying father. He returned to Gladwin after settling his father's estate in 1882, thus missing being included in the Gladwin County census for 1880.