1883 Buggy Robbery

At about three a.m. on Saturday last, two men drove into town with a span of horses and top buggy and stopped at the Commercial hotel. They put the horses in the barn, took a bed until morning, got their breakfast and boarded the east bound 10 o'clock train, stating to Mr. McIntosh that they would return at noon. But they failed to put in an appearance and have not been heard from since. A telegram was received on Monday, however, to the effect that such a rig was stolen from one Frank Brigham, of Holly, on Friday, and Wednesday Mr. Brigham sent a man who fully identified the stolen property and returned with them to Holly.
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The above article was found in The Fowlerville Review. The Commercial hotel, as mentioned above, was a newly-opened hotel of only a couple of years at this point. In 1878, an early morning fire completely destroyed the Reason House, also known as "Independence Hall," which was a wooden structure located at the southwest corner of the downtown area. In 1880, a brick building, 2 1/2 stories up and 1/2 story down (see sketch below), was built in its place and eventually known as the Commercial hotel.When I first began this website, I started collecting pictures and information on Fowlerville. One of the pictures I came across was a photograph taken from the main intersection, looking south on Grand Avenue, with a young fellow standing in the middle of the road. As I looked closer at it, I realized I was looking at a building I had only heard about. It was truly then when my interest accelerated on finding out more of the history of Fowlerville, and especially why this building no longer existed. I eventually found out, but I'll leave that for another post (or you can check out my book, The Fowlerville Chronicles, and find out why).