THE PONTON SITE

(by Scott Beld)

The Ponton Site is an 1830's settler site located on the north side of the Chippewa river on property acquired by Chippewa Nature Center in 2001. The site was originally discovered by Mr. Art Pomranky of Midland, Michigan who brought it to our attention in July 1995. The Oxbow Archaeologists conducted excavations at the site in 2002 and 2003. These links will take you to our weekly updates of the excavations and pictures of some important artifacts from Art Pomranky's collection:

We have been able to identify a number of historical documents that relate to the Ponton site and are beginning to piece together its history. From documents at the Midland County Register of Deeds we know that in 1832 Thomas Ponton "located" the land the site is on at the Land Office of the United States. Apparently Thomas Ponton returned to his native England because we have learned through genealogical research that he married Rosina Sarah Ann Wells in London in August 1833.

Another person associated with the site who enters our historical sources at about this time is James Ponton. Presumably, James was related to Thomas, maybe a brother or father, but we haven't been able to trace down their precise relationship yet. Judge Albert Miller, the first probate judge of Saginaw County, records in his memoirs that in 1833 James Frazier, a early Saginaw entrepreneur, enticed an Englishman named James Ponton to come to the forks of the Tittabawassee and establish a mill. He notes that the location of this mill site was considered to be the closest location to Saginaw suitable for a mill. We have been able to identify the place mentioned by Judge Miller with the Ponton site from a map made by the Government Land Office surveyors in the 1830's that indicates a "mill seat" at an Oxbow just south of the site! Judge Miller records that a temporary shelter was constructed at the site and relates a story about how he brought the Ponton's ox cart to the site by lashing two dugout canoes together and poling it up the river. This was done in December 1833. When he was getting ready to leave the site he fell into the river and didn't have anywhere to get dry as his home was about 25 miles down river and the nearest settler cabin was about 16 miles away. He was eventually able to dry off in an wigwam at a Native American village about 2 or 3 miles downstream.

In our initial research of the site we were somewhat confused by Judge Miller's reference to James Ponton because all of the contemporary documents relating to the site mentioned Thomas Ponton. Since then we have located a reference to James Ponton in a document dated December 1836 at the Oakland County Probate Court concerning the Charles Cater estate (located across the river from the Ponton site). In this document, James incurred some expenses relating to the Cater estate, apparently in 1834 or 1835.

We now think that Thomas and James came to the area in 1832 and located the land they wished to purchase and that Thomas returned to England to get married while James stayed in the U.S. and prepared to construct the mill. From our genealogical research we have learned that shortly after their marriage Thomas and his wife Rosina Sarah Ann sailed to the United States and arrived in New York city in February 1834. Records at the Midland County Register of Deeds indicate that Thomas Ponton (described as "of New York City") paid for the land the site is on and received a land patent in September 1834. In June 1835, Thomas and Rosina Sarah Ann Ponton (described as "of Saginaw") sold the land to Edward LeRoy and Daniel Fitzhugh (both from New York State) for $525.00. LeRoy sold his share to Fitzhugh in 1841 and Fitzhugh owned the land until 1880. So far we have not been able to trace what happened to the Pontons or where they went after they left the site. Perhaps our excavations will shed some light on this!

The Ponton site is of interest for local Midland history because it is probably the site of the earliest settler in the Midland area (Midland's first permanent settler arrived about two or three years latter). The site is also of interest because of it's short occupation (no more than three years) that gives us a glimpse of life on the frontier of Michigan Territory shortly before statehood. We expect that the site will also yield important information on the lifestyle of newly arrived immigrants.

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