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From Michigan History Magazine
A Boy at Mackinac
The
son of a military surgeon, Harold Corbusier lived on Mackinac Island
from age 10 to 12, and again when he was 19. As a boy he spent his free
time sailing, fishing, ice skating and exploring the island. He kept a
journal about his daily activities. The journal was a birthday gift,
and Harold’s first entry on January 14, 1883, reads: “I am 10 years old
today.”
In winter, the extreme cold
and snowy weather didn’t keep the Corbusier family from going outside.
On January 16 Harold wrote: “The skating is very fine. We all went
again this afternoon. Mama sat on a sled and Papa pushed her about on
the ice.”
Harold and his four
brothers knew the name of every boat that came to the island. The first
boat to arrive in the spring after the ice melted was greeted with
cannon fire from Fort Mackinac. On April 28 Harold wrote: “A steam
barge passed through the straits from Lake Michigan. They gave her a
salute of one gun as she was the first boat of the season.”
Spring
also meant collecting sap for maple syrup. Harold wrote: “We tapped 11
trees and brought home four gallons of sap and would have had more but
we wasted a great deal.”
Like today,
many people in the 1880s vacationed on Mackinac Island in the summer.
Friends and cousins visited the Corbusiers and they took trips to
different places on the island. On August 19 Harold wrote: “We went in
wading as it was very warm. We took a big watermelon and buried it in
the sand to keep it kool.” About a week later, he wrote: “We hired a
boat from Davis and rowed around to the other side of the island past
Arch Rock and had a picnic.”
Although
Harold didn’t go trick-or-treating, Halloween was celebrated. Harold
wrote: “It is All Hallows Eve. We were going to dive for apples but
there were none in town so we had to dive for potatoes. We played games
and Mama made candy.”
When Harold
grew up he earned a medical degree from the University of Michigan.
Like his father, he became a surgeon in the U.S. Army.
For more great stories on Michigan’s past, look to Michigan History and
Michigan History for Kids magazines. For more information or a free trial
issue, call 800-366-3703 or visit www.michiganhistorymagazine.com.
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