The Nankin Township Historical Society

Plymouth Mail , May 4, 1888 An abbreviated clipping of the Newburg happenings from May, 1888 shows not only the elk horn findings but the fire hazards known by the LeVan family. Note the difference in the spelling that the road by that name. Anyway, an infant of E. P. LeVan was burned on the hands after playing too close to a bonfire and falling in. Which is clearly the fault of the E. P. Levans! Also, another LeVan named J. A. was injured while fighting fire. The eternal flame was most assuredly part of their misfortune that week.

Plymouth Mail , May 18, 1888 I'm a conspiracy theorist on many subjects that others might think bizarre but in this instance I'm almost convinced that there was foul play concerning the Rouge River bridges. The statistical likelihood that two bridges--one near Newburg and the Merriman Bridge--in one area would collapse save for some kind of natural disaster, which is quite possible, is almost zero. Then again, the first article states that all the bridges in the area were in bad shape and I'm sure that the loads were too heavy, but I digress. Although it's highly doubtful that these were some of the bridges that were mentioned in the Schwarzburg articles from the 1830s, I suppose that it's possible. One of the accidents included August Blonk who was crossing the bridge near Newburg when he and his horses toppled over and he sustained a spine injury. The other incident included a Mr. Cole who was hauling a load of sand over the Merriman Bridge when it fell flat to th...