| John and John C. Hicks Elevators In St. Johns |
| When the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway reached St. Johns the land was covered mostly with forest and lumber products was the main item of business. Every station along the railroad had a saw mill. After the land had become cleared, agriculture was the next important business for the D.& M. Railway at St. Johns. The first car load of wheat forwarded from the village by rail was shipped by John Hicks in 1857 to George C. Langdon at Detroit. John Hicks was a Canadian by birth and of English descent. He located in Dewitt before coming to St. Johns. He was employed as a clerk and bookkeeper by David Sturgis, who was engaged in a milling and mercantile business. Later Hicks became a partner. From Dewitt the wheat was drawn by wagons to Detroit, where the grain was loaded in boats and taken to New York for export. When the D. & M. RR came to St. Johns, Mr. Hicks moved from Dewitt and became a resident of the new county seat, St. Johns. The Hicks wheat house stood north of the railroad on the east side of Clinton ave. On June 19, 1868 The Clinton Republican reported: "Mr. John Hicks has enlarged and is now refitting his wheat house, north of the railroad. New machinery has been added, while the facilities for unloading and shipping grain are completed. The bins are capable of holding about 4000 bushels of wheat at one time." |
| In the drawing on the left we can view the location of the John Hicks elevator which is north of the D. & M. RR and on the east side of Clinton ave. This drawing is from an 1881 panoramic view of St. Johns. In July, 1864 The Clinton Republican gives us this bit of news: NEW GRAIN HOUSE- "We are informed that our enterprising fellow - townsmen, A.G. Higam and T. Baker, Esqs. are about to commence |
| the erection of a commodius store - house for wheat and other grain, on the ground now occupied by the black smith shop belonging to the D. & M.R.R. Co., near the freight house. The store house will be 40ft. by 60ft. on the ground. Messrs. H. & B. propose to enter largely into the grain trade during the coming fall and winter." In July of 1871, The Clinton Independent reported that the principal wheat buyers in St. Johns for that summer were, John Hicks, Reed bros, and M. Heavenrich & Co. M. Heavenrich & Co. leased a portion of the west end of the D. & M. freight house and the whole upper floor. I always wondered why the D. & M. freight house had a cupola on the west end of it and this was the reason why, ventilation. Heavenrich 7 Co. installed an elevator and large bins for storage. Mr. C. Loranger was the buyer for this company. The prices quoted at this date were: Extra White, $1.15; Regular, $1.00; Amber, $1.12. In November, 1874 the firm of Loranger & Vanconsant, who were grain buyers in St. Johns at this date, dissolved their partnership and Vanconsant than least the D. & M. freight house for grain storage. The Independent reported in September, 1874 the number of cars shipped with wheat as follows: C. Loranger....................27 J. Hicks..........................59 M. Heavenrich................66 Wood & Sons................. 6 In all they said there had been 60,000 bushels of wheat shipped from St. Johns with an average price of $1.13. The Clinton Independent reported in October 1875 that P. L. Vanconsant shipped 12 cars of wheat and it was a common occurrence to have 25 or 30 teams loaded with wheat standing around the store houses at one time. In the year 1868, wood products were still being shipped in large amounts on the D. & M. The Clinton Republican reported: "Five hundred car loads of staves, fifty car loads of pine, and forty car loads of hard wood lumber, and ten car loads of hoops were shipped from St. Johns in 1868." |
| To the left is a post card view of the Hicks elevator built in 1910 by John C. Hicks the son of John Hicks. This facility was located on the northwest corner of Clinton ave. and Railroad street. The main building is 24 by 120 feet high from the pit in the basement to the top of the elevator shaft. There are three main receiving hoppers on the south side, where teams can unload under a covered driveway, the first one toward Clinton ave. being for oats, the second door is for wheat and the third door for beans. Just west of the adjoining elevator are a line of three warehouses. April 2,1918 At approximately 11:20pm at this date, the night watchman, Lyman Alward, discovered a fire at the elevator. When he made his rounds at about 9:30pm all seemed as usual about the elevator. When he discovered the fire he was standing across the street in the yard of Carpenter's feed barn when he smelled smoke and upon investigation he saw a small flickering flame in the roof of the elevator. He immediately turned in the alarm and the fire department was soon on the scene. There was a strong north east wind blowing and within an hour |
| The above photograph from an old Birdsley family album. |
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| Hicks Elevator |
| after discovery the elevator was gone. The photo above is a southeast view of the ruins. The Clinton Republican had this comment on the fire: "The Hicks elevator and the hundreds of other elevators and mills throughout the country which have been burned during the past few months would still be standing were it not for the war-mad kaiser and a few of his cohorts who have plunged practically the whole world into war in their endeavor to dominate and control everything." "We are at war - at war with a fire brand barbarian who has no regard for the decencies of life. Lining the fire bugs of the kaiser up against a stone wall to be shot, is too good - the noose is the only fitting thing." |