Justus Smith Stearns
| Justus Smith Stearns | |
|---|---|
ca. 1885
|
|
| Born |
Justus April 10, 1845 Pomfret, New York |
| Died | February 14, 1933 (aged 87) |
| Resting place | Ludington, Michigan |
| Residence | Ludington, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Justus S. Stearns J.S. Stearns |
| Education | elementary |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | developing western Michigan and southeastern Kentucky |
| Title | President of many companies |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Paulina Lyon |
| Children | Robert Lyon Stearns born March 14, 1872 |
| Parent(s) | Heman S. Stearns Mabel (Smith) Stearns |
Justus Smith Stearns (April 10, 1845 – February 14, 1933) was an American lumber baron and businessman. He was Michigan's secretary of state in 1899 and 1900.
Stearns was born in Pomfret, New York, April 10, 1845. He was an only child. He had limited formal education, with common schooling at the district school of Chautauqua County, New York. Stearns was trained as a farmer's chore boy as was usual at the time in the area. One of his duties was to milk twelve cows each day. His first exposure to the lumber business was in Pomfret at his father's retail lumber business where he took on a passion for the industry.
His parents moved from the Pomfret area to Erie, Pennsylvania, when he was sixteen in 1861. Stearns' father was in the retail business there for about ten years. Stearns worked with his father there until 1867 when he moved to Conneaut, Ohio.
Stearns married Paulina Lyon (b. November 24, 1849, Conneaut, Ohio; d. May 5, 1904, Ludington, Michigan) on March 4, 1868, at Conneaut. They had one child, Robert Lyon Stearns, born March 14, 1872. Because of a tight financial situation with a venture with his brother-in-law Captain E. B. Ward and influence of the lumbermen of the Lyon family, Stearns decided to move to Ludington, Michigan. Initially he was a cashier working for his brother-in-law, Thomas R. Lyon.
Stearns came to Michigan in 1876. He first worked at sawmills in Big Rapids. This early Michigan venture did not prove successful, and he then moved to Ludington. There, about 20 miles (32 km) east of Ludington, he operated a portable sawmill on the line of the Pere Marquette Railroad and founded "Stearns Siding" lumber camp in 1880.
In 1882 Stearns built a house for the family at the corner of Washington Avenue and Fourth Street in Ludington at a cost of something over $6,000, a large sum for the time. In 1898 Stearns bought out the extensive lumber operation of Thomas R. Lyon and formed Stearns Salt & Lumber Company and Stearns Salt Block company. It soon became a large company in Ludington with 50,000,000 board feet (120,000 m3) of lumber output annually and 300,000 barrels of salt yearly. He soon became one of the top businessmen in the state of Michigan. In 1893 he formed Flambeau Lumber Company in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, with Fred Herrick. In 1894 he started Stearns Lumber Company in Odanah, Wisconsin.
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