White Pine Prophet:

Reverend Charles H. Brigham

Kyle W. Bagnall

Kyle W. Bagnall
Manager of Historical Programs
Chippewa Nature Center
400 South Badour Road
Midland, Michigan 48640-8661
email: kbagnall@chippewanaturecenter.org
phone: 989.631.0830
web: www.chippewanaturecenter.org

2012 Chippewa Nature Center, Inc. All rights reserved.

White Pine Prophet: Reverend Charles H. Brigham

by Kyle W. Bagnall
After some reflection, I think Id fit fairly well in a Unitarian Church in the year 1866. The
Civil War was over, good times were ahead and there were many pressing issues for
religious liberals to sink their teeth into. That January, for example, Unitarian Minister Rev.
Henry Bellows of New York spoke out against capital punishment for former Confederates,
standing by the position that there has been blood enough shed to remit the sins of the
universe.1 Then, on March 25, 1866, the Rev. A.G. Hibbard of the Congregational Unitarian
Church of Detroit preached a sermon entitled, The theater as a legitimate place of
amusement. He argued, Warring against the drama is contending against human
nature and it is indestructiblly rooted in the nature of man. 2 Finally, the learned Dr.
South published his Torch-and-Turpentine Dispatches that September, railing against
Unitarian meddling in southern post-war affairs. He wrote, I have now traced their
pedigree, from wretch to wretch, back to the devil himself! 3
The large majority of Americans are quite unaware of the important role many Unitarians
and Universalists played in the history of our young country in the 18 th and 19th centuries.
While many of us have studied the most famous Unitarians, such as John Adams, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton (to name a
few), a host of less famous characters also left lasting legacies. I was delighted, for
example, when I ran across the writings of a Unitarian minister who came to Michigan in
1866 to establish a college town mission at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I
found what he had to say inspiring and even prophetic in many ways. In turn, it has shed
new light on a side of Michigans lumbering history that has largely been left unexplored.

Reverend C.H. Brigham

Charles Henry Brigham was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 27, 1820. His father,
Dennis was a noted shopkeeper and a merchant in the city, later becoming a looking glass
manufacturer. The Brigham family was long-established and prominent in the area and
young Charles was afforded the opportunity for advanced education. A friend and
biographer later noted, A child of good parts, [Charles] made easy progress through the
schools which he attended in his childhood and boyhood, and went from the Latin School
to Harvard College at the age of fifteen, graduating in the class of 1839. 4 After
graduation, Charles taught for a few months at a private school in Baltimore, Maryland
before entering the Harvard Divinity School in 1840. His passion for learning proved nearly
inexhaustible and he read a wide variety of topics in addition to his regular studies. It was
noted, He had no capacity for idleness. Charles graduated in 1843 and was ordained as
a Unitarian minister at Taunton, Massachusetts the following year. 5

For the next twenty years, Reverend Brigham proved himself a

devoted and passionate religious leader in Taunton, becoming
involved in a wide variety of social issues. A biographer later wrote
he soon became an influential leader in public movements looking
to the intellectual, social, and moral welfare of the community
[including] sixteen years of very active work as a member of the
Taunton School Committee. 6 It was, perhaps, this experience in
education that led the American Unitarian Association to turn to Rev.
Brigham in 1865 when it decided to establish a college town
mission at the University of Michigan. Founded in Detroit in 1817, the
University moved to Ann Arbor in 1841 and experienced steady
growth over the next two decades. In 1866, it became the largest
university in the country with 1,205 enrolled students. 7
In the spring of that year, Rev. Brigham accepted the invitation of the
Association and moved to Ann Arbor. Upon arrival, he established a
Rev. Charles Henry Brigham
1820-1879
double ministry to the local community and to the student body. It
was later remembered that his services drew a large number of
students who from the first were attracted by his learning and the independence and
breadth of his thought. His Sunday evening lectures drew audiences reaching sometimes
five or six hundred, and the attendance at his Bible class often rose above one hundred.
Thus there went out from Ann Arbor hundreds of young men whose religious conceptions
had been transformed under his powerful and uplifting influence 8 Reverend Brigham
was clearly settling in quickly and making a considerable impact in his new community.
White Pine Prophet
Recently, I ran across an interesting little volume written in 1868 by Truman B. Fox
entitled, History of the Saginaw Valley: Its Resources, Progress and Business Interests. The
section entitled The Pine Lands of Michigan
especially caught my eye, as the great
lumbering era was just in its fledgling years at
that time. In fact, the following year was the
first in which our state became the leading
source of lumber for the nation, a distinction it
would hold for the next thirty years. The
Saginaw Valley led the way throughout this
period, due to its bountiful forests and
extensive river systems which were used to
transport cut logs to sawmills. The value of
wood cut in the State of Michigan through the
latter half of the 19th century exceeded the
California gold rush by a billion dollars.9
Preceding the essay, Truman Fox noted, The
Averill Banking Grounds on the Tittabawassee River,
Midland County, Michigan. c.1885
following able and interesting article relating
to the lumber regions of Michigan, written by
Rev. C.H. Brigham of Ann Arbor, was handed us with a request to insert it in our pamphlet.
We do so with pleasure, as it covers a portion of the ground proposed by us in the original
plan of our work.10

In 1868, while many were predicting that Michigans lumber supply would last 500 years,
this article contained a remarkable warning. From a 21 st century perspective it seems like
a prophets voice calling out, unheeded, into the wilderness that still existed in vast
portions of Michigan. Unitarian minister, Reverend Charles H. Brigham, was speaking for
the trees more than a century before Dr. Seuss wrote The Lorax. His article reads, in part:
THE RAPID EXHAUSTION OF TIMBER: It is common to speak of the pine lands of
Michigan as inexhaustible. We hear of the supply that may be expected for ages to
come, from this prolific source. Men think of the lumber forests of the Peninsula as they
do of the coal beds of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and laugh at the predictions of alarmists.
Yet these predictions are not hasty, but are based on exact calculations. At the present
rate of consumption, in a little over seventeen years the pine will be entirely cleared
from lower Michigan, and the lumber business will be at an end. If consumption in the
next five years should increase in the ratio of the last five years, ten years will exhaust
the material. The most sanguine calculation cannot carry the lumber business beyond
the present century. There is no reason to think that the consumption will die off while
the facilities for getting lumber are so great, and so many markets are calling for a
supply. The waste will go on. The owners of the land will use their opportunity, and let
the future take care of itself. They would not be American if they should voluntarily
curtail a profitable business in view of spreading it over a longer succession of years. It
is more probable that new mills will be built than that those already built will reduce
their production or their capacity. It was uttered years ago, and has been repeated with
the succeeding seasons, yet thus far with no effect
The pioneer is insensible to arguments touching the future supply of timber; to him the
forest is only fit to be exterminated, as it hinders his plow and obstructs his sunlight.
When northern Michigan becomes, like southern Illinois, a great rolling prairie of grass
and grain, whose horizon is as unbroken as the horizon of the ocean, the want of
foresight that permitted the destruction of these magnificent forests will be bitterly
lamented.11

Reverend Brighams article also appeared in the July 1868 edition of the North American
Review. Charles had authored articles for numerous periodicals since 1852, including the
Christian Examiner, North American Review, Christian Inquirer, Bristol County Republican
and Union Gazette and Democrat. While his writings largely explored religious subjects,
several covered secular topics as well, including the life of Copernicus, the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln and the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 12
His essay, The Pine Lands of Michigan, appears to be the only one penned by Rev.
Brigham to focus specifically on an environmental theme. At the time the idea of nature
preservation was nearly unknown, except by a few authors such as transcendentalist
Henry David Thoreau, whose death occurred just a few years earlier, in 1862. Amazingly,
Rev. Brigham had only been in Michigan for two years when he penned this article,
utilizing data he gathered from publications printed in Saginaw and Detroit. In the years
that followed, his predictions would come true with startling accuracy. By the mid-1890s,
the vast majority of Michigans old-growth forests were literally stripped clean. In addition,
a series of wildfires, most especially in 1871 and 1881 scoured great swaths of land,

sterilizing the soil so completely in places that lands

of stump fields still exist where only a few shrubs,
grasses and ferns find sustenance to grow. 13

Why was Charles so interested in Michigans forests?

One childhood friend later wrote, His love of Nature
was intense. He would repeat fine poetry suggested
by a beautiful scene, flowers, or anything lovely or
grand in nature.14 As he travelled through Michigan,
Rev. Brigham would have encountered tracts of oldgrowth forests that were very grand. Today, small
preserves such as Hartwick Pines State Park and
Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary are but tiny glimpses
of the majestic wilderness of Michigans past.

Field of white pine stumps at Kingston Plains,

Alger County, Michigan, 2010. Kyle W.
Bagnall

Yet even as he penned such warnings about the exhaustion of our forests, Charles fell into
a trap shared by many of his generation. After the forests were cleared, the story went,
rolling fields of agricultural prosperity would inevitably follow. He wrote:

Thirty years hence, if the land be denuded of its forests, it will show a wheat region
more marvelous in its breadth, richness and promise for the future, than the pine region
of the present daya wheat region which may with more reason be called
inexhaustible. the time is not far distant when the dull rumble of the millstones will
drown the shrill scream of the sawsthe man who today invests his $500 in the
purchase of five hundred acres of this exhausted pine land, will find himself with a
handsome fortune It is a consolation for those who see with sadness the felling of the
forests, that the farmers follow the wood-choppers so closely, and create where the
pioneers destroy.15

Unfortunately, Rev. Brigham was correct in his predictions of destruction, but overly
optimistic on the agricultural prospects of northern Michigan. While thriving farms did
sprout up in some regions, especially in the southern part of the state, millions of acres to
the north were either too sandy, swampy or too far north to support large scale farming.
Today, the dream of rolling fields of wheat to Mackinac has been replaced with the reality
of second and third growth forests of mixed tree species. Currently, Michigan is about 53%
forested, including one of the largest state forest systems in the United States. 16

Unitarian Environmental Legacy

Unitarian Universalists today have inherited a legacy of environmental preservation from

conservation pioneers such as Reverend Charles H. Brigham. Theologically liberal and
diverse, Unitarian Universalism is a deliberately non-creedal religion whose member
congregations agree to affirm and promote seven principles. The seventh principle reads,
respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. 17

This principle is evidenced in Unitarian Universalist congregations by programs such as the

Green Sanctuary initiative. Originally developed by the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for
Earth, the program is now managed by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to help
provide a framework for congregations to proclaim their commitment to the planet. Its
why participating congregations use real dishes instead of disposable ones, install
compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs, maintain active recycling programs and keep the
thermostat at reasonable levels.18

Reverend Brigham did not live long enough to see his unfortunate prophecy come true,
passing away on February 19, 1879. Over the past 130 years, his story of environmental
concern has largely been lost to obscurity. Today, as forests are faced with powerful new
threats of invasive species and global warming, it is important to unearth these tales of
environmental history and let them see the light of day. Historians, interpreters, educators,
Unitarian Universalists and the public at large can reap great benefits by examining the
lives of conservation pioneers like Charles Brigham. As caretakers of our natural world, its
now up to us to ensure the health of our precious planet for future generations.

About the Author:

Kyle Bagnall is Manager of Historical Programs at Chippewa Nature Center in Midland,
Michigan. He loves to climb trees.

Endnotes

1 "Miserable Theology." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Jan 07, 1866.

http://search.proquest.com/docview/560429941?accountid=13646 accessed June 22,
2012.
2 "The Theater." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Mar 27, 1866.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/560436287?accountid=13646 accessed June 22,
2012.
3 ""Torch-and-Turpentine" Dispatches." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Sep 25, 1866.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/560450876?accountid=13646 accessed June 22,
2012.
4 Charles Henry Brigham and Edmund Burke Willson (editor). Charles Henry Brigham,
Memoir and Papers. Boston: Lockwood, Brooks & Co. 1881.
5 Samuel Atkins Eliot (editor). Heralds of a Liberal Faith. Boston: American Unitarian
Association. 1910.
6 Ibid.
7 University of Michigan Alumni Association, University of Michigan History,
http://alumni.umich.edu/about-the-alumni-association/university-of-michigan-history
accessed June 22, 2012.
8 Heralds of a Liberal Faith.
9 Willis F. Dunbar and George S. May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988.
10 Truman B. Fox. History of the Saginaw Valley: Its Resources, Progress and Business
Interests. East Saginaw, Michigan: Daily Courier Steam Job Print, 1868.
11 Ibid.
12 Heralds of a Liberal Faith.
13 Betty Sodders and Don Weeks (editor). Michigan on Fire. Holt, Michigan: Thunder Bay
Press, 1997.
14 Memoir and Papers.
15 Heralds of a Liberal Faith.
16 Michigan Forest Products Council, Michigans Forest History,
http://www.michiganforest.com/index.php?pid=42 accessed June 26, 2012.
17 Unitarian Universalist Association, Our Unitarian Universalist Principles,
http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/index.shtml accessed June 26, 2012.
18 Unitarian Universalist Association, The Green Sanctuary Program
http://www.uua.org/environment/sanctuary/ accessed June 26, 2012.

Sources
Brigham, Charles Henry. Report of Rev. C.H. Brigham. The Monthly Journal of the
American Unitarian Association, Volume IX. Boston: American Unitarian Association. 1868
Brigham, Charles Henry and Edmund Burke Willson. Charles Henry Brigham: Memoir and
Papers. Boston: Lockwood, Brooks & Co. 1881
Dunbar, Willis F. and George S. May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988.

Eliot, Samuel Atkins (editor). Heralds of a Liberal Faith, Volume 3: The Preachers. Boston:
American Unitarian Association. 1910.
Fox, Truman B. History of the Saginaw Valley: Its Resources, Progress and Business
Interests. East Saginaw, Michigan: Daily Courier Steam Job Print. 1868.
Hall, J.W.D., et al. Rev. Charles Henry Brigham. Collections of the Old Colony Historical
Society. (Reprinted from Household Gazette of Taunton, Mass., Feb. 27, 1879.) Taunton,
Massachusetts: C.A. Hack and Son. 1879.
Sodders, Betty and Don Weeks (editor). Michigan on Fire. Holt, Michigan: Thunder Bay
Press. 1997.
_______. North American Review. Cedar Falls, Iowa, etc.: University of Northern Iowa.
1815-1900. On-line at Cornell University Library, Making of America,
http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/n/nora/ accessed June 26, 2012.