May 25, 2005
Group seeks to save historic home
Peninsula residents work to preserve Dougherty House
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
An effort to preserve another piece of the legacy of Rev. Peter Dougherty is underway as Peninsula Township residents work to save the old mission house.
Built in 1842, the ten-bedroom home was filled by Dougherty, his wife, Maria, and their nine children until they moved to Omena with the Native Americans ten years later. Peninsula residents are hoping to purchase this house, the earliest frame homes in the region, plus the surrounding 15 acres to preserve for future generations.
They have formed the Dougherty Historic Home Site and are working to raise the $1 million purchase price over the next year. Thursday evening, more than 60 people attended a town hall meeting outlining the organization's goals and to learn the history of the home.
"This story is bigger than Old Mission, it's the region's history, the state's history and the United States' history," said Jackie Burns, who discussed the history of the peninsula, the Dougherty family, the Native Americans and Old Mission.
The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation will manage all gifts during the fundraising process and later, if needed, manage an endowment. If the plan is successful, Old Mission Township will own the property and historical programs will be developed by the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society.
Organizers of the home site project are working with members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians because of the shared history during the mid 1800s between Dougherty and the Native Americans on the Old Mission Peninsula.
Burns described the area before white settlers arrived and also how the Indians had been pushed off their lands by treaties. After the ordained minister arrived in the region in 1839, Dougherty immersed himself in their lives and culture. He worked to educate them about the white man's world as well as protect and advocate for them. He helped them claim money due them by treaties, save it and later purchase lands in Omena, to which he moved with the tribe in the early 1850s.
"He built a church and a school and ran it for more than 20 years," Burns said.
Paul Raphael of Northport and his two sons, Lakota and Pauly, who form the Northern Stone Boys drummers, gave the blessing for the meeting. Carrie Leaureaux, the assistant language instructor and director of the Aanishinaabemowin program of the Grand Traverse Band, provided cultural context for the peninsula. She also led attendees through a basic language lesson and described how the language both shaped and reflected her ancestor's culture.
"Our language is an oral, living language so we describe things around us," Leaureaux said. "It contains thousands of year of knowledge and is our link to the past and our strength to the future."
"Language was our ancestors' collective interpretation of the world," she added.
Formed a few months ago, the Dougherty Historic Home Site committee has been meeting regularly with individuals and also talking about local history with students at Old Mission Peninsula School. Committee members also hope to gather items such as photographs and tools from that era from long-time area residents.
"There's a lot of history that currently is in people's attics," said Rob Manigold, supervisor of Old Mission Township.
During the town hall meeting, Penny Rosi outlined a three-phase plan that the committee created to purchase, restore and use the home for historical education.
"The Dougherty House existed in Old Mission in all that wilderness and it still stands today, I consider it a treasure," Rosi said. "There's a lot of rich history here and it's just there for us to find."
For more information on the Dougherty Historic Home Site, contact the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation at 935-4066.