This continues a series adapted from the book, “A Port Oneida Collection,” Volume 1 of the twopart set, “Oral History, Photographs, and Maps from the Sleeping Bear Region,” produced by Tom Van Zoeren in partnership with Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Here we begin a look at the old Frederick & Margretha Werner Farm, at the end of Miller Road: The beginnings of the Werner family in America are misty; but in 1851 Frederick and Margretha Werner left their crowded homeland of Hanover (now a part of Germany) and sailed to the New World with their several small children. Margretha was a sister to Carsten Burfiend, the first European settler in Port Oneida. Arriving in New York, the Werners purchased 202 acres of Port Oneida land, sight-unseen, for 75 cents/acre. Likely the recommendation of Margretha’s brother, the Werners’ property was just a half-mile down the coast from his.
A year later the Werners sailed to South Manitou Island to spend the winter, probably picking up work in the woodcutting business. In the spring the young family crossed the Manitou Passage, climbed the steep shoreline bluff, and surveyed their piece of primeval forest.
The land was rolling, and included a hilltop that looked over the surrounding lands and waters; but it also included some level ground that promised good crops. The Werners began the task of establishing a home in the wilderness.
