Ward and his son-law George K. Root should have full authority to manage, harvest and control said timberland, with profits being divided equally among his surviving six children.

[2] This created a huge incentive for the Ward executors to conduct a massive clearcutting of the timberlands to monetize the timber holdings, since dividing the 70,000 acres equitably between the six children would be difficult.

Ward and son-in-law George K. Root (Secretary), organized a corporation, under the general railroad laws of the State of Michigan, named the Detroit & Charlevoix Railroad Company, with an authorized capital stock of $525,000 to which all equipment and right-of-way property of David Ward’s Frederic & Charlevoix RR Co. were transferred.

[2] In winter 1901, the executors began the construction of a 600-horsepower, steam-driven, double-band sawmill plant at the site called Deward (an acronym formed from D.E.

[4] In October 1908, a devastating forest fire, exacerbated by poor lumbering methods, destroyed much of the remaining timber.

In 1930, the Michigan Central Railroad had stopped operating the East Jordan Branch and in 1933, the line was abandoned.