Silas C. Overpack (March 20, 1841 – March 2, 1927) was a blacksmith, wheelwright, and businessman. He owned a shop (around 1868) in downtown

Manistee, Michigan Manistee ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in southwestern Manistee County, it is part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula. Manistee is the county seat of Manistee County, and its population was 6,259 at the 2020 census. This ...

, at 87 Pine Street, called ''S.C. Overpack Wagon, Carriage and Blacksmith Shop'' and is associated with the invention of

Michigan logging wheels Michigan logging wheels are a type of skidder that was introduced in the 19th-century United States logging industry as a state-of-the-art technology for transporting lumber and timber over rough terrain. They proved most valuable in the winter ...

. These unusually large wagon wheels (10 feet in diameter) were used in the timber industry for hauling logs in difficult terrain. Powers, Perry F., ''A history of northern Michigan and its people'' - Biography of Silas C. Overpack

Early childhood

Silas Overpack was born in

Chemung, Pennsylvania Chemung is an unincorporated community in McNett Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. Chemung is located on Quadrant Route 1013 (Ellenton Mountain Road) in extreme northern Lycoming County, south of Canton Canton may refer t ...

, on March 20, 1841. He was the sixth of ten children. He spent his childhood there where he received his public schooling. His parents were George and Remercy (Chidester) Overpack. They left Pennsylvania around 1850 and ultimately settled in

Springfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan Springfield Charter Township is a charter township of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 13,940. The township was named for the numerous springs in the area. Communities The Townshi ...

, where George rests in the Andersonville Cemetery, Andersonville, Michigan. Remercy and a number of her descendants are interred in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Manistee, Michigan.

Career

Shortly after arriving in Michigan, Overpack entered into apprenticeship of learning the

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

-making trade. In 1868 he moved to Manistee and set up a blacksmith and wagon making business downtown. There he made wagons and

sleigh A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

s for the thriving

lumber industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry -- when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. furn ...

northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popula ...

. He also sold salt, mill carts, blankets, harnesses, whips, and ropes. He usually employed anywhere from twelve to fifteen people at any one time. In 1875, he began making special pairs of extra-large wagon wheels that were in diameter called ''logging wheels'' or ''big wheels''. They were double the size of ordinary wooden wagon wheels and were for hauling logs from forests that had wet terrain in the summer and heavy snows in the winter. Where he lived fit those

criteria Criterion, or its plural form criteria, may refer to: General * Criterion, Oregon, a historic unincorporated community in the United States * Criterion Place, a proposed skyscraper in West Yorkshire, England * Criterion Restaurant, in London, En ...

as did the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

and other northern states. He sold and shipped his ''logging wheels'' all over the United States and Canada. Overpack used an image of a wooden wagon wheel with spokes as a log mark as required by the 1842 Michigan law for anyone in the timber business.The Official State of Michigan website - log marks
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Marriage and children

In 1871 Overpack married Manistee native Millie Magoon (1858–1932). They had three children: Roy M. (1879–1964), Nellie May (1885– ), and Stella Rae (1891–1962). Roy M. graduated from

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

in 1903 in

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

and received a law degree in 1905. He worked at his father's business. In 1940 Roy was the Secretary for Chamber of Commerce, in Manistee. Nellie May went to Benton Harbor College – she was a music vocal teacher and a singer. Stella Rae attended Oakwood School where Nellie May taught. They both became talented musicians.

Other

Overpack was a member of the board of supervisors of Manistee and also served on the city council. He belonged to the

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

order and York Rite Masonry as commandery No. 32 and associated with the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...

. He was also affiliated with the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was found ...

. His religion was associated with the

Unitarian Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present ...

church, although he attended

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs it ...

services. Overpack was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overpack, Silas C. 1842 births 1918 deaths American inventors Businesspeople in timber People from Chemung County, New York People from Manistee, Michigan