Great Michigan Fire Great Michigan Fire The Great Michigan Fire was a series of simultaneous forest fires in the state of Michigan in the United States in 1871. They were possibly caused (or at least reinforced) by the same winds that fanned the Great Chicago Fire; some believe lightning or even meteor showers may have started the fires. Several cities, towns and villages, including Alpena, Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron, suffered serious damage or were lost. The concurrent Great Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin also destroyed several towns in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1881, much more than half of "the Thumb" region
George Stanhope, 8th Earl of Chesterfield George Stanhope, 8th Earl of Chesterfield George Philip Stanhope (29 November 1822 – 19 October 1883) was the 8th Earl of Chesterfield, succeeding to the title on the death of his third cousin, the 7th Earl, in 1871. He was the son of George Charles Stanhope and Jane Galbraith. Stanhope married, firstly, Marianne Roche, daughter of William Roche, on 8 April 1856. Secondly, he married Catherine Jane Jarvis Bond, daughter of John Hildebrand Bond, on 7 March 1877. Thirdly, he married Agnes Payne, daughter of James Payne, on 7 December 1882. In 1841 George Philip Stanhope, 8th Earl of Chesterfield