Silas C. Overpack was a blacksmith, wheelwright, and businessman. He owned a shop in downtown Manistee, Michigan

Manistee, Michigan

Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,586. It is the county seat of Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from...

 called S.C. Overpack Wagon, Carriage and Blacksmith Shop and is associated with the invention of Michigan logging wheels

Michigan logging wheels

Michigan logging wheels, also known as big wheels, high wheels, logging wheels, logger wheels, lumbering wheels, bummer carts, katydids or nibs, are a type of skidder. It extended the season in which the logging industry could extract timber from the North Woods of Michigan, by removing the need...

. These unusually large wagon wheels were used in the timber industry for hauling logs in difficult terrain.

Early childhood

Silas was born in Chemung county, Pennsylvania on March 20, 1842. He was the sixth of ten children. He spent his childhood there where he received his public schooling. His parents were George and Mercy Overpack. They left Pennsylvania around 1850 and ultimately settled in Oakland County, Michigan

Oakland County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...

.

Career

Shortly after arriving in Michigan Silas entered into apprenticeship of learning the wagon

Wagon

A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....

 making trade. In 1868 he moved to Manistee

Manistee, Michigan

Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,586. It is the county seat of Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from...

 and set up a blacksmith and wagon making business downtown. There he made wagons and sleighs for the thriving lumber industry of northern Michigan

Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan , is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan...

. 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 10 feet (3 m) 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. Of course where he lived fit that criteria as did the Upper Peninsula 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.

Marriage and children

In 1871 Silas married Manistee native Millie Magoon. They had 3 children, Roy, Nellie, and Stella. Roy graduated from University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 of AnnArbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 in 1903 in Liberal Arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 and received a law degree in 1905. He worked at his father's business. Nellie and Stella became musicians.

Other

Silas was a member of the board of supervisors of Manistee and also served on the city council. He belonged to the Masonic order and York Rite Masonry

York Rite

The York Rite or American Rite is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority...

 as commandery No. 32 and associated with the Knights Templars. He was also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias

Knights of Pythias

The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...

. His religion was associated with the Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

 church, although he attended Congregational services. Silas was a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.