USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
Hosted by
83
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ship meeting therein shall be held at the Keelerville postoffice in said township" (Covington, which covered the present townships of Keeler and Hamilton, sank into oblivion, as did its sister township of Clinch, and is not now even a memory save only to a few of the oldest inhabitants of the county).
The foregoing quotations are from the Laws of Michigan for 1837, pages 35, 37 and 38.
The legislature of 1839 (Laws of Michigan, 1839, p. 27) enacted that townships number three and four south, of range number six- teen west, should be set off and organized into a separate township to be called Keeler, and that the first township meeting should be held at the house of W. H. Keeler in said township. This new township comprised the present township of Hartford, then a part of Lawrence, and the west half of the then township of Cov- ington.
At the same session of the legislature (Laws of Michigan, 1839, p. 24) an act was passed organizing township number four south, of range number fifteen west, into a separate township to be known as the township of Alpena, and providing that the first township meeting should be held at the house of Henry Coleman in said township. By these two acts the township of Covington was en- tirely wiped off the map of the county.
Another law, enacted in 1840, changed the name of the town- ship of Alpena to Hamilton, and as such it still remains. (Laws of Michigan, 1840. p. 80.)
By the same legislature township number three south, of range number sixteen west, was organized into a new township to be known as Hartford, and the first township meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Smith Johnson in said township. (Laws of Michigan, 1840. p. 79.) This township comprised the north half of the township of Keeler.
The legislature of 1842 (Laws of Michigan, 1842, pp. 83 and 84) passed an act organizing three new townships in the county of Van Buren; to-wit, townships number one and two south, of range number fourteen west, then a part of the township of Clinch, were set off and organized into a township to be called Waverly, the first township meeting to be held at the schoolhouse near Ash- bel Herring's, in said township. (The name should have been Her- ron, instead of Herring.)
Townships number one and two south, of range number thir- teen west, also a part of the township of Clinch, were set off and organized into a township to be called Almena, the first town meeting to be held at the schoolhouse near Willard Newcomb's in said township. By the organization of these two townships,
Hosted by
84
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
the township of Clinch ceased to exist and has been practically for- gotten.
By the same act of the legislature township number two south, of range number fifteen west, at that time a part of the township of Lawrence, was set off and organized into a separate township under the name of Arlington, the first town meeting to be held at the house of Allen Briggs in said township.
In 1845 (Laws of Michigan, 1845, pp. 50 and 51) the following township organizations were effected, viz .: Township number one south, of range number fourteen west, then constituting the north half of the township of Waverly, was set off and organized into a township to be known as and called the township of Bloomingdale. the first town meeting to be held at the house of Elisha C. Cox in said township.
Townships number one south, of ranges number fifteen and six- teen west, then being a part of the township of South Haven, were set off and organized into a township under the name of Colum- bia, the first township meeting to be held at the schoolhouse in district number four in said township.
Township number four south, of range number thirteen west, being the east half of the then township of Decatur, was set off and organized as the township of Porter, the first township meet- ing to be held at the schoolhouse near the residence of Benjamin Reynolds.
This same act also provided that township number two south of range number sixteen west, should be organized into a town- ship to be called South Haven, the first town meeting to be held at the house of Daniel Taylor in said township. This embraced what is now the present township of Bangor, and was already a part of the township of South Haven, as theretofore organized, which organization was left intact, except that the township of Colum- bia had been detached therefrom, as hereinbefore noted.
It is evident that there must have been some mistake in this matter. This township does not border on Lake Michigan and there was nothing in the situation that could possibly have sug- gested the name "Haven," south or in any other direction, and it has never been known as the township of South Haven, nor in any way treated as such, except as it formed a part of said town- ship as originally organized in 1837. The legislature of the next year, 1846, appears to have been informed of the error and so passed a new law, the third, for the organization of the township of South Haven. This statute provided that fractional townships number one and two south of range number seventeen west, frac- tional township number two south of range number eighteen west, and township number two south of range number sixteen west,
Hosted by
1
.
85
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
should be organized into a township by the name of South Haven, and that the act of 1845, above noted, be repealed. This left the township of South Haven the same as originally organized in 1839, except that township number two south of range number eighteen west, a small triangular piece of land jutting into the lake, containing about one section, was added, and that townships number one south of ranges numbers fifteen and sixteen west had been detached and organized into the township of Columbia, as above noted. (Laws of Michigan, 1846, p. 126.)
The legislature of 1849 enacted that township number one south, of range number thirteen west, the north half of the then township of Almena, should be set off and organized into a township to be called Pine Grove, and that the first town meeting should be held at the house of Henry F. Bowen in said township. (Laws of Michigan, 1849, p. 105.)
The townships of Bangor, Geneva and Deerfield were organized, not by act of the legislature, but by resolution of the board of supervisors. On the 11th day of October, 1853, at the annual session of the board, a resolution was adopted, reading in part as follows: "Resolved, that township number two south of range number sixteen west, situate at present in and belonging to the township of South Haven, be and the same is hereby set off from said township and organized into a new township by the name of the township of Bangor, and that the time and place of holding the first annual meeting in said township of Bangor shall be on the first Monday of April next, 1854, at the schoolhouse situated on section twelve, in said township."
At a special meeting of the board of supervisors held on the 5th day of January, 1854, a similar resolution, in part as follows was adopted: "Resolved, that township number one south of range number sixteen west, situate at present in and belonging to the township of Columbia, be and the same is hereby set off from said township and organized into a new township by the name of Geneva, and that the time and place of holding the first township meeting in said township of Geneva shall be on the first Monday of April next, 1854, at the dwelling house of Nathan Tubbs, on section two in said township."
At a session of the board of supervisors, held on the 8th day of October, 1855, a resolution reading in part as follows was adopted : "Resolved, that township number two south of range number seventeen west, situated at present in and belonging to the town- ship of South Haven, be and the same is hereby set off and organized into a new township by the name of Deerfield, and that the time and place of holding the first annual township meeting in said township of Deerfield shall be on the first Monday of April next,
Hosted by Google
86
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
1856, at the dwelling house of Hiram Fish, on section number 21 in said township."
This action on the part of the board of supervisors of the county completed the organization of the county into eighteen townships, each of which, with the exception of the fractional townships of South Haven and Deerfield, (now Covert) was six miles square and contained thirty-six sections of land. No change has been made in the boundaries of any township since the date last mentioned, except that, by action of the board of supervisors at their October session, 1871, section number thirty-two and the west half of sec- tion number thirty-one of the township of Waverly was set off from said township and attached to the township of Paw Paw, and the southeast part of the township of Arlington, south of the Paw Paw river about one-third of section thirty-six, has been set off and attached to the township of Lawrence. The only other changes that have taken place have been changes of name, the township of Lafayette having been changed to Paw Paw and the township of Deerfield having been renamed Covert. It is altogether unlikely that any other alterations will be made, at least for many years to come.
PIONEER PICTURES
The following extracts from an article written by Hon. Alex- ander B. Copley, and read at the meeting of the Van Buren Coun- ty Pioneer Association in 1894, will serve to give some idea of the customs, the difficulties and the hardships encountered by the brave and hardy pioneers to whom we are indebted for this prosperous and beautiful land they have bequeathed to us. He says: "At the time of which I am writing, (the early thirties) it is doubtful if there was a cabin with rafters and board gable in either Cass or Van Buren county, and for years thereafter one could distinguish the eastern settler from the southern by the board gable with rafters, the logs squared at the corners, and the chimney built on the inside without jams and supported on the curved timbers of a natural crook.
"The farming tools of the pioneer were of the simplest kind, hardly differing from their ancestors of fifty to a hundred years before. An ax, iron wedge, bar share plow (which was a plow with share and landslide combined) to which a wooden mould board was attached, shovel plow (sometimes iron harrow teeth, more often wooden ones), a heavy hoe, and a sickle for cutting grain, which, after being cut, was stacked around a circular threshing floor of dirt, upon which it was tramped out by horses and win- . nowed by one man throwing it into the air, while two men flopped a sheet to fan it.
Hosted by Google
87
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
"The first fanning mill in the settlement was in 1831. The wheat was in poor condition for flour, the smut and dirt were mixed with it, and the rude mills of that day had few appliances to clean and scour the grain as compared with the complicated machinery of modern days. The result was a leaden-colored product much unlike, in appearance, taste or smell, the snow-white roller process flour of today, and owing to the difficulty of thresh- ing, on account of stormy weather at times, bad roads and the mills a long distance away, the settlers were often entirely out of flour and borrowing was the rule and general practice. Sometimes even borrowing was unavailable, as, for instance, Dolphin Morris (of Decatur township) and his brother were gone fourteen days to mill, Lacey's mill, near Niles, although the distance was but thirty miles. Some difficulty at the mill at first, then a severe storm of rain and sleet and snow, compelled them to abandon their loads and wagons, except the forward wheels of one wagon upon which they placed a small supply of flour for temporary use; and even then they were three days in going twenty miles to reach their families, who were out of bread and fearing the worst that could have happened to the absent husbands.
"The spring of 1832 was particularly unfortunate; the Sac war for one thing, when everyone expected an uprising of the resi- dent Indians and nearly all the settlers were called out to resist the threatened invasion of Blackhawk and his warriors. Happily this scare soon passed away and the settlers returned to their families, but the weather was very unfavorable for crops, the corn having been twice cut down by frosts and there being no seed for replanting. As a last resort, Mr. Morris sent a boy of fifteen with pack horses to Defiance, Ohio, a distance of over a hundred miles, to procure seed corn. The lad was successful in procuring two bushels, arriving home late one Saturday night and the next day all hands turned out and planted it, the product of which was all the corn raised in the neighborhood that year.
"The dress of the settlers was of the most primitive style, both as to fashion and material. With the men the old time hunting shirt had given way to a garment called a 'wamus,' a loose blouse with a narrow binding at the top and a single button at the throat, the skirt reaching to the hips when loose, or to the waist when tied by the corners as it was usually worn. The material was linsey, a homespun cloth of cotton and wool woven plain. Pan- taloons were of jeans, blue or butternut, with different shades of color as the different skeins of yarn took on a light or dark hue in the dyeing. Occasionally buckskin trousers were worn, or trousers faced with buckskin, fore and aft, as a sailor would say, where the protection would be the most serviceable.
Hosted by
88
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
"Feminine fashions were at a standstill, and it would be pre- sumptuous for me to attempt to describe them, still it would be an easier task then than now, for as I look on this beautiful scene before me, who could describe the lovely toilets which meet the eye on every side, their style, color and material eclipsed only by the charms of the wearers? Suffice it to say that notwithstanding the poke bonnets from five to ten years old, the belles and matrons who wore them were worthy of being the mothers and grandmothers of the radiant maidens of today.
"The chief business of the pioneer was to live. Speculation and money-making was not considered, as their locations and first set- tlements show. An easy place to farm was sought for; hence a choice location on a prairie was taken without taking into con- sideration the distance from market. Rich lands were available near the St. Joseph river, navigable to the lake and thence by water, but the emigrant passed on for thirty miles to a prairie, even if it took several days to get a barrel of salt. What was time to men whose wants were so few? The forests, the swamps and the lakes were to them vast storehouses furnishing both amuse- ment and subsistence. Game of many kinds abounded in the for- est, the streams and lakes teemed with fish, wild honey from the woods, huckleberries and cranberries from the swamps, and vari- ous other kinds of wild fruits in plenty, all served to make life at times a holiday. Not all sunshine, however. In 1835 there was a great frost in June, almost totally destroying a promising crop prospect and very nearly causing a famine, only a few favored localities escaping the general destruction. The roads of those early days were execrable, especially in the timbered lands. Wa- gons were generally covered, and an axe and log chain were al- ways taken on trips of any considerable distance, such as going to mill or market, as the roads were liable to be obstructed by trees blown down during heavy rain storms or high winds.
"As an example of the early roads and teaming in Van Buren county, on the 21st day of September, 1834, John Shaw, a promi- nent settler of Volinia, with a wagon and a team of three horses and a hired man sent by my father with a wagon and two yoke of oxen, started on a trip from Little Prairie Ronde to St. Joseph with wheat. The first day they reached Paw Paw; the second day Prospect Lake; the third day camped in the woods, and the fourth day reached St. Joseph. The fifth day they sold their loads, made their purchases, started home, and reached Rulo's, a French settler ten miles from St. Joseph; the sixth day they got to Paw Paw, and the next day they reached home, having camped out every night except the two nights at Dodge's tavern, Paw Paw, which at that time was little more than a shanty, he having just
Hosted by
89
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
commenced building his hotel. My father's account book says : 36 bushels of wheat at 60 cents, $21.60; one barrel of salt, $2.50; expenses, $1.94; cash brought home, $1.82; the rest in sundries. This year (1834) was the first opening up of trade and business between the prairie and Paw Paw. The next year, the winter of 1835, I accompanied my father on a trip to St. Joseph, with a load of oats to be exchanged for salt. The oats sold for 371/2 cents a bushel and the salt cost $2.621/2 per barrel. We accomplished the round trip in six days. The only settler at that time between Paw Paw and St. Joseph, was John B. Rulo, the Frenchman above mentioned, who lived in the township of Bainbridge, Berrien county. A log barn had been built at Prospect Lake and several miles farther west was a log house, but no roof; otherwise no im- provements whatever. But the snows of that winter had hardly melted before the road, so desolate at that time, had become an artery of life to the thronging settlers overrunning Van Buren county to found homes for themselves and their posterity."
VAN BUREN COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION
The Van Buren County Pioneer Association was organized at the village of Lawrence, on the 22d day of February, 1872. Pur- suant to a call, which had been previously issued, a large number of the older settlers of the county assembled at Chadwick's hall in that village, for the purpose of effecting some kind of an organiza- tion in honor of the pioneers of the county and to commemorate the scenes and days of pioneer life.
General Benjamin F. Chadwick was chosen chairman of the meeting, Hon. Morgan L. Fitch, assistant chairman, and S. Tall- madge Conway, secretary.
A committee was appointed on permanent organization, consisting of Messrs. Chas M. Morrill, John Smolk, William Markillie, Silas Breed and Orrin Sisson.
Hon. Jonathan J. Woodman and Charles U. Cross were ap- pointed to draft a constitution.
The committee on permanent organization recommended that the officers of the association be Judge Jay R. Monroe, president ; Edwin Barnum, vice-president, and S. Tallmadge Conway, secre- tary, which recommendations were adopted. Dr. Josiah Andrews was elected treasurer.
The committee appointed to draft a constitution presented its report, of which the following is the preamble: "We, the pioneer residents of Van Buren County, in order to perpetuate the memory of old associations and interesting events of our pioneer life, do hereby organize ourselves into an association to be called 'The
Hosted by
90
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Van Buren County Pioneer Association.' " The constitution pro- vided for annual meetings, for keeping record of the age, nativity, etc., of each member, outlined the duties of the officers, and pre- scribed that all persons who had been residents of the county for twenty years should be eligible to membership in the association.
The following executive committee was appointed: David D. Wise, Pine Grove; Silas Breed, Almena; Charles M. Morrill, Ant- werp; Sanford Corey, Porter; Ashbel Herron, Bloomingdale; Reuben J. Myers, Waverly; Nathaniel M. Pugsley, Paw Paw; Elisha Goble, Decatur; Jonathan N. Howard, Columbia; Duane D. Briggs, Arlington; Eaton Branch, Lawrence: Calvin Fields, Hamilton; Clark Pierce, Geneva; Charles U. Cross, Bangor; Lewis Miller, Hartford; Roderick Irish, Keeler; D. T. Pierce, South Haven; Miram Fish, Deerfield. Of the gentlemen above named as officers and committeemen, not one remains. All have passed into the great Beyond.
EDWIN BARNUM'S POEM
The second meeting of the association was held in the Town Hall in the village of Paw Paw, on the 22d day of February, 1873. At this meeting the date of holding the annual meetings was changed to the second Wednesday in June of each year. The feature of this meeting was the following address of welcome written and read by Edwin Barnum of Paw Paw.
The old settlers have a meeting; we have it every year. Last year we met at Lawrence; to-day we have it here. We've made the preparation and sent abroad the call, We give you all a welcome here in this spacious hall.
These old pioneers who assemble here to-day, Mostly had their birthplace in lands now far away : Some came from merry England, and some were born in Cork; Some had their birth in Canada and some in old New York.
New England sent us Yankees from off her rocky coast, And like the frogs of Egypt, there came a mighty host. New Jersey sent a few, about a half a score- Virginia doubled that, perhaps a trifle more. Her noble hardy sons were first upon the ground, And four and forty years ago took Little Prairie Ronde- Our sister, Indiana, that's just across the line, Sent up a troop of Hoosiers, all stalwart men and fine. Ohio furnished Buckeyes, their help we needed much ; While Pennsylvania sent up to us the honest Dutch.
No matter where your birthplace, no matter in what land, We welcome you as brothers in this "Old settlers' land." We welcome you, our brothers in labor, toil and care; We welcome you, our sisters, you've nobly done your share.
Hosted by
91
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The hardships we have suffered have served like iron bands To bind us firm together, to bind our hearts and hands. Together, o'er life's journey, we've traveled on the road And shared each other's trials and borne each other's load; We drank the cup of sorrow with many a bitter sigh, We drank it all together, we drank the fountain dry.
Although your forms are bending, your step in somewhat slow, Your faces much more wrinkled than thirty years ago; Although you lean on crutches, your heads are silvered o'er, Old pioneers, we love you as loved in days of yore. We hail you, noble brother, as the early pioneer I know your early history, for I was with you here. I've met you in your cabins, I've slept upon your floor ; Your house had not a window, a blanket formed the door. It scarcely was one story, no help to raise it higher Your wives they did the cooking outdoors there by a fire. Sometimes you had a plenty at morning, night and noon; Sometimes your store was shortened to a squirrel or a coon. But though your stock was scanty, I ne'er among you come, But that you raised the blanket-I felt myself at home.
I've seen you in your sorrow, your hunger and despair, When corn meal and potatoes made up your humble fare. You had a little clearing around the cabin door- It might have been an acre, perhaps a little more. You burned away the brush heaps, the logs you did not heed, But planted right among them your corn and pumpkin seed. The soil was rich and fertile, quite free from clods and lumps, And pumpkin vines for want of room, crept over logs and stumps; And then for their protection you hedged it round about With jampiles made of timber to keep the cattle out. And then with patient waiting the spring and summer rains Came oft upon your labor, rewarding all your pains- And when the erop was ripened and gathered in the fall, Of all the crops you ever raised, you praised it most of all.
I've seen the sturdy axmen, with well directed blow, Attack the mighty forest and lay the monarchs low. I've seen the hungry fire consume your heaps of logs, And seen the ditcher's spade remove the marshy bogs; And here upon the openings, no timber in the way, I've seen the patient oxen move on from day to day. The sod was quite unyielding, the roots were tough and long, To draw the heavy "breaker," the team it must be strong. Sometimes eight yoke of cattle were tethered in a row, Their march across the breaking was powerful, but slow. The steady, watchful driver made each perform his toil; The father held the plow that turned the virgin soil, For he had early learned that by the plow to thrive, Himself must either hold, or take the whip and drive.
Thus by your patient labor and well directed skill You have subdued the county and conquered it at will; Have swept away the forests, removed the stumps and stones,
Hosted by
92
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Torn down your lowly cabins and built your stately homes ; Have planted fruitful orchards whose tops now kiss the breeze. Have made our pleasant highways and lined them well with trees; Have drained the stagnant marshes and bridged the brooks and rills, Threw dams across our rivers and built thereon our mills. As said an ancient prophet, although 'twas said in prose, You have removed the bramble and planted there the rose; Cut down the noxious thistle, removed the ugly thorn, And planted out the fir tree, your dwellings to adorn. We know your task was arduous and troubles thick and fast. We welcome you as victors; you overcame at last.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.