USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 17
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On the afternoon of that day, the following entries appear on the official record, to-wit: "On examination of the several pro- posals for building the court house, it was ascertained that Reuben E. Churchill and Stafford Godfrey had proposed to furnish mate- rials, build and finish the woodwork of said house for the lowest sum-that is, for the sum of $2,410, and that Henry W. Rhodes had proposed to furnish materials and do the mason work for the low- est sum-that is, for $494.
"Whereupon, Reuben E. Churchill and Stafford Godfrey en- tered into a stipulation or agreement, with a penal sum of five thousand dollars with approved security, to build said court house and complete the same (agreeably to draft and specifications lodged in the county clerk's office) in eighteen months from this date; for which an order on the treasury was given to said Churchill and Godfrey for two thousand four hundred and ten dollars to be paid out of the money appropriated by the county board of commis- sioners at their meeting at the clerk's office, March 1, 1841, for the building of a court house."
Also Henry W. Rhodes gave a bond, with approved surety, to furnish materials and finish the mason work of said house in eighteen months from date, for which an order on the treasury was given for four hundred and ninety-four dollars, to be paid out of
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the money appropriated for building a court house, March 1, 1841, by the county board of commissioners.
"The county board then procured a warranty deed of I. W. Willard to the county of Van Buren for lots 5, 6, 7, and 8, in block No. 12, in the village of Paw Paw, on which to build said court house, and in consideration thereof quit claimed to said Wil- lard, block 40, the present site; also gave an order on the county treasury for $331 to J. F. Noye to clear the above lots from in- cumbrance, and received the security of Willard, Gremps & Com- pany for the repayment of the same to the treasury. (It was on this site that the court house and jail were built.)
"The county board then appointed Josiah Andrews to oversee (on the part of the county) the building of said court house."
After allowing a few miscellaneous claims, the board of county commissioners adjourned "never to meet again," having been legislated out of existence by an act passed by the legislature of 1842, which took effect on the second Monday of April of that year, the duties theretofore devolving on such board being con- ferred upon the board of supervisors.
The first meeting of the board of supervisors under the new regime was held at the office of the county clerk in the village of Paw Paw, on the fourth day of July, 1842, as required by the new statute, and was organized by choosing Gen. Benj. F. Chadwick as chairman. The only action taken at that meeting relative to the building of the court house was as follows: "Resolved, that this board call upon the county treasurer for a statement of the financial concerns of the county, information respecting the erer- tion of the court house, the amount of funds paid out, and all other information relative to the office and that the treasurer report to this board at their next meeting."
The next entry on the records relative to the new building ap- pears at the meeting of the board of supervisors on the 13th day of October, 1842, at which time Theodore E. Phelps, Philotus Hay- don and Joshua Bangs were appointed as a committee "to paint the court house, the same to be painted when the outside is finished, ready to receive the paint, also for the building a fence or yard around the court house when the said committee in their opinion deem it necessary."
OLD COURT HOUSE COMPLETED
The contractors, evidently, did not get their job completed in the stipulated eighteen months, as on the 14th day of August, 1844, considerably more than two years after the date of their contract, we find the following entries on the proceedings of the board for
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that year: "Resolved, that we will appoint a committee to ex- amine the work which Messrs. Churchill & Godfrey have done on the court house and report to the board relative to the materials and workmanship of the same, and that T. E. Phelps and George A. Bentley be appointed said committee.
"The committee appointed to examine the court house reported the workmanship and materials on the house was according to contract, as far as it had progressed, which report was received by the board.
"Resolved, that there shall be a gallery built in the south end of the court house and that Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Mason be re- quested to draft a plan for the same."
On the 7th day of January, 1845, almost three years after the contract for building the court house was entered into another committee consisting of Messrs. Humphrey P. Barnum, Jonathan N. Hinckley and George A. Bentley were appointed to examine the building.
After receiving the report of this committee, the board adopted the following resolution: "Resolved, that the report of the com- mittee on examination of the finishing of the court house be re- ceived, which is as follows, viz: That the finishing of the joiner work of the court house be accepted from the hands of Stafford Godfrey and Reuben E. Churchill as finishel agreeable to their contract and the committee be discharged."
With the exception of some of the inside work and the building of the gallery, the house at this time appears to have been finished. The board, however, apparently had some difficulty in getting the plastering all completed. Several times attention was called to the matter at different sessions of the board. Finally, on the 7th day of March, 1845, the official record shows that the following action was taken: "On motion, Resolved, that Joseph B. Barnes be appointed a committee to see H. W. Rhodes and inform him that he must have the remainder of the court house finished-that is, the plastering-by the first of May next or suffer damage for the same."
It is impossible to ascertain from the records when the first term of court was held in the new court house, but it is probable that it was at the June term, 1845.
This court house served the county for fifty-five years before any action was taken looking to new county buildings. There had been kept up, however, a constant agitation for the removal of the county seat from Paw Paw to some other place, Lawrence be- ing the point generally under consideration, although some of the other villages of the county that had outstripped that place in growth began to have aspirations to become the favored site.
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Meantime the population of the county had increased from less than 2,000 in 1845 to more than 33,000 in 1900, the county build- ings which had served for more than half a century had become old and entirely inadequate for the needs of the people, and the board of supervisors realized, as did the citizens of the county in general, that new and more commodious accommodations for the transaction of the public business had become an absolute neces- sity and that action looking to a new and modern court house and jail could not longer be delayed.
SOUTH HAVEN BIDS FOR COUNTY SEAT
In the meantime the village of South Haven had become the largest town in the county and was about ready to don city garb, and her people thought that her importance as a thriving manu- facturing town and as a lake port, entitled her to be considered as in the running for the proposed new location of the county seat of justice.
At the session of the board of supervisors held in January, 1900, Supervisor Peter J. Dillman, of Bangor, offered the following resolution : "Whereas, the county buildings of Van Buren Coun- ty are in condition requiring the building of new ones, therefore, "Resolved, by the board of supervisors of this county, that the county seat of Van Buren County be removed to some other place in Van Buren County."
This resolution was first laid on the table by a vote of ten to eight, but, on reconsideration, was adopted by a vote sixteen to two, the only supervisors voting in the negative being D. A. Squier of Decatur and Dwight Foster of Keeler, and thus for the first time, after many trials, a two-thirds vote of the board was secured favorable to a submission of the question to a vote of the electors of the county.
Following this action of the board, Supervisor J. T. Tolles of Geneva, offered the following resolution: "Whereas, this board has passed a resolution providing that the county seat of Van Buren County be moved from its present location, therefore :
"Be it resolved, that the county seat of Van Buren County be removed from its present location to the village of South Haven, and this board does hereby designate the village of South Haven as the place to which it shall be removed."
Supervisor Amos Benedict of Lawrence moved to amend the resolution by substituting Lawrence in the place of South Haven.
Supervisor Howard Lobdell of Hartford moved to amend the proposed amendment by substituting Hartford in the place of Lawrence.
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Mr. Lobdell's amendment was lost by a tie vote, nine to nine; Mr. Benedict's motion shared the same fate by the same vote, and in that vote vanished the hope that Lawrence had cherished for sixty years, that some day she might become the county seat of Van Buren county.
The board then proceeded to vote on the resolution of Supervisor Tolles providing that the county seat be removed to South Haven, which was adopted by a vote of twelve to six, exactly the required two-thirds.
The vote by townships was as follows: Yeas-Supervisors Brown of Almena, Mitchell of Antwerp, Dillman of Bangor, Smith of Bloomingdale, Gaynor of Columbia, Lampson of Covert, Tolles of Geneva, Wildey of Paw Paw, Waber of Pine Grove, Cornish of Porter, French of South Haven and Chase of Waverly.
Nays-Supervisors Monroe of Arlington, Squier of Decatur, Byers of Hamilton, Foster of Keeler, Benedict of Lawrence, and Lobdell of Hartford.
It required the vote of the supervisor from Paw Paw to make the necessary two-thirds. His vote, like that of several others, was not cast in favor of the proposition, because he favored a re- moval from Paw Paw, but because he realized that the time had come when new buildings must be erected and when the people themselves must finally settle by their votes, beyond all further agitation, where the county seat should be located.
Immediately following this action of the board, Supervisor Wil- dey offered a resolution providing "That there be submitted to the qualified electors of said county at the annual spring election to be held on the first Monday in April, A. D., 1901, the proposi- tion to borrow on the faith and credit of the county and to issue its evidence of indebtedness therefor the sum of sixty thousand dollars, the proceeds to be used solely for the purpose of erecting a suitable building to be used as a court house, and a suitable building or buildings to be used and occupied as a county jail, and a suitable building or buildings to be used and occupied as a sheriff's residence in said county of Van Buren."
This resolution was adopted by a vote of fourteen to four.
Immediately the "county seat war" was on in earnest. Meet- ings were held in different localities, either favoring or opposing one or both of the propositions submitted ; but the battle was fought largely through the columns of the public press. The two Paw Paw papers led the opponents of removal, while the South Haven papers took charge of the other side of the contest, and from then until the vote was taken there was no cessation of the battle. A majority of the newspapers of the county opposed the plan to re- move the county buildings to South Haven, some of them because
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they wanted no change and others, perhaps, because they hoped if the proposition was defeated that "county seat lightning" might possibly strike their own town. During the three months that elapsed before the vote was taken, the county seat question was the principal topic of discussion and conversation throughout the county and also occupied the most prominent position in the columns of its newspapers.
It was not expected when the proposition was submitted that any locality would be called upon to offer any pecuniary consid- eration to secure the location of the new court house, but South Haven was determined to win out if there was any possible chance, and Paw Paw was equally determined to retain what had been hers for more than sixty years, so neither of the contestants left anything undone that would tend to settle the fight in its own favor, and, as it chanced, the legislature of the state was in ses- sion, and so South Haven procured the passage of an act author- izing that township to issue bonds to an amount not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, "which shall be expended for the purchase of a site for and to aid in the construction of a court house and jail for the county of Van Buren, to be located in said township of South Haven, * * provided that a majority of the elec- tors of said township *
* * shall vote in favor of the said loan in the manner specified in this act."
Paw Paw realized that this move on the part of the enterprising lakeside village would be a body blow unless its effect could be counteracted, and so immediately secured the passage of a pre- cisely similar act, except that Paw Paw was mentioned therein in place of South Haven.
South Haven called a special election to be held on the 25th day of March, at which the question of issuing township bonds should be submitted to a vote of the people, and Paw Paw followed suit by calling an election for the same purpose to be held two days later.
The result of the South Haven election was 765 votes in favor of bonding and 44 against the proposition.
Paw Paw voted 587 for the bonds and 56 against.
POPULAR VOTE FOR PAW PAW
Immediately after this the battle waged hotter than ever. Each party accused the other of bluffing and of not intending to issue the bonds so voted. As the date of the election drew near (April 1st) the excitement increased and practically nothing else was heard but "county seat." The result was an overwhelming de- feat for the $60,000 county bonding proposition, the majority
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against it being 2,797. The proposition to remove the county seat from Paw Paw was also defeated by a majority of 356 in a vote of 8,520, the largest vote ever polled in the county, either before or since. It is not likely that anybody's vote was challenged on that day. The vote in detail was as follows:
Township.
Yes.
No.
Almena
7
259
Antwerp
174
415
Arlington
186
147
Bangor
554
90
Bloomingdale
262
193
Columbia
345
41
Covert
359
30
Decatur
106
400
Geneva
407
21
Hartford
102
485
Hamilton
20
183
Keeler
65
176
Lawrence
71
361
Porter
17
230
Pine Grove
147
263
Paw Paw
13
841
South Haven
1213
26
Waverly
33
277
Total vote
4082
4438
As soon as possible after the result of the vote was known Paw Paw issued and negotiated $50,000 of bonds, and when the board of supervisors met on the 18th day of April to canvass the vote. the money was in the hands of the treasurer and was by him ten- dered to the board to aid in the construction of new county build- ings at Paw Paw. The bonds having sold for a premium of $356 .- 44, the town had more than fulfilled its financial pledge.
After the canvass of the vote had been completed, Supervisor Chase of Waverly offered the following resolution, which was adopted by a vote of 12 to 6: "Whereas, the treasurer of Van Buren County has in his hands the sum of fifty thousand three hundred and sixty-six and 44-100 dollars donated by the township of Paw Paw for the purpose of purchasing a site and to aid in the construction of a court house, jail and sheriff's residence in the village of Paw Paw in said county, and
"Whereas, said buildings are necessary and essential and should be built by said county with all convenient speed; now therefore be it,
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"Resolved by the board of supervisors of Van Buren County at a session thereof held at the court house, on Thursday, the 18th day of April, A. D. 1901, that a site for such building be pur- chased and that a new, modern and commodious court house, jail and sheriff's residence be constructed and erected in said village of Paw Paw; that to carry out the provisions of this resolution said sum of money so offered and donated by the township of Paw Paw be accepted and placed to the credit of the county of Van Buren in a separate fund to be known and designated as the Court House construction fund.' "
A building committee was appointed with power to interview architects, and receive bids, plans and specifications for the pro- posed buildings.
A resolution was presented and adopted providing that the board should not, in any case, use more that seventy-five thousand dollars, including the sum donated by the township of Paw Paw. This resolution was never rescinded, but a much larger sum was expended.
A special meeting of the board was held June 3d and 4th, 1901, at which several bids were received for the construction of the new county buildings, the lowest being that of George Rickman & Sons of Kalamazoo, for the sum of $54,500 for the court house and $22,700 for the jail and sheriff's residence, and the county clerk and building committee were authorized and instructed to enter into a contract with that firm for the construction of the proposed buildings according to the plans and specifications that had been placed on file in the office of the county clerk.
A resolution was adopted by the board, reading in part as fol- lows: "Whereas, the building now occupied and used as a court house in and for Van Buren County, is no longer suitable for such purpose; now therefore :
"Be it resolved by the board of supervisors of the county of Van Buren, that it is necessary to raise the sum of thirty-five thou- sand dollars in addition to the sum above mentioned (the money received from Paw Paw) and that the same be raised by a loan :
"Be it further resolved, that there be submitted to the quali- fied electors of said county at a special election to be held on the 15th day of July, 1901, the proposition to borrow on the faith and credit of said county the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, the proceeds to be used solely for the erection of a suitable building to be used as a court house and a suitable building or buildings to be used and occupied as a county jail and sheriff's residence in said county of Van Buren."
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NEW COUNTY BUILDINGS
The board voted to purchase the block immediately south of the block on which the county buildings then stood as a site for the new court house and jail. This block was at the time almost en- tirely occupied by residences and is the same block upon which the old buildings were first ordered to be located some sixty years be- fore. This site cost the county about $10,000.
The board again met on the 24th day of June, 1901, at which action was taken looking to the condemnation of certain private property on the newly designated site for the conveyance of which the committee and the owners had failed to come to an agreement.
Again, on the 29th day of July the board met for the purpose of canvassing the vote of the special election on the county bond- ing question and ascertained that the proposition to issue $35,000 of county bonds had carried by the following vote: Yes, 1,355; No, 1,097. The result of this vote placed a little more than $85,000 in the building fund.
COURT HOUSE CORNER-STONE LAID
The corner-stone of the new court house was laid with appro- priate ceremonies on the second day of September, 1901, and was attended by a large concourse of people from all parts of the county. No event in the history of the county is more worthy to be preserved in its annals than the laying of that corner-stone. The following is a full and complete report of the ceremonies of the day as contained in the report of the building committee made to the board of supervisors one week thereafter:
"Gentlemen-Your building committee beg leave to submit the following report :
In accordance with the resolution submitted by Supervisor French and passed by the board of supervisors on June 25th A. D. 1901, your chairman appointed the following executive committee to make the necessary arrange- ments for the laying of the corner stone of the new court house:
Executive Committee .- R. W. Broughton, E. F. Parks, B. F. Heckert, T. J. Cavanaugh, M. O. Rowland.
Soon after the appointment of said committee we conferred with the con- tractors, Messrs. George Rickman Sons & Co., to ascertain the date upon which the building would be ready for the corner stone ceremony.
Being assured that labor day, Sept. 2, would be a convenient time and the earliest date they could safely name, said date was accepted and agreed upon as the day for said ceremony.
The executive committee appointed the following sub-committees and began active preparations for the proper observance and celebration of said day.
Reception Committee-W. J. Thomas, L. H. Titus, Daniel Spicer, I. B. Conner, B. F. Warner, W. J. Sellick, J. H. Johnson, G. W. Longwell, O. W. Rowland, H. A. Cole, C. W. Young, C. R. Avery, John Marshall, J. M. Long- well, F. B. Ocoboek, J. C. Warner, Wm. Butler, A. C. Martin.
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Business Committee-Geo. M. Harrison, E. B. Longwell, E. F. Parks.
Committee on Archives-F. N. Wakeman, J. W. Free, J. C. Maxwell, C. S. Maynard, H. L. McNeil, W. F. Hoyt, L. W. Curtiss, C. E. Thompson.
Decoration Committee-David Anderson, M. D. Buskirk, W. R. Sellick, H. C. Waters, W. L. Miller, Elmer Downing.
Arrangement Committee-Wm. Killefer, R. A. Shoesmith, A. H. Dodge. Transportation Committee-I. Jay Cumings, J. D. Holmes, H. W. Shower- man, D. H. Patterson, W. H. Longwell.
Entertainment Committee-W. C. Y. Ferguson, J. A. O'Leary, E. S. Briggs. Music Committee-J. F. Taylor, W. J. Barnard, E. A. Aseltine.
The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Michigan were invited to lay the corner stone of the building which invitation was ac- cepted by Mr. Frank O. Gilbert, grand master.
Hon. Frank T. Lodge of Detroit was engaged to deliver the address for the occasion.
The Peninsula Commandery Knights Templar of Kalamazoo, all organized societies of the county and citizens in general were invited to be present and assist in the exercises of the day, which invitation was accepted.
On Monday, September 2, A. D. 1901, at half past one o'clock in the after- noon, the various societies that took part in the parade assembled at the school house park and there awaited the arrival of the Peninsular Commandery Knights Templar, of Kalamazoo.
On the arrival of the said commandery the parade started at once and proceeded over the course previously arranged and from thence directly to the court house grounds where a vast crowd was assembled and the Grand Lodge of F. & A. M. of Michigan, proceeded to lay the corner stone with the follow- ing ceremonies :
The Grand Marshal commanded silence as follows:
"In the name of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of Michigan I do now command all persons here as- sembled to keep silence and to observe due order and decorum during the ceremonies. This proclamation I make that each and every person may govern himself accordingly."
Mr. T. J. Cavanaugh invited the Grand Master in these appropriate words to lay the corner stone:
"Most Worshipful Grand Master-The people of this county have under- taken to erect on the place where we now stand an edifice to be devoted to the uses of the county. We hope it may long serve the purposes for which it is being constructed; that strength and beauty may adorn all its parts, and wis- dom continually go forth from within its walls to enlighten the community. On behalf of those engaged in its erection I now most respectfully request that you lay the corner stone thereof according to the forms and ceremonies of your ancient and honorable fraternity."
Grand Master :- "From time immemorial it has been the custom of Free Masons to join their operative brethren upon occasions such as this, and to lay with fitting ceremonies the corner stones of important public buildings.
"In accordance with that custom we accept your invitation so graciously given. We have assembled our Grand Lodge in special communication for that purpose and will now proceed to lay this foundation stone according to an- cient Masonic usage.
"One of the first lessons which Free Masonry teaches is that in all our work, great or small, begun or finished, we should first seek the aid of Al- mighty God. It is therefore our first duty upon this present occasion to ask the
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