USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 47
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erty of Joseph H. Nyman, the original proprietor of the village where it was located. Mr. Cross, after disposing of his mill prop- erty in Bangor, removed to Paw Paw, where he built another mill. Afterward he became a resident of Hartford and erected a mill on the Paw Paw river, just north of the village of Hartford in that township. Finally he settled in the township of Lawrence, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. His attention was early attracted to the practice of the law, and for many years there were few suits in the inferior courts of his neighborhood in which he was not engaged. He eventually became a full fledged lawyer and was admitted to the practice of his profession by the circuit court of the county. He departed this life at South Haven on the 20th day of November, 1894, aged seventy-seven years.
In 1852, M. P. Watson, in connection with Albert Comstock, opened the first general store in Bangor, but there was so little trade that they soon closed out their stock and abandoned the venture.
The village of Bangor was incorporated by a special act of the legislature of 1877 (found on page 62 of the volume of local acts for that year).
The census of 1910 gave Bangor a population of 1,158, which is exceeded by only three villages in the county, Paw Paw, Decatur and Hartford.
One of the notable high schools of the county is located in Ban- gor. At the school enumeration of 1911 there were 336 persons of school age residents of the village district. There were eighty non-resident pupils in attendance of the school during the school year of 1910-11, and the average daily attendance was 300. There were 1,650 volumes in the district library. The village has two schoolhouses and the value of the school property is estimated at $25,000. There is a bonded indebtedness on the district of $2,000. There were eleven teachers employed during the school year and they taught an aggregate of 105 months of school and received as salary the sum of $6,077.90.
The present officers of the village are as follows: President, Samuel Martindale; clerk, Charles E. Cross; treasurer, James A. Yates; assessor, Willard S. Northrup; trustees, Edson V. Root, Lewis Mckinney, Burtes M. Sherrod, Lemuel J. Branch and Frank W. Palmer.
There are four churches in the village-Methodist Episcopal, Disciple (sometimes called Christian) Congregational and Advent- ist. There is also a society of Christian Scientists. The Methodist society is the oldest, having been organized in 1865. Its present house of worship, a frame structure with a seating capacity of about 400, was erected in 1873 and was remodeled and enlarged
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in 1900. During the past year the society has built a new, modern parsonage at a cost of about $2,500. The membership at the present time is about 180. The present pastor is Rev. C. S. Risley and he presides over one of the leading Methodist churches of the county.
The Disciple (or Christian) Church was organized in the spring of 1876 by the late Rev. John H. Reese, who was its first pastor and under whose ministrations the church soon became a power in the religious life of the town. Its house of worship, a brick struc- ture, was remodeled and reconstructed in 1905 and is the finest church building in the town. It will seat about 450 people. The Rev. F. Z. Burkette is the present pastor.
The Congregational society is also well represented in the town. They have a fine church edifice, constructed of white brick. The church is prospering in all its departments, under the ministra- tion of its present pastor, Rev. H. G. Kent. The society also has a parsonage adjoining the church property.
The Adventist church (Seventh Day) was built through the per- sonal effort of Rev. L. J. Branch, who has been a long-time resi- dent of the place, and is its pastor.
Outside the limits of the village there are several other churches : The Adventists (Sunday) have a neat little chapel about two miles west of the village; the Congregationalists, a very active church about four miles west of the town; the Methodist Epis- copal society, a neat church building in what is known as the Hawley district; and there is an Evangelical church in the north- west corner of the township.
The village has a very efficient and satisfactory municipal elec- tric light and water system. The water is obtained from two eight-inch wells, sixty feet in depth, and is very clear and pure. As a result of these public improvements, the town is bonded in the sum of $25,000.
The business houses of the place are five large department stores, two drug stores, one furniture and undertaking establish- ment, one jewelry store, one hotel, two bakeries and restaurants, two harness stores, three meat-markets, one weekly newspaper (the Bangor Advance), one large pickle processing plant, one vinegar factory, two flouring mills, one lumber yard and planing mill, one bank (the West Michigan Savings, with deposits of upwards of $400,000), one saw-mill, one implement depot and other smaller business plants. There are three resident physicians, one dental surgeon and one attorney.
The two strongest secret societies in the place are the Masons and the Oddfellows. Coffinbury Lodge, No. 204, A. F. & A. M., has a membership of 132; Bangor Chapter, No. 105, R. A. M., has
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fifty-seven members and Golden Rule Chapter, No. 339, O. E. S., 160. Tillotson Lodge, No. 165, I. O. O. F., has upwards of 150 members and Sunnyside Rebekah Degree Lodge, No. 28, about 125. In addition to these, there are the Modern Woodmen, Grange, A Lincoln Post, G. A. R., and a lodge of the Royal Neighbors.
The business men have organized as the Bangor Business Men's Club and the ladies have several literary and social clubs, the principal one being "The Argonauts."
The township of Bangor is one of the fruit-growing townships of the county, being especially adapted to the raising of that king of fruits, the apple, which crop alone, during the season of 1911, brought into the Bangor markets approximately the sum of $100,000; and no better quality of apples is produced in America. There were shipped from the town, during the past season, 753 full carloads of various kinds of commodities, of which 304 car- loads were fruit, forty-one potatoes, twenty-two grain, 101 hay, forty live-stock, twenty pickles, thirty-eight cider stock and eighty- three miscellaneous produce.
VILLAGE OF DEERFIELD
Deerfield is a small unincorporated village; a station on the line of the Pere Marquette Railway, midway between the villages of Bangor and Hartford. It is more generally known by the name of McDonald and is so called on the railway map, possibly because there is another Deerfield in the eastern part of the state. How- ever, it was platted as Deerfield and is known only by that name in the official records of the county. It was laid out in the spring of 1871 by Henry Goss and James J. Clark, and since that date there have been three additions to the little embryo city, to-wit : Goss' addition in 1874. Hubbard's addition in 1890, and Goss' second addition in 1891. While the town is small, it has ample room to grow. It is situated in the midst of a rich agricultural region and has a railroad station, a telephone station, a creamery, a saw-mill, a plant for the distillation of peppermint oil (which is produced in considerable quantity), and two prosperous general stores. There is also a flourishing Baptist church at the place.
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CHAPTER XXII
TOWNSHIP OF BLOOMINGDALE
FIRST SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS-TAXES AND TOWNSHIP GOVERN- MENT-POPULATION AND EDUCATION-VILLAGE OF BLOOMING- DALE-MR. HAVEN'S SKETCH OF THE VILLAGE-CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES -- VILLAGE OF GOBLEVILLE.
We acknowledge our indebtedness to Hon. H. H. Howard for a considerable portion of so much of the following sketch as re- lates to the early history of the township of Bloomingdale.
Bloomingdale is one of the northern tier of townships of the county and is designated by the United States survey as township number one south, of range number fourteen west. It is bounded on the north by the south line of Allegan county, on the east by the township of Pine Grove, on the south by Waverly and on the west by Columbia. The territory embraced within its limits, to- gether with the townships of Pine Grove, Almena and Waverly. comprised the old township of Clinch. It became Waverly in 1842 when the township of Clinch was divided, the east half being named Almena and the west half Waverly. In 1845 the township of Waverly was divided, the north half thereof being called Bloom- ingdale. The surface is rolling and was originally heavily tim- bered with pine, hemlock and various kinds of hardwood, such as are indigenous to this latitude. The soil in some places is sandy and in others consists of a clay loam, exceedingly fertile and well adapted to the growing of grain and the production of fruit. A considerable number of lakes diversify the landscape, beautiful sheets of water, well stocked with different varieties of fish, and affording excellent sport to the disciples of Izaak Walton. Those which are of sufficient size to be dignified with a name are Great Bear, which extends into the township of Columbia, and Muskrat, each of these being nearly a mile in length; Sweet, Twin, Three- legged, Mud, Lake Mill, Thayer, Little Brandywine and Smith's.
Mr. Howard says that the first township meeting in the new township was held at the residence of L. Jackson Lacy, which is probably correct, although the statute required that it should be held at the house of Elisha G. Cox. There were seventeen votes
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polled at this election and the following named officers were elected : Supervisor, Mallory H. Myers; township clerk, Hiram T. Hough- ton; township treasurer, Ashbel Herron; assessors, Harviland Thayer and Orlando H. Newcomb; highway commissioners, Mal- lory HI. Myers, Joseph Brotherton and Orlando H. Newcomb; school inspectors, William H. H. Myers and Dennis C. Whelan; overseers of the poor, Ashbel Herron and L. Jackson Lacy; jus- tiees of the peace, William H. H. Myers and Ira S. Frary.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS
During the bleak, cold days of December, 1837, the first settle- ment was made within the limits of this township by the four Myers brothers-Mallory HI., William H. H., Reuben .J., and Mer- lin M., accompanied by their mother and sister, Sarah O. and Ruth Ann Myers. These first settlers of the township were from Oneida county, New York. In the spring of 1836 two of the brothers, Mal- lory and William HI. H., started out on foot and walked the entire. distance from Genesee county, New York, via Canada, to Michi- gan. For six months Mallory worked in Monroe county and Will- iam at White Pigeon. The latter then returned to New York and brought the rest of the family to White Pigeon where they were all reunited. The next year they decided to locate permanently on section thirty-six, the extreme southeastern corner of the town- ship of Bloomingdale. They procured the services of Ashbel Her- ron to bring them to their new location, with his ox team, arriving at their future home on the 22d day of December, 1837, no other shelter awaiting them than that afforded by the tall monarchs of the forest. The frozen earth, after the snow had been melted away by a roaring fire, afforded them a resting place the first night. The next day a rude cabin was built, which was soon after followed by a substantial log house, and thus was commenced the first settlement of this township. now one of the best in the entire county of Van Buren.
During the next year the first schoolhouse was erected, Will- iam H. H. Myers becoming the first teacher in 1838 and 1839.
During the year 1838 Ashbel Herron, a native of Cayuga county, New York, and Daniel G. Robinson from Ohio, settled near the Myers location, and Joseph Peck, from Monroe county, New York, located on section six, in the extreme northwestern corner of the township. This locality was known for years as "Pecktown." The first marriage celebrated in the township was that of James Scott of Decatur and Ruth Ann Myers. Mr. Howard states that this marriage was solemnized by Elder Warner, but in this he- must have been in error as the official record states that the wed- Vol. 1-29
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ding took place on the 11th day of April, 1839, and that the party officiating was Ashbel Herron, Esq.
Orlando H. Newcomb located in this township in 1839, on sec- tion number thirty-six, near the Myers brothers. One of the events of the year was the preaching of the first Gospel sermon by Noah D. Sweet, the service being held in the schoolhouse. W. Brownell, a young shingle maker was the first to depart this life in the new settlement. John Wesley Herron was the first white child born within the limits of the township. During this same year two homes of the settlers, together with their contents, were burned in a mysterious manner. Suspicion pointed to the Indians who yet remained in the vicinity in considerable numbers.
Harviland Thayer, a native of New Jersey, settled in the town- ship in 1840, on section thirty-four. Other settlers of the same year were Alanson Todd, Ira S. Frary, N. Kennedy and Dennis E. Whelan. Henry Mower of Windsor County, Vermont, removed to Kalamazoo in 1832. From that date until 1843, he traversed the greater portion of southern Michigan, acting as a guide to land seekers. In the latter year he purchased land on section number twenty-three in this township, where he resided until his death some forty-five years thereafter. He was present at the first township election and was elected township clerk in 1846, an office he continued to hold for nine successive years.
Thomas Hudson settled on section number thirty in 1844. William L. Houghton came the same year and two years later was married to Hannah M. Story. Reuben H. Ward located on sec- tion number four in 1845.
The persons whose names appear on the assessment roll as resi- dent tax payers, during the year that the township was organized, were Ashbel H. Herron, William H. Myers, Joseph Brotherton, Harviland Thayer, David Loveland, H. T. Houghton, Dennis E. Whelan, Mallory Myers, Levi Thayer, Burroughs Abbott, O. H. Newcomb, Daniel Robinson, Peter Valleau, Alanson Todd, Ira Frary, Robert Moon, Elisha Cox, Jackson Lacy, Melvin Hogmire, Joseph Peck and Daniel Robinson & Co. Additional tax paying residents in 1846 were Reuben Ward, Jonathan Goodell, William Houghton, William Story, Alanson Greanes, Josiah Sweet, Daniel Jewell, Henry Whelpley and John Wait.
An early saw-mill (water power) was built by Daniel G. Robin- son on section number sixteen and later Messrs. Myers & New- comb built the first steam mill. In 1866 John Hudson built the first grist mill which was burned about three years after it was completed.
Among the other early settlers were Truman Douglas, Samuel Lane, Zenas Case, Zenas Howard, Harvey Howard, Harrison
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Cooley, John Barnard, Isaac Knapp, Chester Barber, Rufus Brown, William Merwin, O. M. Bessey, Arch Bishop, Alexander Miller, Christian Speicher, Shadrack Austin, Matthew Munn, Timothy Cooley, John Baxter, James Baxter, Milton Healy, Edmund Baughman, Augustus Haven, Warren Haven, Henry Killefer, Eg- bert Cooley, Austin Melvin, Carlos Peck, Elisha Joy, Greenwood Wait, Pliny Wait, Eli Bell, George Harvey and Eli Smith.
Previous to the coming of Dr. Barber, when in need of medical advice or the services of a physician, the people were treated by Dr. Andrews of Paw Paw. Here, as in all other newly settled re- gions, the early settlers kept open house and the weary or belated traveler always found a hearty welcome and a generous enter- tainment for both man and beast. "Hospitality to the stranger" was ever a marked characteristic of the pioneers of the Peninsular state.
Augustus Haven, from Portage county, Ohio, became a resi- dent of Bloomingdale in 1854. There were then about forty voters in the township, and Paw Paw, sixteen miles distant, was the near- est postoffice. The only religious organization at that time was the Methodist and their meetings were held in Peck's barn. Mr. Haven soon became a man of prominence in the affairs of the township, and as a farmer, merchant, business man, township official and religious leader, has always been at the front. He is yet a resident of the village of Bloomingdale, honored and re- spected by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance.
The entire amount of the taxes spread on the first tax roll of the township was $571.75, being $245.08 for township purposes, $168.52 for schools, $91.91 for highways, and $66.24 for county and state tax.
TAXES AND TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT
As an illustration of the changes that time has wrought, the tax assessed on the township for the year 1911 is $11,545.96, for the following purposes: State tax, $4,025.78; county tax, $2,741.37; township tax, $1,000; school tax, $3,499.07; special taxes, $1,139.99. The valuation of the township at the last assessment was $935,725.
The following named gentlemen have served the township as supervisors, a considerable number of them for two or more terms: Elisha C. Cox, L. Jackson Lacy, Harviland Thayer, Ashbel Her- ron, Harrison Cooley, Isaac L. Knapp, Harvey H. Howard, Henry Killefer, Timothy Cooley, Pliny Wait, Augustus Haven, James M. Robertson, William Killefer, Isaac T. Robertson, David H. Smith, Robert E. Vickers and Milan D. Wiggins. Supervisor Smith served
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for nine successive terms and several of the others held the office nearly as long.
The township is traversed by the South Haven branch of the Michigan Central, commonly called the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad, which crosses the township diagonally from east to west dividing it into two very nearly equal parts. There are two stations on this line of road within the boundaries of the town- ship, Bloomingdale and Gobleville, both flourishing, incorporated villages.
POPULATION AND EDUCATION
The census of 1910 gives the number of inhabitants of the town. ship as 2,011, being the fourth in point of numbers of all the town- ships of the county outside of the city of South Haven.
There are nine school districts and nine schoolhouses in the township. Nineteen teachers were employed during the past school year, and their salaries amounted to the sum of $9,479.25, the largest sum paid by any township outside of the city of South Haven. The number of persons of school age, according to the school census of 1911, was 620, a number exceeded only by the townships of South Haven, Hartford and Paw Paw. There are a thousand volumes in the various district libraries. The valuation of school property in the township is $15,575. District No. 5, the Gobleville school, has a bonded indebtedness of $6,000. The other districts are free from debt. The nineteen teachers employed taught an aggregate of 156 months during the school year of 1910-11. The state primary school money apportioned to these schools during the past school year was the sum of $4,657.50. .
At the first general election held in the township, November 4, 1845, there were ten votes cast, for the office of governor, as fol- lows: Five for Alpheus Felch, Democrat; four for Stephen Vick- ery, Whig, and one for James G. Birney, Liberty party.
At the last presidential election the voters of the township cast 465 electoral votes, as follows: 270 for William Howard Taft, Re- publican; 178 for William Jennings Bryan, Democrat; thirteen for Eugene W. Chafin, Prohibitionist; two each for Eugene V. Debs, Socialist, and Thomas L. Hisgen, Independent party:
The present officers of the township are as follows: Robert E. Vickers, supervisor; Emerson D. Spayde, township clerk; J. W. Brown, treasurer; Byron G. Wait, Duvis Button, Franklin Cooley and Calvin D. Myers, justices of the peace; B. S. Munn, commis- sioner of highways; Fred W. Banks and H. H. Howard, board of review ; Eber Cooley, Charles Allen and A. G. Cheney, constables.
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VILLAGE OF BLOOMINGDALE
The village of Bloomingdale was platted on the 23d day of May, 1870, by Henry Killefer, Lucius B. Kendall and J. M. Reming- ton. What is known as Haven's addition was platted and made a part of the village on the 15th day of September, 1870. The vil- lage is situated on the line of the South Haven branch of the Michigan Central Railroad and is located on sections sixteen and seventeen, within about a mile of the center of the township, and is perhaps, the most important business place between Kalamazoo and South Haven. The census of 1910 gives it a population of 501.
The occupant of the site of the town was Henry Killefer, or Kilheffer, as the name was originally spelled. About the year 1854 Davis Haven purchased a tract of land that included the present site of the village, and, as an inducement for Mr. Killefer to settle there, he conveyed to him an acre of land on which the present railroad depot is situated.
ELDOWEROCALE
MICHIGAN CENTRAL DEPOT, BLOOMINGDALE
The first mercantile establishment in the place was opened by Rufus M. Brown and Jesse Merwin, under the firm named of Brown & Merwin, but it was short lived and soon closed up and went out of business. This first effort at establishing a store was followed by Mr. Killefer, who, about the year 1857, erected a small building, the upper part of which he used for a dwelling and in the lower story of which he placed a small stock of boots, shoes and groceries. This establishment of Mr. Killefer's was the first dwelling house built within the limits of the present village.
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A postoffice was established soon afterward and Mr. Killefer be- came the first postmaster. He was succeeded in this office by William Killefer, his father, and he by John Killefer, his brother. Since that time the office has been filled by Charles Killefer (John's son), William Harrison, George D. Scofield and Gilbert H. Hud- son, the present incumbent.
The first passenger train arrived at the village on the fourth day of July, 1870, and the event was the occasion of great re- joicing among the inhabitants of the village and surrounding country.
The first saw mill, steam of course, as there is no water power in the township, was set up by Mr. A. W. Torrey in the fall of 1870.
Dr. L. A. Barber was the first resident physician. The present resident physicians are Dr. Thomas H. Ransom and Dr. William R. Scott.
The village of Bloomingdale became an incorporated town by act of the state legislature in 1881. Its present officers are Thomas H. Ransom, president; Charles E. Merrifield, clerk; Sherman D. Smith, treasurer ; Edwin J. Merrifield, assessor.
MR. HAVEN'S SKETCH OF THE VILLAGE
It is with pleasure that we acknowledge our indebtedness to Augustus Haven for most of the facts contained in the following sketch.
The village of Bloomingdale was platted on the 23d day of May, 1876, by Henry Killefer, Lucius B. Kendall and J. M. Rem- ington. The village is situated on the line of the South Haven branch of the Michigan Central Railroad and is located on sec- tions sixteen and seventeen, within about a mile of the center of the township, and is, perhaps, the most important business place on that line between Kalamazoo and South Haven.
In 1853 Daniel G. Robinson built a saw-mill on the outlet of Mack's lake and erected a frame house near it. These buildings were on the east line of the present village. In the summer of 1855, Rufus M. Brown, Jesse W. Merwin and Alexander Miller each erected a frame house in the new village and Messrs. Brown and Merwin engaged in the mercantile business, principally buy- ing shingles and hauling them to Mattawan. The partnership was short-lived, being dissolved in a few months.
In 1856 Davis Haven of Portage county, Ohio, purchased the north half of section seventeen, and as inducement for Henry Killefer (or Kilheffer, as the name was at that time spelled) to settle there, he conveyed to him one acre where the railroad depot
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and new park are now located. Mr. Killefer had a frame house erected and moved his family to his new location in 1857. In November of the same year, Mr. Killefer commenced business with a small stock of groceries at Paw Paw and had a small consign- ment of boots and shoes shipped in from Ohio. This was the be- ginning of a successful mercantile business which he followed in company with his sons, John and William, for about thirteen years.
As early as 1855, there was a postoffice in Cheshire on the base line, in Allegan county, a few miles north of Bloomingdale, kept by Jonathan Howard. A man by the name of Pratt brought the mail from Allegan, going on to Paw Paw one day and back the next, but there was no postoffice at Bloomingdale at that time, all its mail coming to the Paw Paw office, sixteen miles distant. About 1859 or 1860 a mail route was established between Paw Paw and Bloomingdale, with John Caughey as mail carrier and J. P. Howard as postmaster. Mr. Caughey continued on this route until the railroad was built in 1870. Mr. Howard was post- master for some five or six years and was succeeded by John Kil- lefer, and he in turn by his sons William and John and his grand- son, Charles. Following the Killefers came Frank Hughes, William Harrison, G. D. Scofield and the present incumbent, Gilbert H. Hudson.
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