USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 57
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
The first white child born in the township was Sarah, daughter of John and Jane Reynolds. She died in her youth.
The first death that occurred among those early pioneers was that of Mrs. Dexter Gibbs, who died in April, 1838. Her daugh- ter, Mrs. Ephraim Taylor, did not long survive her mother, her death occurring only three months after the latter's decease. Mr. Gibbs followed them in October of the same year, and father, mother and daughter were all buried on the banks of Brush creek, just beyond the eastern limits of the village.
.
Hosted by Google
.
552
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
THE FOOD PROBLEM
"Going to mill" in those early days was no small undertaking, as it meant a journey to Kalamazoo, Flowerfield or Whitmanville, and sometimes to Three Rivers, places from twenty-five to forty-five miles distant. Such a trip through the woods and over the rough roads, perchance with an ox-team, was any- thing but a pleasure jaunt; but there was no alternative. The tree stump corn mill-which was a hollowed out stump in which the corn was pounded and ground until it would serve for the manu- facture of johnnycake or mush-was a valuable adjunct to the preparation of the daily rations of a hungry family. This condi- tion of things was, however, of short duration. In 1838 John R. Haynes put in a small run of stones in his saw-mill in the village, which superseded the holes in the stumps.
The first real grist mill was built by Marvin Hannah in 1850. This was destroyed by fire in 1862, since which time the river wa- terpower has remained unused.
In common with all the early settlers of Michigan, the pioneers of Lawrence were greatly annoyed by wolves and other wild ani- mals, but they occasioned no serious trouble. The wolves, al- though appearing to be savage and fierce, were cowardly curs unless traveling in packs. The greatest damage suffered by the settlers was the carrying off of sheep, calves and pigs by the marauding beasts. However, there was some compensation for this. The forests abounded with various kinds of game, the wa- ters swarmed with fish, so that to obtain a full supply of fish, flesh or fowl, one did not need a steel or split bamboo rod and a reel. nor did he require anything but a muzzle-loading rifle or shot gun to keep the larder well supplied with that for which men in these later days sometimes travel hundreds of miles to obtain. and sometimes fail even then.
ROADS AND MAILS
The first road laid out in the township was what was then called the "Waterford" (not Watervliet) road, a thoroughfare leading west from the village of Lawrence through the township of Hart- ford to the village of Watervliet in Berrien county. James Gray and Eaton Branch were the highway commissioners and Humph- rey P. Barnum the surveyor. The construction of highways in those primitive days was no light task and when it is considered that the township embraced not only the present territory of Lawrence, but also the townships of Hartford and Arlington, it may well be supposed that the office of commissioner of highways was no sinecure.
Hosted by
553
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
A road from the village of Mason toward Keeler was surveyed in 1836 by Jesse L. Church and opened the next year. About the same time another road, called No. 4, was laid out from the south- east corner of section thirty-two to the northwest corner of section sixteen.
The river (Paw Paw) road, leading north from the village, one from the south side of section four and one from the southwest corner of section nineteen to the southwest corner of section twenty, were laid out in 1837.
Other highways laid out in 1838 were called the Breedsville, Hand's, Phelps', Olds', Hammond's, Taylor's, Barnes' and Branch's roads.
In 1839 there were the town-line road between the townships of Lawrence and Alpena (now Hamilton) ; Heath's, Briggs', Mellen's and Clark's roads and some others.
Until 1839 Eaton Branch and James Gray were the commis- sioners of highways, and until 1841, Mr. Branch was actively en- gaged in the work of laying out and opening the highways of the township. Humphrey P. Barnum laid out a great many of these roads, although Jesse L. Church and E. H. Keeler performed a con- siderable share of the business.
The Territorial road, which reached across the entire state from Detroit to St. Joseph, passed through the southeastern part of the township. This was an important route of travel prior to the com- pletion of the Michigan Central Railway, great numbers of stage coaches and freight wagons passing over it in those early days.
In 1836 John Allen, the proprietor of the village of Mason, had the government contract for transporting the mails from Kalama- 700 to St. Joseph, and, being desirous of favoring his own location as far as possible, he changed his route so as to pass through his own town to Keeler, instead of following the Territorial road. The Lawrence postoffice was not established, however, until 1837, when Horace Stimson was appointed as the first postmaster. John R. Haynes succeeded him and held the office continuously until his death in 1856. His successor was John B. Potter, who held the office until 1865. He was succeeded by B. F. Chadwick, who held the office but a couple of years, when Mr. Potter was again ap- pointed and continued to hold the office until 1873, when he was succeeded by George A. Cross. The successors of Mr. Cross have been Newell Crissey, Sylvester M. Hess, Newell Crissey (for a second time), Allie Wiggins, John F. Barrows and Byron H. Col- burn (present incumbent ).
There was formerly a postoffice at Prospect Lake, but since the advent of free country mail delivery this has been discontinued
Hosted by
554
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
and the only postoffice in the township is at the village of Law- rence.
FLAT-BOAT TRAFFIC
The Paw Paw river, prior to the completion of the Michigan Central Railroad, was utilized to a considerable extent as a route of transportation between Lawrence and St. Joseph, even as far up the stream as Paw Paw; but its navigation above the mouth of Brush creek was attended with considerable difficulty and uncer- tainty. John R. Haynes built a warehouse for the reception of freight and the village became a place of shipment for the sur- rounding country. Flour and other goods were hauled from Kala- mazoo and shipped down the river to St. Joseph and thence across the lake to Chicago.
This flat-boat traffic continued with more or less regularity until 1848. For a considerable number of years after that lumber manu- factured at Lawrence was rafted down the river to St. Joseph, as the writer knows by experience in the business in his youthful days. The decreasing supply of timber put an end to this traffic. For many years no further attempts at converting the river into a navigable stream have been made and its waters have been per- mitted to flow untroubled on their way to Lake Michigan and thence, partly by way of Chicago's drainage canal, to the Missis- sippi river and the gulf of Mexico, and partly by way of the straits of Mackinac, the great lakes, Niagara Falls and the St. Lawrence river to the broad Atlantic.
The first public house of entertainment in Lawrence was Dex- ter Gibb's old log tavern.
OLD TAVERN AT LAWRENCE
Hosted by
.
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
555
The second one was built in 1849 by Horatio N. Phelps, sub- sequently widely known as the Mather House. This hotel occu- pied one corner of the principal street crossing in the village and stood for many years. It was eventually destroyed by a disas- trous fire. The site is now occupied by the Farmers' and Mer- chants' Bank.
There were two log taverns on the line of the Territorial road within the limits of the township of Lawrence, and, as long as the stages continued to run along that route, they were features in the history of the township. The first one, near Reynolds' lake, was kept in operation for about ten years. South of that hostelry and on the banks of Prospect lake, Horatio N. Phelps opened a stage house in 1837, and as it was a place where the stages changed horses, it was, at that time, of considerable importance. But the usefulness of both these houses as places of public entertainment ceased when the Territorial road ceased to be a stage route.
PAPER TOWN OF VAN BUREN
During the flush times of 1837-8, caused by the reckless and practically unlimited issue of "wild cat" currency, John D. Free- man conceived the idea of having a town on the banks of Pros- pect lake and, having entered an eighty acre tract on section twenty-six where one Moody Emerson had previously squatted and put up a shanty against a side hill. which Freeman occupied as a stable, he proceeded to lay out a town which he named the "Village of Van Buren." Mr. Freeman even had an idea that the county seat might be located there. Those who are acquainted with the locality, and most Van Buren county people are, will ad- mit that it was an ideal spot for a town, lacking nothing but buildings and people to make it a success. It was an ambitious village containing two hundred and thirty-eight lots. Its princi- pal thoroughfares were named Water, Broad, Park and Forest streets. A lot for the court house was staked out and shown on the plat, which adjoined the lake and showed a fine steamer cruis- ing thereon. Numbers of lots were actually sold to speculators, some of them for one hundred and fifty dollars apiece. Mr. Phelps, landlord of Phelps' tavern, become the purchaser of quite a number of them; Robert Christie and Charles Chadwick of others.
The assessment roll of the township for 1839 shows that the en- tire plat of the proposed town was assessed at the sum of $1,190, the valuation of the assessing officers being five dollars per lot and the tax imposed for all purposes being four cents per lot. But, as the poet Burns says "The best laid plans o' mice and man gang aft agley," and Van Buren never attained to any greater
Hosted by Google
556
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
dignity than a town on paper. The plat of the proposed town was. never placed on the public record.
Robert Christie and his family, on his way to Hartford, from Washtenaw county, stopped at the lake in a building that had been abandoned, proposing to remain until he could prepare a residence on his Hartford lands, of which he had purchased a considerable tract. Christie finally exchanged his Hartford prop- erty with Phelps for the tavern and Phelps' interest in the vil- lage of Van Buren. Christie took possession and converted the village lots into farm property and such it has ever since remained.
John H. Stoddard came to Lawrence the next year after Mr. Christie, who was his father-in-law, but soon afterward removed to Paw Paw, where he became a person of some prominence, being at one time sheriff of the county.
Other of the early settlers whose names should be mentioned in this connection were Oliver Witter, Rodolphus Howe, Cyrus Rathbun and Hosea Howard. The latter gentleman came from the Green Mountain state and settled on section thirty-two in 1839.
CIVIL, EDUCATIONAL AND POLITICAL
The first township meeting was held at the residence of Horace Stimson, on the 3d day of April, 1837, the following officers being elected : John R. Haynes, supervisor; Orrin Sutton, township clerk; Hiram Hilliard, collector; Joseph Haynes, John Reynolds, Horace Stimson, assessors; John D. Freeman, James Gray and Eaton Branch, commissioners of highways; Dexter Gibbs, Richard B. Danks and Alvinzy Harris, justices of the peace; Hiram Hilliard and William R. Williams, constables; George S. Reynolds and Dexter Gibbs, directors of the poor.
The following named gentlemen have served the township in the capacity of supervisor : John R. Haynes, John Reynolds, Ben- jamin F. Chadwick, John Andrews, Humphrey P. Barnum, Thom- as B. Irwin, Enoch Southwell, Nelson Rowe, John B. Upton, John B. Potter, Chandler Richards, William W. Bass, Charles Rock- well, Isaac Monroe, Thomas C. Tyner, Anson U. Barnes, Francis Branch and Amos C. Benedict (present incumbent). Of the above named gentlemen, Supervisor Tyner served four years; Super- visors Barnum, Potter and Branch, each five years; Supervisor Rowe, six years; Supervisor Rockwell, eleven years, and Super- visor Benedict, although a Democrat from a Republican township, is now serving his twelfth successive year.
The population of the township is given by the census of 1910 as 1,764, being the sixth in point of numbers outside of the city of South Haven.
Hosted by
557
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The assessment rolls of those earlier years, as returned to the county treasurer, contain only a list of the non-resident lands, which embraced by far the greater part of the township and which were uniformly valued at three dollars per acre and the tax assessed being at the rate of four cents and a fraction per acre. The total assessed valuation of the township in 1911 was $950,650 and the total tax levied on the same, $19,064.30. In point of wealth Lawrence ranks as the sixth township in the county.
The first schoolhouse erected in the township was on the east side of what is now known as Paw Paw street in the village of Lawrence and was erected by James Gray in the spring of 1837. The building was subsequently converted into a blacksmith-shop. The first school was taught by Miss Elizabeth Camp in the sum- mer of 1837 and she was followed by Truman Foster the next winter.
There are now eight schoolhouses in the township; and the estimated value of the school property is $11,900. There were 420 persons of school age at the last enumeration and there are 1,928 volumes in the school libraries. The amount of school district indebtedness is less than $200. Fourteen teachers were employed during the last school year, an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-four months was taught, and $6,320 were expended for teachers' salaries. The township received from the state during the year the sum of $3,060 in primary school money.
At the first presidential election held after the organization of the township, in 1840, there were forty-eight votes cast, equally divided between the two political parties, Harrison, Whig, and Cass, Democrat, each receiving twenty-four votes. At the presi- dential election of 1908 there were 410 votes cast: 239 for Taft, Republican; 157 for Bryan, Democrat; twelve for Chafin, Pro- hibitionist; one each for Debs, Socialist, and Hisgen, Independent party.
With the last few years, various localities in Van Buren county have become somewhat noted as summer resorts and Lawrence, not to be left out of the procession, has put in her claim for recogni- tion along that line. "Sleepy Hollow" has been heretofore men- tioned, and on the north shore of Reynolds' lake Mrs. Ellen Van- derveer has platted an embryo resort under the somewhat ambi- tious name of "Ocean View." To be sure the ocean is not large, nor are its waters disturbed by any of the great steamships of the world, but nevertheless it is a pleasant spot and will doubtless come into a degree of popular favor.
.
Hosted by
558
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
LOOKING BACKWARD
Only about three-quarters of a century has elapsed since Law- rence township was an unbroken wilderness, as it had been during all the ages that had gone before. There are yet men living who were born before its soil had ever been pressed by the foot of a civilized man; and in this comparatively short space of time it has been changed into one of the most productive townships in Van Buren county ; and when we say in Van Buren county we mean in the state of Michigan as well, for as an agricultural and horti- cultural county Van Buren has no superior in the entire state. In place of the giant trees that constituted the forests that covered the face of the land, there are now cultivated, fertile fields, or- chards and vineyards; in lieu of the trails of the aborigines there are now fine graveled highways, and instead of the howl of the wolf and the screech of the panther is heard the whistle of the locomotive and the hum of busy marts of trade. And all this wonderful change has been wrought in such brief period of time that it seems but yesterday.
VILLAGE OF LAWRENCE
In June, 1835, John Allen of Ann Arbor, Michigan, entered a forty acre tract of land on section ten in the township of Law- rence, upon which he laid out a village, naming it Mason in honor of the then governor of the state. Its location was on the south side of the Paw Paw river near the junction of Brush creek with the river, either of the two streams being available for a good water power. At that time, Mr. Allen entertained no idea of becoming a resident of his new paper town, the plat of which was never placed on the official records of the county. He employed one Ephraim Palmer to go to the premises and look after the improve- ment of the same. Palmer put up a log cabin, but did not long remain, going with his wife farther west. After Palmer's de- parture the cabin was next occupied by John Reynolds and his brother George. On the 15th of November, 1835, a delegation of eleven persons arrived to settle in the new location. These people were Mr. and Mrs. Eaton Branch; Mr. and Mrs. Dexter Gibbs. with five children; John Allen and William Williams. They all stopped with Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, because there was no other place where they could stay. The room they occupied was twelve feet square, so they were somewhat crowded. The only other room was "all out doors," and that the gentlemen occupied for a dress- ing room.
They did not remain long without other accommodations, for Allen soon put up a double log house and called it a tavern, which
Hosted by
559
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
LAWRENCE TOWN HALL AND WATER WORKS
THE BIG BEECH, LAWRENCE
Hosted by
.
560 HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
was afterwards known as the "Gibbs Tavern." Allen built a saw-mill on Brush creek in 1836 which was a help to the village, but the town grew so slowly that in 1843 it contained but ten families, to-wit: John Allen, its proprietor; Watson Poole, car- penter; Alexander Newton, farmer; Norman Bierce, cabinet maker ; John R. Haynes, miller; Joseph Haynes, farmer; Israel Branch, cooper; Alexander H. Phelps, fur trader; John P. Fisk, black- smith; Benjamin Dunning, blacksmith; and Rodolphus Howe, stock dealer.
At that time the village was generally known as "Brush Creek" and the name Mason was passing into oblivion. Indeed, not many of its present inhabitants are aware that it ever bore that name, but all remember Brush Creek. John R. Baker, a Paw Paw lawyer, who had come into possession of a large part of the vil- lage by foreclosing a mortgage given by Allen, replatted it in 1846 and christened it Lawrence. A characteristic anecdote is re- lated of Lawyer Baker as follows: Being asked by a traveler for directions to find Brush Creek, he directed the inquirer to Chad- wick's mill, which was located on the creek some miles south of the village. "I'll teach him," said Baker, "not to call my pretty little village by the ugly name of Brush Creek." And in this connection, it might be noticed that Chadwick used to say that people spoke of his mill indifferently as "Chad's old mill" or "old Chad's mill."
Since the original plat by Baker, there have been four additions : Phelps', in 1849; Gage's, in 1860; Phelps & Ridlon's, in 1870, and Ryan's, in 1911. These additions are all on section nine, the original plat being on section ten, the section line running north and south through the village and dividing it very nearly into two parts. When Mr. Baker made the original plat he devoted block number six to public purposes, calling it the Public Square. This was subsequently made the subject of a bitter litigation between the village and Baker, which ended in the supreme court of the state, the village retaining title to the square, which is now the beauty spot of the town and the pride of its citizens.
The village was first incorporated by act of the legislature in 1869 (Laws of 1869, vol. 3, p. 996). It was reincorporated in 1879 (Local acts of 1879, p. 31). This latter act was amended in 1887 (Local acts of 1887, p. 292).
The population of the village, as shown by the last United States census, was 663.
One of the fine high schools of the county is located in this en- terprising little village, which, according to the latest school census, contained 186 persons of school age. There were fifty- three non-resident pupils in the schools during the last year and
Hosted by Google
561
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
the average daily attendance was 172. Two schoolhouses, one of them a fine brick structure, accommodate these pupils. The esti- mated value of the property is $4,500. The district is entirely out of debt and has 642 volumes in its school library. Eight teachers were employed during the school year, taught an aggregate of seventy-two months, and were paid the sum of $4,145 in salaries.
Dr. J. L. Marvin was the first physician to locate in the village. He came there in 1844. Previous to that time the nearest medical assistance that could be obtained was at Paw Paw. A few years later came Dr. Nelson Rowe, Dr. Sylvanus Rowe and Dr. Joel Camp, followed still later by Dr. Albert S. Haskin, who is the only survivor of these earlier physicians.
CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES
There are four churches in the village, the Congregational, Baptist, Methodist Episcopal and Free Methodist.
An old church record of August 19, 1837, recites that at a meeting duly called it was resolved "that the time has arrived when it is our duty to organize ourselves into a church." The name chosen was the First Presbyterian church of Lawrence, and it continued to be known as such for the first seven years of its existence when the name was changed to "Congregational." The original members were: John R. Haynes, Margaret Haynes, Will- iam Haynes, Vine Branch, Abigail Branch, Betsey Branch, Eaton Branch, Amanda Branch, Peter Dopp, Isabel Dopp, James Dopp, Margaret Dopp, Harriet Bateman, Thomas S. Camp, Elizabeth Camp, Horace Stimson, Cynthia M. Stimson and Anna Mellen. Rev. Luther Humphrey was the first pastor of the new church. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse and in the Baptist church until 1858, when the society built a commodious brick house of worship with a seating capacity of 300, which they still occupy. The present membership is sixty-five.
A Baptist organization was effected at Paw Paw on the 21st day of April, 1838, under the name of the First Baptist church of La Fayette. In 1841, at a meeting held near the village of Lawrence, Mr. and Mrs. Orrin Sutton, Peter Clark and Simeon Brooks, all of Lawrence, were received into membership and the name of the church was changed to "Van Buren County church, located at Paw Paw and Brush Creek." The following resolution in part, adopted at that meeting, is worthy of preservation as an expression of those early Christians on the question of the liquor traffic: "We believe it to be inconsistent with a profession of religion to vend or use any intoxicating liquors, except as a medi- cine or for mechanical purposes." In 1851, the name was changed Vol. 1-36.
Hosted by
562
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
to the First Baptist Church of Lawrence. A house of worship was begun in 1853 and opened for services the next year, but it was not dedicated until 1865. It is a frame structure and has a seating capacity for 200 people.
The early records of the Methodist church are not to be found, if any were ever kept. The church was organized somewhere in the forties and its early meetings were held in the schoolhouse. When the village district built a new school building, some forty years ago, the old schoolhouse became the property of the Method- ists, remodeled for religious purposes and used for such for a con- siderable number of years. As the society increased in member- ship and in financial ability, however, a new, modern brick house of worship was built with seating room for 400 people, one of the finest church structures in the county. The present membership of the church is about 150.
The Free Methodists have a church building capable of seating about 100 people. The organization has been in existence since the early seventies, but has never had a large membership. At the present time it has but ten members.
The Masonic bodies of the village are Rising Sun Lodge, No. 119, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with about 125 members ; Lawrence Chapter, No. 93, with about 100 members; Lawrence Council, No. 43, which has a membership of about 140, and Law- rence Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, No. 256, with about 150 members.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows have a prosperous lodge, Shady Grove, No. 499, organized in 1902, with 117 members.
Maple Grove Rebekah Lodge, No. 388, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized not long after the subordinate lodge, and has been prosperous from the start. It has about seventy-five members.
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.