USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 12
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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,
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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.
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"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.
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"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
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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
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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.
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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 crop 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,
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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.
We welcome you, our brothers, as men of good renown. We welcome you from Keeler, our southwest corner town; From Hamilton and Hartford, Bangor and Waverly too, Columbia and Geneva, we gladly welcome you.
You're welcome from South Haven, the town of boats and oars; You're welcome, too, from Deerfield, where Thunder mountain roars- From Arlington, from Lawrence, the home of Judge Monroe, Who settled in this county some forty years ago. You're welcome from the hilltop, you're welcome from the vale- From Porter and Almena, Antwerp and Bloomingdale. Our brothers from Decatur, we're glad to meet you here; The pioneers of Paw Paw all hail you with a cheer.
We meet today in friendship, as in the days of yore. We meet today as neighbors to talk our conquests o'er. We meet today as veterans who have subdued the land. We meet today as brothers to clasp the friendly hand. We meet to live in memory those early stirring scenes, Through which we passed together, becoming Wolverines.
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Among the early settlers it very soon was found We had a modern Egypt ( 'twas Big Prairie Ronde) On which we were dependent and thither had to go, Whenever flour was minus or meal was getting low. The wheat there grew abundant, potatoes large and fine, And like the land of promise, it yielded corn and wine. The father loved his children-for bread he heard the cry- He yoked old Buck and Brindle and went for fresh supply. The corn he had to husk, 'twas standing on the hill, The wheat he helped to thresh, then took it off to mill. The tiresome road was long, the mill was far away, And when the father would return, he could not set the day. He started early Monday, above him shone the stars, Behind, his wife and children stood weeping at the bars. They saw him drive away, their love for him did burn; Back to the cabin then and prayed his safe return.
There in the lonely forest, with not a neighbor near, The wife and children waited, each day seemed like a year. The week would wear away and Saturday would come Before that absent father could reach his lonely home. Meanwhile, the faithful wife the last crust would divide, Then told her children dear "the Lord must now provide."
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Those quizzing little ones, to their dear mother said
"Has the Lord an oven got, and can the Lord make bread?"
God bless these noble women, our glory and our pride, God bless these noble women who labored by our side! When neighbors were far distant and laborers were few, You helped to build our cabins, did all that you could do. You helped us roll the log heaps, you helped us burn the brush, You baked for us the johnnycake, you cooked for us the mush. You patched our worn-out garments, our trousers and our coats, And some you patched so often that we were left in doubts- The mending was so frequent, the work was done so well, That which was coat and which was patch, it puzzled us to tell. You guarded well our cabins and saved with jealous care The scanty little comforts that we had gathered there. You helped us tend our gardens, you helped us plant the corn, And from such worthy mothers our children all were born. And when the burning fever was coursing through our veins, Or when the shaking ague was racking us with pains, By day and night you watched us and stood beside our beds, Like watchful angels ever, and fanned our aching heads. God bless these noble women, Van Buren county 's pride, We welcome you as equals-you labored by our side!
But some who started with us, I see not here today ; The road was long and weary, they faltered by the way. We stood around their bedside and heard th' expiring breath, And wiped from off their foreheads the cold damp dews of death. We did what e'er we could, their precious lives to save, Then closed their weary lids and laid them in the grave.
Until the current year the association has never missed holding its annual meeting, although the real pioneers of the county have nearly all passed over the "great divide," gone to join the great majority on the other side. A meeting was advertised to be held last summer at the usual time, but other matters caused it to be postponed and afterward it was permitted to go by default.
Judge Monroe continued to hold the position of president of the association until his death, which occurred in the fall of 1876. At the next meeting of the association after his decease, which was held at the village of Paw Paw, the following resolutions in part, were adopted : "Whereas, since our last meeting, our worthy friend and late president, has entered upon that long journey we must also soon undertake; therefore
"Resolved, that in his death we recognize the loss of a good man, a worthy member, an efficient officer of this association and a sturdy old pioneer; that as we see our friends and brothers, full of years, falling around us like the tall trees of the forests they helped to subdue, we realize the fact that ere long our reunions will be held, not in the houses of earth, but in a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
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The committee that drafted these resolutions was composed of the following named gentlemen: Fernando C. Annable, Samuel H. Blackman, Charles M. Morrill, Eaton Branch and Irving W. Pierce. The first four of the committee have gone to find a home in that "house not made with hands." Mr. Pierce still remains on this side of the stream that divides Time from Eternity.
Eaton Branch succeeded Judge Monroe as president of the as- sociation. He continued to occupy the office until the meeting in June, 1885, at which Charles M. Morrill was chosen as president. Mr. Morrill filled the office for two years, when he was succeeded by Hon. Jonathan J. Woodman, who held the office for the next nineteen years, when he was compelled to decline further service on account of failing health. Mr. Woodman died within a few weeks afterward. His successor in the office of the presidency of the association was Hon. Charles J. Monroe.
The other officers of the association have been as follows: Vice- presidents-Edwin Barnum, Jonathan J. Woodman, Alexander B. Copley, Charles J. Monroe, E. Parker Hill, A. W. Haydon, and O. W. Rowland.
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