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 14
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
The Paw Paw and Allegan Plank Road Company was empow- ered to lay out, establish and construct a plank road company from the village of Paw Paw, to intersect with the Kalamazoo and Grand River Plank Road Company at the most eligible point in the county of Allegan. Capital stock, $25,000; shares twenty-five dollars each. Commissioners, Isaac W. Willard, James Crane, John R. Baker, Henry H. Booth, Joseph Fisk, Abraham Hoag,
105
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Joshua Hill, Charles Parkhurst, D. W. C. Chapin, Eber Sher- wood and A. Rossman.
The Decatur and St. Joseph Plank Road Company was created and empowered to lay out, establish and construct a plank road from the village of Decatur, Van Buren county, to the village of St. Joseph, Berrien county. Capital stock $30,000; shares twenty- five dollars each. Commissioners, Solomon Wheeler, B. C. Hoyt, Henry Morton, Samuel McRoys, Henry Coleman and W. H. Keeler.
The Lawrence and St. Joseph Plank Road Company was char- tered and authorized to lay out, establish and construct a plank road from such point in the township of Lawrence, in Van Buren county, as the commissioners should determine, to St. Joseph, in the county of Berrien. Capital stock, $50,000; shares twenty-five dollars each.
The Kalamazoo and Breedsville Plank Road Company was in- corporated and given power and authority to lay out, establish and construct a plank road from the village of Kalamazoo, in the county of Kalamazoo, to the village of Breedsville, county of Van Buren. Capital stock, $30,000 ; shares fifty dollars each. Commis- sioners, D. B. Webster. B. Drake, T. P. Sheldon and Marvin Hannah.
The term of all these corporations was fixed at sixty years, but they were all dead long before the lapse of that period of time.
Out of this multiplicity of roads authorized, the only plank roads constructed in Van Buren county were the road from Paw Paw to the Central Railroad, which was controlled by Hon. Isaac W. Willard of Paw Paw, and that from Paw Paw to Lawrence, of which John R. Baker, also of Paw Paw, was the controlling spirit. Both of these roads went out of commission about the year 1853, and neither of them was the source of any gain to the stockholders. The remains of them, however, were visible for many years thereafter. Indeed some of the planks are yet in evidence-not as part of the highway, however. Van Buren, the eastern part of the county in particular, has numerous gravel beds which afford excellent road material and there are many miles of fine gravel roads in the county.
THE PAW PAW RIVER
Perhaps it would not be strictly correct to call a river a road, but as a not very successful attempt was made to make the Paw Paw river a highway of commerce and an avenue of transporta- tion between the villages of Paw Paw and St. Joseph, on the shore
106
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
of Lake Michigan, there is no impropriety in mentioning it in connection with the "roads and railroads" of the county.
Before the days of railroads, the subject of water transporta- tion was a much more important matter than at the present day. The idea of the Paw Paw as a navigable stream was born at an early date, and was not abandoned for a considerable number of years. With this idea in mind, the territorial government, in 1833, authorized the construction of roads connecting the "Forks of the Paw Paw" (which was supposed to be the head of the nav- igable waters of the stream) with Schoolcraft, and other places in Kalamazoo, Van Buren and Barry counties. In 1840 Isaac W. Willard built two large flat boats and loaded them with flour from the "Paw Paw Mills" and dispatched them for the village of St. Joseph. It was a comparatively easy matter to make the run down the river, but the labor of poling the boats back to Paw Paw against the current was a difficult matter and only accomplished by a great expenditure of time and muscle. These two boats of Mr. Willard's were named the "Daniel Buckley," Albert R. Wil- dey, commander, and the "Wave," commanded by William H. Hurlbult. It is not to be supposed that the exalted position of "flat boat commander" was, by any means, a sinecure. There was, however, for a time, a considerable flat boat traffic on the river from Paw Paw to Lake Michigan, but it did not prove to be very profitable. Interest in the matter was revived in 1848 by the enactment of a statute appropriating ten thousand acres of the in- ternal improvement lands of the Lower Peninsula "for the im- provement of the navigation of the Paw Paw river." Nothing of value to the people resulted from this legislation and the river re- mains to this day a beautiful, winding stream, passing through forest, field and farm, one of the crookedest streams in Michigan, and watering as fine a stretch of country as may be found in the entire Peninsular state.
RAILROADS
It has been said and has been recorded as an historical fact that the act of the legislative council incorporating a railroad from De- troit to St. Joseph was the first official movement looking to the construction of a railroad within the territory of Michigan, but such is not the fact.
The first railroad corporation in the territory was that of the Pontiac and Detroit Railway Company, which was approved July 31, 1830, nearly two years before the date of the act of incorpora- tion looking to the construction of a line of railroad across the state, from east to west.
107
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The legislative council of 1832 passed the act that created a rail- road corporation for the construction of a railroad to be known as the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad, with authority to *construct a single or double railroad from the city of Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, commencing at Detroit, and passing through, or as near as practicable, to the village of Ypsilanti, and the county seats of the counties of Washtenaw, Jackson and Kala- mazoo, with power to transport, take and carry property and per- sons upon the same, by the power and force of steam, of animals, or any mechanical or other power, or any combination of them."
The company was bound, under penalty of forfeiture of its char- ter, to begin the work within two years, and within six years to construct and put in operation thirty miles of the road, within fifteen years to complete one-half the line and to have the entire road in operation within a period of thirty years.
The proposed line was surveyed by Lieutenant Berrien, a regu- lar army officer, and some work, enough to retain the corporate rights of the company for the two years prescribed in the act, was done on the eastern end of the route. The question of whether the company could have completed thirty miles of road within the prescribed six years was never solved, as before the expiration of that time new and important official action was taken.
THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL
One of the first things that engaged the attention of the state, after its admission, was an extended system of internal improve- ments. With this policy Governor Mason was in full sympathy. A Board of Internal Improvements was authorized by statute and appointed by the governor, upon which large discretionary powers were conferred, and a magnificent scheme of such improvements was at once entered upon by the state. Among them three lines of railways across the entire breadth of the state were authorized, to be known as and called the "Northern" the "Central" and the "Southern"-a magnificent scheme, indeed, for the young state, and one that eventually came to full fruition, by the construction of the Michigan Central. the Michigan Southern and the Detroit and Milwaukee lines of road, the latter being now a part of the Grand Trunk system.
Special authority was conferred upon the Board of Internal Improvements to purchase for the state the rights of the Detroit and St. Joseph company. The legislature made an appropriation of $400,000 for the Central road and lesser sums for the other two. In order to procure the necessary funds for carrying out the ex- tensive improvements planned, the legislature authorized the ne-
108
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
gotiation of a loan of five millions of dollars. This provided means with which the commissioners undertook the work of constructing the Southern and Central roads.
The roads of that day were laid with strap rail, that is, with a flat rail spiked onto wooden stringers, and "snake heads" were not of infrequent occurrence. These so-called snake heads were occasioned by the end of the iron straps becoming loosened, curl- ing up and coming through the floor of the coaches, endangering the lives and persons of travelers.
An illustration of the primitive character of those early roads is afforded by the following joint resolution of the legislature of 1842: "Resolved, That the commissioner of internal improvement be instructed to cause a train of passenger cars to run over the Central railroad on the first day of the week, at the same hours that it does on other days."
Another joint resolution, adopted by the same legislature, re- quired the Board of Commissioners of Internal Improvements to restrain Sunday trains, when, in their opinion, it was not for the interest of the state to run them.
The progress made in the construction of the road was slow and in 1846, after the lapse of nine years, the Central line had only been completed to Kalamazoo, a distance of 144 miles. In the meantime the state had exhausted its funds, and the people had become heartily tired of having its railroads built by its politicians, some of whom, without doubt, had waxed fat while the "dear people" had to foot the bills.
By an act of the legislature approved March 28, 1846, the Michi- gan Central Railroad Company was organized and given authority to purchase the road from the state for the sum of $2,000,000, which was much less than it had cost the people, but neverthe- less a good bargain, for by it the state disposed of a property that bade fair to become a financial incubus on its prosperity. By the terms of the purchase and sale of the road to the company it was not compelled to follow the route originally planned, to make St. Joseph its western terminus, but was only required to construct the road to some point within the state of Michigan, on or near Lake Michigan and accessible to steamboats. This was an unfor- tunate provision for Van Buren county, as the new company at once changed the route, making New Buffalo the western terminus instead of St Joseph. By this action, instead of passing diagonally through the central part of the county, the road merely cut off a small portion from the southeastern corner thereof, and instead of reaching St. Joseph, one of the best harbors on the east shore of the lake, it stopped at New Buffalo, which had no harbor of con -.. sequence and never can have. The road was completed to Niles in
109
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
1848, to New Buffalo in 1849, to Michigan City, Indiana, in 1851 and to Chicago the next year. Van Buren county stations on the Central are Mattawan, a small unincorporated village; Lawton, at first called Paw Paw Station, four miles southeast of Paw Paw, with a population according to the census of 1810, of 1,042; and Decatur, with a population of 1,286, according to the same census.
KALAMAZOO AND SOUTH HAVEN RAILROAD
A line of railroad from the village of Bronson, now the flourish- ing city of Kalamazoo, to the mouth of Black river, now the site of the prosperous city of South Haven, was one of the dreams of the early pioneers-a dream that was destined to complete fulfil- ment in the course of time.
On the 28th day of March, 1836, an act was passed by the legis- lature incorporating the Kalamazoo and Lake Michigan Railroad Company and authorizing it to construct a line of road "from the mouth of the South Black river, in the county of Van Buren, to the county seat of Kalamazoo county.
The parties mentioned in the articles of association were Epa- phroditus Ransom, Charles E. Stuart, Edwin H. Lothrop, Horace H. Comstock and Isaac W. Willard. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $400,000. However, before anything was done looking to the building of the road, the panic of 1837 came on, the banking system of the state reached an inglorious end, and the powers of the company lapsed because of non-user. Although there may have been more or less discussion of the project there- after, it was more than thirty years before new life was infused into the scheme, and when it was again revived there was much discussion as to whether the road should be built direct from Kalamazoo to South Haven or whether it should start at Lawton on the main line of the Central and run thence to South Haven. Railroad meetings were held in various localities to discuss the project. At a meeting held in Paw Paw to take into consideration the matter of giving aid to a line over the latter route, which would have been entirely within the county of Van Buren, one prominent man remarked that he would give the devil his head for a foot- ball whenever the road should be built direct from Kalamazoo to South Haven. The prevailing sentiment seemed to be that the Van Buren county route would be chosen in any event and noth- ing in the way of aiding the project was offered by the citizens of Paw Paw and vicinity, although they had been found willing at various times to help other and less promising schemes, which had all come to naught. Perhaps that was the reason that they would offer nothing on this occasion. They had been victimized
110
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
too often. This would seem to have been the one time when they missed the mark, for no place in the county would have received greater benefit from such a line than Paw Paw.
On the 14th day of April, 1869, articles of association were filed organizing the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad Company, and the following named gentlemen were named as directors: Allen Potter, Lucius B. Kendall, John Dudgeon, David Fisher, Stephen W. Fisk, Charles D. Ruggles, Amos S. Brown, Samuel Hoppin, Stephen Garnet, John Scott, Samuel Rogers, Daniel G. Wright and Barney H. Dyckman. Allen Potter was chosen presi- dent of the company, but resigned soon afterward and was suc- ceeded by James A. Walter. During Mr. Walter's administration, arrangements were perfected by which the Michigan Central Com- pany guaranteed the bonds of the new company to the amount of $640,000, the people of Kalamazoo aided the project by bonds and subscription and the townships along the line also voted a
large amount of aid in the way of township bonds. Such bonds were held to be unconstitutional by the supreme court of the state, but were upheld by the United States supreme court, and where such bonds were held by non-residents who could bring suit in the federal court they were collectible and were eventually paid.
By these various means money was obtained for the construction of the road which was opened as far as Pine Grove, in Van Buren county, in the month of January, 1870, and was completed to South Haven in December of the same year. And, as far as heard from, the devil got nobody's head for a football.
The road has been of great benefit to the county, has been es- pecially helpful in developing the northern tier of townships through which it runs, and has been the principal cause of the building up of a number of flourishing villages along the line.
The road long since passed into the hands and under the control of the Michigan Central and is now designated as the South Ha- ven division of that company.
The Van Buren county stations along the line are Mentha, a lit- tle burg so named from the large peppermint interests that were the sole reason for its birth; Kendall, an unincorporated village ; Pine Grove, likewise unincorporated; Gobleville, a village of 537 inhabitants according to the census of 1910; Bloomingdale, popu- lation 501; Berlamont, Columbia, Grand Junction, Lacota, Kib- bie, all unincorporated villages; and South Haven, with a popula- tion of 3,767 inhabitants, the largest place and the only city in the county.
111
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
THE PAW PAW RAILROAD
From the days of the pioneers the people of Paw Paw had de- sired and expected some kind of railroad connection. It was a great disappointment to them when the route of the Michigan Central was changed so as to run to New Buffalo instead of to St. Joseph. Paw Paw was to be a point on that road, as originally laid out, and had the route not been changed the history of the county would, without doubt, have been far different from what it is at the present time. Numerous projects had been presented that seemed to promise the desired railroad connection, but none of them had been realized. The town had even undertaken to build a little road of its own, connecting with the line of the Central, between the villages of Lawton and Mattawan, instead of running direct to the latter village as it obviously should have done. The real reason of this action grew out of jealousy between the two towns. Lawton did not care so very much about the matter as she had the Central and could get along very well without a little road to Paw Paw. This project proceeded as far as the grading of a considerable portion of route, when for some reason, probably a lack of funds, it was abandoned and was afterward derisively named the "calico grade." Afterward, in 1867, the citizens of the vicinity became convinced that if they ever had a railroad, they must make one for themselves. A local company was organ- ized and the Paw Paw Railroad was constructed direct from Paw Paw to Lawton, connecting at the latter place with the Michigan Central. The road was a short line, only four miles, but it gave the people of Paw Paw an outlet and its opening was an occasion of great rejoicing. It continued in operation for a period of ten years before any change was made. One engine and one passenger coach comprised its principal equipment and the memory of the old "Vulcan," as the engine was named, still remains with many of the older inhabitants. The means for the building of this road came principally from Paw Paw township ten per cent bonds which were voted to the amount of $50,000, in aid of the project, and which, before they were fully canceled, cost the town double that sum, as, under the decision of the supreme court, a tax could not be legally levied for their payment until after suit had been brought and judgment rendered in the federal court.
TOLEDO AND SOUTH HAVEN RAILROAD (FRUIT BELT LINE)
This road, with the high sounding name, was at first only a narrow gauge road nine miles in length extending from Paw Paw to the village of Lawrence on the west. The company that built it was organized in the winter of 1866-7. The late John Ihling
112
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
was the moving spirit in the construction of this road. Without means and associated with F. B. Adams, Henry Ford and George W. Lawton of Lawton, and John W. Free and Edwin Martin of Paw Paw, who were all public spirited citizens, comfortably situ- ated, but none of them wealthy enough to finance much of a rail- road project, Mr. Ihling commenced the work of building the road. Local subscriptions were solicited and some considerable amount secured, the larger amount from citizens of Lawrence, who were anxious to have some kind of railroad connection with the outside world.
By the help thus acquired and by indomitable energy and "push," by what is sometimes aptly designated as "cheek," the road was completed to Lawrence, and on the first day of October, 1877, was opened for traffic. The writer had the pleasure of be- ing a guest of Mr. Ihling on the first passenger trip over the road.
The only one of the gentlemen above named as promoters of the road that is yet in the land of the living is John W. Free, now president of the Paw Paw Savings Bank.
But this road was only a three feet gauge, while the Paw Paw road was of standard gauge, which necessitated much unloading and reloading of freight at Paw Paw, and it was desirable that the gauge of the latter road should be narrowed up so that this extra handling of freight and change of cars could be avoided. To this plan there was a good deal of opposition and it was sought to be blocked by injunction of the court. To avoid this, a gang of men were assembled one Sunday morning when legal process could not issue and be served, and before the close of the day there was a narrow gauge road all the way from Lawton to Lawrence.
The road did not stop permanently at Lawrence, but within a few years was extended to Hartford, connecting there with the Chicago and West Michigan, now the main line of the Pere Mar- quette, and eventually was continued on to South Haven. So at last there was a line of railway from the Michigan Central to South Haven, just as years before it had been hoped there might be; but it was a narrow gauge and this proved to be unsatisfac- tory. So it was determined that the road should be widened, and again Paw Paw came to the aid of the project with ten thousand dollars of bonds to be devoted to "public improvements," which really meant the improvement of this road. A proceeding to hold up the payment of these bonds was begun in the circuit court, which sustained their validity. The case was appealed to the su- preme court, where the decision of the lower court was reversed, but the bonds had found their way into the hands of innocent (?) non-resident parties, were beyond the jurisdiction of the Michi- gan court and were eventually paid. The road was converted into
113
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
a standard gauge and has since been doing good service for the people. It passed from the control of the building company into the hands of the bondholders, and its ambitious name was changed to the "South Haven and Eastern," possibly because it ran easterly from South Haven. It was uncertain just how far east it would eventually get, but there was no probability that it would ever reach the City of Toledo, its first paper terminus. Eventually it passed into the control of the Pere Marquette Com- pany and was run as a feeder for that road at Hartford.
In 1905 a company had been formed, of which S. J. Dunkley of South Haven was a prime mover, with the avowed object of constructing an electric interurban railway between the cities of Kalamazoo and South Haven. The company purchased the right- of-way for a large part of the route through Van Buren county, built a line between the villages of Paw Paw and Lawton and operated it as a steam road for one season (1906), and so for a brief period of time Paw Paw actually had two railroads. This new road utilized, for part of its route, the old "calico grade." Mean- while, the Michigan Central had relayed and double tracked its road between Kalamazoo and Lawton, leaving its old road bed and a considerable portion of its iron unoccupied. This passed into the hands of the new company and they actually operated the road from Paw Paw to Kalamazoo. Some sort of a deal was eventually made by which the line first occupied by the old Paw Paw road between Paw Paw and Lawton passed into the possession of this new company, and not needing two lines between these points the newly laid iron was taken up and Paw Paw once more had but one railroad. This road again changed its name and assumed one as ambitious as its first, being called the "Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago," but it is popularly known as "the Fruit Belt Line." Recently another change of ownership has taken place and the road is now controlled and operated by the "Michigan United Railways Company," which has announced its intention to elec- trify the line in the near future, thus providing an interurban line across the state from Detroit to South Haven. The principal Van Buren county stations along this line are the villages of Mat- tawan, Lawton, Paw Paw, Lawrence, Hartford, Covert and South Haven. Lawton has a population, according to the last census of 1,042; Paw Paw, 1,643; Lawrence, 663; Hartford, 1,268; Mattawan and Covert are unincorporated.
THE PERE MARQUETTE RAILWAY
In 1869 a company was organized under the general railroad law of the state, called the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Rail- Vol. 1-8
114
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
road Company, the object of which was to build a railroad along the lake shore from New Buffalo northward. A. H. Morrison, of Berrien county, was the first president of the road. This was es- sentially a Berrien county project, although the route of the pro- posed road passed through the townships of Hartford, Bangor and Columbia in Van Buren county. The road was opened for traffic from St. Joseph to New Buffalo in February, 1870, and one year later had reached Grand Junction near the north line of Van Buren county, at which point it intersects the South Haven division of the Michigan Central. The road was continued to the north, reaching Pentwater on the first day of January, 1872, and being subsequently extended to Petoskey. Another part of the line was built from Holland to Grand Gapids. The road con- tinued in possession of the original company until 1874, when it was surrendered to the bondholders and its name changed to the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. A considerable number of years since it was purchased by the Pere Marquette and by that company extended from New Buffalo to Chicago. The road has become a part of the main line of the Pere Marquette system, one of the great railroad systems that "gridiron" the state of Michi- gan.
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.