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 36
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"Rosebrook's wife being in the secret, told a chum and she told her husband and he in turn told another man and they each made a "panther" and went into the forest to help the boys carry on the farce. And so it seemed as though the woods were full of wild animals. It was several weeks before the secret of the scare was
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revealed and then there were a lot of mad fellows. Some were so angry that they threatened to prosecute the originators of the affair and actually went to see the public prosecutor in regard to the matter. After listening to their story he laughed at them and told them to go home and let the boys alone, for they had hurt nobody and that he thought it a pretty good joke.
MRS. RICE'S REMINISCENCES
Mrs. Allen Rice, of Lawrence, says: "I think I am the oldest person that has lived in Lawrence since 1837. (I am inclined to think she is the only one .- Editor.) My father moved his fam- ily to Lawrence in 1837, when I was in my fourteenth year.
"My father, Uriel T. Barnes, was the first settler between Law- rence and Breedsville, and in comfortable weather there were very few nights that we were not called upon to entertain people going to or returning from Paw Paw, which was the nearest place where supplies could be obtained, and settlers from the north and east could not make the trip in a single day. The usual reward for the entertainment was 'Thank you, Uncle Barnes. When you come our way, call on us.' The pioneers were poor, but were glad to help each other.
"The general election of 1840 was held at my father's house and my mother and I cooked dinner for the town board and as many of th voters as cared to partake.
"Thanksgiving evening of the second autumn of our wilderness life, we were surprised to see a group of eight men emerging from the woods. They were the captain and crew of a schooner wrecked at the mouth of Black river (now the city of South Haven). Guided by their compass, they had found their way to the 'Barnes Place,' where they were entertained over night, when they went their way hoping to find some conveyance to St. Joseph.
"After the road was opened from Lawrence to Breedsville, a postoffice was established at Lawrence and John R. Haynes was ap- pointed postmaster. It was the custom that whoever went to Paw Paw on Friday should bring in the mail. That was the day that we expected to receive the weekly mail. Letters cost twenty-five cents apiece, payable by the receiver. There was no talk of 'penny postage' in those days. On one occasion James Gray, who lived a mile or so east of the postoffice, brought in the mail. Three young girls, of whom I was one, called at his place and Mr. Gray jestingly remarked 'now you girls can carry the mail and save me the journey.' We took him at his word and thought it a great lark. We hung the mail on a stick and a girl at each end carried it along. It wasn't very heavy.
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"The first Fourth of July celebration took place, I think, in 1839. (Mrs. Rice evidently has too early a date. See Mrs. Bow- en's allusion to this same event .- Editor.) Some of the women thought we should have a celebration and decided to undertake it. They would invite all the settlers to join with them. Two of the ladies planned to put the milk of their cows together and make a cheese which would be ripened sufficiently to be eaten by the time of the celebration. The pioneers were pleased with the plan and joined in heartily. A table was set in the woods near where the Shultz store now is and spread with such dainties as the times af- forded. Pies made from huckleberries and wild gooseberries, cakes made with maple sugar, chickens and partridges, and to cap the climax, a young man named De Long brought in a deer roasted whole, with head and horns still on and a knife and fork stuck in its back. It was braced so that it stood up on its feet as in life. The people assembled in the schoolhouse where patriotic exercises were held. The Declaration of Independence was read, a young man sang 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' and John Mellen, the black- smith, furnished his anvil, and considerable powder was burned- the first time the surrounding forest was ever awakened by the echoes of a patriotic celebration of the birthday of Freedom."
Mrs. Rice relates how young Allen Rice, afterward her husband, met with a pack of wolves in the forest, in the winter of 1837. The trees were too large to climb and he was some distance from home. He armed himself with a cudgel and made the best time possible out of the woods, escaping with nothing, more serious than a bad scare. She says: "The first sheep were brought into the township in 1841 or 1842 by Nelson Marshall. My father bought six and I bought two with money I had earned teaching. Late the next fall all of father's sheep, except the buck. were killed by wolves, while they spared mine, and so my sheep became the basis of the flock which my father afterward raised.
"Those pioneer days were not free from tragedies. I recall one as I write. It was in the fall of 1841. The weather was very dry and the leaves were falling and forest fires were burning. Warren Van Fleet had harvested his first crop of wheat, which was stacked a few rods from the house. His wife was alone with her babe, just old enough to sit alone. Fearing that the fire would reach the wheat, she placed the child in a place that she thought was entirely safe and began to rake back the leaves to prevent the flames from reaching the stack. Suddenly she heard the screams of the little one and saw it enveloped in flames. The wind had carried a burning leaf to the straw where the child sat. The poor little thing lived but a short time and died in great agony.
"In 1840 Norman Bierce, 'Uncle Norman' as he was afterward
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familiarly known, came to Lawrence and set up a turning lathe and began the manufacture of chairs, bedsteads and spinning wheels. I have now in my possession a wheel on which I have spun yarn to make many yards of flannel, specimens of which I still re- tain, also several chairs, a rolling pin and a neat wooden cup holding about half a pint, all of Uncle Norman's' make."
NARROW ESCAPE OF EDWIN MEARS
About the year 1836, Edwin Mears, a young man living in Paw Paw, with a half dozen or so companions, set out on a hunting expedition. Young Mears became separated from his companions and could neither find them nor could he find his way home. He wandered in the forest for four days and nights, suffering ter- ribly with cold and hunger. At the end of the fourth day he found himself on the shore of Lake Michigan, many miles from home. He had about made up his mind that he would surely per- ish, when he heard voices and was rescued by a searching party that had set out to find him. He was so nearly dead that it was feared for a time that he would not recover from the effects of his terrible experience, but he survived the ordeal and lived for many a long year thereafter.
INDIAN MOUNDS IN LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP
There were well defined traces of what were called "Indian mounds" in the township of Lawrence, especially on sections seven and eighteen. Just north of Sutton's lake were three of these mounds, each about four feet in height. They were located in the form of a triangle and were about ten feet apart. Other smaller mounds were found on section eighteen. A hunter opened one of these mounds in 1843 and discovered human bones, arrow heads, etc. At that time trees a foot and a half in diameter were grow- ing on some of the mounds. The Indians had no tradition concern- ing them and it is generally thought that they were the burial places of some prehistoric race. This is all the more probable from the fact that although the Indians used these arrow heads when they became possessed of them, they did not, themselves, make them.
JOSEPH WOODMAN LOCATES AT PAW PAW (1835)
Joseph Woodman, one of the early settlers of the township of Antwerp, related the following experience: "I landed at Detroit," said Mr. Woodman, "in the spring of 1835, and made my way to Vol. 1-22
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Kalamazoo, through mud and mire, with two teams, a span of horses and a yoke of oxen, and I often had to double up my teams in order to get through. I frequently met stages, with the pas- sengers on foot, carrying rails or poles with which to pry the ve- hicles out of the mud holes. They said it was hard fare and that the driver wanted them to carry two rails apiece, but they couldn't see it that way.
"I started alone from Kalamazoo for Paw Paw, eighteen miles distant. I was told that I could not get through that night; that I would be eaten by wolves, but being young and vigorous I pushed on and, without mishap, reached a cabin known as Dodge's tavern standing upon the site of the now flourishing village of Paw Paw. The next day, Saturday, in company with Silas Breed, I went land-viewing and returned to the tavern that evening. I asked Dodge if they had Divine worship, and was answered in the negative. I told him we had a minister in our party-Mr. Wood- man was himself a clergyman-and that we would have a meeting Sunday, which we did, holding it in a slab shanty. The next day, I went out on the Territorial road and located my land. I brought my family on from Kalamazoo-wife and six children-and es- tablished them in a blacksmith shop, Rodney Hinckley's shop in Paw Paw. I built a log house into which I moved on the 10th of May, 1835. I went to clearing land, plowed seven acres with a wooden plow, and raised a fine crop of corn, potatoes and other vegetables."
STORIES BY MRS. NANCY (HICKS) BOWEN
Mrs. Nancy (Hicks) Bowen has told of some of her interesting pioneer experiences. She says: "We came from the state of New York in 1845. Our first home was in the township of Arlington. There were twenty acres cleared on the place; the rest was heavy timbered land and the forest reached for miles around. We had one neighbor, a mile and a half distant. Myself and husband and a little one year old girl constituted our family. It was useless to think of fruit. I made mince pies, using pumpkin instead of ap- ples, and venison instead of beef. I well remember my uncle call- ing on me one time on his way home. He was tired and hungry and I gave him a lunch. When he came to his pie he said 'Why, Nancy, where did you find apples ?' He could hardly believe me when I told him what I had used. Our house was of logs, with a chimney in the center which supported three fire-places. I did my baking in a tin oven placed before the fire, or in a bake kettle. (The present generation will need to go to their grandmothers to find out what a tin oven was, or how their ancestors baked in a
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bake kettle .- Editor.) I was ironing one evening and stepped out of doors to get some wood. I noticed a black log lying by the wood pile and wondered that I had not noticed it before. The next morning the 'log' was gone. It was a bear. We soon found that the bears would come in the night and try to get our pigs out of the pen. There were a good many hogs running in the woods, and sometimes there would come a drove of them near the clear- ing with their shoulders and sides torn and bleeding where the bears had bitten them. The woods were full of bears, deer, wolves, foxes, wildcats, wild turkeys and many other kinds of game. My husband and Mr. De Long once sat up all night to roast a deer they had killed. They took it to the first Fourth of July celebra- tion held at Brush Creek (now Lawrence) where they arranged it to stand on the table, as it stood in life.
"We then had two children, and all the latter part of the fall they were both sick. The little boy had the ague for a long time and the little girl had erysipelas. Her father thought he'd better take her to Paw Paw to see a doctor. He had to go on horseback, a distance of about eight miles, or else with a yoke of oxen and a lumber wagon-there were no carriages in those days. So he got ready, with a pillow in his lap for the little girl, Mertice, to sit on. The doctor readily told him the trouble and also gave him some medicine for the boy. We had something of a task in those days to care for our children and do the work that had to be done.
"One winter there was a good deal of excitement about the Indians. It was said that they were going to Canada to prepare to fight the people of Michigan. Indians and snakes were my greatest fears of life in the wilderness. One night we were aroused from sleep by a noise and a light shining through the window. There were several Indians at the door who wanted to come in and stay for the night. It was cold and rainy and Mr. Bowen let them in. They built a fire and lay down in front of it, but it was little sleep I got the remainder of that night.
"In the spring of 1848 Mr. Bowen rented the place and we packed up our things intending to go back east, but when we got to Paw Paw Judge Dyckman prevailed on Mr. Bowen to abandon the eastern trip and go to Pine Grove, and so, on the 2d day of July, we went there into what was to be a boarding house. It was an unfinished log house, without doors or windows, and the floor was laid down just as the boards came from the mill. Three days afterward twelve men came to work and the family num- bered from that to twenty until the last of the next March. Dur- ing the summer a number of families came there to live and we had a good neighborhood there in the woods. The next nearest set- tlement was two miles distant, with 'blazed' trees to mark the way.
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"That spring Mr. Bowen was elected justice of the peace. He married one couple and took venison for pay. During the early part of that summer the youngsters thought they would have a little sport with a newly married couple, just across the way from our house, by giving them a little music, what would now be called a charivari. Accidentally a gun was fired into the crowd. The charge struck Jim Clark, passing through his lungs. It was six weeks before he could be removed to his home, but he eventually recovered from the wound.
"In 1851 Mr. Bowen bought a farm a little east of Paw Paw. We moved there in January of that year. All the next summer the children and I used to work days and nights until eleven or twelve o'clock, clearing up brush and the roots that were plowed up. In 1853 we had four children, two girls and two boys, and they were all taken sick with scarlet fever. My mother came down to stay with us one Wednesday night. She went home at noon and died before sundown. Our youngest daughter died on Tuesday evening following and our little boy the next Saturday. The other two were not expected to live, but by the mercy of the Heavenly Father they were spared and eventually became es- tablished in homes of their own. Mr. Bowen sold his place and we went east, but we returned to Michigan the following year and bought another place on which we made our home."
These reminiscences were written by Mrs. Bowen in 1902. She concluded them by saying: "I have been a widow over ten years and now am nearly eighty years old." But recently she passed into the "Great Beyond."
"GOOD TIMES" OF THE OLDEN DAY
These reminiscences might be multiplied indefinitely, but enough has been written to show the hardships that those hardy pioneers of this beautiful and fertile county had to bear; the trials and tribulations they had to undergo, that we who have suc- ceeded to the result of their labors might enjoy the fair heritage they left behind them. After all, it is likely that they enjoyed life equally as well as do their descendants. They knew nothing of many things that we think are indispensable, but, on the other hand, there were many things that contributed to their happiness that we, their successors, know nothing of except by hearsay.
We must not think that they or their children were without the means of enjoying themselves in those primitive days. Think of a load of fifteen or twenty young people piled into the box of a double sleigh, half filled with bright, clean straw, and drawn by a yoke of oxen, going for miles through the crisp winter air to a
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spelling school, or a debating school-the two were quite generally combined-and returning in the "wee sma hours" of the morning, making the forests ring with their merry shouts, laughter and songs. Be honest now, you grandfathers and grandmothers- wasn't it pure and unadulterated fun ? And wouldn't you like to try it just once more before you shuffle off this mortal coil? I would.
And in the summer time there were parties and country dances at which we all gathered. We didn't have any orchestra, not even a violinist; only just a fiddler; and how he could play "Money Musk" and the two or three other tunes that he knew! No writ- ten score for him. He didn't play "by note"-not he; his fiddle and his bow and a piece of "rosin" were all he needed, and he could and would play from early in the evening until daylight in the morning. And the way he could "call off" was simply de- lightful. We can hear him yet : "All join hands and circle to the left;" "right and left all;" "change partners;" "grand right and left," and so on throughout the quadrille-we called them cotillons-and every girl and boy was sorry when the end of the figure was reached and the call came "seat your partners;" and every one was ready for the floor for the next dance. And we did not dance on waxed floors in elegantly furnished ball rooms, but in private houses. It was no uncommon thing for a merry party of girls and boys to take possession, uninvited, and pull up the home-made carpets, if any such thing there happened to be, and proceed with the festivities.
And the boys were as much addicted to athletic games as are the youths of the present day. They could run races, wrestle- they called it rassling-play "pom-pom-pullaway," and ball ("one old cat" and "two old cat")-yes, and even base ball; but the latter was not the highly developed, scientific game of today. It was not played by "hired men," but by both youths and "grown- ups" for the pure enjoyment of the game, and it was "lots of fun."
Let no one think for a moment that the young people of those primitive days did not have as many "good times," as do the youths of the twentieth century. It is indeed a far cry from the ox sled to the automobile, from the log cabin to the stately man- sion, from the once-a-week mail to the daily free delivery, from the spelling-book to the Carnegie library, but none of these mod- ern luxuries of life-we have grown to call them necessities- were needed that life might be pleasant and enjoyable. But the times are changed, and we are changed with them.
CHAPTER XV
FINANCIAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, PAW PAW-THE PAW PAW SAVINGS BANK- FIRST NATIONAL BANK, SOUTH HAVEN-THE CITIZENS STATE BANK, AND FIRST STATE BANK, SOUTH HAVEN-BANKS OF DECA- TUR-HARTFORD BANKS-WEST MICHIGAN SAVINGS BANK, BAN- GOR-THE PEOPLES BANK OF BLOOMINGDALE-AT GOBLEVILLE, COVERT, LAWRENCE AND LAWTON-SOUTH HAVEN LOAN AND TRUST COMPANY-VAN BUREN COUNTY FARMERS MUTUAL FIRE INSUR- ANCE COMPANY-TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE LINES.
There are fourteen institutions in Van Buren county that do a general banking business. Two of them are located in Paw Paw, two in South Haven, two in Decatur, two in Hartford, one in Covert, one in Lawrence, one in Lawton, one in Gobleville, one in Bloomingdale and one in Bangor. The combined paid-up capital of these institutions is upwards of $400,000, besides undivided profits and surplus amounting to about $250,000. The combined commercial and savings deposits in these fourteen banking insti- tutions amount to about $2,700,000.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, PAW PAW
The first organized bank in the county was the First National of Paw Paw. The articles of association of this solid institution bear date March 30, 1865, and its charter, No. 1,521, was granted on the 11th day of the ensuing August. The bank was first opened for business on Monday morning, August 21, 1865. For about two years the First National was the only banking institution of any kind in the county, but for several years before there had been a private banking house in the town under the name of Stevens, Holton & Company, successors to Stevens, French & Company.
The First National was started with a paid-up capital of $50,000. Its first board of directors were Thomas L. Stevens, Thomas H. Stephenson, Alonzo Sherman, James Crane, Emory O. Briggs, Charles S. Maynard and Nathaniel M. Pugsley. The first officers were Alonzo Sherman, president; James Crane, vice-president ;
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Joe A. Hollon, cashier. In 1871 the capital of the bank was in- creased to $100,000. Edmund Smith was elected president in 1883 and was succeeded by Horace M. Olney in 1894. Emory O. Briggs was appointed cashier in 1867, followed by F. E. Stevens in 1874. E. F. Parks was appointed cashier in January, 1886. The vice presidents of the institution have been Emory O. Briggs, Gilbert J. Hudson, E. A. Park, Charles Bilsborrow, Nathaniel M. Pugs- ley, William R. Hawkins, Edward R. Annable and George M. Har- rison. The present officers are Horace M. Olney, president; Geo. M. Harrison, vice-president ; E. F. Parks, cashier; W. H. Longwell, assistant cashier.
The capital stock of the bank remains at the sum of $100,000, which is double that of any other bank in the county. It has at the present time deposits in the sum of $250,000.
This institution is not only the oldest, but it is one of the best and strongest banks in the county. In 1903, it erected a handsome block on Main street and had the ground floor fitted up especially for its headquarters, so that it occupies one of the finest, most convenient and modern suite of banking offices in the county. No expense was spared in order to safeguard the funds that might be intrusted to its custody.
THE PAW PAW SAVINGS BANK
The Paw Paw Savings Bank was organized in 1886. Its articles of association bear date on the 27th day of March of that year. Its charter was granted just one month later. Its capital stock was originally $35,000, but has since been increased to $40,000. Its doors were first opened for business on the 10th day of May, 1886. (By special request of the president of the bank, we here state that Capt. O. W. Rowland was the first depositor). The first board of directors were Daniel Lyle, John Lyle, F. W. Sellick, John W. Free, William Lyle, Edgar A. Crane, Edwin Martin, William J. Sellick and Jonathan J. Woodman. The first officers were F. W. Sellick, president; Edgar A. Crane, vice-president; John W. Free, cashier. The present officers are John W. Free, president ; W. R. Sellick, vice-president ; C. A. Wolfs, cashier; W. R. Sellick, Edwin A. Wildey, A. Lynn Free, Howard B. Allen, H. Y. Tarbell, Daniel Morrison and John W. Free, board of directors.
The gentlemen who have filled the office of president of the bank are : F. W. Sellick, William J. Sellick, Milton L. Decker and John W. Free; the vice presidents have been : Edgar A. Crane, J. J. Woodman and W. R. Sellick; cashiers, John W. Free, J. B. Shower- man and C. A. Wolfs.
The present financial condition of the bank is as follows: Cap-
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ital stock, $40,000; undivided profits and surplus, $10,000; de- posits, $285,000. This bank was organized under the state banking law and developel into one of the leading financial institutions of the county. It is located at the corner of Main and Kala- mazoo streets, the two principal streets in the town ; occupies com- modious and convenient rooms for the transaction of its constantly increasing business, and has all the modern accessories for safe- guarding the funds entrusted to its care.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, SOUTH HAVEN
The second bank to be organized in the county was the First National Bank of South Haven. Silas R. Boardman and Charles J. Monroe started a private bank in 1867 and the business trans- acted by them showing the necessity of a permanent organization, they joined with other citizens and organized the First National Bank. Judge Jay R. Monroe was the first man who signed the articles of association. Some of the other signers were Augustus Haven, of Bloomingdale; D. B. Allen, Dawson Pompey and the Packards, of Covert; Timothy McDowell and M. H. Bixby, of Casco; C. P. Ludwig, George Hannahs, Marshall Hale, George C. and H. W. Sweet of South Haven; and Henry E. Boardman of Rochester, New York. The bank had $50,000 capital, which was a large sum for those early days, but with the limited deposits, it was needed to carry on the business of the town. When the National charter expired, it was deemed best to reorganize under the general banking law of the state, on account of such organiza- tion offering a better opportunity for savings depositors and also permitting the loaning of moneys on real estate security. The capital of the bank remains at the same figure as when it was first started, though, on account of the large surplus and undivided profits, the actual working capital is about $125,000. The "Bank Register" for 1911 gives the following figures: Capital stock, $50,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $75,000; deposits, $456,000.
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