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 49
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VILLAGE OF GRAND JUNCTION
The village of Grand Junction, as its name indicates, is situated at the intersection of the two railroads that pass through the township-the South Haven branch of the Michigan Central and the Pere Marquette-and came into being as the direct result of the construction of those roads. It is situated where the corners of four sections-five, six, eight and nine-come together, and lies in part on each of those sections. It is four miles north of Breeds- ville and ten miles east from the City of South Haven.
The village was platted in December, 1871, by Samuel Rogers, Marvin Hannahs, Conrad Crouse and George W. Chrouch. Al- though it has developed into a place of considerable importance, it has not yet attained the dignity of being an incorporated town.
The first settlement within the limits of the village was made in 1869 by David Young, who had been for a number of years pre- viously a resident of the adjoining township of Geneva. He pur- chased six lots in the prospective village and became its first set- tler, his nearest neighbors being at that time in the village of Breedsville. Soon afterward, being confident that there must eventually arise a town at the junction of the railroads, he began
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the erection of a structure which, when completed, became known as Young's hotel. This he opened for the accommodation of the traveling public in 1871. The second individual to become an in- habitant of the prospective village was a colored man named Hun- gerford.
There are two churches in Grand Junction-the Congregational, with a membership of twenty, and the Catholic with thirty-five members.
There are no secret societies, and no clubs or other similar or- ganizations except the Congregational Ladies' Society.
The public buildings consist of the churches and the graded school building. There are ninety children of school age residing in the village district ; 564 volumes in the district library and one schoolhouse ; value of school property, $2,500. The two teachers employed during the last school year taught an aggregate of eight- een months and $980 was paid for teachers' salaries.
The business places in the village consist of one glove factory, one meat-market, two grocery and provision stores, one hardware store, two general stores, one restaurant, one hotel; the postoffice building with stationary, notions, cigars, etc .; one blacksmith-shop, one barber-shop; one bakery and confectionery establishment; a warehouse with feed, hay, coal and farm implements on sale; one cider-mill ; one saw-mill and lumber yard carrying various kinds of building material, and one drug store. The citizens also possess that indispensable adjunct of modern life, excellent telephone ser- vice.
CHAPTER XXIV
TOWNSHIP OF COVERT
THE ORIGINAL TOWNSHIP-PHYSICAL FEATURES-EARLIEST SET- TLERS-ROADS AND SCHOOLS-STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL-THE VILLAGE OF COVERT.
The township of Covert is officially designated by the govern- ment survey as township two south, of range seventeen west. It is situated on the west side of the county and its western border is washed by the waters of Lake Michigan. It is bounded on the north by the township of South Haven, on the east by Bangor, its southern boundary being the north line of Berrien county. The township is fractional, being only about four and one-half miles wide along its northern boundary, while on the south it is about seven miles in width. This is occasioned by the line of the lake shore. There are two fractional sections, twenty-five and thirty- six of township two south, of range eighteen west (all there is of that township) that form the southwest corner of Covert.
THE ORIGINAL TOWNSHIP
The township was first called Deerfield, but on account of there being other towns of that name in the state, the name was changed to Covert. This change was made in 1876, by an act of the legisla- ture introduced by Hon. William O. Packard, at that time a repre- sentative from Van Buren county and a resident of the township.
Covert was originally a part of the township of South Haven, from which it was separated and organized into a separate township by action of the board of supervisors at their October session in 1855. The first meeting of the new township thus formed was held at the house of Hiram Fish on the first Monday of April of the fol- lowing year. W. A. Dell was chosen supervisor at that election. The official records of the county do not disclose who were the other officials elected.
The following named gentlemen have served the township in the office of superivisor : William A. Dell, Miram Fish, George H. Barker, William F. Trafford, George Grant, Orrin S. Shaw, William
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
J. Shattuck, Robert Bartley, Cyrus H. Lewis, Jacob Gunsaul, Tru- man A. Lampson, Shepard H. Shattuck and George Hale.
Those who served more than two years were Fish, Barker and Hale, each three years; Grant, five years; Lampson, six years, and Gunsaul, nine years. S. H. Shattuck, the present supervisor, is serving his sixth year.
PHYSICAL FEATURES
The surface of the township in general is comparatively level, except along the lake shore where it becomes broken and uneven. Abrupt and picturesque hills line the shores, some of them almost worthy of being called mountains. Indeed one of them bears the name of "Thunder mountain," from which, tradition has it that in an early day the strange sounds emanated resembling sub- dued thunder and about which weird tales are related. It is said that the vicinity was at one time a rendezvous for counter- feiters and other criminals, but these stories are probably all imag- inary and inspired by the weird surroundings of those early days. From the top of these hills a fine view of the lake is to be obtained, as well as of the inland landscape that is largely covered with or- chards of apples, peaches, pears and other fruit trees, as well as with large tracts of small fruits for the cultivation of which the township has long been noted, being located well within the bound- aries of the celebrated Michigan fruit belt. The soil in places is of a decidedly sandy character, while in others it is a loam, a mixture of sand and clay, much of being very fertile and a large part of it peculiarly adapted to fruit culture. Being on the shore of the great lake that forms the western boundary of the Lower Peninsula, it is, like other localities similarly situated, protected from the extreme cold of winter which constitutes one of the fac- tors that make it an ideal fruit region. There are numerous small streams, in the township, but none of importance, neither are there any inland lakes of any consequence.
EARLIEST SETTLERS
While the township has some seven miles of lake shore, it pos- sesses no harbor, although there formerly was a pier called St. Paul's near the south line of the town, at which smaller sail vessels used to stop in an early day, when the weather would permit, to load with lumber, of which there was formerly a large quantity cut in that vicinity. A large part of the township was originally cov- ered with hemlock forest with considerable pine intermingled with it, while other parts were covered with different varieties of tim- ber. A saw-mill near the pier was operated by Chicago parties,
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one R. P. Toms being the moving spirit. This was a steam mill of considerable size and containing the most up-to-date machinery of those days.
The writer has a vivid recollection of the time, considerably more than half a century ago, when he was employed as a "hand" in that mill. At that time there was a large boarding house and several other structures at the place, which was known as Paul- ville, or St. Paul, so named in honor of a member of the mill com- pany. But the forests have all been cut down, the timber has dis- appeared and so has the "town," there being no vestige of it remaining.
In-so-far as its settlement is concerned, Covert may be consid- ered as the newest township in the county. Very little progress was made in its development prior to 1860. Its heavily timbered land, some of it rather low and wet, and other portions not appear- ing as fertile as they were subsequently proven to be, were not attractive to the early pioneers. There was no spot in the entire township where tillable land could be secured without the hard- est kind of labor, and in those early days the timber was a hindrance instead of an advantage; the greatest trial of the first settlers was to get rid of it, which was accomplished by burning it in immense heaps and at the cost of the hardest kind of labor; and it was not until the demand for lumber from the city of Chicago and the denizens of the great Illinois prairies made this vast quantity of timber a source of revenue, that substantial improvements began to be made.
The first party to locate in the township was Benoni Young, who emigrated from the Pine Tree state and settled upon a quarter sec- tion of land situate on section twenty-one. Here, with his family, he lived for seven years, the solitary settler within the limits of the township. His nearest neighbors were Mason Wood, who lived in the adjoining township of Bangor, and Isaac Swain, who lived in the township of Watervliet in the adjoining county of Berrien. Mr. Young had no assistance in erecting his pioneer cabin or in clearing up his land, but by his indomitable industry he soon made matters fairly comfortable for his family and cleared up a portion of his land and proved its productiveness by the abundant crops it yielded under his skilful hands. Mr. Young remained in Covert until 1861, when he removed to Hartford, where he spent the re- maining years of his life. He died on the 16th day of August, 1885, at the age of seventy-seven years. The earliest wedding that occurred in Covert was the marriage of Mr. Young's daughter, Jane, to Allen Fish. The ceremony took place at the Young's home in 1859.
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The next settler was John Peters, who located on section thirty- two. He remained but a short time, when he removed to Berrien county and afterward enlisted in the United States army where he died.
Matthias Farnum was another early settler of the township. He settled on section seven and built a saw-mill, the first in the town- ship. The mill hereinbefore mentioned was built on the site of this primitive mill of Mr. Farnum's.
James Dobbyn, a Canadian, came to Covert in 1854 and entered 280 acres of land on section thirty-two. The Dobbyn family, which consisted of sixteen persons, was warmly welcomed by Mr. Peters, until such time as its members could construct a cabin for their own shelter.
When the Dobbyn family arrived at the new location the house- hold goods consisted solely of what each person wore or carried, so it may well be imagined that the task they had undertaken of mak- ing a home in the wilderness was no light one. However, game was plentiful and served to keep the family larder well supplied with meat and the surplus could be shipped from South Haven to Chi- cago, where it brought remunerative prices and lightened the bur- dens that had to be borne.
John Wygent arrived in 1854 and settled on section thirty-two, occupying the house that had been vacated by John Peters when he removed from the township. Mr. Wygent cultivated and im- proved his land until it became valuable, but eventually disposed of it and emigrated to Nebraska.
Hiram Fish came to the township in 1854 and located on section twenty-one, where he entered a tract of 320 acres. Mr. Fish soon became prominent in the affairs of the township, in which he was deeply interested.
Quite a number of settler's arrived during the next two years, among them being William Kelley, W. W. Lampson, Frank Beal, William and J. McConnell.
ROADS AND SCHOOLS
One of the first things that called for the attention of the early settlers was the laying out and opening up of highways. The first road cut through the forest was probably the one leading to Far- num's mill. The Dobbyns and their neighbors also cut an early road in the vicinity of their own homes. As late as 1857, the road from the south part of the township, near the lake shore, was little more than a trail along which the compiler, in company with sev- eral others, got lost in the hemlock forest one evening while "foot- ing it" from South Haven to Paulville.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
The first schoolhouse was built on section thirty-three near the Dobbyn place and Miss Geraldine Taft, herself a lass of only four- teen years, was the first teacher. Her pupils were Josephine Lee, William Lee, David Lee, Henry Wygent, Violetta Wygent, William Wygent, John Dobbyn, Jane Dobbyn, Isabella Dobbyn, Sarah Dobbyn, Emma Dell, Mary Dell, Lita Fish and Solon Ingraham.
There are now 438 persons of school age in the township, 1,842 volumes in the district libraries and six schoolhouses; the estimated value of school property is $11,100 and district indebtedness, $1,720; eleven qualified teachers were employed during the school year of 1910-11, an aggregate of ninety-five months school was taught and $4,794 was expended for teachers' salaries. The sum of $3,670 was apportioned to the township during the past year from the state primary fund.
William A. Dell, who was chosen as the first supervisor of the township, purchased an eighty-acre tract on section twenty-nine, but afterward he removed to Watervliet. Reuben Lee was another settler of the same year. J. Enlow, from Ohio, settled on section twelve in 1857. The previous settlements had practically all been in the southern part of the township, so that Mr. Enlow, while hav- ing nearer neighbors than some of those who preceded him, found himself located in a section of country equally as wild as did the first comers.
Like other towns similarly situated, Covert has an ambition, which seems likely to be achieved, to become a popular summer resort. Two places for that purpose have been surveyed and platted along the lake shore, on sections five, seven and eight, one called the Covert Resort and the other Palisades Park. The latter is a park containing 640 acres located in the west part of the township, on the sand bluffs of Lake Michigan. It is laid out with beautiful grounds, walks and drives and has a large, modern hotel with ac- commodations for about 100 guests. There are about seventy-five cottages, golf, tennis and base-ball grounds and a fine bathing beach.
The Covert Resort Association has a beautiful park about a mile south of the Palisades, improved by elegant grounds and cot- tages. It is not as large as the Palisades Park, but in other respects compares very favorably with that beauty spot.
STATISTICAL AND POLITICAL
The population of the township, according to the census of 1910, was 1,522. In point of numbers Covert and Pine Grove each rank eighth among their sister townships, the last United States census giving them the same population.
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IIISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
At the first assessment after the township was set off from South Haven, taken in the spring of 1856, its total valuation was $84,640 and taxes spread upon the roll amounted to $1,134.37. In 1911 the assessed valuation of the town was $477,925 and the tax spread was $12,366. In point of wealth the township ranks as next to the last, only the township of Columbia being assessed at a less sum.
At the first general election held in the township, the presidential election of 1856, thirty-five votes were cast, twenty-six for the Re- publican ticket and nine for the Democratic. At the presidential election of 1908, 280 votes were polled, as follows: Taft, Republi- can, 212; Bryan, Democrat, 50; Chafin, Prohibitionist, ten; Debs, Socialist, six; Hisgen, Independent, two.
Although this township was so late in becoming improved, a stranger passing through it at the present time, looking upon its fine, modern farm residences, viewing its magnificent orchards, see- ing its up-to-date schoolhouses, beholding its beautiful parks and taking in its one thriving, prosperous little village, would hardly imagine that but little more than half a century ago it was all an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by the red man and the beasts of the forest, a veritable terra incognita.
THE VILLAGE OF COVERT
The village of Covert is centrally located, being situated on the southwest quarter of section fourteen and the southeast quarter of section fifteen. It was surveyed by Almon J. Pierce, county sur- veyor, and platted by the Messrs. Packard & Sons and others, in December, 1875, and is the only village in the township, although there is a little hamlet on the line of the railroad three miles to the northward, called Packard.
The village is situated on the Fruit Belt line, about midway be- tween the village of Hartford and the city of South Haven, being eight miles from the latter place. While the village has been so long platted, it is not incorporated. It was about the year 1866 that the earliest indications of improvement were manifested in the locality now occupied by the village. About that time Messrs. Hawks & Lambert became interested in the outlook for lumbering in the township and began the erection of mills for its manufacture. After three years, they sold out to Packard & Company. These gentlemen at once became greatly interested in the development of the town and they are entitled to full credit for the great improve- ment that speedily became apparent. Alfred H. Packard, Jr., had, in 1868, built a saw-mill on section two and became the owner of a considerable tract of timber. Packard & Company added largely to their purchase from Hawks & Lambert and built a much larger
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
mill. Eventually they became interested in sawing and planing and the grinding of coarse grain. Their mills were capable of cutting 4,000,000 feet of lumber per year, while the mills of Alfred H. Packard had even a greater capacity.
In order to be able to ship their lumber across the lake, they built substantial piers extending into the lake and constructed tram- ways operated by horse power from their mills to the piers. The Packards also carried on a general store and dealt largely in wood and in hemlock bark for tanning purposes.
One of the efficient high schools of the county is located in the village of Covert. According to the last school census there were 184 pupils in the district, 581 volumes in the school library, the school property was valued at $3,500, an aggregate of forty-five months school was taught during the school year, five teachers were employed and $2,385 were expended in teachers' salaries.
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The Congregational church at Covert was organized on the 27th day of September, 1870. Its earlier membership was composed of the following named individuals: Josiah Packard, Elizabeth Packard, Perlia Packard, Pamelia Packard, Alfred Packard, Mary Packard, William O. Packard, Milan Packard, Margaret Smith, Ed- ward A. Rood, Thaddeus Rood, Martha Rood, Flora Rood, Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Shaw, W. F. Trafford, Martha E. Trafford, Gordon Sin- clair, D. B. Allen and Flora Allen. The first meetings were held in a barn arranged for that purpose, then in the schoolhouse, afterward for a series of years in Packard's hall. A parsonage was built in 1873 and in 1878-9 a fine church building was erected at an ex- pense of more than $4,000, with a seating capacity of 400 people. The building was dedicated November 5, 1879. The church now has 179 members. A Sunday school was started by that enthusias- tic veteran Sunday school man, D. B. Allen, ten years prior to the organization of the church.
An Adventist church was organized in 1888. The society has a small house of worship and twenty-nine members.
The Covert postoffice was established about 1866. The first post- master was D. B. Allen. His successors have been as follows : Dr. Orley M. Vaughan, Jacob Gunsaul, Dr. Vaughan, appointed a sec- ond time; Jacob Gunsaul, a second time; and Charles Gunsaul, the present incumbent.
The business places in the village consist of one drygoods and clothing store, one drygoods and grocery store, two hardware stores, one drug store, one private bank, one grocery store, two meat mar- kets; one nursery, growing and dealing in fruit trees and vines; one hotel, one undertaking establishment, one livery, one cooper shop, one coal and ice establishment, one feed mill, one coal and lumber yard, one warehouse, one wagon shop, one shoe shop, one
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
billiard hall, one barber shop, one dray line, one blacksmith shop; two pickle factories, which put up 21,000 bushels of cucumber pickles during the past season, and one fruit canning establish- ment which, in 1911, canned about 20,000 bushels of peaches, 9,000 bushels of apples, and 3,000 bushels of plums. There were shipped out of Covert and used in the cannery during the season about 32,000 bushels of peaches, 20,000 bushels of apples, 12,000 bushels of pears, 6,000 bushels of plums and 20,000 cases of strawberries.
The following secret societies are represented in the village: Covert Lodge, No. 328, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was organized May 27, 1879, with nine members and now has a membership of seventy-five; and Star Rebekah Lodge, No. 61, same order, which was organized January 17, 1882, with nine members and now has a membership of sixty-nine.
A lodge of Modern Woodmen of America was instituted on the 13th day of April, 1899. Its present membership is thirty-four.
The business transacted in this little village would be creditable to a town of much larger size.
Vol. 1-31
CHAPTER XXV
TOWNSHIP OF DECATUR
FIRST WHITE SETTLER OF THE COUNTY-FIRST NATIVE WHITE CHILD-FIRST GOSPEL SERMON AND PIONEER SCHOOL-A. B. COPLEY ON EARLY DAYS-VARIOUS PIONEERS-CIVIL AND POLIT- ICAL-STATISTICS-VILLAGE OF DECATUR-RETROSPECT.
By the government survey, the township of Decatur is officially designated as township number four south, of range number four- teen west. It is one of the southern tier of townships of the county. Its southern boundary is the line between the counties of Van Buren and Cass, and it is bounded on the north by the town- ship of Paw Paw, on the east by Porter, and on the west by the township of Hamilton.
FIRST WHITE SETTLER OF THE COUNTY
The first white settler within the limits of Van Buren county was Dolphin Morris, who was born in Loudon county, in the state of Virginia, where, on the 29th day of March, 1825, he was mar- ried to Miss Nancy Beaver. In the fall of 1828 he started with his family and all his personal effects in a lumber wagon, des- tined for Summerville, Cass county, Michigan. Their route lay through dense forests; many streams were to be forded and many obstacles had to be overcome. He finally arrived safely at his destination and spent the winter with his cousin, Joseph Gardner. During his stay at Gardner's he located in the south half of sec- tion 35, township of Decatur, and early in the spring of 1829 erected the first white man's residence in the county, and made the first improvement. His home was a typical pioneer cabin, built of logs notched at the corners to hold them in place; the crevices were chinked with split basswood and daubed with clay to make the cabin warm and comfortable; the roof was made of oak shakes which were held in place by weight poles; the floor was of split basswood puncheons several inches in thickness, smoothed slightly on the upper side with an adze or axe. There were three small windows below and one in the gable; the chimney was made
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
of sticks and mud and thickly plastered inside; the fireplace was capacious and wide, admitting of huge logs, in front of which the cooking was done. The chamber was reached by a ladder. The door was put together with wooden pins, hung on wooden hinges and provided with a wooden latch with a latch string on the out- side. It was indeed a case of "pull on the latch string, 'twill open the door." An axe, a saw, an auger and a froe were all the tools that were required in building the pioneer residences. We won- der how many of the rising generation have ever seen a froe, or frow (as is, perhaps the more approved orthography), or know what kind of an implement it is?
FIRST NATIVE WHITE CHILD
To Mr. and Mrs. Dolphin Morris, on the 4th day of August, 1830, was born a son, Lewis Creighton Morris, the first native white child of the county. This babe survived only until the 20th day of the next December and was the first person buried in what is known as the Morris and Anderson cemetery.
FIRST GOSPEL SERMON AND PIONEER SCHOOL
The first Gospel sermon ever preached in the county was in this Morris cabin and was delivered in 1830 by Rev. William Sprague, a young Methodist minister who afterward became a pre- siding elder and later a member of congress, defeating the Hon. Charles E. Stewart of Kalamazoo, for that office. As soon as suitable accommodations could be secured the circuit rider came, preaching wherever a place could be found, either in the Morris barn or elsewhere. The inhabitants would generally attend these services coming for miles on horseback, sometimes riding double, sometimes "riding and tieing." Buggies and carriages were not then in use among the hardy pioneers. The preaching was usu- ally extemporaneous; the singing was congregational and con- sisted in making a "joyful noise" with little regard for tune or melody. Hymn books were scarce and the preacher would "line out" the hymns, a couple of lines at a time, and when the people had sung them the process would be repeated.
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