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 55
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
WOLCOTT H. KEELER
Wolcott H. Keeler came to the township that bears his name only one week later than Mr. Byers. He purchased the Nesbitt claim of . forty acres on section fourteen and also eighty acres on section thirteen, and then went to Bronson and located three hundred and sixty acres on section twenty-four, thus becoming the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of government land. Mr. · Keeler was from the Green Mountain state, to which he returned soon after securing his claims. In the fall he came back to Michi- gan, bringing with him his son, Eleazer, and his daughter, Almnina. They erected a log cabin on section thirteen, and after the house was completed Mr. Keeler again returned to Vermont. Another son, Simon, in the winter of 1835, drove through with a team and a load of household goods, from Vermont, and in the spring of 1836 Mr. Keeler and his wife, and another daughter, Ursula, journeyed around by way of the lakes to St. Joseph; thence, by way of the newly surveyed Territorial road, to their new wilderness home. Mr. Keeler, laid out a village under the name of Keeler- ville around his home and converted his house into a tavern. For a time the place bade fair to become a town, but it was such only on paper. The tavern was for a time a stopping place for the stages that traveled across the state along the Territorial road, but after Henry Coleman opened his tavern in the adjoining township of Hamilton the patronage of the Keeler place fell away to a con- siderable extent. A postoffice was established at the place in 1836 and Mr. Keeler was made the first postmaster. The office re- mained there until 1856, when it was removed to the village of Keeler, which is located a couple of miles farther west at the cen- ter of the township, where it remained until it was superseded by the rural free delivery. A store was opened by Mr. Keeler in 1836, and a blacksmith-shop was operated the next year by Harlow Wright. Mr. Keeler (Judge Keeler, as he was called by reason of having been elected to the office of associate judge of the circuit court in 1838) was a man of prominence and influence in the community.
SETTLERS OF 1836-44
James Hill and his family, consisting of his wife and four chil- dren, settled on section eleven in 1836. Mr. Hill was supervisor of the township for several years. His son, Justus Hill, came from Vermont in 1840 and settled on a part of his father's farm. As late as that date the place was practically a wilderness. In the north were Henry Hammond, Richard B. Everitt and Peter Williamson, their location being within the limits of the present township of
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
Hartford. Theodore Phelps was living on section twenty-five and William Earle on section twenty-eight. On the south, beyond the center of the township and on to Cass county, the wilderness was unbroken and no settlements had been made.
Ira Foster, a New Yorker, with his wife and child and his brother Truman, settled on section fifteen in 1837.
The same year Benjamin Hungerford came from Livingston county, New York, with his wife and a large family of children, first occupying the cabin that had been built by Tobias Byers on section nineteen, which was used by other early settlers until such time as they could erect cabins of their own. Mr. Byers' resi- dence was on his other place on section thirteen. Hungerford bought six hundred and forty acres of land on sections seventeen, twenty and twenty-eight and occupied the premises with his wife and thirteen children for a considerable number of years. None of the family has resided in the township for more than thirty years.
Dr. Zenas Sikes located in Keeler in the summer of 1837. He entered lands on sections eighteen, nineteen and twenty. The Sikes family became prominent in township affairs. One of the sons, Orendo M. Sikes, was at one time supervisor of the town- ship.
Other settlers of the township in 1836-7 were Adrian Manley, Calvin Hathaway and Jeremiah Johnson.
In the winter of 1835-6 Matthew Fenton, a cousin of Judge Keeler, was killed by a falling tree. He was the first person buried in the township, although his was not the first death, which was that of a laborer engaged in breaking and clearing up the land along the line of the Territorial road, who was taken sick and died. He was buried at St. Joseph.
In 1838 Samuel Pletcher from eastern New York located on section nineteen. His wife was a sister of Tobias Byers. Mr. Pletcher died in 1845. His daughter married Dr. J. Elliott Sweet, late of Hartford.
Captain Marshall Lewis was another settler of 1838. He was a civil engineer and had been in charge of some of the most im- portant work of constructing the Erie canal. He also designed the plan for the locks of the Welland canal and was employed to superintend their construction. In 1837 he came to Lawrence and the next year removed to Keeler.
General Benjamin F. Chadwick, who was a somewhat noted man in the history of Van Buren county, was a native of Massachusetts, but went to the state of New York with his parents at an early age. When a young man of twenty-one years he went to Canada, where, in company with Captain Lewis, whose daughter he mar-
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ried, he erected a foundry. In 1836 he came to Michigan and lo- cated a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land in what is now the township of Lawrence, and in April, 1837, with his family, accompanied by Captain Lewis, he arrived at the resi- dence of Judge Keeler at Keelerville. The next day they went to the lands they had entered in Lawrence, where they put up a shanty, cleared a small piece and lived there until the next fall when they sold their claim to Judge Broughton. Chadwick then purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Keeler, on section twenty-five. Captain Lewis and General Chadwick were residents of Keeler for about three years, when they traded their land with Theodore Phelps for mill property. Captain Lewis died in 1844. General Chadwick was appointed by President Pierce superintendent of public works at St. Joseph while the govern- ment was building and repairing the piers at that harbor. After he had been there two years he was appointed as keeper of the light house, a position which he held for six years. He subse- quently returned to Van Buren county where he spent the re- maining years of his life.
Palmer and William Earle settled in Keeler in 1839, Ira Gould in 1842, and an Englishman named John Duncombe about the same time. Palmer Earle and Duncombe located near Magician lake. Duncombe went to California in 1846, and died there soon after his arrival. Daniel J. Osborne settled on section seventeen about 1842. Marvin Palmer settled on section thirty-six, made some improvements, sold out and went to California, where he was fairly successful. He came back to Michigan and purchased a farm in Cass county, but again sold out and returned to California.
Other settlers in the early forties were Thomas Arner, Linus Warner, Ebenezer Lyon, Samuel Robinson, William Green, Thomas Green and James Lee. As late as 1844, the roads in the town- ship were the Territorial, running east and west, a diagonal road from the Sikes settlement southeasterly to Magician lake, and a mail road from Keelerville to Cassopolis, Cass county.
About 1844 the population of the township began to increase as the tide of immigration from the east became greater. Among those who came to Keeler about that date were Ormon Rosevelt, John and Lucius Buck, Samuel Gordon and Henry S. Keith.
Dr. George Bartholomew settled in the town in 1846 and after a residence of a couple of years went to Paw Paw, afterward to Decatur. After that he went to Central America where he spent five years in the employ of the Panama Railroad Company. He then returned to Keeler where he spent the remaining years of his life.
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In 1844 Moses Duncombe came from Canada and located lands that are now a part of the village site. Mrs. Duncombe, and Charles, Caroline, William and Stephen W. Duncombe, came later. Charles and Stephen W. became somewhat noted in political mat- ters, both being ardent Republicans after the organization of that party. Few men were more frequently consulted in reference to matters that concerned the welfare of their party then they were. Charles was a member of the constitutional convention in 1867, and Stephen W. was county treasurer for six years and register of deeds for four years.
TAX PAYERS, PROPERTY AND SCHOOLS
There were twenty-six resident taxpayers in the township at the first assessment taken after Keeler and Hartford were made sep- arate townships, viz: Marshall Lewis, Benjamin F. Chadwick, Samuel Pletcher, Tobias Byers, Zenas Sikes, Orendo M. Sikes, George Parrish, Benjamin Hungerford, Hiram Hungerford, Stephen Hungerford, H. S. Wright, Wolcott H. Keeler, James A. Lee, Ira Foster, Calvin Hathaway, L. G. Hill, W. S. Hill, James Hill, William Green, G. W. Springer, W. B. Green, John Palmon- teer, Thomas H. Green, James Spinnings, Adrian Manley and Eli Hill. Their total valuation, personal and real, was $12,979. The non-resident lands were valued at $16,291.50. The total tax levy was $449.
The valuation of the township at the assessment of 1911 was $772,830, ranking it as ninth in point of wealth. The total tax levied for the same year, not including a small amount of school tax not reported, was $12,690.49. The number of its inhabitants, as given by the census of 1910, was 1,037, making it the fifteenth township in point of population.
The first school in the township was taught about 1839 by Miss Woodman. In 1842, Mrs. Prudence Williamson taught a school in a house belonging to James Hill that had been previously oc- cupied by his brother, Lyman G. She had twelve pupils in at- tendance. An annual report made by school inspectors, David Foster and Orendo M. Sikes, in 1845, shows that at that time there were five school districts in the township. Reports were made by only three of the five. In those three there were seventy-four chil- dren of school age. Three qualified teachers were employed and an aggregate of nineteen months school was taught. There were one hundred and twenty-nine volumes in the township library and twenty-five dollars was raised for library purposes. A list of the school books in use will be of interest, especially to the older in- habitants of the county. They were as follows: Webster's El-
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IIISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
ementary Spelling-book, English Reader, Hale's History of the United States, Olney's Geography, Kirkham's Grammar, Daboll's and Adams' Arithmetics. The following teachers were granted license to teach in 1846: Mary A. Bragg, Harriet MeKein, and Charles A. Bush.
The official school reports for the school year of 1910-11 give the following figures: Number of persons of school age, 326; volumes in district libraries, 1,729; number of schoolhouses, ten ; value of school property, $7,900; district indebtedness, $80; quali- fied teachers employed, ten; aggregate number of months taught, seventy-five; paid for teachers' salaries, $3,538.50. The township received from the state primary school fund the sum of $2,295.
While the township of Keeler was a great grain producing re- gion and its citizens, at first, were largely engaged in that branch of agriculture, of late years they have turned their attention quite largely to fruit growing. Its proximity to Lake Michigan and its fertile soil make it well adapted to peach culture as well as such other fruits, as apples, pears, grapes and small fruits which are all produced abundantly.
KEELER AND OTHER TOWNS
Secret orders are represented in the little village of Keeler by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Keeler Lodge, No. 204, with a membership of sixty-five; Keeler Rebekah Lodge, No. 349, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with some twenty-five or thirty members; Knights of Maccabees with twenty-two members; and the Modern Woodmen with a membership of fifty-two. The orders all own their own halls. There is also a Ladies' club that has twenty-eight members.
As early as 1840 a class of the Methodist Episcopal church was formed at the residence of Samuel Pletcher, on section nineteen, near the town line. The members of the class were Ira Foster, Carolina Foster, Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Manley, Thomas Conklin, Martha Conklin, Mrs. Ferdino Olds and Mr. and Mrs.
Griffin. The first preacher on the circuit through that region was Rev. Henry Worthington. During the earlier years meetings were held at the schoolhouses in the Haynes and Hill neighborhoods. The first meeting at Keeler Center, as the place was then called, were held in the schoolhouse, and Revs. John Hoyt, Thomas T. George and Henry M. Joy were among the ministers that served the church at such meetings. In 1860, during the pastorate of Rev. Colwell, a commodious house of worship was erected, which was dedicated in 1861. This house is yet in good condition and well adapted to religious purposes. The church now numbers
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
fifty-six members. The Free Methodists also have a small house of worship and a limited membership. There was formerly a Congregational church in the township, with a commodious house . of worship, but the society has gone out of existence and their house has been torn down.
The business places of the village consist of three general stores carrying good assortments of goods, one feed-mill and a black- smith-shop.
Other market towns that are more or less accessible to the in- habitants are Hartford, three miles north of the north town line; Lawrence, six miles northeast of the northeast corner of the town- ship; Decatur, seven miles west of the west town line; Dowa- giac, in the county of Cass, eight miles south of the southeast cor- ner of the town and Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, county of Berrien, some thirteen or fourteen miles west of the west town line.
GENERAL VIEW
Only three-quarters of century ago, the township of Keeler was a wilderness, unknown to civilization, and its soil unpressed by the foot of the white man. Since first the continent made its ap- pearance above the waters that enveloped the earth; during all the bygone ages that had theretofore come and gone, these lands, like the rest of the great western world, had been in the course of preparation for the dwelling place of an enlightened race of man- kind. It is but as yesterday that the change from savagery to civilization began. What scenes had transpired on these fair plains in those ages of long ago, no man knoweth. But what a change a few short years have wrought! No fairer region may be found than that which is now embraced within the limits of this township. Its highly cultivated farms, its bountiful orchards, its wide spreading vineyards, its elegant farm dwellings, with all the comforts and conveniences of life in these modern days, make it indeed "beautiful for a situation."
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CHAPTER XXX
TOWNSHIP OF LAWRENCE
STREAMS AND LAKES-EARLY PIONEERS AND SETTLEMENTS-THE BRANCH FAMILY-JUDGE JAY R. MONROE-FIRST MARRIAGE, BIRTH AND DEATH-ROADS AND MAILS-FLAT-BOAT TRAFFIC- PAPER TOWN OF VAN BUREN-CIVIL, EDUCATIONAL AND POLIT- ICAL-LOOKING BACKWARD-VILLAGE OF LAWRENCE-CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES-BUSINESS AND GENERAL FEATURES.
The township of Lawrence was one of the original seven town- ships into which Van Buren county was divided at its organiza- tion. The act of the legislature by which the township was organ- ized was approved by Governor Stevens T. Mason, the first gov- ernor of the state of Michigan, on the 11th day of March, 1837. Its territory at that date, embraced not only the present township of Lawrence, but the townships of Hartford and Arlington.
By the government survey, Lawrence is designated as township number three south, of range fifteen west. It is bounded on the north by the township of Arlington, east by Paw Paw, south by Hamilton and west by Hartford. It contains within its boundaries thirty-six full sections of land and a fractional section in the northeast corner taken from section thirty-six of the township of Arlington. This division of a section was made so that the Paw Paw river, which runs diagonally across such section in a south- westerly course, might form a part of the boundary line between the two townships.
The surface of the township is generally level, or slightly un- dulating, and the soil is rich and productive. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of whitewood, basswood, oak, ash, elm, beech, walnut, maple and other varieties, but these have practically all disappeared and in their stead are now to be seen some of the finest farms and farm residences to be found anywhere in the county or state.
STREAMS AND LAKES
The township is well watered. The Paw Paw river crosses its northern portions from east to west, and Brush creek, one of the
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
river's principal tributaries, passes through it, near the center of the township, from south to north, emptying into the main stream at the village of Lawrence. The latter furnishes the water power for a grist mill that is one of the prominent industries of the vil- lage of Lawrence. There was formerly a water power on the Paw Paw river that furnished power for a grist mill and a saw mill, but it is unimproved at the present time. It is really a more valuable power than the one that is now in operation and will, some day without doubt, be again put into operation; for in these modern days people are but just beginning to realize the great value of the numerous water powers of the country.
In addition to these streams, there are several beautiful lakes in the township. The finest of these is Prospect lake, often spoken of as Christie's and sometimes as Crystal lake, on account of its clear waters. Reynolds' lake is called on some of the maps of the township Lake George; Taylor's lake is sometimes called Shafer's, and there are several smaller lakes, among which are Baker's, Hall's, Pitcher's and Monroe's. All of these lakes originally abounded in different varieties of fish and, although not as abund- ant as in pioneer days, there are enough of them left to afford fine sport for the angler.
Some of these lakes, especially Prospect, have become popular places of summer resort. On the north shore of this last mentioned lake have been built numerous cottages, which are seldom unoccu- pied during the summer season. This pleasant spot is designated by the dolce far niente name of "Sleepy Hollow."
EARLY PIONEERS AND SETTLEMENTS
The first settlement ever made within the boundaries of the township is said to have been made on the west shore of Prospect lake, in 1835, by one Stephen Fountain, an unmarried man. But Mr. Fountain's stay, if he ever located there, was very brief, for he soon disappeared and all further trace of him was lost ; he was consigned to oblivion.
The first permanent settlements in the township were made in the summer of 1835, not long after Fountain's temporary so- journ on the banks of Prospect lake. It was in June, 1835, that John Allen founded the village of Mason, so named in honor of Governor Mason, but which was afterward platted and called Lawrence.
Among the earlier pioneers of the township were John R. Haynes, Thomas S. Camp, George Reynolds and John Reynolds. Mr. Haynes became quite prominent in the affairs of the new township, holding numerous local official positions. He was for
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a time one of the associate judges of the circuit court of the county and was postmaster at the village of Lawrence for quite a number of years. He was a resident of the village until his death, which occurred in 1856. Mr. Camp, who was a Connecticut man, also lived in the township on a farm just north of the village limits until his decease. He was drowned in Monroe's lake on July 12, 1861, while engaged in fishing with one Orestes A. Brown, a lawyer, who was a resident of Lawrence for a short time.
Haynes located on section ten, just south of the present village limits, Camp on section four and the Reynolds family on section thirteen. It was from the last named that Reynolds' lake takes it name. The family consisted of the father, George Reynolds, and four sons, John, George, William and Burr. The elder Rey- nolds built a log tavern on the Territorial road which ran along the north shore of the lake, which for many years was known as the "Old Reynolds Tavern." His sons lived with him for some time, but all except John moved out of the township. John had been engaged in boating on the Ohio river, although he was a baker by trade. From the fact of his experience as a boatman, he was for a time engaged in flat-boating on the Paw Paw river, an occupation that did not prove very renumerative to those who un- dertook it. While engaged in this occupation he acquired the title of "Captain." He eventually left Lawrence and settled on a farm in the township of Paw Paw, where he remained until his decease in 1892.
In the fall of 1835, James Gray and his family located on sec- tion eleven. He came from Lenawee county, Michigan, driving two yoke of oxen hitched to a lumber wagon and bringing with him his wife and six children. It took him ten days to make the trip, a journey that might now be made in much less than ten hours. The cabin of the Grays was a log structure, in size ten by fifteen feet. and roofed over with boughs cut from the surrounding trees, which answered very well in fair weather, but was little protection from storms. Its floor was the virgin soil, good for agricultural pur- poses, but not especially desirable for the floor of a dwelling, es- pecially when thoroughly drenched with the November rains. The only opening in the walls of the cabin was a doorway cut in the logs and over which was hung a blanket that served as a door, a handy, but not very substantial arrangement. Gray farmed in- dustriously, worked at carpentry considerably, and tried flat boat- ing on the Paw Paw river, but his ventures were not crowned with great success. He eventually disposed of his farm and removed to the village of Breedsville in the northern part of the county, but afterward returned to the village of Lawrence where he died in 1873.
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THE BRANCH FAMILY
Eaton Branch came to Lawrence from Ann Arbor the same year (1835), and was employed by John Allen in the work of making roads and clearing off the site of the village of Mason- now Lawrence-and doing such other work as came to his hands. During this time he occupied a house that had been previously built by one Ephraim Palmer and left unoccupied when he went farther west. The next year after coming to Lawrence, Mr. Branch entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on section number four, adjoining the plat of the present village of Lawrence on the northwest, where he passed the remainder of his life. His death occurred on the 7th day of January, 1891. Three of his sons, Elam, Francis and Luther, were soldiers in the Civil war.
Mr. Branch was an influential man in local affairs and served several terms as commissioner of highways and while occupying that office laid out a number of the original roads of the township. He was also prominent in religious matters, being for many years a deacon in the Congregational church, of which body he was an honored member. Many of the present and former residents of the township, of which the writer is one, have a kindly remem- brance of "Deacon" Branch, as he was familiarly called by his friends and acquaintances. Others of the Branch family among the Lawrence pioneers were Israel Branch, a cooper by trade and a brother of Eaton, who came to Lawrence in 1836 and, for some time, worked at his trade, eventually settling on section four, where he died in 1873. Luther Branch, another brother, came to Law- rence in 1837 and worked at coopering for a while. He located on section fourteen, but removed to section five where he died in 1845. Vine Branch, father of the three brothers, Eaton, Israel and Lu- ther, became a resident of the township in 1836, making his home with his son, Eaton. He died in 1852.
Orrin Sutton came to Lawrence in 1836 and located in the vil- lage of "Mason." He helped John Allen build the first saw-mill in the township, which was erected near the mouth of Brush creek in the then village of Mason. He settled on section seven and afterward removed to the village of Hartford, where he died in 1868. Mr. Sutton was the first township clerk of Lawrence and also served in several other official positions. His son, Luther Sut- ton, established the Hartford Day Spring at Hartford, the first newspaper to make its appearance in that enterprising village.
Horace Stimson, another of the early settlers of Lawrence, lo- cated on section one in 1836. He was the first postmaster, but did not long remain a resident of the township.
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