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 58
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Pugsley, who was a bachelor, proceeded at once to build a cabin, while Lyle returned to the east for his family, which he brought to Paw Paw in 1836, moving into Pugsley's cabin, where they found Hugh Jones who was in Pugsley's employ and who shortly after- ward entered a tract of land just west of Pugsley's, where he lived until his death.
Pugsley's cabin consisted of but one room, but within that room Pugsley, Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle and nine children, thirteen per- sons in all, managed to live until Lyle could put up a cabin for himself.
Both Pugsley and Lyle remained residents of Paw Paw until they died. Lyle died on the 4th day of December, 1869, aged sev- enty-eight years, and Pugsley passed away January 29, 1882, at the age of eighty-five years.
The Lyle children, ten in number (one having been born in Mich- igan), five sons and five daughters, were all among the most highly respected and influential people of the township.
Edwin Barnum, above mentioned, who married a daughter of John Lyle, became a man of prominence, not only in the town but in the county. He was a minister of the Christian church, and served the county from 1866 to 1872 as county treasurer. Politi- cally, he was a stalwart Republican and was regarded as one of the leaders of that party in the county. He died at Paw Paw on 24th day of August, 1875, aged sixty-one years.
Anthony Labadie and his wife came to Paw Paw in 1836 and during the next year lived in a house previously occupied by
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Lawson Grout, who moved to section twenty-two, where he died. Mr. Labadie and his wife settled on a farm on section twenty-two, belonging to Williamson Mason, a brother of Mrs. Labadie, where they resided until 1842, when Labadie purchased a farm of Peter Gremps, on section twenty-one, where he lived until his death in 1860.
In June, 1835, Asa G. Hinckley of New York, with his wife and five children came to the township of Paw Paw and settled on sec- tion fourteen, the land having been previously entered by his father, Elder Jonathan Hinckley, who came a few months before and set- tled in Breedsville. In 1846 Asa moved to a farm near Eagle Lake, where he died in 1871.
In the spring of 1835, there were seven families living in La- Fayette-now Paw Paw. In 1836 eleven families settled in the township and the total number of inhabitants was between seventy and eighty.
In the summer of 1835 Richard Hutchins, with his wife and two children, located on section two, where he lived until his death which occurred in 1870. Henry W. Rhodes was also among the settlers of that same year. He located on section eight.
John Barber, a Vermonter, located on section eight in 1836, and died two years later.
Loyal Crane and family, from Cayuga, New York, settled in Paw Paw in 1837, his father having been in the town the previous year and made a location of land. Loyal settled on sections ten and eleven where he lived until 1865, when he took up his residence in the village where he spent the remainder of his life. His widow, Jane Crane, his second wife, is yet a resident of Paw Paw. Mr. Crane's father, James Crane, became a settler of the town in 1840, and kept a store in the village in 1842. He died in 1869 while on a visit to friends in the state of Pennsylvania.
Alonzo Crane located on section ten in 1840 and died there in 1847.
Oramel Butler came from western New York in 1836 and made his home on Prairie Ronde until 1843, when he removed to Paw Paw and settled on section ten. His son, William K., settled on section eight. The father died in Paw Paw on the 12th day of September, 1869, aged eighty-three years. The son died on the 4th day of June, 1893, at the age of seventy-eight.
Nathaniel M. Pugsley, under the advice of his uncle, John K., who was already located in Paw Paw, came directly from England, his native country, and located on section ten. Subsequently, he removed to the village of Paw Paw, where he lived until his death, which occurred on the 21st day of November, 1893, at the age of seventy-seven years. His brother, Henry M. Pugsley, settled on
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section seven and remained a resident of the township for the remainder of his life. He died April 22, 1903.
Albert R. Wildey first came to Paw Paw in 1835 and eventually settled on section nine. He was a man of some prominence, both in business and political circles. He died on the 20th day of May, 1904, at the age of eighty-five years. Two of his sons are still residents of this vicinity-William C. Wildey, who is the manager of the Paw Paw Fruit Growers' Union, and Edwin A., who was at one time commissioner of the State Land Office.
Benjamin F. Murdock came to Kalamazoo in 1836 and to Paw Paw in 1842. Mr. Murdock was a school teacher in his youthful days. When he came to Paw Paw he worked at the carpenter's trade. He died in the village of Paw Paw, on the 29th day of November, 1895, aged eighty years. His widow still resides in the village at the advanced age of eighty-seven.
Abraham Ball came to Paw Paw in 1837 and started a brick yard on the farm of Edwin Barnum, the first attempt at the manufacture of brick in the county. He followed that business, making a most excellent article, until 1849. He died in 1855, while on a visit to Coldwater, Michigan.
Edmond Hayes, a tailor, and Rufus Currier, a carpenter, made a trip. from Pennsylvania to Paw Paw in 1836, returning east the same year. They were so favorably impressed with the country that in the fall of 1838, accompanied by William H. Lee, they returned to Van Buren county. They proceeded by way of the lake to Detroit and then by the most primitive means of locomotion, their own stalwart legs, to Paw Paw. Hayes and Currier remained in the village to ply their respective trades, while Lee went to Asa G. Hinckley's place and engaged to work for him-threshing wheat and having for his remuneration every eighth bushel. Of course there were no threshing machines in those days, the usual method being to prepare a smooth place of earth, spread out the bundles of grain thereon and then use the flail and "elbow grease" to ac- complish the work. Lee returned to Pennsylvania in the winter of 1839 for his family, coming back to Paw Paw in the month of. February of the same year, making the entire journey by wagon and arriving at his destination with a foot and a half of snow on the ground. Mr. Lee departed this life on the 22d day of February, 1883. His father, James Lee, and his mother, and his brother, Uriel C. Lee, came to Paw Paw in 1841. The father died in 1852. The brother Uriel C., died October 28, 1894.
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"MR. AND MRS." PE-PE-YAH
Mr. Lee related the following anecdote of his early life in Paw Paw: He was accustomed to get sugar for his family use by doing plowing for Pe-pe-yah, an old Indian, who was said to have been at one time a prominent Pottawattamie chief, and who had a farm on section twenty-two, which is known to this day as the Pe-pe-yah farm. Some of the Indians owned small pieces of land, but Pe-pe-yah was about the only one that approached the dignity of being a farmer, and his operations were confined principally to making maple sugar and growing small crops of corn. Lee was accustomed to take his dinner with him when he went to work for the old chief. One day, at noon, he discovered that the dogs had got the start of him and had devoured his luncheon. Going to the "wigwam" he told Mrs. Pe-pe-yah that her dogs had stolen his din- ner and that he must have some from her. Handing him a wooden ladle, she pointed to a kettle of boiled corn and told him to help himself. Pretty soon the dogs joined him in his repast. He un- dertook to drive them away, but they would not be driven. Lee was hungry, and the lady ( ?) of the house assured him that it was customary for the dogs to eat from the same dish as the fam- ily, and so he proceeded to finish his dinner, regardless of his un- accustomed and unwelcome messmates.
When the government was endeavoring to procure the removal of the Indians of this vicinity to the west, Pe-pe-yah conceived the idea that he would be compelled to remove, despite the fact that he was a landholder, and fled to Canada with his wife and child. He died there and his widow returned to the farm with her child. She afterward sold the place to John R. Baker, a Paw Paw lawyer, and moved to the township of Hartford, where there were consid- erable numbers of the Pottawattamies. Some of their descendants still reside in the same vicinity, but they have become thoroughly civilized and are now recognized as citizens.
David Woodman, a brother of Elder Joseph Woodman settled in Antwerp in 1838, afterward becoming a resident of Paw Paw where he resided until he was about ninety years of age and then re- moved to Kansas where he died, being at the time of his death within a few weeks of one hundred years of age.
DAVID WOODMAN'S PIONEER PICTURES
David Woodman 2d, as he was called during the life of his Uncle David, came to Van Buren county in May, 1835, and was at first a resident of the township of Antwerp, where his father, Elder Joseph Woodman, had located on section 7 of that township. The young man, however, soon struck out for himself. His experience,
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told in his own words, as follows, was not different from that of others of the first settlers of the township.
"I commenced," said Mr. Woodman in a paper read before the Van Buren County Pioneer Association, June 14, 1899, "on what is now my old farm on the west side of Three Mile lake, in the spring of 1839, and made the first beginning in southwest Paw Paw, and I have had some experience in keeping 'bachelor's hall.' While it was not the most desirable way of living, in some cases it became a necessity; and so the young man marches bravely into the forest where he erects his little cabin. As the sound of his axe and the crash of falling timber resounds through the forest, they seem to arouse the occupants of the wilderness, who warn him to desist from disturbing their peaceful abode. The owl wants to know 'Who, Who' this intruder is? The partridge notifies him to 'Quit.' The old moderator, Mr. Bullfrog, seems to say 'Get out, Get out.' The catbird says 'You can't stay here.' The crows says 'If you do, I'll pull your corn.' The ague promises to shake him, and the fever to roast him, and the mosquitoes are on hand to serenade him; immediately afterwards sending in their 'bills.' Finally, the jay birds call out 'Caleb, Caleb,' and the blackbirds make friends with him by calling him 'Uncle Ebert,' after which he is lulled to sleep by the sweet notes of the whippoorwill."
"The cabin of our bachelor was usually adorned with a mud chimney and furnished with a wild-cat bedstead, a rough table, a stool, perhaps a chair, a kettle, a frying pan, tea kettle, 'Dutch' oven, a few dishes and bed clothes, all of which completed his house- hold outfit. He had his keen axe and knew how to use it. This lone man was a kind of Robinson Crusoe. He was monarch of all his surroundings ; he was 'boss' and all hands. He was chief cook, housekeeper, chambermaid, wash woman, barber and cobbler. Let not the young man of today imagine there was much fun in swing- ing the axe all day, except while doing his housework, and I opine he would cry out 'may the good Lord deliver me.'
"There being no necessity for highways at that time, there were none laid out. The first settlers were guided to their cabins by 'blazed' trees or by following some Indian trail.
"But the glory of conquering the wilderness, belonged not to the men alone. Their wives and children stood bravely by, ready to lend a helping hand, or to submit cheerfully to the hardships they had to encounter. If it was necessary that the family should live in a little log cabin, miles from neighbors, contentment dwelt there also. If they had to climb a ladder to reach the loft in their humble dwelling, it was all the same as though they ascended by a winding stair. If they reposed on 'wildcat' bedsteads, their sleep was just as sweet as though they rested on walnut or mahogany.
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If they warmed their cabins by huge fireplaces and cooked their frugal meals over a blazing fire, the food was just as tasty as if cooked on a forty dollar range. If the kitchen had to answer the purpose of a parlor and often a sleeping room, it was a necessity and was satisfactory. Our musical instruments were of God's own invention, our wives and children, and their music was the most cheering within the hearing of those early pioneers. If their children were rocked in home-made cradles, or toted about in a vehicle costing a couple of hours' labor, they were fully up to those of the present day in intelligence and far ahead in vigor. The wives of the pioneers were their own cooks, chambermaids, dress-makers and milliners; they did their own laundering, were proficient in the use of the spinning wheel, loom and other house- hold utensils of that early day.
"If it was necessary for the wife or daughter to walk four or five miles to do shopping, visit neighbors or attend Divine wor- ship, they were both ready and willing to perform the task. Al- though the pioneer schoolhouse might be a log cabin, situated in the forest or on the plain, the pupils made good progress in their studies, and, although those rude structures were used as houses of worship, no doubt the worship was just as acceptable to the Heavenly Father as that from gilded pulpits accompanied by the melodious sound of organs, horns and fiddles. It was a common practice for some Christian families in the township to go five miles or more with ox teams to attend Sunday worship.
"Previous to the completion of the Paw Paw mills in 1839, Flow- erfield, Comstock and then Kalamazoo were the nearest grist mills. I often went to the old current wheel mill located on the east side of the Kalamazoo river, in the then little village of Bronson, usually making the trip with oxen in two days. The mill with its splashing wheel disappeared more than fifty years ago.
"The sickly season of 1838 was the severest ordeal the early settlers had to endure. Sickness prevailed to an alarming extent, until there were not enough well people to properly care for the suffering ones, and one after another was gathered in by the grim reaper. It was during that year that the land for the 'Old Cemetery' in the north part of the village was purchased and pre- pared for the reception of those who had finished their labors in this then wilderness country. I recognize a few persons in this audience who passed through that trying season. Though young then, they are old now, for that was sixty-one years ago, and the youth of that period-the few that remain-are the old pioneers of today."
Mr. Woodman was one of the most prominent farmers of Van Buren county and at one time, when the Greenback party
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was in the zenith of its strength, he was chosen as its candidate for governor of the state of Michigan, but, as a matter of course, failed of an election, Michigan Republicans being too strongly entrenched to be ousted.
Jason Woodman, one of the associate editors of this work, a son of David Woodman, is prominent in the order of Patrons of Hus- bandry and was a member of the state senate for four years. He is a graduate of the Michigan Agricultural College and is a scien- tific and successful agriculturist. His elder brother, Edson Wood- man, is a Civil war veteran, and has been a noted breeder of Per- cheron horses.
Others who were not among the earliest settlers, but yet came early enough to be called pioneers were John Sherrod, Jonas Har- rison, Henry Wilson, Philip Sherrod, and probably others whose names are not now recalled.
THE PAW PAW IRREVOCABLY CROOKED
Before the days of railroads the subject of water transportation between Paw Paw and Lake Michigan was a matter of importance. The Paw Paw river was utilized for this purpose after a fashion and different plans and schemes were devised to make that stream a navigable river. Early settlers eventually went so far as to dream of some day seeing the river made a highway for steam- boats. The legislative council of 1833 for the purpose of promot- ing access to the "forks of the river" between the villages of Paw Paw and Lawrence, which was then supposed to be the head of navigation, authorized the construction of roads from that point to different places in Van Buren, Cass, Kalamazoo and Barry coun- ties. The "landing" in the township of Lawrence afterward be- came a place from which considerable freight was shipped down the river to St. Joseph. Probably there is not a more crooked stream in the state of Michigan than the Paw Paw river, and while it is but thirty-five miles by rail to that city from Paw Paw, it is probably more than three times that distance by way of the river. Feeble efforts were at one time made to straighten the stream, but nothing was of importance accomplished except to use up the appropriation of public lands made for that purpose.
In 1840 Isaac W. Willard built two large flatboats and loaded them with flour at Paw Paw and sent them down the river. One of these boats was named the "Daniel Buckley" and was com- manded by Capt. A. R. Wildey, the other was called the "Wave" and was placed in charge of William H. Hurlbut. They succeeded in making the trip, but the difficulties encountered and the time occupied made the venture an unremunerative one. Other sim-
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ilar attempts were made from time to time, but the traffic was eventually abandoned as being unprofitable. It may well be imagined that the journey down the stream when there was a fair stage of water could be made with comparative ease, but the labor of poling the heavy boats back to Paw Paw against the swift cur- rent must have been exceedingly tedious and severe. And so the crooked Paw Paw remains and is likely to remain, a beautiful, meandering stream bordered with forests and fertile fields, with vineyards and orchards and an occasional water power. The writer speaks with knowledge of its beauties, as he has traversed it from Paw Paw to its mouth, where it empties into the St. Joe river, almost at the shore of Michigan's great lake.
STATISTICAL, POLITICAL, HORTICULTURAL
The amount of taxes spread upon the roll of the township in 1839 was $530.98. The entire valuation of the township, includ- ing the village, was the sum of $53,540.
This valuation was divided as follows: Resident farm and per- sonal, $15,091; village property, $9,914; non-resident realty, $27,725.
In 1911 the assessed valuation of the township, including the village, was $1,555,800. Paw Paw stands at the head of the list of townships in the county, not including the city of South Haven, in point of wealth, being assessed at $358,000 more than the town- ship. of Hartford which ranks as second. The taxes spread on the roll for the same year were $32,793.81. These figures show that while the valuation of the township has increased almost thirty- fold in the last seventy-two years, the taxes have increased sixty- fold. In other words, the tax rate, in proportion to valuation, has doubled. This is accounted for in some degree by reason of the liberal sums voted by the people for public improvements for which they are now paying.
According to the census of 1910, the township also stands at the head of the list as to population, the number of its inhabitants being given as 2,779; Bangor being second with 2,424.
Since its organization the following named gentlemen have served the township in the capacity of supervisor: D. O. Dodge, Peter Gremps, Joshua Bangs, J. H. Simmons, S. J. Foote, J. B. Barnes, J. K. Pugsley, I. W. Willard, Loren Darling, Benoni Hall, F. H. Stevens, G. B. Sherrod, Elisha Durkee, Edwin Barnum, R. Avery, Charles Selleck, L. B. Sheldon, G. J. Hudson, Loyal Crane, E. M. Glidden, O. D. Glidden, Thomas L. Ross, E. O. Briggs, John W. Free, David Woodman, Chas. W. Young, E. A. Wildey, William Killefer, J. C. Warner, W. C. Wildey, L. E. Shepard and Merle H.
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Young. Of the foregoing those who officiated for more than two years were Selleck, Free and Killefer, each four years; Barnum and C. W. Young, each five years; W. C. Wildey, six years; Briggs, seven years, and Warner, nine years. Merle H. Young, the present incumbent of the office, is now serving his third consecutive year.
At the first general election, held in the county after the ad- mission of the state into the Union, there were 181 votes polled, of which thirty-three were polled in the township of La Fayette (Paw Paw). The returns on governor for that year are missing from the official files, but the congressional return is still preserved. That shows that the vote was practically all Democratic. At the presi- dential election of 1840, seventy-one voters cast their ballots, forty- three being for Van Buren, Democrat, and twenty-eight for Har- rison, Whig.
At the last presidential election 689 electors registered their choice at the ballot box, as follows : 450 for Taft, Republican ; 215 for Bryan, Democrat; twelve for Chafin, Prohibitionist; nine for Debs, Socialist; and three for Hisgen, Independent.
Formerly the citizens of the township were very largely en- gaged in the raising of grain, hay and stock, but in recent years the fruit industry, especially the culture of the grape, largely pre- dominates. There are few places in the township, outside the limits of the village, where one can travel along any highway and be out of sight of a vineyard. There are thousands of acres of that delectable fruit and the quality produced is unsurpassed. The principal varieties grown are the Concord, Delaware, Worden, Moore's Early and Niagara, but the Concord largely exceeds all other varieties combined.
Other fruits, such as cherries, apples, pears, plums, peaches and small fruits are cultivated, some of them being produced in great abundance.
Some of the more progressive farmers have made a specialty of growing potatoes for a few years past and have met with good success. Indications are that the cultivation of this tuber will as- sume a prominent place in the agriculture of the township in the near future.
VILLAGE OF PAW PAW
The village of Paw Paw, the county seat of Van Buren and the only village within the limits of the township, is situated on the "Fruit Belt line," four miles from the Michigan Central. It was first surveyed and platted by Peter Gremps, Isaac W. Wil- lard and Lyman I. Daniels, in the spring of 1838. This plat was located on sections twelve and thirteen, on the east side of the
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NORTH KALAMAZOO STREET, PAW PAW
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GRAPE SHIPPERS OF PAW PAW
Vol. 1-37
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Paw Paw river just below the confluence of the east and west branches of that stream. It was quite an ambitious village in its inception and contained fifty-one blocks.
In 1846 Judge Evert B. Dyckman and Rev. Joseph Woodman platted an addition of sixteen blocks adjoining this original plat on the east. In the spring of 1848, the village was resurveyed with some additions to the original plat, the principal one of which was Willard's addition on section eleven on the west side of the river. Other minor additions have since been platted and the village is now a mile and a half in extent from east to west and a mile in width from north to south.
The village was first incorporated by act of the legislature of the state in 1859 (S. L. 1859, p. 292). This act of incorporation was repealed in 1863 (S. L. 1863, p. 65). Another act of incor- poration was enacted by the legislature of 1867 (S. L. 1867, Vol 2, p. 1115). This act was amended in 1869; also in 1873.
The first settlement in the township of Paw Paw was made within the limits of the present village in 1832, when Rodney Hinck- ley located on a piece of land that is within the northern part of the town. In that same year Pierce Barber of Prairie Ronde began the erection of a saw mill on the river in what is now the western part of the village. In 1833 this property passed into the posses- sion of Peter Gremps and Lyman I. Daniels. These gentlemen, who had come to Paw Paw on a prospecting tour, bought the mill and a considerable tract of land adjoining, upon which, in conjunc- tion with Isaac W. Willard, they platted the village as above noted. Daniels never became a resident of Paw Paw. Gremps, who came from the Mohawk valley, returned east, but came back in 1835, became a permanent settler on his Paw Paw property, and lived the remainder of his life in the village, dying at his home in 1874 at the age of seventy-three years.
Shortly after his return from the east in 1835, he sent to Stone Arabia, in the state of New York, and induced Dr. Barrett to come west and settle in Paw Paw. He was the first physician in the place. He remained about four years and then removed to Kalamazoo, where he ended his days not long afterward.
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