A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 15

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198

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Joseph Watson, now postmaster and member of the firm of Watson and Davis, has been in the jewelry business for a quarter of a century. George Robinson, the grocer, has been here fifteen years; Turner and Bush- nell, furniture, succeeded Amasa Ruple & Son ten years ago. A. J. Ash- breck, the druggist, has been in business fifteen years. Charles Whitaker has conducted his market 15 years. Randall D. Powers, dry goods and gro- ceries, succeeded his father, Charles Powers, who was listed as a " general mer- chant" in the old directory of 1870. Werner Brothers, hardware and carriages, have been located here fifteen years. The Clark family have been identified with the commercial side of the village for many years. Milo Clark built the principal hotel about 1875. L. D. Clark was a merchant on Matteson street about thirty-five years ago, and Eugene R. Clark, the dry- goods merchant, began business in his father's store. Another son is Myron Clark, also a merchant.

The library, the schools, the churches, the banks, the cement works and other features of Bronson are described in the proper place on other pages.

Warren's Military Band, now the Bronson Band, was organized in August, 1892. Mr. Fred L. Warren was the first leader and continued in that capacity about seven years. William Henry Davis was also with the band at the beginning and succeeded Mr. Warren as leader and is such at the present time. There were thirteen members at the start, now there are eighteen. There has been no break in the organization, and only one death- that of Mr. Charles Knapp. The " Bronson Cornet Band " was an active organization some years ago.

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SHERWOOD.

Sherwood village was born of the Air Line Railroad. E. F. Hazen owned most of the land in section 28 on which the village has since been built. The railroad was constructed and trains began running in 1870. Al- most coincident with that event Mr. Hazen and Manton E. Sawin platted a village, whose original name was designated "Hazenville," in honor of its founder. This site was considered either so unpromising or so inconse- quential by the directory-makers of 1870 that no mention is to be found of any such village.

Frank M. Warner is said to have been the first merchant opening a grocery, in a building afterward used as a hotel. He was succeeded in 1871 by Jeronie J. Studley, who was also postmaster. E. F. Hazen was the rail- road agent at this point and also dealt in grain. The only important industry in the place at this time was the steam planing mill, on the south side of the village, its early proprietors being Sawin & Safford. There was also a steam sawmill north of the railroad.

From this state of beginnings Sherwood increased so that in 1887 it was incorporated. In the subsequent twenty years its improvement has been even more marked. The wide streets, lined with luxuriant shade trees, the hand- some public park, the cement walks-and the extent of these is a matter of special pride-are the superficial aspects of a well ordered and enterprising village. The first village council convened March 31. 1887, the principal of- ficers in that first body being Robert Fraser. president. and Elgin Barton. clerk. The principal officials of the village will be found on other pages.

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CHAPTER XV.

THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY-THE GRANGE.

Agriculture as the basic industry of America is taken so much as a matter of course, and in this history has been so considered in its smaller application to Branch county, that specific statement of its importance would be superfluous. The first settlers in almost every instance were farmers. Even when his ostensible occupation was in other lines, the pioneer usually cultivated a patch of ground. We remember that this was true of Jabe Bronson, the tavern-keeper and justice. It was true of all those who had inns along the Chicago road; it was true of the earliest merchants and doc- tors. Specialization of industry did not arrive till after the county was well settled, and ability to till the soil was the first requisite of the pioneer. With all the building of factories and mills, the increase of trade, the growing importance of mechanical pursuits, and the attraction of the professions, agriculture yet remains the supreme industry of Branch county. Leaving aside statistics concerning the industry, any abundance of which may be found in agricultural reports and census returns, it will be the purpose of this chapter to describe as far as possible the methods and circumstances of early agriculture, and from the point of view of the past indicate the great changes that have preceded modern agriculture.

The pioneer farmers of Branch county were probably as progressive as those of any other part of the country at that time. They brought with them from their homes in the older states the methods which prevailed there. And as many of them came from the east, which was considered the most progressive section of the country, they must have known the best methods of farming which were practiced in their day.

But the first farmers of this county were confronted with a task such as has been unknown in the settlement of the more western prairie states. The obstacles to be overcome were great, the implements and means were primi- tive. The steel plow was not invented until after Branch county had been substantially settled and improved. Whereas the western prairie sod is turned over for the first time by immense gang-plows, drawn by four or five horses or even by a traction engine, the farmer of the twenties and thirties had to depend on a wooden moldboard shod with an iron share roughly made at a local blacksmith shop. With this hint at pioneer condi- tions it is evident that agriculture has undergone development in as wonder- ful degree as any other phase of the county's history.

The pioneer farmer's first work, after a rude temporary shelter had been provided, was to prepare a little spot of ground for the first crop. Those

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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY

who located on Coldwater, Girard and other well known prairies-and as we know those were the favorite selections of the first settlers-were very fortunate in this respect. Relieved of the necessity to clear off the trees, they had only to turn over the sod. But even so the undertaking involved labor that one man alone could hardly accomplish. The turf on the so- called prairies was very tough. and the ground in most places filled with a net-work of wire-like roots. If the location was in the woods, it was neces- sary to girdle the trees, clearing away the underbrush and sweeping the sur- face with fire. The dead trunks of the trees were usually left standing the first season, and the corn grew up among the aisles of the blasted forest.

Although the surface of the ground had been cleared, just beneath there remained the roots of the former growth, and these, formed into massive " stools," were for several years insuperable obstacles to easy farm- ing. An ordinary plow team would have been useless among the stools and grubs, and a common plow would have been quickly demolished. The plow used was a massive construction of wood and iron, and was known as the "bull plow." The share and coulter were of iron and made very heavy and strong. The beam was long and of huge proportions to resist the enormous strain brought upon it. Usually the weight of one of these ponderous bull plows was about three hundred pounds. Six or seven yoke of oxen, and sometimes more, were required to pull this implement through the ground. With such an equipment the ordinary roots were torn from the ground like straws and subsequent cultivation was made easy. It usually took two persons to do the plowing, a man to hold the plow and either a man or a boy to drive the team. This process of " breaking " new land was made a regu- lar business by some of the pioneers, just as threshing is at the present time.

In a few years plows with iron moldboards were introduced, but as they would not scour well in all kinds of soil they were not considered a success at first. Besides, as the ground was full of roots, of new stumps and standing trees, the wooden moldboard was less liable to break than one of iron, so it was better adapted to the conditions than the iron one. The cultivation was done with the hoe at first, then came the single-shovel plow, which was in use for a number of years. Among the trees, stumps and roots both the plowing and cultivation were tedious, laborious and disagreeable work. This condition continued for a number of years until the stumps had decayed sufficiently to make it possible to remove them.

The planting was likewise primitive. As the sod was turned over a man followed about every third furrow, dug into the top of the furrow with his foot or with a hoe and planted corn, covering it the same way. In some instances the corn was dropped in the furrow very near the outside, so that the edge of the next furrow when turned over would be directly over the grain. The corn would then come through between the furrows. In a somewhat similar way Bishop Chase planted his first crop of potatoes in Gilead in the summer of 1832. Wheat was sown among the stumps and trees. The grain was harrowed in with a wooden-toothed harrow. The

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farmer who did not have even one of these rude implements would cut a small tree, trim off part of the limbs so as to leave a bushy end, weight it with a log, and hitching his team to it would get about the same results as from a tooth harrow.

In harvesting the corn, the stalk was not utilized as is done at the pres- ent day. The prevailing practice was to pull the ear from the stalk, husk and all, haul the corn to a pile and then husk it. The husk was utilized for feed, and as much of the grain as was not needed for home consumption was hauled away to market. As soon as large crops of corn were grown husking bees became the fashion. The corn was pulled from the stalk and put in a pile, as when the farmer himself or he and his family did the husk- ing. Then a number of neighbors assembled and everybody husked. This was repeated at the home of each farmer until all had their crops husked.

Wheat was harvested with the cradle, such an implement as a reaper or harvesting machine of any kind not then being dreamed of. Besides the cradle the sickle also was in use at that time. But that was used only in wheat that had blown down or grew among stumps and trees, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to cradle. And for the first few years that was a large portion of the crop. It was well that only a limited area; could be sown, because had there been a greater acreage it doubtless would not have been harvested. The work of harvesting with those old-time im- plements was extremely slow in comparison with the way it can be done with our improved harvesting machinery. The inventions with which we at this day are so familiar at that time, even in their crudest form, seemed far-off and visionary. For instance. it was with the air of wonder that a twentieth century newspaper would describe the achievement of a dirigible air-ship that an issue of the Coldwater Sentinel of June, 1843, speaks of a new reap- ing machine invented by McCormick. The reader can judge from the description how crude that machine was when compared with those that will be found in nearly every farmer's barn at this age. "The machine," reads the article, " placed on small wheels, was moved by two horses around the rye field where the exhibition took place, at a quick pace; making a clear passage through the grain as it moved, about five feet wide. This it did with a completeness which it is impossible for a cradle to accomplish. The wheels of the machine kept in motion a saw, with edge and teeth not unlike a reap-hook, which saws down the grain as it is bent and forced against its edge by a revolving apparatus resembling a seine-reel. The grain falls upon a bed or platform just behind the teeth, whence it is raked by hand."

The threshing .was done either with a flail or the grain was tramped out by horses. Both processes were very slow, the former being about as slow as harvesting with the sickle. When horses were used a threshing floor was made out of doors by smoothing the ground or beating it until it was as solid as could be made. The horses were ridden by boys, while two men worked the grain toward the center of the floor and threw out the straw.

In the early forties a machine came into use which threshed out the grain and dispensed both with the use of the flail and the tramping of horses.

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This machine consisted only of a cylinder and was operated by horse power. When the threshing was done by any of these methods the grain had to be separated from the chaff by fanning with a sheet. the wind blowing the chaff away. There were no fanning mills then, but they were introduced a few years later. These mills were in the crudest form, but they were considered a great improvement over the winnowing sheet. All of this labor had to be done in order that the farmer might produce a supply of wheat sufficient to provide bread for his family and if possible a small sur- plus to sell.

Corn and wheat were the two leading crops then as they are now. Other crops that were grown were oats, rye, potatoes, buckwheat and flax. Oats were usually fed in the straw, only enough being threshed out for the next year's seed. A patch of potatoes was planted on every farm for home use, but there were very few, if any, grown for market. The crop being a bulky one and the market so distant made the growing of potatoes as a market crop impracticable. Flax was raised for home use, the product being manufactured into linen for a part of the family's wearing apparel.

For many years the hay crop consisted of the native grasses. Many farmers believed that the improved domestic grasses could not be grown here, and it was some time before this prejudice was overcome. When the settlers were yet few in number the prairie grasses furnished an abundant supply of hay for their live-stock. When the prairie lands were all taken up each farmer on those lands set off a portion of his farm for meadow. but this was sufficient only for the owner, and those who had settled in the timber had to look elsewhere for a supply. There was an abundant growth of grass on what were then known as wet prairies, which we now call marshes. At first every settler could find a sufficient supply of this marsh grass near his home if he had none on his farm. This hay had to be mowed by hand. then thrown together and hauled from the marsh on a small sled drawn by a yoke of oxen, or even at times had to be carried to firm ground "on a pole," as was the expression used at the time. The ground was so soft that a team of horses and a wagon could not be driven over it. Only a small bit could be hauled out at a time in this way, and it took a number of these sled loads to make a wagon load. The same method of making hay had to be employed on all the wet prairies of those days.

With this view of the status of agriculture sixty years ago, it is not difficult to realize the broad developments that have taken place since then. Farming has become easier with every year. Its conditions and surroundings are no longer those of the common laborer. Several things have contrib- uted to this change. Some claim that the invention of labor-saving machin- ery and its general use has done more to elevate agriculture than any other factor. It certainly is not wide of the mark to measure the progress of agriculture by the distance that separates the self-binder from the cradle. Yet there are other factors. The working and hiring of help has been quite reformed from the methods of forty years ago. The progressive farmer no longer depends on transient labor. Not many years ago. when

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harvest time or other extra press of work arrived, the farmer would start out into the surrounding country and hire by the day such men as were available. This is neither practicable nor possible now. Improved ma- chinery has done much to relieve the farmer of the necessity of hiring day laborers. His policy now is to hire a man by the year, and often a man of family, who will live on the farm and give it his entire attention.

Transportation has also effected many changes in farming methods. In place of marketing by the bushel, the farmer now markets " on the hoof," that is, feeds his grain products to stock. And of recent years the farmers do not hesitate to import stock cattle from distant ranges of the Dakotas or the Southwest and feed them for market on grain raised in Branch county. This in itself is one of the most important developments in Branch county agriculture. In the words of a well known farmer, "Branch county is now becoming a feeding ground for foreign stock and grain."

In a general upward trend of property values, land is the last thing to appreciate. At a distance of ten years from the beginning of the present era of remarkable prosperity, the farm lands of Branch county show only a slight upward trend in value. But there is greater demand for land than ever before, and as a rule it is passing into the hands of an immigrating farmer class from Ohio and Northern Indiana, where farm lands are held about twenty per cent higher than here. This direction of immigration will, if it continues, prove a considerable factor in the next twenty-five years in giving type and character to the population of the county.

In the matter of stock-raising one example will suffice. Branch county has always been a sheep county. Wool was one of the first commodities to be produced, and in an early day there were several woolen mills in the county. Formerly each farmer had a few sheep among his other stock, but no extensive sheep-feeding was done. As instanced above, sheep are now being brought in from western ranges to be fed on Branch county farms, and while the native sheep are still a large number it is more profitable to import the stock and only condition them for market in this county.

One of the conspicuous methods of caring for crops should be men- tioned. Within recent years progressive farmers have built silo plants for the purpose of preserving the essential qualities of " roughening " or fodder throughout the winter season. One of the first things to catch the atten- tion on many farms in the county is the silo plant, and often there are several of them. In these huge cylindrical, air-tight tanks, built of " silo lumber," and some of the recent ones of cement, the green corn, stalk and all, after being cut up by a special machine, is stored very much as vegetables are canned. While in the reservoir it undergoes a slight fermentation process, but with the exception of a small portion on the surface, which rots and molds just as the top of a can of fruit often does, and which is thrown out before the rest is used, the entire contents of the tank are preserved with original sweetness and wholesomeness for feeding to stock during the severe winter season. What an improvement this method is over the old one of

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stacking the dry fodder in the late fall, when most of its essential qualities had dried out, even one unfamiliar with agriculture can readily realize.

THE GRANGE.

We have spoken of some of the factors which have worked for the uplift and improvement of agriculture and its conditions. The leading organized movement that has worked to this end is conceded to be the Grange. whose basic purposes are educational, fraternal and the general improvement of the farmer and his family and the conditions under which he works. The Grange was the first fraternal organization to admit the wives and daugh- ters on an equal basis in every way, and it has done more to educate farming communities than any other movement.

The national Grange' organization was commenced in 1867, but it was 'the fall of 1873 before the movement had reached Branch county. High tide was reached in 1875. when the county had seventeen granges. The general name applicable to the organization as a whole is " Patrons of Hus- bandry," the "granges " being the subordinate branches, but the name grange is the one generally used in referring to all departments of the organiza- tion.

The oldest grange in the county with a continuous existence from the date of foundation to the present time is Buttler Grange No. 88, which was organized October 10, 1873. As will be seen from the number. Matteson Grange No. 86 was organized some time previous, but is no longer existent. The granges in the state are numbered according to the order of their for- . mation, and taking the granges of Branch county in the order of their age. the eleven active granges as well as those no longer active are as follows : Matteson No. 86 (defunct), Butler No. 88. Bronson No. 91. Batavia No. 95. Sherwood No. 96, Union No. 97, Athens No. 98 ( whose members were mainly from Branch county-now defunct), Kinderhook No. 135 (defunct), Girard No. 136. Coldwater No. 137, Grove No. 138 (defunct), Bethel No. 148 (defunct), Quincy No. 152, Summit No. 217 (defunct), California No. 233 (defunct), North Algansee No. 234, Champion No. 261 (defunct), Gilead No. 400. and Four Towns, which has been recently organized. How rapidly these granges were organized during the first years of the movement may be inferred from the fact that though Girard Grange No. 136 was organized November 25. 1873. only a few weeks after Butler, there were six Branch county granges that intervened, while its number was forty-eight removed from Butler.

The grange meetings were at first held in some convenient schoolhouse. but now nearly every grange in the county owns its own hall, which is dedi- cated to the use of the society and is seldom used for any other purpose. The strength of the grange in this county, in point of membership, is be- tween eight hundred and a thousand members. There is a regular system of representation in the organization from the subordinate bodies through the State and National bodies. From the eleven subordinate granges in this county three delegates are elected to the annual meeting of the State

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Grange, and Pomona Grange, which is the county grange, is entitled to one delegate to the State Grange. The masters of the State Grange are the official delegates to the National Grange.

Branch County Pomona Grange No. 22, which is a connecting link between the subordinate granges and the State Grange and which exercises friendly and advisory oversight, but no official control, over the subordinate bodies, was organized March 21, 1878. The petitioners for its organization were: George W. Van Aken, a pioneer granger, who was active in the formation of the Girard Grange in 1873; John G. Parkhurst and wife, Eli Bidleman, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. George, Charles H. Austin, D. C. Fonda, A. S. Archer, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Pierce, William Joseph, Wallace E. Wright, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jones, Darwin Thompson, and John Bell.

The officers of Pomona Grange for 1906 are : · Master, Isaac E. Corless ; overseer, Belle Bailey ; lecturer, Mrs. Lucy Corless; steward, A. L. Smith ; asst. steward, Frank Coward; treasurer, I. A. Martin; secretary, Asa W. Ferguson ; gatekeeper, I. A. Van Orsdal; pomona, Mrs. Elmer Warner; flora, Mrs. Fred Locke; ceres, Theda Bailey; lady assistant steward, Mrs. I. A. Martin.

A few words should be said about the work of the grange in general. The grange was one of the most active forces behind pure-food legislation in Michigan, and to its efforts-to give only one example-is due the fact that oleomargarine must be labeled with its true name and not as butter. The grange has more or less actively entered the field of commerce. In some counties " Grange Stores" have been established and successfully conducted.

The grange claims to be the father of rural free delivery. Certainly it has used its influence nowhere to better advantage, for free delivery in the country is now conceded to be the greatest boon that has come to the farmer. It has brought the farmer in touch with the world and more than anything else has made obsolete the term "countryfied " as applied to the tiller of the soil. And this is in direct line with the purposes of the grange, as stated in a former paragraph.

When the grange first brought the matter before Congress, it was objected that the " system would be too expensive," despite its great benefits. Tentative experiments were made at rural delivery of mail about 1894. In 1896 the annual report of the State Grange " hails with delight that the plan is to be started in this state." As is well known, the movement thus begun has now spread all over the country and every farmer in Branch county can have his daily paper with little if any more exertion than the citizen of the village or city.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 15

Author: Collin, Henry P Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198