A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 26

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Michigan > Berrien County > A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan > Part 26

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In the fall of 1830 Adam Michael came with Isaac Murphy, then a youth of nine- teen years of age, to Pokagon Prairie, Cass

county, They removed to Berrien township in 1831 and established a blacksmith shop. Michael died in 1838. One of his daughters married Silas Ireland. Another daugliter married Daniel Lyle. a banker of Dowag- iac and is living at that place. Religious services were often held at Michael's house by the Rev. Thomas P. McCoole. a prominent Methodist minister of Cass county. In 1834 Murphy married Eliza Jenkins, the daughter of Baldwin Jenkins, already mentioned in the chapter on the early settlement of the county. Murphy was a Virginian by birth. He and his wife both died in January 1893. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom four are now living; John J .. Erastus and Isaac, Jr., all of Berrien Center, Mrs. Rufus Will- iams and Mrs. Jacob Becker of Pokagon, Cass county.

Erastus is the secretary of the Berrien County Pioneers' Association and has been supervisor of his township for several terms.

Andrew L. Burke settled in Berrien township in 1832. His father, Jolın Burke, of Virginia, had moved with his family to Pokagon township. Cass county, in 1828, and Andrew resided with his father till his removal to Berrien township. He first set- tled on the east bank of the St. Joseph river about five miles southwest of Berrien Springs, and acquired nearly nine hundred acres practically in one tract. He was a member of the state legislature in 1849, and supervisor for several terms. He died many years since.

The following children of Mr. Burke are now living: Eliza Burke, Rebecca, wife of Thomas DeMott. Martha, wife of Robert Foster, Lilias, wife of Thomas Gillespie, John Burke who now resides in the city of Niles, Alexander, of Niles township. An- drew L. and Dr. Samuel T. Burke, who both reside in Chicago.

In 1826 Eli Ford came from Pennsyl- vania to Pokagon Prairie. In 1828 he put

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

up a grist mill in Niles township on the Dowagiac river. This was the first grist mill run by water power erected in Berrien county. In 1832 he moved into Berrien town- ship ard constructed a saw mill a mile north- east of Berrien Springs. In 1833 he built a grain warehouse near the east end of the present bridge at Berrien Springs. He was engaged quite extensively in lumbering. He died in 1839.

A son, Christopher Ford, is now living at Berrien Springs. He was born in 1831. Shadrach Ford, from Ohio, located on Po- kagon Prairie in 1827 and was first engaged in trading with the Indians. He settled in Berrien township in 1832 and died in 1874.

William Lemon, a Virginia, settled in the township in 1831 with a family of eleven children. Shortly after he removed to Oron- oko township. He erected the first saw-mill in Berrien township in 1832. He was super- visor of the township for several terms.

Luke Webster, a Virginian, located on section thirty-two in 1833. He died in 1841.

James Jenkins, a Virginian, settled in the township in 1832, where he lived till his death in 1875.

Julius Brown came from Ohio to Niles in 1830 and in 1832 removed to the town- ship. He was afterwards supervisor.

James Gillespie moved from Ohio to Niles about 1829, when he was engaged in work at the Carey mission. In 1832 he located a farm in Berrien township, and spent two years in boating on the St. Jo- seph river. In 1834 he went to Ohio and assisted his father and family in moving to Michigan. James died in 1851.

John, a brother, in 1834 located on sec- tion thirty-one, where he lived till his death in 1884. He owned three hundred and sev- enty-three acres in one tract of valuable land. The following named children are now liv- ing in Berrien county : Robert, Thomas and James. In 1836, John Gillespie went to Ohio and assisted his brother-in-law, Nathan

Fitch and family, in moving to Berrien township. Mr. Fitch located two hundred and forty acres in section thirty-one. This he owned till his death in 1893 and it is now owned by his daughter and grandchildren. During the latter part of his life he lived at Niles. He was sheriff of the county from 1855 to 1859, and a member of the legisla- ture in 1863. Two children are now living, Evan L., and Sarah, who married John Burke, of Niles.

In 1835, Francis R. Pinnell, a native of Virginia, came to Berrien township in Sep- tember, with a wife and eight children. His brother, Jesse Pinnell, and wife had set out for Michigan in company with Francis, but Jesse died on the way, leaving a family of nine children. Seventeen children were thus left on Francis' hands. The family was first divided up, some staying with Hugh Marrs and some with Mr. Riggin, until a log house was built in October following. Mr. Pinnell was a graduate of Stauton College, Virginia, and for many years was engaged in teaching. He was a man of iron constitu- tion and was able to carry on his farm and do manual labor till he was over ninety years old. He died in 1881 in his ninety-sixth year, in Berrien township.

He was originally a Methodist, licensed to exhort, but for the last twenty-five years of his life a United Brethren preacher. A son, Thomas C., enlisted in the Ninety-ninth Indiana Infantry and died in the service in 1863. A son of his, Joseph F., is now liv- ing in Lincoln township near St. Joseph. A daughter of Francis R. Pinnell, Mrs. Lucinda Groat, is one of the oldest residents of Berrien county now living. She came with her father Francis Pinnell to Berrien township in 1835. In 1841 she was mar- ried to James Groat. a native of Canada, who came to Pokagon, Cass county, in 1838, and settled in Berrien township a few years later. Mr. Groat died in 1901 in his eighty-fifth year. Mrs. Groat still resides in Berrien

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

township in her eighty-eighth year retaining her memory remarkably well and relating many of the hardships of pioneer life.

A son of Mr. and Mrs. Groat, Cyrus B. Groat, was for several years the head of the county executive board of school examiners, corresponding to the present office of county commissioner of schools, and was supervisor of his township for ten terms, seven of which were in succession. He is now the owner of a fine farm in the southeast corner of the township, called the "Shady Nook Farm."

Nathan McCoy a famous deer hunter, migrated from Virginia in 1833, and the next year located a farm in Berrien town- ship.

By the year 1836, the township had been largely settled up, being the most populous, next to Niles and Bertrand, the latter town- ship then including Bertrand village, which was at that time a flourishing settlement.

Among early settlers not already men- tioned, some of whom came earlier than 1836, and some shortly after, were T. K. Clybourne, Hiram Hinchman, Daniel Lay- man, Joel Layman, Richard McOmber, Henry Rush, Thomas Easton, E. B. Walker, Silas Inland, James Jenkins, Andrew Tate, Julius Brown, Luke Webster, B. D. Rown- send, John Powers, Ralph Dunn.

Mr. Ireland was a prominent figure in Berrien county for fifty years. He came to Berrien township in 1839 from Ohio with only seven dollars in his pocket. By pro- fession he was a surveyor. He, however, went into farming and became the owner of about seven hundred acres of valuable land. He was supervisor for five years, a member of the legislature in 1877, county superintendent of the poor for twelve years and held various other offices. He married Matilda Michael, daughter of Adam Michael, one of the oldest settlers of the township, and twelve children were born to them.

Julius Brown settled in the township in 1832. He was one of the early super- visors and died in 1860.

Ralph Dunn came in 1836 and was also a supervisor, but removed west in a few years.

Andrew Tate came with his family in 1834. His son John, who came with his father, was county treasurer from 1875 to 1879 and supervisor of his township eight years. He died in 1879.

Until 1832 the territory of the present town of Berrien was part of the township of Niles. In that year the township of Ber- rien was organized, embracing the territory now covered by Berrien, Oronoko and Lake townships. In 1837, the territory now em- braced in Oronoko and Lake was detached and organized into the separate township of Oronoko. The first election in Berrien township was held in April, 1833, at the tavern of Pitt Brown in what is now known as Berrien Springs. Pitt Brown was elected supervisor and Francis B. Murdock clerk.

The first birth in the township was that of Isaac Johnson, son of John Johnson, born in 1828.

Considerable business was transacted at an early date on the east side of the St. Jo- seph river opposite Berrien Springs. Thomas L. Stevens kept a store for a time and John DeField a tavern, and a warehouse was built by Eli Ford in 1833. Mercantile operations, however, were soon transferred to Berrien Springs.

The first roads laid out in the township were those leading from Berrien Springs to Niles and to Pokagon. Both were laid out in 1832.

The first school was taught by A. M. Wells in a log school house located on land now owned by Mrs. John Burke and chil- dren.

The first church in the township was a Methodist Episcopal organized in 1843. In 1846 a church edifice was erected called Mor- ris Chapel.

In 1856 a Union Church was established and a church edifice erected on the Niles road near Long Lake for the use of all re-

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

ligious denominations alike. Michael Hand, George H. Claypool and Andrew L. Burke were appointed trustees. The denomina- tions which made most use of the church building were the Lutherans, United Breth- ren and Baptists.

The Farmers' Grange has been especially strong in this township, and in 1876 a large Grange Hall was erected at Berrien Center costing fifteen hundred dollars.

The only incorporated village in the township is that of Eau Claire which lies partly in Berrien and partly in Pipestone townships. The village of Berrien Center is located nearly in the center of the town- ship. Eau Claire had a population of three hundred and twenty-four in 1904, and Ber- rien Center about one-hundred.

The County Poor Farm was located in this township in 1847 on section seventeen, about one mile west of Berrien Center. A building was erected the same year. The farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres.

The first building erected was destroyed by fire in 1867, and a large and commodious brick building was built in 1869.

It will be seen from the brief account of the earliest settlers of Berrien township that a large proportion of them were either na- tives of Virginia or of Virginian descent.

It is worthy of note that most of these settlers were strongly anti-slavery in their convictions, notwithstanding their Southern origin. This is partially attributable to the fact that public sentiment in Virginia in its palmiest days was largely anti-slavery. Nearly all of its long line of illustrious states- men were strongly and openly opposed to the institution, including Washington, Jef- ferson and Madison. It was largely through the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, aided by the entire Virginia delegation in the Con- federate Congress, that the clause forever prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Terri-

tory was inserted in the famous ordinance of 1787. Although Jefferson was not then a member of Congress, he had been the in- stigator of the anti-slavery provisions.

It is probable also that a desire to emi- grate to a land where free labor would not be obliged to compete with slave labor had its effect on the early emigrants from Vir- ginia to Michigan.

The following is a list of the supervisors of the township of Berrien.

Pitt Brown 1833-1840

Alonzo Bennett 1841

Julius Brown 1842-1843

A. L. Burke 1844

Geo. Murphy 1845

A. L. Burke

1846-1848

Geo. Murphy 1849

Silas Ireland

1850-1852

J. F. Haskins

1853

Silas Ireland

1854

Ralph Denn 1855

Silas Ireland 1856

P. G. Cuddeback

1857

W. S. Maynard

1858

E. A. Brown.

P. G. Cuddeback 1863-1865

H. R. Murphy I866

John Tate 1867-1869

J. F. Peck 1870

Joel Layman 1871

John Tate 1872

J. M. Savage 1873

John Tate 1874

I. P. Hutton 1875-1876

D. H. Ullery 1877-1880

John Johnson 188I

C. B. Groat 1882-1888

H. S. Robinson 1889

C. B. Groat 1890-1892

A. J. Easton 1893

J. L. Bishop 1894-1899

Erastus Murphy 1900

John Johnson I90I

Erastus Murphy 1902-1905

Henry Whalen 1906

1859

1860-1862

John Tate

CHAPTER XI

ORONOKO TOWNSHIP.

This township is bounded on the north by Royalton and Sodus, being separated from Sodus by the St. Joseph river, on the east by the St. Joseph river separating it from Berrien township, on the south by Buchanan, and on the west by Lake. The river is meandering on the eastern boundary and is crowned for much of the way by high bluffs.

The surface of the country is generally rolling. There is very little waste land, nearly all being capable of cultivation. The soil is generally very fertile and productive. The township was originally covered with extensive forests of valuable timber.

The township remained a part of Berrien township till 1837, when it was set off as a separate township, embracing the township of Lake till 1846. The first township meet- ing was held at the house of William St. John. April 3, 1837. At this meeting Ed- ward Ballingee was elected supervisor, Will- iam F. St. John clerk and Alexander Turner treasurer.

The present village of Berrien Springs is the site of the earliest settlements made in the township. It was known among the first settlers as Wolf's Prairie, after the name of the Prairie upon which the village is situate. This prairie consists of about one thousand acres of choice land. and is delightfully situated near the bank of the St. Joseph river. It is the only prairie in

the county outside of the township of Bertrand.

John Pike was the first settler. He was a native of North Carolina and came to the Carey mission at Niles in 1829 with a wife and eight children. Here he sojourned a few weeks, when he conveyed his family and household goods to Wolfe's Prairie. In 1832 Pike removed to Royalton township where he died.

A few months after the settlement made by Pike in 1829, George Kimmel from Pennsylvania visited Wolfe's Prairie and en- tered about three hundred acres in the civin- ity. He returned to Pennsylvania, however, and did not locate upon the land till 1831.

In 1830 George Kimmel gave to his son- in-law, Francis B. Murdock, of Bedford, Pennsylvania, one hundred and twenty acres of his land situated on Wolfe's Prairie, and during that year Murdock with his wife and one child located upon this land and built a log house. Mr. Murdock was a lawyer, and the first regular practicing lawyer of Ber- rien county. He appears as the first attorney upon the journal of the circuit court of this county. In 1833 he was appointed judge of probate. In 1835 he removed to the south, and finally to San José. California, where he died in 1882. His son, Major George H. Murdock. was born in Pennsylvania in 1829. He was a captain in the First Regi- ment of Michigan Sharpshooters and was

HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

promoted to brevet major, United States Volunteers for gallant services at the battle of Spottsylvania and in the Richmond Cam- paign. . He was county clerk for three terms, and for a time editor of the Berrien County Journal. A daughter of Francis Murdock, Mrs. Clifton Gardner, is now living at Ber- rien Springs.

George Kimmel, already referred to, re- turned to Wolfe's Prairie in 1831, with two sons Wellington and John, and commenced clearing the farm now known as the Shaker farm. In 1833 he brought the remainder of his family. In 1832 he built the first saw- mill in Oronoko township on Lemon creek. He acquired about two thousand acres upon and around Wolfe's Prairie and was the most extensive land owner of Berrien county during its early settlement. He gave to each of his daughters, Mrs. Susan Kephart, Mrs. Julia A. Dougherty, Mrs. Hester Stevens and Mary Graham, a valuable farm. Of these daughters, only one is now living, Mrs. Stevens, who now resides upon the farm given to her by her father, with her daughter, Mrs. Gertrude Lewis. Mr. Kimmel died in 1849. His son George Kimmel, moved to Niles, subsequently be- came a prominent citizen of that place and was major of the Twelfth Michigan Regi- ment during the Civil war. He was a skill- ful hunter, but was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun while he was unloading it from a wagon.

Lawrence Cavanaugh settled on Wolfe's Prairie in 1830, but soon removed to Ber- rien township.

Pitt Brown came from Ohio to Wolfe's Prairie, in 1831, with a nephew, Horace Godfrey. Brown opened up a tavern and established a ferry on the river at this point. He was in command for awhile of the "Davy Crockett" a steamboat which commenced running between St. Joseph and Niles in 1834. He was the first postmaster in the settlement, supervisor of the township of Berrien for eight years, ran a distillery, and

was also interested in mercantile business with Robert E. Ward. He died in 1842.

Godfrey went to farming, but subse- quently removed to Lake township where: he died.

Lyman A. Barnard emigrated from Ohio to Cass county in 1828 and for three or four years was located on La Grange- Prairie. In 1832 he moved to Berrien and built a fifteen-ton sloop called the "Dart" and sailed with it between St. Joseph and. Chicago for about a year. He soon quit the- lake and studied medicine and established a: large practice. He was a man of rare in- telligence and was a supervisor of the. township. He died in 1882.

In 1831 the village of Berrien wasi platted by the proprietors Pitt Brown, Horace Godfrey and Francis B. Murdock .. In 1837 the county seat was removed from St. Joseph to Berrien where it remained till 1894 when it was again removed to St. Jo- seph.

In 1831 Thomas Love and Edward Bal- lingee came from Virginia and opened up: the mercantile business in a log house, which was located near the site of the old Defield house. They subsequently built a large frame store building on the river bank at the foot of Main street.

Both of these gentlemen became promi- nent citizens of the county. Mr. Ballingee was the first supervisor of Oronoko town- ship. In 1843 he removed to Buchanan and in 1844 was supervisor. In 1845 he re- moved to Lake township, where he lived till' 1850 when he removed to New Buffalo. He. moved to Buchanan again in 1865 after liv- ing awhile in California. For many years before his death he was a justice of the peace at Buchanan.

Mr. Love lived in Berrien Springs till 1854. He was engaged in lumbering for awhile. He was county treasurer from 1841 to 1843, county clerk from 1843 to 1847, and county surveyor for many years. In 1854 he moved to Avery's Station in Three

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

Oaks township, where he built a mill. He ibecame a supervisor of the township of Three Oaks and was for many years a justice of the peace. He was a man of rare intelli- gence and excellent judgment. He died many years ago.

Dr. Philip Kephart was one of the most prominent citizens of the town and county. He was a native of Maryland and a physi- cian. While practicing in the state of Penn- sylvania, he married Susan Kimmel, daugh- ter of George Kimmel already referred to. Dr. Kephart and his wife came to Berrien Springs in 1841. Dr. Kephart died in 1880 and his wife during the past year. Dr. Kep- hart was the first president of the village in 1863, and occupied that position for eight terms. He was recognized as a skillful phy- sician, a public spirited citizen and an up- right man. He went into the mercantile business in 1843 and continued in it till his death.

The following children are now living, Henry, George and Mrs. R. D. Dix of Ber- rrien Springs and Walter of Petoskey, Michigan.

Thomas L. Stevens was one of the early settlers of Van Buren county, having set- tled in Paw Paw in 1836. In 1839 he moved to Berrien Springs, and went into the mer- cantile business. In 1848 he and R. W. Landon carried on a general store in part- nership. In 1852 he returned to Paw Paw where he engaged in the milling business and subsequently in the mercantile business and banking. In 1868 he moved to Niles where he became connected with the First National Bank and was its president for many years prior to his death. Under his administra- tion the bank became prosperous and suc- cessful. He was an able and upright man. courteous and kindly in his manners and universally esteemed. In early life he mar- ried Hester Stevens, who survived her hus- band and is now living at Berrien Springs. The following children are now living. Fred L. of Minneapolis, Mrs. Gertrude

Lewis of Berrien Springs, William Wirt of Waterville, Washington, and Edith S. Fitz- gerald of Chicago.

Charles F. Howe resided at Berrien Springs for nearly fifty years before his death. He was a native of Massachusetts and came to St. Joseph in 1835, where he engaged in sailing on the lakes for some years. In 1847 he was elected county regis- ter and served for three terms. He was a very genial and courteous gentleman of the old school, and highly esteemed. He died in 1895 at the age of eighty-five.

His son Charles E. was county clerk from 1869 to 1873. In the Civil war he was captain of Company A. Twelfth Michi- gan Regiment, was breveted major United States Volunteers March, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious services during the war." and appointed acting adjutant general United States Volunteers, April, 1865. He is now living in Chicago.

Charles D. Nichols settled in Berrien Springs in 1843, and lived there till last May, when he removed to Petoskey in this state, where he is now living with one of his children. He came from the state of New York with his parents in 1829 to Rolling Prairie, Indiana. Here he lived till his twenty-first year when he removed to Ber- rien Springs. He was county treasurer from 1855 to 1859 and sheriff from 1863 to 1865. He is now in his eighty-fourth year still vigorous in mind and body and enjoying good health. He relates that on the journey of his people and himself to the west in 1829. they passed through Niles and that there were then only three houses in the place.

Among the oldest residents of the town- slip is George Graham now in his eighty- first year. He came to Berrien Springs in 1840 and lived for a time with his grand- father George Kimmel. In 1847 he bought a farm adjoining the village and added to it until in a few years he had five hundred acres of choice land, where he carried on for

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY

many years one of the most successful farm- ing and stock-raising ranches in the county. He married a daughter of George Kimmel, Sr., Mary, who died a few years since.

A brother of George, James Graham, came to Berrien Springs in 1846. He be- came a prominent merchant and Republican politician. He was sheriff of the county for two terms, under-sheriff for many years, a member of the legislature and president of the village. He was a natural political leader, had an immense acquaintance, per- sonal influence and great natural sagacity, and was probably the shrewdest manager on the floor of political county conventions, which the county has ever had. He died in 1876.

Another brother, Captain John Graham, who came to Berrien Springs in 1846, has been a resident of Buchanan for about forty years, and was for many years a prominent merchant of the place. He has been post- master of Buchanan, and assistant revenue collector for the fourth congressional dis- trict of Michigan. He is now one of the jury commissioners for Berrien county, ap- pointed by the governor.

Thomas Lee Wilkinson came to Berrien Springs in 1840. Mr. Wilkinson was a Quaker, but upon coming west, united with the United Brethren Church, of which he was a leading member. He was a cabinet- maker by trade and carried on a furniture shop and factory till his death in 1862. His widow, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Ann Hagadorn, is still living in Berrien Springs at the age of eighty-four.

The son, Thomas Lee Wilkinson, in con- nection with Roscoe D. Dix, established an abstract of title and real estate business in 1876 at Berrien Springs, which has been continued ever since. In 1894, Mr. Wil- kinson removing to St. Joseph, the abstract office was removed to the latter place. Mr. Wilkinson's knowledge of some branches of real estate law is superior to that of most lawyers. In 1890, Messrs. Dix & Wilkinson

also established the Berrien Exchange Bank at Berrien Springs, of which Mr. Dix has charge.

Roscoe D. Dix, the partner of Mr. Wil- kinson, has been a prominent citizen of the place for forty years and has held important state offices. He came with his father, Dex- ter O. Dix, from New York to Bainbridge in 1852. Roscoe was a soldier in the famous Second Michigan Regiment and was severely wounded at the siege of Knoxville in 1863. In 1864, he was elected county register of deeds, and served three terms. In 1874, he was again elected to the same position and served two terms. In 1886, he was elected commissioner of the state land office and served two terms. In 1897 he was elected auditor general of the state and served two terms. He has also been president of the village of Berrien Springs. He has been an active and influential leader of the Re- publican party in the county. Mr. Dix was admitted to the bar about thirty years ago and for most of that time has been the only attorney in the place.

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A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan, Part 26

Author: Coolidge, Orville W Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Coolidge, Orville W
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1314