USA > Michigan > Berrien County > A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan > Part 33
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Actuated by the reports of his brother as to the prospects of the new country, James
Kirk emigrated from Virginia to Niles with his family in 1833. Here he settled and lived for four years. In April, 1837, with his family he moved into Pipestone in a lum- ber wagon, drawn by oxen. He located in section twenty about one mile northeast of Hartman. The family at this time consisted of a wife and seven children. Their first habitation was a cloth tent, remote from any sign of civilization by many miles. The next structure was a pole shanty, followed subse- quently by a comfortable log cabin.
A daughter, Mary Ellen, born in 1837, was the first white child born in the town- ship. She afterwards married William Pen- land of Royalton. A son of James A. Kirk, James A. Kirk, is now living in Pipestone township and was born at Niles in 1835. He has lived continuously in the township of Pipestone for seventy-one years.
The next settler was Dr. Morgan Enos, who moved from Bainbridge township in. the fall of 1837 and settled on sections eighteen and nineteen. This point was long known as "Shanghai Corners" and was so named as is claimed, because Dr. Enos was the first person to import Shanghai chickens into the township in the "Shanghai fever" days. Dr. Enos was the only phy- sician in the region of his settlement for many years and acquired an extensive prac- tice. He died in 1868. He was supervisor for two terms.
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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
The third settler was Robert Ferry, a native of Ireland, who came to this country in 1835 and located at Niles in 1836. In 1837 he settled in section twenty-seven, where he lived alone, being a bachelor till 1839, when he married Joanna, a daughter of Jacob Ridenour, a pioneer of Cass county. Mr. Ferry accumulated a large property, owning at the time of his death in 1876, ten hundred and forty acres, mostly of valu- able lands.
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The following named children are now living in Pipestone: Robert, William and Thomas. Each of these sons own large and valuable farms in the township. Another son, Joseph, who married Fredericka, a daughter of Hon. N. V. Lovell, died three years since, owning a large farm in section twenty-seven. Another son, John, is living at Charlotte. Michigan.
During the latter part of the same year (1837) the following named persons set- tled in the township: Nathaniel Brant, Crawford Hazard, Elijah Pratt, William Boughton, Stephen Smith, and Loren Marsh.
The first wedding in the township was that of Brant who married Martha Hazard, a daughter of Crawford Hazard, in 1840, the wedding ceremony being performed by David S. Rector, a justice of the peace of Sodus.
The first death in the township was that of Loren Marsh, who died shortly after his settlement.
In 1838. David Puterbaugh removed from Berrien township to Pipestone. Dur- ing the summer for many years, he boated on the St. Joseph river, leaving his farm in charge of his brother Abram.
In the same year Joab Enos, a brother of Dr. Enos. moved into the township. Shortly after his settlement, he and William Boughton laid out a village called Pipestone, subsequently known as "Shanghai." Only a few lots were sold, but a postoffice was established in 1846, and later a store was
opened by John Garrow. About the same time Dr. Enos put up a sawmill at the vil- lage.
One of the most prominent and well known early settlers of the township was James F. Haskins.
He was a native of New York but re- moved to Peoria county, Illinois, in 1843. In 1844 he removed to Pipestone township and cleared a large tract of heavy timbered land. In 1877 he settled at Shanghai Cor- ners, where he continued to live till his death in 1894. He was a very positive, original and energetic character, was originally a Democrat, subsequently an active Republi- can and for some years before his death a Prohibitionist. He was supervisor of the township for eight terms and was chairman of the board of supervisors for several terms. He was a justice of the peace for over thirty- five years, continuously. He was a popu- lar. administrator of estates and handled them with sagacity and scrupulous honesty. The following children are now living in Berrien county : Mrs. Eliza Chase of Ben- ton Harbor, Mrs. C. D. Jennings of St. Jo- seph, C. W. Haskins of Pipestone, and A. IV. Haskins of Oronoko. Both boys served in the Civil war, C. H. being wounded at Port Hudson.
Another prominent .character of the township and county was William Smyth Farmer, a native of New York. He was engaged in a general mercantile, grain and lumber business in his native state, before removing to Michigan. In 1848 he settled near the site of the present village of Eau Claire, which he helped to organize. He settled in the midst of a dense forest and acquired in a few years over sixteen hun- dred acres, of which one thousand acres he cleared and put into cultivation. £ In 1864 he was a supervisor of his township and in 1867 was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention. He was orig- inally a Whig, but became an active Repub- lican on the organization of that party. He
25I
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
was an active member of the Methodist Church and a leading man in establishing and improving the Crystal Springs camp grounds near Sumnerville.
The first sawmill in the township appears to have been built by Joab and Morgan Enos on Pipestone creek, near Pipestone village. The first grist mill was erected in 1847 by B. A. Pemberton, on lands now occupied by the West Michigan nurseries.
A better one was shortly after erected at Shanghai Corners by two Enos brothers and R. L. Webster.
The first school in the township was taught by one George Lundy, a teacher who had come from New York. The children of James Kirk and Robert Ferry attended this school.
The first church organized in the town- ship was Methodist. It originated in re- ligious services held at the home of James Kirk in 1837, by Rev. T. P. McCoole. Services were held there once in about four weeks, for ten years. A class was not or- ganized, however, till 1847, when religious services were held at the Shanghai school house. In 1867 the society built an excel- lent structure near the village.
A public hall, costing twelve hundred dollars, was built in the southern part of the township in 1877, which has been used for religious services by various denomina- tions.
The village of Eau Claire was incorpor- ated in 1891 and at the last census contained a population of three hundred and eighteen. It is situated in two townships, Berrien and Pipestone. The main business street run- ning east and west is the boundary line be- tween the two townships.
The largest orchard in the county is lo- cated in this township. It consists of over five hundred acres set out for fruit bearing
purposes to different kinds of fruit. The company owns nearly one thousand acres, a portion of which is used for nursery pur- poses. The orchard proper contains about thirty thousand peach trees, ten thousand plum trees, eight thousand pear trees, five thousand cherry trees and five thousand apple trees. This orchard is elsewhere re- ferred to in the chapter on fruit culture, and is owned by the West Michigan Nurseries.
The following named persons have been supervisors of the township of Pipestone at the dates designated.
J. P. Larue 1842-1848
Joab Enos 1849-1851
Josiah Hawes 1852
E. Farley
1853
S. D. Trowbridge 1854
Morgan Enos 1855
R. E. Hull 1856
D. Ely 1857
Morgan Enos 1858
C. E. Straight 1859
R. J. Tuttle
1860
J. Walter
1861
D. Gardner
1862
O. S. Boughton
1863
W. S. Farmer 1864
G. S.crackengast 1865
O. S. Boughton 1867
J. F. Haskins 1868-1873
J. H. Conkling 1874-1875
J. H. Matthews
1876-1877
Miles Davis 1878-1879
Philip Dewitt
1880
J. H. Haskins 1881-1882
Miles Davis 1883-1884
Anson Lewis
1885-1888
Milton Preston 1889-1890
C. K. Farmer 1891
Wm. Krohm 1892-1893
C. W. Haskins
1894-1895
Roy Clark 1896-1899
H. E. Hess
1900-1906
(present incumbent.)
CHAPTER XIX
WVEESAW.
The township of Weesaw is bounded on the north by Lake, on the east by Buchanan, on the south by Galien and on the west by Three Oaks and Chikaming. It was or- ganized in 1837. A large portion of the township was originally thickly timbered with heavy growth of beech, maple, ash, basswood, whitewood and black walnut. The whitewood was abundant and of fine qual- ity. A large amount of black walnut also grew in some portions of the township. The soil is generally rich and productive. A portion of the township was originally low and marshy but most of this has been re- claimed by an extensive system of drainage, and put into cultivation. Some portions are of sandy loam, but the soil is well adapted for the production of grain or fruit. It is well watered by the Galien river and its va- rious branches and tributaries, coursing through nearly every part of the township. Saw mills were established on these streams at an early date and before any considerable settlements were made.
No permanent settlements were made till about 1836. The first settlers were Phineas Stratton. Joseph G. Ames, Timothy Atkins, Solomon, Hiram and William Gould. Ezra Stoner, Samuel Garwood. Charles Mc- Cracken, Sidney S. Ford and Alanson and John Pidge.
Mr. Stratton appears to have been the first person who went to farming. He was
a native of New York and located in sec- tion seven in 1836.
Most of the earliest settlers did not live on farms at first, but worked at the mills lo- cated at New Troy and lived near them.
About the year 1836, Solomon and Hiram Gould purchased a piece of land and built a saw mill on the present site of the village of New Troy. This was the first mill built in the township. This was known as the North mill. During the same year Nelson Willard, Joseph G. Ames and Ezra Stone purchased an undivided half of the land and water power owned by the Goulds and built on the other side of the river a mill which was called the "South Mill."
Mr. Ames became a prominent man in the county. He had emigrated from New Hampshire to New Buffalo in 1836, from whence he moved to New Troy. He was elected a commissioner of roads in 1837, and supervisor of Weesaw in 1839. He retired from the mill business in 1839 or 1840. Further reference is made to him in con- nection with the history of New Buffalo.
Ezra Stoner was the first township clerk in 1837. but remained in the township but a short time.
The village of New Troy was platted in 1837. The lots were divided between the Goulds. Willards. Stoner and Ames. the mill property being owned in common, al- though each party retained its own site. The
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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
mill property was soon abandoned, the own- ers shortly after the erection of the mill re- moving to other parts. This property after- wards came into the possession of Luman Northrup and Francis Finnegan. A long series of litigation ensued over the title to the property, which continued till the final purchase by Ambrose and Thomas Morley, who erected a new mill in 1853 on the site of the Gould mill.
Liman Northrup was a prominent and eccentric character of the early days. He came from Hamburg, New York, to New Buffalo in 1836. He was a man of great natural shrewdness and mental ability and successfully practiced law before justices of the peace, although never admitted to the bar, and having little education. He died about 1868.
Francis Finnegan was also a well known "pettifogger" a name given to persons who practiced before justices of the peace, and who were not admitted to the bar. At an early date he removed to the northern part of the county.
Charles McCracken, already referred to, settled in New Troy about 1836 and was town clerk in 1844. Some years afterward he disappeared from New Troy mysteriously and has never since been heard from. His wife is now living at Galien in this county in her eighty-eighth year. A son, Charles McCracken, now resides in the northern part of Buchanan township, and was born in New Troy. William W. McCracken, late county treasurer, and now deputy clerk of Berrien county, is a son of Charles McCracken.
In 1840, Pitt J. Pierce, a native of New York, settled in Weesaw township and com- menced clearing a farm upon lands which are the present site of the village of New Troy. This farm appears to have been the first of importance in that portion of the township. Mr. Pierce acquired a valuable farm of 320 acres and also engaged in lum- bering. He died a few years since at an advanced age. His son, George Pierce, was
a supervisor for many years. Another son, Arnold, was for many years a prominent merchant and for a time in partnership with his brother George, in the mercantile busi- ness.
A brother of Pitt Pierce, William, lo- cated in the township about the same time and became a prominent farmer and also conveyancer and advocate in justices' courts.
Alpheus Hill, a native of Connecticut, located first in New Troy in 1840, remov- ing in 1846 to Hill's Corners, a hamlet near the present site of Glendora. Mr. Hill made the first clearing at Hill's Corners. His son Edward carried on the first store at New Troy and soon after kept a tavern. A post- office was started in 1854 at Hill's Corners with William S. Pierce as postmaster. This was abandoned many years ago.
Among the pioneers who settled near Hill's Corners shortly after 1840 were Will- iam Strong, Henry Searles, Samuel Wash- burn, Hiram Wells, and George Brong. All of these were farmers except Brong, who carried on a blacksmith shop.
In 1840, Matthew M. Paddock of New York, located two hundred acres in section thirty-four and built a house upon it. Ephriam Murdock also settled in section thirty-four in 1842. Robert Eaton, subse- quently a county surveyor, shortly after settled in section thirty-five. The lands in the township were mostly owned by non- residents till about the year 1848. At about that date lands began to be sold largely to actual settlers, and the population began to increase rapidly.
Among those who came about this time, were two brothers, Comfort and Union Pen- nell, who emigrated from New York and settled in Weesaw in 1849, in the north- western part of the township.
B. F. Pennell was supervisor of the town- ship from 1850 to 1858, with the exception of the year 1853, and treasurer of the county from 1860 to 1868. He subsequently pur-
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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
chased a large farm known as the "Shaker Farm" near Berrien Springs, where he died several years ago.
Union Pennell was for many years treas- urer of Weesaw township and also a justice of the peace.
Ambrose Morley and Thomas Morley, natives of New York, came to New Troy in 1852. They established a new saw mill in 1853 on the site of the old Gould mill. Ambrose also erected other saw mills in the township and in 1868 a grist mill at New Troy. In 1891 the grist mill was remodelled by his son, F. H. Morley, and became a roller mill, which has had an extensive busi- ness.
Somewhat later, Alonzo Sherwood pur- chased two hundred and forty acres in Wee- saw and also two hundred and forty acres in Lake township. This farm was called the Oak Grove farm. On this farm he established a saw mill and from this mill a horse rail- road was built to Brown's station on the line of the Chicago & West Michigan Rail- road, and continued from thence to Brown's Pier on the lake. For several years a large lumbering business was carried on at this point.
Mr. Sherwood was a son of Seth Sher- wood, who settled in Niles township in 1834, and was one of the earliest pioneers of the county. Alonzo was supervisor of Weesaw township for two terms and a member of the legislature from 1879 to 1881.
Several years since, he moved to Ne- braska where he is now living.
EARLY CHURCHES.
The first church organized in the town- ship appears to have been the Baptist. This was organized in 1845. A church edifice was built in 1854. The membership of the original church was made up of a large number of prominent families of the neigh-
borhood, and from townships adjoining.
A Methodist Episcopal class was formed at an early day at New Troy and Rev. Wil- liam Morley of Portage Prairie, preached occasionally at that point as early as 1840. No regular organization was effected, how- ever, till some years later and a church edi- fice was not built till 1863.
The following persons have been super- visors of Weesaw township at the dates des- ignated :
Jos. G. Ames 1839
Jas. Edson
W. H. Gould 1841
Wm. Burns 1842
W. H. Gould 1843
B. M. Lyon 1849
B. F. Pennell
1850-1852
S. M. Washburn
1853
Benj. F. Pennell 1854-1858
T. A. Haskins 1859
Benj. F. Pennell
1860
Jas. M. Price
1861
C. L. A. Hawkins
1862
Union Pennell
1863
Jas. M. Price
1864
Levi Logan 1865-1866
E. P. Morley
1867-1868
Alonzo Sherwood 1869-1870
B. C. Sandford 1871-1872
Geo. Pierce
1873
E. P. Morley 1874-1875
Geo. Pierce 1876-1878
J. F. Beckwith 1879
A. J. Norris
1880-1884
C. J. Smith
1885
Clayton Smith
1886
Peter Smith 1887
J. A. Babcock
1888
L. H. Kempton
1889-1892
C. H. Norris 1893-1894
L. H. Kempton 1895
Clayton Smith 1896-1897
J. A. Babcock 1898-1899
F. A. Norris
1900-1901
J. A. Penwell
1902-1906
(present incumbent. )
1844-1848
CHAPTER X
LAKE TOWNSHIP.
This township has the most area of any township in the county, with the exception of Niles, which is of about the same size. It contains about forty-two sections of land. It is bounded on the north by Lincoln and a small portion of Royalton, on the east by Oronoko, on the south by Weesaw and Chikaming and on the west by Lake Michi- gan. Its southern boundary is over eight miles long.
The character of the soil is diversified. Along the lake are high sand dunes and east of these is a plain of sandy lands, and ad- joining this a belt of rich and fertile soil. Running through the township from the southwest to northeast was originally an immense swamp called the "Big Meadow," several miles wide in portions. This meadow practically divided the township in- to two sections. It has been mostly drained and many of the most productive farms were originally a part of the "Big Meadow."
That portion of the township which ad- joins Oronoko was always dry and the soil was naturally rich and productive. The township in a state of nature was covered with extensive forests of valuable timber, and for many years buying or selling logs and lumber was the principal business of most of the inhabitants.
That portion which lies west of the "Big Meadow" was settled very late, nearly all the early settlements for many years hav-
ing been made in the eastern portion of the township.
As late as 1880 the township contained only five hundred and fifty people. About the year 1890, however, emigration began to pour in. In ten years the population was doubled and the prices of land more than doubled. Portions of the township are densely populated, and being rapidly divid- ed up into small fruit farms. The popula- tion is now nearly three thousand.
The immigration lately has been largely German. Immense amounts of berries are produced, especially strawberries, in the culture of which Lake township leads all others.
The township was a part of Oronoko till 1846. The first township election was held at the house of Benjamin Lemon in April, 1846, when only eighteen votes were polled. Bradley M. Pennell was elected supervisor, Comfort Pennell, clerk, and Benjamin Lemon and Daniel Phillips, justices of the peace.
The woods between the great meadow and the lake were formerly the favorite roaming grounds of numerous deer. David Smith, a famous hunter of the locality, is said to have killed over sixty deer in these woods during one winter.
The township has two villages, neither of which is incorporated, Bridgman and Baroda. The former was laid out by
256
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
George W. Bridgman in 1871 and the lat- ter upon the construction of the "Vandalia" railroad which runs through Baroda.
The first permanent settler so far as we can ascertain was John Harner, who set- tled in section twenty-five near the Oronoko line about the year 1834.
His children now living are Michael, John, Levi and Mrs. Joshua Feather.
That portion of the township which lies west of the great meadow was not settled till much later than the portion which lies east. The first settler west of the meadow appears to have been William Daker, but at what date is not known.
In 1836 or 1837, Godfrey Boyle located in Lake township. Mr. Boyle was a Ger- man who had emigrated to this country in 1831. In 1835 he bought a piece of land one mile north of Niles which he occupied. He shortly after moved to Lake township, where he bought a piece of land from the government. Later he removed to Oronoko township where he acquired a farm of two hundred acres upon which he lived till his death in 1862. Mr. Boyle had served in early life in the German army in the cam- paigns against Napoleon.
Thomas Phillips settled in the northeast part of the township in 1836 and lived upon this farm till his death in 1846.
In 1837, Phillips sold the mill site on Hickory creek on his land to Peter Ruggles and Erastus Munger, who at once erected a saw mill. This was on section two. The mill afterwards passed to Ruggles and was known as the Ruggles' Mill. Peter Ruggles was supervisor in 1843.
Henry Lemon, who married a daughter of Ruggles, settled in section three in 1839 on which he lived till his death in 1875.
Benjamin Lemon settled in section twen- ty-four in 1842.
Edward Ballingee was one of the earliest settlers of Lake township and also one of the earliest settlers of Berrien county. He moved into the southeastern part of Lake
township in 1845 and lived there till 1850 when he moved to New Buffalo and finally moved to Buchanan. Reference is made to him further in the chapter on Buchanan.
Bradley M. Pennell settled on section twenty-four in 1843. He was the first super- visor of the township elected in 1846. He subsequently removed to Buchanan. Com- fort Pennell settled on section twelve in 1844, subsequently removing to Berrien. He was also a supervisor of Lake township.
In 1836, John B. Nixon, a native of South Carolina, came with his son, John H. Nixon, a young man seventeen years old, to Michigan and remained about six months, when he returned home. In 1842 he brought his family with him and his son, John H. Nixon, located in Berrien Springs in 1852 where he resided till 1855, when he moved to Lake township. He was supervisor in 1882.
John B. Nixon, a son of John H., is the present supervisor of the township and has held the position three terms.
In 1841, Horace Godfrey, a native of Vermont, and one of the oldest settlers of Berrien county, settled in section twenty- five, near the Oronoko line, and lived there till his deathı.
He had first settled in Niles township in 1829, coming on foot by an Indian trail from Detroit. and for two years ran the old log mill on Dowagiac creek. the site of the so-called "Yellow Mill." erected shortly aft- erwards. In 1831. he moved to Berrien Springs, where, in company with his uncle, Pitt Brown, and Frances Murdock, he laid out the original village of Berrien Springs. He died in 1879.
Two children are now living. Mrs. Jacob B. Ullery, now residing at Niles. and Japhet Godfrey, of Riverside, California. The lat- ter, prior to his removal to California, had lived many years at Buchanan where he car- ried on the hardware business.
A prominent man in the history of the township was George W. Bridgman, who
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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY
came from Massachusetts, in 1855, and lo- cated at the present site of Bridgman in 1856. In the fall of that year he formed a part- nership with Warren Howe and Charles F. Howe, called the "Charlotteville Lumber Company," which constructed a large steam saw mill at a cost of twenty thousand dol- lars, a short distance west of the present vil- lage of Bridgman. This point was known as Charlotteville, and was distant from Lake Michigan about one mile. A railroad track was built from the mill to the lake, where it connected with a pier five hundred feet long. A railway was also constructed into the forest in different directions, making a track of about seven miles in length. The rolling stock consisted of an engine and thirty-three cars. The mill, improvements and rolling stock cost over sixty thousand dollars and the mill had a capacity of twenty-five thou- sand feet per day and seventy men were em- ployed in the business connected with the mill. Schooners conveyed the lumber manu- factured from the pier to Chicago. An enormous business was done for a few years. In 1863 the mill was destroyed by fire. Two mills were built upon the site but both were burned down, the last in 1870. By 1863 the lumbering business had declined on ac- count of the cutting down of the best timber and mills subsequently built were of much less capacity. Saw mills were put up subse- quently but the fire proved destructive, no less than four mills having been destroyed by fire between 1870 and 1878.
The village of Charlotteville was the seat of considerable business for several years and was named after Charlotte, wife of one of the proprietors.
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