USA > Michigan > Cass County > A twentieth century history of Cass County, Michigan > Part 11
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We have already mentioned the county of Wayne and other muta- tions of Michigan territorial boundaries during its early history. The various counties erected within the territory up to the time of our pres- ent discussion were: Monroe, in 1817: Mackinac, in 1818; Oakland, in 1820; Washtenaw, in 1826; Chippewa, in 1826; Lenawee, from Mon- roe, in 1826. To Lenawee county was attached all the territory (com- prising the greater part of southern Michigan) to which the Indian title had been extinguished by the Chicago treaty of 1821. In Septem- her, 1828, this already vast domain was further increased by the addi- tion of all the lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished by the Carey Mission treaty of 1828. This entire area, comprising about ten thousand square miles, was constituted and organized as the town- ship of St. Joseph, being attached to Lenawee county.
By an act approved October 29, 1829, twelve counties were carved from this immense township. Among other sections of the act, one provided that: "So much of the country as lies west of the line be-
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tween ranges 12 and 13 west of the meridian and east of the line be- tween ranges 16 and 17 west, and south of the line between townships 4 and 5 south of the base line, and north of the boundary line between this Territory and the State of Indiana, be, and the same is hereby set off into a separate county and the name thereof shall be Cass."
It was a fitting tribute to an American statesman and soldier that his name should be perepetuated in this beautiful county of southern Michigan. Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9, 1782. and died at Detroit, Michigan, June 17, 1866. His career, while of national prominence, was peculiarly identified with Michigan. After a period of service in the second war with Great Britain, he was sent to the west as governor of the territory of Michigan, and held that office during the greater part of Michigan's territorial existence, from 1813 to 1831, being the incumbent of the office at the time Cass county was created. Thereafter he served as secretary of war, 1831-36; min- ister to France, 1836-42; United States senator, 1845-48; Democratic candidate for president, 1848: United States senator. 1849-57, and sec- retary of state, 1857-60.
By the provisions of the section above quoted, Cass county was con- stituted entirely rectangular in outline, twenty-four miles from east to west, and from north to south twenty-one miles and a fraction. It is evident that the erection of the counties at this time was planned ac- cording to the lines of survey, without regard to geographical conven- iences; for no account was taken of the only irregular feature in the outside limits of the county, namely, the small corner cut off by the St. Joseph river. Until March 3, 1831, the legal boundaries construed the small triangle of land (containing one whole section and fractions of four others) lying east of that river to belong to Cass county. But an act of that date changed the lines to conform with the natural bound- ary, giving the small portion thus detached to St. Joseph county. For seventy-five years Cass county has been bounded as at present, and, as we know, this is also practically the historical lifetime of the county.
The next step was the establishment of civil government within the territory thus described, and this was provided by an act approved November 4. 1829, entitled "An act to organize the counties of Cass and St. Joseph, and for establishing courts therein." The pertinent por- tions of this organic act are as follows:
"Be it enacted by the legislative council of the Territory of Mich- igan, That the counties of Cass and St. Joseph shall be organized from
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and after the taking effect of this act, and the inhabitants thereof en- titled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other counties of this territory are entitled.
"Sec. 2. That there shall be a county court established in each of said counties; and the county court of the county of Cass shall be held on the last Tuesday of May and on the last Tuesday of November in each year. * *
"Sec. 4. That the counties of Van Buren and Berrien, and all the country lying north of the same to Lake Michigan, shall be attached to and compose a part of the county of Cass.
"Sec 8. That there shall be circuit courts, to be held in the coun- ties of Cass and St. Joseph, and that the several acts concerning the supreme, circuit and county courts of the Territory of Michigan, de- fining their jurisdiction and powers, and directing the pleadings and practice therein in certain cases, be, and the same are hereby made ap- plicable to the circuit courts in said counties.
"Sec. 9. That the said circuit courts shall be held at the respect- ive county seats in said counties, at the respective court houses or other usual places of holding courts therein; provided, that the first term of said court in the county of Cass shall be holden at the school house near the house of Ezra Beardsley, in said county.1
"Sec. 10. That the county of Cass shall be one circuit, and the court for the same shall be held hereafter on the second Tuesday of August in each year."
It will be noticed that this act provided for a "county court," a judicial institution of which few citizens of the county at this date have any direct knowledge. The county court was established in Michigan by a territorial act of 1815, and the first session of the Cass county court was held also at the house of Ezra Beardsley, in November, 1831. In April, 1833, the county court was abolished in the organized counties of the territory. The institution was revived in 1846, and continued until its final abolition in the constitution of the state adopted in 1850. The last term of county court held in Cass county commenced August 5. 1851, with Judge Cyrus Bacon on the bench.
DIVISION INTO TOWNSHIPS.
Following the act of organization of civil government came an act dividing the new county for political purposes. The original town- ships as defined by this act were four in number. Technically they were: Townships 5 and 6 and north half of township 7, in range 16 west, to be a township by name of Pokagon. Townships 5 and 6 and north half of township 7 south, in range 15 west, to be a township by
'The first term of circuit court in Cass county was opened at the house of Ezra Beardsley (instead of the school house), at Edwardsburg, and its business was com- pleted in two days.
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name of La Grange. Townships 5 and 6 and north half of township 7 south, in ranges 13 and 14 west, to be a township by name of Penn. All that part of Cass county known as south half of township 7 and frac- tional township 8 south, in ranges 13. 14, 15 and 16 west, to be a town- ship by the name of Ontwa.
This division was no doubt influenced, in part, by the density of population in the various parts of the county. We have already stated that the county was settled by a wave of immigration directed from the west and south rather than from the east. There is proof of this in this formation of townships. On the west was the rectangular township. Pokagon, six miles wide by fifteen long, and including the present Sil- ver Creek, Pokagon and the north half of Howard. This was the old- est settled portion of the county, and at the date of organization Poka- gon prairie contained a large per cent of the entire population of the county.
To the east of Pokagon was the township of La Grange, exactly parallel in extent and of the same width, comprising what are now Wayne. La Grange and the north half of Jefferson. This was also a comparatively well settled portion of the county. Each of these town- ships contained an area of ninety square miles.
Alongside of La Grange on the east, and comprising a double width of townships, was Penn, embracing in its one hundred and eighty square miles of area the present townships of Penn, Volinia, Marcellus and Newberg, besides the north half of Calvin and north Porter.
This left a strip across the entire southern side of the county, and in width a little more than six miles, to comprise the township of Ont- wa. Such were the four original political divisions of Cass county. It will be interesting to trace the process by which fifteen townships were carved from these four, that process illustrating very graphically the growth of the county from a sparsely settled region to a poulousness that made smaller political divisions both practicable and necessary.
Before this, however, let us call attention to the fact that Cass county comprised at one time, as respects political and judicial func- tions, the two adjoining counties of Van Buren and Berrien, as pro- vided for in the organic act quoted above. So that at the period now under consideration, Berrien county was a part of Cass and was organ- ized as one township under the name of Niles. Van Buren county and the territory north to Lake Michigan remained a part of Cass county until 1835, and was originally a part of Penn township.
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Naturally, the rapid filling up of the county with settlers in a short time called for a subdivision by the legislature of the original town- ships. The first act for this purpose was dated March 29. 1833, and provided for three new townships, Porter, Jefferson and Volinia.
"All that part of the township of Ontwa, in Cass county, situated in ranges 13 and 14, west of the principal meridian, shall comprise a township by the name of Porter; and the first township meeting shall be held at the house of Othni Beardsley."
This is not the Porter township as we know it today. It was, as technically defined, the east half of the original Ontwa. It contained all of the present Mason, a part of Calvin and all the present area of Porter except the three north tiers of sections. For the act which gave it its present area, see forward, in connection with the township of New- berg.
In creating the township of Jefferson, the same act further deprived Ontwa of considerable territory. "That all that part of the county of Cass known and distinguished as township 7 south of the base line, and in range 15 west of the principal meridian, compose a township by the name of Jefferson: and that the first township meeting he held at the house of Moses Reames in said township." Thus was constituted Jeff- erson township as we know it today. The north half was subtracted from original La Grange, and the south half from Ontwa.
The third township created by the act of March, 1833. was Vo- linia. This name was given by Josephus Gard. the pioneer, after a Polish province named Volhynia, which was the original spelling. The act reads: "That all that part of the county of Cass known and dis- tinguished as township 5 south. in ranges 13 and 14. west of the prin- cipal meridian, compose a township by the name of Volinia: and that the first township meeting he held at the house of Josephus Gard in said township." Volinia, as thus formed, also contained the present Marcellus.
No further changes occurred until March 7, 1834, when original Pokagon suffered its first diminishment of territory. "All that part of the county of Cass comprised in surveyed township 7 south, in range 16 west, shall be a township by the name of Howard; and the first town- ship meeting shall be held at the house of John Fosdick in said town- ship." This also took more territory from Ontwa, which was reduced to the two fractional townships in the southwest corner of the county.
Before the passing of the territorial form of government, three
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other townships were created. The act of March 17, 1835, provides that "all that part of the county of Cass comprised in surveyed township 7 south, range 14 west, be a township by the name of Calvin: and the first township meeting shall be held at the dwelling house of John Reed in said township." Thus we see that all the new townships were being erected with the lines of the townships and ranges of the government survey, and at present these lines govern entirely with the one exception of Porter.
By the provisions of an act also dated March 17. 1835. Wayne township came into existence. This, as we know, was a part of the original La Grange. But the settlers had come in fast in the last few years, the north half of the township had filled up with people who were soon demanding a separate organization. This demand was granted. and the name of the famous Revolutionary leader and Indian fighter was applied to the new township at the suggestion, it is said, of Corne- lius Higgins. The technical definition of the boundaries of the town- ship is "that part of Cass county comprised in township 5 south, range 15 west." The first township meeting was held at the house of Elijah W. Wright, April 6, 1835.
An act approved March 23, 1836. constituted the first of the three fractional townships of Cass county. "All that portion of Cass county designated by the United States survey as township 8 south, of range 14 west, he, and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of Mason; and the first township meeting therein shall be held at the dwelling house of Jotham Curtis in said township." Before the passage of this act, this fractional government township was a part of Porter township.
With the admission of Michigan to statehood. the following town- ships of Cass county were constituted with boundaries as at present : Wayne, La Grange, Howard, Jefferson, Mason and Calvin. The re- maining townships, which have since been divided. were Pokagon, Vo- linia, Penn, Porter and Ontwa.
The state legislature, by an act approved March 20, 1837, provided "That all that part of the county of Cass, designated by the United States survey as township 5 south, range 16 west, be set off and organ- ized into a separate township by the name of Silver Creek ; and the first town meeting therein shall be held at the house of James McDaniel in said township." Thus Pokagon was reduced to its present size, and the extreme northwest township acquired civil government.
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On March 6, 1838, the township of Newberg was erected, accord- ing to the provisions of the following: "All that part of the county of Cass designated in the United States survey as township 6 south. of range 13 west, be, and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of Newberg: and the first township meeting therein shall be held at the house of John Bair in said town- ship." Newberg was carved from Penn township, which on this date was limited to its present boundaries.
Also, at the session of 1838 an act was approved whereby all that part of the "township of Penn in the county of Cass comprised in township 7 south, range 13 west, shall be attached to and become part of the township of Porter."
Nine days after the establishment of Newberg the legislative act constituting Milton township was approved. "All that portion of Cass county designated in the United State survey as township 8 south, of range 16 west, be, and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of Milton; and the first township meet- ing therein shall be held at the house of Peter Truitt, Jr." This division brought Ontwa township down to its present area.
It was five years before the final political division was established in Cass county. The fifteenth township was Marcellus, which, the last to be organized, was also the last to be settled. The government town- ship known as township 5 south, of range 13 west, had hitherto been a part of Volinia township, but in 1843 the people living within the area, feeling competent to manage their own affairs, petitioned the state legislature for a separate jurisdiction. The act organizing the township thus defined "by the name of Marcellus" was approved March 9. 1843. The first township meeting, it was directed, should be held at the house of Daniel G. Rouse, who had framed and circulated the pe- tition for organization.
Such is a brief account of the evolution of Cass county from an unorganized region into its present shape and its present order and ar- rangement of townships. So far as is known, the divisions into the various townships were never animated by any serious disputes and discussions such as have sometimes occurred in the adjusting of such matters. As stated, the townships conform to the government surveys. and in making the political subdivisions according to this plan no con- siderable inconvenience or confusion has resulted. The city of Dowa- giac, it happens, is located on the corners of four township jurisdictions.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
but division of political interests that are naturally concentrated is ob- viated by the incorporation of Dowagiac with a city government, with its own political representation on the same plane with the townships.
LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
One very important part of the organization of the county was the locating of the county seat. This is always a matter of supreme inter- est to the early inhabitants of a county, and a history of the "county seat wars" which have been waged in many states of the Union would fill volumes. These contests have been characterized by an infinite va- riety of details, ranging from pitched battle and effusion of blood to the harmless encounters of wordy protagonists.
Cass county had her contest over three-quarters of a century ago, in the time of beginnings, so that no living witness can tell aught of its details. But as the records have been handed down, the location of the seat of government was attended with some features of more than common interest.
By the provisions of an act of the territorial council July 31, 1830, the governor was authorized to appoint commissioners to locate the seats of justice in the several counties where they had not already been located : having located the seat of justice of any county, the commis- sioners should report their proceedings to the governor, who, if he ap- proved of the same, should issue a proclamation causing the establish- ment of a seat of justice agreeable to the report.
Such were the directions. We will now see how they were carried out. Martin C. Whitman, Ilart L. Stewart and Colonel Sibley were the commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice in Cass county. These men, if the charges later preferred against them be true, evi- dently understood the importance of their decision as affecting the value of the site they should select. In fact, it appears that the practice, now so much condemned, of private individuals opening their hands for the profits of a public trust, is not of modern origin.
The enterprising commissioners, having looked over the county and examined the eligibility of the various sites, chose to recommend the plat of the village of Geneva, laid out on the north bank of Diamond lake by Dr. H. II. Fowler, as the proper location.
Before announcing their decision, however, two of the commis- sioners, with remarkable foresight, hastened to the land office at White l'igcon and entered in their own names sundry tracts of land adjoining
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Geneva. Their deliberations completed and made the subject of re- port, the governor announced the location of the seat of justice at Gene- va in accordance with the instructions of the commissioners.
Immediately there arose a storm of indignant protest over the de- cision. The intentions of the commissioners to turn their official acts into a source of private gain were set forth at length, among the many other causes of dissatisfaction with the chosen site, in petitions that were sent to the legislature with the signatures of a large number of the voters of the county.
The response to the petitioners came in an act of the legislative council. passed March 4, 1831, to amend the previous act under which the seat of justice was located at Geneva. By this act the decisions of the former commissioners were set aside. The governor was to ap- point, with the consent of the council, three commissioners to re-exam- ine the proceedings by which the seat of justice had first been estab- lished, and were empowered either to confirm the same or to make new locations, as the public interest might, in their opinion, require. They were authorized to accept any donations of land, money, labor or ma- terial that might be tendered them for the use of the county, thus per- mitting the usual opportunities for legitimate persuasion in such mat- ters. But the precaution was taken to insert a proviso that in case it was made to appear to the satisfaction of the governor that the com- missioners were guilty of any improper conduct, tending to impair the fairness of their decision, it should be his duty to suspend any further proceedings.
Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A. O'Keefe were the commissioners appointed under this act to relocate the county seat, and in pursuance of instructions they were to meet in the county on the third Monday in May, 1831. As told in the history of Cassopolis on other pages, the advocates of the new site beside Stone lake entered into the contest with all the zeal and enthusiasm of those embarked on an enterprise in which they would never accept defeat. Besides the do- nation of one-half of all the lands on the village plat to the county, the subtler arts of diplomacy were also invoked in procuring a favorable decision. The proprietors of the village of Cassopolis, with frank con- fidence in the ultimate selection of that village as the county seat, an- nounced with effective ostentation the naming of three principal streets after the commissioners then engaged in the work of location. Whether the prospect of their name and fame being perpetuated in the thorough-
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fares of the seat of justice was especially inviting, and whether it was that the justice of Cassopolis' contention and the advantages offered by its citizens were the prevailing factor in their decision, it is not of any moment to this discussion to inquire. It is enough that the commis- stoners, waving aside the claims of Geneva, as well as those of several other proposed sites, fixed upon Cassopolis as the seat for the govern- ment machinery of the county, and there it has ever since remained .*
Strictly speaking, the settlers of Cass county were not pioneers. The majority of them were people of more or less education and culture, trained anl accustomed to the usages of civilization. In the settling of the country there was no interim between savagery and civilization. The pioneers did not come and build their cabins, and defend them with their rifles for some years until the civil officers, courts, schools and churches made their appearance. This was necessary in some settle- ments, but not here. In Cass county civil government sprang into le- ing almost at once. The settlers brought civilization with them. They brought the common law with them, and, in harmony with the legisla- tive statutes, they saw to it at once that the community should be gov- erned thereby. They provided for courts, for public buildings, for roads, and for every possible institution necessary to a civilized community. And the result was that Cass county soon became a populous link in the great chain of similar political communities stretching from the At- lantic beyond the Mississippi, maintaining without a break the institut- tions of civilization at the standards of older communities. .
*NOTE .- The following is the proclamation of Acting Governor Mason, issued De- cember 19, 1831 :
WHEREAS, In pursuance of an act of the legislative council entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for establishing seats of justice,"" Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A. O'Keefe were appointed commissioners to re-examine the proceedings which had taken place in relation to the establishment of seats of justice of the counties of Branch, St. Joseph and Cass, and to confirm the same, and to make new locations, as the public's interest might, in their opinion, require :
AND WITEREAS, The said commissioners have proceeded to perform the said duty, and by a report signed by them, have located the seat of justice of the said county of Cass at a point on the southeast quarter of section 26, town 6. range 15 west, forty rods from the southeast corner of said section, on the line running west between sections 26 and 35;
Now. therefore, By virtue of the authority in me vested by said act, and in conformity with said report, I do issue this proclamation, establishing the seat of justice of the said county of Cass at the said point described as aforesaid.
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CHAPTER VII.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT.
In the preceding chapters we have endeavored to give an recount of Cass county beginning with its state of nature, mentioning its orig- inal inhabitants, and continuing through the years of first settlement up to the completion of the organization of the county as a distinct po- litical division of the state. The establishment of civil government in a community is as necessary to its growth and welfare as the founda- tion of a building is needed to support the structure that will be reared upon it. Hence, having described the institution of organized govern- ment in Cass county, we may now continue the account of settlement and development until the various parts of the county assumed some- thing of the condition in which we find them at the present day.
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