USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > Compendium of history and biography of Hillsdale County, Michigan > Part 7
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Jonesville Postoffice : This was established carly in 1829, with Benaiah Jones, Jr., as first postmaster. Mail was brought from Detroit via Ypsilanti and Clinton, the route extending west- ward to Chicago, over the well traveled Chicago turnpike. Besides this route, in 1838 the follow- ing routes touched Jonesville. Maumce and Jonesville, via Whiteford, Baker's, Unionville, Canandaigua, and Lanesville postoffices ; distance, seventy-five miles ; mail forwarded and returned once a week. Jonesville and Marshall, via Homer and Eckford: distance, twenty-nine miles ; mail forwarded and returned once a week. Adrian and Jonesville, via Rollin and Adams ; distance, thir- ty-five miles ; mail forwarded and returned once a week.
Early industries : Benaiah Jones, Jr., had evi- dently a clever knowledge of a pioneer's needs, for, in his journey hither over the deep marshes and almost impassable swamps, he brought a small iron feed-mill of about two feet in diameter, and this ground his grain and for quite a length of time that of the few neighbors. The E. J. Sibley sawmill was built in 1831 or 1832 on the St. Jo- seph river two miles south of Jonesville. This was the first mill constructed in the county.
Hon. Levi Baxter, in association with Cook Sisson, erected a mill at Jonesville in 1834, to which they made large additions in 1840, and
while these additions were in construction, Mr. Baxter received such injuries as to be rendered permanently lame. These mills added much to the prosperity of the county for many years.
In 1836 and 1837 Isaac B. Taylor and G. C. Munro put up a foundry, to which a machine shop was later attached, being at the first a crude affair in a small framed building, a horse being placed inside the large treadwheel to furnish the power, and here the animal not only worked, but ate its food and slept until released from labor by the introduction of a small steam engine. This foundry became one of the leading establishments of southern Michigan, the "Michigan plow" here manufactured being distributed over a large ex- tent of country. Under the later proprietorship of L. and R. T. Miller, the manufacture of plows and agricultural implements was continued, a popular specialty being the "Miller chilled plow."
Lewis Emery came to Jonesville from Lyons, N. Y., in February, 1843, and that season erected the first carding mill of the county and of a much wider arca. This he conducted until near the close of the Civil War when he removed to Hills- dale and erected the widely known "Emery mills" one mile east of the city. His sons, David and Lewis, won wealth and a national reputation in connection with Pennsylvania oil operations, Lewis being a leading oil operator of Bradford. He is a millionaire and the one independent oil refiner who has successfully resisted for twenty- seven years the efforts of the Standard Oil Co. to crush out all competition, and his company has its own pipe lines to the sea and sails its own ships on the ocean, supplying millions of barrels of oil to the world, independent of railroad combina- tions, trusts and monopolies.
A planing mill was quite early in operation, the manufacture of doors, sash and blinds being added later and, for quite a number of years of its earlier history, it was owned and operated by Selfridge, Baxter & Co.
The Methodist Episcopal church was the pio- neer here in the religious fields. In 1834 a Rev. Mr. Colchazer, a presiding elder, preached the first Methodist sermon of Fayette in the school- house at Jonesville. The first class was organized
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with thirteen members in 1838 by a Rev. Mr. Manier, the first stationed preacher. From this time regular services, by properly accredited min- isters, have continued to the present time, and a helpful influence to all good work and labors for the advancement of humanity has resulted. The first church edifice, a framed one, was erected in 1844. The society is the oldest religious body of Fayette.
In the summer of 1835 E. P. Champlin and wife, Sebastian Adams and wife, Nathan Stevens and wife and a Mr. Carpenter were organized in- to the first Presbyterian church of Jonesville. There was no settled pastor until September, 1837, when the "session-house" was completed, and Rev. Elijah Buck became pastor for two years, receiving an annual salary of $500. The Presby- terian Society of Jonesville effected a legal organ- ization on September 15, 1837, the trustees being Joseph Sill, Azariah Wright, E. P. Champlin, Simon Jacobus, Ransom Gardner and Lewis Smith. Mr. Champlin was one of its most gen- erous friends and the donor of the lots whereon the session-house and the succeeding church were erected. The first installed pastor was Rev. S. C. Hickok, who died in 1850. A brick church was erected in 1854, which was in use until 1878 when it was so enlarged as to be practically a new and an elegant structure. From the first the church and the society have stood in the front rank of the civilizing influences of the community.
The earlier history and the establishment of the Protestant Episcopal church in this county was written up very carefully in 1878 by the Rev. W. W. Raymond, then rector of Grace church. From his able paper we transcribe as follows: "The history of the Protestant Episcopal church it Hillsdale county begins with missionary work in Jonesville. The records of the earliest visitations and services are quite fragmentary, the most cor- rect reports coming from the recollections of the oldest residents. The first service appears to have been held on Sunday evening, February 7, 1836, in the village schoolhouse by the Rev. Wm. N. Lyster, rector of St. Peter's church, Tecumseh, from which place Mr. Lyster had doubtless ridden cn horseback for this purpose. The next service 4
was held by the Rev. Darius Barker on Sunday, October 21, 1838. . He came by formal appoint- ment from the diocese of Vermont, as the first missionary of the church to this county, and on December 17 of that year he was elected the first rector of the parish. On the next Christmas day he celebrated the holy communion for the first time it was administered in the parish, six persons participating. The first administration of the rit? of holy baptism was in April, 1839, to three chil- dren of James K. Kinman. The parish was or- ganized on December 17, 1838, at the call of twen- ty-six declared Episcopalians as "Grace Church." On January 28, 1841, the parish was reorganized under the statutes. In August, 1844, the founda- tion and cornerstone of a church building were laid on the east end of an oblong square opposite the village park and the edifice was completed and consecrated on November 15, 1848, and it was a notable and conspicuous mark of devotion in the early days, from the tower of which, since 1850. the full toned bell has summoned all the sur- rounding inhabitants to worship."
The origin of the very prosperous Baptist church of Fayette and Hillsdale is traceable to the: efforts of Rev. William G. Wisner, who, in 1842, organized a society in Jonesville and, during his pastorate secured the erection of a church edifice. The original organization was dissolved in 1860, but a new one was soon formed and the work in the county has steadily advanced from that time.
Early Schools .- A district school was estab- lished in 1832, the district not being fully organ- ized for a year or two later, when it included the entire township of Vance, now comprising the county of Hillsdale. In the summer of 1830 Miss Harriet Wight taught a private school in a bed room of Benaiah Jones's residence, where the first district school was later taught. Her school was the first one of the town and probably of the coun- ty. Benaiah Jones and James Olds were the first officers of the district, furnishing the schoolroom and hiring and boarding the teachers. In the fall of 1832 Dr. Stillman Mottram taught the first dis- trict school. In a few weeks he was succeeded by Dr. Chase, who taught until the summer of
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HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICIIIGAN.
1833. The village then contained the Fayette House, part logs and part framed, one small framed dwelling, four log dwellings and two log barns.
In the fall of 1833 the Bell (log) house, on Maumee street was fitted up for school purposes, by boring holes in the logs and driving long and large wooden pins into them, on which boards were laid for desks, the pupils facing the walls and sitting on benches. The first teacher was B. L. Baxter, then but eighteen years old, and among his pupils was a son of the Indian chief Baw Beesc.
In 1835 the town was divided into five school districts. The first highway on record was laid out on May 14, 1835. In 1837 a bounty of three dollars was offered for killing a wolf. In 1837 also Nicholas Van Alstyne opened the St. Charles Hotel, which under his management and his suc- cessors, Simon Gay, Samuel (Fatty) Smith and others, acquired quite a reputation as a place of innocent jollity, and was kept open for guests for many years.
James D. Jones, son of Benaiah Jones, was born in June, 1830, the first white child born in the town of Fayette and his death in September, 1831, was the first death of any member of a set- tler's family in the town. The next birth was that of Rosamond Wight, a daughter of Thaddeus Wight, the first settler on the Chicago road be- tween Jones and Allen, his location being two miles west of Jonesville. She was born on No- vember 6, 1830, the first white female receiving birth within the present limits of the county.
James Olds was an carly settler. His wife and Mrs. Lois Jones were sisters and that fact decided the family to locate here. They reached Jonesville on October 13, 1830, and their first location in- cluded a portion of the present village. He bought for his first home the log house Mr. Jones first put up in the town. He was the first register of deeds of Hillsdale county.
Among the early settlers of Fayette and the village of Jonesville were Albert Burgess, John M. Warren, Elias G. Dilla, Henry and Furman Hough, Horace R., John J. and Ransom Gardner, Nathaniel Lockwood, John Goforth, Lewis Wales,
Adam Howder, Moses Willett, C. E. Attwater, William Bacon, Jesse Bacon, Daniel Aiken, Am- brose I. Nicholson, Gaylon Dowd, Z. M. P. Spaul- ding. Artemcdorus Tuller, Samuel Gilmore, Lewis Emery, Henry Clark, John Lytle, Jacob Benedict, Gustavus Stephens, Hezekiah Griswold, Simon Jacobus, Dan B. Putnam, Reuben M. Gridley, Garry Searles, Orson Bacon, Charles Scott, Hora- tio N. Bates, Pardon Aldrich, Jacob Clark, John McDermid, Thomas French, Henry Packer. Ama- ziah Wright, Charles Gregory, C. W. Ferris, J. I'. Cook, John Sinclair, Jaduthan Lockwood, G. C. Munro, Levi Baxter, Cook Sisson, Miles St. John, 1. B. Taylor, Jesse Button, Abram Couzens, Sce- ley Blatchley, Horatio W. Bates, J. C. Gage, Chauncey Stimson, Allen Purdy, L. L. Tucker, C. L. Travis. C. H. and O. F. Guy, II. L. Hewitt and others.
First Newspaper .- The Hillsdale County Ga- zette was established at Jonesville on April 13, 1839, and was "published by Charles G. MeKay and James K. Kinman, editor, (also J. P.)" A copy of the first number has been preserved and is a queer paper as seen by modern eyes. Had we space we should like to give some of its quaint advertisements, with extracts from its "foreign news" and heavy editorials. It did a good work, as extracts from the early issues were copied extensively and found their way to many a western New York farmer desiring to escape from the grip of the Holland Purchase Co. which held mortgages more than covering the entire value of their eastern holdings. S. D. Brewster became the publisher on October 26, 1839, and among its contributors were John T. Blois, Robert Alan and others interested in "booming" the new section and in political offices and emoluments. Jeffersonian Democracy had it for an able organ, and yet frequent articles from other points of view appeared in its columns. In May 1843, the office was removed to Hillsdale and it was after- wards, in 1855, taken to Three Rivers by N. P. Welper, who was then its proprietor. On March 13, 1878, the Hillsdale County Gazette was resus- citated at Jonesville by that veteran newspaper man, James I. Dennis, who conducts it in a very creditable manner.
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HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The loyalty of the pioneers and their descend- ants is sufficiently demonstrated by the names of her sons shown on the muster rolls of the great Civil War, and by these resolutions of the com- mon council of the village passed on June 5, 1864. "Resolved, That we appropriate one hundred dol- lars for fitting and equipping soldiers for the defense of this state and the national flag. Re- solved, That we appropriate the sum of $30 for the purchase of a sword and belt for Capt. Moses A. Funk, of the 'Grosvenor Guards,' and that we appoint Col. E. O. Grosvenor and Hon. W. W. Murphy a committee to purchase said sword and belt and to present the same to Capt. Funk in be- half of the citizens of the village of Jonesville."
One of the later enterprises founded here which has proven to be one of the most important manufacturing plants ever possessed by the vil- lage and town, is the Deal Carriage Works, of which a full history is given in connection with the biographical sketch of Mr. Deal on other pages of this volume. This plant has given em- ployment to many people, and, for a long term of years, has brought an element of prosperity that has conduced to the benefit and advance- ment of the community.
Jonesville is the oldest platted town in the county, and was laid out by Benaiah Jones, Jr., the survey being made in August, 1830. It con- sisted of fifty-eight lots, and extended from East street west to the St. Joseph river, while north and south it included from one tier of lots north of North street to a tier south of South street. The plat is laid on a portion of the northwest quarter of section No. 4, town 6, south of range 3 west. After a long existence as an unincor- porated town, on February 10, 1855, it was in- corporated as a village. It is now a delightful place of residence, and with its fine system of water-works and electric lighting, and supporting two bright local newspapers, the Gazette, here- tofore mentioned and the Independent, which, founded in 1864, is ably conducted by Gregory and Eggleston, it offers great attractions to the lovers of rural life and to the summer visitor.
In 1835 Hiram Greenman of Utica, N. Y., furnished money to Salem T. King and Alanson
G Budlong to purchase the land now the site of the city of Hillsdale. In 1834 Jeremiah Arnold had built a shanty here, locating forty acres, now the location of the fair grounds, soon selling it to the company, and here it was proposed to create a city, but as Mr. Budlong, who stipulated to improve the property and lay it out into lots, failed to do so, a suit in chancery was instituted, which caused the present site to be taken. In 1835 Adam Howder built a log house into which he moved the same year. In December, 1835, Mr. Greenman sold to Rockwell Manning and George C. Gibbs, the latter soon selling to Chaun- cey W. Ferris and John P. Cook, who made per- manent residence here in 1836 and assured the success of the prospective town. They displayed a shrewd sagacity, and their operations attained great scope and importance. William E. Board- man and Charles Gregory acquired interests in this property about 1836, and the owners trans- acted business as the Hillsdale Company, al- though the time was not ripe for incorporation. In 1837 Joel McCollom, Cook, Manning and Ferris, purchased the adjacent lands north of the original plat, Bacon street showing their south boundary.
The first plats of the city were recorded as follows: Alanson G. Budlong, the southwest quarter of section No. 26, on June 27, 1835 ; also the southeast quarter of section No. 27, on July 3, 1835 ; Henry S. Platt and John W. Miller, the west half of the southeast quarter of section No. 26, on July 22, 1835; Tunis V. Van Brunt, the west half of the northwest quarter of section No. 26, on October 14, 1835; Samuel Mosher, the cast half of the northwest quarter of section No. 26, on October 26, 1835 ; Centre Lamb, the west half of the northeast quarter of section No. 26, on June 1, 1836; Henry S. Platt and John P. Miller, the east half of the northeast quarter of section No. 27, on July 3, 1835 ; Ambrose J. Nich- olson, the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section No. 27, on August 18, 1835 ; Nathan B. Kidder and William E. Sill, the south- east quarter of section No. 22, on June 3, 1835 ; Gilbert Reilay, the west half of the southwest quarter of section No. 23, on March 21, 1836;
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HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Salem T. King, one quarter of the southeast quarter of section No. 26; Morgan Buchanan, the west half of the northeast quarter of section No. 22, on June 22, 1835 : Ransom Gardner, the cast half of the northeast quarter of section No. 22, on March 12, 1836.
In 1855 the south half of Fayette was set off and made the township of Hillsdale, it being six miles in length from cast to west with a width of three miles. This embraced the village of Hills- dlale, which, on its incorporation as a city in April, 1869, became a separate civil organization, the city officers becoming George W. Under- wood, mayor ; Henry J. King, treasurer ; Samuel J. Lewis, Edwin J. March, James G. Brent, Benjamin Fisher, William Wilson, William Pet- tus and Spencer O. Fisher, aldermen ; S. Chand- ler, clerk. In 1900 the population of the town of Hillsdale was 447, that of the city 4,151.
In the winter of 1837 the state projected its system of internal improvements, the commission making two surveys for a railroad from Monroc, on Lake Erie, to New Buffalo, on Lake Michigan, one survey through Adrian and Hillsdale and Branch, west to New Buffalo, the other trom Monroe to Tecumseh, and on to Jonesville and Coldwater, thence to New Buffalo. The former route was adopted to Hillsdale, though Jones- ville was afterwards brought into the line. In 1838 contracts for the construction of the rail- road were awarded, but it was not until five years later that it reached Hillsdale. Henry Wal- dron came to the county as a civil engineer of this road. Discerning the promise of Hillsdale, he made it his residence in 1838, and aided greatly in its prosperity. The same year the first store was opened by Harvey & Co. In 1838, also, Adam Howder, whose log house had been the only house of entertainment, erected a new pub- lic-house. This building was spacious, being twenty-eight by forty feet, and two stories high. Connected with it was a ballroom in which often assembled the youth and beauty of the county. The music on these occasions must have been primitive, for it was not until July 4, 1840, that a violin made its appearance.
Hillsdale Village in 1838 and 1839 .- In 1867
Dr. Joel W. French, the first physician of the county, gave this account of the Hillsdale village and people of his earliest knowledge. "In 1838 on the fair grounds resided C. W. Ferris, John P. Cook, Jolin S. Brown and Adam Howder. East of the river was William T. Howell, resid- ing on East Bacon street. The first framed building was built by J. P. Cook in 1839 on the corner west of the Methodist Episcopal church. The first sawmill was built by Salmon Sharp, the first gristmill by Ferris & Cook in 1838. About 1839 Chauncey Stimson built a house on the cast side of the river. J. S. Brown, Henry and Fred- erick Fowler were pioneer merchants, as well as Ferris & Cook. John L. Coming was the first grocer, selling goods "wet and dry". Adani Howder kept tavern on the present fair grounds. The first birth was a child of Samuel Siminions and the first to die was a Mr. Brayner in 1838. The first marriage was that of Robert Alan and Electa Smith. The first lawyers were William T. Howell, H. S. Mead, E. H. C. Wilson, Clement F. Babb. Henry Waldron had an office entitled "R. R. and Law office" carly in 1839. The first land cultivated as a farm was at the foot of Col- lege Hill by Matthew Buchanan. The first schoolhouse was built in 1841 cast of the river and the first sermon here preached was its dedi- cation sermon, delivered by the Rev. William Page, a Presbyterian. The first fatal accident of the county occurred at Hillsdale on April 20, 1845, when "Grandfather" Bates was killed by a train of cars backing over him, and we will here state that in February, 1835, Caleb Bates brought his family from Ohio with six oxen, three cows and three horses, having in 1834 taken up land one mile east of Hillsdale. Horatio, the eldest son, aged twenty, was a great hunter and soon after his arrival, he took a stroll on Wolf Prairie and started up a band of forty deer, while within two weeks from his arrival he had trapped seven wolves on Wolf Point in Baw Beese lake.
The first physicians were Joel W. and Frank- in French, Griswold and Cressy. In Novem- ber, 1839, Rev. Darius Barker, an Episcopal clergyman, preached the first sermon delivered in the village in Adam Howder's tavern. In
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HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
1837, however, the pioneer church of the county, a Methodist Episcopal one, was organized. The first public celebration of the county was at Hills- dale on the "Fourth" of July, 1840. Henry Wal- dron was the orator, Horatio Bates the chief musician. Over 100 people were present and "a great time" was had.
In 1837 Henry Fowler and his brother Fred purchased land in the northeast part of Hillsdale township and a portion of this was later platted as "Fowler's addition" to the city. They were later drygoods merchants for a time. In 1838 the Gazetteer of Michigan gave Hillsdale a place in its pages saying : "It is a new settlement, has a sawmill and a flouring-mill is building. French creek enters the outlet a short distance from the village. There is said to be a great amount of water power." In this year John P. Cook and C. W. Ferris constructed a flouring mill and hither moved their business interests from Jones- ville, building a store building, therein display- ing by far the largest stock of goods of a wide extent of territory, its trade being largely added to by the settlers, who came from many miles around to avail themselves of the great advan- tage of a gristmill. Mr. Cook was commissioned the first postmaster in 1839 and the postoffice was located "in the next house to the sawmill."
At this time the fame of the village of Hills- dale had extended far and wide, and the im- pressions formed of its importance were greatly exaggerated, for very few buildings had been erected. Most of the city was covered with thick brush, being practically a wilderness. Travelers would frequently stop and inquire of the post- master how far it was to the village of Hillsdale. In 1840 the growth received a fresh impulse by the erection of several buildings. Among them John P. Cook built a framed residence, and Fred- erick and Henry Fowler a store. Adam Howder, finding his first location too far away, erected a . commodious log hotel in 1841, and christened it the Hillsdale House. A nucleus of a city was so solidly formed now that not alone Mr. Howder, but others, doubting Thomases, from Jonesville and elsewhere, conceded the success of the new
town and sought to join in its importance and benefits.
From 1840 to 1850 the infant town grew lustily. Business interests assumed such magni- tude that they crowded each other and courts and lawyers were demanded. Henry S. Mead, the first lawyer, came in 1840 or 1841 and practiced here until his death in 1852. An able and popu- lar gentleman, he served creditably in the state legislature. William T. Howell, a state repre- sentative and also state senator, came in 1841 or 1842, enjoyed a large practice, and removed to Jackson in 1853. E. H. C. Wilson and Wolcott Branch came soon after Mead and Howell. Mr. Wilson was "a cultured son of Maryland" and became a Circuit Court judge. Mr. Branch was an efficient county treasurer, as well as an able attorney. Daniel L. Pratt, for many years an honored member of the county bar, located here in 1845. He too, served with great acceptability as a judge of the Circuit Court. Shortly before 1850 there came another strong lawyer, C. J. Dickerson, as a permanent settler. For over twenty-two years he was usefully connected with the county and city, during the Civil War attain- ing the rank of brevet-brigadier general.
In 1843 the construction of the railroad brought great prosperity. Buildings were erected in rapid succession and new faces were seen everywhere seeking opportunities for investment. As the railroad simply delivered its freight, hav- ing no facilities for storage, several warehouses were erected and conducted a prosperous busi- ness. Among their builders were Weed, Mitchell & Co., Cook & Waldron, Patrick McAdam and Cross & McCollum, and all thrived until the severe fire in 1855 spared but one. These store- houses were a great benefit to incoming settlers, and attracted people who without their presence would have gone to other places.
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