USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 11
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The intellectual requirements of the community were first ca- tered to by John W. Peirce, who came with a small stock of books and stationery and was in business at the corner of Bond and Cres- cent streets until 1848, being the sole representative of this line of business. Joseph Pannel, an Englishman, was the first to brew beer in the Grand River Valley. The English hop beer which he made in his little brew house on Bond street, at the foot of Prospect Hill, did not at once find favor with the Americans, who were accustomed to more fiery liquor, but he gradually found a wider sale for his prod- uct and in the course of the next ten years his business was estab- lished on a firm basis.
Solomon L. Withey came with his father, Solomon, in 1836, and became one of the most prominent attorneys of the new community. He was born at St. Albans, Vt., in 1820, and within a few years was employed as a school teacher. In 1839, he began the study of law with A. D. Rathbone and, later, with George Martin, earning his liv- ing by working in the postoffice at $8 a month. Two pioneer fami- lies were united when he was married to Marion L. Hinsdill, daughter of Myron and Emily Hinsdill, who also came to Grand Rapids in 1836. Mr. Withey is another whose name finds frequent mention in Grand Rapids history, for he was United States District Judge when he died. George Martin came in 1837 as an attorney and was soon recognized by his election as justice of the peace and acted as assignee for Louis Campau in the troublous times of 1837. He was city attor- ney, in 1839; a member of the charter committee for the city, in 1850, and, in 1852, was chief justice of Michigan. The preliminary meet- ing to organize the Episcopal Church was held in his office, and he was prominent in the social and literary life of the new community. Hezekiah Green is remembered as the proprietor of the first wagon works, which were located on Ionia street, south of Fountain. His partner in this enterprice was J. J. Baxter. Simeon Howland was a car- penter, located on Lyon street, where now stands the Houseman Build- ing. He was one of the first deacons of the Congregational Church. Sylvester Granger was not only a builder, but a writer. He was clerk of Grand Rapids in 1836, and was known not only as a newspaper con- tributor, but as a debater at the lyceum. As a contractor he built the Court House, in 1838, for the contract price of $3,000. During these years he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1843. David Burnett was mentioned by John Ball, in 1836, as building a block house at Ada. He was one of the most able of the new mechanics and was foreman for James Scribner and Isaac Turner in building the first bridge at Grand Rapids, in 1845. He also built the second and third bridges here and the bridge at Lyon, which was built in 1837, and rebuilt in 1843, and for which he received 2,000 acres of land. In 1840, he built what was known as the Stone School House,
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and he became noted as a builder of lighthouses and railway bridges. He was a member of the building committee of the Swedenborgian Church, and later was in the clothing business with Amos Rathbone. Howard Jennings, with his father-in-law, Captain Short, were the early boat builders, building the "Stevens T. Mason" for Richard Godfroy and others. His sister, Mrs. Phoebe Cramond, was the first milliner in Grand Rapids, occupying a store at Monroe and Ottawa streets, in 1838. S. S. Stewart was one of the wealthy newcomers, having $1,800 in cash when he arrived overland from Detroit. He lived in a slab house on the north side of Michigan street, below Ot- tawa, and as a mason did some of the early limestone work of the city. In 1846 he moved to a farm in Cascade. Henry C. Smith had a small shop at Monroe and Ottawa and soon became chairman of the village board of trustees. He later resided in Plainfield, from which township he was supervisor in 1845; represented the County in the Legislature in 1845, and in 1868 returned to Grand Rapids, where he spent the remainder of his life. James Scribner pre-empted land in the winter of 1836 and was one of the most enterprising of the pio- neers in a small way. He platted what was known as "Scribner's Ad- dition" on the west side of the river, and his Oak Oil, a patent medi- cine, was one of the things which made Grand Rapids famous in the early days.
James, Joseph and William McCrath were three brothers, coming in the employ of the Kent Company and erecting a lime kiln on the west side, near the head of the Rapids. Harry Eaton early gained the confidence of the community and was the first treasurer of Walker Township, and was later treasurer of Grand Rapids. He entered the mercantile business, was known as a lumberman, and became sheriff of Kent County in 1841. His grocery and restaurant on Market street was a favorite resort for the pioneers. George M. and Warren P. Mills came from New York and had a grocery at the corner of Pearl and what was then Canal street, now Monroe avenue. George M. be- came active in politics and was a leading temperance worker in the old Washingtonian Society. He was connected with Wilder D. Foster in a little tinshop on the corner of Pearl and Monroe streets. Abel Page was the first horticulturist in Western Michigan and planted the first nursery in the Grand River Valley, becoming noted throughout all this section of the State. Jacob Rogers, a Yankee from Vermont, was one of the farmers to establish themselves; and George Cog- geshall, who was very active in the community as a representative of the Lucius Lyon interests, was an 1836 arrival, as was James M. Nel- son, who first had a small store opposite the Eagle Hotel, and after- ward became well known in the lumber industry and in the furniture trade. With his brother, George C. Nelson, he built a saw-mill on Mill Creek, in 1837, and, the following winter, relieved the famine which threatened the community by going to Indiana and returning with a drove of 280 hogs, which were eagerly bought by the settlers. He was the first to raft lumber down Grand River, and later had an equally enviable reputation for sagacity and skill as a pioneer furni- ture manufacturer.
The man whose coming had perhaps the most influence upon the future of the city was John Ball, who was born Nov. 12, 1794, and
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died at Grand Rapids, Feb. 5, 1884, having lived nearly 90 years. His parents were of old New England stock, and Tenny's Hill, near Heb- ron, Grafton County, New Hampshire, was his birthplace. His early life was spent on his father's farm, and he was called for service in the War of 1812, but the war closed before he saw actual service. His brief winters' schooling had been eked out with much reading and he finally persuaded his father to send him to Salisbury Academy. Teach- ing enabled him to carry on his school work, and he later worked his way through Dartmouth College, graduating in the class of 1820, and having such distinguished classmates as Rufus Choate and George P. Marsh. Teaching also aided him to continue his education in the study of law, with Walbridge & Lansing, at Lansingburgh, New York. He had the spirit of the explorer and adventurer, and he set sail from New York City for Darien, Georgia, arriving there penniless, as the ship was wrecked and he barely escaped with his life. Teaching again 'was his stay in this distress, and for six months he earned his liveli- hood in this manner, near Savannah. Returning to Lansingburgh, he was admitted to the bar, in 1824, and in 1827 was elected a justice of the peace. The versatility of his character is shown by the fact that while he was thus building up a lucrative law practice his brother-in- law, William Powers, was killed by an explosion of varnish in his oil- cloth factory. This left Mr. Ball's sister and her two children de- pendent upon the carrying on of the business, and Mr. Ball relin- quished his law practice, took up the management of the factory, increased its business, and, by 1831, had the concern well established and his sister in an independent position. Having accomplished this, Mr. Ball felt that he might gratify his long-felt desire to traverse the United States to the Pacific coast. It must be borne in mind that there was no railroad west of the Allegheny mountains, and that the journey was one filled with great hazard and difficulties, and included travel through hostile Indian country and lands which were prac- tically unexplored. He joined a party, fitted out by Nathaniel Wyeth, of Boston, and the route included but sixty miles of railroad travel, on the Baltimore & Ohio, and thence by canal and on horseback, to Pittsburgh. The Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers took them to St. Louis, from which small village they journeyed to Independence, Mo., where they became part of the well-known expedition headed by Capt. William Bublette. Four months were required to make the journey across the plains and the mountains, and they made their way to the Columbia River, where Mr. Ball became the guest of Dr. McLaugh- lin, factor of the Hudson Bay Company. Once again Mr. Ball re- sorted to teaching, and he opened the first school in what is now the State of Oregon. Later, he was one of the first white farmers of Oregon, building his cabin on the site of the present city of Portland. Becoming discouraged, he again started forth on his travels, going to San Francisco and thence to Honolulu. The Hawaiians were then under native rule and their country was known as the Sandwich Is- lands. Mr. Ball returned to America via Tahiti and Cape Horn, reaching Rio Janeiro after a stormy passage of seventy days, and se- curing passage from that port on a United States war vessel. It was two and a half years after he had left Lansingburgh, and he had been given up for lost when he returned to that city. By this time his rep- utation as a traveler and explorer, as well as a capable business man
.
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of sound judgment, was well established and he was urged by a party of would-be investors to go to Western Michigan as a land prospector. It was in this way that he first came to Grand Rapids, in November, 1836. The parties for whom he came were Dr. T. C. Brinsmaid, Dr. F. B. Leonard, J. E. Whipple, and a Mr. Webster. It was proposed to invest from sixty to eighty thousand dollars, but the amount in- vested did not in the end exceed ten thousand dollars. He was to purchase land in any free State of the West in his own name and was to receive one-fourth of the profits. Concluding that the Grand River district was the most promising, he journeyed to this region from De- troit. Speaking of his journey he said:
"I came from Gull Prairie, where we stopped and enjoyed Lewis' rousing fire and partook of his wife's good cheer. The next day I came to Mr. Leonard's, on the Thornapple, and observing some books drying in the sun, I was informed that the day before the stage wagon had spilled its baggage while crossing the river and that the trunk containing these books was not at the time recovered; that it be- longed to a Mr. Johnson, a lawyer, who was bound to Grand Rapids. This was Simeon Johnson, whom every old settler remembers. I took what was called the Flat River trail, which led to the Grand Riv- er, at what is now Lowell. Arriving there, I stopped with Mr. Mar- sac, an Indian trader, brother of Mrs. Louis Campau. This was my arrival in the Grand River Valley, the 14th day of October, 1836. Marsac and the Robinsons, at the mouth of the Thornapple, were the only white people between Grand Rapids and Ionia. But soon after, Lewis Robinson settled at the mouth of the Flat River and Mr. Daniel and others in Vergennes."
The next day Mr. Ball followed the trail to Ionia, stopping with Mr. Yeoman's at his cabin. He found the place filled with people having business with the land office, and said that Mr. Hutchins, re- ceiver, "soon took in silver to the amount of his bail and had to shut up office and cart the silver through the woods to Detroit."
An interesting description of the Ionia land office, which was opened in 1836 for the sale of government lands south of the Grand River, was published in the Detroit "Post and Tribune," June 1, 1878, in which it was said: "With the opening of the office there came a rush of settlers and speculators. Two hotels were opened, and these, and the houses of settlers, were filled to overflowing. Many are the stories told of the manner in which men were stowed away for the night and the reckless way in which they threw their bags of specie about, feeling sure that no one would steal them, considering the very poor facilities for getting away with the plunder. The opening of the land office at this juncture is said to have been unfortunate for the country. Fraud was alive and at work even in those days, and suc- ceeded, by work in the land office, in driving away many who came to buy homes; and the land was left to speculators, who held it from settlement and improvement."
It would appear that the frauds outlined above were not sufficient to gratify the greed of the officers in charge, for, before the close of 1837, Allen Hutchins, the receiver, was dismissed from government service on account of defalcation, and General Brown, the receiver, was also removed. Senator Lyon and Major Calvin Britain, of St.
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Joseph, were sureties for Hutchins, and Senator Lyon wrote in March, 1838: "We shall, I fear, lose some ten or fifteen thousand dollars, perhaps more. But that is enough to nearly or quite ruin me as the times are at present." Mr. Lyon empowered Sheldon Mcknight to take over the moneys and papers in the office and to take steps to protect the bondsmen, asking that a deputy marshal levy on all Hut- chins' property, whether in houses and lands in the village and coun- ty of Ionia, or in elegant furniture in the rapids of Grand River, where I understand he had a costly set of mahogany, etc., prepared." Hutchins was seen in New York City, but left for parts unknown. To succeed him, William A. Richmond was appointed receiver of public money for the Grand River district, and Mr. Lyon attempted to se- cure the passage of a bill creating a new land district out of the east- ern part of the Grand River district and removing the office from Ionia to Grand Rapids.
Having digressed to follow the early history of the Ionia land office, it would be well to follow John Ball on his first trip to Grand Rapids. This, in some respects, might be termed a typical experi- ence, illustrative of many other homeseekers' toils and adventures in those days. He went on horseback with a Mr. Anderson to look for pine lands in Ottawa County and came the first day to Grand Rapids, stopping at the Eagle Tavern, "then the only one at the place and kept by William H. Godfroy." Their stay was brief and early the next morning they reached Grandville, where there was no tavern, but Mrs. Charles Oakes accommodated them with good hot coffee. At the mill which Mr. Ketchum was building near the village they also found provisions scarce. This difficulty met them on all sides and Mr. Ball said: "As yet nothing had been raised in Kent County or Ottawa, and nothing like a supply in Ionia; and all had to be brought by way of the lakes from Buffalo or Cleveland." Concerning Grand Rapids, he said: "I was little at Grand Rapids the first fall and winter I was in the State. But at one time, when there, I went up through the mud and among the stumps to Bridge street, where Mr. Coggeshall lived, and met a man at an office west of his house and asked him the price of lots. He-it was Judge Almy-answered that on Canal and Kent streets they were $50 a front foot, or $2,500 a lot. I did not invest, and made no further inquiry about lots in Grand Rapids. My business had led me to travel much up and down the Grand River country, and I had become more acquainted with the people elsewhere than at Grand Rapids. But in the spring of 1837, I sat down at Grand Rapids to make it my permanent home. I board- ed at the Eagle, then kept by our late Mr. Moran. The three broth- ers Nelson were boarders, and had a store opposite. Being a little suspicious of Indian sugar, they used to bring sugar from the store for their tea and coffee. Charles H. Taylor had his shop over their store and A. Hosford Smith had a store further down the street. Wa- terloo was then rather the business street. There were two ware- houses on the river below and two at the foot of Monroe street. Un- cle Louis Campau's mansion became a part of the Rathbun House. Richard Godfroy had a like house where the Catholic church was aft- erward built and Myron Hinsdill lived where is now the Morton House. There was also a building on the north side of Monroe street, in which Drs. Wilson and Shepard had their office, and Esquire Beebe
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(I think) his justice office. Dea. Page, with his three beautiful daughters, Mrs. Richmond one of them, and Judge Almy, lived where Butterworth & Lowes' machine shop now is ; and A. D. Rathbone had a shanty office near Bronson street. Though there were but a few houses, there were a good many people. There were the brothers, Ly- man and Edward Emerson, and then, or soon after, one Fuller. I cannot say precisely who were in Grand Rapids, as they were coming in fast, and all full of hope for a continuance of good, money-making times that would make all rich. The citizens were friendly and so- cial; a stranger was kindly welcomed, and all soon became ac- quainted."
"The settlers out of the village were Judge Davis and the Reeds, out by the lake [ Reeds and Fish lakes] ; Alvin Wansey, the Messrs. Guild and Burton, by the fair grounds ; Esquires Chubb and Howlett, toward Grandville; and then, over the river, E. H. Turner, Captain Sibley, the Messrs. Davis, and afterwards James Scribner. Others had gone upon the lately purchased Indian lands, and soon many more came in and went upon the unsurveyed lands north of the Grand River. Among the Grand Rapids enterprises, a steamboat had been bought at Toledo to run on the Grand River. On the way it was wrecked on Thunder Bay Island of Lake Huron. But the engine was saved and brought around, and Richard Godfroy built a boat, which made its first trip to Grandville on the Fourth of July. We had quite a celebration ; an oration on the boat, and great rejoicing generally on that account.
"I must say a word about banking at Grand Rapids. There was the Grand River Bank, of which Almy was president and Richmond, cashier. It was in the office of the Kent Company on Bridge street. Mr. Coggeshall and some others became dissatisfied and undertook to establish another bank, to be located in the Campau plat part of the village. They got a room over Smith & Evans' store, about where the west part of Luce's Block now is; and, after much urging, Louis Campau consented to be president and Simeon Johnson to be cashier. They named it the "People's Bank," got plates engraved, and some bills struck off, and even put into circulation. The capital stock was $100,000. So, under the law, it required $30,000 in specie to start on. Being all ready, as they claimed, they sent for the bank commissioner, Digby V. Bell, to come, make examination, and put the bank in legal operation. But instead of finding the required amount of specie he found but $6,000, and they proposed to make up the rest by a draft of Mr. Coggeshall, of $20,000 on a broker in New York, and one of Mr. Ketchum, on Chicago, for the balance. Mr. Bell did not see the propriety of the arrangement and said it would not do; so what next was to be done? They not only had bills out, but they had received deposits ; and the specie shown, I suppose, was deposited to be drawn out as soon as the bank was in operation. They were very anxious to go on in some way, and so far satisfied the commissioner that they could that he agreed to give them a month for the purpose. But then it was to be on the condition that the means on hand should go into the hands of a receiver for the security of the bill-holders and depos- itors. When it was talked over who that man should be, they could agree on no one but myself. I did not at all like any connection with the matter, but, after much urging, consented to it. It was to be kept
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as it was for the month, except to pay out to such cash depositors as should claim their money, and to redeem their bills then in circula- tion. Without any formality, Mr. Bell handed me the keys of the safe and said there was about such an amount of specie in this safe, and bills, and what he had passed upon as specie equivalent, in the other. The next morning, on opening the safe containing the paper deposits, I found missing some $2,000. I felt it rather an awkward predica- ment. But soon Mr. Campau came in and said there were two keys to that safe, and he thought Mr. Cook had the other one. More of the money was soon drawn out by depositors and bill-holders, and when the month came round they were no better prepared to go into opera- tion than before, and I had to keep charge still longer. But, wishing to go East, Mr. Bostwick took charge of what there was left and I went back to Troy, having been absent two years, instead of a few months, as I had expected when I left there."
While Grand Rapids received the major part of the newcomers, in 1836, and became a veritable boom city, there were numerous other settlements in Kent County, chiefly along the south bank of Grand River. At Lowell there was an Indian village of some three to four hundred inhabitants, under Chief Wobiwindego (White Giant) and Robinson and Tracy also had an eighty-acre tract fenced at the site of Lowell, on the right bank of the Flat River. Messrs. Hodges and Jones split the rails for this fence and Luther Lincoln planted the first apple tree in the township, on the left bank of Flat River. E. K. Bickford was a pioneer of 1836, and others at Lowell during this and the succeeding year were John and James Thompson, Cyrus Bennet, George Beebe, John, P. W. and James Fox, Dr. Silas Fallass, J. W. Fox, Caleb Page, Thompson I. Daniels, George Brown, and Rodney, Lucas and Lewis Robinson, three brothers who came with a party by ship in 1835. In Bowne, Jonathan Thomas entered a large tract and brought William Wooley, Frederick Thompson and Israel Graves from Toledo to farm his land. The journey with ox teams required two weeks and they built the first 12x16 log shanty in the township. Mr. Thomas was the monied man, and the others were his employees. He could not stand the climate, however, and returned to his New York home. The south part of Byron township was first settled by Nathan, Jerry and William Boynton, and Justus C., Jacob and Charles Rogers, but in 1837 Herman Kellogg and John Harmon were added to the settlement. The first cabin, with split log roof and floor and chimney of clay and sticks, was built by Nathan Boynton. Lewis Cook, Peter and George Teeple and Hiram Larraway were the 1836 pioneers of Cascade. In the year following, Edward Linen was the first of the Irish pioneers, and soon afterward a number of Irishmen, who had come to labor on the canal, decided to remain as farmers and located in this vicinity. Among these were James May, David Petted, John Farrell, James and William Annis, Michael Matthews and Christo- pher, Michael and Patrick Eardley. Wyoming township was organ- ized as Byron township, May 2, 1836, with Charles Oakes as super- visor, G. H. Gordon as clerk, and I. A. Allen, Robert Howlett and E. P. Walker as justices. In 1835 the city of Grandville was founded by the so-called Grandville Company, composed of Eastern men, who platted eight acres, with additions, in 1836. They offered lots at $25 each for building purposes and at $200 each for speculators. A few
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lots were sold at these prices, but the bulk were disposed of by the sheriff at much lower prices at the delinquent tax sales. In Vergennes there were numerous settlers in 1836, including Ira, Jesse, Alfred, and Chauncey Van Deusen, Everett Williams, Hamilton Andrews, Rodney Robinson, T. I. Daniels, John Thompson, Charles Francisco, Sylves- ter and Lester Hodges, Matthew, Patrick and Ebenezer Smith, Ira Danes, and Charles and James Thompson. The first settlers in the north part of the township were Barnard, David, Ira and Abel Ford, who came overland from Canada in 1838. In Grattan township, L. K. Madison was one of the first, while at Paris, Joel, Edward and John Guild, Barney Burton and James Vanderpool pre-empted land in 1833, Burton being the first resident. In 1834 the settlement was increased by the coming of Abraham Laraway, Alexander Bock, James Clark, Jacob Friant, and O. Spaulding, who came through on foot or by canoe. This party pre-empted land, in 1836, and cut the first road through to Grand Rapids. Alexander and Benjamin Clark were also Paris settlers in 1834. At Plainfield the first settler was James Fri- ant, who was employed by James Clark to care for his cattle and who spent the winter of 1836 without white neighbors, although there were some twenty-five Indian families in the vicinity under Chief Neogge- maw. In 1837, G. H. Gordon built the first mill at Rogue River, and Jonathan and Abner Misner and Aaron Eager were pioneers of that year. George Hamilton, in Volume 21 of the Pioneer Collections, tells of Michigan conditions in these years as follows :
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