USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 39
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HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN
Many incidents of this early settlement have been handed down and a few have been taken from a previous publication. Justus C. Rogers, who came to Kent County in 1835, walked from Detroit to Chicago, and from there back to Grand Rapids. At that time the only public conveyance across Michigan was a lumber wagon stage, and walking was preferable to riding in it over the roads as they were then. Erastus and Eli Yeomans, pioneers of 1835, came from Pon- tiac on foot, via the Shiawassee trail, and had to ford all the streams. Dwight Rankin came with a wagon, in 1836, by way of Gull Prairie, and was nine days coming from Detroit to Grand Rapids. When they forded the Coldwater they got "set," and were an hour or two getting through. A pole boat, called the Cinderella, was launched at Grand- ville in June, 1837, and the occasion was made one of general rejoic- ing. All the people around were invited and the boat was poled up and down the river, while they had music and dancing on board.
Lewis Moody came to Grandville in the spring of 1837, but did not bring his family until November. They, with others, came by Green Lake and were six days getting through. They had four ox- teams and four wagons, and were frequently obliged to put the four teams on one wagon. Just at dark on the fourth day they came to the outlet of Green Lake and found the poles that composed the bridge afloat; they were about two hours getting across and it was raining all of the time. When they reached the Green Lake House they found some three or four others there before them, but none of them had had any supper. All they could muster towards it were some potatoes and onions that the people who kept the house had, and some venison that one of the travelers had. Mrs. Moody told them she could furnish bread, and they made out a supper that rel- ished well, tired and hungry as they were. The next night for supper they had nothing but bread, and the same, in a very limited quantity, for breakfast. Mr. Moody was wont to say that the Fourth of July, 1837, was the "liveliest" Fourth he ever saw. The steamboat, "Gov- ernor Mason," made her trial trip from Grand Rapids to Grandville. Dr. Scranton was to deliver an address on board of the boat at Grand- ville, but, as it was very lengthy, when he was partly through some one blowed the whistle and the crowd cheered and broke up. There were four liberty poles raised at Grandville that day, but at night none of them were standing. It is said that when they first began to carry the United States mail from Grandville to Grand Haven, they used to tie it up in a pocket handkerchief. Leonard Stoneburner was the authority for the following story, which E. B. Bostwick told of one of the mail carriers, an Irishman. He started from Grandville late and did not get to the lumber camp, where he was to stay all night, until after dark. Just before he got through, Mr. Bostwick, who was but a short distance behind him, heard an owl cry out, "tu who-o, who-o," and the Irishman answered, "Me name is Jemmy O'Nale, sure, and I carry the mail."
Edmund B. Bostwick was a prominent man among the pioneers of Kent County. He fitted up with refined taste a suburban resi- dence at the corner of Cherry street and College avenue and platted that part of the city known as Bostwick's Addition. He started for California in 1850, overland, perished on the way, and sleeps his last sleep under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
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WYOMING TOWNSHIP
Ebenezer Davis was one of the early settlers of Kent County, having settled at Grand Rapids in 1836. He stated to a former writer that in the spring of 1837 there was a scarcity of flour, and for three weeks there was none to be had at Grand Rapids, and almost every- body lived on sturgeon. The first supply of flour came from Jack- son, down Grand River, on a flat boat. At Grandville, in 1838, they had no flour, except some which was said to have been sunk in Lake Michigan. After knocking the hoops and staves off the flour retained the shape of the barrel and had to be cut to pieces with an axe and then pounded up. That summer was very sickly, and most of the time this was all that could be had for sick or well. The first Con- gregational Society was organized at Grandville, in 1838, and the Rev. James Ballard was the first pastor.
On April 3, 1848, the first township meeting of the township of Wyoming was held at the house of Dwight Rankin. Officers were elected as follows: William R. Godwin, supervisor; Joseph Blake, township clerk; Erastus Yeomans and Roswell Britton, justices of the peace; Nicholas Shoemaker, Dwight Rankin, and James B. Jew- ell, commissioners of highways; Luther D. Abbott and Justus C. Rogers, school inspectors; Chase Edgerly, treasurer; L. D. Abbott and J. C. Rogers, overseers of the poor; William Richardson, J. A. Britton, C. J. Rogers, and H. N. Roberts, constables.
Nicholas Shoemaker, who officiated as one of three first commis- sioners of highways of Wyoming township, was one of the brave, stout-hearted pioneers who came to Michigan in the early days, and by his energy, sound judgment, and decision of character, rendered valuable assistance in developing its resources, and in establishing its civil, social and religious institutions. He was a native of New York, and was born at German Flats, Herkimer County, in 1820. He was reared among the hills of his native State, and there breathed in the spirit of independence and freedom with which he was so largely en- dowed. His early life was passed in the village school and in assist- ing in the labors of the home farm, until he was nineteen years old. In 1839 he came to Grand Rapids, and here he worked as a farm la- borer the ensuing seven years. In 1846 he purchased a tract of land on Sections 29 and 30 of what is now Wyoming township. In 1863 he entered the mercantile business at Grandville and remained so em- ployed the remainder of his active career.
Mention has been made of the Rev. James Ballard as the first minister of the gospel to follow his calling in Grandville. There was no church edifice in the village until 1855, and it was in the parlors of the pioneer hotel that the reverend gentleman conducted his serv- ices. He was the first clergyman that officiated as such at Grand- ville, and he also preached at Grand Rapids and other parts of the county. He was the only located preacher in the western part of the county for several years. He officiated at most of the funerals and weddings in the early days of the settlement, and was always ready and willing to accommodate at all times. During several years after the close of the Civil War he labored as a teacher among the Freed- men of the Southern States.
It will be impossible, in the space allotted to this chapter, to give the history of Wyoming township in detail. It would require a vol- ume to note every arrival and the careers of her worthy citizens. The
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growth of the village of Grandville was somewhat retarded during the early years of its history by the hard times incident to and fol- lowing the panic of 1837, which affected the country in general and the new settlements in particular. But it weathered the storm and added slowly to its population, and by 1887 it was deemed a place of enough importance to assume the dignity of a municipality, and it was accordingly incorporated. The religious and educational affairs of the village received early attention and liberal support. Merchants were aggressive and public spirited, their stocks often rivaling in value those exhibited by present-day dealers. The early settlers and business men of the township and village were generally people with agricultural tendencies and traditions. They purchased land, culti- vated and improved it, erected dwelling houses, and lived out their allotted days in the peace and harmony of the quiet community their industry had established. The population of Grandville, in 1910, was 680, and it contains a number of handsome and expensive residences, while the average homes evince the air of thrift and prosperity in their surroundings, in keeping with the industry and frugality of the occupants. The Pere Marquette and Lake Shore & Michigan South- ern Railways pass through the village, and it is connected with Grand Rapids by an electric line. The manufacturing interests of the village are important and prosperous. A large amount of farm prod- ucts are handled and shipped from that station, and all in all, Grand- ville is a commercial center of considerable importance. The village is well supplied with churches, and the public school system will com- pare with any village in Michigan. Further mention of the schools is given on another page of this volume, in the chapter devoted to Ed- ucational Development.
The following is a list of the supervisors of Wyoming township from its organization down to the present time: 1848, William R. Godwin; 1852, Nicholas Shoemaker; 1855, Egbert Dewey ; 1856, Eb- enezer Davis; 1857, Nicholas Shoemaker; 1858, Horatio N. Ball; 1860, Job Whitney ; 1861, Ebenezer Davis ; 1863, Job Whitney ; 1864, Horace O. Webster ; 1865, Dwight Rankin ; 1866, Joseph Blake; 1867, Ebenezer Davis; 1868, Augustine Godwin; 1869, John T. Emmons; 1871, Augustine Godwin; 1872, Salisbury Mason; 1876, Clinton D. Shoemaker ; 1878, William K. Emmons; 1879, William H. Nearpass ; 1880, Augustine Godwin ; 1885, Clinton D. Shoemaker; 1887, Nichol D. Emmons; 1896, Benjamin C. Porter ; 1903, George Wykes; 1907, Nichol D. Emmons; 1913, Cornelius Huizenga, present incumbent.
CHAPTER XXVI. ALGOMA TOWNSHIP
DATE OF ORGANIZATION-TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES-FIRST SETTLE- MENT-SMITH LAPHAM-FIRST TOWNSHIP MEETING AND FIRST OFFICERS-SCHOOLS-VILLAGE OF ROCKFORD-BURCHVILLE-ED- GERTON-LIST OF SUPERVISORS-HORATIO N. STINSON-WALTER CHIPMAN.
On March 15, 1849, the State Legislature provided for the organ- ization of township 9 north, range 11 west, under the name of Algoma, and provided further that town 10 north, range 11 west (now the
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township of Solon) should be attached to it. In 1857 Solon township was organized, thus reducing Algoma to its present convenient and usual size. The boundaries of the township are regular. The adjoin- ing townships are Courtland on the east, Plainfield on the south, Sparta on the west, and Solon on the north.
The topographical features of the township are not striking, if to be so comprehends a great variety of natural scenery. The broad and fertile fields, rich and productive, are the principal sources of agricultural wealth. That this particular spot was chosen by some who were among the first settlers of the county, and who had the choice of a vast scope of country from which to select, is evidence sufficient of the productive character of the soil. The first settlers of the township were of the class of the heroic pioneers who were identified with the settlement of all this portion of Michigan. They were seeking homes on fertile soil, and hence the lands of the town- ship of Algoma were very generally occupied by actual settlers at an early date in the history of Kent County.
The early history of the township is to a great extent identical with that of the village of Rockford, as most of the early settlers clustered about what is now the village. However, there were a few exceptions. The first settlement in the township was made in 1843. In that year Smith Lapham came with his family and located on the east side of Rouge River, in the southeast part of the township, where now stands the thriving village of Rockford, but in those early days called Laphamville.
Smith Lapham was born in Rhode Island, April 8, 1804. He was a distant relative of Senator Lapham, of New York, and a son of Job Lapham, who removed with his family to Saratoga, N. Y., in 1806. At the tender age of three years he lost his mother, and in 1816 he returned to Rhode Island and resided four years with his aunt, Lydia Sales, a widow. For some time after this he worked on a farm by the month. In 1825 he went to Buffalo, where he went aboard the "Pioneer" and sailed on Lake Erie. During her second trip the boat was overtaken by a severe storm and was wrecked off the shore at Fairport, Ohio. The passengers and crew were all res- cued and Mr. Lapham and eight other men walked thence to San- dusky, Ohio, where they went aboard the only remaining steamer, "Superior," which was the second steamer built on the lake, and came to Detroit, where he and his associates separated. Mr. Lapham then proceeded on foot to travel over the counties of Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Monroe. He finally concluded to locate in Wash- tenaw County, and accordingly purchased a tract of land on Lodi Plains, in that county, six miles south of Ann Arbor. This was in the fall of 1825. He returned to Saratoga the same winter, and on April 10, following, married Miss Catharine Gilbert, returning with his wife to his land in Washtenaw County, in June of the same year. He sold his farm in 1835, and built the American House, which, at least until a few years ago, was still standing in Saline and being used as a hotel. But Mr. Lapham ran it as a hotel only about two years. In 1839 he became interested in the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal, which was at that time building. His department was the building of culverts, and it is said that one which he erected is the
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largest culvert on the canal. In 1843, in company with Luke Glibert, his brother-in-law, he came to Okemos, on the Okemos River, where they dug a canoe out of a bass-wood log and in this rude boat floated down the river to the mouth of Flat River, where the town of Lowell now stands. They left their canoe there and started through the woods, with no road, to visit another brother-in-law, David Gilbert, reaching the settlement late in the evening of the same day. Mr. Lapham came to the Rouge River and decided to locate there, al- though the land was not yet in market. He found a mill site where Rockford now stands, and the same year, in July, purchased eighty acres where Laphamville, or Rockford, was afterward built, and pro- ceeded immediately to locate and erect a saw-mill. This mill was the first in the township and the dam was the first on Rouge River. Mr. Lapham finished the mill in 1844 and ran it successfully for twenty years. In 1866 he sold his mill and kept hotel in Rockford a couple of years. He was the first supervisor for Algoma, and held the same office a number of times afterward. In 1856 he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Michigan Legislature, and in 1858 was elected State Senator from this district. He held the office of justice of the peace almost constantly for over thirty-five years.
Mr. Lapham was soon followed by the Hunter brothers and oth- ers, in this corner of the township, but none went farther north or west until 1845, when Joshua Briggs and family, from Yates County, New York, went on the east line of Section 25. John Davis and family, from Ingham County, went a mile farther north on the east line of Section 24, and Henry Helsel and Henry Shank and families, from Ohio, went up the right bank of the river and settled on Sec- tion 21.
Henry Helsel was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1818. His father, John Helsel, was also a native of Pennsyl- vania and removed to Trumbull County, Ohio, when Henry was but a small boy. He was brought up on a farm and worked very hard. His educational advantages were very limited, as his parents were poor. For a short time he attended a subscription school which was taught in a small log cabin containing a few slab benches. In 1845, when Algoma was as yet a wilderness, Mr. Helsel ventured among the Indians and wild animals and settled on Section 21, as previously stated. During the first year of his pioneer life he carried his provi- sions from Plainfield, a distance of seven miles. On one occasion, when returning from Plainfield in the evening, some animals, which he supposed were wolves, ran him up a tree, where he remained for three hours, until the moon rose, when the animals slunk away. He then descended and made his way home with quickened pace. On another occasion a panther followed Mrs. Helsel to the door of their cabin. Mr. Helsel began life in Algoma with five half-dollars as his cash capital. He located on his land in the fall, where no clearing was done. He cleared five acres, sowed it in wheat the next year, without plowing, and raised twenty-six bushels to the acre. He aft- erward raised forty-eight bushels of wheat to the acre in the same . manner.
Benjamin Pettingill and his son, B. N. Pettingill, who came from Ingham County, settled in the southeast corner of the township in
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1845. The Longs and Turners came in at an early day and settled in this vicinity. Among other pioneers in this township might be mentioned the names of Henry Morningstar and sons, John Boyer, John Jacobs, Jacob Ipe and sons, John M. Smith, James Smith, James Barnes, Andrew House, Daniel Youngblood, James Mosher, and Messrs. Emmons, Hull, Bowers, and Christy, all within the first ten years. Mr. Emmons was the first settler on the west line, north of the river. Mr. Morningstar and sons were the first to penetrate the forest and settle on the now thickly settled line, one and one-half miles east of and parallel with the west township line. They were soon followed by John Dome and Daniel Youngblood. They were then three and one-half miles from Mr. Helsel, who was their nearest neighbor. This is now one of the finest farming regions of the town- ship.
At the first township meeting in the township of Algoma, held at a school house one mile south of the center in accordance with the Legislative enactment, April 2, 1849, the following persons were elected for township officers: William Thornton, township clerk ; Smith Lapham, supervisor ; Albert L. Pickett, treasurer ; Morgan Al- len, John H. Jacobs, and John Hamilton, justices of the peace.
Albert L. Pickett was born in Winchester, Chester County, New Hampshire, Nov. 24, 1820. He came to Kent County in 1842 and lo- cated on land south of Grand Rapids. In 1843 he moved to Algoma township, and in 1850 erected a saw-mill on Cedar Creek, on the northwest quarter of Section 22. He engaged in lumbering for the most part until 1861. He then enlisted in the Civil War and served in Company B, First Michigan light artillery, participating in the battles of Shiloh, Resaca, Cave City and others, but most of the time his command was kept guarding posts. He was promoted to the of- fices of sergeant and quartermaster, was commissioned second lieu- tenant on Dec. 2, 1863, and on March 14, 1864, was made first lieuten- ant. Mr. Pickett was railroad agent at Rockford for nine years, postmaster four years, township treasurer two years, and in 1880 he served as census enumerator.
The township of Algoma does not differ materially from other townships of the county in regard to early industries. The pioneer mills, churches, and schools had their existence, and with the excep- tion of the last named have mostly passed away, with the increasing prominence of surrounding villages as marketing and trading points, coupled with their superior advantages in a religious and educational way. The principal grain crops are wheat, corn, and oats, for the production of which the soil is admirably adapted. Of these corn is the staple product, and this is largely fed to cattle and hogs, these being the source of a large income. Horses and sheep are also raised with profit on the rich grazing fields afforded on the productive farms, and which are not used at the time for the cultivation of crops.
There are nine district schools in the township of Algoma, ex- clusive of the village schools, but one of them-District No. 13-is a fractional district. With a carefully arranged course of study, these schools give persistent students the advantages of a good com- mon school education, and fit their graduates for the ordinary busi- ness of life.
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Rockford is a flourishing village of 843 inhabitants, according to the United States census of 1910 and is larger now. It is situated on the Rouge River, five miles from its mouth, and thirteen miles from Grand Rapids, on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. It is in the extreme southeast corner of Algoma, on Section 36, and in- cludes a considerable portion of Section 1, of the township of Plain- field. The first settler here was, as before stated, Smith Lapham. He came in the year 1843, constructed a dam across the river, and erected the building afterward used by Messmore & Watkins as a shingle mill. A mill on the west side of the stream was erected the following year by Hunter Brothers. In the year 1845 a postoffice was estab- lished here, with Smith Lapham as the first postmaster, the mail be- ing carried by him from Plainfield, once a week, in his pockets, for want of a mail bag. In the year 1848, White & Rathbun, of Grand Rapids, opened the first stock of store goods sold here. A grist mill was erected by Chase & Judson, in 1852, containing three run of stone. The village was first platted in 1856, under the name of Laphamville, replatted in 1865, when the name was changed to Rock- ford. It was regularly incorporated by the State Legislature in 1871. It has a resident veterinary surgeon, three produce stores, a hotel, two harness shops, a shoe store, two drug stores, a general store, two meat markets, two hardware stores, a wagon-making shop, a shoe factory, two cigar stores and billiard halls, one jewelry store, a laundry, a furniture store, two groceries, three garages, a dentist, a millinery store, a feed store, a grist mill, a tailor, two resident physicians, one gents' furnishings store, a dry goods store, an under- taker, and a tannery. The village has electric light, water works, Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal Churches, a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Rockford "Register."
Burchville, now deserted but once a promising village, was situ- ated near the center of Section 1, in the northeast corner of the town- ship. It was a thriving "lumber station" in its day. It was platted in 1868, by John S. Weller, of Ann Arbor, who named it in honor of his partner, Jefferson Burch, who came here and built the first steam saw-mill, in 1866. That mill was totally destroyed by fire, in 1867, and a new one was erected by Mr. Burch on the same site. It had a capacity for cutting 15,000 feet of lumber and 15,000 shingles per day, but it ceased operations with the exhaustion of the timber. In 1867, George R. Congdon & Company erected a mill of about the same capacity, and that was destroyed by fire in June, 1870, with about $100,000 worth of lumber. Newton & Company also had a small, portable steam mill near by, and it cut 10,000 feet of lumber per day. Campbell & Stanton had a portable steam shingle mill, which began operations in October, 1868, about one hundred rods west of the railroad, and this mill cut 15,000 shingles per day. At the height of its industrial fame Burchville had a population of probably 200, but with the removal of the mills the population scattered and the village ceased to exist.
Edgerton is the name of a little hamlet on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, about three miles north of Rockford. This place boasts a postoffice, a Methodist Episcopal Church, a general store, two flour mills, a produce store, and a resident veterinary surgeon. It has a population of about 150.
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ALGOMA TOWNSHIP
The following is a list of the supervisors of Algoma township from its organization down to the present time: 1849, Smith Laph- am; 1853, James Mosher; 1854, Smith Lapham; 1855, George H. White; 1856, Morgan Allen; 1857, Smith Lapham; 1858, James Mosher ; 1859, William Thornton; 1861, Morgan Allen; 1865, Horatio N. Stinson; 1867, Walter Chipman; 1868, Horatio N. Stinson; 1877, Neal McMillan ; 1878, Oscar House; 1879, John T. Gould; 1881, Na- than Gould; 1882, John T. Gould; 1893, Hugh A. Montgomery ; 1907, Arthur D. Smith; 1910, David Munro; 1915, Earl S. Perry, present incumbent.
Horatio N. Stinson was born in Georgetown, Lincoln County, Maine, Oct. 19, 1820. He was reared on a farm and educated at Freedom Academy. When quite young he went several trips to sea with relatives, who were seamen. He came to Plainfield, Kent Coun- ty, in 1841, and followed lumbering the succeeding winter, in Algoma township, for Haines Gordon; and for the following eight summers he sawed lumber for Mr. Gordon and others, and taught school in the winter. In 1849 he purchased a farm in Courtland township and en- gaged in farming there until 1853. He then went to California, driv- ing an ox team and walking all the way from Leavenworth, Kan., through to the Golden State. He there engaged in mining for six years and, in 1859, returned to Michigan, but went to Southwest Mis- souri the same fall, locating in Dade County, at Greenfield, where he engaged in the hardware trade with a former California associate. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was obliged to leave Green- field, for he was known to be a Union man, and such characters were not harbored in that region; but soon afterward he returned to sell his property. He was there taken prisoner by the Confederates, kept three days and then released. Soon afterward they learned that Mr. Stinson had made cartridges for the Union army and they resolved to punish him with death. They placed a guard about the house in which he was stopping, and intended to hang him to a tree the fol- lowing morning ; but a little after midnight the guard at the door fell asleep and Mr. Stinson made good his escape. On Nov. 1 he reached General Lane's brigade which was on its way to join Fremont at Springfield, Mo., and he immediately enlisted in Company D, Sixth Missouri cavalry. While in the service he participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Pea Ridge, Siege of Vicksburg, Arkansas Post, and others. He took sick at Vicksburg and resigned his commis- sion, which was that of first lieutenant regimental quartermaster. He returned to Michigan in 1864, and removed to Rockford, where he lived in the old Algoma House six weeks, when it was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt it and conducted it as a hotel for about twelve years. He held many offices of trust-supervisor, twelve years; assessor, six years, and school director, twelve years.
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