USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II > Part 2
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As illustrative of some of the hardships incident to the settlement of a new country, he once told me this story : Being out of flour and corn meal, and having neither wheat nor corn, he started from home with a yoke of steers hitched to a sled, expecting to purchase wheat and corn at Clinton, but finding none for sale at that place, he came on to Tecumseh, but was unable to obtain anything there, and came thence to the Valley, in Raisin, where he succeeded in purchasing five bushels of wheat and seven bushels of corn from Darius Comstock, which he brought to the old Red Mill in this city, now owned by Messrs. Benson & Mumford. Here he found people from Coldwater, Jonesville, and other parts of the State, waiting their turn to get their grists. He waited three days and three nights, staying in the mill and living upon cakes, which he, himself, mixed and baked upon the stove, before he could get his grinding done and start for home, where he arrived after just one week's absence. His family, meanwhile, not
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
knowing what had become of him, whether he had been killed by the Indians, or had met with some fatal accident, were, as well may be imagined, in the greatest possible distress.
The Rev. William N. Lyster, a clergyman of the Episcopal church, an Irishman by birth, was in personal appearance, and in his general make up, the very counterpart of Elder Tripp. Delicately formed, brought up in luxury and wealth, he was educated for the ministry, and could have occupied any Episcopal pulpit in the country-was, in fact, for a time, rector of Christ church in Detroit, and I think of the church in Tecumseh. But, like Elder Tripp, he became fascinated with the beauty of Sand Lake and its surroundings, and having in- herited wealth, he purchased and at one time owned nearly all the land about the lake.
The early settlers will recollect him. His Utopian schemes for im- provement, his log fence commenced, but never finished, his rope fence, the house he built upon the west bank of the lake, inaccessible for teams, his French cart upon which he jolted about the country, preach- ing at log dwellings and school houses. This man, with the culture and education, fitting him for what is termed the best society in any country, was in manners and in all his life, simple as a child. While he could have received a large salary and occupied a prominent pulpit, he preferred the simple, unostentatious life that he led upon the banks of Sand Lake, to that of any other in the world. Unlike Elder Tripp, there was nothing rough or harsh in his organism, or in his preaching. His sermons were models of persuasive eloquence, and I venture to say that the service of the Episcopal church has never been read by any clergyman of the State, so perfectly and so beautifully, as by him. As 1 remember this part of his work, it seems to me to have been abso- lutely faultless. He sometimes wore his clerical robes, but often preached without them. His distinguished characteristics were sim- plicity and self-abnegation.
Lenawee county has had many noble, christian men in the ministry, in its numerous churches and sect, but among them all, it would be difficult to find the peer of Rev. William N. Lyster in all those quali- ties which go to make up our highest ideal of what a clergyman should be.
Of James King I can say but little. He was an Englishman of superior education and acquirements-I have been informed, a gradu- ate of one of its famous universities. Falling in love with the lake, he purchased land from the government, upon its southern border, in 1835, (a part of the farm now owned by Jesse Pentecost, Esq.,) and built a log house upon an eminence commanding a magnificent view. He was a man of fine presence, of cultured mind and extensive learn- ing, had mingled with the best society in his native England, and in knowledge of poetry, literature and art, had no peer in all that region of country. But in that most practical and useful of all arts and ac- quirements, especially for a man with a wife and children dependent upon him-the art of making a living on a new farm, in a new coun- (3)
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
try, he was a failure by the side of some of his neighbors, who could scarce read their mother tongue.
His accomplished wife, reared as she had been in luxury and wealth, knew absolutely nothing of domestic life or of its acquirements, espe- cially as the wife of a farmer without money.
Spending, as she did, much of her time in her boat upon the lake, sketching its beautiful banks and hillsides, she doubtless drank in lessons, which her more practical sisters, engaged in the varied duties of domestic life, would, perhaps, have been incapable of receiving. But, while she was feeding her soul with visions of beauty, and deriv- ing comfort and consolation from the study of nature, the children became ragged and almost naked. This lack of practical knowledge finally compelled Mr. King to abandon his farm.
I have been informed that he subsequently obtained an appoint- ment as a professor in a Canadian college, and afterwards founded the village of Kingsville, in Canada, became wealthy, and is now en- joying his old age in comfort and affluence:
Those of you who were in the habit of visiting the lake as long ago as in 1836, may recollect seeing a man rather above the medium height, broad shouldered, deep-chested, and with a marked intellec- tual cast of countenance-a man whom after meeting in the street, you would involuntarily turn to look at-a man who, when he spoke, riveted your attention. He was usually clothed in sheep's gray, well worn and patched, yet you could not but feel, while in his presence, as if in the presence of a king. That man was Benjamin Workman, an Irishman, who, like Elder Tripp and Rev. Mr. Lyster, had become infatuated with the beauty of the lake, and in 1835 located lands upon its shores. Although he had the advantage of the best culture of his native land, was a thorough, classical, scientific scholar, yet he found himself at fault in trying to make a living upon a new farm in the woods. Gradually his clothing became more and more seedy, and his purse lighter and lighter, and a casual visitor at the lake would not have been likely to envy either him or his possessions. There he lived until the parties interested in the old Constitutionalist, the first Whig paper ever published in this county, commenced looking about for an editor. Workman was selected, and took charge of the editorial de- partment of that paper, boarding, while here, with the late David Bixby, some two miles north of the city. I was too young to know much about his success as an editor, but have a vague recollection that he was regarded as too honest for the position. He was a man of strong convictions, and men with convictions are not always successful as editors of a party paper. He afterwards taught school at Tecum- seh and at Springville. And among the most delightful memories I have of school life is that of attending his school at Springville. After this he removed to Canada, studied medicine, engaged in business, be- came wealthy, and was for many years either at the head of or con- nected with the insane asylum at Toronto. A year ago I spent two delightful days with him at the asylum, found him a hale old man of
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
80, with a clear and vivid recollection of his life at the lake, and of his old neighbors and friends. In Canada, where he is known exten- sively, he is held in the highest esteem, and all over the Province great deference is paid him as a man of culture and learning.
In giving prominence to the names of these men, it has been far from my purpose to ignore or disparage any of the other early settlers in that part of the county, many of whom deserve to be held in honor- able remembrance, so long as true courage and a faithful discharge of the duties of citizenship shall be recorded among the virtues. But I have selected from among the names of those early settlers, these: First, because it is impracticable to speak of all; but mainly because I knew these men at a time when education and culture, above and higher than that afforded by our common schools, was rarely met with, and my boyish imagination invested their names with a sort of halo, which advancing years has tended to increase rather than diminish.
Then it was a mystery past my comprehension, why men of so much learning, culture, and of real ability, so well fitted to fill important and prominent positions in the great world and among men, should have come across the great ocean, leaving behind friends, the refine- ments and luxuries of the civilization of the old world, to endure the hardships and privations of a home in the wilds of Michigan.
I did not comprehend or appreciate that genuine nobility and sim- plicity of character, which induced the preference of a free, manly, in- dependent life in the woods, to the attractions of a position, however free from physical want or suffering, it may have been in the old world, which was yet regarded by them at least, as lacking the freedom which is necessary to the very life of such minds. The influence exerted by their teachings, and above all by their lives, can never be measured or known, but will continue to widen while time lasts.
Following is an address delivered by Francis A. Dewey, March 10th, 1877 :
When we look back to the beautiful and majestic forest scenes in the wild oak openings, also the dark interminable timbered lands with the picturesque, clear lakes in Cambridge, it brings to mind many fond remembrances. I love to review many scenes and incidents which transpired years ago, when the forest lands, the wild Indians, and the still more wild beasts of this remote township were in their own native homes, untrammeled by the arts of the white traders, or encroached upon by the woodman's axe, or the large plantations of the now well contented and cheerful farmers. The north half of this town is some- what rolling and very hilly, on some sections, interspersed with many beautiful, clear lakes, bountifully supplied with fish of several varie- ties. The soil is generally a sandy and gravelly loam, and well adapt- ed to produce all kinds of grain. There is also a fair allowance of marsh lands. The whole north half is termed oak openings. The south lialf is what was called heavy timbered lands, rather level, abounding with large and stately oaks, majestic black walnuts, with
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
what was considered by the early settlers an exhaustless supply of whitewood, sugar maple and ash timber. From the high lands in the vicinity of the lakes, two small streams of water meander their course until one helps to form the north branch of the river Raisin, and the other the south tributary of the same stream. We will briefly review a few passing years, of the first improvements made, and the first white settlers of this township. First was the military road surveyed and laid out by the United States government in the year 1825, running from Detroit to Chicago, passing through the north part of this town- ship, a number of years before any white inhabitant had erected his cabin west of Tecumseh. The records of the United States land office show that John Gilbert, of Monroe county, N. Y., entered the first land, 160 acres, on section 4, in this town, in 1825. One of the com- missioners, who assisted to lay out this military road, located several thousand acres of land for a Rochester company on the line of the road, in which John Gilbert was one of the managers. The second lot was purchased in the year 1829, by Isaac Powers, of Washtenaw county. The third lot was taken by Charles Blackmar, July 11, 1831. Mr. Blackmar was the first actual settler of the township, having erected his house in the year 1830, 15 miles from the nearest settlement. Here, with his wife and children, he was monarch of all. His horses and cattle roamed at large for miles around. Mr. Blackmar was a true specimen of the undaunted men who led the way into this great and growing, and now populous town. At his house the traveler always found a cheerful welcome, and was refreshed with the choicest selec- tions of game from the forest. When the scourge of the world, called the cholera, was wafted from the eastern to the western hemisphere, in its desolate track, the high and the low were made to mourn. This black cloud of an epidemic went over our country. In the remote and primitive home of Col. Blackmar a traveler died with the cholera. The landlord was taken with the disease and died in less than thirty hours. Thus passed away, in August, in the year 1834, a noble and good man who had lived to see his isolated home in the midst of a thriving settlement. The second public improvement made in the township was the La Plaisance Bay military road from Monroe, inter- secting the Chicago turnpike in this township, and laid out in 1832.
In the years 1835 and '36 the woodman's axe was heard on all sides, with the crash of the falling trees, in place of the howl of the wolf and the bear. The cheerful log house, with its ample fire-place, was erect- ed, roads were opened, clearings were made, corn, potatoes and wheat were planted which yielded, with a little cultivation, bountifully. Thus prosperity, with the true and generous hospitality which prevails in all new settlements, united the good citizens in the bonds of friendship and good will to all. The first school house was erected in the east part of the town, in the year 1835, on lands where the Springville school house now stands. There was school taught in the west part of the town in the winter of 1836. Scholars came a distance of four miles to learn to read and spell. The first practicing physician was
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN:
Dr. A. N. Moulton, who settled in the west part of the town in 1834. In the fall of 1835 a number of citizens met in council at the inn of Abram Butterfield to give a name to this township. Of the number present were A. Butterfield, Isaac Powers, William Blackmar, N. S. Wheeler, Joseph Achins, John Pawson, Paul Geddes, John Stephen- son and John Smith, who have the honor of giving Cambridge its name, which was unanimously ratified by the company present, and afterwards by the Territorial Legislature. The first town meeting was held at the house of Abran Butterfield, April 4th, 1836. Isaac Pow- ers was elected Supervisor and Justice of the Peace; Paul Geddes, Justice of the Peace and Town Clerk ; Harlow C. Smith, Justice of the Peace and Assessor ; A. N. Moulton, Justice of the Peace, and Dr. James Geddes, Constable and Collector. There were 26 voters, and very unanimous they were. In the year 1836 Abram Butterfield was appointed postmaster, and the first postoffice was immediately opened. The first mail route through this town was on the Chicago road, in the year 1831. The first mail route over the La Plaisance Bay road was in January, 1835, through Cambridge. The first store was erected by Hart & Mosher in 1836, and well filled with groceries,. dry goods and hardware. I will here remark that Mr. Mosher still continues the mercantile business, sustaining his well merited reputa- tion as a merchant, miller and wholesale flour dealer, with no signs of a failure in the last 40 years.
In the year 1836 a saw mill was built on the far famed Wolf Creek, which, in speculative times, was reported in eastern cities as navigable for the largest class of steamboats from Lake Erie to the lakes in Cambridge. City lots bordering on the stream sold for fabulous prices, and wild cat money was circulated in uncut reams. The first grist mill was built in 1837. The first resident ministers of the gospel were Elder Tripp, Rev. John Stephenson, Elder John Smith, and Rev. William N. Lyster. The latter selected his home on the high and beautiful banks of Sand lake, and here amid the towering oaks he built his house. A few rods from his residence on a large and majestic tree was an eagle's nest, where the Indian tradition said they had raised their young for 100 seasons. Looking from the window out on the lake could be seen in their season large flocks of ducks and hun- dreds of wild geese, intermingled with the low-set and solitary loons, and with the graceful and admired swans. In the depths of these waters were untold numbers of fish of many varieties. This venerable pioneer rector of the forest held services in this town for over 30 years, and when the first church was built in this town, in the year 1855, Rev. William N. Lyster furnished one-third of the money towards its completion. To-day this church is the most stately of the four in town. Saint Michaels and All Angels stands a monument for its late rector. We look back 41 years ago when that college graduate, and we will say, that unblemished gentleman, with the olive branch of the gospel of Christ in his hand, and the charity of virtue in his heart, planted himself with family in a forest full of savages and wild, beasts.
ยท
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Generations will pass away, but the virtuous record of the true minis- ter of the gospel will not be forgotten.
Late in the fall of 1836 Mrs. Onsted, in passing through the woods, a mile from any house, met a large panther who disputed the right of way. Her courage and bravery drove the varmint up a tree where he was left to howl in solitude. A short time after that a large bear got into a yard where there was a hog. His jaws were immediately fastened to the porker's neck. The squealing was tremendous. Mrs. Owen, with undaunted courage, ran with the first ready weapon, a pitchfork, and plunged it deep into the side of the bear. The hog was left staggering. The bloody trail of the bear was followed, and bruin shot. His weight was over 300 pounds. In the summer of 1838 a family by the name of Loveland, living in a small cabin covered with bark, on section 18, during a heavy shower, for protection went into a building near by which was partly finished. They were there but a few minutes when lightning struck the building, and Mr. Loveland and two daughters were killed. The wife and one girl were not hurt.
In the year 1838 Mr. Sylvester Walker opened a hotel at Cambridge Junction. This house sustained a well earned reputation among the traveling community as being one of the best west of Detroit. The passengers of two stages dined at this house daily. Oftentimes there would be from ten to twenty wagons and carriages awaiting their turn for accommodations at this hotel. About the period of 1840, it was the boast of the farmers to have luxuriant fields of grain, a good pair of oxen, and occasionally a horse, and most every farmer kept a dog. And they also took pride in one other thing-in raising up the largest and best families of children, and we would respectfully say, let their posterity imitate them. One family in the west part of the town were not blessed with children, but usually kept from 10 to 16 dogs.
In the month of June iu the year 1828, about the third team that had ever passed over the Chicago military road was that with the fam- ily of Mr. Ebenezer Jones. In looking for a western home they had come as far as Wolf Lake, where they camped over night. They were of course delighted with the beautiful waters of the lake and the rich alluvial soil ; also the fine scenery. They unloaded the wagon, erect- ed their tent, and left their horses to roam around and rest. Here they intended to make a farm plantation, with a pleasant home, 12 miles from the nearest house.' During the second day a large com- pany of Indians encamped on the opposite side of the lake, and two of them rode round on ponies where Mr. Jones was. They did not like, as they seemed to act, those white intruders, and showed some warlike demonstrations. Mrs. Jones was much frightened ; their wagon was again loaded, the tent was done up, and they left the admired Jakes ; also the Indian war-path. He afterwards erected his home on the banks of the St. Joseph river. Thus this township lost the first white inhabitant, and the western river gained the first white citizen, and im. provement, between Allen's prairie and Tecumseh, viz .: the now flourishing village of Jonesville.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
In the year 1832 it was my pleasure to spend a few days in the month of June in this remote township, among the beautiful lakes on a hunting excursion, and looking for lands. Following the section lines between sections 18 and 19, and diverging a south course, we came to a clear, rapid-running stream, which was but a few rods to its fountain, a large, flowing spring. The water of this crystal foun- tain was the most delicious beverage ever given man to drink. Here near by, in a secluded nook among the hills, was the gentle rising smoke from a camp fire There was a well-made tent with the arms of the British crown stamped on one side, also a small log cabin close by, with a neat little forge with bellows; also a great many other ap- pliances in very bright and excellent order. Here were crucibles for melting metal, with many other articles which we did not know what to call; also three stalwart men, dressed in what is called corduroy suits. They appeared to own this property by squatters' right, three miles from any road or white inhabitant. Here these men of the forest, three in number, when the furnace was in blast, and they worked at their occupation, would turn out what purported to be $500, in bogus half dollars a day. This, we will presume to say, with our limited knowledge of early pioneers, was the first mint in Lenawee county, and perhaps in the territory of Michigan. I will not omit to say that there was a solid bank in the vicinity, which was never known to fail. The fluctuating panics of the Wall street brokers, or the wild-cat currency of the speculators, never had any effect upon its deposits.
This town has had the honor of having four of its citizens elected to the State Legislature, viz .: Albert Wilcox, T. H. Moslier, Sylvester Walker, and Marshall Reed.
In conclusion we would say it is well to remember the past, and to recall the toil, privations and self-sacrifices of those who pushed for- ward into the wilderness, to provide pleasant homes for their families. It was no slight test of bravery to face the hostility and defy the treachery of the wily Indians of the forest. It was no small expendi- ture of physical strength and hardy endurance, which cleared away the majestic forest, and brought the untold wealth of this land in culti- vated fields, smiling with bountiful harvests. And yet to those early pioneers, it was a labor of love, as they looked forward to the time when their posterity, reaping the fruit of their improvements, would dwell amid plenty, with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. I am pleased to say we are here to-day to review, and so far as may be, gather up reminiscences of former times, and repay this debt of grati- tude, while our hearts are filled with thanksgiving for the early pio- neers. Many have passed on to the land of the unseen, and we are closely following them. Soon our part will be done, and we shall be here no more. Others will occupy our homes and farms, and the cheerful seats at the table and the fire side. May our beautiful farms and pleasant homes spread out until our citizens shall be numbered by thousands where they now only count hundreds.
WOODSTOCK.
N ADDRESS delivered by Orsamus Lamb, Esq., in March, 1877 :
Standing before you to-day, I feel that great reverence, due to men and women of sterling worth and usefulness-a reverence emanating from a consciousness that you, by faithful and untiring in- dustry, privations and hardships, have been instrumental in converting a howling wilderness into a flourishing and enlightened common- wealth.
Your children and friends who have come upon the stage within the last generation, surrounded by the fruits of your toil and your labor, . can never fully appreciate the blessings and comforts with which they are surrounded on every hand, nor the hardships that you have en- dured and overcome. The immediate necessities which go to sustain life, are the first sought after by humanity, as well as by all other specimens of created life. In this, man differs but little from the lower orders of animal creation. So far, man and animals resemble each other; beyond this the animal never, to any preceptible extent, rises, and this is the boundary of their common dominion.
But the onward and upward aspirations of mankind clearly and sharply define the superiority of the human faculties above those of the mere animal kingdom Man is continually looking for something yet beyond his immediate grasp, something that shall satisfy the longings and outstretchings implanted in the human heart by the fiat of Omnipc- tence, something that shall be conducive of more happiness, more peace, more prosperity and contentment than they now are the recipients of, or can enjoy. Were it not for this propelling influence, man would again retrograde to his normal condition, and all the experiences of the past, the examples of the present. and hopes of the future, would pass for naught. The desire for a higher state of usefulness, a more exalted sphere of being, and a wider range of thought and enjoyment, induced you, my respective fellow pioneers, to leave the green hillsides, the pleasant valleys, and the sparkling waters of your eastern homes, in order that you might hew out of the vast wilderness of Michigan the ideal homes, the lasting honors and the untarnished names which fancy created and hope inspired you to possess.
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