USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II > Part 3
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You came in the morning of life, possessed of little else than willing hands, stout hearts, and sincere and honest desires. You endured toils and danger, sorrows and tribulations, disappointments, and, at
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
times, defeat ; yet, amid all these besetments, the beacon light of hope remained steadily burning to lead you on to.comparative happiness and prosperity. Although your most fond hopes may not have been fully realized, although the picture which your fancy drew in those halcyon days of youth, and untried realities are incomplete, although some of the sheen and lustre of that picture does not now appear, althoughi all along down the rugged paths which you have traveled, lie buried hopes and departed joys, and stricken comrades and green graves, and sad memories, yet, amid all these inevitable discourage- ments, you have cause to rejoice on account of the great success which has crowned your untiring and honest efforts. There have been dis- tinguished men in all ages and in all countries, some for their genius, their virtues, intellectual endowments, and high moral worth, others because of the very opposite of these. And it would be strange that if among the pioneers of Lenawee county there should not be found a parallel, or, at least, an approximation to this rule. As it is expected that in my feeble way, something may be said concerning the history of Woodstock, I shall principally confine myself to reminiscences of that part of the county of Lenawee. And when I undertake to take a retrospect of the stirring scenes, and recall to mind the various actors therein, and live over again those early days of my boyhood, I feel inadequate to the task of faithfully reproducing in fancy even, an out- line of what was once a reality. Sometimes beautiful, at others, jovous and exhilarating, again tame and common place, then sorrowful and sad, now comic and ludicrous, again tragic and dreadful. It is with mingled feelings of pleasure and sadness that busy fancy recounts and rehearses the deeds of those early days, pleasurable when the well- remembered personages, and smiling faces, and cordial greeting, and sympathetic words, come thronging back in fancy, as in the days of yore ; sad, as we again call to mind our own and kindred griefs and sorrows. We stand again beside the couch of suffering, of agony and death. Fancy recalls the racking throes of pain and anguish, the chill dews of death, the tearful surroundings, the coffin, and the rattling sands upon it. But we will dispel, as best we may, these bitter mem- ories, and think of scenes less gloomy and better suited to an occasion such as is the present.
On a bright November afternoon in 1834, weary and worn, travel- stained and unpresentable. I first set foot upon the soil of that part of Franklin, now known as Woodstock. The scenery was as unlike any- thing I had ever before witnessed, as one could well imagine. It was then an almost unbroken wilderness, with nothing to break the monot- ony except the Chicago turnpike, as it was then called, which stretched itself by devious and irregular windings in an easterly and westerly course across the township. When viewed from some eminence it ap- peared like a huge serpent lazily pursuing its onward course, utterly unconcerned as to its destination. A few and only a few rude tene- ments were erected along its borders, with intervals of miles between. All the residue was as destitute of anything which indicated civiliza- (3)
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
tion as was this continent before the feet of Columbus pressed its virgin soil. The oak openings contained only aged oaks and hickories, with no undergrowth of timber, and reminded one of some vast fruit orchard of boundless dimensions uncared for and desolate. No sound broke the stillness save that of the twitter of the birds, the howl of the wolf, or the sharp and rapid progress of the startled deer.
If my memory serves me, Cornelius Millspaw was the first settler on the Chicago road in Woodstock, where he continued to reside for a year or two, and then sold and went further west to what is known as Somerset Center, in Hillsdale county, but while living there his daugh- ter Mary was married to one Thomas Jolls, which, to my recollection, was the first marriage solemnized in Woodstock. Pursuing an east- erly course on the turnpike two miles, Silver Creek was reached, where Jesse Osborn had first built a dwelling for himself. He was a man of character, of sterling integrity, of matchless industry and unwearied activity. Possessed of a physical organization capable of great endu- rance, he became renowned as a master spirit in pioneer life. Ten years before the time of which I speak, he settled at what is now Te- cumseh, a little north of where the residence of Judge Stacy now stands. At Tecumseh he helped to erect the first house built in Lena- wee county, and he it was who raised the first wheat therein. He planted a large orchard at Tecumseh, said to be the first of which Lenawee county can boast. When he removed to Woodstock he im- mediately planted another orchard on a grander scale than the first, and it stands to-day the pride of his son, ornamental, useful, grand and beautiful, a monument to his industry, perseverance and skill. Many of his friends ridiculed the idea that a man at his advanced age should spend his time in an enterprise which would probably render no return until after he should be gathered to his fathers. But he stoutly maintained that he should live to enjoy its fruits and realize its useful- ness. The sequel proved the correctness of his predictions. He lived many years after that to enjoy the fruits of his labor in that regard, as well as in all others pertaining to a farmer's life in this latitude. Beneath his roof I have spent some of the most pleasant days of my life. It was there and from his hands I received her who has been the faithful and sympathetic partner of my joys and my sorrows, of my trials and triumphs for thirty-eight years. The family are now but a remnant of what they then were. The father, seventeen years ago, re- moved to Kansas, where he again commenced as he had done before. And he has left the peculiar impress of his industry and skill upon the fruitful soil :of that State, a monument of his former worth. But to him life's fitful fever is now over ; he went down like a shock of corn fully ripe, beloved and respected by the new friends he had found and acquaintances he had formed. His ashes lie peacefully beneath the green sward and bending skies of Kansas, where the prairie winds sigh a fitting requiem to his memory. His wife, the wise counselor, the willing helpmeet, the loving mother, the Christian lady, and the model woman, long before he removed to Kansas, laid aside her earthly
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
cares and anxieties for a glittering crown beyond life's tempestuous sea. A marble monument marks her resting place beneath the swaying branches of her Woodstock home. Out of a family of ten children only five remain. One son, Alvin C., lives on the old homestead ; one son at Lansing, one daughter in Detroit, one in San Francisco, and one in Adrian. As one journeyed eastward from Silver Creek about one mile, they came to a little cabin, built in the rudest manner, and in front of it stood a small hickory, upon which was nailed a small sign, about four inches wide and twenty long, on which appeared to weary travelers the welcome words, " Cake and beer to sell." It was occu- pied by an old man of English birth, and his wife, whose wrinkled face and smoky skin first impressed me with the idea that Shakspeare must have been enabled by some process of necromancy to have dis- covered when describing the witches in Macbeth. Yet forbidding as was her appearance, one soon found that under her rough exterior there beat a sympathetic and benevolent heart. Her husband had been a soldier under Gen. Harrison, and she had been a daughter of the regiment, where, in the softest accents that a rough soldier could command, he wooed and won the gentle dame I have feebly endeav- ored to describe. I said she possessed a sympathetic heart, which was true as a rule, but as there are exceptions to most rules, so there was to her philanthropy and sympathy. Sometimes she drank of something other than the small beer which she became renowned for brewing, and at such times the unlucky wight who crossed her path came in for an energetic volley of words not particularly adapted to the Moody and Sankey style of revival worship. At such times the tender partner of her life was told in unequivocal terms that she had no particular ob- jectious to seeing one-half of his physical being in England, and the other in that place of torment, to which Dives was consigned when he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus afar off. She was an economist, and contrived in a way peculiar to herself to combine profit with pleasure. As she looked after her dairy work as well as her beer, and was a great snuff-taker as well, and also desired to be tidy, she would at times wash her churn and milk vessels, and with the same hand hold her snuff ready to inhale, and her wiping towel at the same time. But never having tested her butter, I have never learned whether it was any better than that made in the ordinary manner. But she and her partner left for other and newer fields of usefulness as the country be- gan to be settled, and what finally became of them I am unable to say. But it will be but a little stretch of fancy to believe, like Cooper's Leather Stocking, they have found a final resting place where the prairie winds sweep softly by them unheeded, and the evening zephyrs sigh softly around them.
A little east of the home of the old Englishman and his wife just described on section 10, is the homestead that my father, in the spring of 1834, entered at Monroe, and in the following November reached there, after having accomplished a journey from Western New York by wagons. We came in company with the family of Willard Joslin,
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
The journey lasted about seventeen days, as near as I can remember. When in the vicinity of Conneaut, Ohio, we encountered a severe snow storm. This was near the close of October. The prospect seemed dreary and discouraging, as we wallowed through the snow, which was knee deep, with our heavily laden wagons, for about two days, after which we came to the outside limits of the snow storm ; the sun shone brightly and warm, and we felt cheerful and comparatively happy. The weather continued beautiful until we arrived at our journey's end.
But a journey in those days was a different matter from what it is now. The season being so far advanced, we did not deem it prudent to trust ourselves and teams to the uncertainties of a lake trip by steamer, although most of our goods were sent that way and landed at Monroe. We forded the Maumee at Perrysburg, and as it was late in the day we thought some of stopping there over night ; but being desirous of prosecuting our journey as fast as possible, and hearing there was a tavern five miles this side, we went on, and soon meeting two men on horseback, we enquired how far it was to a tavern. They replied that it was ten miles, but as we had been informed that it was only five, we concluded they meant to perpetrate a joke at our expense ; and we. were confirmed in our belief, as we soon drew up before a log building which sported a hotel sign. A boy coming to the door in answer to our inquries, informed us that we could stay over night. We gladly unharnessed our weary teams, and visions of plenty no doubt flitted before our horses' minds-if horses have minds. But disappointment was in store for them, as there was nothing for them to eat, except some of the most worthless and damaged marsh hay imaginable. And when we got into the house it was no better than at the barn; no bread, no meat, no flour, no potatoes, in fact nothing that could satisfy the sharp cravings of hunger. All the family, except a boy of about my own age, seemed to be suffering from a low type of chill fever. I was somewhat amused on questioning the boy as to grain and provis -. ions, and finding they had nothing of the sort, and feeling somewhat out of patience, inquired of him, " What do you keep ?" to which he very innocently replied, " We keep tavern." But notwithstanding his declaration, I concluded as the testimony of the two men on horseback should preponderate, I then and there rendered my first judicial decis- ion in what was then called Michigan, that the men on horseback were correct and the boy was wrong. . However, I am not tenacious, and you, ladies and gentlemen, can draw your own conclusions. But at the dawn of day, like the Arab of the desert, we folded our tents and de- parted, not without paying for what we did get; and I think if the boy spoken of, outlived the ague and chills, he must have become a successful hotel keeper, as he had mastered the first principles of the business, and knew how to charge. When we got to Tremainsville we found all that we desired, and man and beast did ample justice to our breakfast, for we were literally starving.
We then pursued our journey towards Dundee, then called Van- nesse's Mills, over the low, sandy, yellow oak openings, interspersed
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
with marshes, through which we floundered and mired our teams until nightfall, and then were obliged to camp by å hay stack, to which we tied our teams. As we had no means of lighting a fire, and I was the oldest boy in the crowd, I was directed to take a younger boy of Mr. Joslin's with me, and go back about three miles after fire, at a house we had noticed as we passed. We managed very well in getting back to the house, as we got there before it was very dark, and could follow the wagon tracks ; but I became convinced that in going back it would be more difficult, and took my observations and bearings from the north star. The house stood stark and alone, with no other appear- ances of home life around it. The baying of a dog awoke the silence, which before that was simply oppressive; two or three spectral-looking beings tottered to the door, and the firelight within told all too plainly that the miasma of the place had sapped the foundation of life and health. Whether they ever recovered or not, I am unable to say, but think it would be a surer thing than betting on a Presidential election to say that they never did. But I must say that my experience thus far had inspired me with no very exalted ideas of what I had so often heard called " the pleasant Michigan." But by the aid of the north star as our guide, we finally got back to camp, and enjoyed ourselves much better than on the previous night, having provided ourselves with provisions and provender.
Benjamin Laur settled on section 12, in Woodstock, in the month of . April, if my recollection serves me, of the year that we came in No- vember. He was an active, industrious man, upright in his dealings, a good farmer, and later in life a consistent member of the M. E. church, as was his amiable lady. They. both lived to see their honest industry crowned with success-the wilderness around them bloom and blossom as the rose, and the reclaimed forest give place to fields of plenty. The cabin in which they and their children sheltered them- selves has long since given place to a spacious and comfortable home, and the children settled in comfortable circumstances in life around them. But they have passed from this to a more genial clime, and have entered into an inheritance that fadeth not away. Peace to their ashes.
Soon the tide of emigration and the spirit of enterprise brought new accessions, new neighbors, new friendships and new associations. I shall undertake to enumerate some of the earliest of these in the order in which they settled, as memory serves me. I shall, without doubt, make some mistakes, for I have no memoranda. After those already enumerated came Willianı Western, who settled on section 8 and sub- sequently removed to Wisconsin with his family. Whether now living or not I am unable to say.
Next, George W. Clark, a son-in-law of Jesse Osborn. He was a man of fine sensibilities, of superior mind, of strict integrity, a gentle- man, with a high sense of honor, careful of giving offense, and quick to resent an insult, sincere in his profession of friendship, and an honored and open foe. But in the spring time of his usefulness con-
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
sumption carried him over the unrelenting gulf of death. He left two children, only one of whom now survives. She is the wife of A. M. Sickley, now Supervisor of that town.
Thomas McCourtie, who first settled on section 11, and soon again settled on section 9, was a man of indomitable perseverance and indus- try, lived to accumulate a splendid farm property, and only died a few years since, and in a short time his wife followed him. But their chil- dren remain to enjoy the fruits of their parents' industry.
isaac Smith settled on section 10, one-half a mile east of my father's place. He was one of nature's noblemen ; industrious, honest, courte- ous and obliging, warm in his friendships, just in his judgments, impar. tial in his decisions, conscientious in his life, pious and devout in his Christian character, and an honor to the Episcopal church to which he belonged. He reared a large family-worthy children of an indus- trious sire. Not illustrious on account of mighty deeds in war or statesmanship, but illustrious for all the manly virtues. He has gone the way of all the earth, and lies in his lowly bed. May the green earth lie lightly upon him, and the sunshine of heaven beam bright on his waking.
C. M. Mckenzie settled on the western shore of Devil's Lake, in an indentation of its shore, to which he gave the euphonious name of " Mckenzie's Port." He kept a hotel there, where we sometimes as- sembled and held one of the two-days' elections which the law then re- quired. On such occasions the face of our host .used to beam with good nature, and he seemed to be in his proper element. He soon, however, sold out and came to Adrian, where he became a successful brick-maker, and accumulated a fair property, reared his family, and finally, after having served as a soldier of the cross for many years, laid aside his armor, and entered the rest prepared for the blessed.
Joseph Younglove settled on section 36, where he opened a hotel on the new road opened from Adrian to the Chicago road, in the western part of Woodstock. He filled numerous offces in the town, sustained a good reputation, and finally removed to Illinois, and whether he is now living or not, I am unable to say.
Richard Osborn also settled on section 36, and reared a large fam- ily of children, who have distinguished themselves in the various pur- suits of life. He is still living with a son at Addison, is about ninety- four years of age, seemingly in the possession of his faculties, can read without glasses, and is supposed to be the oldest man in the county. He has always sustained a spotless reputation, and maintained an hon- orable record.
Susanna Sanford settled on section 15, came to Woodstock with a grown up family of seven sons and two daughters. Five of the sons and both daughters were married and had families of their own. Mrs. Sanford was a woman of more than ordinary abilities, of generous im- pulses, strict integrity, pure womanly affections, and of heroic resolves. After many years of usefulness and at a ripe age she was released from her earthly labor, and it is hoped has entered a heavenly rest.
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OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Her son's ages ranged in the following order: Malachi, a good man, dead ; Ezekiel W., the father of a large family, gone from the scenes of earth, professing a belief in the Saviour ; Joseph B., of a religious turn, and a professed soldier of the cross, gone to test the theories he advanced as a gospel minister; Ezra, now living, but with locks blos- soming for, the grave, has been an industrious man, but unsuccessful ; Wardel W., who died years ago, a bachelor, after having by industry accumulated a good property ; Lewis, the youngest, now living, and has held several offices of trust, now lives in Woodstock.
There are many more that should receive a passing notice, but time forbids, and the accumulation of the names of the settlers who imme. diately followed those of whom I have spoken, if giving only a passing notice, would fill a volume. The days of which I have been speaking were days of toil, privation and suffering. To rear the rude dwelling, subdue the forest, prepare the soil, fence the lands, harvest the crops, and in short create a home with anything like comfort, required indom- itable courage, untiring industry, and unwearied attention. Yet those noble men who forsook the luxurious ease of their eastern homes, the scenes of their childhood, the graves of their fathers and mothers and kindred friends, and those noble women who left behind them the lux- uries of refinement and ease, the allurements of society and style, are worthy of the blessings which the most sanguine of them may have pictured, as well as the gratitude of an enlightened people.
Although Woodstock has not been the theatre of many remarkable incidents in her history, yet. in looking back over her early history there are many events to which my mind will revert. Some of them sad, some of them pleasant, some mirthful, some tragic, some dramatic, some comical. As the country began to fill up, then came the specu- lator, the gambler, the lawyer, the physician, the tradesman and the Gospel minister.
I well remember the first sermon that was preached in our vicinity ; it was at my father's house, and delivered by a man of persuasive elo- quence, an itinerant, one who was not seeking for luxurious ease and preferment. His prayer seemed so appropriate, so earnest, and yet so simple, that one could not fail to be impressed with it. He alluded to the hardships and privations of the people, their isolation from Sab- bath and sanctuary privileges, and the besetment on every hand ; prayed that the wilderness might bloom and blossom as the rose, and that the wanderer might be claimed and the prodigal son be restored to his father's house. He portrayed the scene of the prodigal son's re- turn, so that one could fancy they saw the whole scene re-enacted and passing in review. Assembled in a rude place of worship, with seats improvised from every conceivable material at hand, it was a picture worthy of the artist's skill. The incense that ascended from that hum- ble altar was doubtless as sweet smelling before "the great white throne," as any that ever ascended from the altar of the most re- nowned pile of Corinthian architecture that ever graced the old or new world. Those sincere men of Christian faith and perseverance, are
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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
models of excellence, worthy of imitation in more favored localities. It has been justly said by some one, that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. We frequently were permitted to test the truth of the assertion, as pretenders to ministerial calling would intrude upon the good nature of the pioneer. I have in my mind one of that descrip- tion. He held that a minister's duties should be confined strictly to that branch of Christian duties to which laymen are not supposed to be admitted, and took a certain other minister to task for engaging in the temperance cause, and challenged him to a discussion of the ques- tion in public, which the temperance minister reluctantly accepted, after being told that his reluctance arose from the consciousness of his untenable position. So a certain winter evening was appointed for the discussion. Each disputant was to have one assistant. The temper- ance man having the affirmative of the question, opened in a short, concise and logical manner, during which time the anti-temperance man looked awfully wise, turned over the leaves of his well-worn Bible, made copious notes, and by the time the affirmative had closed, he seemed to tower like Saul above his assistant and audience. He ap- peared like an avenging spirit, and arose majestically. I seem to see him now. He began by quoting Paul's advice to Timothy. He said Paul was a good man, yet he was not above taking a social glass ; per- haps never became intoxicated, but from what he could glean from his writings, he was well acquainted with the exhilarating effects of the ruby wine, and at times something stronger; that he would not ad- vance anything unsupported by Scripture, and to convince the audience more fully, he would cite an instance in Paul's life, with which, per- haps, the temperance men had never become acquainted ; and that was when as related in the " Acts," Paul was being carried a prisoner before the Rulers, and coming down to Appi Forum, he thanked God when he came in sight of a tavern ; upon which, his assistant who had been at some place where he had been following the teachings of his prin- cipal, and at that particular time being influenced more by zeal than discretion, arose and solemnly informed the audience that Paul not only thanked God and took courage, but enthusiastically and gener- ously exclaimed : " Come in, boys, let us go in and take something to drink." This was the last straw on the camel's load, the audience was disgusted, and invited the temperance man to come and preach for them, and left the great man with small calibre to himself.
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