USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > History and biographical record of Lenawee County, Michigan, Volume II > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
I remember one very eccentric minister. Occasionally he would preach an excellent discourse, powerful, logical, and at times eloquent. At others his efforts would be entirely opposite. On one occasion his theme was the attributes of the Deity, and as the occasion demanded he became eloquent, but after soaring in fancy flights was at a loss for words appropriate with which to descend. Said he, with his hands ele- vated to their utmost extent, " The Lord is the Lord of the cattle upon a thousand hills.' Here he became confused in his ideas, the appro- priate words could not be recalled. He again repeated, "The Lord is the Lord of the cattle upon a thousand hills." Another pause, "in
29
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the summer time, in the winter time," another pause, " and in the barn yard." This was too much for the risibilities of. us boys, and we smiled audibly. I remember on one occasion there was a temperance lecturer holding forth at our school-house on a Sabbath afternoon, and a certain old toper whose religion-if he possessed any-consisted in putting down temperance men, came up to the open door evidently in- tent on mischief. But the Chairman, knowing his man, caught his eye, and by sheer magnetic force kept the old man silent, but at every sharp or cutting remark of the lecturer the old fellow would gesticu- late most vehemently, wag his head, perform circles, ellipses, arches, triangles, and all the various imaginary figures known to geometery, but the Chairman kept him otherwise still. In the course of the speaker's remarks, he said Woodstock must be reformed. This impe- rious declaration seemed to wound the old man more than any other remark made, and as soon as the lecture was over, the old fellow excit- edly exclaimed, "You say Woodstock must be deformed, you say Woodstock must be deformed. By what authority do you make such a declaration ?" At this the boys caught up the word deformed, de- formed, deformed, which went from mouth to mouth. The old man could not fail to be amused at a joke, even at his own expense, and a smile began to settle down upon his hitherto stern features. He re- plied, " I know what I am talking." He, pointing to the speaker says reformed-I say deformed, which it would be if he had his way. The speaker, seeing the ludicrous side of the thing, and discovering the old man's vulnerable point, and that he had been imbibing, quietly, but with a merry twinkle in his eye, remarked : " My old friend here re- minds me of the clapper of an old pump-he goes the best when he is wet." This was too much for the risibilities of the old man ; he burst into a loud laugh, rushed up to the speaker, said he "give me your hand for thirty days, you are a trump," and from that time forward they were friends, and no other disturbance occurred. But the old man could not forego the bottle, and died as he had lived.
But I must close my desultory remarks, necessarily so from the na- ture of the case, without doing that justice to many others just as worthy of note as any spoken of. I forget for the moment that I am growing old, and seem to live over again a life which has impercepti- bly glided away. Those majestic solitudes, before those days unbro- ken save by the howling of the wild beast, the war of the elements, or the peals of the reverberating thunder, now respond to the busy hum of industry, the scream of the locomotive, and the chime of the church- going bell. Where the red man once bivouacked around his camp-fire, with his girdle of wampum strung. with the scalps of his enemies, and then whirled into the mazes of the war dance, now fields of plenty and homes of industry, comfort, elegance and luxury, gladden the eye of the beholder. Where the unsightly swamps and quagmires and waste places marred the symmetry and beauty of nature, now arises the stately manufactory, with its thundering machinery, all subjected to the control of man, for the good of the generation-yes, and of gene- (4)
30
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
rations yet unborn-where vice, ignorance and superstition was once the rule, now it is the exception, and institutions flourish which are worthy of the progress of the age, and a bright prospect opens for the future.
But the gray hairs and bowed forms of those I knew in boyhood, admonish me of the mutability of all things human. We know of a certainty that all earthly things are transient and fleeting, and in pro- cess of time, even at the best, the decay of ages will crumble all these monuments of your industry into dust, and soon the last pioneer will have passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns. But if each will see to it that when the grim messenger shall make that im- perative call against which no human power can prevail, he shall be found prepared for the inevitable journey, then shall we receive the summons with joy, and not with sorrow. Then shall we hear the wel- come plaudit : " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter with all the loved ones that have gone before you, into that rest which re- mains for the faithful."
- :0:
CLINTON.
HE historical and incidental part of an address delivered by the Rev. W. P. Wastell, in June, 1877.
Early in the present century there was an enchanting spot embosomed in the primeval forest of the far west, named Clinton, whose foster father, had become famous on account of a certain ditch, which has not proved so despicable as was once conjectured. The red men, their squaws and papooses dwelled here, never thinking that the pale face would come and clear them out. In their quiet se- clusion they did not calculate on the restlessness of the Yankee, nor on his ambition to call the broad acres his own. Neither had the " Yank." then determined to travel from the Atlantic to the gulf, to secure a preemption right ; neither had he then learned to sing in jubi- lant strains, " Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm."
In the early part of September, 1825, Mr. John Terrill, came as an explorer to Clinton, and determined to locate. But returning east, he did not come to remain permanently until 1830, when Thaddeus Clark accompanied him. They arrived here together January 24th ;
31
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
their cavalcade consisted of a pair of mules and a farm wagon, which did them good service, conveying them, their families and their effects safely to the promised land; a little emigrant, then three years old, climbed on the knees of noble Thad., and nestled her weary head on the bosom of the not less noble Mrs. Thad. That little one has grown since then, so that she is a reigning belle in the circle of our sister- hood, but her name is Louisa Clark, still.
George Lazell came March 17, 1829, from New York. Clinton was all woods, no roads, no houses. Mr. Lazell left Saline in the afternoon, and reached by foot, within four miles of Clinton at dark, when de- scending the hill just east of us, he felt sure he had found the home he sought ; he exclaimed to his companions, this is the place. He knew that Col. Hixon had previously built a log house on the spot where his estimable relict now resides, in her more imposing surroundings. The original structure could not be seen looming upwards, because it was night ; he walked by faith, he knew it was there, and when as he con- jectured, he neared it, he shouted at the top of his voice.
The Colonel replied, and in the absence of gas-yes, even of kero- sene-came out with a lighted candle, held it up, shouted, and thus at that early day the Colonel proved himself to be "one of the lights of the world,"-" a city set on a hill which could not be hid." Mr. Al- pheus Kies was already there, having come by team, while George Lazell had camped out at Saline. Mr. Lazell purchased the very lot on which he now resides, which it appears was the second purchase ever made in Bridgewater. Alpheus Kies about this time built a log house, where Mr. Reynolds' new purchase now stands.
The first marriage in Clinton was that of George Lazell and Deb- orah Gillett, which took place April 22, 1832, and the first death in Clinton took from Mr. Lazell the wife of his youth, after having been married only ten months. The brothers, Edwin and John Smith, took up their abode in Clinton. It was not the first time the name Smith had appeared in history ; not the last. John Smith opened his busi- ness operations in the basement of the brick store now owned by J. M. Davis, Esq. Dr. Cressey was his first customer. An incident trans- pired which the facetious Esculapius was wont to narrate. The purchase amounted to the enormous sum of nine cents ; fifty were handed in for pay, and fifty-nine were handed back for change, which the Doctor, safely depositing in his wallet with dignity, walked off. Waiting his time when the store was full, he appeared and enquired of the proprietor whether he corrected mistakes ? With a scratch on the head he answered, " Of course " This was the inaccuracy of inex- perience which practice soon corrected, and be assured the acuteness of our prince of merchants did not find him napping; such an affair never recurred.
In the month of May, 1830, Benjamin B. Fisk came in from Liv- ingston county, N. Y. The emigrant's family consisted of himself, wife and five children. The sixth son, B. Western Fisk, (his second name, " Western," indicating the latitude in which he saw the light,)
32
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
was the first child born in the village of Clinton. The father, B. B. Fisk, raised the second frame building in Clinton. He was our first blacksmith, and did all the work in his line from Clinton to Jonesville west, and Ypsilanti east. He sold his property, which is the land now owned by Dr. A. F. Tuttle, to Edwin Smith, now dead, but who will live in fragrant remembrance as a friend to his adopted home.
In the fall of 1831 every adult in the village of Clinton was invited by B. B. Fisk and wife to dine. They all at one time sat around their table to eat roast wild turkey, and they proved Turks enough to masticate and gobble down that formidable animal, and that, too, without asking per- mission of the Russians. The second death in Clinton occurred in this very house. The person was John Huston. Mr. B. B. Fisk, knowing the taste of his epicurean neighbor for esculents, traveled several miles to obtain a supply of potatoes. Having called in his hungry cronies, roasted about half a bushel in the ashes of his mammoth fire-place, and fed them without stint. About cotemporaneous with this, Jake Gilbert sent out his cards to those who were within visiting distance ; when behold, as one of the wonders of the age, a roll of butter was on the table. Having gone round the circle it came off. missing. Fruitless search was made for it, but the excitement having subsided, the lost roll was found in the huge pocket of Jake's overcoat, in which, if it had not dissolved itself into tears, it had into some other liquid. Mr. B. B. Fisk, in the summer of 1832, was taken down with what proved to be his last sickness. He died September 28, 1832. His grave was the first dug in our old burying ground, the ground itself having been laid out by Owen Pomeroy, the day subsequent to his death. Elder Bangs, the first Methodist minister in Clinton, preached his fu- neral sermon. His wife is still living, aged eighty-one years and two months. She is the widow of the late Elder Powell, who was her third husband, so thoroughly did she understand the doctrines of woman's rights. She is in retirement, cum otium dignitate, waiting to be called to her better home, When so called, we shall miss her as one long designated "a mother in Israel," a woman who helped those who preached the Gospel.
July 4, 1831, occurred the first celebration of independence day in Clinton. There were about one hundred persons present all told. It is our grief to relate that by an explosion David Reed lost both his arms. Dr. Patterson, of Tecumseh, was the officiating surgeon, his as- sistants George Lazell and Calvin Drown; his surgical instruments, a butcher's knife and a carpenter's saw. The knife was made by Mr. B. Fisk from a file over fifty years old. It's the property of the widow Powell still, and may now be on exhibition. About the time of this influx to Clinton a lady in Saline observed " that she was dreadful glad she was to have neighbors, as there would be but twelve miles between them." In connection with the celebration just noticed, there came up a thunder storm, with wind and rain, so that the roads were literally deluged. Many of the ladies' bonnets loosed themselves from their moorings floating on the flooded streets, and without leave of their
33
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
owners, " paddled their own canoe." Many took a cold bath in aim- ing to rescue the rude adventurers from a watery grave.
The first grist mill was started by Smith & Dodge. There perhaps should be mentioned the name of Payne, a citizen ever to be respected, who died on his passage from Panama to San Francisco. That mill and business are in operation to-day.
In 1836-7 some of the gentry here had a fine stud of saddle horses, and knew how to stride them as well as exhibit them. J. W. King, with his horse " Rob ; " Samuel Chandler, " Peacock ; " D. W. Owens' "Boliver ;" Dr. A. Cressey, " Black Hawk ;" C. H. McClure, " Cham- pion ; " Andrew J. Clark, "Dandy," &c. These gents would saddle up on a pleasant afternoon, ride say to Tecumseh, dismount, and, as Artemus Ward would say, "Go in to see a man once or twice before starting back." When they arrived at the school section, then in a state of nature, leave the public roads, and tutor their horses to clear the fallen trees, then ride into town, single file, double file, and all abreast. Most of those have gone to their long home. " Requiescat in pace."
In these same years the firms now to be named had large stocks of merchandise. King & Warner, Clark & Snow, Smith & Payne, H. & S. Chandler, E. & E. A. Brown, Seth Worth, A. Richardson, John Smith, G. E. Bull, et al. It took a small fortune to get a stock of goods from New York in those days. King & Warner paid $1.45 per hundred on hardware and groceries, and $1.95 on dry goods from New York to Detroit, amounting to $1,500 on the stock, and from Detroit to Clinton $1 for heavy and $1.50 for dry goods on the same stock.
Trade came in from sixty to ninety miles west. The travel on the Chicago road was immense. About every third house was a hotel, and every landlord kept a team to haul supplies from Clinton, the empo- rium of this part of the known world.
The late comers at a hotel cheerfully accepted a space on the bar- room floor to spread their robes or blankets for the night. Two daily lines of stages were then running over this route, and the passengers had to be accommodated here. Captain Parks, in the house now oc- cupied by H. Smith, would have refreshments in readiness until mid- night, and commence breakfasting the early starters at 4 o'clock in the morning.
The winter of 1836-7 was and is memorable for the mammoth sleigh ride to Ann Arbor. The sleigh for the occasion was built by John and Oraman Skinner, assisted by their brother Ben, who was a boss carpenter. It was nearly forty feet in length, with seats arranged omnibus fashion. The driver's seat was nine feet high, and carried two reinsmen, with one knight of the whip. The team consisted of twenty of the best horses in the vicinity. Three span of them were owned by the Skinner brothers. The tongues were so rigged that three span could hold back down hill. The four leading span were con- trolled by postillions, who wore red uniforms trimmed with black. The best carpet in town was used to cover the sides of the conveyance,
34
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
a whole piece of green flannel to cover the seats, red bombazine bor- dered the frame, the top was covered with heavy drilling. A landlord three miles east had a son, known as the " bugle ; " they placed him on the high seat. ' A jerk, when entering Saline, caused him to topple over through the canvas into the ladies' laps, when all cried out, " Bugle, toot, toot ! You toot !" The entire load consisted of fifty- six persons, all married but one couple, a comely though slender pair ; the man weighed 260, the lady only 210. Prominent among the orig- inators of this ride were the following pioneers : Alpheus Kies, Rich- ard Townsend, James Parks, Thaddeus Clark, J. W. King, John Terrell, D. B. Warner, Edwin Smith, J. P. Silvers, Hiram Dodge, B. R. Felton. F. S. Snow, Henry Chandler, Daniel Hixson, Alonzo Cres- sey and Shubael Green. The whole expense $450, over $16 a head for those who footed the bill. A few days after, Mr. Skinner put eight horses before the same sleigh, and took eighty-four school children to Saline and return. The vehicle, however, was not more than half filled at that.
The first Presbyterian minister who preached in Clinton and preached Mrs. George Lazell's funeral sermon, was Noah Wells, who is now a resident of Ohio, over seventy-eight years old.
The first resident Baptist minister, R. Powell ; Methodist, Bangs ; Episcopal, Lester.
The first physicians, Messrs. Pierce, Cressey and Christie. The first lawyers, Emsworth and St. John. The first school teacher, J. J. Adam, now of Tecumseh. The first postmaster, H. N. Baldwin. This gentleman took the census of the village in 1836, and the count was 925 souls, with not one-half of the roofs to cover them, which en- close the 1,000 to-day. People understood dwelling spoon fashion then. One house was occupied by five families, numbering thirty persons.
- -: 0 :-
HUDSON.
HE important portion of a paper read before the Society, per- taining to Hudson, by James J. Hogaboam, in September, 1877 : Mr. Hiram Kidder settled in the Raisin valley in the year 1831. In February, 1833, the 6th day, he entered a part of sections
35
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
six and seven in the present township of Hudson, in the name of Daniel Hudson, Nathan B. Kidder, and William Young. In the month of August Mr. Kidder took men with him from the Raisin val- ley and rolled up the body of a log house. In the latter part of October he moved his family thither. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Kidder and their children, Harriet, Celestia, Addison, Maria and Nathan. A few days later, November 1st, about sunset, the Ames party arrived at the solitary habitation of Mr. Kidder. This family were natives of Massachusetts, but they had scattered through the New England States and the State of New York. In the spring of 1833 they determined to send Charles Ames and Thomas Pennock into the wilds of Michigan, to locate homes where all the families of that branch of the Ames stock could be reunited in one settlement. Advised by Nathan B. Kidder, Esq., then of Geneva, N. Y., they came to the house of Hiram Kidder, in the Raisin valley, in May. 1833, and guided by him they visited the Bean Creek country, in the vicinity of the lands then recently entered by him, and so favorably were they impressed with the beauties of the country, they located land in the immediate vicinity adjoining the Kidder entries. Mr. Ames, according to the original tract book, entered the west half of the south - west quarter of section 7, in town 7 south, one east (Hudson), and the southeast quarter of section 1, and the northeast quarter of section 12, town 7 south, one west, now (Pittsford). Mr. Pennock entered the west half of the southwest quarter of section 7, town 7 south, one east (Hudson), and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of sec- tion 12 (Pittsford). They returned east, and in November, as before stated, they arrived with their families-or, to be more definite, Mr. Charles Ames and family and some members of other families, and some unmarried individuals belonging to the Ames stock, to-wit: Mr. Charles Ames and wife, Miss Ball, sister of Mrs. Ames, and afterwards the second wife of Mr. Henry Ames, Miss Elizabeth Ames, since and now Mrs. James Sprague, Henry Williams, and Ezra Ames and Al- pheus Pratt. Henry Ames was married, but had left his wife east on account of ill health, and Alpheus Pratt had left his wife at a house of a Mr. Pease, a little west of Adrian, to rest a little before complet- ing the journey ; the other two men were unmarried. The night of October 31st they lodged at the house of Stephen Perkins, about four miles west of Adrian. All day November 1st they pursued their way through the forests between their last lodging place and Bean Creek ; there was snow on the ground. Mrs. Ames carried a babe about seven weeks old, and had to ride, but the men of the party and the two girls, the Misses Ball and Ames, walked the entire distance. The girls fre- quently stopped by the wayside to wring the water from their stock- ings, and then proceeded until a repetition of the operation became necessary. These new comers found the Kidder mansion yet unfin- ished ; it had a part of a floor, but lacked doors, windows and chim- neys. A few days afterwards Mr. Jesse Smith arrived, located some land, and returned east. Mr. Oliver Purchase and Samuel VanGan-
36
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
der also arrived about the same time, and located land which Mr. Pur- chase entered at the Monroe land office, on the 6th of November, and then returned east. Mr. VanGander remained on the Jand. The Kidder house was soon completed, and was for a time the common house for all the settlers. In a short time, however, a second house was completed (this one on the land of Mr. Ames), whither the Ameses removed. Henry Ames and Alpheus Pratt entered land on the 5th day of December. That entered by Henry Ames is now the farm of the venerable Clark Ames, and that entered by Mr. Pratt is now known as the Bush farm, in Pittsford. I should have mentioned in its proper place that early in November Mr. Simeon VanAken visited the valley and located land, in what is now the village of Hudson. He fixes the time of his arrival in the settlement on November 9th, and says that on his way in from Adrian he met Mr. Pratt going Adrian- ward with an ox team and lumber wagon ; Mr. Pratt was probably go- ing to Mr. Lyman Pease's, to bring Mrs. Pratt to the settlement; we judge so from the fact he seems to have had the best team and the family carriage with him. Mr. VanAken did not winter in the settle- ment.
The Kidder settlement being near the west line of the county, natur- ally extended over the other county, in what are now the townships of Pittsford and Wheatland; in fact, very soon after the settlement started, the larger part of it was in Hillsdale county. During the winter under consideration, 1833-4, there was but one family in the township, that is now called Wheatland, that of Mr. Silas Moore, who came into the town from the Chicago road.
One morning in early winter Mr. Kidder was accosted at his own door by a stranger, who introduced himself as his nearest neighbor, Mr. Francis Hagaman, residing in the northwest corner of town 8 south, two east, now called Seneca. In August of that year, 1833, Mr. William Cavender moved there by the earnest request of his brother- in-law, Samuel Gregg, Esq., entered land on section 6, town 8 south, two east, and on section 1, town 8 south, one east. On the 9th day of November Francis H. Hagaman and Gersham Bennett entered land in the southwest corner of the township of Dover, and in the north- west corner of the township of Seneca, and soon after built a log house and wintered there.
On the 1st day of May, 1834, Hiram Kidder commenced work on a mill race. On the 1st day of June the millwright, Samuel O. Cod- dington, of Geneva, N. Y., commenced the work on the mill. On the 1st day of July the mill irons were hauled from Adrian by ox teams, and on the 14th day of the same month the frame was raised. The mill was put in operation about October 1st, was completed during the same month, and cost $1,441.31. Early in June Mr. Kidder platted the village of Lenawee, on the land of the mill company. In the month of May Beriah H. and Erastus Lowe came to the village and located south of the village of Hudson. They soon after traded with Davis, who had commented a clearing along the creek just north of
.
37
OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Main street, and they immediately set about building a saw mill, which they finished in December.
In the winter of 1834-5 the Legislative Council broke the valley into smaller organizations. Town 6 south, one east, was organized as the township of Rollin. Hudson remained a part of Lenawee, and Medina and Seneca a part of Fairfield, and Somerset, Wheatland, Pittsford and Wright composed the township of Wheatland.
In Lenawee township the spring business was opened by a marriage, Mr. John Rice and Mrs. W. K. Douglass were the parties, and Oliver Potter the officiating magistrate. This was the first marriage in what is now Hudson township.
July 27th, Mrs. Davis, mother of Reuben Davis, died, the first death in the township. July 28th, Mr. George Salisbury opened the first Lanesville store. On the 8th day of August the citizens of town seven south, one east, held the preliminary meeting for the purpose of organizing a township. It was decided to petition the new State Leg- islature, about to convene in November, for a separate organization. On suggestion of Mr. Hiram Kidder it was named Hudson, after Dr. Daniel Hudson of Geneva, N. Y., the senior member of the company which purchased and owned the Kidder mill property, and Lenawee village. The Legislature only continued in session six days, and took no action on town organizations. There was difficulty about the ad- mission of the State, and the Legislature only passed a few acts look- ing to the transfer of jurisdiction when admitted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.