USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History and directory of Ionia County, Michigan: containing a history of each township: the name, occupation, location, and post-office address of every man in the county, 1872 > Part 3
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HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
't is of Thee," was sung with the accompaniment of one flute, and so far as the enjoy- ment of all is concerned, the day has been remembered by the participants as a "per- fect success."
The first frame house was built on section eleven, by Dr. Lincoln, in the year 1837; the next by Philo Bates, and the next two by Levi Taylor-one for himself and one for Reuben W. Stevens.
There is but one church edifice in the town, that being on the northeast corner of section thirteen, the property of the Wesleyan Methodists. There are nine school- houses in the town ; the most of them old, but, in connection with others near the boundary lines in adjoining townships, are sufficient for the present. There has this year been built a neat brick school-house on the southeast corner of section five, at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars.
The first township meeting, held April 2d, 1838, at the house of Wm. Babcock, with John E. Morrison as moderator, and Wm. S. Babcock as clerk, proceeded to the elec- tion by ballot of township officers as follows : Clerk, John E. Morrison ; Assessors, Wm. B. Lincoln, Levi Taylor, E. K. Bigford ; Collector, John Taft ; Constables, John Taft, James Hurlburt, Silas D. Arnold, Amos B. Bliss; School Inspectors, John E. Morrison, Job S. Sessions, Wm. S. Babcock ; Directors of Poor, Reuben W. Stevens, Wm. Babcock; Justices of the Peace, Philo Bates, John E. Morrison, Wm. B. Lincoln, Alonzo Sessions.
At the session of the Legislature of 1842, the name of the township was changed to Berlin, and its first town meeting was held at the house of Abram Eddy, on Monday, April 4th, 1842. The whole number of votes cast was fifty-three, and the elections were : Supervisor, John E. Morrison ; Town Clerk, George C. Overbisa ; Justice of the Peace for four years, George Townsend ; for two years, Herman Babcock ; Treas- urer, Job S. Sessions ; Commissioners of Highways, Zophar Alderman, Joseph M. Bab- cock, and Jesse Taft; School Inspectors, Amasa Sessions, John K. Kneeland, and Reuben W. Stevens ; Overseers of Poor, Oliver Arnold, and Abel Adgate ; Constables, Amos B. Bliss, Wm. Doty, John Houseman, and John Adgate.
It was then voted to raise seventy-five cents for every child between the ages of five and seventeen years for the support of common schools.
The election of township officers in 1872 was held on April first, at which two hun- dred and sixty-six votes were cast, with elections for Supervisor, Amon Otis ; Clerk, Myron Balcom ; Treasurer, Daniel P. Aldrich ; Justice of Peace, full term, Ebenezer M. Wilcox; to fill vacancy, Daniel P. Aldrich; Commissioner of Highways, Isaac L. Austin ; School Inspector, Wm. H. Howard; Town Drain Commissioner, John A. Durkee; Constables, George Foot, Asa P. Toun, and Samuel H. Coe.
The first vote of the town in 1838 was thirty-three; in 1842, fifty three ; in 1848, eighty-six; in 1858, one hundred and fifty-seven ; in 1868, two hundred and ninety- eight ; and in 1872, two hundred and sixty-six.
BOSTON.
T THE first settlement in the township was in 1837, Worcester English being the first settler, and the only one for some months. Then came Timothy White, Jesse Williams, James M. Tallcut, Albert Clement, Jeremiah Stannard, Moses M. Gould, and Orman Hunt. These persons all settled in the south part of the town, on sections 20, 21, 22 and 29, and the locality soon became known as " The English Settlement, " and has been so designated down to the present time.
During the same season Cyprian S. Hooker and Jerry Stocking settled in the north- east corner of the township, on section one, where the village of Saranac has since been built. The year following, James Hoag came and settled on section twenty-three, and immediately commenced and put in operation a saw-mill on the creek that drains Morrison Lake, called Lake Creek. Hoag selected this locality for the reason that it was on the Grand River turnpike, which had then been laid out, and portions of it worked. Shortly before Hoag commenced running his mill, Robert Hilton of Grand Rapids laid out a village at that point, called Waterville, and Hoag opened a store there. Hilton and Hoag both acted upon the then universal idea that the turnpike was to be the great thoroughfare over which was to flow an immense trade and traffic, and upon the line of which large and flourishing villages were to be built up, as that was the way things had been done in the former times in the first settlement of the older States. Their expectations, however, were never realized, and they soon became con- vinced that turnpikes had "played out." Stage-coaches for travelers and covered wagons with four-horse teams to convey merchandize and produce had had their day, but they could not compete with steamboats and railroads. Steamers were soon run- ning on Grand River, and that became the thoroughfare for trade and travel, and on its banks the villages sprung up, attracting the trade and commerce along its borders, and for considerable distances away ; and Saranac, two miles north of Waterville, soon absorbed all there was of it except the mill, which is all that now remains. Hoag re- mained at Waterville until the spring of 1851, when he was killed by a falling tree. He was a man full of energy and preserverance-the right kind of a man to achieve success in whatever he engaged, and, had he lived, would undoubtedly have become a marked character in the history of this township and county.
In 1841-42 Hooker and Stocking built a saw-mill in Saranac, on the site of the flour- ing mill now owned by Jerome Walker. In 1840 Richard Vosper moved into the town, locating at Waterville a short time, then on section twenty-four, where he remained until 1843, when he moved to Saranac, where he has since resided. In 1840 quite a large accession to the population was made. Stephen Nute, Edson English, Sylvester Train, Riley Hess, Dioclesian Hess, Becket Chapman, Lemuel Train, Arba Benson, with others, came, most of whom located at the settlement.
Between 1840 and 1846 but few additional settlers came in, but after that date the township was rapidly settled, and its prosperity assured. Of the early settlers whose names are given, Worcester English, Jesse Williams, Albert Clement, Orman Hunt, Jerry Stocking, Stephen Nute, Sylvester Train and the two Hesses are dead. All the
29
HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
others are still living, most of them on the land they first occupied,-Tallent in the same log house he first built,-and in the enjoyment of a competence secured by their early toils and the hardships incident to pioneer life. No person can travel through that portion of the town called the "Settlement " without having the attention attracted by the general appearance of prosperity, as indicated by the large and well-cultivated farms, the tasty and commodious dwellings, with their shady surroundings, the abun- dant supply of farm buildings for the protection of the stock and produce, the large and thrifty orchards, the neat and commodious school houses, all of which give token that the denizens thereof are an intelligent, industrious, prosperous people, that they are morally and physically in a healthy condition, such as is rarely equalled and never excelled.
Cyprian S. Hooker now lives in Lowell, where he has resided many years, a highly respected and honored citizen. Vosper, " the oldest inhabitant " of Saranac, is yet one of the active leading citizens, a successful business man, fully identified with the growth of the village, not yet past the prime of vigorous manhood, and may reasonably expect many years of life yet in which to enjoy the fruits of his early struggles and hardships while subduing the wilderness.
In June 1837, Jeremiah Stannard went to Detroit, where he purchased a pair of working oxen and two cows, driving them in by the way of Kalamazoo. Having no pasture lands, they were allowed to range the forest, but remained in the near vicinity of his home contented enough until the month of August, when the flies became so numerous and so fierce in their attack as to become unendurable to the " bovines," and they concluded to elude them by returning to their former home. But instead of taking the route they came by they took an air line for Detroit, as correct as the best sur- veyor could have followed, and when meeting an obstruction to the direct line they would go around it, but on getting around would start again in the direct line. They were trailed and found in the vicinity of De Witt, in Clinton County, and the pursuers found that, on reaching Morrison Lake, they passed around to the north side, then on again straight for Detroit, until another obstruction compelled a deviation, but that overcome, they seemed to know exactly their proper course, and were never at fault. The popular opinion is that cattle usually return to their former homes by the route passed in driving them away, but this circumstance proves conclusively that they are guided by an unerring instinct that leads them direct toward the point they seek. A pair of horses also strayed away from Stannard in August, and, after long search, were found near Ionia in November following, but were in a sad plight; covered with a rough, hard sort of scale matted with the hair, they presented an unsightly appearance. They were turned into a small lot near where they were found, to be kept over night ; and in the lot there happened to be an empty salt barrel; and in looking for the barrel the following morning, only a part of two of the staves could be found. The horses had evidently been without salt during the time they had been estray, and had eaten the barrel, except the two small fragments, for the salt with which it was impregnated.
The township was organized in April 1838, and the following officers chosen : Supervisor, C. S. Hooker; Clerk, Jesse Williams; Assessors, Albert Clement, Jere- miah Stannard, Timothy White; Highway Commissioners, C. S. Hooker, Worcester English, Jeremiah Stannard ; Overseers of Poor, James M. Tallent, Orman Hunt ; Collector, David Whitney ; Justices of the Peace, C. S. Hooker, Worcester English, Moses M. Gould, Timothy White ; School Inspectors, C. S. Hooker, Jesse Williams, Albert Clement.
It seems there were more offices to be filled than residents in the town. So Hooker had four, and English, White, Clement, Stannard, and Williams two each.
The present officers are as follows: Supervisor, Orson A. Page; Clerk, John P.
30
HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
Anderson ; Treasurer, Wallace H. Cushing; Highway Commissioners, A. C. Lee, Geo. Walter, Addison Hatch; School Inspectors, Abner Noyes, James Vosper ; Justices of the Peace, Uri Murdock, John F. Cilley, Dennis Donovan, Richard Vosper ; Constables, James H. Converse, Wm. E. Woodruff, Abner Noyes.
SARANAC.
The only village in the town of Boston is located on Lake Creek and Grand River, where the corners of sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 meet, so that it includes portions of each of these sections.
It contains two flouring-mills, one propelled by water-power alone, and the other using both steam and water ; one stave-factory, doing a large business ; one steam saw-mill, in connection with which is an establishment for the manufacture of oars upon an exten- sive scale ; a furnace and machine shop for manufacturing agricultural implements ; two wagon and carriage shops ; one pump-factory. There are two large warehouses for receiving and shipping produce, two hotels, five dry-goods stores, two drug stores, two hardware stores, two furniture stores, eight grocery stores, several boot and shoe establishments, and a large establishment for the manufacture of wagon hubs.
The Episcopalians, Methodists, and Baptists have each a substantial church edifice, the two former being built of wood and the latter of brick. The Congregationalists have the foundation laid and will soon have completed a church for use of their society, and these will give ample accommodations for all church-going people for some years to come. Lake Creek passes directly through the village, affording a valuable water- power, and is used for running the two flouring-mills.
The abundant supply of timber for manufacturing purposes in close proximity to the village, such as oak, maple, ash, elm, beech, and basswood, makes this a very favor- able point for locating establishments for manufacturing all articles made of such kinds of wood, and men of capital will find it for their interest to avail themselves of its advantages. The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad enables them to ship their products with facility to any part of the country.
SCHOOLS.
The township is divided into nine Districts for school purposes, and in nearly all of these districts they have convenient and comfortable school buildings. The residents in District No. 3 comprising the village of Saranac, have voted to establish a graded school, and to raise by taxation $12,000 for the erection of suitable buildings, and have arranged for the construction of a substantial brick edifice with all the necessary appli- ances to secure for the youth of that thriving village a good English education.
The following table shows the present value and seating capacity of the school-houses in each of the districts :
DISTRICT. Number.
VALUE. CAPACITY, Scholars.
DISTRICT. Number.
VALUE. CAPACITY, Scholars.
1
$1,000
80
6
. $700
70
2
1,000
60
7
600
40
3
2,000
226
8
100
40
4
300
80
9
603
48
5
250
55
CHURCHES.
The Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists have organized societies in the township, and it was the intention of the compiler of this work to give a sketch of the organization and progress of each of them, but details were not fur- nished except as to the Episcopal and Congregational.
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HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
The Episcopal (Trinity) Church was organized in 1860, Rev. D. Brayton Lyon, Rector. Mrs. Sophia D. Frazelle, Mrs. A. A. Stevens, Theodore Cotton, Mrs. Lucy M. Cotton, Mrs. Caroline E. Fuller, Mrs. Quackenboss, and Miss Meta Quackenboss were the communicants comprising the organization. On the 18th of June of the same year the corner-stone of the present church edifice was laid. Rev. D. B. Lyon assisted, Rev. Dr. Cumming of Grand Rapids, and Rev. Thos. B. Dooley of Pontiac officiating. The building is 35 by 60, including vestry, and is supplied with seats for an audience of 250. So rapid was the construction of the church that on the 27th of the following month (July) it was enclosed, painted, and the cross raised to its position. The bell was placed in the tower in October following and the whole completed Nov. 1, costing $2,500. Though small, it is planned in good taste, and with the view of making an agreeable and pleasant resort, and reflects credit upon those who designed the structure and also those who executed the work. It was consecrated Feb. 17th, 1861, by Rt. Rev. Samuel A. McCosky, D. D., D. C. L., Oxon. Since the organization there have been frequent accessions to the society, and now numbers fifty-three com- municants, after losing twenty-two, removed from the parish during the past year. Rev. Geo. W. Wilson is the present Rector.
The condition of the church in 1872 is as follows: Baptized infants 1; adults 1; communicants last reported 72 ; added 3 ; removed 22 ; present number 53 ; congregation 190 ; Sunday-school teachers, and officers 11; scholars 70; average attendance 50.
The Congregational Church was organized in May 1848 with the following persons as members : Levi H. Nelson, Nathan Cook, Silas Taylor, Orman Hunt, and Mrs. Ammi Chipman. Edward Carvath and wife, Mrs. S. H. Nelson, Harriet J. Abbott, and Mrs. Prentice joined in the month of September following. The society has never been in a flourishing condition ; the accessions have been few and far between, the changes in the pastorate have been frequent and sometimes unfortunate, and it has never been self-sustaining, receiving aid annually from the general association.
Morrison Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, two miles in length, with an average width of about one-half mile, lies mostly in this township on sections 36 and 35, and extending into the township of Campbell. It is a favorite resort for pleasure and fish- ing parties ; the last frequently meeting with good success.
Grand River enters on section one and passes through the entire township, passing out on section six. At Saranac an iron bridge has been placed over the river at a cost of $8,000, and is a substantial structure with solid abutments of stone masonry. The citizens feel now that it will be a long time before they will again be taxed for a new bridge over Grand River.
Lake Creek, the outlet of Morrison Lake, has a course of about five miles in the town, and, being a durable stream, is of considerable value as affording driving power for two saw-mills and two flouring-mills between the lake and where it discharges its waters into Grand River.
THE SURFACE
in the northern part of the township is hilly and broken, by the passage of Grand River through it, and there is much uneven land along the course of Lake Creek. The balance is rolling, and much of it a light sandy soil.
There are extensive swamps in the town, and upon the whole there is less of choice farming lands than in any other township in the county.
The Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad is built along the banks of Grand River through the town, and Saranac is quite an important station, with ample passenger and freight depots.
This history can hardly be considered complete without noticing in a particular
32
HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
manner some of the conspicuous men who have long been residents and who have been closely identified with the growth of the town. Some of these are sons of the early settlers who were boys when their fathers came in, but who soon grew to man- hood, receiving such limited education as the infant settlement then afforded.
EDSON ENGLISH,
Though one of the early settlers has not been mentioned as such. An intelligent christain gentleman of quiet orderly habits, and possesses the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens in the highest degree, and has wielded a large influence for good in the township. His four sons, John H., James F., Judson C., and David H., are living evidences of his careful and well-advised training, being worthily classed among the best class of citizens in the county.
ABIAL S. STANNARD.
This gentleman is the only son of Jeremiah Stannard, so frequently mentioned in the history of this town, and occupies the "old homestead " with his father now "in the sere and yellow leaf." Abial long since assumed the care and management of the estate, the finest in the town, and by his industry and well-directed efforts has become one of the wealthiest citizens. He is a large stockholder and one of the directors of the First National Bank of Lowell, represented his district in the lower branch of the State Legislature from 1866 to 1870, and has been several times the Supervisor of the township, all of which goes to show the high appreciation in which he is held by the community in whose midst he has so long resided.
There are several others among the long-time residents in "the settlement " among whom might be named Becket Chapman, Levi H. Nelson, Harley B. Church, Wm. S. Story, and others whose record is alike honorable, and who command the respect and esteem of their fellow citizens in as high a degree as those mentioned above.
CAMPBELL.
C AMPBELL is the southwest corner township of Ionia County, and is bounded on the north by Boston (to which it was for a time attached for judicial purposes), on the east by Odessa, on the south by Carlton in Barry County, and on the west by Bowne in Kent County. It was first settled in 1839 by two sons of Erin, Martin Campbell and Jeremiah Campbell, who came from Jackson in December of that year, arriving on their land in Campbell on Christmas Day. In 1847 or 1848 came Amasa Nash and family, Marvill Church ; and near the same time must have arrived William Mercer, Alexander H. Bushnell, Joseph S. Whitney, Thomas Q. Frost, and Henry Briggs; but no one seems to know the exact year when these arrived, Mr. Nash thinking it was in 1849 when their family came. But it must have been carlier than that, for the town was organized in April 1849, and many of these, as will be seen, were among its first officers ; and one of the most remarkable incidents in the history of this town is the fact that Jeremiah Campbell came here a bachelor, and has been allowed to remain in a state of single-blessedness, a citizen of the town, ever since, and is now seventy-two years old. Another brother, a bachelor by the name of Robert, and a maiden lady, sister to the above, living on section two, were among the early settlers. This town, as mentioned above, was organized April 7, 1849, and had for its first township officers :- Supervisor, William Mercer ; Clerk, Alexander H. Bushnell ; Treasurer, Amasa Nash ; Justices, Alvin Briggs, Amasa Nash, Jeremiah Campbell, and Martin Campbell ; School Inspectors, William Mercer, Marcus R. Nash ; Commissioners of Highways, Joseph Whitney, Calvin Nash, and Martin Campbell; Oveeseers of Poor, Marvill Church and Joseph S. Whitney.
PRESENT TOWN OFFICERS.
Supervisor, James B. Post; Clerk, Edward H. Whitney ; Treasurer, Nathan Todd ; Justices of the Peace, James B. Post, Joseph Briggs, Alfred Burt, and Robert Camp- bell; Commissioners of Highways, Alfred Burt, Calvin North, and Christian Walter ; School Inspectors, Theodore N. Benedict, William A. Gray ; Constables, Washington V. Chase, William E. Bumford. The whole number of votes polled at the first election was fourteen ; twelve of whom, it appears, obtained office at said election.
Campbell is an excellent township of land for farming and grazing, being what is called timbered land, the principal part being beech and maple; but a part of sections three, nine, ten, twenty-one, and twenty-two being oak-openings, and perhaps a little on some sections adjoining. The surface of the land is generally rolling, though some of it is quite level, and a small portion quite uneven, to wit: that part extending from thirty-one, thirty-two, and thirty-three, north ward, across sections twenty, twenty- one, sixteen, seventeen, to eight and nine, where there are many sharp ascents, and some of it quite too uneven to be the most comfortable for tillage and for gathering crops. There are quite a number of swamps, though not generally very large. One in the northeast part of the town, a tamarack swamp, is said to contain four hundred
5
34
HISTORY AND DIRECTORY OF IONIA COUNTY.
or five hundred acres. Another quite extensive one commences on section six, extend- ing into Bowne, in Kent County.
There are several streams in the township, but none so large as to afford very great power for manufacturing, to be relied on at all seasons of the year, unless their waters are first manufactured into steam. One, called Mercer's Creek, runs across the south- east corner of the town to the southwest. Then Duck Creek, on which is a saw-mill, on the west part of section twenty-three, owned by E. P. Gifford, sheriff of the county, -which, by the way, has not operated during the summer months for want of sufficient water,-which creek takes a westerly course, leaving the town on the west line of sec- tion thirty-one. In the north part of the town is Tyler's Creek, running from the large tamerack swamp, in the northeast part of the town, westwardly, running out on the west line of section seven, at which place it is large enough to afford power to carry a small mill. Besides these two, there are none large enough to afford water-power for manufacturing purposes.
There are three small lakes on section eight, one of which is called Peddler's Lake ; said to be so called from a story that a pack peddler attempted to cross it in a boat and was capsized and drowned therein. From these lakes are sometimes taken nice fish, to the delight of the angler who has the luck to obtain them.
The soil is generally a sandy loam, affording a rich and mellow soil, easily worked, and yielding heavy crops when properly cultivated.
There are seven school districts, besides one or two fractional districts, where the children attend school in houses just over the line. The school-houses are located as follows : One at the west quarter-post of section nine; one at the center of section ten, the best in town; one on section eleven; one on the northeast corner of section thirty ; one on the southeast corner of section twenty ; one on section twenty-three, and one on the northeast corner of section thirty-five. Some of them appear some- what huddled, but one or two are only temporarily established, the old houses being two small to accommodate all the scholars; and some lands not being yet settled, renders it difficult to determine on a permanent location for a house.
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