History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 10

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 821

USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10

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).

Besides the steamers mentioned above, others ran at different times upon the line, and among them was the " Samuel Ward." The completion of the Central Railroad diverted both passengers and freight traffic from the river, and then for a time New Buffalo, instead of St. Joseph, was the focus of steam navigation on this part of the lake. Soon after this diversion of freight and passenger business, however, the sudden and wonderful development of the fruit interest in the region tributary to the St. Joseph caused a new demand for steam transportation to Chicago, and from that time the river-entrance was enlivened by more frequent arrivals and departures of steamers than in the earlier days, when stages clattered along the territorial road and keel-boats swarmed on the river. In the recent years the great diminution of the fruit-product, caused by the appearance of a fatal disease among the peach orchards, has proportionately diminished the demand for steam trans- portation at this point, but steamboat facilities sufficient for the requirements of the trade have been retained. At the present time (1879) the " Corona," of the Goodrich Trans- portation Company, makes daily trips to Chicago, and the "Skylark" and " Messenger," owned at Benton Harbor, are running.

Ship-building was commenced at St. Joseph as early as 1832 by Deacon & McKaleb, and not long after by John Griffith & Co. and others. During succeeding years a large number of vessels have been built at and near the mouth of the river. Several small vessels were also built on the upper river in early years. Among the first of these was a fifteen- ton sloop, built in 1832 by Dr. L. A. Barnard at La Grange Prairie, and hauled by oxen to Niles, where it was launched. This sloop, named the " Dart," ran from St. Joseph to Chicago. A schooner of about fifty tons was built in 1838,

HISTORY OF BERRIEN AND VAN BUREN COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

by Henry Depty, at the south part of Bertrand. She was moved on ways to the river, and then floated to St. Joseph. Soon afterwards another small schooner was built at or near the mouth of McCoy's Creek, in Buchanan. In 1846 or 1847 parties from Chicago built a schooner, of some eighty tons' burden, on the bank of the river, about eight miles above Berrien Springs. There have probably been other lake vessels built on the upper river, but no accounts of their building have been obtained.

Inland navigation upon the St. Joseph River forms an item of considerable importance in the history of this sec- tion of country during something more than a quarter of a century from the time when the early settlements were made here. The account of this navigation which is given here is made up mainly of information furnished by Joseph W. Brewer, Esq., of St. Joseph, who was himself engaged in the river trade for many years.

The river transportation was carried on at first by the use of keel-boats, " arks," and flat-boats ; but, later, steam- boats were employed, and these, of course, monopolized a great part of the traffic. In the year 1833-the time when Mr. Brewer came to St. Joseph-there were three keel- boats running on the river, viz., the " Antelope," of about thirty-five tons, built by Mr. Johnson, at South Bend, Ind., and commanded by Captain Benjamin Finch ; the " St. Jo- seph," of about the same tonnage, also built at South Bend, and commanded by Captain Benjamin Putnam ; and the " Constantine," of about forty tons, built at Constantine, Mich., and commanded and owned by Captain John McMil- lan. The " Kitty Kiddungo" and the " Three Rivers," both built at Three Rivers by Washington Gascon (and the latter commanded by him), came on the river two or three years later. Most of the freight carried up the river by these boats consisted of salt, groceries, provisions, hard- ware, and dry-goods. Their downward freight was, of course, rather meagre until the country became settled, and harvests were secured. The first cargo of wheat brought down the river was shipped in 1834, from Three Rivers, St. Joseph County, on board the " Constantine," of which boat Mr. Brewer formed one of the crew. Ten or twelve years later there were between fifty and sixty keel- boats plying on the river between St. Joseph and points on the river as far up as Three Rivers. Many of these were towed by the steamers on their upward trips.

The kind of boats called "arks" made their appear- ance on the river about 1833. These were simply rectan- gular cribs about forty by sixteen feet in dimensions, and two of these were usually coupled together. They were devised by Burroughs Moore, of St. Joseph County, and intended for the transportation of produce; but it was found by experience that nothing but flour could profit- ably be carried in them. The first one of these vessels which attempted the passage of the river started from Three Rivers, under command of James Smith and - Knapp, passed successfully down the river (with the excep- tion of two or three minor accidents) until it reached the " Granddad ripple," above Niles, where it was wrecked, and its cargo of wheat became a total loss. This ended the arking business for three or four years ; but when flour began to be more plenty, and considerable quantities of it

required transportation, the arks were again called into requisition, and became somewhat popular for that use.

An incident is related showing how, on one occasion, Captain Elisha Millard, being then in command of one of these arks, narrowly escaped serious disaster in St. Joseph harbor. There was a strong and rapid current in the river, and Captain Millard, miscalculating the velocity of his craft, attempted to "snub" it too suddenly at the wharf, when the line parted and the ark moved rapidly on towards the lake. As it floated on past a vessel which lay there a line was thrown to the captain, who at once made it fast ; but here a new difficulty arose, for when the momentum of the ark was so suddenly checked, and the strong current began to act against the square perpendicular surface op- posed to it, the first section of the awkward craft showed unmistakable symptoms of submersion, and it was only by a prompt slacking of the line, and the hasty transfer of a part of the cargo from the front to the rear section, that both were saved from going to the bottom.

The arks (usually carrying a cargo of four or five hun- dred barrels) were not brought back up the stream, but sold for what they would bring, or abandoned. But another experiment was tried,-of building a fleet of small arks car- rying about twenty barrels each, and returning them over land on wagons, to be reloaded and sent down again. It does not appear that this plan was ever very successful. Flat-boats and pirogues were in early days used on the river to some extent for the transportation of light cargoes.

The "St. Joseph Navigation Company" was incorporated by act of Legislature, approved April 19, 1833, "for the purpose of improving the navigation of the St. Joseph River between the entrance of said river into Lake Michi- gan at its mouth and the northern boundary of Indiana." Henry B. Hoffman, Jacob Beeson. and Anson P. Brooks were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock, which was authorized to the amount of fifty thousand dollars. Nothing, however, was done towards accomplishing the objects for which the act of incorpora- tion was obtained.

The first steamboat which ran up the St. Joseph River was the "Newburyport," which was built at Erie, Pa. This steamer came to the St. Joseph and ran up as far as Berrien Springs in 1832, and this was her first and last trip on the river. She was wrecked at or near the Calumet, in 1835.

Next came the " Matilda Barney," which was built es- pecially for this river by Deacon & McKaleb, at St. Joseph, in 1833. Her dimensions were, length of keel, eighty feet ; breadth of beam, sixteen feet; depth of hold, three feet. She was of the class known as "stern-wheelers." Her commander was Captain Daniel T. Wilson, and her pilot Cap- tain Ebenezer Farley. After running for several years she was taken to pieces and her machinery used in another boat.

The " Davy Crockett," another "stern-wheeler," was built at Erie, Pa., and brought to the St. Joseph by Captain John F. Wight for John Griffith & Co., in the summer of 1834, being designed especially for the river trade. She was commanded by Captain Pitt Brown, with Joseph Smith as pilot: The " Crockett" carried a peculiar figure-head, it being a nondescript, " half horse and half alligator," and

NAVIGATION.

this, being connected with the exhaust-pipe of the engine by a smaller pipe, ejected a volume of steam from its mouth at every stroke of the pistons. The boat did but little business in the first year. In 1835 she ran on the river again, but with Captain Benjamin Putnam as commander, and J. W. Brewer and Moses D. Burke as pilots. In this year she did a prosperous business until August, when she ran on a rock, seven miles above Berrien Springs, broke in two, and sunk.

Soon after, the steamer " Patronage" was built by Hull & Co., and received the machinery of the " Crockett." She was placed on the river, under command of Captain Hull, and after running here a few seasons under him and Captain D. Farley went into the Grand River trade in 1841.

The " Pocahontas," a considerably larger boat than any of her predecessors on the river, was built in 1838, by Wheeler & Porter, forwarding merchants, of St. Joseph. Her builder was James Randall, and her master Captain Ebenezer Farley. Her career on the river was not very successful. She was found to draw too much water, and was withdrawn on that account. She was afterwards dis- mantled, and her engines transferred to the " Algoma."

The " Indiana" was built by Captain John McMillan in 1843. She was a side-wheeler, larger even than the " Poca- hontas," and, being the most powerful, was also the swiftest, boat which had ever been on the river. Under command of Captain J. W. Brewer she made the passage from St. Joseph to Niles, against a strong current, and back to St. Joseph,-one hundred miles,-between sunrise and sunset, on three successive days, this being the quickest time ever recorded for any boat on the river.

The next boat on the river was the " Algoma," which was built at Mishawaka by Wheeler & Porter, of St. Joseph, in 1845, and made her first trip on September 14th of that year, under Captain Edward Smith. She was a more costly boat than any which had been put on the river, but, as her machinery was that of the old " Pocahontas," she was in- ferior in power and speed to the " Indiana." These two boats at this time, on their passages up the river, towed keel- boats to their various loading-places, where they received their cargoes of wheat, flour, pork, whisky, high wines, or other commodities, and then floated back to St. Joseph. There were some twenty or thirty of them which were towed in this way on their upward trips.

The " Mishawaka," also built at Mishawaka, soon after the " Algoma," was commanded by Captain A. Hamilton Smith. This vessel was of very peculiar construction, having on each side two wheels of about five feet in di- ameter, and placed about sixteen feet apart ; and over these ran an endless chain, on which were fastened the buckets or paddles. This was claimed by the builders to be a more economical method of applying the propelling power than the usual one of the single paddle-wheel. Perhaps this may be true in theory, for this boat is represented as having been an unusually fast one,-in fact, so speedy as to render it difficult to steer her. But it was found to be of no prac- tical utility, as the propelling apparatus was almost con- tinually out of order, and often broken. Finally the end- less chain of buckets was discarded, and the ordinary paddle- wheel substituted

The steamer " Niles," a side-wheeler, was built, not far from the same time, by William B. Beeson, of Niles, and placed under command of Captain John Day, of South Bend. Afterwards she was in charge of Captain Darius Jennings. She was one of the most successful boats in the river trade.

The " Union" was a small boat built principally for the passenger trade, by Capt. John McMillan, of Constantine, and came on the river at about the same time as the " Niles." She had an upright tubular boiler, which, after about three months' use, was burned out and ruined. The boat was then sold to Kellogg & Bros., of Mottville, who refitted her, put in a horizontal boiler, and put her again on the river. Before she started from Mishawaka on her first trip down the river she was examined by Captain J. W. Brewer, who pronounced her unsafe, because liable to capsize, and gave it as his opinion that if she started on her trip she would never reach St. Joseph. The warning was disre- garded, and the boat started on her trip, but, in passing the Mishawaka bridge, she struck the pier obliquely and cap- sized, as Captain Brewer had foreseen. In this accident Mr. Charles Kellogg, one of her owners, was drowned. After this disaster the two surviving brothers Kellogg, and Dr. Ingalls, of Mottville, formed a company and built the steamer " Michigan," a small but excellent boat, and placed her on the river, under command of Captain Harlow Gray. She plied between Mottville and St. Joseph until about 1852.

In the fall of 1848, the Central Railroad being pushed through from Kalamazoo to Niles, the St. Joseph owners sold their good steamers. The " Indiana" went to Chicago as a tug-boat, and the " Algoma" to Muskegon. There re- mained, however, the " Niles," Captain Brewer; the " Mish- awaka," Captain Farley ; and the " Michigan," Captain L. F. Warner ; but in the spring of 1849 the first two named were sold to W. D. Thompson, general freight agent of the Central Railroad, with eight or ten keel-boats of the fleet which the steamers had been accustomed to tow up the river to their loading points (these keel-boats having most of them been owned by the same parties who owned the steamers). After this purchase by the railroad company, the " Niles" (still commanded by Captain Brewer), and the keel-boats were used on the upper river, bringing freight from Constantine and points below, to Niles, where it was elevated by steam-power into the company's warehouse,-a structure one hundred feet in height,-which had been built in 1848 on the bank of the river at Niles bridge. From this building the freight was transferred to the railroad. This traffic was successful during the short time it was con- tinued. The steamer " Niles," however, proved deficient for the amount of towing required, and a new boat was built at Mishawaka expressly for the up-river trade, her dimensions being one hundred and eight feet keel, sixteen feet beam, four feet hold, and eighteen inches draft of water, with two engines of forty-horse power. The name given her was "John F. Porter," in honor of the gentleman of the same name, who was for a long time in the forward- ing business at St. Joseph, and who was often mentioned by river men as " the boatman's friend." Mr. Porter, on examining this steamer, pronounced her construction per- fect, and correctly prophesied that she would prove a suc- cess. The " Porter," under command of Captain Brewer,

HISTORY OF BERRIEN AND VAN BUREN COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

previously of the " Niles," plied between Constantine and Niles until the fall of 1851, when the Michigan Southern Railroad, having extended its line westward to South Bend, cut off nearly all the up-river trade, and the boats were sold to parties in Grand Rapids for use on the Grand River. During all this time the steamer " Michigan" had struggled to keep up a transportation business on the river between Mottville and St. Joseph, and had continued running be- tween those points ; but on the completion of the Michigan Southern Railroad her owners gave up the contest, and sold the steamer and two keel-boats to parties in Chicago.

Besides the steamers above named, there have run upon the river at various times several others, among which were the " Pilot," Captain John McMillan ; the " St. Joseph," Captain Charles F. Howe; and the " Schuyler Colfax," Cap- tain Ezekiel Reynolds. The last-named steamer ran on the upper river, connecting with the Central Railroad at Niles, during the time in which the company carried on that branch of its business.

At the present time a small steamer makes daily trips during the season of navigation between St. Joseph and Berrien Springs.

Excepting the mouth of the St. Joseph River, New Buf- falo properly claims the earliest navigation of any point on the coast of Berrien and Van Buren Counties. The dis- covery of a practicable haven for small vessels at that place was made by Wessel Whittaker in the fall of 1834, when traveling on foot to reach St. Joseph from State Creek, where the vessel which he commanded had been driven ashore and wrecked. Observing what he regarded as ex- cellent natural harbor facilities, he purchased a tract of land there, plotted a paper village upon this purchase, and re- turned in the following spring. A few weeks afterwards there arrived a party made up of Russell Goodrich and others, who had purchased some of Mr. Whittaker's " vil- lage lots." This party came on board a schooner of which the name has not been ascertained, but which is said to have been-and undoubtedly was-the first vessel that ever made her port at that place. In June, a little later, an- other schooner arrived, bringing the families of several of the settlers. This was the beginning, but no results in the way of navigation of any importance followed .. For a num- ber of years, while the country was being cleared of its for- ests, wood droghers ran to and fro from New Buffalo, and a considerable business was done in the transportation of wood to Chicago. Some shipments of oats, corn, and other produce were made from here by schooner as early as 1837. About 1846 the steamer from St. Joseph to Chicago began touching at New Buffalo and Michigan City, and continued to do so for three or four seasons afterwards, but beyond this, and the occasional arrival and departure of small craft, very little use was made of the water facilities of the place, until the Central Railroad made its western termi- nus here, in 1849.

The railroad company had already made extensive im- provements of the harbor by the construction of costly piers and other preparations for the projected steamer con- nection between the trains and the city of Chicago. These improvements made by the company cost about the sum of

two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. When the road was completed to the lake, and the trains commenced run- ning, two steamers-the " Samuel Ward," Captain Thomas Buntline, and the " Pacific," a larger boat, under Captain Charles Cooper-were placed on the line which formed the Chicago connection. The " Pacific" lay at her dock, and received the passengers brought in by the first train. Both these steamers left daily for Chicago ; so that New Buffalo suddenly found herself transformed from an out-of-the-way landing-place for occasional sloops and schooners to an im- portant steamboat rendezvous. This state of affairs con- tinued through the navigation seasons of 1849, 1850, and 1851, and then ceased, because the railroad company had extended its track into Indiana, and in the last-named year established its terminus (temporarily) at Michigan City. The St. Joseph steamer had discontinued her trips here with the close of the season of 1849, and now, with the withdrawal of the railroad steamers, the naviga- tion interests of New Buffalo received their final extin- guishment.

At South Haven, on the South Black River, at its mouth, where excellent navigation facilities are now afforded, and where the largest lake vessels can enter with ease, and lie in safety, there was really no harbor in existence prior to 1862, and for five years after that time the entrance was practicable for only the smallest sailing-vessels. In 1852 the village was plotted, and improvements were commenced, including the erection of extensive saw-mills, which re- quired better facilities than then existed for the shipment of their lumber ; but, although something was done with a view to make the mouth of the river more accessible, no substantial results were accomplished, and vessels loading here continued to receive their cargoes from lighters while lying outside the bar in the lake. The improvements made here by the combined action of South Haven and neighbor- ing towns, in 1862 and following years, as well as the work done by the government in 1867, 1868, and afterwards, will be more fully mentioned in succeeding pages. By the im- provements first mentioned the harbor was made practica- ble for the entrance of vessels, though only those of the smallest class ; but the later operations by the government have made it accessible to the heaviest lake steamers.

Steam communication with Chicago has been enjoyed by South Haven since the improvement of the harbor by the government has made such navigation possible. The steamer " Ira Schaffer," owned in Saugatuck, touched here on her trips for about ten years. Later steamers run- ning to and from South Haven have been the " Monitor," owned by Hannahs & Hale ; the " Huron," owned by the same firm ; the " Riverside," by J. P. Clark, of Detroit (ran in 1877); the " Metropolis," which ran here in 1878 until condemned ; and the "Grace Grummond," which took the place of the " Metropolis," and is still (1879) running.

The arrivals at South Haven during the navigation season of 1879 were one hundred and seventy-one steamers and ninety-eight sailing-vessels. The clearances from the port during the same season were of one hundred and sixty- nine steamers and one hundred and two sailing-vessels ;

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

being a total tonnage of sixty-five thousand three hundred and forty tons. The deputy collectors at this port have been B. H. Dyckman, William E. Stewart, and Charles Delamere, the present incumbent.

Following is a list of sailing-vessels which have been built and owned at South Haven, viz., "South Haven" (built in 1865), "Hattie Earle," " George L. Beaver" (three-mast), "Lillie Grey," "D. G. Wright," "L. Painter," " Marvin Hannahs," "O. Shaw," " William Smith," " Pas- cagoula," "S. P. Wilson" (three-mast), " Mary Ludwig," " Mary E. Packard," " C. J. Smith."

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

The first of the harbors on the coast of Berrien and Van Buren Counties, as it was also the first on the east shore of Lake Michigan, on which improvements were made, either at the expense of the government or other- wise, was the harbor of St. Joseph, where a lighthouse was built in 1831. This structure-circular in form, and eighteen feet in diameter at the base-stood on the top of the bluff, on or very near the site of the present lighthouse and tower, which succeeded the old one after it had stood for twenty-eight years, a beacon to navigators upon the lake.

In 1834 a preliminary survey for bettering the condition of the harbor was made by Lieut. J. M. Berrien and a corps of engineers under his charge, and, upon his report, Congress, in 1835, made an appropriation of twenty-six thousand dollars to build a breakwater and to do other work necessary for securing a harbor of easier access and larger capacity. In reference to the improvements made here under this appropriation, the following extract is taken from an official report of harbor improvements on Lake Michigan : "The river, previous to any improvement, made a sharp bend to the southwest, near its present outlet, and entered Lake Michigan about 1200 feet from its present outlet. The improvement of the harbor was begun by the United States in 1836, and the work constructed from that time to 1866 was about 1312 feet of piering, of which 1100 feet constituted the north and 212 feet the south pier, embracing the revetment of the cut through the nar- row tongue of sand."

A survey was made in 1863 by Col. W. F. Reynolds, preliminary to further improvement. " At that time the channel was 240 feet wide; confined by the north pier 1100 feet, and south pier 212 feet, the river spreading into a basin 800 feet wide. Two channels were formed, one by the Paw Paw River and the other by the St. Jo- seph, with depth of water not less than 12 feet at the entrance of the harbor, and nine feet water-way inward." Plans of further improvement were made in 1866, embrac- ing the extension of the south pier 200 feet, which was completed during the fiscal year of 1867-68. Surveys were made in November, 1868, and August, 1869, but nothing was accomplished beyond the surveys.

. The annual reports of harbor improvements show appro- priations for St. Joseph harbor as follows: For 1870, $15,000; 1871, $10,000; 1872, for repairs, $3000; 1873, repairs, $2000; 1875, $35,000; 1876, $12,000; 1878, $12,000 ; and the appropriation for 1879 is $10,953. In

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History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 10

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 821

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 821