USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 114
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 114
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Evangelical Association .- The society was organized about 1872, as a branch of the Bangor Mission. Clarkson Cone and his wife were the only members. Additions were soon made to the number, and the Rev. David Rol- land was the first pastor, succeeded by the Revs. Dewitt, Asel Russell, John Smaroz, George Provost, and John Snyder, the present pastor. Meetings are held at the Lee school-house, and the society now numbers 33 members, who reside in the townships of Lee, Casco, and Geneva.
A Free-Will Baptist Society was organized about 1855 or 1856, at what was early known as Eatonburg. The Rev. Mr. Burrows became their pastor. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. Mr. Myers. The society continued ten or twelve years and then declined.
In the fall of 1876 a Baptist Society was organized at the Geneva Centre school-house, with 9 members, by the Rev. George S. Martin. They now number 12 members, and still hold their services at the school-house.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
GILMAN AND PHILENA WHITE.
Peregrine White was born on the "Mayflower" in 1620, before the landing at Plymouth Rock. Nicholas White was a grandson of Peregrine White; married a Miss Gilman in 1725. Ebenezer White, second son of Nicholas, was born in Haverhill, Mass., in December, 1731. He married Hannah Merrill, by whom he had seven children,- three sons and four daughters. His wife dying, he married a second time, marrying for his second wife Ruth Emerson, by whom he had eleven children,-eight sons and three daughters. Gilman White, Sr., the ninth son of Ebenezer White, was born in Newburg, Vt., June 21, 1783. Gil- man White, Jr., was born in Topsham, Vt., Dec. 4, 1812, and was the eldest in Gilman White, Sr.'s family of five sons and three daughters, of whom Adam White was the youngest. Adam, Gilman, and William B., another brother, all married sisters,-Adam marrying Ruth Eastman, Gil- man, Nancy Eastman, and William B. marrying Philena Eastman, who, after the death of her husband, William B. White, which occurred in Black Brook, Clinton Co., N. Y., came to Irvington, where she has since resided. Aside from John D. White, who resides in Kalamazoo, and a sister, Mrs. Nathan Bigelow, who is also a resident in Kalamazoo, all of the other members of the family, except those named, have remained in the East.
We give upon another page a view of the residences of Gilman and Mrs. Philena White, at Irvington ; a general store which is conducted by them also appears in the same view, together with a view of the depot and church. Adam White is prosecuting a large business in the manufacture of charcoal at Irvington, which is the principal industry there.
Although only for about three years have the above named resided at Irvington, yet they have become well known throughout that section of Van Buren County for enterprise, energy, together with ability, uprightness, and public spirit.
N. S. TAYLOR
is the son of Daniel and Phoebe (Churchill) Taylor, and was born in Litchfield Co., Conn., in 1829. When an in- fant his parents removed to Brockport, Monroe Co., N. Y., where they lived eight years, removing to Bangor, Mich., Dec. 25, 1837, being among the first that made a perma- nent settlement there. As evidence of the unimproved condition of the country then, Mr. Taylor states that they frequently supplied their table with venison by shooting deer from the door, and often saw wolves near the house. The first winter was one of difficulties, but having taken up one hundred and forty acres of land, he (Daniel Taylor) proceeded to improve it, and always took an active part in all local improvements until his death, which occurred Jan. 9, 1865. His wife still survives, and has reached the age of eighty-nine, residing with a daughter near Lawrence.
N. S. Taylor was the youngest of the sons, and after be- coming of age passed three years traveling in the West. Starting from Galena, Ill., went to California, where he ar- rived in 1852; remained four years, which were profitable ones to him. Returning in 1856, purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land near the old homestead in Bangor, and not only made fine improvements upon his own property, but has taken a prominent part in the general advancement of the township; has acted as an official for the same in several capacities, but has been much interested in its im- provements, particularly in the erection of a Methodist church, contributing largely in that direction. Also con- tributed to the erection of the Bangor furnace and the rail- road, and to the establishment of the press. Was a zealous supporter of whatever related to the Sunday-school interests, in fact using the means he had acquired in promoting the general good as well as his own interests.
In 1876 he wedded Mrs. Mary Smith, a very estimable lady residing in Bangor, visiting on their wedding tour all the principal Eastern cities and public resorts, and on their return purchased an elegant residence in the village of Ban- gor. Also bought a banking institution, with its interests, which he made a financial success. After two years an op- portunity to dispose of this business was offered, which he accepted, and removed to his present residence in Geneva.
Mrs. Taylor's parents, John and Eleanor (Parrish) Mc- Nett, were natives of New York, and moved to Monroe Co., Mich., afterwards to Texas township, Kalamazoo Co., where Mrs. Taylor was born. When seventeen years of age she was married to Butler M. Smith, of Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo Co .; moved to Kankakee, Ill., where their first son was born. After remaining there two years removed to Bangor, and purchased a farm of two hundred acres. Here three boys and one girl were born to them. They contin- ued to reside on their farm until the death of Mr. Smith, who was a man not only loved and revered by his family and friends, but respected by all that knew him.
454
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
JTTLE
Photos. by Northup, Bangor.
CLARK PIERCE.
MRS. CLARK PIERCE.
CLARK PIERCE
was born in Marlborough, Vt., in 1814, and lived with his parents, Joseph and Sally ( Bartlett) Pierce, until his mother's death, which occurred when he was ten years old. In 1832, Clark made his advent in the State of Michigan, stopping first in St. Clair County, where he remained two years, removing thence to Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo Co., and finally bought of J. R. Monroe a quarter-section of land on section 32, in the present township of Geneva, Van Buren Co., where he still resides. This purchase he made during the winter of 1837-38, paying twenty shillings per acre, thereby incurring an indebtedness which required some time to remove. He married Mary S. Roys, of Brady, Kalamazoo Co., Mrs. Pierce thereby acquiring the distinction of being the first resident white woman of Geneva township, Mr. Pierce being the first settler. There they have remained, witnessing the growth and development of the country about them, and have reared and educated their children, of whom they had six, viz., Almon J., Irving, Laura, Quincy, Gertrude, and Etta. Quincy died when twenty-three years of age. The rest are living in the vicinity of the old home, making the last years of their parents their best years.
The first school taught in Geneva was at their house, three terms having expired before a school-house was built.
His place was twenty-three miles from Paw Paw, the lo- cation of the nearest mill and post-office, and it required about three days to make the trip. He, as an employee, aided in building the first frame house in South Haven, living in it about eight months.
Almon J. Pierce enlisted in Company G, 19th Michigan Infantry, was taken sick, and re-enlisted, from convalescent camp, in Ellet's Marine Brigade of the Mississippi River, where he participated in the siege of Vicksburg. On returning from the army, he entered the State Agricultural College, remaining two years. His studies included the rudiments of surveying ; and, leaving before completing the course, he began the practice of land-surveying in Van Buren and Allegan Counties. His success in this line gained him
the election of county surveyor in 1869, which position he has since filled, excepting one term.
Irving W. was a member of the 28th Illinois Infantry ; was at Mobile; returning from the service, as did Almon J., uninjured.
Mr. Pierce was first a Whig, then an Abolitionist, and now a Republican. The family attend the Congregational Church, and are firm advocates of the principles of temper- ance. Mr. Pierce is known as one of the landmarks of Van Buren County. His name is familiar in every house- hold, and he is eminently a self-made man.
CHAPTER LX.
HARTFORD TOWNSHIP .*
Boundaries and General Description-Indian Occupancy-Early Set- tlements and Settlers-Organization and Township Officers-Post- Offices and Postmasters-The Village of Hartford-Societies and Orders-Schools-Religious Societies.
THE township, lying in the southwest part of the county, is composed of 36 full sections, and is known as town 3 south, range 16 west. It is bounded on the north by the township of Bangor, on the east by Lawrence, on the south by Keeler, and on the west by the township of Watervliet, in Berrien County.
The surface is gently undulating, and originally was covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting mostly of black walnut, beech, maple, ash, white and basswood, interspersed with oak, elm, and a little pine.
The soil through the centre from east to west along the line of the old Watervliet road is quite sandy. The south part of the township and that part north of the Paw Paw River is of a rich sandy loam, with a slight admixture of clay, and is equal in productiveness to any soil in the State. The valley of the Paw Paw River is narrow, and is com- posed of rich alluvium. The township is well watered by
* By A. N. Hungerford.
455
TOWNSHIP OF HARTFORD.
the Paw Paw River and its branches, and by Rush Lake, which lies in this and the adjoining township of Bangor. The Paw Paw River enters on the south part of section 1, and flows southerly to the south line of section 11, then, in a winding course, westerly, and passes out of the township in the middle of section 18. The two larger branches rise in the southeast portion of the town, and flow in a north- erly course, one making a junction on section 14, the other on the southwest part of section 8. One also rises in Bangor, with two or three branches, and joins the river at the east line of section 9. The Paw Paw River is a mean- dering stream as far as the forks below the village of Paw Paw, and in an early day was much used for shipping lumber and flour in flat-boats to St. Joseph. Mineral springs abound along the river, and on the farm of Fabius Miles, near the west line of section 12, is a sulphur spring, which issues from a mound about four feet above the level of the surrounding land.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY.
When the first white settlers began to locate in this sec- tion of country, bands of Pottawattamies, Ottawas, and a few Chippewas were quite numerous, and were roving over the country, settling (or rather camping) in different parts in different seasons. In the spring of the year they gathered near the large maple-groves to make sugar. The sis-bah-quet (sugar) they would exchange with the che-mo- ke man (white man) for such articles as they wanted, which generally was, first, whisky, next, whisky, then quash-que (bread) and koo-koosh (pork). The largest of these sugar "orchards" was in the southeast part of the town, on sec- tions 23 and 24, from the Brown and Dowd neighborhood east to the Shafer and Johnson farms. Another was on the north side of the river, below Fabius Miles', on section 12, extending west down the river to the De Long neighbor- hood, and other smaller groves were in various parts of the town.
In the summer season they moved their wigwams to the borders of berry swamps and near good fishing. The largest of these berry swamps was in the southeast part of the town, on the northeast quarter of section 35, near Orson Olds. Another was in the northwest part of the town, on the west line and north of the river.
In the fall season they gathered on the lowlands, and selected a place for their wigwams in the heavy timber, where they were protected from the wind. The game was principally deer, wild turkeys, and the fur-bearing animals.
The most of the Indians were removed in 1838; a few remained and some returned, and in 1842 were again re- moved. Remnants of these tribes now live near Rush Lake, and in the townships of Hartford, Bangor, Covert, and Watervliet, at their intersection. They are mostly Catholics, and have a church at the south end of Rush Lake, which is attended by Father J. Roeper, of Silver Creek. A cemetery is near the church. The first church was built of logs, and was for many years attended by Father Barron, of Silver Creek. Within a few years a number of white families in the adjacent townships have become attached to the church. About ten families living in this township are members.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS.
The section of country embraced in this township was not surveyed until several years after its cession by the Chicago treaty of 1821. About 1829 the lands were first opened for settlement, and emigrants from Ohio, Pennsyl- vania, and the Eastern States began to flow in slowly along the St. Joseph River. Several years after, settlers began to press back from the river, and locate and clear the land. At that time the section of country all along the western slope north of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor was almost a complete wilderness, and Hartford was the home only of Indians and wild animals.
Not far from 1835 a noted hunter and trapper by the name of Harvey Saulsbury came first into what is now the township of Hartford, and built a cabin of basswood logs, with roof of bark, on the bank of the creek on the south- west quarter of section 14, on the farm of John N. Travis. This cabin was occupied by him in his hunting trips, in which he ranged the line of swamps from the Dowagiac to the Black River. There were no white settlers for a long distance, and this cabin was built as a half-way house between the northern and southern points of his range. His sum- mers were mostly spent at Niles, and as the hunting and trapping season came on he started out, dressed in deer- skin trousers, blouse, and slouch hat, with his rifle on his shoulder and a load of traps on his back, would make his way to this place, and generally remain here till spring, occasionally going to Paw Paw to exchange his furs for articles to sell to the Indians. He continued his hunting and trapping excursions till about 1844-45.
As early as 1835 a man known as "South Bend Taylor" was in the habit of passing through this section of country about three times in the course of the winter, and gather- ing furs of hunters and Indians. He traveled generally on foot, and when his burdens were gathered they were either packed on Indian ponies and sent out to the settle- ments, or down the river to St. Joseph. He now lives at South Bend, Ind., and is over eighty years of age.
It is said that two men named Duncan and Sumner about 1828, before any settlements were in this section, followed up Paw Paw River as far as Watervliet, and built a saw-mill under the bluff, on the south side of the Paw Paw River, using the water of Mill Creek. This was near the mill of the Watervliet Mill Company. At about the same time three brothers by the name of Stone bought a tract of land in the northwest part of this township, on sections 5 and 8, for the timber. They cleared land for the logs, which were manufactured into lumber at the mill below. This continued for a short time, when a flood filled the raceway with sand; then they all left here, and their shanties became an Indian rendezvous. Sumner went to Cass County, where he was the founder of Sumnerville. The Stone brothers years afterwards sold their lands to Alvah De Long, for five shillings per acre, receiving their pay in lumber. It is now occupied by Asher and Allen De Long.
About Sept. 1, 1835, John Allen, a native of Vermont, left Ann Arbor for West Michigan, and located a number of lots in Van Buren County, established stage-routes, built mills, did business on the credit system, and failed. Mr.
456
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Allen, Edwin Barnum, and Ephraim Palmer built a log house on the bluff bank of Brush Creek, about forty rods north of the present union school-house of Lawrence. Mr. Allen, not being satisfied with moderate profits and steady business, was seized with the speculative mania, and located a number of lots of land on what is now known as Hog Creek, about a mile east of Hartford village. He platted this land into lots and started an imaginary village, calling it Middletown. A good story is told in connection with the village, about as follows :* In 1836, Mr. Allen attempted to establish a stage-route from Paw Paw to St. Joseph, via Brush Creek, Middletown, and Waterford (Watervliet). Some five or six families who had gathered at Brush Creek, having heard of Middletown, supposed it to be quite a vil- lage, and some of the men of the settlement proposed to visit it. The company consisted of about half a dozen ragged men and as many barefooted boys; but one of the company, John Mellen, a Mohawk Dutchman, being rather more destitute of clothing than the rest, felt a little ashamed to go among strangers, when Humphrey Barnum offered to lend him a coat. Mellen accepted, and the company started out, pass- ing a little south of where Holland Clark now lives. They soon struck the hills, and after going up and down for about half a mile, came to what seemed to be the last place in creation, being a deep hollow, about forty rods across and fifty or sixty feet below the land around it; and as much of the timber in and around it was pine, the name of Pine Hollow was given to it. Climbing out of this they soon came to Mud Lake, and a little farther west passed Sutton's Lake and came to the great Indian trail which passed through the country north and south from Pokagon to Lake Mich- igan, crossing the Paw Paw River at Sturgeon Ripple, and through the Indian settlements in Bangor, striking the lake at South Haven. A little west of this they crossed the town line, which brought the party into a town not yet settled by a white man. Working their way through brush, over logs, and across small streams, they reached Middle- town Creek, and crossing it, took a seat upon the bank where the barn stands on the Bouvier place. There the party partook of their lunch, when Barnum told Mellen he would show him the village, and going a few rods he in- troduced him to the public square and other imaginary lo- calities and business places, and also to the leading settlers, which were none other than mosquitoes, and he thought they had made themselves acquainted at least with some of the family. The joke was relished by the whole company, and was the source of considerable sport for years after- wards. The party, after surveying the village and its sur- roundings for a few hours, returned home tired and hungry, but entirely satisfied with their inspection trip to the new village.
With all the inducements offered, Middletown failed to realize the hopes of its projectors, and it was not even used for farm-lands for many years after.
Upon the failure of Mr. Allen a Mr. Grant, of Oswego, N. Y., came into possession of it by foreclosure of the mortgage, and long after Sylvanus Casselman bought the
land. . Mr. Allen was a pioneer in three States,-Michigan, Iowa, and California. He was State senator from Washte- naw County in 1847-48, and in 1850 went to California, where he died.
The first actual settlers in the township were Ferdino Olds and family, consisting of his wife and daughter Julia (now Mrs. Ansel E. Reynolds). Mr. Olds was a native of Cayuga Co., N. Y., emigrated to this place in December, 1836, and located land on the middle of the north half of section 29, where W. H. Haven now lives. On coming through to the place the family stopped at the house of Lyman G. Hill (who was the nearest settler and lived in the northeast part of Keeler township) while he put up a small log cabin, which was completed Jan. 25, 1837, on which day the family moved into it. Here they lived a short time, but the family increased so rapidly that a larger house had to be built, and a family of ten children were raised, nine of whom are living. Mr. Olds died in October, 1856.
His brothers, Hezekiah and John, came in soon after. The latter settled on the southwest quarter of section 29, adjoining Ferdino; Hezekiah was (and is still) a bachelor and lived with John ; Orson settled south of John on the same quarter-section, and lives now in the village. His farm was sold to Sylvester McNitt. Ira and Harry came in later. Ira settled on section 28, where William Day re- sides, and now lives in Keeler, near the north line. Harry was a carpenter. He lived here a few years and returned to New York. Edwin R. Olds, a son of Orson, married Harriet, a daughter of Ferdino Olds, and in 1858 bought the farm now owned by A. N. Spaulding on the northeast quarter of section 28, and was engaged in farming and lum- bering for several years. He removed to the village and built the first hotel, known as the Olds House. He is now en- gaged in buying stock, grain, and wool, and is one of the foremost business men in the town. Ransom and Allen Olds are sons of Orson, and are engaged in the manufac- ture of sash, doors, and blinds, and are also building con- tractors.
Henry Hammond was the next settler, and located on the southeast quarter of section 34, where Mr. E. B. Green- field lived. He erected a cabin for temporary use in the spring of 1837, where he lived till about the middle of May. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond unitedly worked together in building a log house 16 by 22, and moved into it as soon as completed. In this house, Jan. 3, 1838, a daughter was born to them, who was the first child born in the town- ship. This was Catharine Hammond, afterwards the wife of Hiram E. Stratton.
Thomas Conklin, a native of Rutland, Jefferson Co., N. Y., came to Kalamazoo in 1834, but not liking the country returned to New York. In November, 1836, in company with his brother James and a Mr. Sellick, he came back to Kalamazoo. They had with them a yoke of oxen and a' wagon. The first night in the wilderness was passed under many difficulties ; they felled a large beech- tree, and building a fire against it cooked their food. They slept on the ground with the wagon-box turned over them. Snow fell during the night to the depth of two feet, and continued the next day, and the weather getting colder
* This story and some of the incidents of the pioneers are gleaned from articles contributed by Luther Sutton in the Day Spring as historical notes, pioneer sketches, etc.
THOMAS CONKLIN.
MRS. THOMAS CONKLIN.
RESIDENCE OF THOMAS CONKLIN, HARTFORDTP, VANBUREN CO., MICH.
457
TOWNSHIP OF HARTFORD.
they decided to go to Battle Creek. While at Kalamazoo, in the fall of 1836, Thomas Conklin in behalf of himself, James his brother, Mr. Sellick, Burrell A. Olney, and James Spinnings, all schoolmates and associates, entered about 1000 acres of land and paid for it. The most of the members of this company were still in the East, and did not come out till the spring of 1837. In February of 1837, James Conklin and Mr. Sellick, with the assistance of Thomas, put up their log houses on sections 5 and 6 in Keeler township.
In March, 1837, B. A. Olney and James Spinnings came from the East, and they, together with Thomas Conklin, erected on Mr. Conklin's land a log cabin, 12 feet by 12, in which they lived together six weeks, chopping and clearing land, doing their own cooking. The furniture was rude, as was usual in those days; the only tool of the time was the axe. Marsh hay was gathered to fill an old tick to make a bed, -- the three occupied the same bed, with two blankets for covering. About the 1st of May the party separated. After getting the land cleared, corn and pota- toes planted, and a new log house built, Thomas Conklin returned to the East, married, and returned to the new home about the 1st of October, 1837. Mrs. Conklin was a teacher in the East, and here, in this new log house, the first children of Hartford township were gathered together and taught by her. Before the organization of this town- ship, Gen. Chadwick, Mr. Conklin, and Orrin Sykes were the first school inspectors.
In 1839, Hezekiah Olds employed Thomas Conklin to erect for him a log house, 18 by 24 feet, in consideration for which service he was to receive a cow. The work was completed in thirteen days. Mr. Olds raked up the chips the same day and set them on fire, which not only burned the chips but the house also. Mr. Conklin lives near the village, and his son Luke on a farm adjoining. Luke was the first male child born in town, Dec. 3, 1838.
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