USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 118
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 118
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In September, 1837, Henry D. Coleman built upon the line of the Territorial road in Hamilton, on section 15, a commodious frame tavern, still standing and usually known as the "Brown Tavern." The Territorial road, passing through Hamilton from the west to the northeast, had up to that time no tavern upon it in that township; but in Keeler township there was a Territorial road stage-house, known as Keeler's. When Coleman completed his tavern, he set about providing business for it, and by shrewd tact succeeded in getting the stages to stop at his house instead of at Keeler's. Staging, as well as other travel, was very brisk on that road for many years previous to the comple- tion of the Michigan Central Railroad, and as Coleman kept the stages at his house as long as the stage-route was maintained, he carried on a brisk and profitable business.
When Coleman got his tavern ready for trade he had just twenty-five cents in money on hand, and having a hotel, he wanted a store. Accordingly, he borrowed $700, bought a small stock of goods, and opened business as a merchant in one corner of the tavern. Shortly after open- ing his house, Coleman succeeded in obtaining a post-office for Hamilton, and was himself appointed postmaster. He kept the office, of course, at the tavern, where it remained
until shortly after the abandonment of the stage-route, when the office was abolished, Coleman having been the postmaster continuously. After that Coleman moved to a farm on section 4, and died in 1857.
The pioneer blacksmith of Hamilton was Charles N. Poor, who had a shop at Keeler's tavern in Keeler when Coleman built the Hamilton tavern ; but when the latter took the stage business from Keeler he followed with his shop to Hamilton, and stuck to the bellows at Coleman's as long as the stages stuck to the Territorial road, after which he went to California.
The first store in the township was opened, as has already been told, by Henry Coleman, in his roadside tavern, but as a place of trade it was rather insignificant. Aaron W. Broughton, who came to Hamilton in 1839, brought with him a stock of goods valued at about $2000, and set up a store of some pretensions near Philotus Haydon's, and there transacted a flourishing business for some years. Mr. Broughton moved to Paw Paw and died there.
A saw-mill was put up in 1842 by one Trader, near Robert Nesbitt's, but it lasted only a brief period.
Grist-mills were not accessible to settlers of Hamilton in the early days, nearer than Flowerfield or Whitmanville, and carrying grist to mill was no pleasant task, but it was an important and necessary one, although there were times when the home-made corn-mill of tree-stump or tin pan had to suffice for temporarily supplying corn-meal, and deferred for a time the dreaded journey to mill. Hamilton was supplied by Robert Nesbitt with a grist-mill in 1856, and that, still doing good service, is the only grist-mill the town- ship has ever had.
A WINTER FRIGHT.
It is told that during the "hard winter" of 1842-43 quite a number of the inhabitants became much exercised over the belief current in some quarters that the extraordi- nary snow-fall had been sent as an instrument for the ulti- mate destruction of the earth,-the theory being that the snow would, in melting, turn to oil, take fire, and so burn the world with everything upon it. Just how far that be- lief extended cannot be stated, but it is certain that it occa- sioned to some no little uneasiness, and somewhat disturbed the serenity of their existence until the advance of gentle spring turned the snow to water and warmed the blood of the timid into healthful action.
WOLF STORIES.
Of course wolf stories in endless profusion range through the early history of Hamilton, just as they do through the history of all early settlements in Michigan. Robert Nes- bitt relates that while staining a coffin he had made for a man named Fenton,-killed in Keeler by the fall of a tree, -a pack of wolves, attracted by the odor of the liquid coloring, surrounded him, and despite his efforts to repel them they clung close to his cabin, and kept up a continu- ous howling the night through. The beasts frequently attacked Mr. Nesbitt's large watch-dog and chased him to the very cabin door. Coming home on foot from Kala- mazoo, Mr. Nesbitt was attacked at nightfall by a pack of ravenous wolves, and he lost no time accordingly in climb-
,
Protect Nesbitt Sophia de Neslito .
ROBERT NESBITT.
This gentleman, whose portrait appears above, was born near Belfast, Ireland, March 18, 1810, and emigrated to the United States in the spring of 1826, arriving in Plattsburgh, N. Y., on the 4th of May, and remained there six months. He then proceeded to Ann Arbor, Mich., and settled near that place March 23, 1827, and began work at the mill-wright's trade. In the fall of 1829 he removed to Kalamazoo County, and while there assisted in building the first saw-mill in the county. He took charge of the mill as sawyer, and prepared and sent to Kalamazoo the first load of lumber ever received there. In the spring of 1835 he located the first land entered in Hamilton township, Van Buren Co., settled upon it, and has since made it his home. His entry included three eighty- acre lots in the midst of a dense forest, and this has been transformed into his present excellent and finely improved farm. In 1871 Mr. Nesbitt erected the residence he now oc- cupies,-one of the finest in the county. He has been the owner of three thousand acres of land, his farm consisting at present of four hundred and sixty acres. Soon after his loca- tion he began cutting the valuable timber on his place, manu- facturing it into lumber, and shipping it in various directions. The first cargo of walnut lumber ever shipped around Cape Horn to California was furnished by Mr. Nesbitt, he being secured on it by real estate until returns were made. Five saw-mills were built and worn out by him in the manufacture of lumber, aside from a steam saw-mill in Allegan County.
Mr. Nesbitt has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Masia Comley, daughter of John Comley. to whom he was married Dec. 1, 1836, and who bore him four children,- Mary, Elizabeth, George, and Masia; of these but two are now living. Mrs. Nesbitt died October 6, 1857 ; and on the 18th of September, 1858, he was married to Mrs. S. L. Griffin, by whom he has also had four children,-Robert, Minnie, Nellie, and Dora ; two of the number fell before the sickle of the great reaper, Death. Mr. Nesbitt is a well-known advocate of
the doctrine of Spiritualism, and has devoted more than thirty years of his life to an investigation of the subject. He is a firm believer in the ministrations and manifestations of de- parted friends, and frequent meetings of those interested in the study of the doctrine are held at his house, and largely attended ; prominent mediums from this and other States being often present.
Mr. Nesbitt, in summing up in December, 1879, said : " At this time I run one saw-mill and a grist-mill, beside a large farm, well stocked; am now in my seventieth year. I superintend all my own business, having but one son, who ' paddles his own canoe.' My health is good, my spirits light. I walk several miles every day looking after my business." Mr. Nesbitt's qualities have made him a leader in many things, and his integrity, through his long business career, has won for him the confidence of those with whom he has asso- ciated. He has made many friends, and his home is a place of hospitality and generous entertainment. His anecdotes of the days of pioneer life are ever interesting, and no man was better fitted than he for the duties of such a life. He is one of the few landmarks of a swiftly passing generation, and is
"Only waiting till the shadows Are a little longer grown,"
when he will join the innumerable throng of those who have gone before.
Mr. Nesbitt's father, George Nesbitt, emigrated to the United States in 1830, and purchased two thousand one hundred acres of land in Kalamazoo Co., Mich. He was en- gaged during his life in agricultural pursuits, and died July 22, 1843. The parents of Mrs. Robert Nesbitt came to "the States" about 1851, from Durham Co., Ont., Canada (where Mrs. Nesbitt was born Oct. 23, 1825), and settled in Breeds- ville, Van Buren Co., Mich. Her mother died in 1865, and her father in 1872.
RES, OF ROBERT NESBITT, HAMILTON, MICH.
469
TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON.
ing a tree. He was about a mile from his home, and from the tree-top he could see the fire-light at his cabin, but the wolves waited for him with savage howlings at the foot of the tree, ready to pounce upon him as soon as he should descend. He was miserable enough indeed to be thus imprisoned, and to add to his discomfort the weather was bitter cold. Half frozen after a time, he became des- perate. Determined to fight his way out at all hazards, he cut a heavy stick, and, descending rapidly to the ground, made such a fierce onslaught upon his foes that they fell back. Taking advantage of the truce, he ran to the next tree, and braced himself for another encounter just in time to receive the hungry pack which had returned to the charge. In that fashion he was compelled to fight his way homeward, and although he reached his cabin in safety, he was wellnigh worn out by the excitement and violent ex- ertion.
The taking of deer was an easy matter, and venison became as an article of food so plentiful as to become dis- tasteful. An old settler says that he once counted 27 deer within sight of his door-step, and from the top of a tree counted 52 feeding in his turnip-patch. James Brooks used to tell how when he cut a tree he found about 20 deer browsing upon it as soon as it fell, and they were so tame that they did not appear to mind his presence. When the woods resounded with the howls of wolves, the general expression among the settlers was that the beasts were holding " Mormon meetings," although why Mormon meet- ings no one stands ready to explain. On one occasion they held meeting to such good purpose as to carry off two stray calves belonging to Lewis Johnson. Caleb Bartlett and the Geers, then occupying neighboring cabins, set out with guns in response to the cries of the calves, and for a time the sport of wolf-chasing was fast and furious.
Two of Mr. Stearns' daughters going out towards evening in search of the cows, came suddenly upon the bovines just as the latter were flying pell-mell before a pack of wolves. The cattle were greatly demoralized, and that example the girls were not slow in following. Strange to say, the sound of human voices reassured the cows to that extent that they presently halted in their flight, while the wolves, disconcerted by the same agency, stopped short and vented their rage in howls. Each girl, crying loudly, and wofully frightened, seized the tail of a cow, and thus protected moved away from the threatening danger and reached home in safety.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST.
The territory now occupied by the townships of Keeler and Hamilton was set off under legislative act of March 11, 1837, as the township of Covington, and included a district six miles in width by twelve in length. In 1839 Covington was divided into two townships, that on the west being called Keeler, and that on the east Alpena. The record of proceedings at the first town-meeting in Alpena is given as follows :
" The qualified electors of the township of Alpena met at the house of Henry Coleman, April 1, 1839, for the purpose of organizing said township. Appointed Philotus Haydon Moderator and Ralph Mason Clerk ; Henry Cole- man, Robert Nesbitt, and George A. Bentley, Inspectors.
Whereupon township officers were elected as follows : Supervisor, George A. Bentley ; Clerk, Henry Coleman ; Treasurer, Marcus Merriman ; Assessors, Ralph Mason, Philotus Haydon, and Henry Coleman ; Constable and Collector, Ebenezer Lumbard; School Inspectors, Ralph Mason, Calvin Fields, Jr., and James Nesbitt ; Directors of the Poor, John Comley and Aaron Barney; Commis- sioners of Highways, Jackson Pratt, Philotus Haydon, Zebina Stearns; Justices of the Peace, Henry Coleman, Robert Nesbitt, Calvin Fields, Jr., and Ralph Mason ; Overseers of Highways, Joseph B. Bradt, Marcus Merri- man, George A. Bentley, Robert Nesbitt, Henry C. Mc- Clure, and Elisha Geer."
The name of Alpena did not suit the townspeople, and so, upon discussion, it was decided in 1840 to exchange it for that of Hamilton, in honor of the American statesman of that name, and Hamilton it has remained.
The names of the persons chosen annually, from 1840 to 1880, to be supervisor, clerk, treasurer, and justice of the peace are given in the following list :
1840 .- Supervisor, G. A. Bentley ; Clerk, H. Coleman; Treasurer, James Nesbitt; Justice of the Peace, S. F. Howell.
1841 .- Supervisor, G. A. Bentley ; Clerk, H. Coleman ; Treasurer, James Nesbitt ; Justice of the Peace, John Comley.
1842 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, H. Coleman ; Treasurer, James Nesbitt.
1843 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, H. Coleman; Treasurer, James Nesbitt; Justice of the Peace, Robert Nesbitt.
1844 .- Supervisor, G. A. Bentley ; Clerk, H. Coleman ; Treasurer, James Nesbitt ; Justice of the Peace, P. Haydon.
1845 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, H. Coleman; Treasurer, James Nesbitt; Justice of the Peace, Joseph Mcclintock.
1846 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon; Clerk, H. Coleman ; Treasurer, James Nesbitt; Justice of the Peace, C. Fields, Jr.
1847 .- Supervisor, Palmer Earl; Clerk, S. R. Barker ; Treasurer, James Nesbitt ; Justice of the Peace, Robert Nesbitt.
1848 .- Supervisor, Palmer Earl; Clerk, S. R. Barker ; Treasurer, H. Coleman ; Justice of the Peace, P. Haydon.
1849 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, H. Coleman ; Treasurer, H. Coleman ; Justice of the Peace, T. Foster.
1850 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, Truman Foster ; Treasurer, H. Coleman ; Justice of the Peace, John Baxter.
1851 .- Supervisor, G. A. Bentley ; Clerk, Truman Foster ; Treasurer, Calvin Field; Justice of the Peace, R. Nesbitt.
1852 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon ; Clerk, Truman Foster; Treasurer, Calvin Field; Justice of the Peace, Prentice Geer.
1853 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon; Clerk, Truman Foster; Treasurer, Calvin Field; Justice of the Peace, George Bennett.
1854 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon; Clerk, Truman Foster; Treasurer, Calvin Field; Justice of the Peace, F. K. Adams.
1855 .- Supervisor, P. Haydon; Clerk, Truman Foster; Treasurer, Calvin Field; Justice of the Peace, T. Riddle.
1856 .- Supervisor, H. Coleman ; Clerk, Truman Foster ; Treasurer, Calvin Field ; Justice of the Peace, J. F. Tuttle.
1857 .- Supervisor, R. Nesbitt; Clerk, H. A. Bradley; Treasurer, Charles Osborn; Justice of the Peace, O. Atkins.
1858 .- Supervisor, T. Foster ; Clerk, H. A. Bradley ; Treasurer, G. A. Bentley ; Justice of the Peace, John Baxter.
1859 .- Supervisor, T. Foster ; Clerk, H. A. Bradley; Treasurer, G. A. Bentley ; Justice of the Peace, D. V. Sutfin.
1860 .- Supervisor, T. Foster; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, G. A. Bentley ; Justice of the Peace, Palmer Earl.
1861 .- Supervisor, T. Foster; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, Joseph McClintock ; Justice of the Peace, William Bee.
1862 .- Supervisor, R. Nesbitt ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, D. V. Sutfin ; Justice of the Peace, J. Baxter.
1863 .- Supervisor, R. Nesbitt ; Clerk, Irving Babcock ; Treasurer, D. V. Sutfin ; Justice of the Peace, M. D. Mapes.
1864 .- Supervisor, R. Nesbitt ; Clerk, A. S. Wise ; Treasurer, D. V. Sutfin ; Justice of the Peace, Palmer Earl.
470
HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
1865 .- Supervisor, R. Nesbitt ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, P. Earl; Justice of the Peace, D. V. Sutfin.
1866 .- No record.
1867 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, A. H. Williams ; Justice of the Peace, R. Hoppin.
1868 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer,
A. H. Williams ; Justice of the Peace, O. W. Field.
1869 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, J. L. Harrison ; Justice of the Peace, Oliver Geer. 1870 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise ; Treasurer, J. L. Harrison ; Justice of the Peace, S. P. Tuttle. 1871 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, J. L. Harrison ; Justice of the Peace, A. W. Haydon. 1872 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer,
J. L. Harrison ; Justice of the Peace, John Bennett.
1873 .- Supervisor, G. G. B. Yeckley ; Clerk, A. S. Wise; Treasurer, J. H. Smith ; Justice of the Peace, Jarvis Skinner. 1874 .- Supervisor, C. Field ; Clerk, D. J. Lee ; Treasurer, S. B. Ha- gar; Justice of the Peace, J. R. Hendryx.
1875 .- Supervisor, S. B. Hagar ; Clerk, D. J. Lee; Treasurer, E. Os- born; Justice of the Peace, Jacob High.
1876 .- Supervisor, S. B. Hagar; Clerk, D. J. Lee; Treasurer, E. Os- born; Justice of the Peace, D. V. Sutfin.
1877 .- Supervisor, S. B. Hagar ; Clerk, D. J. Lee; Treasurer, E. Os- born ; Justice of the Peace, E. F. Baxter.
1878 .- Supervisor, S. B. Hagar; Clerk, D. J. Lee; Treasurer, E. Os- born ; Justice of the Peace, W. Horton.
1879 .- Supervisor, S. B. Hagar; Clerk, D. J. Lee; Treasurer, E. Os- born ; Justice of the Peace, Philo Selby.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Although Hamilton has enjoyed from time to time the benefit of local religious organizations, there has never been within its limits a church building, and town school-houses have therefore been called upon to do frequent duty as houses of worship.
Elder Levi Dewey organized a Disciple Church in 1877, and preached about a year at Grange Hall, but during the past year public worship by the congregation has been irregular. Methodist Episcopal preaching was occasionally enjoyed by the early settlers, for preachers of that faith paid close attention to the Michigan pioneers, and so public worship was available many times even before public schools brightened the prospect. Hamilton has not bestirred itself as briskly as some towns in the matter of religious worship, although the fact that there are churches in neighboring townships of easy access accounts doubtless for the lack of church organizations in this town at present. Thus there are in Hamilton to-day but two Methodist classes and the Disciple Church above mentioned.
BURIAL-GROUND
The first public burial-ground in Hamilton was laid out about 1840, on section 16, and in it the first person laid to rest was a Mr. Searls. The ground is still used, and is the only public burial-place in Hamilton. It covers 2} acres, and is very handsomely laid out as well as embellished with many fine monuments.
SCHOOLS.
About 1837 or 1838 a Mrs. Millard, who lived with her daughter, Mrs. Bennett, taught a select school and Sunday- school at Mrs. Bennett's house. A Miss Litchfield, living in Pennsylvania, was brought to Hamilton by Robert Nes- bitt, to teach his children, not long afterwards. The first district school in the township was taught in the " Red
School-house," near Coleman's tavern, in 1837, and had then twenty pupils.
The condition of the public schools of Hamilton, as shown by an official report for the year 1879, is given as follows :
Number of districts (1 fractional), 8; number of chil- dren of school age, 362; average attendance, 334; value of property, $3200; teachers' wages, $1308; total year's expenses, $1574.
The school directors for 1879 were H. B. Smith, James Neville, Zebina Stearns, William Anson, John Reed, S. H. Mallory, M. C. Steele, J. B. Morehouse, R. H. Abbott.
HAMILTON GRANGE, No. 355,
was organized in March, 1874, with 84 members, and reached at one time as high as 100. Now, however, the membership is but 63. At the organization A. W. Hay- don was Master; John Bennett, Overseer ; and J. R. Hen- dryx, Lecturer. A. W. Haydon served three years as Mas- ter, and was succeeded by J. M. Weeks, whose term con- tinued two years. The present oficers are D. J. Lee, Master ; John Read, Overseer ; A. W. Haydon, Lecturer; J. Q. Adams, Steward ; Edward Osborn, Assistant Steward ; John Bennett, Chaplain ; G. W. Wait, Treasurer ; A. S. Wise, Secretary ; S. H. Mallory, Gate-Keeper ; Mrs. J. M. Weeks, Ceres; Mrs. Eliza Yeckley, Pomona; Mrs. J. Skinner, Flora; Mrs. John Bennett, Lady Assistant Steward.
The Grange Hall, in which sessions are held, was built in 1875.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
CAPT. JOSIAH R. HENDRYX
was born in the town of Fairfax, Franklin Co., Vt., March 4, 1807. His father was David Hendryx, his mother Fanny (Hunt) Hendryx. His grandfather, Isaiah Hen- dryx, who settled in Bennington, Vt., in an early day, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and the subject of this sketch often says, with pride, that he was one of the party who prevented Molly Stark from becoming a widow at the memorable battle of Bennington. His father enlisted in the war of 1812, leaving his mother to support four small children. Josiah, the only son, being the second in age, with his sister, Almena, two years older, were put out at such places as could be found for them from time to time until Josiah was eleven years old, when he found a per- manent home in the family of Gov. Jonas Galusha, of Shaftsbury, where he was treated with the greatest kind- ness. Having set his heart on being the owner of a piece of land, and hearing that a family in town (Stephen Stur- devon) were about to remove to what was then called the Genesee country, the lad (then seventeen years old) got permission to go and see him, when an entire day of per- sistent entreaty resulted in gaining permission to accompany him to the then far West. His father,-who had returned from a five years' service in the army and saved a little money,-with the balance of the family, accompanied the
OAK AVENUE FARM .- RESIDENCE & STOCK FARM OF J. R. & H.J . HENDRYX, HAMILTON, VAN BUREN CO., MICH. BREEDER OF HAMBLETONIAN HORSES, JERSEY CATTLE & AMERICAN MEMBRINO SHEEP. (P.O. ADDRESS, DOWAGIAC, MICH.)
471
TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON.
party by canal to Rochester, and thence by team to Coving- ton, Genesee Co., N. Y. Josiah remained with Mr. Stur- devon until Oct. 1, 1826, appropriating all his wages for the benefit of his father's family, when, learning there was wild land in Orleans Co., N. Y., the lad of nineteen started out on foot to look out a home for the family. He went into the township of Yates, where he worked one month for ten dollars, then took a job of chopping six acres, for which a portion of the pay was kindly advanced. He went to Batavia on foot, entered fifty acres of land at five dollars per acre, and returned to Covington. It required much persuasion to induce the family to remove to the then wilderness home, but Josiah returned and erected a log cabin for the family, which was occupied late in the fall. The winter was spent in chopping. In the spring, after getting in four acres of corn, Josiah took a job of fourteen acres to chop, in order to raise money to enter fifty acres adjoining the first purchase. At the age of twenty-one he
MRS. JOSIAH R. HENDRYX.
entered forty acres for himself, and commenced its improve- ment.
At the age of twenty-three he married Evelyn Downs, then eighteen years old and eldest of a family of six,- three sons and three daughters. This young couple com- menced the battle of life March 11, 1830. Seven years of incessant toil had placed them in independent circumstances when an unfortunate venture stripped them of everything which the law did not allow them, even to household furni- ture. Other parties in this enterprise shifted their property, a thing Hendryx could not be persuaded to do, saying, " I have decided to save this much out of the wreck, my good name and my credit, which with my hands shall constitute the capital to commence life anew." He hired out to the man who came in possession of his farm for thirteen dollars per month, his wife and two boys, Horatio and Lewis, going home to her father for the summer. During this time his father-in-law, Lemuel L. Downs, an intelligent, enterprising,
and well-to-do farmer, sold out and moved to Calhoun Co., Mich., where he bought several hundred acres of wild land. Hendryx remained with him twenty months, at the end of which time he was employed by the Hon. J. D. Pierce, then superintendent of public instruction, to take charge of a one-thousand-acre farm. Here he remained two years, then spent one year as overseer, building two miles of the Michigan Central Railroad near Albion, where he made the acquaintance of Marvin Hannahs, who was largely interested in tanning and lumbering in Van Buren County, and en- deavored to secure his services in that business, but having purchased eighty acres of wild land three and a half miles west of Marshall, he commenced the improvement of it, which, with the assistance of his eldest son, Horatio J., he completed in two years. Then leaving it in charge of his son, only fifteen years old, he accepted the offer of Mr. Hannahs and entered his service, remaining seven years, during which time Mr. Hannahs built two grist-mills and
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