USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 35
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 35
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The township of Paw Paw was erected March 7, 1834, and comprised township 3 south, in ranges 17 and 18 west, -the same territory which is now embraced in the town- ships of Watervliet and Hagar.
Royalton, erected March 17, 1835, embraced all of sur- vey township 5 south, in ranges 17, 18, and 19 west.
Bertrand, taken from Niles March 23, 1836, comprised township 8 south, in ranges 17, 18, and 19 west.
New Buffalo, erected March 23, 1836, comprised town- ships 7 and 8 south, in ranges 20 and 21 west. It was taken from Niles, and on March 9, 1843, fractional town- ship 8 south, in range 22 west, which had inadvertently been left out in the erection of the township, was attached to New Buffalo.
On the 23d day of March, 1837, the townships of Bu- chanan, Benton, Bainbridge, and Oronoko were erected.
Buchanan comprised township 7 south, of range 18 west, except that portion lying east of the river St. Joseph. Ben- ton comprised township 4 south, in range 18 west. Bain- bridge, taken from Berrien, embraced township 4 south, in range 17 west, and on the 2d of April, 1838, it was en- larged to embrace townships 3 and 5 south, in range 17 west, the former being that part of Paw Paw township that is now Watervliet. Oronoko comprised township 6 south, in ranges 18 and 19 west.
March 20, 1837, Weesaw was erected, comprising town- ships 7 and 8, in range 19 west.
Pipestone was erected, Feb. 16, 1842, from Bainbridge and Royalton, and comprised township 5 south, in range 17, and all of township 5 south, in range 18 west, that is east of the river.
March 9, 1843, the land east of the river in township 6 south, in range 18 west, was attached to Oronoko, and the territory west of the river in township 6 south, in range 17 west, was attached to Berrien township.
Galien was erected Feb. 29, 1844, and comprised town- ship 8 south, in range 19 west.
Watervliet and Hagar were erected March 25, 1846. They composed the original township of Paw Paw, which ceased to exist at their erection. Watervliet was attached to Bainbridge in 1839, and comprised township 3 south, in range 17 west. Hagar comprised township 3 south, in range 18 west.
Lake township was erected March 25, 1846, and com- prised township 6 south, in range 19 west, and fractional township 6 south, in range 20 west. It was taken from Oronoko.
The following-named towns have been set off by the supervisors of Berrien County, at the dates mentioned, viz. :
Three Oaks, March 10, 1856, to comprise all of town- ship 8 south, in range 20 west (except the west range of
sections), and also sections 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, in town- ship 7, of the same range.
Chickaming, taken from New Buffalo, March 10, 1856, to comprise the fractional township 7 south, of range 20 west, except the south tier of sections, and also fractional section 25, in township 7 south, in range 21 west.
The township of Sodus was organized the first Monday of April, 1860, and comprised that portion of territory lying east of the river St. Joseph in township 5 south, in range 18 west. It was taken from Pipestone.
Lincoln was set off by act of Legislature, March 7, 1867, and organized the first Monday in April, 1867. It comprised fractional township 5 south, in range 19 west. Jan. 6, 1868, by order of the Board of Supervisors, the east half of sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25, and 36, in township 5 south, in range 19 west, were taken from Lincoln and added to Royalton.
ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS IN BERRIEN COUNTY.
Of the courts of Berrien County, the first one established was the Probate Court, of which the first term was held at Niles, by the Hon. Cogswell K. Green, Dec. 27, 1831, on which occasion it was " ordered by the court that the regu- lar terms of the Probate Court for Berrien County shall be holden, for the year 1832, at the office of the judge, as fol- lows, to wit: On the first Tuesdays of March, July, and October, and that the register give notice, according to law, of the terms of said court." There being no business before the court, it was adjourned.
At the next term, held at the residence of Judge Green, . in Niles, in March, 1832, Ebenezer Reed was appointed administrator on the estate of Abraham Burnett, and was ordered to give the requisite bonds, and to publish notice of his appointment in the Free Press, of Detroit, and in the Northwestern Pioneer, at South Bend, Ind. This was the only business done at that term, and the first transacted by the Probate Court of Berrien County.
The first will was admitted to probate at a special session held Sept. 24, 1832. This was the will of Ephraim Lacey, of which Elijah Lacey and Obed P. Lacey were appointed executors. At a term held in October of the same year, Pitt Brown and H. B. Hoffman were appointed adminis- trators on the estate of Daniel Dingley, deceased. After October, 1832, all proceedings of the Probate Court are dated at Newburyport (St. Joseph) until 1837. The name of T. B. Murdock as judge of probate first appears on the record under date of March 20, 1833. The names of his successors in the office will be found in the civil list of the county.
By the act organizing the county it was provided : "SEC- TION 2. That there shall be a county court established in the said county, which court shall be held on the first Tuesday of July and the third Tuesday in December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and every year thereafter.
"SEC. 3. That a Circuit Court shall also be held in said county, and that the several acts concerning the Supreme, Circuit, and County Courts of the Territory of Michigan, defining their jurisdiction and powers, and directing the
132
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
pleadings and practice therein, in certain cases, be and the same are hereby made applicable to the Circuit and County Courts in the aforesaid county of Berrien.
"SEC. 4. That the county of Berrien shall be one cir- cuit, and the court of the same shall be held on the first Thursday in August, in the year one thousand eight hun- dred and thirty-two, and on the same day in each year thereafter.
"SEC. 5. That all suits and prosecutions, and other matters now pending before the Circuit or County Courts for the county of Cass, or before any justice of the peace for said county, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution, and all taxes heretofore levied, or which may be hereafter levied for the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, in said county of Cass, shall be collected in the same manner as though the said county of Berrien had not been organized."
THE COUNTY COURT.
The first term of the County Court for Berrien County was held at Niles,* in July, 1832, by the Hon. Daniel Olds. The following transcript from the court record has reference to the proceedings had at that term, viz. :
" Pleas before the Honorable the Justices of the County Court of the County of Berrien, and Territory of Michi- gan, on the third day of July, 1832. Present, the Hon- orable Daniel Olds, Chief Justice.
" Notice was given that on the 21st of April, 1832, Daniel Wilson, Jr., by his Attorneys, filed in the County Clerk's Office the following Precipe, with words and figures following, to wit :
" Daniel Wilson, Jr.,
Garret Shuert and
vs. Trespass on the case of words spoken of Plaintiff. Dam- ages, $800."
Elizabeth Shuert.
The case was continued at court till 1834, and then dis- continued, at plaintiff's cost.
After October, 1832, all proceedings of the court are dated at Newburyport (St. Joseph) until 1837. The list of grand jurors for December term, 1832, was as follows :
A. S. Amsden, N. B. Stark weather, John Wittenmyer, William Huff, Theodore C. Abbe, Barzillai Webb, Calvin Bartlett, Jehial Enos, Timothy S. Smith, Benjamin C. Hoyt, Amos Farly, O. P. Lacey, S. Ford, L. Cavanagh, Henry Lemon, Garrett Shuert, Pitt Brown, Martin Hoff- man.
The County Court was abolished in April, 1833, the Circuit Courts of the Territory of Michigan taking its business and jurisdiction. The County Court was re-estab-
# It has been doubted by many whether the courts were ever held at Niles, but it is proved that such was the case by a bill found among the records of the Board of Supervisors, which was presented to, and allowed by, the board at its annual meeting in October, 1832. It is as follows :
" COUNTY OF BERRIEN To T. B. WILLARD Dr.
" To issuing venire for jurors to attend the County Court which sat at Niles in the month of July, 1832 $0.25 " Do. for Circuit Court which should have sat in August, 1832. .25
$0.50"
lished in 1847, with one county judge and a second judge, who officiated in the absence of the first judge. The first term of the re-established court was held by Judge Charles Jewett, at the court-house at Berrien Springs, March 1, 1847. The County Court was again, and finally, abolished in 1853.
THE CIRCUIT COURT AND ITS JUDGES.
The first term of the Circuit Court for the county of Berrien was held in October, 1833. Present : the Hon. William A. Fletcher, President Judge; Talman Wheeler and Amos S. Amsden, Esqs., Associate Judges. The first case before the court was that of Calvin Bartlett vs. Benja- min Chandler. This was continued to the next term of court. The first bill in chancery was filed March 27, 1833, the case being that of Job Brookfield vs. Bacon Wheeler. The suit was discontinued at the October term next fol- lowing.
Judge Fletcher, who presided at the first term of the Circuit Court in Berrien, was a native of Massachusetts, and settled in Michigan about the year 1820. He studied law in Detroit, and commenced the practice of his profes- sion in that city. He was at one time attorney-general of the Territory, and was appointed chief justice of the Su- preme Court of Michigan after the admission of the State into the Union. He continued to preside over the Circuit Court in Berrien County until the October term of 1836, when he was succeeded by the Hon. Epaphroditus Ransom, who held his first term in this county in April, 1837, and continued on this circuit for eleven years, holding his last term here in October, 1847. Judge Ransom was a native of Hampshire Co., Mass. He graduated at the Northampton Law School in 1825, removed to Michigan about 1833, and was admitted to the bar at Kalamazoo in 1834. In 1836 he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court, and became chief justice in 1843. In 1848 he resigned to accept the office of Governor of the State.
The next circuit judge was the Hon. Charles W. Whipple. He presided for the first time in this county at the May term in 1848, and his last term here was held in July, 1855. He died in October of that year. The Hon. War- ner Wing presided at the March and June terms of 1856.
The Hon. Nathaniel Bacon was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Whipple, and was also elected for the full term next succeeding. At the close of his full term, the Hon. Perrin M. Smith became his successor on the bench, but served only about two years, when Judge Bacon was elected to fill the unexpired term, and upon its expiration was again elected for a full term, and held the office until his death, July 2, 1869.
The Hon. Worthy Putnam became the successor of Judge Bacon, upon the death of the latter. Judge Putnam presided at the summer and fall terms of 1869.
Judge Daniel Black man succeeded Judge Putnam, in De- cember, 1869, and he was, in 1871, succeeded by the Hon. Henry H. Coolidge, of Niles, who filled the office during the remainder of the term, and was elected to a full term in 1876. He, however, resigned in 1878, and was suc- ceeded by the Hon. Charles W. Clisby, who was in turn succeeded by the Hon. Andrew J. Smith, the present cir- cuit judge.
133
COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
ORGANIZATION AND EARLY PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
The carliest record of proceedings of the supervisors of Berrien County has reference to the annual meeting of the board, held at the " Council House," in Niles, on Oct. 2, 1832; the supervisors there present being Jacob Beeson, for Niles township, Pitt Brown, for Berrien, and Amos S. Amsden, for St. Joseph. "There being a full board for doing county business, the said board appointed C. K. Green clerk, and adjourned till to-morrow at ten o'clock A.M." At the meeting held pursuant to this adjournment, the board allowed the following accounts, viz. :
Of John Pike and Julius Brown, commissioners of highways ... $6.75
" A. B. Newell, for services as sheriff of Berrien County. 26.00
" T. B. Willard, clerk of court .. .50
" A. Huston, for ballot-box ... 1.50
Total $34.75
It was by the board " ordered that a tax of three and one-third mills on the dollar be laid for the purpose of de- fraying the county and township charges for 1832; one mill to be paid into the county treasury, and the balance to the several supervisors of townships." A small amount of business was done at succeeding daily sessions until Oct. 6, 1832, when the board adjourned sine die.
A special meeting of the board was held, Dec. 19, 1832, " at the county-seat, recently located at St. Joseph." Pres- ent, Pitt Brown and A. S. Amsden, representing the town- ships of Berrien and St. Joseph. At this meeting bills were audited to the amount of seventy-three dollars and eighty-seven cents, including the bill of S. E. Mason, Coroner, for " view of the body of Nicholas Gordon,* and taking and returning inquisition, three dollars."
The township of Royalton was first represented in the board, Oct. 6, 1835, by David M. Drum ; Bertrand was first represented, Oct. 24, 1836, by John Gilsbee ; and New Buffalo, by Alonzo Bennett.
Oct. 29, 1836, the board allowed : " To Wm. Huff, for court room, twelve dollars (this room was in the ' Perkins' House') ;" "to Thomas Conger, salary as district attorney, one hundred and twenty-five dollars."
The valuation from the assessment rolls for 1837 was as follows :
Bertrand .... ..... $149,819
Niles
319,112
Berrien ..
204,438
Royalton
188,458
St. Joseph.
560,807
New Buffalo.
148,470
Total
$1571,104
By the provisions of a law passed by the Legislature in 1838 the powers and duties of the Board of Supervisors were transferred to and vested in a Board of County Com- missioners. The first commissioners of Berrien County were Erasmus Winslow, of Niles, John F. Porter, St. Joseph, and Joseph G. Ames, of Bertrand, who were elected in November, 1838, and commenced their official terms of service Jan. 7, 1839.
The office of county commissioner was abolished by act of Legislature, approved Feb. 10, 1842. The powers
which had been exercised by that board were then resumed by the supervisors, whose first meeting as a board, under the new law, was held on the 4th of July, 1842. From that time until the present the board has continued to exer- cise its legitimate powers and functions.
COUNTY-SITE AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
By the " Act to organize the County of Berrien," ap- proved March 4, 1831, it was provided: " SECTION 6. That the circuit and county courts shall be holden at the house of Alamanson Huston, in the village of Niles, as the said courts shall deem expedient." And " SECTION 7. That whenever the county-seat is permanently established in the county of Berrien, and accommodations are provided at such place for holding courts, they shall be held at the county-seat at such place as shall be provided for that pur- pose."
In accordance with these provisions the first term of the Berrien County court was held at the " Council House," in the village of Niles, as has already been mentioned.
During the year 1832 the Governor appointed three commissioners, viz., Talman Wheeler, Enoch Jones, and Calvin Britain, in accordance with the provisions of an act passed by the Legislative Council, and approved July 31, 1830, to establish county-sites. The commissioners located the county-site of Berrien at the village of St. Joseph in the fall of 1832, and the first county business done at that place was on the 18th of December, in the same year, when the courts were held in the log school-house located in the southeast part of the village. Courts were held there until 1835, when the spring term of that year was held in the store owned by William Huff. From that time till the removal of the county-site from St. Joseph the courts were held in what is now known as the " Old White School- House."
The erection of a county jail soon became necessary, and the subject was brought before the Board of Supervisors at a meeting held Nov. 2, 1833. The following is the record of the opinion of the board as to the necessity of erecting a jail, and of the action then and there taken to that end, viz. :
" Through the solicitations of the sheriff and acting clerk and numerous other citizens of Berrien County, the Board of Supervisors have at their term taken into consid- eration the propriety and expediency of building a county jail, and, after viewing the subject with care and due reflec- tion, they have come to the conclusion that the peace and safety of the county renders it highly necessary that a jail should be built, and having full confidence in the integrity, ability, and sound discretion of Fowler Preston, they have concluded to appoint him agent for that purpose. There- fore, ordered by the Board of Supervisors that the said Fowler Preston be and he is hereby appointed county agent for said county, with all the power necessary to build or contract in behalf of said county for the building of a jail as aforesaid, which shall cost not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, to be of such form and dimensions, and be erected on such lot in this village, as he may deem most ex- pedient and best calculated for the promotion of the public interest.
* Mr. Gordon was drowned while bathing in the St. Joseph River off Distillery Island, about Nov. 14, 1832.
134
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
" And it is further ordered that the expenses of said jail shall be paid out of the money and labor subscribed for the erection of public buildings, to be collected by said Preston from said subscribers in such manner that each shall pay a proportionary part of said sum and property such subscribed, or otherwise if he should receive it as voluntary paid."
In accordance with this action, a contract was concluded with Mr. Preston on the 5th day of March, 1834, for the erection of the jail, by Pitt Brown and Amos S. Amsden. The ground on which the jail was erected was a lot belong- ing to Mr. Preston, which was leased for one dollar for three years from the 1st day of January, 1834, with the privilege of extending the time if it became necessary. The jail was built of hewed logs, about eighteen by twenty feet in size, and one story high. Its location was on the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets. The building was com- menced Nov. 9, 1833, and completed Feb. 13, 1834, at a cost of one hundred and ninety-one dollars and fifty-six cents, " which amount was received by Fowler Preston from the public subscription donation for the purpose of build- ing public buildings, which account was approved by the supervisors, and the account entered on file in the office."
On the 25th of February, 1837, the Governor of Michi- gan approved an act containing the following provisions, directing the removal of the county-site from St. Joseph to the village of Berrien Springs, viz. :
"That the present seat of justice be and the same is hereby vacated from and after the first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
"That from and after the said first day of May, in the year afore- said, the seat of justice of said county shall be and the same is hereby established at the village of Berrien, in said county, as recorded in the register's office of Cass County ; and the Board of Supervisors of said county are hereby authorized and empowered, from and after the said first day of May, to designate and fix the site for the erection of county buildings for said county, in the village of Berrien aforesaid, upon such lots in the said village of Berrien as may be conveyed by the proprietors of said village for that purpose to the supervisors of said county and their successors in office : Provided, always, That this act shall not take effect until after the proprietors of said village of Berrien shall have reimbursed to the former and present proprietors and inhabitants of the village of St. Joseph such sums as they may have expended in the erection of public buildings in said village, and all moneys paid to the commissioners for locating the county-seat at St. Joseph, to be ascertained by the said board of supervisors, at a meeting of said board to be holden on the third Tuesday of April next : And provided further, That the title to said lots, or such other lots as a majority of said supervisors shall elect for public purposes, shall have been previously vested in said county by proper deeds of conveyance.
" All lots in the village of St. Joseph which, agreeably to the origi- nal plat of said village, as recorded in the register's office in Cass County, were donated to the county, to enable the county to erect county buildings thereon, shall revert and vest in the persons donat- ing the same and their representation, whenever and as soon as the county-seat shall be removed from St. Joseph; and all title and claim to said lots, either in law or in equity, shall be deemed to be cancelled and extinguished, any deed which may have been made to the county to the contrary notwithstanding."
Acting under the provisions of this act, the Board of Supervisors, at a session held at the county-seat, April 18, 1837, "ordered that lots numbered 255, 256, 301, and 302, in the village of Berrien, be and the same are hereby accepted by this board from the proprietors of the village of Berrien, and that they are declared to be and designated
as the site for the erection of county buildings for the county of Berrien, agreeably to the provisions of the second section of an 'act to vacate the present seat of justice of the county of Berrien, and to establish the same at the village of Berrien in said county.' "
It was also by the board "ordered that the present jail for the county of Berrien, in the village of St. Joseph, shall be carried on and used as the common jail for said county until otherwise directed by the Board of Super- visors." Thomas Fitzgerald, Esq., was appointed agent of the board to receive the deed of the designated lots from the proprietors of the village of Berrien. At the session of the board held on the next day the following claims, pre- sented by the proprietors of the village of St. Joseph for the erection of a jail in said village for the use of the county, were allowed by the board, upon the certificate of Fowler Preston that the same had actually been paid and expended for that purpose, viz. :
Talman Wheeler. $37.50
A. S. Preston. $2.50
Calvin Britain
15.00
D. M. Drum .. .50
Warner Wing. 15.00
Preston & Lord.
10.00
Charles Noble. 15.00
Thomas Fitzgerald. 2.50
Wm. McKaleb. 15.00
Jasper Mason 2,50
Morain Marsh
15.00
L. L. Johnson 10.00
William Huff
10.00
Enoch Jones.
20.00
A. S. Amsden.
4.00
Shadrach Ford 4.00
James Burnett
10.00
Total.
$211.50
Jeremiah Wilson.
3.00
The following claims for moneys paid the commissioners for locating the seat of justice of the county of Berrien at St. Joseph were also allowed, upon the statement of B. C. Hoyt, Esq., that they were just and correct, viz. :
Talman Wheeler ..
$62.66
Enoch Jones.
62.66
Calvin Britain.
62.66
$187.98
At the same time the board resolved " that the conveni- ence and welfare of this county require that a jail should be erected as soon as practicable ;" and Mr. E. Ballengee was appointed agent "to ascertain on what terms a loan of a sum of money not exceeding three thousand dollars can be effected for this county ;" and E. Ballengee, William F. Noel, and Alonzo Bennett were appointed a committee " for the purpose of drafting a plan or plans for a jail, to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors at their next meeting." On the 10th of May, in the same year, the board appointed Edward Ballengee and Robert E. Ward agents " for the purpose of loaning money on the faith of the county and erecting a jail."
The jail was completed and made ready for use June 19, 1838. Its location was a spot in the rear of the present court-house at Berrien Springs. It was a wooden struc- ture, twenty-four by thirty-two feet in dimensions, and two stories in height, containing the jailor's dwelling and two cells on the lower floor, with a number of other cells on the second floor.
" The expediency of building a court-house at Berrien" was taken into consideration by the supervisors at a meet- ing of the board held June 19, 1838, and it was resolved by that body "that Pitt Brown and Robert E. Ward be authorized to raise seven thousand dollars, on a term of not less than ten years, for the purpose of building a court-
ยท
John Wittenmyer .. 5.00
B. C. Hoyt.
7.50
S. E. Mason ..
7.50
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