History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 66

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 66
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 66

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).

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

with him three years, or until the latter's death. He soon after contracted with the government to carry the mails from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Coldwater and White Pigeon, Mich., but tired of the work in one year. Returning to Kalamazoo, he found employment in the nursery of Timo- thy W. Dunham, and about four years later went into the

LITTLE I

- JA. Percell

nursery business with James Dunham, at Buchanan. Dec. 12, 1852, he married Mary, daughter of James and Elsie Dunham, and by her became the father of seven children, as follows : De Witt (married Elizabeth, daughter of D. M. Weaver, who is a licensed preacher of the Methodist Prot- estant Church); Frances M. (deceased); Almeda (de- ceased); Francis (deceased) ; Mary L. (deceased); John N. ; and Irene M. In 1854, Dr. Percell removed to Stevens- ville, Berrien Co., in what was then Royalton township, now Lincoln. There he purchased eighty acres of land, but has since sold forty acres, and on this farm his son De Witt is now living. The doctor was educated at Johnstown Acad- emy, New York, after leaving which he decided to study medicine, and attended several medical colleges. He en- tered upon the practice of his profession in 1854, at Ste- vensville, and continued until 1871, when he built and stocked a drug-store, and now pays his attention to the lat- ter. He also is engaged to some extent in fruit culture.

CHAPTER XXXVI. NILES TOWNSHIP .*

Location, Topography and Water-Courses-The Carey Mission- Original Entries of Land-Early Settlements in the Township- Early Mills and Mill-Sites-Early Roads-Organization of the Township-Township Officers-Schools-Old Bertrand Village.

THE present township of Niles is bounded on the north by the township of Berrien, on the east by Cass County,

on the south by the township of Bertrand and the State of Indiana, and on the west by the townships of Buchanan and Bertrand, from which it is mostly separated by the St. Joseph River.

The surface of the township is undulating. In the south- western part, along the St. Joseph River, precipitous bluffs rise along its banks, and back from the river on the west is the highest land in this part of the State. The land where stands the city of Niles was originally white-oak openings, and the soil is very well adapted to the production of wheat. In that section, within the bend of the river, are the heavy timbered lands where black walnut, basswood, beech, and maple grow abundantly. The soil of these lands is clay in- termixed with sandy loam, and is well adapted to the pro- duction of every kind of grain. The soil on the west side of the river is mostly alluvial, and the surface gradually subsides into prairies in Cass County. The township is watered by the St. Joseph River, that flows from south to north through and along its entire length, being fed by several small streams. The only other considerable stream is the Dowagiac River, which enters the township near the northeast corner, flows southeasterly, and enters the St. Jo- seph about half a mile north of the corporation line of the city of Niles.

THE CAREY MISSION.

To Isaac McCoy, the Indian missionary, belongs the credit of the pioneer movement that opened the way and made a path through the trackless woods for adventurous spirits to follow. He was born in 1783, near Uniontown, Pa. His parents removed to Kentucky in 1789. He was married in 1803, and received a license to preach in 1804 ; emigrated to Indiana, where he preached among the In- dians. On the 17th of October, 1817, he received from the United States Baptist Missions an appointment as mis- sionary. After preaching in various places in Indiana and Illinois, he opened, Jan. 1, 1819, a school of six scholars, children of settlers, and one Indian boy of the Brothertown Indians.

In 1820, at the request of Dr. Turner, the Indian agent, he settled at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he had the free use of buildings, and the school was commenced May 29th, with 10 English scholars, 6 French, 8 Indian, and one negro. On the 12th of March, 1821, the school numbered 39 In- dian scholars. In June, 1821, in company with these In- dians and Abraham Burnett, a young half-breed, as inter- preter, who was one of the pupils and a son of the trader Burnett, at St. Joseph, he set out to meet a company of Pottawattamies, for the purpose of consulting with them on the subject of education and its advantages. On June 10th he met Topinabe, Chebass, and others at one of their villages. The advantages of education, knowledge of agriculture and mechanical trades, was explained to them as well as it could be through a mere lad. They visited at the village of Menominee, and again endeavored to explain to them the situation. They were received very kindly, and the desire was expressed to have them come to their villages and open a school.

On the night of the 12th of June they arrived at a small village of Pottawattamies, on the banks of the St. Joseph River. In the afternoon of the next day reached the Bur-

* By Austin N. Hungerford.

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TOWNSHIP OF NILES.

netts, at the mouth of St. Joseph River. They soon after returned to Fort Wayne.

The Pottawattamies were in favor of the missionaries establishing a school in their midst, and agreed to assist in the endeavor to get a tract of land set apart for that pur- pose in the treaty to be held at Chicago in the summer of 1821. It was impossible for Mr. McCoy to leave home, but a teacher of the school was sent with full instructions, and Col. Trimble, of Ohio, a United States senator, called at the mission on his way to the treaty, and received from Mr. McCoy a written statement of the condition of affairs, and promised his earnest support. At that treaty-in Article 4-it was provided that a mile square should be selected on the north side of Grand River, and a mile square on the south side of the St. Joseph, and within the Indian lands not ceded, and that a blacksmith and a teacher should be provided by the government for each mission. This treaty was made Aug. 29, 1821, and rati- fied March 25, 1822. May 14, 1822, in company with three Frenchmen and Abraham Burnett, Mr. McCoy set out on a tour to the Pottawattamies. On the 16th he reached a French trading-house at Parc aux Vaches ( Ber- trand's), and passed on to the place where the Indians wished then to settle.

On July 16th, of the same year, Mr. McCoy received from Gen. Cass an appointment to take charge of the In- dian mission, with explicit and minute instructions. His yearly compensation was to be $400, and Mr. Sears, an assistant, received the same salary, and the sum of $365 per annum was allowed to the blacksmith. The sites were to be selected by the President of the United States, and were to be placed under the supervision of Mr. McCoy. Six reports were to be made in the course of the year,- two to the Indian agent at Chicago, two to Governor Cass, one to the Secretary of War, and one to the Board of Mis- sions. Governor Cass commissioned Mr. Charles C. Trow- bridge to make definite arrangements with the Indians for the sites. The 10th of August was the day fixed to locate the site on the St. Joseph River, and a few days later than the 10th the site was located.

On the 9th of October, 1822, a company of 22 persons left Fort Wayne for the new station on the St. Joseph, with the intention to erect buildings, after which the family were to be removed thither. They started with two ox- wagons, one four-horse wagon, and four milch cows, and arrived October 19th. The place was named by the Board of Missions, Carey, in honor of one of the missionaries in Hindostan. The work of clearing, chopping trees, and hauling logs immediately commenced, and in a short time six log houses were built,-four for dwellings, one for a school, and one for a blacksmith-shop.

November 11th, McCoy returned home and began prep- arations for removal to the banks of the St. Joseph ; and Dec. 9, 1822, the company, consisting of thirty-two persons, started, with three wagons drawn by oxen, one drawn by horses, and driving fifty hogs and five cows. At dark on the 18th of December the party arrived at Bertrand's trading-post, and the next day reached the mission. While on their way from Fort Wayne, they encamped one night at a creek that enters the St. Joseph near the mouth of

the Elkhart. Upon starting in the morning, Mr. McCoy named it, after his wife, Christina Creek, which name it still bears. The 1st of January, 1823, an invitation was given Topinabé, Chebass, and others of the principal men, to attend at the mission for a social visit. On the 27th of January of that year school was opened in the new school- house, with thirty Indian scholars, all of whom were fed, lodged, and clothed at the expense of the mission. The house was yet without floor or chimney. In February the provisions they had brought with them became exhausted, and the teams that had been sent out to Fort Wayne had not returned.

Mr. McCoy went out to see if he could find corn, and while traveling met Mr. Bertrand. Upon the situation being explained, he said, in broken English, " I got some corn,-some flour. I give you half. Suppose you die,- I die too." With his little Indian horse loaded with corn and flour, Mr. McCoy returned at night, and found that a Pottawattamie woman had sent in some corn, and they were feasting upon the poor Indian woman's bounty. July 10th two Indians brought about two bushels of corn, and two traders, by the name of Rosseau, hearing of the scarcity of food, brought half their flour from fifteen miles distant. On the 13th of February the wagons arrived, with plenty of food and five boxes of clothing from Boston and Salem, Mass. On the 21st of February, Mr. Johnston Lykins, afterwards a son-in-law of Mr. McCoy, arrived and took charge of the school.

In April, Mr. McCoy went to Fort Wayne, and on the 16th started to return, with a Mr. and Miss Wright, who were to assist in the school, six hired men, and an Indian boy. They drove 12 head of cattle and 110 sheep. Upon reaching the river they made a large canoe, and floated down the river with part of their goods, and, after camp- ing, the canoe became loosened and capsized, and flour, corn-meal, seed-corn, dried fruit, and other things were lost in the river. Many of their things were rescued some distance below. On the route, while camping at night, about 70 of the sheep rambled away, but all but one were recovered the next day. A severe rain-storm prevailed at the time, and the situation became very unpleasant. At Bertrand's trading-house they found a fire and plenty to eat, after which they soon reached their destination.

Mr. Jackson, who was with Mr. McCoy at Fort Wayne, and came with the party at first, had charge of the smith- ery. In June, 1823, the mission received a visit from Maj. J. H. Long, Messrs. J. E. Calhoun, Thomas Say, Samuel Seymour, and William H. Keating, who were on their way to the source of the Mississippi. At this time, Mr. McCoy was on a visit to establish the mission at Grand River. Maj. Long says, in the account of his expedition, after mentioning other matters pertaining to the mission : "They have cleared 50 acres of land; 40 acres have been plowed and planted to maize. The mission family have a flock of 100 sheep, and are daily expecting 200 head of cattle from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio." One hundred and fifty arrived the 15th of June, the remainder were lost on the way or were left to recruit. Transportation of breadstuffs had to be made a distance of two hundred miles.

The first report was dated July 1, 1823, and was made

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

to Governor Cass and Dr. Wolcott, the latter being United States agent at Chicago. They reported "60 acres cleared and inclosed with a good fence." In summer the sound of a trumpet at daybreak called the family to rise, and the ringing of a bell to morning prayers. At half-past six the trumpet called to breakfast, and nine o'clock at night was the time for silence to rest over the mission. It was made a point to have the rules of the mission carried out with entire precision.

In the latter part of October, 1823, Charles Noble was commissioned by Governor Cass to visit the mission, to ex- amine and report its condition. He remained three days, and made a satisfactory report.

Nov. 5, 1823, the missionaries received a valuable acces- sion to their company in Miss Fanny Goodridge, of Lex- ington, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. William Polke and family came in the same month. A Sabbath-school was com- menced by Miss Goodridge, and on the same Sabbath the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered for the first time in Western Michigan by Protestants.

The clearing of land, plowing, sowing, and cultivating had been steadily carried on by hired men and the help of the Indians, and upon securing the proceeds of the farm 900 bushels of corn, besides garden vegetables, were obtained.

The annual allowance from government for schools was $200, but in 1822 it was increased to $600, and $566 was obtained from government to assist in the erection of build- ings.

In 1824, Mr. McCoy made a tour to the Eastern States, and received in donations $1623 in cash. Mr. Robert Sim- erwell returned with him as a missionary, and remained in charge here until the closing of the mission. July 4, 1824, Mr. McCoy commenced preaching in the Indian villages in the vicinity.

The Hon. John L. Leib, of Detroit, was appointed by Governor Cass to examine and report concerning the mis- sion. He visited the station Nov. 2, 1824, and remained three days. The following is quoted from his report : " Besides the Rev. Mr. McCoy and his wife, three male and one female teachers, and one of these Robert Simerwell, is also a blacksmith, six men engaged in agricultural opera- tions, improving buildings, procuring firewood, etc., five Indian women as domestics.

" Two of the boys are learning the trade of blacksmith, and the others are occupied on the farm. All the girls except three or four can spin, knit, and sew. Two of them can weave plain cloth, and 294 yards have been manufac- tured in their loom since February last.

" The yield of corn the past year was 1600 bushels,- 150 bushels of oats, 400 bushels of potatoes, 150 bushels .

of turnips, and 1000 heads of cabbage, besides other vege- tables.

" The Indian families in the neighborhood show con- siderable interest in agricultural pursuits, and have com- menced to fence land and plow and plant."

About this time, in the summer and fall of 1824, Mr. McCoy complained of the settlement of men on lands ceded to the United States, near the mission, whose principal de- sign was to sell whisky to the Indians. Remonstrances were of no use, for they had little property and no reputa-

tion to lose. Many of the Indians manifested a dislike to the trade in ardent spirits, but seldom could withstand the temptation to drink.

Ezekiel French, a white man in the employ of the mis- sion, was converted in the fall of 1824, and November 7th was baptized in the St. Joseph River. The ground was covered with snow and a fire was built on the bank for comfort. This was the first baptism administered in the river, or any of the waters flowing into Lake Michigan, by Protestants. November 15th, Ezekiel Clark, Charles Potter, and Jared Lykins were baptized. A few days later Gosa, an Ottawa, of Kalamazoo, brought to them the sixty- seventh Indian scholar from Grand River. Gosa afterwards became interested in and remained at the mission at Grand River.

Jan. 12, 1825, three Indian pupils were baptized at the Carey Mission; on the 17th of same month four men. In February, 1825, the mission reported 90 persons. On the 17th March, 1825, Robert Simerwell and Miss Fanny Goodridge were married.

After the Indians returned from their winter's hunt, they sought for lands near the mission to cultivate, and were sup- plied with plows, hoes, axes, etc., to assist them, and both men and women worked in the fields. Topinabé, the prin- cipal chief, and almost all his people settled south of the mission, and about 30 families were improving land rapidly and keeping live stock.

At this time they reported 200 acres inclosed, 30 acres in corn, with an orchard of between two and three hundred peach-trees and a few apple-trees. In May of this year, 1825, they were erecting a flouring-mill, to operate by horse-power, having previously used a hand-mill. Prior to this time the flour was ground by hand, using two stones made from bowlders found near the mission. These mill- stones are in the possession of Dr. L. A. Barnard, of Ber- rien Springs, and are placed in the log house of the Pioneer Association. After the erection of the flouring-mill they were sold to Squire Thompson, and by him to John John- son, Jr., from whom Dr. Barnard obtained them. During that summer the harvest of wheat was 300 bushels. The first to settle on land near them was a man from In- diana, who came on foot and alone to the mission, and settled as near the mission as possible, and for a time was dependent on them. He erected a little hut on the north bank of the St. Joseph River, and laid in a small stock of bread and meat and a barrel of whisky. In the spring of 1825 the sale of whisky increased to such an alarming ex- tent that it threatened to destroy the results of the past labor. The Indians were induced to neglect their fields and improvements, and sell their clothing to procure whisky. Intoxication, rioting, and quarreling became prevalent, and the work of the missions seemed to be nearly at an end.

During Mr. McCoy's absence Mr. Simerwell wrote to him as follows: "Our white neighbors T-, G-, and E-, deal out whisky to the Indians plentifully, with which they purchase anything which the Indians will part with. The clothing of the Indians, farming and cooking utensils, are purchased for liquor. Articles manufactured for the Indians in our smithery have been seen in the stores of the whisky-sellers."

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TOWNSHIP OF NILES.

Mr. Lykins wrote as follows: " Sympathize with us, my dear brother, in our griefs, when I tell you every hope, every prospect for the welfare of the Indians around us, is prostrate, is entirely cut off. I entreat you to plead for their removal."

From this time efforts commenced to get lands in the West to remove the Indians.

Nov. 24, 1825, Mr. Jotham Meeker and Mr. W. M. Crosby joined the band at Carey as missionaries.

On the 15th of September, 1826, Mr. McCoy left home to attend the treaty to be held upon the Wabash with the Pottawattamies. At this treaty, which lasted nearly four weeks, there was granted to 58 Indians by descent, " scholars in the Carey Mission-School on the St. Joseph, under the direction of the Rev. Isaac McCoy, one quarter section of land, to be located by the President of the United States," and $500 worth of goods were allowed for the benefit of the pupils of the school. Mr. Lykins was appointed to make the selection. The dilatory action of government caused a great diminution of the benefits expected. Instead of being cared for and guarded, they sold their lands and lapsed in a considerable degree to their former state.

Mr. McCoy had studied the Indian question thoroughly, and wrote a work entitled " Remarks on Indian Reform," the principal design of which was to show the practicability of reforin and measures to be adopted for its accomplishment. He says, " We discovered that our Indians could not possi- bly prosper when they knew they had no settled residence, and when the influx of white population, and with it the introduction of floods of ardent spirits, had already aided discouragements to their spiritless minds."

A treaty was held at the mission Sept. 17, 1827, attended by Governor Cass and suite. At this treaty several small reservations were consolidated in one, $500 in goods were paid the Indians, and $2500 in money. In about twenty- four hours after the Indians were relieved of most of their money by the traders near, who supplied them liberally with whisky.

On the 15th of October, 1827, Mr. McCoy took leave of the station, intending to be absent several months. He visited New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, where he had an interview with the President and the Committee on Indian Affairs, with a view of getting Indian territory set off.

The mission, in the absence of Mr. McCoy, was in charge of Mr. Meeker, Mr. Lykins, and Mr. Slater. After his return he again left, on the 2d of July, 1828, on a tour of exploration west of the Mississippi, accompanied by three Pottawattamies and three Ottawas.

In September, 1828, during the absence of Mr. McCoy on the western trip, Governor Cass and Col. P. Menard held a treaty at Carey Mission with the Pottawattamies for the purchase of land. At this treaty the land between the St. Joseph River and the lake, except the plot reserved mostly in the town of Bertrand, was ceded. The mission was drawing to a close, and in October, 1828, provision was made for government to pay for improvements made in houses, fields, and orchards, whenever the missionaries should remove.

Mr. McCoy and Mr. Lykins were instructed to repair to

regions west of Missouri and Arkansas, and report the con- dition of the country and suitable location for a mission. They returned to Carey on the 26th of June. On the 10th of July 37 Indian youths were still in the school. Difficulties had so accumulated around Mr. Simerwell at Carey, that when Mr. Lykins left that station, in April, he was fully convinced of the propriety of closing operations there as soon as was practicable." Pursuant to an arrange- ment with the Secretary of War, the valuation of the im- provements of Carey Mission was made on the 1st day of September, 1830, by Charles Noble, Esq., of Michigan, and Mr. Simonson, of Indiana. The improvements were ap- praised at $5080; the growing crops, after reserving enough for the use of Mr. Simerwell, at $641.50; in all, $5721.50. This sum was paid to the Board of Missions in Boston by the government, to be applied in establishing missions in the West.

The school was discontinued, with the exception of seven or eight children, who remained with the family of Mr. Simerwell, who had leave to remain until he could make other arrangements. He remained a few months and lo- cated in the neighborhood, and thus ended the labors of that noble band of missionaries at the Carey Mission. On the 11th of August, 1833, there were gathered together at the Shawanoe Mission House, in the Indian Territory, 15 members of the Carey Mission Church, who organized a church, and continued the association and memories of the laborers at that place .*

An incident in connection with Mr. McCoy is of histori- cal interest, and worthy of a place in connection with the Carey Mission. It is given in a letter written by John C. McCoy, the son of the Rev. Isaac McCoy, to the Rev. G. S. Bailey, of Niles. This letter, which is dated " Wilder, Johnson Co., Kan., Oct. 13, 1878," has particular reference to the writer's mother. He says, " My mother's maiden name was Christiana Polke, one of the younger children of Charles Polke. In 'Jefferson's Notes,' a small book by President Jefferson, is a certificate from the same Charles Polke to prove the charge against Col. Cresap for the mur- der of the family of the celebrated Indian chief Logan. He then lived in southwestern Pennsylvania. He afterwards moved to Nelson Co., Ky., where my mother was born. Before the birth of my mother the Indians captured the stockade fort, ' Kinchelor's Station,' in which the settlers were collected (most of the men being absent at the time), killed the few men and many of the women and children, destroy- ing everything, and carried away the surviving women and children as prisoners. Among these were the wife and three children of my grandfather, Charles Polke. These children were Judge William Polke, afterwards a prominent man in Indiana, Nancy, Ruby, and Eleanor Hollingsworth. They were taken to Detroit, where the British held possession, and where she (Mrs. Polke) was delivered of another child (Thomas), who died about one year ago, a wealthy citizen of Texas.

" My grandmother was ransomed from the Indians by

* The facts contained in this sketch of Carey Mission are taken from the journal of the Rev. Isaac McCoy, in the possession of the Rev. G. S. Bailey, D.D., pastor of the Baptist Church at Niles, and from the "Indian Treaties" in United States statutes at large.

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HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

some benevolent British officers, and remained for about three years in Detroit, supporting herself and child by her needle. The three other children were carried off by the Pottawattamie Indians to the St. Joseph River, probably in the vicinity of the Carey Mission (Niles).

" For three long years my grandfather supposed they had all been slain in the massacre at the burning fort. At last my grandmother found means to send him word of their condition. He traveled alone on foot through the trackless wilderness three hundred miles in search of his lost ones whom God had spared. He was treated with great kindness by the British officials, who gave him such aid for the recovery of his children as he desired. He went alone, and at last found them, two with one family of the Pottawattamies and one with another, by whom they were adopted. When grandfather found the two first, William and Eleanor, and they knew he had come for them, they both ran and hid themselves. They had forgotten their native tongue, and it was with difficulty that he finally in- duced their foster-parents to give them up or them to accom- pany him. This transpired certainly but a few miles from the site of the old Carey Mission, where many years after- wards another child, and sister of these lost captives, went through toil and tempest to repay the very same people (many of whom were still living), not with vengeance or injury, but with gifts of richer and more enduring value than gold."

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History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 66

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