USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 69
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 69
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Not far from this time Lieut. T. B. W. Stockton, of the regular army, was sent by the War Department to examine as to the feasibility of constructing a harbor at New Buffalo, and the report of the Navy Department was received May 1, 1838. Lieut. Berrien and Lieut. Rose were sent soon after to make a survey, and reported favorably. A light- house was built in 1839.
In June, 1837, Elder Hascall preached in the dining- room of Mr. Goodrich's hotel, and, as the bar-room was near, some of the party were often thirsty, and retired for a few moments.
The panic of 1837 had a depressing effect upon New Buffalo, as well as upon the whole country, but the company struggled along, firm in the faith that the plan was essential to the well-being of the universe. Prices ruled high, no help came, and in the winter of 1841-42 but two families were residents of the place,-Jacob Gerrish and Russell Goodrich. But the spring found a respectable number in the village, and from 20 to 30 votes were cast at the election. About 1840 the effect of speculation ceased, and money became very scarce. About the only thing that brought money into the country was non-resident taxes. Inhabitants took contracts for building roads at their own prices. The business of the country was carried on by barter and credit. About 1844 the schooner " Saranac" was built by Joseph Oates and - Austin ; in 1845, the sloop " Buffalo," by Amos Johnson ; and in 1855, the schooner " Ellen Pike," by Alonzo Bennett.
Non-residents were still holding their lands for high prices, and but few sales were made until about 1850, when the tide of German emigration began to flow in, and be- tween that time and 1854 the following Germans settled in the places mentioned : Philip Edinger, on section 1; John Bahl, on section 15; Louis Kruger, John Walter, Fritz Klauss, and C. Dohl, on sections 13 and 14; Christian Gulesdorf, on sections 15 and 22 ; Fritz, Louis, Adolph, and Rinehart Siegmond, brothers, on sections 13, 19, and 24. Gust. Horn, Christolph Kamm and his son, Fritz Louis, and Fritz Schroeder, Roemer, Henry Luhr, and Carl Stannwell settled in the village. Since that time large accessions have been made of thrifty Germans, and the township is largely populated by them.
About 1844, George W. Allen, of Laporte, Ind., pur- chased the interest of Barker & Willard, and spent a large sum of money in improving a road from New Buffalo to Springville, Ind. They built a grain warehouse, 60 by 120 feet and four stories high, on the north fraction of section 9, near the foot of Willard Street, hoping to make this an important shipping-point for Indiana grain. During the same year Alonzo Bennett, Thomas Comins, and J. R. C. Brown bought several thousand cords of wood, at 62} cents per cord, which was lightered out and delivered to vessels for the Chicago market; but even at this low cost the busi- ness did not prove successful.
REAL ESTATE IN NEW BUFFALO IN 1836.
Upon the purchase of the land on which New Buffalo is situated by Capt. Wessel Whittaker, in 1834, he proceeded to plat it, and induced Jacob A. Barker and Nelson Willard, of Buffalo, N. Y., to invest with him as before mentioned.
On May 31, 1836, a division and valuation of the lots was made.
The 79 lots, located in different parts of the village, be- longing to Mr. Willard were valued at $29,520. The prices of a few of the lots are given :
Lot 2, in block 3, $500 ; lot 5, in block 13, $275; lot 12, in block 16, $500 ; lot 7, in block 22, $600 ; lot 2, in
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273
TOWNSHIP OF NEW BUFFALO.
block 28, $800; water-lot 33, $900; lot 8, in block B, $375 ; lot 7, in block C, $475; lot 7, in block K, $300. Water-lots Nos. 18, 22, 25, 26, 29, and 30, belonging to Mr. Barker, were valued at $1000 each.
SEAMAN'S SQUARE.
The recipients of the gift lots in block 21 (Seaman's Square) did not occupy these lots, though they afterwards sold them. The following are the names of the captains designated by Capt. Whittaker: Levi Allen, Robert Wag- staff, Lester Colton, Samuel Chase, Charles Ludlow, James L. Baxter, Stephen R. Walker, John P. Ludlow, George Miles, Abi Allen, Ira Perkins, and H. F. Day.
The lands purchased by the Virginia Land Company (names given elsewhere) in 1837 were as follows: the west half of northwest quarter of section 11, northeast quarter of section 10, east half of southeast quarter of sec- tion 10, southwest quarter of section 10, and southeast quarter of section 9. These lands were platted and divided into blocks and lots, and were held for many years. When Mr. Barker sold out, in 1844, the lands of the Virginia Company were mostly in the hands of the original proprie- tors ; the only lands in the village that were sold in the early day by Mr. Willard, with a few exceptions, were the lands that were allotted in the division of 1836 to Mr. Whittaker. Of the 800 acres originally laid out and platted, seven-eighths in 1844 were in the hands of the original proprietors.
About 1842-43 the prices were from $5 to $25 a lot, and upon the location of the railroad they advanced to from $100 to $500; but upon the extension of the railroad to Chicago a depreciation followed. Upon the incoming of the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, prices again advanced. Farming-lands in New Buffalo township sold at from $2.50 to $5 per acre. From 1840-46 prices were from 75 cents to $3.50 per acre; in 1850, about $5 per acre ; in 1856, about $15; from 1863-70, from $10 to $40.
ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP.
The township of New Buffalo was erected by act of the Legislature, March 23, 1836. The text is as follows :
" All that portion of the county of Berrien described by the United States survey as townships 7 and 8 south, of range 20 and 21 west, be and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate town- ship, by the name of New Buffalo, and the first township-meeting shall be held at the Goodrich tavern, in the village of New Buffalo, in said township."
In accordance with this act, an election was held in the spring of 1836 at the tavern of Russell Goodrich. Thirty- six votes were cast, with the following result : Alonzo Ben- nett, Supervisor; Henry Bishop, Clerk ; Daniel Washburn, Festus A. Holbrook, Thomas Maudlin, and Alonzo Bennett, Justices. Robert Crary and James Little were elected Commissioners of Schools ; Reuben Pierce, Festus A. Hol- brook, Alonzo Bennett, Ezra Stoner, and James Little were elected Inspectors of Schools.
One hundred and fifty dollars was voted for the support of schools.
The names of the 36 voters at the first election are given, as a matter of interest : Alonzo Bennett, Henry Bishop,
T. A. Clough, Richard Comstock, W. E. Davis, George Dunham, Joseph Doty, R. Goodrich, F. A. Gilbert, Henry B. Hull, Joseph Henderson, F. A. Holbrook, Daniel Haight, James Little, Stephen Mix, Henry Mundle, Thomas Maudlin, A. McClure, E. McClure, Dr. R. Pierce, M. Pierce, R. L. Phillips, H. Pierce, Simeon Pierce, Moses G. Pratt, William Ratcliff, Ezra Stoner, Wessel Whittaker, Nelson Willard, John Wilson, Daniel Washburn, John Walker, and Ira P. Warner. But few of these voters are living in the township at the present time.
The population of the township in 1840 was 123; 1845, 416; 1854, 873; 1860, 834; 1870, 1389.
The township originally embraced the territory now known as Three Oaks and Chickaming, which townships were set off in 1856.
At the organization of the township of New Buffalo, by some oversight, fractional township 8 south, range 22 west, was omitted from the organizing act, and remained attached to the township of Niles for some years. It was annexed to New Buffalo in 1843.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
Following is a list of township officers of New Buffalo from its organization to the present time :
SUPERVISORS.
1837-38, Alonzo Bennett; 1839, Reuben Pierce; 1840, Thomas Comins; 1841-42, Elkanah Ryther; 1843, Isaac O. Adams; 1844, Levi Paddock ; 1845, Henry Chamberlain ; 1846, Valentine Bennett; 1847, Henry Chamberlain; 1848, no record; 1849, Richard L. Phillips; 1850, Isaac O. Adams; 1851, Henry Cham- berlain ; 1852, Alonzo Bennett; 1853-57, Hale E. Crosby ; 1858, James M. Patten ; 1859, Alonzo Bennett ; 1860, Joseph M. Good- rich ; 1861, Philip Edinger; 1862, Abram I. Phillips; 1863, Richard S. Phillips ; 1864, Abram I. Phillips; 1867-72, no record ; 1873-75, George Werner ; 1876, Alonzo Bennett; 1877, George Werner; 1878-79, F. Gerdes.
TOWN CLERKS.
1837, Henry Bishop; 1838, A. Bixby ; 1839-40, James Blain ; 1841-44, William Ratcliff; 1845, Hale E. Crosby ; 1846, Samuel Patrick ; 1847, Dwight Plympton; 1848, no record; 1849, Samuel S. Clark ; 1850-51, Joseph M. Goodrich ; 1852-53, John G. Mason; 1854, Thornton Ewan ; 1855, Thomas S. Ballard ; 1856, Samuel Strat- ton ; 1857-58, John D. Phillips; 1859, Samuel Stratton; 1860, Henderson Ballengee; 1861, Jacob Oppenheim; 1862, R. L. Phillips; 1863-64, John V. Phillips; 1865-66, no record; 1867, Seth Sheldon ; 1868, George F. Collitt; 1869, no record ; 1870-71, John C. Dick ; 1872-78, Charles Deuell; 1879, Moses N. Clark.
TREASURERS.
Prior to 1839 the supervisor acted as treasurer, and the first election to that office was at the annual town-meeting of that year. The first to fill the office was Jacob Gerrish, 1840; Thomas Comens, 1841-44 ; 1845, Thomas Maudlin ; 1846, Simeon Pierce; 1847-48, no record ; 1849-51, Thornton Ewan ; 1852, Truman A. Clough ; 1853-54, Joseph G. Ames; 1854-58, Thornton Ewan; 1859, Joseph M. Goodrich ; 1860, Isaac W. Martin ; 1861, Louis Kru- ger ; 1862-63, George Horn ; 1864, Cornelius I. Bierstadt; 1865- 66, no record ; 1867-70, Sadler Batter; 1871-73, Henry P. Nourse ; 1874-77, Albert Kellogg; 1878-79, George Horn.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1837, Alonzo Bennett, Francis W. Ames ; 1838, A. Bixby, Jacob Gerrish, and Sylvester Shead ; 1839, Joshua R. C. Brown, Samuel Bennett, Jr .; 1840, Reuben Pierce, Levi Paddock ; 1841, Thomas Comins, William Hammond, Richard Love, Levi Paddock ; 1842, Richard Peckham; 1843, Richard Love; 1844, Festus A. Hol- brook ; 1845, Alonzo Bennett; 1846, Dwight Plympton ; 1847, none elected; 1848, no record; 1849, Abel M. Brownlee; 1850,
35
274
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Henry Chamberlain : 1851, R. W. Smith ; 1852, Joseph G. Ames, Benoni Newell; 1853, Erasmus N. Shead, Dwight Plympton ; 1854, Nathan Maudlin; 1855, Samuel Stratton, Maben J. Mar- shall; 1856, Hale E. Crosby, Festus A. Holbrook, Alonzo Ben- nett; 1857, Wm. Aldrich, Hale E. Crosby ;- 1858, Thomas Maud- lin ; 1859, Samuel Stratton, Isaac W. Martin ; 1860, Festus A. Holbrook, Thomas S. Webster; 1861, George Horn; 1862, J. V. Phillips, Thomas Maudlin ; 1863, Henderson Ballengee, Henry Leland ; 1864, Thomas S. Webster, John Murray, Ludwig Lubke ; 1865-66, no record; 1867, John R. Hill; 1868, George Werner; 1869, no record; 1870, John C. Dick ; 1871, Alonzo Bennett; 1872, George Werner; 1873, Charles Deuell, Moses M. Clark ; 1874, Henry Leifken; 1875, George P. Nourse; 1876, George Werner; 1877, Charles Deuell; 1878, Charles H. Schultz; 1879, Henry P. Nourse.
INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS.
1837, Samuel Bennett, Festus A. Holbrook, Reuben Pierce, Jonathan Hascall, Francis W. Ames; 1838, Alonzo Bennett, Samuel Ben- nett, Jr., Dr. Reuben Pierce; 1839, Reuben Pierce, Elkanah Ryther, Jacob Gerrish ; 1840, James Blain, Reuben Pierce, El- kanah Ryther; 1841, Wm. Hammond, Elkanah Ryther, Jacob Love; 1842, Thos. M. Bennett, Richard Peckham ; 1843, Joseph M. Goodrich, Richard Peckham; 1844, Samuel Patrick, Richard Peckham ; 1845, Alonzo Bennett, Henry Chamberlain ; 1846, Valentine Bennett, D. Gilman Wood; 1847, Richard Peckham, Hale E. Crosby ; 1848, no record ; 1849, Hale E. Crosby ; 1850, Jesse Wasson ; 1851, Hale E. Crosby ; 1852, H. E. Crosby, Jos. M. Goodrich ; 1853, James M. Patten; 1854, Joseph M. Good- rich ; 1855, Hale E. Crosby, Wm. Chamberlain ; 1856, Hale E. Crosby, Joseph M. Goodrich ; 1857, Alonzo Bennett; 1858, John W. Carter ; 1859, Nathaniel B. Pitt; 1860, Hale E. Crosby, John V. Phillips; 1861, Charles Hanville; 1862, John W. Carter; 1863, Charles L. Deuell; 1864, Joseph M. Goodrich ; 1865-66, no record ; 1867, J. B. Crosby ; 1868-69, no record ; 1870, Henry P. Nourse ; 1871, Frederick Gerdes ; 1872, Charles Eberling; 1873, George Werner; 1874, Charles Eberling; 1875-76, Alonzo Ben- nett; 1877, F. Gerdes; 1878, Charles Eberling ; 1879, Henry E. Crosby.
The tax-list for 1836, as taken by Jacob Gerrish, Ira P. Warner, and J. S. Doty, is as follows :
RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS.
Abraham Willard, Henry Bishop, Alonzo Bennett, Truman A. Clough, James A. Corse, Robert Craig, Joseph S. Doty, John Foote, Rus- sell Goodrich, William Hammond, Festus A. Holbrook, Jacob Gerrish, James Little, Henry McCourt, Stephen Mix, J. Love, Richard Love, H. Little, Henry Mundie, Hugh McGiven, Thos. Maudlin, B. Maudlin, Moses G. Pratt, Myel Pierce, Reuben Pierce, Simeon Pierce, Ezra Stoner, Thomas Thorp, Wessel Whit- taker, Nelson Willard, Ira P. Warner, Willard, Whittaker, Barker & Co.
The assessed valuation of resident tax-payers was $41,786. Wessel Whittaker was the largest individual tax-payer, his tax being $30.00. Amount of resident valuation, $41,786; amount of non-resident valuation, $106,684; total, $148,- 470.
SKETCHES AND REMINISCENCES.
Capt. Wessel Whittaker was a man of a noble, generous nature, and his house furnished a home for all it could hold. He was of untiring energy and great perseverance. His early life had been passed on the lakes, and he had acquired habits which in those days were common, and which were greatly to his disadvantage. He died in 1841, at New Buffalo, leaving a wife and four children. The family re- moved to Terre Coupee Prairie, Ind., where the youngest son, Alanson, still resides.
Alonzo Bennett is a native of Brookfield, Orange Co., Vt. He came to Niles, Berrien Co., in September, 1833,
and shortly after removed to Bertrand. He was educated as a surveyor in Erie Co., N. Y., and was employed to survey the village of Bertrand by the Bertrand Association. The proprietors of the New Buffalo tract passed through Bert- rand, on their way to New Buffalo, in the spring of 1835, and employed him to go with them and survey the village, which work he completed in March or April of that year. In January following he married, in Erie Co .. N. Y., and moved to New Buffalo. He was elected the first supervisor of the township, in 1836. He followed his occupation of surveyor, was elected to several positions of trust in the township, and in 1838 was elected county clerk, re-elected in 1840 and 1842, and elected to the Legislature in 1842. He returned to New Buffalo in 1845. He was in the employ of the Central Railroad for two years, and served the company as surveyor and pay- master. At the expiration of his term he engaged in the mercantile business until 1856, and for a short time was editor and publisher of the Vindicator. He removed to Buchanan and to Southern Illinois, and moved to Chicago, where he resided five years, when he returned to New Buf- falo, and is now in the express and drug business. His son, A. M. Bennett, is in Chicago; Wm. Bennett, in Kan- sas ; and two daughters, living in Niles, Mrs. C. Jackson and Mrs. P. A. Ballard.
Richard L. Phillips was a native of Oxfordshire, England, and came to this country in 1832, and to New Buffalo, from Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y., in the spring of 1835. Nov. 11, 1839, he married Mary C., the daughter of Joshua R. C. Brown. He lived in the place most of the time until his death, in 1868. He was a man of great energy, but was seriously afflicted with rheumatism in his later days, which confined him to the house nearly half the time; he yet succeeded in maintaining his family and accumulated a competence. Joshua R. C. Brown, one of the Virginia Land Company, was a native of Virginia, and came to La- porte, Ind., and thence to this place in 1837. He lived on Barker Street. His death took place in 1862. His daughters, Mrs. R. L. Phillips and Mrs. J. T. Hopkins, live in New Buffalo; a son lives at Niles, two daughters in Virginia, one in Indiana, and one in California. He returned to Laporte, Ind., about 1838, and to this place in 1846, where he bought the Goodrich property and continued the hotel business until his death. He was a hospitable landlord and a gentleman of the Virginia school, with some peculiarities. An anecdote is related of him as follows: A traveler was stopping with him, and upon being asked if he would have some bacon and greens, which was a favorite dish of Mr. Brown's, asked if that was the only meat he had, and upon being answered in the affirmative, replied, sneeringly, that he did not eat ba- con and greens; upon which Mr. Brown emphatically said, " Get out of my house, sir ! A man that don't eat bacon and greens is not a gentleman."
Henry Bishop came with Whittaker, and clerked for Whittaker & Co., but in 1838-39 left, on account of his health, and went to Kalamazoo County, and is now a pros- perous business man in the village of Kalamazoo. Truman A. Clough came to New Buffalo with the first settlers, but returned to Hamburg, N. Y., about 1840, and came back,
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TOWNSHIP OF NEW BUFFALO.
in 1850, to Chickaming, and in 1854 again went back to New York. Russell Goodrich was a long time, prior to his coming West, proprietor of a noted hotel at Hamburg, Erie Co., N. Y. He died at New Buffalo about 1850. His son Jasper was a prosperous man in Chickaming, and died a few years ago. His son Joseph M. was for a time a farmer in the township, then a merchant in the village. He removed to Chicago in 1869, where he was in the com- mission business, and died about 1875. Albert E., after being a steamboat clerk for some years, became a steamboat owner, and for the last twenty years has owned several very important lines on Lake Michigan. A man of ability and great energy, he has amassed a handsome fortune.
Festus A. Holbrook became a farmer in New Buffalo township, and at the present time is living with a grand- child in Three Oaks township, in his eighty-ninth year. James Little and Francis W. Ames died in the sickly sea- son of 1838. Thomas Maudlin, a venerable man, lives on the farm which he settled, in the eastern part of the town- ship. Dr. R. Pierce moved, about 1840, to Terre Coupée Prairie, Ind. He was distinguished for many years as a physician, and died about 1858. His son, R. W. Pierce, is now a leading physician of Buchanan.
Simeon Pierce went to Lake Station, Ind., and is now a retired merchant of Valparaiso, Ind. Nelson Willard had large interests in New York, and did not remain here long.
Isaac O. Adams, who perhaps did more to improve New Buffalo than any other person, was a kind-hearted, genial man. He went to Chicago about 1853, where he still re- sides. He was a man of culture and fond of story-telling. The following is told of him: " The peninsula known as north fraction of section 3 was speculation property, and was sold in undivided interests. At a time when property was at its lowest value a man came to the place from Connecticut who owned one undivided nineteen-hundred and twentieth interest. Finding no purchaser, he inquired of Mr. Adams how he could best secure a division. Adams replied he might get a division in chancery, but it would be expensive. The man anxiously pressed Mr. Adams to know what he had best do, that he might know how and where his property was. Adams answered by saying, ' You better go up to Uncle Jacob's (Mr. Gerrish) and borrow a two-bushel bag; go over there, fill it with sand, take it home with you, and you will have about your share.'" It is not known whether the advice was accepted.
Jacob Gerrish, coming in 1835, kept a record of events from that time to his death, in 1858, from which many facts in this history have been gleaned. His desire to see New Buffalo prosper led him to advance money to every under- taking that he supposed would advance the interest of the place. His house was open to all who came. The poor and suffering had only to ask to receive.
HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.
The cause that led to the settlement of New Buffalo was the apparent availability of the Galien River and Potta- wattamie Lake for a harbor. The advantages were seen at a glance by Capt. Wessel Whittaker in 1834, and 100 acres of land were secured by him very soon after the settlement
was fairly inaugurated. Meetings were held, speeches made, and the usual enthusiasm incident to such enterprises kept the minds of the settlers in a high state of excitement. Petitions were sent to Congress, which, after the usual delay, received some attention, and an appropriation was made for a lighthouse. The site was selected and stakes were set Sept. 6, 1838. Plans and specifications were made, and contracts were advertised. The journal of Jacob Gerrish of July 10, 1839, contains the following : " Lots of people in to the lighthouse letting; Hixon builds the house." The location was on a point of land in the north fraction of section 9, about a quarter of a mile from the mouth of the river. Sand dunes of from 30 to 60 feet in height were between it and the mouth, on which were growing trees from 18 to 20 inches in diameter. In the course of time the river and the lake washed away these shifting sands, and about 1857 the house was undermined and fell, for it was founded upon the sand. The lighthouse and keeper's house were built of brick and whitewashed, a large bowlder of limestone found near by furnishing the lime. Isaac O. Adams burnt the brick. The buildings were finished in March, 1840. Timothy S. Smith was appointed the first keeper, under Van Buren. Wm. Ratcliff and his wife moved into the keeper's house June 1, 1840, Mr. Smith living with them. The keepers who succeeded him were Elijah Pressey, under Harrison ; Reuben Smith, under Polk ; and Joseph Miller, under Taylor. It was demolished about 1857, and has not been rebuilt.
Soon after the incorporation of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, they determined to make New Buffalo their western terminus, and work was commenced in the fall of 1847. The company built a bridge across the Galien River and two long piers into the lake, to make the point accessible for steamboats. This work furnished employ- ment to a large number of men and caused a general re- vival of business. Capt. Eber B. Ward put on the lake a line of steamers connecting with the morning and evening trains for Chicago.
At the time of building the piers it was believed that New Buffalo would be the western terminus of the road, and the village received an impetus by the erection of a large hotel and other buildings to accommodate the travel and traffic. Steamers ran in connection with the road till its completion to Chicago about 1852, when they were withdrawn.
The Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, now the Chicago and West Michigan, was completed, Sept 7, 1870, from Pentwater, Oceana Co., Mich., to New Buffalo, where it connects with the Michigan Central Railroad.
VILLAGE OF NEW BUFFALO.
The plat of the village was laid out in 1835, by Nelson Willard, Jacob A. Barker, Wessel Whittaker, and Russell Goodrich. It was incorporated as the village of New Buf- falo, March 28, 1836. Its officers were a president, re- corder, and six trustees, to bear the title of president and trustees of the village of New Buffalo. It embraced the whole of section 10 and the east half of section 9, being situated about midway on the lake line of the township, and fronting Pottawattamie Lake on the north.
276
HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Alonzo Bennett was the first president of the village. Jacob Gerrish was president in 1838 and treasurer in 1839. The corporation lapsed about 1840. The village was again incorporated in 1869, as noticed farther on.
As near as can be ascertained the postmasters have been as follows : Dr. Reuben Pierce, Jacob Gerrish, Thomas Comins, Alonzo Bennett, Dwight Plympton, Alonzo Ben- nett, Joseph M. Goodrich, and George R. Weed, who is the present incumbent.
The second act of incorporation was approved April 3, 1869, and the election for officers was held April 5th of the same year at the school-house in the village. The result was as follows : Sadler Butler, President ; George F. Collett, Recorder; James McCarter, Frederick Gerdes, David Terwilliger, Harry H. Gilbert, Ludwig Lubke, and Dwight Plympton, Trustees ; John McGlavin, Treasurer.
LIST OF OFFICERS.
President» .- 1870, Sadler Butler ; 1871-72, Ransom S. Hastings; 1873, Henry P. Nourse; 1874, Alonzo Bennett; 1875, Henry Liefkien ; 1876-77, George Weimer; 1878, Alonzo Bennett; 1879, John V. Phillips.
Recorders .- 1870, J. C. Dick ; 1871, George D. Butler; 1872, John C. Dick ; 1873-78, John V. Philips ; 1879, Claus H. Scholtz.
Treasurers .- 1870, William H. Weed; 1871-72, George Weimer; 1873-75, Frederick Gerdes; 1876, Christian Guhlstorf; 1877, Charles Kruger ; 1878-79, Christian Goldstorf.
Trustees .- 1870, L. M. Woodmansee, Albert Kelling; 1871, Alonzo Bennett, William Armstrong, Sadler Butler; 1872, Charles Kruger, Moses M. Clark, William Mittelman; 1873, Louis Eg- gert, Henry Weigel, Fritz Kamm ; 1874, Charles Kruger, Herman Beutlen, Henry Liefkien ; 1875, Henry Wiegel, Louis Eggert, Albert Kelling ; 1876, Charles Kruger, Henry C. Wiegel, David Terwilliger ; 1877, Henry Wiegel, Christian Doll, Jacob Hiler; 1878, Charles Deuell, Fritz Kamm, Charles Kruger; 1879, Henry P. Nourse, John Peo, Alonzo Bennett.
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