History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

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 79
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 79

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).

* By John L. Rockey.

t The original name, "St. Joseph," was first given to the mission established at the mouth of the river about 1700, and designated in the records of the Catholic Church as " The Mission of St. Joseph of Lake Michigan." St. Joseph was the patron saint of Canada, or New France.

^PARK HOTEL

PARK HOTEL, S. H.BROWN, PROPRIETOR , ST JOSEPH , MICHIGAN.

313

TOWNSHIP OF ST. JOSEPH.

ship. To this couple was born the following year a son,- Amos Carroll,-who was the first native white child. In his manhood he became well known as a steamboat captain. The elder Bartlett died in the township in 1851. On the 12th of July, 1829, Benjamin C. Hoyt became a member of the St. Joseph settlement, and continued a prominent citizen of the township until about 1873, when he moved to Mississippi. Maj. T. S. Smith* and William Huff first settled in Royalton before 1828, but soon after became resi- dents of St. Joseph. Mr. Smith was the first keeper of the lighthouse in New Buffalo, in 1840. He was a very portly man, and an inveterate joker. In 1853 he went to Cali- fornia. Huff became a merchant in St. Joseph, and died there in 1848. In a few years his family also removed to California.

About 1830, L. L. Johnson settled on the lake-shore, a mile north of the village. He subsequently removed to Wisconsin. John Wittenmeyer came in the same or the following year. He was one of the early merchants. When the Mexican war broke out he went into the army, and rose to the rank of colonel. He died soon after his return home. James F. Lord, a carpenter and joiner, came in 1831, and in 1847 removed to Chicago. In the same year Fowler Preston, also a carpenter and joiner, moved to St. Joseph. He was an active citizen, and died in 1842. Members of his family still live in the township.

In 1832 came Dr. Amos S. Amsden, a native of New York, who was prominently identified with the place until his death, about 1849. Thomas Fitzgerald, a native of Herkimer Co., N. Y., emigrated to Indiana, and was a member of the Legislature of that State in 1828. He re- moved to St. Joseph, with his family, June 22, 1832, having received the appointment of lighthouse-keeper. He was regent of the State University in 1837, bank commissioner in 1838, and upon the resignation of Gen. Cass as United States Senator he was appointed to fill the vacancy. After his retirement from that position he removed to Niles, and at his death, in 1855, was probate judge of the county. He was the first attorney in St. Joseph.

In 1832, Edward P. Deacon came from Erie, Pa., and associated himself with William McKaleb, a native of Mary- land, in building the first saw mill that year. He removed to Boston, where he died, and McKaleb returned to his native State.

Leverett Plumb emigrated to Chicago from Ohio, and bought a lot, but after living there a short time, and think- ing Chicago never would be much of a place, moved to St. Joseph, with his family, in 1832. He, with Philip Andrew, built the engine for the mill of Deacon & McKaleb, erected in 1832, and in 1833 put the engine in the " Matilda Bar- ney," and was the engineer the first season. He went to Detroit and put the machinery in the "Davy Crockett," and brought the vessel to this port in 1834. Mr. Plumb lived here until his death, in 1859. His daughter, Mrs. Reynolds, is living in the village of St. Joseph.

In 1833, Thomas Conger, a lawyer, settled in the town-

ship, but about 1848 went to California. Jeremiah Wil- son came the same year, and died in 1835.

In 1834 and 1835 a large number of persons settled at St. Joseph, among them Hiram Brown, from Rochester, N. Y. After living in the village until 1848 he moved to Chicago, but has resided at St. Joseph since 1862, and he

JOSEPH W. BREWER.

and Joseph W. Brewer are about the only citizens left that came at that early period. The latter has served the town- ship as justice of the peace since 1853. Jabez N. Rogers lived in the township from 1834 till 1848, when he re- moved to Berlin, Wis. John F. Porter remained from 1835 to 1846, when he returned to New York. Rodney C. Paine was here a few years, about this period, when he became a resident of Niles ; Talman Wheeler, from 1835 till 1850, when he removed to Chicago; and Edwin Rich- ardson, a teacher, also came in 1834. He removed to Ber- rien, and served as register of deeds.

R. R. Duncan became a resident of St. Joseph about 1834, and resided there until his death. For about thirty years he was actively engaged in business. George, Ed- ward, and Benjamin Kingsley came from Utica, N. Y., about the same period, and took a prominent place among the pioneers. Benjamin Kingsley is still a citizen of St. Joseph. In 1834, Curtis Boughton came from Ohio, and settled on the Niles road, south of the village, and has con- tinued his residence in the township since. His father, Gaius Boughton, came a few years after ; and among other pioneers in the southern part of the township were the Abbe and Gard families. Members of the latter are yet among the active and prominent citizens of St. Joseph.

In addition to the foregoing, among the prominent pioneers prior to 1840 were the Olds, Stewart, Johnson, and Martin families, James Randles, Wm. Axtell, A. M. Brownell, M. Chauncey, Moody E. Merson, John Harris, Robert Hollywood, Wm. Patterson, Asaph Preston, S. R. Russell, Isaac Pangborn, Wm. C. Weaver, J. H. Wells, Solomon Smith, Samuel Hicks, R. P. Stinson, Samuel Sutherland, F. A. Hull, and Charles C. Sutton.

In 1864 the population was 1681; in 1870, 3000; in

* In an act to divide the Territory into townships, approved April 12, 1827, which contains a section organizing the township of St. Joseph, provision is made that the first town-meeting be held at the house of Timothy S. Smith, in said township.

314

HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

1874, 3288. The valuation in 1860 was $207,234; and in 1870, $426,451.

ORGANIZATION AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.

The early bounds and divisions of St. Joseph township are fully noted in the general history of the county. By an act of June 9, 1832, St. Joseph was made to embrace the territory at present included in the townships of Water- vliet, Hagar, Benton, Sodus, Royalton, Lincoln, and the north four tiers of sections in Lake, Oronoko, and Berrien ; and the first election was to be held at the house of Au- gustus B. Newell. On the 17th of March, 1835, Royalton was formed to include the territory south of township No. 4; and by the organization of Benton, March 11, 1837, St. Joseph was reduced to its present bounds,-about 72 sections in township No. 4, range No. 19.

No records prior to the final subdivision are known to be in existence. From other sources it is learned that in 1834 William Huff was Supervisor, Amos B. Amsden Justice, and B. C. Hoyt Clerk ; and in 1836 William Huff was Supervisor, Jabez N. Rogers Clerk, and John F. Porter, John P. Davis, and William McKaleb Justices.

At the election held at the " Mansion House," April 3, 1837, 57 votes were polled, and the following elected : Su- pervisor, William Huff; Clerk, Jabez N. Rogers ; Justices of the Peace, Daniel Olds, J. N. Rogers, James Randles, J. G. James ; Assessors, Talman Wheeler, Fowler Preston, B. C. Hoyt; Collector, William H. Stewart; Constables, B. H. Sweet, William H. Stewart ; Poormasters, Daniel Olds, A. S. Amsden ; Road Commissioners, L. L. Johnson, John Wittenmeyer, Israel Kellogg; Pathmasters, William H. Stewart, Isaac Moffatt ; School Commissioners, William Huff, Thomas Fitzgerald, John Wittenmeyer ; School In- spectors, B. C. Hoyt, James Randles, Thomas Fitzgerald.

Since 1837 the principal officers have been the following :

SUPERVISORS.

1838, John F. Porter; 1839, James F. Lord ; 1840-42, Fowler Pres- ton ; 1843-44, B. C. Hoyt; 1845, L. S. Lillibridge; 1846, An- drew Murray ; 1847, Thomas Fitzgerald; 1848, A. M. Church ; 1849, Talman Wheeler; 1850, William M. Lister; 1851, A. M. Church; 1852, A. H. Morrison ; 1853, L. F. Warner; 1854, A. H. Morrison ; 1855, D. A. Urmston ; 1856, Joseph Gard; 1857, F. I. Parks ; 1858, Theodore Pew ; 1859-60, F. I. Parks; 1861, A. D. Brown ; 1862, Warren Chapman; 1863-68, Daniel Chap- man ; 1869, Warren Chapman ; 1870, Curtis Boughton ; 1871-74, Warren Chapman ; 1877, A. H. Morrison ; 1876, Edward M. Ed- wards; 1877, Asa E. Perkins ; 1878-79, Edward M. Edwards.

CLERKS.

1838, E. H. Kuhr; 1839-41, J. N. Rogers ; 1842, B. F. Fish; 1843, Talman Wheeler; 1844, A. M. Church ; 1845, M. D. Gragg ; 1846, Charles F. Howe; 1847, A. P. Stinson ; 1848, M. D. Gragg ; 1849- 53, A. P. Stinson ; 1854, R. S. Duncan ; 1855, E. L. Griffith; 1856, David M. Crane; 1857-58, L. J. Brown; 1859, John Burke ; 1860-61, Charles J. Smith ; 1862, William M. Smith ; 1863-64, Robert Vanvlear; 1865-66, J. J. Drake; 1867-68, J. W. Brewer; 1869-70, Hiram Brown; 1871, A. H. Scott; 1872-76, Joseph W. Brewer; 1877, Junius H. Hatch; 1878, William H. Maynard ; 1879, Nelson C. Rice.

TREASURERS.

1839, Robert B. Martin ; 1840-41, B. C. Hoyt; 1842, Charles C. Sut- ton ; 1843, James F. Lord; 1844, George W. Kingsley ; 1845, Maurice Fitzgerald ; 1846, Harvey Gould; 1847-48, Maurice Fitz- gerald ; 1850-52, B. C. Hoyt; 1853-55, B. M. Springstein ; 1856- 57, S. H. Sutherland; 1858, Hiram C. Guernsey ; 1859, Henry

L. Hatch ; 1860, George W. Kingsley ; 1861, E. C. Hoyt; 1862, D. W. Porter; 1863, L. G. Moulton; 1864, Joseph W. Brewer ; 1865, Henry Smith ; 1866, Horace K. Langley ; 1867, Henry Zerambo ; 1868, Edward Kingsley; 1869, F. C. Jordan ; 1870, Charles H. Moulton ; 1871, Henry M. Brown ; 1872-74, Robert F. Stratton ; 1875-76, John Wallace; 1877, Joseph J. Pearl; 1878-79, Edwin F. Platt.

The justices of the peace since 1838 have been as follows :

George C. Thompson, J. N. Rogers, L. S. Lillibridge, Cruger Walton, Jabez N. Rogers, Joseph Gard, Dexter Straight, Timothy S. Smith, A. P. Stinson, Horace W. Guernsey, Moses Chapman, Joseph W. Brewer,# C. C. Sutton, John T. Smith, Charles R. Brown, Hiram Brown, John A. Donaldson, John M. Enos, Nathaniel Robbins, Daniel Chapman, A. H. Bean, Henry Mowston, Frederick A. Hull, Charles F. Howe, Amos S. Amsden, L. Plumb, John Witten- meyer, Wm. M. Liston, B. C. Hoyt, Wm. Chapman, A. M. Brownell, L. F. Warner, Samuel Holland, Elijah Knapp, Edward Kingsley, Charles Molhagen, B. C. Lewis, W. Guernsey, John Thomas, Junius H. Hatch:

At the April meeting in 1848 the question of granting license for the sale of spirituous liquors in the township was submitted to the voters, 69 of whom declared in the affirmative and 56 opposed. A subsequent test of the minds of the people reaffirmed the decision.

EARLY ROADS AND ROAD DISTRICTS.

Territorial roads were laid out to the mouth of the river St. Joseph as early as 1830, an account of which will be found in the general history.

The first record in reference to roads is the division of the townships into road districts, and bears date March 27, 1838.

By John Wittenmeyer and Lemuel L. Johnson, commis- sioners of highways, it was ordered, " That all that part of the township lying south of the St. Joseph River, and that part north of St. Joseph River and south of Paw Paw River, be District 1; all the remaining part of the township be District 2."

The first recorded road was laid out three rods wide, com- mencing at the quarter-section corner on the section line between sections 27 and 34, in township 4 south, of range 18 west, following said section line westerly one and a half miles, thence westerly, terminating at the road opened by Eleazer Morton, running from or near said Morton's house to section 33, in town 4 south, range 18 west.

The New Buffalo road was surveyed and established June 17, 1839, and opened by an order by the commis- sioner, Nov. 1, 1842.

A road was laid out from Royalton to St. Joseph on the north side of St. Joseph River : commencing on the south line of section 36, town 4 south, range 19 west, at a stake four chains west of the quarter-post ; thence running north- erly, intersecting the town line near Phelps. following the town line some distance, touching the quarter-post on the east line, section 24, and intersecting the Territorial road 2-2% chains south of section corner, being over three miles in length.

A road was surveyed and established Nov. 14, 1839, commencing on the Territorial road on the line running north and south, through the centre of section 15, in town

* Continuously since 1853.

attmorrison

HON. ALEXANDER HAMILTON MORRISON, of St. Joseph, Mich., was born at Quebec, Canada, Feb. 22, 1822. He is of Scotch and American parentage. His mother was a descendant of Col. John Jessup, who, for his fidelity to Charles I., was rewarded by Charles II. with a large tract of land on the Hudson River. This tract, known as Jessup's tract, became historic, through its confiscation by the State of New York after the Revolutionary war. His father, Rhoderick Morrison, was a merchant and trader, and a member of the old Northwestern Fur Company. He was one of the few partners who successfully resisted the attacks upon that company made by Lord Selkirk, in the interests of the Hudson Bay Company. At the age of six- teen, Alexander Hamilton removed to Chicago to seek his fortune. That city then contained less than four thousand inhabitants. He was engaged there three years with David Ballantine, a celebrated contractor on the Illinois and Michi- gan Canal. At the age of nineteen he went into active business on his own account as a merchant and contractor on public works in Illinois and Iowa.

In 1850 he moved to St. Joseph, Mich., where he has since resided, engaged as a merchant, lumber-manufacturer, and railroad-builder. In connection with James L. Joy he constructed the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad, two hundred and fifty miles in length, and managed it for six years. Mr. Morrison and C. G. Wicker, of Chicago, were also joint owners and operators of the Dakota Southern Railroad, and of the Sioux City and Pembina, a branch of the Dakota Southern. In politics he was formerly a Whig, but now votes and works with the Republican party. In 1851 he was chairman of the board of supervisors of Berrien County. In 1852 he was a candidate for presidential elector on the Scott ticket. In 1856 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1860 he was elected to and served in the House of Representatives, and for three sessions was chairman of the committee on State affairs. In 1861, President Lincoln

appointed him commissary of subsistence in the regular army, but he declined the appointment. In 1862 he be- came collector of internal revenue for the second district of Michigan. From 1866 to 1869 he was assessor of the same district, and for six years a member of the Republican State committee ; was on the staff of Governors Bingham and Wisner from 1854 to 1861; he has been connected for twenty-five years with the Masons and Odd-Fellows; has been Master of Occidental Lodge at St. Joseph, and was the first Noble Grand of Burnett Lodge, Independent Order of Odd-Fellows. In religion he is a liberal.

In 1878, Mr. Morrison erected in St. Joseph the most extensive wooden-ware manufacturing establishment in the Northwest,-indeed, as much so as any establishment of its kind East or West,-to which he added, in 1879, several more buildings for the manufacture of pails and other articles directly from pulp made of straw and hay. (A cut of the establishment above named, of which he is the sole owner, appears on another page of this work, together with his resi- dence.) Mr. Morrison attends personally to the financial part of his business, aided by his only son, Don Morrison, a lad of eighteen years, who is being schooled by his father how to handle successfully large numbers of men without friction, and to good advantage.

Jan. 17, 1848, Mr. Morrison married Julia A. Reynolds. They have four children living. The vast fruit products of the St. Joseph region are sent from docks owned by Morrison & Joy, in their transportation to Chicago and other lake ports.

During a business career of over thirty years, Mr. Morri- son, with three exceptions, was unknown to the courts as suitor, juryman, or witness. He has traveled through the West, South, and East ; and in his varied positions of trust and business has met and entertained, at his residence in St. Joseph, many of the distinguished men of the United States.

315

TOWNSHIP OF ST. JOSEPH.

4 south, range 18 west, thence along Paw Paw River to another road known as the Coldwater road, established Nov. 14, 1839.

Jan. 23, 1840, a road was established from Millburg south and east to the town line. Jan. 21, 1840, a road was established from Territorial road to the town line, four miles and twelve chains in length. April 6, 1840, it was voted to raise money to reimburse the corporation of St. Joseph for money expended on the causeway across the marsh east of the St. Joseph River, opposite St. Joseph village; and at an adjourned meeting in May, it was voted to raise $1000 to finish the east end of causeway and reimburse the cor- poration of St. Joseph.

March 22, 1841, the township was redistricted, forming eight districts.

June 12, 1841, the commissioners declared the follow- ing streets public highways: Wayne, from the bridge to Ship Street ; Ship, Main, and State Streets, and all that part of Water Street commencing at the steam-mill and running to the Michigan Hotel.

Aug. 23, 1841, application was made to the commis- sioner to discontinue that part of the old Niles road from the village of St. Joseph through the westerly part of the seminary lands to the Abbe place. Talman Wheeler and eleven other disinterested persons were summoned, and a re- port was made. After due consideration the petition was granted September 27th. By an act approved April 1, 1840, Morgan Enos and Jacob Allen were appointed com- missioners to lay out and establish a State road from La Grange to St. Joseph. Sept. 27, 1841, the commissioners of St. Joseph were directed to record the survey of that part which ran through St. Joseph township.

FRUIT CULTURE.

The fruit interests of South western Michigan have raised St. Joseph to a prominent position as one of the principal points in the region which has been termed the "Great Fruit Belt of Michigan." Nearly the entire township, where the soil is tillable, is devoted to fruit culture, more than 2000 acres being devoted to this purpose, and hun- dreds of citizens find occupation in shipping the various fruits to market. Until within a few years this country was pre-eminently adapted to the cultivation of the peach, which here attained great perfection and almost invariably yielded bountifully. From a " Catalogue of Fruit-Growers," prepared by L. J. Merchant in 1873, it appears that the seedling peach was grown in St. Joseph as early as 1829. As settlers came in, nearly all of them planted a few seed- ling peaches, and in 1839 some grown in the garden of B. C. Hoyt were shipped to Chicago. About the same time Capt. Curtis Boughton bought peaches by the barrel and in dry-goods boxes, and carried them to Chicago. In 1842, B. C. Hoyt procured buds of improved varieties from Long Island to start a nursery ; and in 1844, he sent a few baskets of Crawfords to Chicago, which the boys peddled out at ten cents each. From that time on, improved varie- ties have been cultivated. One of the first large orchards of budded peaches-130 trees-was set out in 1849 by Capt. Curtis Boughton. Since that time orchards contain- ing as many as 5000 trees have been planted, and the pro-

duct in the township for 1868 was 507,134 packages of peaches alone, and 28,283 bushels of berries. The influ- ence of Lake Michigan, and the diversity of soil in the township, also enables fruit-growers to cultivate successfully pears, plums, quinces, apples, cherries, grapes, and the various kinds of berries ; and since the failure of peaches, owing to the appearance of the disease called the "yellows," small-fruit culture has become the prominent industry ; and although not as profitable as peach-growing, is yet a source of considerable revenue.

Among the fruit-growers in St. Joseph in 1873, who cul- tivated more than six acres, were the following :

Thomas Archer, Emile Birkholm, A. B. Chamberlain, L. Collins, F. Ewald, Joseph Gard, Gordon Family, Garrett Garrettson, B. C. Hoyt, David Judson, J. H. Langley, William C. Lombard, A. N. Napier, O. Olson, H. T. Plumb, E. Reed, C. H. Sherwood, Robert Spink, S. C. Wilson, J. A. Wischer, John Wallace, P. P. Allen, L. C. Crittenden, E. V. Green, J. Jakeway, J. N. McMichael, William J. Nott, W. C. Perry, Frank Pullen, S. Southworth, R. Williams, R. J. Sawyer, M. Plumb, Curtis Boughton, Thomas H. Botham, D. Comings, E. W. Collins, P. Finnegan, John F. Gard, H. W. Gustin, S. F. Heath, D. S. Hulett, S. G. Langley, A. C. Lightfoot, Daniel Murphy, N. W. Napier, R. D. Parker, B. F. Pixley, George W. Selden, H. C. Smith, John Whittlesey, A. O. Winchester, Benjamin Williams, J. Aylsworth, G. W. Church, Joshua Ells, Charles Hull, H. R. Labaugh, Z. D. Nickerson, O. A. Osborne, Robert Pullen, A. D. Rowley, J. R. Webb, B. Lombard, W. H. Wakelee, A. Adamson.

ST. JOSEPH VILLAGE.

This thriving village is finely situated mainly south of the St. Joseph River, on the peninsula formed by that stream and Lake Michigan. The land forms an elevated plateau, giving the place a situation whose beauty and healthfulness are scarcely surpassed in the State. West of the village is the broad expanse of Lake Michigan, white with the sails of an immense commerce, and healthful with its invigorating breezes. Sweeping round from the south- east is the St. Joseph River, on whose waters are borne the products of the interior of the county to the mouth of the stream, which constitutes a safe and convenient harbor, where lie at rest vessels from the lake; and south are the fertile lands of the township, which have been transformed into a vast and productive fruit-garden. The village is regularly laid out, with wide and well-shaded streets. It contains many fine residences and public buildings, and has a population of some three thousand inhabitants.

Until 1829 this locality was an unbroken forest of heavy timber, except about half an acre on the farthermost point of the bluff, which has been used as a burial-ground by the Indians. Various articles of Indian occupancy, as kettles, hatchets, and trinkets, have been found from time to time as the banks broke away, and when the ground was leveled for the park which skirts the brow of the hill. This clear- ing was made by the followers of Robert de La Salle in 1679, and the winter of 1680-81. After the destruction of the old French fort that stood upon it, the Indians oc- cupied the ground for a general camp when engaged in fishing and hunting in this part of the county .* After the treaty at the Carey Mission, Sept. 28, 1828, attention was directed to this place as an eligible site for a future

* See general chapters.

316

HISTORY OF BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

city, and discerning its importance, Calvin Britain, a former teacher at the mission, made claim to some of the lands , near the mouth of the river in the following year. He was joined by Augustus B. Newell, and together they pre- empted the most desirable part of section 23 in 1829. Newell built a log cabin at the foot of the hill east of the clearing, which was the first house in St. Joseph occupied by actual settlers. Britain was a single man and had his home at Newell's. In 1830 the survey of this part of the county was finished, and on the 30th of September of that year Britain and Newell purchased the lands they had already secured by pre-emption.

Some time after this, in 1831, Calvin Britian laid out a village on the south bank of the St. Joseph River, which he called Newberryport, in honor of Oliver Newberry, of Detroit .* This name the place bore until it was changed by legislative enactment to its present title, St. Joseph. Con- sidering the general condition of the settlements in the western part of the county, St. Joseph grew rapidly, having at this time more than 25 houses. It had been designated the county-seat when Berrien County was or- ganized in 1831, and remained the seat of justice until 1837. Its future was so promising that application was made to the Legislative Council in the early part of 1834 for corporate privileges. The act was approved March 7, 1834, and from this period dates the municipal history of St. Joseph. The corporation comprised all of section 23, in range 19, and the authorities were to be known by the title of "The President, Trustees, and Freemen of the village of St. Joseph." In 1857 the limits of the village were extended to embrace all of section 24 lying south and west of the river St. Joseph, and at present about one square mile of territory is comprised within the bounds of the corporation.

By the provisions of the incorporating act, the township Board of Officers-William Huff, Supervisor ; Amos S. Amsden, Justice ; and B. C. Hoyt, Clerk -presided at the first village election, held at the school-house, on the first Monday in May, 1834, and declared the following per- sons the choice of the freemen for the respective offices : President, Thomas Fitzgerald; Clerk, B. C. Hoyt (ap- pointed) ; Treasurer, E. P. Deacon ; Trustees, B. C. Hoyt, James F. Lord, William McKaleb, Calvin Britain, John Wittenmeyer ; Marshal, Fowler Preston. The sum of $400 was levied upon the taxable property of the village to de- fray the expenses of the corporation the first year. In 1835 the levy was increased to $1000. As this was a heavy tax, and money was scarce, an ordinance was passed, Jan. 23, 1836, which authorized the marshal " to take prom- issory notes from the residents of the village for the unpaid part of the tax, which (notes) may be paid by digging and burning stumps in the streets at 25 cents per stump." There is no record to show that the inhabitants generally complied with this proposition to pay their taxes; but it is remembered that some of the trustees claimed that it was a great measure of relief, and would free the streets of many unsightly obstructions.

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History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 79

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