USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13
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Though there were as yet no railroads, everything went ahead at railroad speed for the time being. under the influ- ence of an inflated currency. Some idea of the general eagerness for improvements may be gained from a dry item to be found in the Territorial laws. On a single day ( March
54
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
26, 1836) no less than eight State roads were authorized by the Legislature to be laid out wholly or partially in the county of Branch. They were as follows :
One from Coldwater through Centreville and Constantine (St. Joseph County) to the Indiana line. The commis- sioners to lay it out were Hiram Alden, Benjamin Sher- man, and Columbia Lancaster.
One from French's tavern, where the Chicago road crossed Prairie River, to Constantine. Commissioners, William Meek, Willis T. House, and William A. Kent.
One from Adrian, Lenawee Co., to the section line, a mile north of the line between townships 6 and 7; thence west on the same line, as near as may be, into Branch County, and to the Chicago road. Commissioners, Addison J. Comstock, John Hutchins, and George C. Gibbs.
One running from Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo Co., to the Chicago road, near Jonesville, IHillsdale Co. Commission- ers, Andrew Mckinstry, Isaiah W. Bennet, and J. B. Tompkins.
Que from Coldwater through Girard and Goodwinsville (now Union City) to or near Battle Creek, Calhoun Co. Commissioners, Matthew Brink, Martin Barnhart, and Sands MeCarnly.
One from French's tavern to Centreville, Cassopolis, and the mouth of the St. Joseph River. Commissioners, Thomas W. Langley and E. B. Sherman.
One from the county-seat of Calhoun County to that of Branch County, and thence, in the direction of Fort Wayne, to the Indiana line. Commissioners, Sidney S. Olcott, Martin Olds, and Jared Pond.
One from the county-seat of Branch County to intersect the Chicago road near the east end of Coldwater Prairie. Commissioners, Elisha Warren, Augustin J. Goddard, and Seth Dunham.
Although these highways bore the imposing title of " State roads," yet it was expressly provided that the State should not be liable for damages or expenses, and that they should be under the management of the township com- missioners, the same as township roads. The act was to become void as to all roads not laid out by the 1st day of January, 1840.
The year 1837 opened with the excitement of business and speculation at greater height than ever before. The newly-admitted State began its career by projecting a vast scheme of internal improvements, intended to flood the people with prosperity in the briefest possible time. A law was passed in February providing for three railroads to be built by the State government : the Northern, Central, and Southeru. The Southern road was intended to run through the southern tier of counties, and there was natu- rally much strife as to the location. Lines were surveyed through Coldwater and Branch, and work was commenced on the road iu Lenawee County by commissioners appointed by the State. There was also much talk of running the Central road through Goodwinsville, over the route now fol- lowed by the air-line branch of that road. In fact, there was a very general expectation that all the people would become rich in a few years, through the influence of the numerous improvements projected. While awaiting the fruition of their schemes, we will turn for a time to other matters.
Possibly it was on account of the suddenly-developed (imaginary) wealth of the county that so many new town- ships were formed this year ; no less than five being added to the list : Union, Sherwood, Ovid. Gilead, and Elizabeth (now Bethel). This just doubled the previous number.
Down to this time the courts had continued to be held at the school-house at Branch, and criminals were kept in the jail of St. Joseph County. It was now deemed proper that Branch County should have a building of its own, and the following extracts from the records of the Board of Supervisors show the action of that body on the subject. The meeting is described as having been con- vened at the court-house in the village of Branch ; but this was merely a form of speech, the school-house being bre- vetted a court-house by the courts and boards which held their sessions there. The record reads thus :
" Ordered, that arrangements be made forthwith for erecting a jail, and that Martin Olds, Elijah Thomas, and John Waterhouse be and they are hereby appointed a committee to superintend and to eon- tract for the erection of said jail, and that the same he completed on or before the second Tuesday of March next.
" Ordered, that five hundred dollars be and the same is bereby appropriated for the erection of the same.
"Ordered, that said committee seleet a suitable site for said jail ou one of the lots belonging to the county in the village of Branch."
Although the building thus authorized is described by the humble name of jail, it was intended that a part of it should be occupied as a court-room. It was built during the summer of 1837, of hewed logs, about thirty feet square, the lower part being the jail and the upper part the court-room. This was the only public edifice in the county, while the county-seat remained at Branch.
This was the celebrated period of " Wild Cat" and " Red Dog" currency. The removal of the deposits by President Jackson, and the consequent breaking down of the United States Bank, had resulted in the granting of charters to an innumerable swarm of State banks, with little coin and insufficient security, which made haste to issue bills to an almost unlimited extent.
These were generally called " Wild-Cat" banks. Fre- quently these wonderful financial institutions were too poor to pay for engraving plates of their own, with their respective names upon them. To meet their wants, a large number of bills were engraved, with the name of the bank in blank. Quantities of these were purchased by the poorer banks, which had their own names printed on them in red ink. From this circumstance that was called " Red Dog" currency. Two of these manufactories of unlimited wealth were started in the county,-one at Branch and one at Coldwater,-but both very speedily collapsed. A more complete account of them will be found in the history of Coldwater city and township.
The first newspapers in the county were also begun this year, one at Branch, called the Michigan Star, which had a few weeks' priority, and one at Coldwater, named the Coldwater Observer. A fuller description of these two organs of public information is given in the chapter devoted to the press.
As another indication of the amount of business then going on in the county, especially in the way of emigra-
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tion and travel, Dr. Alger, of Coldwater, mentions that in the forepart of 1837 he went from Quiney to Sturgis, and found thirty-three taverns on the Chicago road in this county.
In the latter part of 1837 this prosperity began to fade rapidly away. It did not all disappear at once, but in less than a year it was gone, and the people were worse off financially than they have ever been, either before or since. It was soon found that mere pieces of paper, inscribed " we promise to pay," when there was nothing to pay with, would not long retain their purchasing power, and the wealth of the people turned to ashes in their hands.
Land, which had been carried to high-tide prices by the prevailing inflation, especially wherever there was a possi- bility of building a village, now sank to a third, or less, of its former value. Emigration eame to a standstill. Farm produce sank so low that it would not pay for transporta- tion. Farmers were unable to purchase even the common- est necessaries of life, aside from what they could raise, and nearly every business-man was overwhelmed by hope- less bankruptcy.
Perhaps the supervisors thought it was particularly necessary for the farmers to raise sheep and make their own cloth, as they would certainly be unable to buy any, for in October, 1837, they voted a bounty of five dollars apiece for the scalps of full-grown wolves, and three dollars each for those of whelps.
In the forepart of 1838 three more new townships were formed,-Butler, Mattison, and Algansee. The two first named embraced only their present areas, but the last also included the present township of California.
The jail contracted for the previous year had been erected according to agreement, but the agreement did not include the finishing of the upper room so as to be fit for the use of the courts, or at least the contractor did not so construe it. After considerable hesitation and discussion, the fol- lowing account was audited and paid :
"THE COUNTY OF BRANCH DR. TO STEPHEN BATES.
To building jail per contract with supervisors .. $370.00
To extra work making cornice ... 10.00
Cutting ont three cell-windows. 1,50
Three window-panes .. 1.50
$383.00"
The five-dollar bounty of the previous fall evidently stimulated a sharp onslaught on the wolves by the marks- men and trappers of Branch County, the more vigorous, probably, because other avenues to money-making were to a great extent closed. The supervisors' records show the following audits :
" Oct. 2, 1868.
J. B. Woodruff, 3 wolf-certificates. $15.00
Jacob S. Sorter, wolves. 39.00
Myron Towsley, wolves 13.00
Jeremiah Morrill, wolves. 13.00
William Mitchell, 2 wolves 10,00
.T. M. Blazer, I wolf. 5.00
Cornelius Van Aiken, 3 wolves. 15.00
Horace Graham, 3 wolves 13.00
A. Arnold, 1 wolf
5.00
" Oct. 4, 1838.
Simcon Bassett, killing 2 wolves (besides State bounty )
10.00
$138.00"
It seems to have been thought that the wolf-business was becoming too profitable for the treasury of the county, for the order giving five dollars bounty was immediately repealed.
The jail being still unfinished, the following resolutions were adopted by the board on the 4th of October :
" Resolved, That the building designed for a county jail be put in a state that it may be used as such as soon as can consistently bo done.
" Resolved, That the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars be raised and applied to that purpose if that amount shall be required."
At this period the Board of Supervisors was superseded by a board of three county commissioners, elected by the county at large, who performed the duties previously as- signed to the supervisors. The new board, consisting of Charles G. Hammond, Enos G. Berry, and Wales Adams, met at Branch on the 22d of November, 1838, and drew lots, as required by law, to determine the length of their terms of service. The first named drew a term of one year, the second of two years, and the third of three years. Thenceforth, during the continuance of the board, one new commissioner was elected each year and held for three years.
The contract for finishing the jail was not let until March, 1839, Elisha Warren being the contractor. No court was held in it until the fall of 1839, and it was used as a court-house and jail only about four years.
The wolf-bounties seem to have been soon restored, for in July, eleven were paid by the commissioners, at eight dollars, though possibly this was paid by the State through the county officials. Cornelius Van Aiken received pay for two scalps; J. Wilson for one; Marshall Bixby for one; J. S. Sorter for three ; J. Waterman for two; Myron Towsley for one; William Mitchell for one. We have taken considerable pains to record the amount of the busi- ness done in wolf-scalps, as it shows to some extent the condition of the county. When there were many wolves it may safely be calculated that there were but few sheep, and when no more scalps were brought before the honorable . board it may safely be calculated that farms were pretty numerous throughout the county.
The " Wild-Cat" banks, though now generally dead, still continued to vex the souls of the people by their unpleasant odors as much as did the wolves by their bloody deeds. In July, 1839, an order was passed by the board of com- missioners directing that seventy-five dollars of " Wild- Cat" money, received by Seth Dunham as treasurer, should be accepted. It was also ordered at the same time that a farm of a hundred and twenty acres should be purchased from Mr. Dunham. This was soon placed under the charge of the overseers of the poor, and has been used as a county poor-farm ever since.
To add tenfold to the disasters of the period, the latter part of 1837 was characterized by fearful sickness through- out the county. Nearly every one was attacked by the ague, and in hundreds of cases ague was but the prelude or attendant of some more deadly disease, all springing from the malaria let loose by cultivation. It is said that thirty-two died out of a population of about one hundred and
56
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
forty at Coldwater, and a similar fatality devastated the greater part of the county.
In 1839 a tragedy occurred near Coldwater which created a decided sensation in both this county and St. Joseph, and perhaps had a strong influence on a question of much im- portance to the settlers,-the removal of the Indians. The band of Pottawattamies, so often before mentioned, with the few Ottawas and Chippewas intermingled with them, had continued to roam over the two counties, notwithstand- ing the treaty of 1833 and their acceptance of the pay- ment under it. There were still a host of deer and other game in the forest, though the number was yearly lessening before the advance of the pioneers. The payments yearly made by the United States eked out their resources, and nearly all were strongly averse to removing to the unknown country to which they were destined by the treaty.
Their intercourse with the whites was generally friendly, though there were occasional quarrels between individuals of the two races, arising either from the too free use of whisky or a dispute about its sale. None of these troubles resulted in bloodshed. The squaws frequently brought wild plums and cranberries in their mococks, or bark bas- kets, to trade for calico, sugar, etc., at the stores in the few little villages of the county, while the Indians themselves frequently had venison or furs to dispose of for cloth and powder, and, above all, for whisky. " Me swap" was a com- mon expression in Branch County forty years ago.
Sau-au-quett continued to be regarded as the head man of the tribe, though his authority had greatly waned since he had brought about the sale of the Nottawa-seepe Reser- vation, in 1833. The old feud arising out of that treaty, which had resulted in the death of Quansett (as well as of others outside of the county), was still kept up, and many nf the warriors hated the stalwart half-breed with smoth- ered but undying rage.
The tragedy before alluded to occurred near Coldwater. After being together, drinking more or less throughout the day, Sau-au-quett and a warrior named Kakotomo went to a wigwam on the peninsula, between Mud Creek and Cold- water Lake, near the road from Coldwater to Battle Creek, to sleep during the night. Kakotomo had long hated the chief on account of the sale of the lands, but probably there had been some new quarrel to stimulate his wrath into action. With the Indian's usual duplicity toward his foe, he dissembled his anger until there was a good oppor- tunity to indulge it to the fullest extent. When Sau- au-quett was stretched in profound sleep Kakotomo arose, drew the chieftain's long knife from its sheath, and drove it through his body into the ground. He died with scarcely a struggle.
The next day the body was discovered. It was known that Kakotomo was the last person with him, and when charged with the murder he did not deny it.
" Sau-au-quett sell Indian's land. Indian kill Sau-au- quett. Who care ?"
The murderer was promptly arrested by the authorities of Branch County. Sau au-quett's friends came and de- manded him, in order that they might punish him in their own fashion. Their request was, of course, refused. In a short time the crime was condoned by them on account of
the gift of a pony, blankets, saddle, etc., to Sau-au-quett's nearest relatives by the friends of Kakotomo, according to Indian custom. Then the friends of the homicide came and demanded his release. The murder had been paid for and everybody was satisfied. Why should the poor man be kept in prison any longer? But the officers were equally impervious to this appeal.
Yet there was a strong disposition on the part of the whites to make the murder subservient to their wish to get the Indians out of Michigan. It was not pleasant to have them running their knives through each other in defiance of our laws, nor was it desirable to assume the task of try- ing aud punishing them with all the formality and expense of civilized tribunals. And if they found that they were allowed to kill each other with impunity, they would be very likely to satiate their capricious hatred upon some of the whites in a similar manner, as in faet had been the case in St. Joseph County.
Besides, the vagrant, begging hahits of the Indians, those earliest of Michigan tramps, were unquestionably disagreeable to the enterprising and industrious pioneers of Branch County. When the noble red man, brawny and stalwart, but ready to starve to death rather than to labor, sought food and shelter for himself, his wife, and his pa- poose, it was contrary to the custom of the emigrant from New England or New York to refuse such a trifle, but it roused his contemptuous anger to look upon a man so indo- Jent and shiftless. All were anxious that the Indians should go.
Application was made to the Governor of Michigan, and by him to the general government. The Governor also wrote to the Hon. E. G. Fuller, prosecuting attorney of Branch County, authorizing him to enter a nolle prosequi in the case of the State of Michigan rs. Kakotomo, pro- vided it would expedite the removal of the Indians. The band, as a whole, would not agree to remove on condition of Kakotomo's release, but some of the friends of the pris- oner promised to promote a removal if he was let loose, and the assassin himself, to whom imprisonment was worse than death, was more than willing to place himself far beyond the reach of the white man's law.
At length, in the antumn of 1840, all other means having failed, Gen. Brady was sent from Detroit with a detachment of United States troops to effect the removal of the Indians. A small force was sent into Hillsdale County to gather up the band of Baw-Beese, while the main body undertook the management of those in Branch and St. Joseph Counties. It was not an easy task. The older and more intelligent Indians submitted quietly, though sullenly, to what was plainly an inevitable necessity, but many of the squaws hid themselves in the forest, and many of the young warriors broke away even after they had been gathered into camp and were surrounded with troops.
But at last, after several days' manœuvering, all or nearly all were collected together, Baw-Beese and his band were brought in from Hillsdale County, and then the mournful cortege, closely guarded by the soldiers, set out for the far West. The Indians were escorted by land to the Illinois River, and thence taken by steamboat down that stream and the Mississippi to St. Louis, and up the Missouri to
57
HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Council Bluffs, Iowa, where a new home was assigned them. A few escaped from the soldiers on the way and returned to Michigan. They did not dare, however, and perhaps did not wish, to seek the vicinity of their former home, but went into the northern part of the State, where we believe a few of their descendants reside at the present day.
The tribe was greatly dissatisfied with its residence at Council Bluffs, partly on account of the scareity of timber, and partly because of the nearness of the ferocious Sioux, who then, as now, roamed over the prairies of Nebraska and Dakota, and who were the terror alike of frontier whites and of the weaker Indian tribes. A few years later they accord- ingly eousented to exchange their reservation at Council Bluffs for a home in the Indian Territory. When the Ter- ritory of Kansas was organized in 1854, they sold their claim to the government, but reserved a traet of ten miles square on the north side of the Kansas River, a short dis- tance above Topeka, the present capital of the State, where they still reside. It may interest some of those who now possess their old homes to know that this once ferocious tribe, the terror of a thousand miles of frontier, has learned many of the arts of peace, and is reported by the officials of the Indian Bureau to be in a more prosperous condition than the average Indians located upon reservations.
The removal of the Pottawattamies was the last im- portant act affecting Branch County, occurring in the fourth decade of this century, and also marked a decided change in the condition of the county. Hitherto there had been an almost unintermitting struggle between the pioneers and the wilderness. Hardship, sickness, and death assailed the people at every step, and, notwithstanding the spasmuodie financial prosperity of two or three feverish years, the whole county still displayed at least as much of the appearance of a hunting-ground as of a farming region.
But after 1840 its condition was rapidly changed, and though it was several years before even half of the timber was felled to the ground, the howl of the wolves ccased to echo along the hill-sides at night, yet that year, more nearly than any other, marks the line between the pioneer period and the period of agricultural development. We therefore begin the new era with a new chapter. By the census of 1840 the population of Branch County was five thousand seven hundred and fifteen.
CHAPTER X. FROM 1841 TO 1861.
The County-Seat Question-Removal to Coldwater-County Com- missioners Abolished-Burning of the Jail at Branch-The Long Struggle over Building a New Jail-The Erection of a Court- House- Rapid and Enduring Progress-A Last Look at the Wolves-Census of 1850-Building the Michigan Southern Itail- road-General Prosperity-The Approach of War-Our Method of Writing the History of Branch County in the War.
IN the beginning of the fifth decade probably the prin- cipal subject of publie discussion particularly pertaining to Branch County was the location of the county-seat. The principal competitors were Branch and Coldwater, for Mason- 8
ville had small hopes except as a compromise location between the other two. Branch had the advantage of being in possession of the coveted boon, and besides it was the nearest to the centre of the county. On the other hand, Coldwater was surrounded by much the most thriving settlement. The Coldwater Prairie was so easily cultivated that every one who could get a piece of it did so, and others, at- tracted by the nearness of neighbors, settled in the edges of the adjoining forest. Supported by the trade of the farming population around, Coldwater grew and flourished, while Branch, surrounded by a frowning forest, had only its glory as the county-seat to depend upon.
Moreover, the proprietors of the latter village were so sure that the county-seat would be retained there that they hehl lots at a decidedly high price, while those of Cold- water, being desirous of drawing the capital thither, put their prices down to reasonable figures.
After several years of contest between the partisans of the two localities, a law was at length passed by the Legis- lature authorizing the county commissioners to re-locate the county-seat. For the year 1842 the commissioners were Hiram Shoudler, of Union (chairman) ; Oliver D. Colvin, of Kinderhook ; and Hiram Gardner, of Mattison. The last-named gentleman had been chosen the previous autumn, in place of Wales Adamus, of Bronson, and doubtless the county-seat question entered prominently into the election.
Immediately after the assembling of the board in Jan- nary, 1842, it decreed the removal of the county-seat to Coldwater, and there it has ever since remained. The last record of the meeting of the board at Branch is dated Jan. 3, 1842, while its first session in Coldwater was on the 10th day of March in that year. The same year the board of county commissioners was abolished, and the supervisor system re-established throughout the State; the first meet- ing of the new board being held at Coldwater on the 4th of July, 1842. As one of the conditions of removal, a number of the principal citizens of Coldwater gave a bond for three hundred dollars, to be applied to the erection of a court-house and jail at that point. This was not a very munificent sum, but it was about as much as the building at Braneh had cost. For several years, however, notwith- standing numerous efforts in that direction, no county build- ing was erected in Coldwater, the courts meeting in tempo- rary rooms rented for the purpose.
Meanwhile the jail at Branch was burned down by a prisoner confined in it, and it has been asserted in print that some of the people of Coldwater contributed to pay him for the deed. Until a new one should be built, Branch County prisoners were confined in the jail of St. Joseph County, and one of the records of the period shows that the sheriff of that county was authorized by the supervi- sors of Branch to buy a "cheap coat" for an indigent prisoner from the latter county.
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