USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 52
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Mr. Zimmerman, in common with all the early settlers of the village, was imbued with a hatred of slavery and its attendant disgraceful features. Union City was one of the many stations on the famous " underground railroad," and Mr. Zimmerman was a self-constituted station-master, for more than one refugee from the " land of chivalry" escaped through his instrumentality. The spirit of the New Eng- lander rebelled against an unholy traffic in human flesh and blood, and even though the Fugitive Slave Law was in full forec, many a descendant of Revolutionary heroes set it at defiance by aiding in every possible way the escape of the unfortunate from bondage.
During the year 1839 a mulatto named William Smith, from the banks of the Pedee River, in North Carolina, came to Union City ; and, being a blacksmith by trade, was hired by and worked in the shop with Mr. Zimmerman. The owner of the plantation he had left was his own father. The latter, thinking very much of him, had given him free- papers and sent him North. He finally came to Union City, and in 1842 his son, Andrew, who had escaped by having his own name substituted in the free-papers of his father, also appeared upon the scene, with two or three others The man who had helped him get away was a neighbor to his master, and had been made to pay the price of the runaway to his irate owner. The man came North to claim his property and take him back, and was enter- tained for several days at Mr. Zimmerman's, for all of which kindness he never paid a cent. He left after a vain attempt to induce Andrew to go back with him; and the latter was then sent to Canada, where he remained till the atmosphere was more quiet, when he came back. The pompous slave-holder was armed with revolvers and a huge bowie knife, and took great pains to exhibit them often ; but was too shrewd to attempt to frighten anybody with them in the land where already the iron heel was becoming uneasy to set itself with crushing force on the neck of slavery. Yet it may be imagined how great was his dis- appointment at the necessity of returning empty-handed.
Mr. Zimmerman in recent years prepared a long article on this subject for insertion in the village paper, but was unable to complete it, and it never was published. The
# For n short time the grist-mill contained but two runs of stones : two more were soon added, however, and four is the number it now contains.
t Marsh stayed here but a few years, finally removing to some other part of the State.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
foregoing account contains the main facts in the case, and evinces the pluck and determination of not only Mr. Zim- merman but all who were ever interested earnestly in simi- lar schemes. Mr. Zimmerman is still a resident of the village.
Joseph C. Leonard, from the town of Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y., came to Michigan in June, 1842. From De- troit to Ann Arbor his trip was by rail ; thence to Marshall by stage, from which latter place he walked to Athens, or Dry Prairie, where a cousin of his was living. Athens seemed to be an unknown locality to the farmers along the road, and the few that had heard of it imagined it to be a great distance away. But when asked the whereabouts of Dry Prairie (in Athens township, Calhoun Co.) they knew instantly. Soon after reaching the Prairie, Mr. Leonard came over to Union City to visit some friends from the neighborhood of his old home. He finally concluded to stay here, purchased the lot upon which he now lives, cleared it up, and has lived upon it ever since.
Mr. Leonard has held numerous positions of importance in the village and township, and was twice postmaster, his commission being the second one sent to this place.
Homer C. Hurd, brother to Dr. W. P. Hurd, of Union City, visited this region in 1832. The next year he en- tered a quantity of government land in the adjoining town- ship of Burlington, and received his patent therefor in 1834, in the spring of which year he settled. Justus Goodwin was then making preparations to build his saw- mill at the village. Mr. Hurd is now deceased, and his widow has moved from her farm to a lot near the residence of Dr. W. P. Hurd. She came very early to Michigan with her father, Thomas McGee, from the shore of Lake George, in Warren Co., N. Y., settling in what is now the township of Concord, Jackson Co.
Deacon Chester Hammond, also from the town of Smyrna, Chenango Co., N. Y., came to Union City in 1836, and became largely interested in the affairs of the place. ITis son, Charles G. Hammond, has already been mentioned. The latter is now a prominent citizen of Chicago, III. Another son, Henry L. Hammond, who taught the second winter school in the village, became a noted divine, and the family was one of the most influential ones which found a home in this locality.
Solomon Parsons, who had been here in the spring of 1836, settled with his wife in the fall of the same year.
Carpenter Chaffee, a blacksmith by trade, located early in the spring of 1836, and during the same season Charles A. Lincoln helped him build a shop which was one of the first frame structures in the place.
Curtis S. Youngs, who settled in 1837, coming from Chenango Co., N. Y., in company with the families of Caleb Lincoln and Darius Buell (Mr. Buell having come in 1836), was here in 1836, and built a two-story planked house, into which his own family and that of Mr. Lincoln moved upon their arrival the next year. This house was on the north side of Ilanimond Street, east of Broadway, and east of the present marble-shop. Mr. Buell's family moved into the log house he had built, which stood in what is now the middle of Broadway, west of the Congre- gational church. He afterwards built the house opposite,
in which his widow now resides. Mr. Lincoln, as has been stated, soon moved upon his farm.
The few cows owned in the village in 1837 were " free commoners," and at night were wout to congregate around the house of Mr. Youngs, which had the effect of disturb- ing the slumbers of his family. If the cows were driven away they took up a " bee-line" for Darius Buell's house, and would lie there the balance of the night, and conse- quently these two families had nightly benefits from the horned prowlers.
Charles A. Lincoln had a couple of pigs in a pen, and one night he was aroused from sleep by a terrific squeal from one of them. Springing from bed and putting his head out of the window, he was just in time to see a huge wolf lift one of the pigs from the pen and trot off with it toward the west. Thus the supply of pork in that immediate neighborhood was lessened one-half.
In the days of the early settlement of this place wild strawberries grew in great profusion in the openings north of the river, and, while their season lasted, supplied the in- habitants with at least one luxury. The woods south of the river contained great numbers of the sugar-maple, and each spring witnessed numerous settlers wending their way into the forest, guided by lines of blazed trees, for the purpose of making maple-sugar. Mr. Youngs and Mr. Buell made theirs together, and excellent sugar it was, too. The town- ship is still noted for the amount of maple-sugar it produces. In the year 1874 Union manufactured over 30,000 pounds, or nearly one-half the entire amount made in the county.
Mr. Youngs served one term as register of deeds for Branch County.
PHYSICIANS.
In the year 1834, Dr. Theodore C. Hurd, from Genesee Co., N. Y., purchased a farm in Burlington, Calhoun Co., and settled upon it in 1837. He had come first with his brother, Ilomer C. Hurd, who has been previously men- tioned. The doctor moved into Union City afterwards, and died here in 1845. Previous to 1840 he was the only practicing physician in this vicinity. In the latter year his brother, William P. Hurd, also a physician, and still a prominent citizen of the place, located here and began prac- ticing. These two had a large ride, especially in the fall of the year, when there was much sickness. Another brother, llenry S. Hurd, came here in IS38, and after some time spent in reading medicine he returned to New York and attended lectures, subsequently settling at llomer, Calhoun Co., Mich. In the spring of 1846, after the death of Dr. T. C. Hurd, Henry removed to Union City, where he lived and practiced until 1854, in which year he went to Gales- burg, Knox Co., Ill., where he still resides and enjoys an extensive practice. His wife is a daughter of Chester Hammond, and, as mentioned, taught an early summer school in Union City. Henry M. Hurd, M.D., a son of Theodore C. Hurd, is the present superintendent of the Eastern Asylum for the Insane, at Pontiac. For eight years previous to taking that position he was one of the physicians at the Kalamazoo Asylum.
One Dr. D. Wilson lived and practiced here one season, -1840-and is now in the south part of the county. Dr. W. P. Hurd was one of the five original members of the
EZRA BOSTWICK
MRS.EZRA BOSTWICK
RESIDENCE OF EZRA BOSTWICK, UNION CITY , MICH
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
" Branch County Medical Society," organized in the winter of 1841-42, and after some years allowed to lose its identity. Dr. H. F. Ewers came here in 1854 from Onondaga Co., N. Y., and has been engaged in practice in this locality sinee. His brother, C. E. Ewers, came in 1855, and these two gentlemen comprise the well-known drug firm which has been so long in business here.
Dr. W. P. Hurd has not practiced since the close of the Rebellion (1865). Numerous physicians of the botanic and other schools have been located in the village at different tines, and those now in practice here are Drs. II. F. Ewers J. W. Wellman, - Fitzgerald, - Hale, - Brom- filed (ecleetie), F. Baker (homeopathic), -- Claflin, and E. II. Burd, the latter a nephew of Dr. W. P. Hurd.
LAWYERS.
The first member of the legal fraternity who settled here was Justus Goodwin, who became a man of much promi- nenee in both the county and State, and but for several serions faults might have been honored even more. It is not in the province of this work to speak disparagingly of any man, and those who best knew him can disenss his merits or demerits as they choose. As the founder of Union City he is at least entitled to a considerable share of credit.
Charles G. Hammond ( now Col. Hammond, of Chicago) was the second lawyer who made his domicile in Union City, and to him is due more credit, perhaps, for estab- lishing the town and furthering its enterprises than to any other man. He purchased the village site in January, 1836.
Justin Lawyer, a barrister by name as well as by pro- fession, had an office early where the barber-shop now is, between the " Union City House" and the drug-store of the Messrs. Ewers. About 1853 he went from here to Cali- fornia, returning subsequently to Coldwater, where he is at present residing.
The lawyers now in practice in the village are George Styles, George E. Smith, Mare A. Merrifield, and W. E Ware. Of these the first named is a native of " Merrie England."
UNION CITY POST-OFFICE.
A post-office was established at this place in December, 1831, and named Goodwinsville, by which title the village was then known. The first postmaster was Justus Good- win, under whom Chester Hammond, Corydon P. Benton, and Joseph C. Leonard acted at different times as deputies. Mr. Benton was subsequently elected county clerk, and re- moved to Coldwater. Mr. Leonard was Goodwin's suc- cessor, his commission having been sent in 1845 or -16. 1Ie held the office until 1849, when H. H. Smith was ap- pointed. Melvin L. Young was also a deputy at one time. Mr. Smith's successor was probably JJason L. Lee, who in turu was succeeded by Dr. Smith Rogers. Mr. Leonard was a second time appointed (to succeed Roger>), and held the office until the beginning of Lincoln's administration, when Edwin Perry, Esq., received the appointment. The next incumbent was Jerome Bowen, and the eighth and last Mortimer Vosburgh, who is still in office.
The first mail contractor was Henry Blazer, father of Jacob M. and Peter Blazer, and one of the first. settlers in
the township outside of the village. A good story is told relating to the time when the office was first established, and during Goodwin's term as postmaster.
A certain person named John Palmer was going to Cold- water, and Goodwin gave him a pair of saddle-bags, and told him to bring back any mail which might be there for Good- winsville. The trip to Coldwater was made in safety, the mail secured, and the journey back begun. Somewhere in the neighborhood of what is now Orangeville or " Hodunk," Pal- mer became aware that he was lost, and as twilight was deep- ening into darkness he concluded not to go farther till morn- ing. Ile was quite a musician in his way, and never went on any trip without his faithful violin. Therefore, turning his pony loose, leaving the saddle-bags and mail upon him, he sat down on a log, tuned up his fiddle, and woke the forest echoes with strains of music that must have delighted the wild animals which there abounded. His tireless arm wielded the bow, while his voice kept company, and not till the " streakings of the morning light" tinged the Eastern sky and showed him his position did he cease his efforts. With dawn came a knowledge of his location ; but the pony and saddle-bags were nowhere in sight, nor within hearing distance. Placing his fiddle under his arm he started for home, and in due time arrived at the bank of the St. Joseph, about where the south end of the bridge in Union City now is. His story was soon told, and Goodwin and another man started after the missing pony and the saddle-bags, which were finally found in different places late in the afternoon. Palmner seemed not very anxious about the mail, for he said there was "only one letter, and that was a dunning letter for Jack Bennett !" No members of Bennett's or Good- win's families are now living here.
The first frame house in Union City was the dwelling of Justus Goodwin, which has been described. Carpenter Chaffee's blacksmith-shop was one of the first frame struc- tures in the place, but the most important among the early ones was the "Union City House." The residence of Curtis S. Youngs was built about the same time. The " Union City House" was erected in 1836 by the proprie- tors of the village .* In August, 1837, Israel W. Clark and his wife came to Union City on a short visit, and stopped overnight at this hotel, which was at that time kept by Isaiah W. Bennett. The building was not yet finished ; the outer doors were hung, but the partitions and inuer doors were all of cotton cloth, which, although but ineffectual barriers, answered all the purposes required, and travelers were as safe behind them as though the partition walls were of solid masonary. Israel W. Clark was not one of the company when this was built.
In March, 1837, previous to the time Bennett was keep- ing the hotel, it was in charge of Chester Hammond. t The first regular landlord of this house-or the first to stay in it any great length of time-was Thomas L. Acker, who was a well-known hotel-keeper of those days. During the days of the famous steamboat excitement its landlord was a wan named Morton, who changed its name to " The Steamboat Hotel." A large, four-sided sign bearing those words was set upon a pole in the middle of the street in
* Information by Charles A. Lincoln, who helped to build it.
f Information by Mrs. Homer C'. Hurd.
27
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
trout of the building, where it stood for a number of year. Esra Wilder atterwards kept it for a time. The prescut proprietor is Stephen Paddock. The long addition in the rear of the main building was created by dobu a. Fier- myre and the upper part was long used as a hall. It has since been partitioned off into roots, and the sound of unsie and the tripping of merry feet are heard in it uo were.
On the corner, Que blyk north of the " I'niou City House" southwest corner of Broadway and Ellen Streets . & frame hotel was built in 1-12 by Thomas L. Acker, who has been mentioned as the first regular landlord of the " Vuiou C'ity House." It was but a small building, and went by the names of " Acker House." " Cottage House." ete. It is at present in use as a dwelling, and has been removed to the western part of the village. Mr. Acker was afterwards engaged in tavern keeping both in Marshall aud Kalamazoo.
The hotel now known as the " Titlow House" was built iu 1445 by Javob Blazer and Silas Marble, for use as stores. A store and a meat-market were long located in it. In Is07 the building was purchased by J. S. Rowell, who converted it into a hotel. He at prosent occupies the base- meut. After some titue he sold the property to Istae Maltby, of Sherwood. The present proprietor. Mess. Titlow Brothers, have owned it seven years The build- ing is a large frame structure, located ou the corner south of the " l'uiou City House."
J. S. Rowell, who established the building as a hotel. came to the township of Sherwood in Is45, with his father. Jared M. Rowell, from Naples, Ontario Co .. N. Y. The elder Rowell was a veteran of the war of ISI2, and for many years postmaster of Sherwood. the died Jan. 13. 1874. at an advancedi age.
The - Johusou House." located near the railway station. in the southern part of the village, has been erected within recent years .- since the completion of the railroad .- and from the fact that it is a new building is the best in town for hotel purposes, although its custom is perhaps not as great as if it were nearer to the business of the place. Its location is a pleasant oue.
John J. Frevmyre. for some time the proprietor of the " Union City House." is now a resident of Cass County.
Numerous internal improvements were projected during the iufaney of Michigan as & State, and all were to be made at enormous cost. As the population was very meagre it became necessary to stop such legislation or stcritico every dere of public lands, for otherwise the people would have been placed hopelessly in debt, and immigration must have ceased. The scheme of a ship-canal across the southern peutusula was loug a matter of discussion, and various routes were surveyed. Que of the projects early enter- taiued was that of the "improvement of the St. Joseph River to U'uiou City, aud a canal by the way of Homer, and serves the conuties of Jackson and Washtenaw to the llurou, at Dexter." L'uder the direction of the Committee of Internal Improvements of the State of Michigan, Charles F. Smith, in the summer of 1538, made a survey of the river. from which it appears see his report. page 262. Senate Documents. I>3> that at Branch County. in town
I west a distance by the river of one hundred and sixty miles, forty-three of which were through the State of lu- diana. the elevation is two hundred and eighty-five feet. The survey to determine the feasibility of a canal to Homer. and the use of the Kalamaan River and lakes in that viein- ity as teaders, in a distance of twenty miles of further Ascent, was made, making the Kalamazoo and lakes near Houter, in Calhoun County, three hundred and seventy-tive feet above the level of Lake Michigan, which is titten feet higher than Lake Erie.
" Mr. Cyrus Holmes, a gentleman of this party, ran for the exisens of Jackson and vicinity a line to the Huron. from Homer, and favorable report was made without a cut of more than twenty feet. The report of that portion of the survey we fail to find in the archives of the State. but from the surveys as shown since for railroads we have no doubt that the report is correct, and that the summit on that route is about three hundred and ninety feet, instead of four hundred and ninety feet, as given by railroad sur- vers."*
At U'uion City, then, was declared to be the " head of navigation on the St. Joseph river." and the inhabitants for a titue were nearly delirious with excitement over their prospects, especially as an appropriation of $50.000 was made for clearing away obstructions and improving naviga- tion in the stream. $10.000 of which were actually ex- pended at this place, being the proceeds of the sale of a certain amount of public lauds. Justas Goodwin was the ayeut appointed to oversee the work and attend to the ex- ponditure of the funds. So confident were the people that their per scheme was to be realized, that Deacon Chester Hammond, on the 7th of March, 1835, laid out a large addition on the west side of the village. The route of the proposed canal is shown on the recordted plat, together with a "steamboat basit." The following title explains itself: " A map of Hammond's addition to Fuion City, at the head of steamboat navigation and proposed junction of Erie Canal with St. Joseph's River. Branch Co., Mich. "" Portions of this addition have since been vacated by order of the Circuit Court, and others have since been made by Messrs. Lee. Moseley, and Vosburgh.
The wave of excitemout over the contemplated canal rolled harmless'y over, and for a time the subject was al- lowed to rest. Other iuduquees were quietly at work. however, and a new plan for increasing the prosperity of the village was in time proposed. lu the vicinity of the place considerable quantities of " bog" and " kidney" iron ore were found, and the townships of Girard and Butler were even richer in the deposit. Therefore a blast furnace should be constructed which should accomplish the salvation of the city of the St. Joseph. The " Union City Iron Comt- pany" was formed, having among its stockholders Deacon Chester Hammond. Theodore C. Hurd. M.D .. Charles G. Hammond. Parius Buell. Col. Thomas Moseley, and others + A. M. Hurd was the company's agent. and the stockholders
" Extract from a paper prepared by H. A. Shaw, of Eaton Rapids. on the early efforts of the State to demonstrate the practicability of & ship canal scross the Peninsula.
T The company was incorporated by set of the Legislature. March 17. 191.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
were all residents of this locality. The furnace was built in 1846, and in the month of May, Io47, it is stated that the first pig-iron ever made in Michigan was manufactured here. Col. Morley afterwards became sole proprietor of the furnace, and was one of the most prominent business men in the place for many years. His remain- lie in the Riverside Cemetery.
The old furnace continued in operation a number of years, during the last seven of which Sila- H. Nye was its man- ager. Mr. Nye is a native of a locality near Painesville. (., and learned the trade of a moulder at Brownton. Lorain Co., working afterwards at Cleveland. when twenty-one years of age. In 1817, when twenty two. he came to Union City, and worked from their start in business with the Union City Fron Company. He finally purchased the property and continued the manufacture of plows, which had been begon under his man gement, the furnace not having proved the great source of profit its projectors had calculated New buildings have been erected, and the ca- pacity of the works greatly enlarged. The pre-ent firm is known as the " Nye Manufacturing Company," and has a capital stock of $50,000, with a paid-up capital of $26,000. From twenty to thirty men are employed, the principal article manufactured being the Nye chilled plow. Some job-work and machine-work is also done. The officers of the company are Thomas B. Buell, President; II. F. Ewers, M.D., Vice-President ; George W. Buell, Secretary ; S. 11. Nye, Treasurer. The manufactory is located on the " flat" at the site of Goodwin's old saw-mill, which build- ing now does duty as a machinery-room. The manufac- tures of this firm are first class, and many years' experience has won a wide reputation for them, of which the com- pany is justly proud.
I'nion City had an equal chance with other places for securing both the Michigan Southern and Michigan Cen- tral Railways; but the ideas of the people were yet fixed on a canal, and nothing else would satisfy them. When, however, the two railroads mentioned passed, one to the south and the other to the north of them, and Coldwater and Marshall and Battle Creek became of such importance among the cities of the State, the citizens of Union City realized their mistake. The old hobby of a canal and steamboat navigation was not lost sight of, and in the neighborhood of the year 1850 it was proposed to at least utilize the river, and a company was formed, with a capital of 83000, for the purpose of building a steamer. The boat was completed at this place, ready for the machinery. She was 95 feet keel, 10 feet breadth of beam, and on the Jay she was launched pushed off with 156 persons on board, drawing with that load but 13 inches of water. They poled ber down to the bend, half a mile or more, and back again. It is estimated that the draught would be but 15 inches with a full load after the machinery was in place. The model was excellent, and much credit was reflected upon the builder. The boat was floated down to Mishawaka, Ind., and there received her machinery, the boiler having been procured at Cleveland, Ohio. For some time she plied as far up as Three Rivers, never returning to Union t'ity. She was finally capsized and sunk, caused by her stern swinging around and striking a bridge. One
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