USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 84
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JABIN R. GWIN.
JABIN R. GWIN.
Among the successful and self-made men of Sherwood, the subject of this narrative occupies a prominent posi- tion. Ile was born in Green township, Richland Co., Ohio, Jan. 17, 1816. His father, Joseph Gwin, who was a farmer, had two sons, Jabin R. and Calvin W. Jabin lived at home until he was seventeen, when he comuneneed
and by his own individual efforts he achieved success in all departments, and became one of the prominent farmers and valued citizens of the county. Devoid of ostentation, he shunned political preferment, and his whole life was devoted to his farm and matters of personal concern. In his relig- ious convictions he was a Methodist, and did much to ad- vance religious interests. Socially. he was genial and pleasant, winning and retaining the regard of all with whom he came in contact. His house was open to all, and his hospitality was proverbial. All charitable and benevolent enterprises found in him a warm friend and supporter, and any project that had for its object the advancement of the material interests of his town or county received his hearty co-operation.
Mr. and Mrs. Cline reared a family of eight children,- five boys and three girls,-all of whom are now living, and with the exception of two sons in Montana, all are resi- dents of this county. Oscar, the eklest of the family, was born in Nottawa, St. Joseph Co., July 12, 1836. ITis rec- ollection of the pioneer times is vivid, and he is entitled to the appellation of an old settler. Hle remained with his father until he was twenty-four years of age, when he mar- ried Miss Samantha, daughter of JJabin Gwin, of Sherwood. They commenced life upon a new farm in Matteson, which he improved, and upon which he resided until, in 1868, he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. He is possessed of many of the prominent characteristics of his father, and like him is entitled to a foremost place among the representative men and successful farmers of Branch County.
MRS. JABIN R. GWIN.
life for himself as a farm laborer. At the age of twenty- two he was married to Miss Lorinda Pease, of Genesee Co .. N. Y., where she was born Nov. 22, 1820. In 1840 he came to Michigan and purchased a farm in Cass County. His venture proved unprofitable, and in 1849 he removed to Wisconsin. After a residence of two years he returned to Sherwood and purchased the farm now owned by Frank
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Ensign. Two years subsequently he sold and purchased the farm where he now resides, which at present consists of two hundred acres. The land was entirely new, and the fine farm of to-day is the result of his own energy and in- dustry. A view of his place we present on another page, in connection with portraits of himself and wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Gwin have been blessed with seven child- ren, three of whom are now dead. Both have passed through the ordeal of the construction of a farm and a
home from the wilderness, and are entitled to the appella- tion of old settlers. Mr. Gwin has never sought political preferment, nor has his name been known in official cireles. He has pursued a line of life where the goal has proved a satisfaction. Among the people of Sherwood none stand higher for integrity and those ennobling qualities that make the true man. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Church and are liberal supporters of church interests.
Photos, by E. Kindmark, Coldwater.
NEWCOMB WILCOX.
MRS. NEWCOMB WILCOX.
NEWCOMB WILCOX.
one of the pioneers of Sherwood, was born in Naples, On- tario Co., N. Y., Nov. 3, 1803. He was the son of Charles and Sally ( Kibbee) Wilcox, who had a family of five chil- dreu. The elder Wilcox was a carpenter and joiner by oc- cupation ; but little is known of his history further than that he was an industrious man, of excellent habits, and a worthy citizen. When Newcomb was thirteen years of age his father died, and he was thrown upon his own resources. Ile pursued various avocations until 1825, at which time he was married to Miss Maranda Stearns. After his mar- riage, in company with a brother, he purchased a farm near Naples, which they carried on in connection with a saw- mill until his emigration to Michigan, whither his brother Edward had removed the year previous, settling in the town of Leonidas, St. Joseph Co. In April, 1837, Mr. Wilcox left Naples with his family, which consisted of his wife and four children, in a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. The journey was made in thirty-one days, and was marked by
many eventinl incidents. Previous to his removal he had exchanged his farm in Ontario County for eighty acres of land in Sherwood, which is a portion of the farm on which he now resides. The land was entirely new, and had no improvements save the hody of a log house, into which the family moved before its completion. In addition to the many hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, the family were all sick with chills and fever. To Mrs. Wilcox the situation was trying in the extreme, but, with that forti- tude that was characteristic of pioneer women, she bore up bravely, and as time passed on her load was lightened. Mrs. Wilcox was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Jan. 14, 1808. Her parents, Phineas and Mary ( Cooper ) Stearns, emigrated to Oneida County in 1812. Her father died in Illinois, at the advanced age of eighty-five. Mr. and Mrs. Wileox have been blessed with a family of seven children,- five daughters and two sons. They have led exemplary lives, and have done much in advancing the best interests of society. Both are worthy members of the Baptist Church.
CALIFORNIA.
CALIFORNIA, a fractional township, is situated in the southeast corner of the county. It is designated by the United States survey as township number 8 south, of range number 5 west, and is bounded on the north and west re- spectively by Algansee and Kinderhook townships of Branch County, cast by Hillsdale County, and south by the State of Indiana.
Its surface, which is claimed to be the highest on the line of the proposed Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michi- gan Railroad, is of a level character, yet sufficiently rolling to afford good surface drainage.
No streams of any importance cross its borders, and its area of swamps and water surface is less in extent, perhaps, than that of any other township in the county. Sections 5 and 18 each contain small lakes of about 30 and 50 aeres respectively.
The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam, very productive, and for agricultural purposes compares favorably with other portions of the county.
The people are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits. Their lands and buildings evince taste, intelligent culture, and general prosperity. It contains a total area of 13,275 acres, of which 11,625 acres are in farm lands, and in 1874 had a population of 841 inhabitants.
ITS PIONEERS.
In the latter part of the month of December, 1835, Samuel Beach, accompanied by his son William, then four- teen years of age, and James H. Lawrence, a brother-in- law of the elder Beach, started from Saline, Washtenaw Co., Mich., and traveling via the Chicago road arrived at Coldwater without incident.
The village of Coldwater then contained some 6 or 8 dwelling-houses, 2 stores, 2 taverns, and a few other build- ings, and a rickety saw-mill down by the river. The sur- rounding country was a wide, desolate, almost treeless plain, which, swept by the wintry winds, and covered by drifting snows, presented to the travelers a most forbidding aspect. They could not think of stopping on the Coldwater Prairie, and after remaining overnight, started the following morn- ing for " Waterhouse Corners." After fording the river, they purchased 200 feet of boards at the mill, which, with one half-barrel of pork, two bags of wheat flour, one bag of buckwheat flour, a few bushels of potatoes, cooking utensils, bedding, axes, rifles, etc., made a pretty good load for their horse-team and wagon. The journey to Waterhouse was accomplished by nightfall, after much labor in entting out roads, unloading and loading again in marshy places, where their team got " stalled."
Mr. Lawrence relates that they were most cordially re- ceived by Messrs. Waterhouse and Lamson, and were
feasted upon venison steak and cranberry sauce, and then, after talking of' game and range, of quarter-sections, home, friends, and everybody's connections, they lay down upon the floor, sleeping the sound, refreshing sleep which always follows a day of honest toil. The next morning they were routed out early by their indefatigable leader (Samuel Beach ), and after partaking of a good breakfast, bade their hospitable friends good-by and struck out for their destina- tion, which was six miles due east. Ou account of swamps they were obliged to make a wide detour to avoid them, which added greatly to the distance and difficulties of the undertaking, and it was long after noon ere they reached the point they intended making their home. Just before reaching their journey's end, their team ran violently down a steep place into the marsh. The bag of buckwheat flour fell out, and, striking on the frozen ground, burst open, losing nearly one-half its contents. They could not afford time then to gather up what had run out, but continued on their way. We now quote from Mr. Lawrence :
" Mr. Beach struck a fire and began cooking our dinner. his son unharnessed and fed the team, while I took an axe and began cutting logs for our house, and I suppose I cut the first tree ever cut in this township by an actual settler. After eating we went to work to construct a shelter for the night, and we worked as only men will work when driven by that stern taskmaster, necessity, for we had only a few hours to prepare for a wintry December night. There were some three or four inches of snow on the ground and more coming, and with all our efforts we only succeeded in cut- ting and rolling up twelve logs, or enough to make our house three logs high on a side. We then took a few of our boards for a floor and threw the rest on the top of the logs for a shelter. There was just room enough to sit upright under them. A fire was built in one corner of the house against the logs. We then sliced up some of our pork, and were cooking it on a forked stiek when we were startled by a voice from without shouting, ' Halloo, there !' Had the voice come up out of the earth, or from the skies, we could not have been more concerned, for we did not suppose that a white person was nearer than Waterhouse Corners. After recovering a little from our fright, we re- plied, ' Who's there ?' ' Friends,' was the response. We said . Come in.' They did so by stepping orer our house. They proved to be Asahel Brown and Nathan Austin, who had heard of us at Coldwater, and taking our tracks, had followed ns in. Of course we were glad to see them, and after a pleasant evening's visit, which commenced a life- long acquaintance, we lay down on our boards and slept soundly.
" The next morning, after breakfast, our guests left us, and Mr. Brown was fortunate enough to find and secure one
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of the finest farms in the county. The second day our house was finished high enough to admit a man standing upright under the boards used as a shelter. The team had gone back to the world, and Mr. Beach and myself were left alone. Our house was at last finished. It was twelve feet square, and contained one room, which served as parlor, kitchen, sitting-, and bed-room. Our provision chest was our table, and our bedding, rolled up, served as chairs. The pork barrel stood against the outside of the house (no fear of neighbors robbing it). The potatoes had been thrown down upon the ground, and were frozen as hard as gunstones. When they were wanted for eating we woukl take a hatful of them, and, raking open the ashes, would heap coals of fire upon theni, which softened them as effectually as heap- ing ' coals upon an enemy's head.'
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" Soon after the completion of the small house just men- tioned a larger one, some twenty feet square, was commenced, in anticipation of the arrival of Mr. Beach's family in the spring. To raise it, the neighbors six miles away were in- vited. They came to a man. It was not completed the first, day, and the neighbors-though earnestly entreated to remain through the night, as a blinding snow-storm had commenced-determined to return to their wives and homes. They lost their course, and were forced to remain in the woods all night. They built a ronsing fire, sat by it through the night, finally reaching home in safety the next morning. They returned the next week, and assisted to complete the walls of the second house.
Mr. Lawrence says that " Mr. Beach and myself put on the roof one of the coldest days of the year. The nails would stick to our mittens, would break and fly like glass, and our fingers were pounded black and blue. During all this time our flour wasted away, and at last was gone. I went six miles to borrow a loaf of bread, following seetion lines through swamps and marshes. We were not quite ready to go home, as we did not want to leave our work, but we could not work without bread. In this dilemma we happened to think of the buckwheat flour that ran out of the bag when it feil from the wagon three weeks pre- viously, and we thought that possibly some of it might be good. We returned to the place and found that the snow had formed a thin crust over it. When this was taken off the flour was as nice as when it ran from our bag. This was gathered up as carefully as if it had been gold-dust. It was manna to us. This timely supply enabled us to finish up our work so that we could leave and go home. But what should we do with our household goods ? There were plenty of Indians about. It is true, we had formed their acquaintance and were on very friendly terms with them, and could almost any day get a nice ham of venison for a lump of salt. But we dared not leave our treasures in their keeping.
We at last hit upon a plan : the ashes were gathered up from our hearth, a hole was dug underneath, in it was placed our treasures, the ashes were replaced and a good fire kept up for a day and night, which effectually hid our ' cache.' Then we lay down on our bed of dried grass and slept, intending to start early on the morrow. How long we slept we had no means of knowing. We had no ancient time-piece on the wall.
"' No clarion cock, with winding horn, From his airy perch in neighboring harn To nsher in approaching morn, For his accustomed feed of goklen corn.'
But we slept by guess, and after sleeping as we thought our usual hours, we arose and started for the nearest house, which was ten miles distant in the direction we intended to travel. Taking our Indian trail, we set our faces eastward and homeward. There were a few inches of snow upon the ground, which enabled us to follow the trail without difficulty, but it took us a devious, roundabout way of some twelve miles ere we reached the house we had in view. On arriving there the inmates were still sleeping. We thought we would not disturb the family ; so we kept on our way to Allen's Prairie, six miles farther. When we came there no one was stirring, and there were no more signs of morning than when we started from our shanty eighteen miles distant. So we kept on, and just as we stood on the heights overlooking Jonesville the morning light was breaking. We walked on to the village taveru and called for breakfast, to which we did ample justice. The victuals disappeared like frost before the morning sun. 'Twas a bitter cold morning, our walk of twenty miles had not decreased our appetite, and we had a long walk before us (for we were determined to reach home, fifty miles away, before sleeping), so we ballasted accordingly. But that poor landlord, he didn't want to feed us again, nor did he ask us to ' call again.' We left him to recover from the attack as best he could, and reached our home in Saline that night, having traveled during the day a distance of seventy miles.
" After remaining a short time in Saline we loaded up a sled-load of household furniture and started back, leaving the family to complete further arrangements for removal. We came to Allen's Prairie, on the Chicago turnpike, then southward towards our home in the woods. On the west bank of Long Lake, six miles south of Allen's Prairie, lived a family by the name of Carpenter. The family consisted of five brothers and three sisters. This was the only house on our route from Allen's. We arrived there in the even- ing, after having forded the outlet of the lake. The stream was about thirty feet wide, and frozen on either side. We broke the ice, and then our oxen went down aud through to the other side. They were most effectually immersed, likewise our furniture. The next morning we started out to accomplish the remaining part of our journey, which was a distance of eleven miles, and over a route hitherto untraveled by teams.
" Mr. Beach and son looked out and eut a road as well as they could ; but little time had they for cutting, however, for I drove the team, and kept snug up to them all day, and when nightfall came on we had, by following a crooked Indian-trail, worked our way through. But we had a sadly-demoralized load of furniture, for I had frequently driven over logs a foot or more in diameter, and the result was chairs with broken legs, and tables with legs and leaves wrenched from their fastenings. We found our ' cache' in the cabin all right. Although our journey was ended, we were not through with our troubles. An elephant was on our hands in the shape of the oxen, which had served us
J. II. LAWRENCE.
MRS. J. H. LAWRENCE.
THE LAWRENCE FAMILY.
The father and mother of J. II. Lawrence were born in Connecticut, in 1770 and 1774 respectively, and were united in marriage in 1794. Soon after they emigrated to Western New York, going all the way from Utica to Rochester by " marked" trees, traveling by team, and settling in Genesee, Livingston County. He would not have taken the whole city plot of Rochester at that time as a gift had it been offered him, for it was a perfect quagmire, and footmen had to jump from one bog to another. He was in the war of 1812, at Black Rock and the burning of Buffalo; was taken prisoner by the British, but soon re- leased. After peace was declared he pursued the business of blacksmithing at Genesee, customers coming fifty miles to get work done. They were three times burned out, saving only the clothes on their backs, and in addition suffered all the privations and hardships of pioneer life. The Indians were warlike and troublesome; and at one time while a council was being held in the place, at which was required the presence of every white man and Indian (and it was supposed every Indian was present), there came a couple of Indian braves into the house where Mrs. Lawrence was staying, alone with two young children, and demanded whisky. She told them she had none. They said they would kill her if she did not give it, and drew their knives and started for her. Her little girl ran and hid herself. Mrs. Lawrence swung her cradle containing an infant against the cupboard in which was the whisky, and seizing a chair, backed up against it. As the Indians came up, she gave one of them a blow that felled him to the floor, which cooled the courage of the other ; at the same time she called to a boy who was passing, and told him to run to the council-house and tell her husband that the Indians were killing her. The Indians begged her not to tell " Shamokaman," praised her courage, called her " good squaw," cte. The one she floored was ever after the best Indian friend she had. This incident made her respected and beloved by all the tribe, and saved the settlement much trouble.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were the parents of twelve chil- dren, all of whom (save two) reached years of maturity. There were six boys and six girls. Two of the sons were ordained ministers of the gospel ; one went out as an early missionary to the East Indies, and ended his life there. One of the daughters was the wife of Rev. Chas. Hall, for many years secretary of the American Tract Society, and all of their children became honored and useful members of society.
Mrs. Lawrence's parents were descendants of the Pilgrim Plymouth Flock. Mrs. Lawrence's father, Thomas Good- man, was born in Massachusetts in 1789. Ilis consort, Roxy Upson, was born in Connecticut in 1788. They were the parents of nine children, most of whom reached mature years ; the parents living to the age of fifty-eight and eighty-seven respectively. They emigrated to Michigan in an early day, while yet it was a territory and an almost unbroken wilderness, suffering all the hardships and pri- vations of pioneer life, patiently enduring the want and toil incident to three removals, and three times commencing in the woods.
Her Grandfather Upson served five years in the Revo- lutionary war, and was intimate with Washington. Several anecdotes are related of him, never before published, one of which is as follows :
It was customary with Washington to go the rounds of his army every night, as far as he could, to comfort and cheer his soldiers. IIe says on one occasion, Washington came into his tent when the whole army was dispirited with half rations and hard fare, and said, " Boys, I hope we'll all soon see better times, and have plenty to eat." Just then a fine, fat wether stuck his head out from under a blanket, and said " B-a-a-a."
" Boys," said Washington, "I guess you are doing pretty well now ; when you dress that fellow, remember me."
They did remember him, and sent up a quarter. Wash- ington sent out the next morning and paid the owner for the sheep.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
so faithfully. We had nothing for them to eat. Mr. Beach proceeded to Waterhouse Corners, and found that one of our neighbors there had cut some marsh hay during the sun- mer. He had not drawn it in. It still lay on the marsh, some in the cock, some in the swath ; this he would sell for $5 per ton, if we would draw it. This poor stuff, that had stood the fall rains and winter snows, was finally purchased, and was the only subsistence for our animals during the remaining part of the winter.
" Early in the spring, Mr. Beach and his son returned to Saline to bring in the family, leaving me alone in my glory. There were plenty of Indians, wolves, and other wild ani- mals, but I did not feel as if they added much to society. One morning a middle-aged Indian came along just as I was cooking my breakfast. As Indians are always hungry, I invited him to stop and take breakfast with me. I fur- nished him the best the house afforded. Hle ate like a savage, and seemed to relish all of it except the bread, which was made by stirring water and flour together and baking before the fire. When baked, it was about as tender as an oaken shingle. After eating a while, he exclaimed, in broken English, 'No good bread.' I laughed heartily at his praise of my cooking. We made a pretty good meal, however, when my Indian guest shouldered his rifle and departed. He returned an hour or so later with the car- casses of two deer, of which he gave me a nice ham."
Mr. Lawrence then relates of a terrible night passed alone in his cabin, when the wolves by seores howled about him till daybreak. After an absence of two weeks Mr. Beach, with his family, returned. A change came over the scene, for a dozen Beach sprouts had sprung up around the parent stem, and the wild woods were made to echo with their shouts and laughter.
" When the spring opened, the ' land-lookers' came flock- ing in by scores, as ours was the only house within a radius of six miles, and our latch-string was always out. We had 'em pretty bad. We kept eight, ten, and occasionally as many as fifteen persons overnight, in addition to the large family.
" Fra Purdy was the next settler, and the first one to build after us. Ile came early in the spring of 1836, and built a small log house on section 3, 16 by 18 feet. lle, too had to go into the hotel business, and declares that some nights he kept as many as forty people. Mr. Purdy is still with us, and his experiences of pioneer life are well worth relating. The same spring we went to Quiney, ten miles north of us, to ''tend towu-meeting,' when Mr. Beach was elected a justice of the peace. Our route lay through an unbroken wilderness, and our only guide was sections' lines, which were followed through swamps and marsh, brush and brakes ; not a house to be seen the whole distance.
" Soon the welcome settlers began to come in all around us. Of course we had all kinds of inhabitants. The good and the bad were gathered in, and many saw pretty hard times for a few seasons. We paid 18 shillings per bushel for oats; pork was 25 cents per pound ; potatoes $1 per bushel, and flour could only be obtained by going long dis- tances to mill, and then paying very high prices."
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