USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 26
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TOPOGRAPHY.
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The township is a general level, and was originally covered with oak, white and burr principally, being the "openings" of the country. The soil is a rich sandy loam, fertile, and adapted to the growth of the cereals, fruits of all kinds common to the country, and grazing. There is little or no waste land in the township, the same being well drained by the Kalamazoo in its southern part, and lying high
and dry to the north. Rice creek, so called by the United States surveyors from the wild rice found growing in it at the time the county was surveyed, comes into the township within the limits of Marshall city, and forms a junction with the Kalamazoo on section 25. The name of the latter river in the original Indian tongue, from whence it was derived, is Ki-ka-la-ma-xoo, and signifies the mirage river.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
in the township as at present limited were as follows : Mr. Fuller, who came to the county in 1830, built the first house erected in the county, about three miles north of the Marshall village site, on seminary lands, an account of which is given at length in the county history. This house subsequently passed into Samuel Camp's hands, who removed it to lands adjoining the seminary lands, and sold the same, with the land, to John Bertram, who came with the family of Thomas Burland, who kept house and boarded Bertram in this house during the winter of 1831-32, and until the latter built his frame house on his location during the summer of 1832, and which, too, was the first framed house in the county. Mr. Bertram also built the first barn erected in the county,-a framed one. Thomas Knight came to the township in 1832, and still resides in the county. Stephen Kimball came in 1831, and located south of the river. Henry Failing came in 1832, and located outside of the present city limits, on the north. Daniel Wool- sey and B. F. Curtis were early comers to the township. Knight and Woolsey are still living in the township, and Mr. Failing is living in Homer.
Besides those already named the following were among the early settlers of the township of Marshall : Cyrus Hubbard, who is now deceased. His widow still resides on the old homestead. Allen G. Miner came from Connecticut, and located in the township in 1835 or 1836, and died on his farm in 1861. His wife also is now deceased. Freeman Hotchkiss located on section 4 in 1836, and still resides thereon. Isaac Lockwood located on section 16, and is now deceased. James Connolly, George W. and Joseph Bentley, all present residents of the township, were early comers. Mathew Hasbrouck and D. H. Godfrey, the latter now the owner of the Bertram homestead, and George Barber, now of Coldwater, were also among the pioneers. J. Kellcher also came before 1840, and now owns eight hundred acres in a body.
The first farms were opened by John Bertram and Stephen Kimball, in 1832, and crops of wheat and corn raised.
The first improved live-stock introduced were Saxon sheep, in 1837-38, by John D. Pierce, horned cattle coming as late as 1850, of any moment.
Improved farm machinery was introduced in the shape of fanning-mills in 1836, into the township, and were of home manufacture, being made by Colonel Dickey. Reapers were introduced after 1844; and separator-thrashers, about that year. Plows began to be improved as soon as the breaking-up plows had prepared the way for a lighter and better article.
The first frame house, as before stated, was erected by John Bertram, on the farm now owned by Godfrey, in 1832, during the spring or early summer. When the first brick house was erected in the township, outside of Marshall city, we have not definitely ascertained.
The first road laid through the township was the Territorial road, so called, leading from the Chicago and Detroit highway, the great military road of the Territory, near Ypsilanti, through Calhoun County to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, laid out and surveyed previous to 1831.
The first bridge built over the Kalamazoo in the township was erected in 1832, in the village of Marshall, at what is now sometimes called Perrinville; George Ketchum being the architect, and Dr. Hays master-builder.
The first school in the township was taught in the village also, and is particu- larly described in the history of the city. The statistics of 1876 will be found in the general history of the county.
The history of the church is so intimately connected with the city of Marshall that we must also refer the reader to the history of the city for the interesting record. No church edifice has ever been erected in the township outside of the city and the village of Ceresco. A Methodist class was organized at North Mar- shall some years ago, and is still in existence.
The North Marshall Lodge, No. 509, I. O. G. T., was organized prior to 1865, and is still in a flourishing condition. It has had a large membership for several years, and exerts a beneficial influence in the northern part of the township and South Eckford. Thomas W. Huggert is the secretary of the lodge. Thomas Templeton, R. H. Woolsey, and Perry Mayo are leading members of the organi- zation.
The first stage line operated through the township was that of Samuel Camp, from Jackson to Marshall, in 1833, Zenas Tillotson succeeding to Camp. A more extensive line was afterwards established from Detroit to Chicago, shortening up its eastern length as the railroad progressed westward. In 1836, W. R. Thomp- son, of Ann Arbor, stocked the road from Detroit to Jackson, and from Kalamazoo
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
to St. Joseph. Dr. J. H. Montgomery and Montgomery Schuyler owned and stocked the line from Jackson to Marshall, and Dr. James P. Greeves stocked and operated it from Marshall to Kalamazoo. The business proving a losing invest- ment to Dr. Greeves, he sold his interest to Zenas Tillotson, who, with others, kept the line in operation till the railroad reached Marshall, in 1844. Grain, for horse- feed, was one dollar and seventy-five cents and two dollars per bushel for a year.
CIVIL ORGANIZATION.
The first town-meeting was held in Marshall at the school-house, in the village, April 1, 1833. Andrew L. Hays was moderator, and Ellsworth Burnett clerk. Henry Cook was elected supervisor ; Marvin Preston, town clerk ; Samuel Camp, Ellsworth Burnett, Robert McCully, assessors ; Andrew L. Hays, constable and collector ; Sidney Ketchum, poor-master ; John Kennedy, J. E. Crary, Stephen Kimball, road commissioners; Asa Bushnell, A. B. Cook, Ebenezer Harris, school commissioners ; Thomas J. Hurlbut, treasurer; Samuel Hudler, path-master ; Milton Barney, Solon Davis, Sol. Allen, school inspectors ; John G. Beam, pound- master ; Wm. Brown, Stephen Kimball, and Barnes Kennedy, fence-viewers. At this meeting one dollar bounty was offered for wolf-scalps, and four hundred dollars were appropriated for roads. The first road laid out by town authority was on June 6, 1833, and commenced ten chains north of quarter section stake, between sections 35 and 36, township 3, range 5 west, and ran thence south and east to the Jonesville road on section 6, township 4, south range 4, M. Preston surveyor. There were sixteen roads laid out that year. At the July election, 1833, for dele- gate to Congress there were nineteen votes polled,-eleven for Lucius Lyon, five for Austin E. Wing, and three for William Woodbridge. W. H. Welch, E. B. Sherman, and Calvin Brittain were candidates for the Territorial council. The board of health, on the 17th of September, 1839, declared the mill-ponds of Sibley and Mann, on the Kalamazoo, and Halsey and Comstock, on Rice creek, nuisances, and ordered them abated.
The following-named gentlemen have filled the office of supervisor since the organization of the township to the present time: Henry Cook, 1833; Henry J. Phelps, 1834-37, 1843-44; Ira Tillotson, 1838-42, 1847; Marvin Preston, 1845 ; Joseph C. Frink, 1846 ; Isaac E. Crary, 1848, 1850, 1853; S. S. Alcott, 1849; James A. Hahn, 1851 ; Horace A. Noyes, 1852 ; George C. Gibbs, 1854- 55; Robert Huston, 1856-57; Preston Mitchell, 1858; George H. Barber, 1859-60; Daniel Woolsey, 1861-68; David R. Smiley, 1869; Selah Stout, 1870; Wm. F. Hewitt, 1871-73 ; John R. Stage, 1874; William Conley, 1875 -76; Augustus F. Allen, 1877.
The office of town clerk has been filled as follows : Marvin Preston, 1833-34 ; James P. Greeves, 1835 ; James M. Parsons, 1836, 1840 ; Cyrus Hewitt, 1837 ; Charles Dickey, 1838; C. M. Brewer, 1839; W. A. Sweet, 1841-44 ; Charles A. Barton, 1845-46; W. R. McCall, 1847-48; John B. White, 1849-53 ; George G. Lay, 1854; Elias Hewitt, 1855, 1857-58; John J. Bardwell, 1856 ; J. Phelps Beach, 1859-64 ; Jonas M. Rice, 1865-67; Henry Lockwood, 1868- 72; John R. Stage, 1873 ; Charles S. Hamilton, 1874 ; George C. Bradley, 1875; George S. Woolsey, 1876-77.
The office of justice of the peace has been held as follows : Isaac E. Crary, for the county, appointed by the governor, 1832-36; Benjamin Dwinnel, 1833-36; Calvin Smith, 1832-1836 ; Marvin Preston, four years ; Henry J. Phelps, seven years ; David Aldrich, two years ; Jacob King, one year,-these last four were elected in 1836, the first justices elected,-Henry Hewitt, 1837-45; D. L. Johns, 1838- 42; John P. Greeves, 1840-44; F. W. Shearman, 1842-49 ; Randall Hobart, 1842-48; Joseph Chedsey, 1843-47; Joseph B. Cook, 1844-48; Lucius G. Noyes, 1847-59; James M. Parsons, 1848-52; Joseph C. Frink, 1849-57; George C. Gibbs, 1849-54; Walter Martin, Sr., 1854-58; Amos Hewitt, 1854 -60 ; Martin D. Strong, 1857-59 ; Isaac W. Wilder, 1858; W. F. Hewitt, 1859 -63; Benjamin F. Woolvine, 1859-62; Wyman Clark, 1859 ; Thomas Huggett, 1859-60; Jacob E. Wormley, 1860-64, 1868-72; Aaron Preston, Jr., 1862- 66; W. N. Keeler, 1863-67 ; Samuel P. Wormley, 1864; D. H. Godfrey, 1864- 73; Freeman Hotchkiss, 1866-74; Alvin Hosmer, 1870-74, 1876 ; John C. Duel, 1874-77 ; Joel March, 1875; Corwin Tefft, 1877 ; Peter Lockwood, 1877.
BRANDS AND MARKS.
Sidney Ketchum cut off the end of the right ear of his cattle, to distinguish them from his neighbors', in the pioneer days, and Charles D. Smith cropped the left ear, slit the right. George Ketchum put a hole through the right ear. Sands McCamley put a swallow-fork in each ear, but the addition was a subtraction. Peter Chisholm had a round hole in the left ear, and John Bertram put holes through both ears.
POPULATION.
In 1860 the population of the township outside of the city was returned at 993 souls. In 1870 there were 984 persons returned, and in 1874 there was a
still further decrease, apparently ; the State returns show but 953 individuals, 500 of whom were males and 453 were females. Among the males over twenty- one years 180 were of the military age, and 108 were beyond the reach of a draft for war purposes. Of 276 females over eighteen years old 152 were under forty years, and 124 were over that age. The married and single bore the following relation to each other numerically : 189 males were or had been married who were over twenty-one years of age, and 81 were single and ever had been ; 185 of the females over eighteen years were or had been wedded, and 58 of their sisters of the same age were enjoying single-blessedness.
THE POLITICAL SENTIMENTS
of the people since the setting off of the city of Marshall has been Republican largely, as will be seen by the following exhibit of the votes polled at the Presi- dential elections : In 1860 the Republicans cast 158 votes, and the Democratic poll was 63. In 1864 the same parties cast 139 and 90 votes respectively. In 1868 the vote stood 159 Republican to 101 Democratic, and in 1872 the same vote was 117 and 80 respectively. In 1876 the balance vibrated to the Demo- cratic side, that party polling 139 and the Republicans 121, the "Greenbackers" having a single supporter.
THE ASSESSMENT OF 1876
of property for revenue of the year of 1876-77 was fixed by the board of super- visors as follows : on real estate, $358,885 ; personal property, $52,450; total, $411,335. On this valuation the following taxes were levied: State taxes, $1370.43 ; county taxes, $2432.73; school taxes, $1526.46 ; township general expenses, $406.28; mill tax, $738.84 ; other taxes, $57.95; total, $6532.69.
CROP STATISTICS.
The State census of 1874 makes the following exhibit of the productions of the harvest of 1873, the latest information obtainable in this regard. There were 4202 acres of wheat on the ground in the spring of that year. There were 3675 acres of that grain harvested in 1873, which produced 55,746 bushels, and 1543 acres of corn produced 88,706 bushels the same season. There were besides, of other grain harvested, 20,040 bushels, 14,160 bushels of potatoes, 1291 tons of hay, 23,423 pounds of wool, and 120,674 pounds of pork ; 500 pounds of cheese, 54,804 pounds of butter marketed, and 645 barrels of cider sold ; 19,257 bushels of apples, 572 bushels of pears, small fruits, berries, and 7339 bushels of vege- tables marketed, valued at $6825. In 1874 there were owned in the township 448 horses over one year, 13 mules, 12 oxen, 467 cows, 367 head of other neat cattle, 620 swine, and 4146 sheep. The wool clip of 1873 was taken from 4282 animals.
THE TAXABLE LANDS
in the township amount to 19,705 acres, about 14,000 of which are improved, 71 acres are exempt from taxation, valued with the improvements thereon at $13,000. This acreage so exempt is included in school sites, burying-grounds, and railroad right of way and depot grounds. In 1874 there were 177 farms in the township, averaging 111.33 acres each.
The manufacturing interests of the township are confined to the village of Ceresco.
The contrast between the pioneer days and those of the present is marked and surprising. Less than forty-six years have elapsed since the pioneer's axe first resounded through the heavy oak openings of the township, requiring prolonged and heavy toil to fit the ground for the production of food for the tillers of the soil, and now the whole landscape is covered with finely-cultivated farms, capa- cious barns, and elegant homes. The log house has given place to the frame and brick mansion, built substantially and luxuriously, bespeaking the ease and afflu- ence of the occupants, who are, in many instances, the ones who first began the foundation of their present pleasant places. No better illustration of the general prosperity of the farmers of the township need be asked for than that which a day's drive among their fine farms will supply. Intelligent and thrifty, like their compeers in the sister towns of the grand county of Calhoun, the farmers of Marshall wield no small influence in shaping the career of the county towards a still more laudable and brilliant triumph than has already been gained, and the future is bright with promise of good yet to come.
THE VILLAGE OF CERESCO.
The beginning of this village dates from the erection of a saw-mill on the Kal- amazoo at this point, on or near the west line of the west half of the northwest quarter section 30, township 2, south range 6, in 1838, by a man named Munson. In 1839, John D. Pierce, Jos. Frink, and S. S. Alcott built a flouring-mill here, costing .thirty thousand dollars, and laid out a village, naming it Ceresco, from Ceres, the goddess of harvests. What the signification of the terminal syl-
COLKEGYIN BATAVIA ILL
FARM AND RESIDENCE OF J. E. POND, MARSHALL, MICHIGAN .
RESIDENCE OF ASA B. COOK, MARSHALL, MICHIGAN.
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
lable was is not easy to determine, unless to signify a copartnership with the god- dess and the millers,-she to furnish the raw material, and they to prepare it for use. The mill was built of stone, but fell down (as did most of the first stone buildings in the county), and was rebuilt by Benj. Wright, in 1854, for Chas. T. Gorham, and was burned. It was rebuilt in 1869 by a Mr. King for E. Morse & Co., and was again burned down. In 1876 it was again rebuilt, by Isaac Bisbee, for H. J. Perrin, who now operates it. It has seven run of stone, with a capacity of forty-four thousand barrels of flour per annum. The other manu- factures of the village are wagon- and carriage-making by R. McLeod, who also manufactures harrows, and has been thus engaged for six years. He does a business of about fifteen hundred dollars per annum. Mr. Tefft owns and operates a saw-mill which was built by Aaron Preston in 1857. He runs one upright and one circular saw, and can turn out two hundred and fifty thou- sand feet of lumber per annum. He also runs a turning-lathe in connection with his sawing business. C. A. Tefft operates a cider-mill, which in 1876 manufac- tured two hundred and fifty barrels of cider. It was built in 1873 by William Adams, and contains two presses run by water-power. Mr. Tefft also deals in lumber and agricultural implements. The water-power is the best in the vicinity on the Kalamazoo. The other business of the village is comprised in three black- smith-shops, two boot- and shoe-stores, two stores of general merchandise, one drug-store, one milliner, one cooper, and one hotel, and the station of the Michigan Central railroad.
THE SCHOOL
was first taught here in 1845, and became a free school under the Union system in September, 1871. The main or central school-house was erected in 1860, there being two buildings, the seating capacity of both being one hundred and twenty sittings. The houses are valued at fifteen hundred dollars. Two teachers are employed, J. C. Duel being the present principal. One hundred and two scholars reside in the district, and the school is taught ten months in each year. The dis- trict has a bonded indebtedness outstanding of six hundred dollars. The present school board is composed as follows : R. McLeod, director ; J. M. Weed, mod- erator ; Robert Gould, assessor.
The first religious services were held here by the Baptist society, in 1854, and the same year
THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF CERESCO
was formed, by Elder L. H. Moore, of Marshall, in a school-house. This was the first organized church society in the village. Among the first members of the church were the following-named persons : R. W. Gould and wife, Andrew Kin- caid (deacon), wife, and daughter, Thomas Treat and wife, Denton Mott and wife, Losina A. Gould, Mrs. J. Newbre, Josiah Hurd, wife, and daughter, L. D. Palmer and wife, S. T. Palmer and wife, Mr. C. H. Alexander (deacon) and wife, George Barber. There were twenty-two members in all who first formed the society. A house of worship was built in the spring of 1858,-and dedicated in 1859,-which was a frame building. The most noted accession of members, at any one time, was under the ministry of Rev. L. D. Palmer, when twenty-six persons united with the church. The following pastors have been over the flock in Ceresco, in the order named: Revs. L. H. Moore, L. D. Palmer, E. O'Brian,
J. Fletcher, E. S. Dunham, S. P. Town, Mr. Potter, E. H. Hamlin, M. Hayden, and J. W. Parkhurst. The present membership of the church numbers some seventy-eight communicants. A Sunday-school has been in successful operation since the organization of the church, which numbers at the present time one hundred and twenty members. The officers are Abram Duel, superindendent ; Lida Graham, librarian ; Edward Mott, treasurer. The church was rebuilt in 1866, and is thirty by fifty-two feet on the ground.
THE FREDONIA AND CERESCO CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
was organized April, 1866, and for a time held their meetings in the school-house, the first pastor being Rev. Mr. Strong. The present society was organized in 1870, by Rev. H. A. Reed, of Marshall. The present church edifice was erected in 1871, and dedicated in November of the same year. It is a frame building about forty by sixty feet, will seat about three hundred persons, and cost about thirty-five hundred dollars. The ministers of the society have been Mr. Elmer, H. A. Reed, Mr. Bordwell, and the present pastor, Rev. D. A. Strong.
THE EVANGELICAL (GERMAN) CHURCH
was organized as a class in 1865, with eight members, and as a church in 1874, with about thirty members, at which time the present church edifice was erected, which is a frame building thirty by forty-four feet, and cost about seventeen hun- dred dollars. The pastors of this society have been as follows : Rev. Messrs. Ude, M. J. Miller, J. W. Loose, and the present pastor, L. Kemmerling. A Sunday- school was formed at the organization of the church, which numbers forty-five members at the present time. Its officers are Franklin Bender, superintendent ; Sarah Metzger, treasurer; Lizzie Bell, secretary.
Ceresco Lodge, No. 252, I. O. O. F., was instituted by Grand Master G. W. Gregg, January 29, 1875, with the following officers : R. McLoud, N. G .; John C. Duel, V. G .; G. A. Kelley, R. S .; C. H. Raven, F. S .; David H. Godfrey, Treas. The present membership is thirty-six. The lodge is engaged in building a hall for their use, at the present twenty-two by fifty by twenty-four feet, to cost fifteen hundred dollars. The present officers are J. M. Weed, N. G .; D. H. Godfrey, V. G. ; J. C. Duel, R. S. ; William Smith, F. S .; R. McLoud, Treas.
THE POST-OFFICE
was first established at Ceresco in January, 1844, Winslow S. Hale first post- master, the mail being supplied from Marshall. The following-named gentlemen succeeded Mr. Hale: Charles Hinkle, L. Wallingford, Aaron Preston, Mr. - Baker, L. L. Lewis, L. W. Kendall, and the present incumbent, C. H. Raven. The money-order office was established July 7, 1873. The gross receipts amount to about five hundred dollars per annum. About six hundred papers are distributed weekly, one hundred letters dispatched and received daily, three hundred dollars' worth of stamps and stamped envelopes sold annually, and about fifty registered letters received and dispatched quarterly.
The present population of the village is about three hundred. The Ceresco mills have always had a good reputation from the beginning, and have always done a large business. The village lies partly in Marshall and partly in Marengo township.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
REA GC
HON. CHARLES DICKEY.
Among the citizens of Calhoun County, none are more prominently or favor- ably known than is Hon. Charles Dickey, the present judge of probate of the county. Coming from the sterling stock of the Scotch colony in the north of Ireland,-from Argyleshire, in Scotland (1612),-the subject of our sketch pos- sesses the same traits of sturdy manliness and integrity that distinguished his forefathers amid the bloom of the heather and the tassels of the broom. His father was a direct descendant of one of the colonists of Londonderry, New Hampshire, who emigrated thither in 1719, from Londonderry, Ireland. For many years the father, John Dickey, followed the business of a merchant in Londonderry, New Hampshire, being also the agent of the Londonderry linen manufacturers, who for several years continued the manufacture of that article in New Hampshire. Charles Dickey was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, April 3, 1813, his mother, Rhoda (Varnum) Dickey, being a native of Dracut (now Lowell), Massachusetts. When he was about four years old his parents removed to Livingston county, New York, where he resided until he was of the age of seventeen years, attending the schools of the district winters, and working on the farm the remainder of the year. He attended during the last three winters the Moscow Academy, under the instruction of Rev. John Walker; and at graduating received the first prize on essays, " Hawes' Lectures to Young Men," valued at about a dime. At the age of seventeen he engaged as salesman with Messrs. Patterson & Dickey, manufacturers of farming-mills in Livingston county, and continued therein until 1832, at which time, in company with two brothers, he engaged in the manufacture of the same implement in Vienna, Ontario county, New York, and remained so engaged during the years 1832-35, the latter year in Penn Yan, Yates county. On the first day of March, 1836, he bade fare- well to his father and family in Livingston county, and turned his face and steps towards Marshall, Michigan, where he arrived on the 27th day of that month, and at once made arrangements, as he himself puts it, " to raise the wind by the manufacture of the same line of implements,-fanning-mills," in which business he continued until 1861, doing an extensive and widely-scattered trade through- out southern Michigan. He also engaged in wool-buying for eastern parties, and bought in 1838 the first of that staple ever sold for money in the counties of Calhoun, Branch, Kalamazoo, Jackson, Eaton, and Barry. The purchases were all carted on wagons to Ypsilanti, and were less than has been bought for
several years past in several towns in either of those counties in a single day. He was also engaged in farming during the same time. Mr., or, as he is commonly called by his acquaintances, Colonel, Dickey was in the days of his youth a stanch Whig partisan, and for years was the standing candidate of that party for the office of sheriff. In 1840 he was beaten by a bare majority of three votes, and that too by " tricks that are vain," but peculiar to the crafty politician. In 1844 he was elected, although there was a heavy Democratic majority for the balance of the county officers. He was the only Whig elected then, and the first one ever elected in the county to a county office. In 1846 he was re-elected by an increased majority. He served subsequently from 1849 to 1853 in the State senate of Michigan, during four regular and one special session of the legisla- ture, the latter being held to adapt the laws of the State to the new constitution of 1850. In 1858 he was elected to the lower house of the State legislature, and during the session of 1859 acted as speaker, pro tem., for several weeks pend- ing the illness of Speaker H. A. Shaw. He was also chairman of the committee on Ways and Means of the House. He was among the first to organize the County and State Agricultural Society, was one of the first presidents of the county society, and has been one of the executive committee of the State society since its organization in 1845 to the present time, and acting president of the same in 1858-59.
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