USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
and held the office for two years; during the last of which he was chairman of that committee. On the 27th of August, 1874, he was appointed State Pur- chasing Agent, which position he held until January, 1876. Battle Creek grange is now in a flourishing and prosperous condition, many of its members taking an active part in working and deliberations.
GOGUAC LAKE .*
An interesting feature of Battle Creek township is that beautiful sheet of water called Goguac lake. The Indian name was Coghwagiac, so spelled in the old records, Gogoguac, as spelled by the pioneers; but the latter was anglicized by the settlers by dispensing with the "go," and the more ancient name lost its identity. It is located in sections 14, 22, and 23. On its borders once existed an Indian mound, and it is otherwise worthy of note.
NOTE .- We are under obligations to the following gentlemen for information con- cerning the history of this township : Messrs. J. W. and John Stewart, Barnett Wood, Harvey J. Du Bois, E. Darwin and Mrs. John Beach, and A. D. Van Buren of Galesburg, Michigan, for many years a resident of the township.
# See a more extended description in the history of Battle Creek city.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ERASTUS HUSSEY
was born in the township of Scipio (now Ledyard), in the county of Cayuga, State of New York, on the 5th day of December, 1800. This part of the State in that day was mostly an unbroken wilderness, and roamed over by the aboriginal tribes of the Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondaga Indians. It was a fair and beauti- fully romantic country, situated among and around that delightful chain of lakes interspersing that fair region from Onondaga to Canandaigua, and was very attract- ive. Although it was on the verge of western civilization, it was much sought by enterprising and adventurous pioneers in search of new homes in the western wilderness, and was in that early day denominated " the lake country," and very appropriately called the garden of the State. On a farm one mile east of the beautiful village of Aurora, Erastus Hussey was born. Here he spent all of his early days of boyhood and early manhood. With the placid waters of Cayuga lake ever in sight, and surrounded by scenery of exquisite beauty, it was no marvel that the enthusiastic imagination of the boy was captivated, and he pronounced it the loveliest spot on the face of the earth. Ever since, through a long and event- ful life, the recollections of those scenes of his boyhood, with the memory of the innocent and unalloyed pleasures which surrounded him, have brightened his pathway and cheered him on in the way of his duty.
Surrounded by watchful guardians whose salutary advice restrained him from dissipation, the innocence of his childhood's days has strengthened his later years, and will console him as he descends to his last resting-place. His school-day privi- leges were small. In that new country no graduating honors were bestowed ex- cept the ticket of merit which was won as head of the spelling-class or the advance- ment from one primary branch of education to another. These were primitive days, when the sceptre was held by the country school-master, backed up by the persuasive eloquence of the birch and ferule, and made tangible in the rude log school-house where he held absolute sway. In those early and rude times educa- tion was obtained under difficulties, where only the four fundamental branches of education were taught. Spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic were the sum total of science imparted to students in those log structures, and yet the knowl- edge thus obtained laid the foundation of enviable fame for many who commenced their upward march from this low beginning. Under this system the subject of this memoir received his scholastic education. The saving clause in this district school-teaching was the requirement of a perfect knowledge of each branch in its course, with rewards of merit for the victor. And in the races for the prizes he won his full share. Unfortunately, his time for even these advantages was limited, for his school privileges seldom extended over three months in the year, and ceased at the age of fourteen, after which time his services were required on the farm. Now, what could not be gained in time must be saved by diligence. Every hour that could be spared from the plow or other farm-labor must be employed in
useful study. But he availed himself of another advantage,-he had access to the Union library situated in the village of Aurora, which was well filled with standard works of history, travels, and poetry, of which he was a constant reader and admirer. This course of reading, with the close application to the study of sacred history, made him a good historical and Bible scholar, as well as inducting him into the masterly and entrancing beauties of Homer, Milton, Shakspeare, Ossian, etc.
Thus his time passed, filled up by useful employment, until he arrived at man's estate, happy in his attainments and in the society of the numerous friends which surrounded him. Erastus Hussey had now arrived at an age that required action. He had decided to make agriculture the leading business of his life. He had long contemplated the means by which he could procure a farm of his own. He was poor, and it became necessary that he should turn his attention towards a new country where land was cheap. Already he had visited the Holland pur- chase, in the south part of Erie county, New York, where many of his friends resided. But he did not like the country, and could not make up his mind to make it his home.
He then turned his mind towards Ohio and Indiana, both of which States were by general report described as desirable and fertile regions, but still he hesitated. Michigan began now to be talked about. This was a region little known in those days, and what was known was to its discredit. It was represented on the maps as surrounded by impenetrable swamps and marshes, while the centre of the Ter- ritory was described as a desert destitute of water, and the current report was that it was uninhabitable.
In 1823 a few emigrants removed to the Territory, but some returned, bearing a bad report. In 1824, Thomas J. Drake, a schoolmate of the subject of this sketch, visited him. He had just returned from Michigan, and gave a glowing account of the country. He had located at Pontiac, the county-seat of Oakland county, where he intended to build up a business. The information of his friend Drake decided him. It was the first reliable account he had received of the country. His mind was now made up, and he resolved to take a trip to the peninsular Ter- ritory. This was in June, 1824, and he immediately began to make preparations for the journey, and was ready to start by the 1st of September. On a bright and beautiful morning in that pleasant month he turned his back on the home of his youth, and went forth to seek his fortune in the wide world alone. No one of his numerous young friends had the courage to accompany him. Some ex- pressed a desire to do so, but shrank from fear of the difficulties to be surmounted. Cheered on by hope and the love of adventure, he made his way on foot to Buf- falo. Here he went on board the steam brig " Superior," the only one then on Lake Erie, and sailed from Detroit. On board were a few adventurous spirits, who were, like himself, seeking homes in the wilderness of the far west. The weather was fair, and the companionship of the strangers was agreeable and in-
13
-
98
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
teresting. Two days and a half were thus spent pleasantly, when the vessel reached its destination. Here a new prospect opened to the view, such as the new-comers had never realized,-a land of poetry and of dreams, an antique country in a new world,-the quaint old city of Detroit, situated on one of the most beautiful rivers of the world, looking like a beautiful vision in an ancient legend. The little steep- roofed houses, with their inevitable dormer windows, and diminutive Canada- French inhabitants, made Detroit attractive and interesting.
This old city on the borders of the wilderness had been the outpost of civiliza- tion for two hundred years. How many events of its long history have been lost to the world ! Many reminiscences of hardships and perils are folded away in the book of time and utterly lost. But still some historic mementos remain. A part of the old stockade yet stands, such as was used in the days of Gladwin, the commander and governor of the British fort, such as was used to guard against the fierce attacks of the hostile Indians, led on by that renowned chief, Pontiac, in the memorable siege of Detroit in days long since past. A little above the city was pointed out the battle-ground where the brave Dalzel lost his life in his unad- vised midnight attack on the fierce marauding bands during the same siege. The stream still bears the name of " Bloody Run." After viewing many scenes of interest in and around the City of the Straits, Mr. Hussey, accompanied by two of his new acquaintances, George Crozier and Thomas Gillett, turned his face toward the wilderness. At this time, 1824, there were but six organized counties in the Territory. They took the road leading to Pontiac. After cross- ing a swamp of some miles in width over " Harrison's old causeway," they came to a broad, open country of oak openings. Here he met the only two acquaint- ances he knew in the Territory, Thomas J. Drake, a young lawyer of Pontiac (afterwards well known as a United States judge of Utah), and Allen Durfee, both friends of his boyhood. A few minutes' conversation was all that could be spared, and each went on his way. Pontiac contained only a few houses. The country. around it was entirely new and full of marshes and little lakes. The land did not please the adventurers, and they went southward into the timbered region. Here the land was rich and more attractive to the travelers. Fifteen miles brought them to a rude log house, where Arthur Power had established himself a year before. A few enterprising pioneers were scattered over this township (now Farmington). Southwest twenty-five miles was the extreme settlement. One house, surrounded by a beautiful burr-oak grove and occupied by John Allen and S. Rumsey, stood on the bank of the Huron river, where the city of Ann Arbor now stands. All west to Lake Michigan was an unbroken wilderness. The adventurers were pleased with this wild region, and penetrated the wilds in search of good loca- tions. On the second day of special land-viewing Mr. Hussey's companions were so frightened and disgusted at the discovery of a Massasauger rattlesnake that they concluded to return ; and failing to persuade him to accompany them gave him a friendly hand, and with a " God bless you" left him many miles in the wilder- ness alone. Mr. Hussey met his friend Crozier thirty years after for the first time, and they had a hearty laugh over the event which caused their separation. Notwithstanding the solitude of his situation he was nothing daunted, but, with bright hopes, was determined to pursue his travels. With the broad country be- fore him and only a knapsack of provisions, a pocket compass, and hatchet, he pushed ahead in his enterprise. In this manner he traversed the woods for seven days. Having become satisfied with the fertility of a large tract of country, he hired a man to accompany him, and took a southwesterly direction into an unex- plored region. Here he found magnificent land, fertile and attractive, well tim- bered and watered. Here he determined to stick his stake and make his home. The farm he selected was nine miles from any inhabitants, and fifteen miles from a public road. He returned to the settlement that night, and the next day, the 9th of October, 1824, went to Detroit and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. Major Kearsley, the receiver at the land-office, informed him that his was the second entry in the township, and in fact he was the first purchaser who settled on his land, in what is now the town of Plymouth, the northwest township of Wayne county.
Erastus Hussey now considered himself a resident of Michigan. The boat bound for Buffalo being then in, he took passage on her and sailed the next day. He landed at Erie, Pennsylvania, and in company with Luther Landon, an ac- quaintance from his native town, and, like himself, a land-viewer, left for the southern part of Erie county, New York, a distance of ninety miles. They traveled on foot, but, as they had a smooth road and beautiful weather, they did not mind the fatigue. The first day they traveled thirty miles, and on the next made a forced march, and traveled sixty miles between sunrise and sunset. Being now among his friends, and weary and footsore from over-exertion, he was rejoiced to find a cordial welcome. In this neighborhood he determined to spend the winter, and took charge of a school for four months. As he had only a shilling left in his pocket when he arrived here, this gave him an opportunity to recruit his finances. After spending a pleasant, and as he believed a useful, winter, he
returned to his native place, where he spent the summer in working on a farm. In June, 1826, he again visited Michigan, found his land surrounded by settlers, and the country all alive with activity. Immigration was now pouring into the Territory rapidly. The prospect was encouraging ; he made a small improvement on his land and returned late in the autumn, when he again took a large school for four months. On the 21st day of February, 1827, Erastus Hussey was married to Sarah E. Bowen, the daughter of Benjamin Bowen, of Cayuga county, New York. She was a young lady possessed of a highly-cultivated mind, and their attachment was of long standing, having been acquainted from childhood. This Mr. Hussey looks upon as the most important period of his life, for it gave him an accomplished companion, who was willing to leave all her refined associates, and the society so dear to her, and go with him into the wilds of the west, help him to overcome the privations and surmount the obstacles of an unknown future. In 1827 Erastus Hussey and his wife left their old home and sorrowing friends, setting their faces westward with strong hopes and a stronger determination to face the world and seek happiness in each other's society. His wife was young and beautiful, scarce beyond her girlhood, only nineteen, and looked too frail and delicate to be transplanted into so rude a home. But, like a true pioneer wife, she stood ever by his side, rejoicing in his success and consoling him in his trials. Ever ready to extend a helping hand, she has been his adviser, counselor, and stay for more than fifty years ; for the golden era of their married life has passed, leaving the reflection of uninterrupted domestic happiness. No lightning train or fast-sailing steamboats were at the disposal of travelers in those days, so the journey of the pioneers had to be performed on the canal line boat, the lumbering steamboat, and, lastly, by ox teams, into the interior, where they arrived on the 27th of July, 1827. They occupied a temporary shanty, and suffered much for a time from sickness incident to the country. Late in the fall the neighbors helped him roll up a log house, which he finished with his own hands, and moved into on the 1st day of January, 1828. Thus his home was fairly established, and hope of happiness in the future more than compensated for all the sufferings of the past.
To add to their happiness, a daughter was born to them this year. She is their only child, and still lives to comfort them in their old age.
On this farm Erastus Hussey lived for nine years, made many improvements, and built up a beautiful home, which he sold in 1836. He now traveled two years in company with his wife and little daughter, to recover his health, which had become impaired by over-exertion in clearing up his new farm. They jour- neyed together through Ohio, New York, and New England to the sea-shore, with their own carriages.
In 1838 he returned to Michigan, and settled at Battle Creek, his present resi- dence. In religion, he professes the doctrine of the society of Friends, or Quakers, believing in the " inward light" as taught by George Fox, and that the "grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men." In politics, in early life he was a Whig, and boasts that he gave his first presidential vote for John Quincy Adams, " the old man eloquent," and his last Whig vote for William H. Harrison, in 1840. Having always been a firm believer in the equal rights of man as put forth in the " Declaration of American Independence," he threw him- self with his whole soul into the anti-slavery movement. He supported James G. Birney for president in 1844, and took an active part in every movement to put down oppression and curtail the slave power. He took stock in the underground railroad, and managed one section of that celebrated institution. He gave mate- rial aid to all fugitives from oppression, and declared his hostility to the slave power publicly and privately without fear or favor. In those days it was a posi- tion attended with peril, but he considered it a duty that must be performed. After settling in Battle Creek, Mr. Hussey entered into a mercantile business. In 1843 he took Henry B. Denman as partner, who subsequently married his daugh- ter. The firm continued a successful business for three years, when they dissolved partnership, and in 1847 he closed up the business. This year he built two-fifths of the Union block, the first brick building erected in the village. In the same year he took charge as editor of the Michigan Liberty Press,-a new paper just started as the organ of the anti-slavery or liberty party in the State. This paper had a large circulation, and much influence among the masses.
In 1848 he attended and took an active part in the great Buffalo convention that called into existence the Free Soil party. In the spring of 1849 the Liberty Press, with all the materials, was destroyed by fire, and the paper, after issuing a few numbers at Marshall, was discontinued. In the autumn of the same year Mr. Hussey was elected a member of the State legislature on the Free Soil ticket. Here he advocated unreservedly his anti-slavery sentiments, and though in the smallest minority (there being only four Free Soil members in that Democratic house), he was treated with marked respect, and often called to preside over the committee of the whole during that session. Having advanced the cause of free- dom, as required by his constituents, according to his best ability, he returned to his home to receive their approval. Here new labors awaited him.
PHOTO. BY CRISPELL.
PHOTO BY CRISPELL.
Asahil Beach In D
PHOTO. BY CRISPELL.
Chat austin
PHOTO. BY CRISPELL
PHOTO BY CRISPELL.
Moses Hall
99
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The education of the rising generation had always been an especial object of his energetic will, and as he was one of the first advocates for the organization of a Union school in the villages, he was called upon to superintend the erection of a suitable building to meet the wants of the people. This enterprise was accom- plished that season. In the fall of 1850 he was elected county clerk, and re- elected again in 1852, giving him four years of active service. In the summer of 1854, Mr. Hussey was one of the earnest men who called upon the liberal element of Michigan to meet at Marshall in mass convention to take into con- sideration the best means for the protection of liberty against the aggressions of the slave power. Laying aside all former political preferences, this noble body of men organized the great Republican party, with a platform broad enough for all loyal men to stand upon. This convention was held in July. At the fall elec- tion of 1854, Mr. Hussey was elected to represent his district in the State senate. This was the first Republican legislature held in Michigan, and was considered an able body of men. Mr. Hussey acted as chairman of the committee on finance, and took an active part in all the proceedings during the session. He drafted and presented the bill known as the " Personal Liberty Bill," which created much comment and much opposition from the sympathizers of the slave oligarchy. But the bill received a strong support, and became a law, which saved the State from further raids of slave-catchers. It was pronounced by Governor Bingham, in his retiring message, one of the most important laws of the session.
On returning home in 1855, Mr. Hussey commenced building up a new home in the north part of the city, which he called Oak Lawn,-a beautiful location, now occupied by the Seventh-Day Advent college. Here he resided with his family for nearly twenty years. He gave a great deal of time to improving and adorning his grounds. But still he was deeply interested in the political ques- tions of the day which so greatly agitated the public mind on the subject of slavery. In 1856 he gave a cordial support to John C. Fremont, the Free Soil candidate for president.
Mr. Hussey, in 1860, was sent as a delegate to the Chicago convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. The decisive action of this conven- tion, and the liberal and just sentiments announced in its platform of principles, raised the enthusiasm of the Republican party to the highest degree, and resulted in the election of its candidates. This so exasperated the leading advocates of slavery extension that they counseled secession from the government. A number of the Southern States raised the standard of rebellion, and forced the nation into a civil war. This inauspicious movement of the rebels compelled the loyal citizens to avail themselves of every means at their disposal, and to exert all their energies to subdue the insurrection. The great crisis had arrived. It was now palpable to every one that the principles of liberty must be maintained or the government must be controlled by the slave power. To save the republic Abraham Lincoln issued his " proclamation of emancipation." This act affixed his name to the highest roll of fame, made him a star of the first magnitude in the constellation of reformers, and struck the shackles from the limbs of four millions of slaves. The world stood aghast at this bold policy of the great statesman, but the nation was saved.
This grand movement brought about the event for which Mr. Hussey and his co-workers had looked to, and so anxiously toiled for, for more than thirty years. They had hoped to see the emancipation of the slaves accomplished by peaceable means, but it was not to be thus disposed of. For torrents of blood must be shed to expiate the great wrong. The hearts of thousands must bleed for the loss of their first-born, desolation must sweep over the nation, sorrow and suffering must go hand in hand through the broad land before the " oppressors would let the oppressed go free." But the deed was accomplished through bloody struggles, and the disgrace of the Republic was wiped out. This act of emancipation was the crowning glory of the friends of liberty, for it raised the nation to the acme of that perfection desired by the patriots of 1776, and made it the " land of the free and the home of the brave." Mr. Hussey has given much attention to the improvement of the city of Battle Creek, and has always labored with time and money to advance its prosperity. He served as mayor in 1867, and has always been connected more or less with its municipal affairs. In 1874 he sold his beautiful home, "Oak Lawn," to the Seventh-Day Advent Educational Society, and built his present dwelling at the corner of Washington and Manchester streets. In the summer of 1876 he went with his grandson, Frederick H. Denman, to Kansas,-that enchanting region of prairies and flowers. Here young Denman owns large possessions and intends to make his future home. They made a delightful trip home by the lakes, visiting Milwaukee, Mackinaw, and Detroit on their route.
In September, Erastus Hussey, in company with his wife and daughter, Susan T. Denman, left home to visit the Centennial Exposition ; went by the way of Boston to attend the celebration of the nuptials of their son and grandson, Frederick H. Denman, and Kate A. Strickland, his chosen and accomplished
bride. Then, in company with the wedding party, they went on to Philadelphia to mingle with the joyous American throng gathered there to celebrate the one hundredth birthday of the nation. No short sketch can do justice to the grand and admirable collections exhibited ; so we will leave it to the pen of a more accomplished writer to delineate its magnificence, and merely give it the appella- tion of one of the " wonders of the world." Leaving the great Centennial, Mr. Hussey, his wife, and daughter took the route homeward through the romantic Lehigh valley, visiting, on the way, his native land,-the scenes of his early hopes and youthful aspirations. After a prolonged stay and a pleasant journey they found themselves once more at home. The romantic and thriving city of Battle Creek is situated at the confluence of two small but beautiful rivers, known to the red man of the forest by the significant names of Kekalamazoo, or the bright sparkling river, and Wapokisko, the river of battle, or the river of blood, which, after uniting their waters, flow westward, under the name of Kalamazoo river, until they mingle with those of Lake Michigan. Here, in this lovely city, Erastus Hussey has made his attractive home, where, with the wife of his youth and their widowed daughter, he hopes to spend the evening of his days in con- tentment and repose.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.