USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 46
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EARLY SETTLERS.
The first entries of land were made on June 16, 1831, by Seeley Neal, Ashel Warner, Elijah Crane, and A. Dustin. On July 4, Colonel John Ainsley and Erastus Kimball moved in. Joseph Ames came in August, Thomas Chisholm September 1, Alfred D. Wright on the day following, Elijah A. Bigelow November 28, Nathan Pierce the day after, Alfred Killam on May 30, 1832, and M. J. Bagg upon the 31st.
Seeley Neal and family of ten children led the way in settlement. His log house, erected on his arrival, nearly on the ground occupied by the residence of Colonel John Ainsley, on the south side of the Territorial road, on section 27, was the first white man's home built in the township. He had short time for prece- dent acts, as John Ainsley and Erastus Kimball speedily following located upon section 21.
A REMINISCENCE OF SETTLEMENT.
Mrs. Ainsley's recollections of pioneer life abound in interest. When the " Michigan fever"-a term applied to the general desire to emigrate to the Penin- sular State-was at its height, Mr. Ainsley and wife were residents of Pennsyl- vania. They were three years married, young and ambitious. They caught eagerly at an opportunity to secure a home in the western El Dorado. Their worldly store was not extensive. Their personal property was two trunks, a chest of tools, and a baby. Financially there was a credit of three hundred dollars. Healthy, courageous, and eager, the young people entered with resolution and buoyant hope upon their journey.
Arrived at Detroit and unacquainted with he country, they were undecided what course to take. Acting on the advice of a road acquaintance, they set out for Calhoun County, whose fine lands had been graphically described to them. Having bargained for the transportation of the trunks with a person on his way to that part of the country, and stipulated conveyance for Mrs. Ainsley, the final stage of the journey was entered upon. The young people walked the greater part of the way. At Ann Arbor a rest was taken, whence, proceeding to a place called Thorny Creek, Mrs. Ainsley remained, while her husband, seeking, found a location, which chanced to be within the limits of Marengo. A journey was made to Ann Arbor for provisions and essentials of housekeeping. On the way Mr. Ainsley was attacked by chills and fever, and the purchases were made by
Mrs. Ainsley, he being too ill to attend to it. An ox-team was hired, and they set out for their new home. On their last night out they enjoyed the hospitality of Squire Neal, who furnished the best accommodations possible under the circum- stances. The house was destitute of floor, and the bed was made upon the sand. Without fireplace or stove, the side of a log served as a kitchen. Two miles farther, and they had reached the spot destined for a home.
A tent was pitched. Two sheets formed its roof, bushes closed the sides, and a small opening left for a door was covered with a table-cloth. In this primitive shelter three weeks were passed, during which there was scarcely a rainless day. To protect the baby from the wet it was placed beneath a wash-tub. Leaves in lieu of straw were used to fill the beds. On August 25 the house was completed, and the family moved in. The contrast inspired a sense of comfort. The house was floored. No other for miles but was floorless. A fair start was taken. Owners of a quarter-section of new land, occupying a good house, possessed of a cow and a barrel of flour, with six acres of wheat sown, their future was auspicious of success. Provisions failing in November, a journey to Ann Arbor, sixty-five miles distant, was imperative. With oxen and sled Ainsley departed. A week elapsed. He was on his return and three miles from home when one of the oxen gave out. The animal was freed from the yoke, and Ainsley taking the yoke end completed the journey. The sick ox died, and the other was used for a time and finally lost. To fence his ground next spring he was obliged to saw trucks from a log, make a hand wagon, and upon it draw his rails, assisted by his wife. The experience of Erastus Kimball, who moved in about the same time as the Ainsleys, was nearly identical. George W. Dryer and family arrived in 1833, and the descrip- tion of family movements as told by Mrs. Dryer is worthy of record here. The last night passed on the journey was spent at Maynard's tavern. Of this she says, "I had known ever since leaving home that this was to be our final stopping place, and had, of course, attached considerable consequence to it. I had not expected to find much of a village, not an eastern hotel, but I must confess that I was a little disappointed when, coming in sight of a small log cabin, I was in- formed it was Colonel Maynard's. I did not then understand the difficulties encountered in building in a new country. Humble and unpretending as was the outward appearance at Maynard's, we found comfort and good cheer within, and, though not exactly an eastern hotel, we had an eastern host and hostess, if true politeness and good breeding are meant by that term."
HOUSE-BUILDING.
A board shanty was Dryer's first residence. A buffalo-robe hung as a door over the entrance. Several mechanics came out with Mr. Dryer. There were Henry Gardanier and Wandall Bartles, carpenters, and Thomas Pryor, stone-mason. The men were soon at work getting out timber for a new house. The fresh-cut boards of the shanty shrunk beyond the use of chinking and battening, and it was resolved to build a log house, and all hands entered upon the task. The plains affording no logs of sufficient size, resort was had to government timber, and the new habitation was a great improvement upon the old one. In excavating a cellar, a spring was struck, from which the water gushed clear, cold, and spark- ling. It was hailed as a most welcome acquisition. The cellar was walled with sandstone, and in the spring following the house was completed. The shingles and seasoned lumber of this, the first framed house built in the township of Ma- rengo, were hauled from Gull prairie, distant thirty miles. The old house, re- modeled, is now the dwelling of Albert S. Pattison.
INCIDENTS OF THE TIMES.
The Indians were an annoyance to the settlers, especially when intoxicated, and called at the cabins during the absence of the men to demand anything which took their fancy, and to frighten the women and children. Nor were these sons of the forest particular as to the ownership of any article which seemed to lie in their way.
1833 was a notable season. Considerable wheat had been harvested. Deer and wild turkey were abundant. Cranberries were plenty on the marshes. The bee, preceding occupation of the country, had stored of liquid sweets in many a tree, and the settlers fared sumptuously. The Kalamazoo, unobstructed by dams, was tenanted by extraordinary numbers of fish. At one time a school of sturgeon
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
coming up the stream roused the settlers to attack. Using the pitch-fork as a spear a number were thereby secured; the largest weighed one hundred and twenty pounds. Bear prowled about the inclosures, and lost no opportunity to raid among the swine. One evening, Chisholm, living on the Territorial road, discovered a large bear concealed in a tree in front of his dwelling. Two neigh- bors were notified, and, bringing their rifles, proceeded to shoot at the bear. Shot after shot was delivered, without avail, each marksman declaring his surprise that the bear did not fall, as he certainly had been hit ; but when, finally, bruin came tumbling down, only one ball was found in his body.
On another occasion, M. J. Bagg had penned a small calf near his house to secure it from attack by wolves. Two Indians soon after were passing by, when a dog accompanying them jumped the inclosure, and fastened upon the calf. Bagg observing this, caught up a club, and hastening to defend his property, with one blow knocked the dog senseless, whereupon the Indians to retaliate were about to kill the calf, when the resolute settler, rifle in hand, threatened to shoot the first to molest it. The Indians, cowed by this action, wished to shake hands in token of amity.
A FESTIVE OCCASION.
There was work enough for the industrious, and yet there was the time, means, and disposition to enjoy recreation. On July 4, 1833, a ball was held in the ample room of Maynard's tavern, but when it was proposed to celebrate the in- coming year at the same place accommodations were found too limited. Com- mendably prompt, the colonel, to his building, annexed a board addition as a ball- room. The ball, which took place January 1, 1834, was attended by settlers from miles away, who in the pleasures of the mazy dance forgot their wild surroundings. A bountiful supper was provided by the genial host, and " all went merry as a marriage bell." Two violins, played by S. Chapman and A. M. Benson, furnished music on this occasion, which was memorable in the lives of those present. Sur- vivors of that time declare that " for good cheer and real solid enjoyment," the New Year's party surpassed any like effort at which they were present. In the homes of settlers at an early date there were few articles of household use, or tools for farming. Blocks of wood or benches were substitutes for chairs, which were luxuries enjoyed by few. A lady, referring to this fact, says, " It was a great treat to go to Marshall and sit in a boughten chair." A packing-box, or a board across barrels, were generally used as tables. In default of stoves, cooking was done in stone-built fireplaces, or out of doors, beside a log. Although often in want of food, the people, with notable hospitality common to new settlements, always stood ready to lend a helping hand to a new-comer. Some men of means were found among the pioneers, but the great majority were poor. The experi- ence of a present wealthy and most successful farmer is illustrative of the road followed by many to insure progress. Arrived at Jackson, his jack-knife and a shilling being his only possessions, he walked to Marshall, and there engaged with a farmer at fifteen dollars a month. By saving, sufficient was obtained to enable him to enter forty acres, and thence onward his progress was assured. The gas- lamp and the chandelier were unknown in those days. The treasures of the rocks had not revealed their oil, and the New England whalers were away upon the great deep. People retired in season and rose with the sun. Those possessing candles were deemed fortunate, and the light in common use was made by placing a piece of wicking in melted deer's tallow, and igniting the exposed extremity.
MERCHANDISING.
In 1834 George W. Pattison arrived with his family, and immediately com- menced running a team between Detroit and Marshall, thereby supplying an avenue for provisions and necessaries, which was for several years the main de- pendence of the community. During the same year Pattison brought in a stock of goods, and a store was opened by himself and George W. Dryer. They sold to the firm of Harris & Austin, who enlarged the business and continued in trade. In 1835 Pattison and Dryer inaugurated a trade in stock. They brought in from Illinois a drove of cattle, and found speedy sale for them to the immigrants, then swarming from all quarters. In 1836 a drove of three hundred was quickly sold, and the business thus encouraged was continued a number of years. Cattle were sent to various distant points, and Pattison drove a hundred head overland to New York. Progressing from this toilsome method, the cattle-drovers of Texas and the Kansas plains shipped their beeves by rail from far west of the Missis- sippi with ease and dispatch ; then improving on this the dressed beef, packed in refrigerated tanks, is transported to European markets, and therein competes for use with native meats. The seed of these enterprises was sown by the early drovers, popular benefactors and most energetic men. In 1836 Dryer broke up one hundred and six acres of new ground, and sowed to wheat. Pattison put in one hundred acres. The crop was hauled to Ypsilanti, then the western terminus of the Michigan Central railroad, and there sold at one dollar and twenty-five cents per bushel.
UNREALIZED EXPECTATIONS.
In 1833 a race was dug and a saw-mill built near where the Marshall road crosses the Kalamazoo. The proprietor, Peter Smith, employed Benjamin Wright as builder, and began to operate the mill in the spring of 1834. S. G. Pattison and G. W. Dryer bought three-fourths interest, but all parties soon sold to a number of New York speculators. Schemes for speedy acquisition of wealth by traffic in Michigan lands were at their wildest altitude, and a village plat was sur- veyed, recorded, and many lots sold. Buildings, both public and private, were erected, some by persons having faith in the village, others by the proprietors themselves. Monetary difficulties at this time caused disaster to many. The embryo city ceasing to expand, in time contracted, and is to-day the small village of the early times.
PIONEER LAW.
It was a custom in the early day to respect priority of claim to lots selected for entry by the actual settlers. The speculative class, of different stamp, practiced no such courtesy, and hesitated not to anticipate the settler, even when the latter had begun improving.
Chisholm selected a quarter-section, but had means to enter but forty acres of it. Parties in Marshall aware of this fact notified a speculative Englishman, and offered to send a person to the land-office to enter it for him. He acquiesced, and the messenger set out under orders to lose no time in securing the land. Ill tidings fly fast and far ; Chisholm learned of the danger, and was sore troubled. Seeking advice from his brother, a blacksmith, in Marshall, the worthy man threw off his apron, mounted an Indian pony, and started for the land-office. The night was dark and stormy ; the messenger, apprehending no rivalry, halted by the wayside, but Chisholm continuing on reached the office early in the morning and at once entered forty acres in the centre of the coveted tract. The messenger arriving deemed it inexpedient to enter the other forties, and returned to report the result. Attempts were made to buy out Chisholm, but each offer met a higher price, and finally he came into undisturbed possession of the whole. To the quarter-section other tracts have been added, until within an area of five hundred acres is found one of the best farms in Marengo. Many instances similar to the above are re- lated, and the prize was well worth the contest. The Chisholm farm, located in the southwest part of the township, north of the Kalamazoo, is not excelled in beautiful location and fertility of soil.
SURVIVING AND PROMINENT SETTLERS.
Most of the old settlers have passed away. Among the few remaining are Colonel and Mrs. Ainsley, S. G. Pattison, and G. W. Dryer. The latter reside on farms entered by them. Nathan Pierce visited Calhoun in November, 1831, and located large tracts in Marengo and Sheridan. It was not till the spring of 1844 that he removed hither with his family and located on the farm originally entered by Dryer. Mrs. Pierce died in 1861; he followed her in March, 1862. As evi- dence of the esteem in which he was held, it is stated that while a resident of the township, he was elected a member of the State legislature and creditably filled the office. Seeley Neal, the first to settle in Marengo with his family, had been a resident of Washtenaw county, and was one of the commissioners appointed to locate and survey the Territorial road.
In passing through the township, its advantages originated a desire to make the locality his home. He entered land on section 22, built a log house, and moved in his family, which numbered ten children, nine of whom came with him. It is said of the journey made by Neal from Ypsilanti that five days were oc- cupied in getting through. One of these was passed in crossing a marsh near Grass lake. All the cattle were hitched to one wagon at a time, and so each was brought through. On the morning of the last day of the journey, the rear wagon capsized, covering three children, little girls. The other teams were far in advance, and the driver was disconcerted, when a child extricating her hands was released from her unpleasant position, and, being slightly hurt, ran forward and related the mishap. The men hastened back and speedily righted the wagon, thereby rescuing the girls, one slightly, the other more seriously bruised. During the first year Indians stole his hogs, and all his cattle, save a yoke of steers, died. In spring, himself, Ames, and Ainsley went to Bronson, now Kalamazoo, for provisions and seed potatoes. Returning, the frail craft upset, and, the purchases being mostly lost, the party turned back to make up their loss. Five days were occupied in making the journey. To Neal is accredited the honor of having planted the first corn and sowed the first wheat in the township of Marengo. He was the first town supervisor and the first postmaster. Himself and G. W. Dryer were ap- pointed justices by the Territorial governor. His remains and those of his wife and three children lie in the cemetery near his former dwelling. A daughter, Mrs. Mary Parks, resides in Marshall.
Dr. R. B. Porter, a graduate of Castleton college, Vermont, and a private pupil
GALEN SAMSON
MRS. NANCY SAMSON.
RESIDENCE OF GALEN SAMSON, SEC. 15. MARENGO TP, CALHOUN CO., MICH.
MRS. ISAAC HEWITT.
ISAAC HEWITT.
RESIDENCE OF ISAAC HEWITT, SEC . 16. MARENGO TP, CALHOUN CO., MICH.
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of Prof. Woodward, moving in from Washington county during 1836, was the pioneer of his profession. Health was good until 1839, when chills and fever became prevalent, and so continued until 1844. Dr. Porter had a practice extend- ing through Sheridan, Clarence, Albion, and Eckford. A physician of forty years' practice, he has never known serious personal illness, and now resides with his son-in-law, H. N. McCormick. A son, Wm. H. Porter, a prominent lawyer in Marshall, was the first Marengo collegian. In 1844, A. S. Nichols settled in the town, of which his widow is a present inhabitant.
In 1833, Loren Maynard, of Madison county, New York, settling on section 23, erected a log house, and opened the tavern of which mention has been made. Colonel Maynard was at different times postmaster, supervisor, sheriff, and member of the legislature. In 1836 he built a new tavern stand, of which he had charge till 1844; in connection, he cultivated a farm of a quarter-section.
SETTLERS OF 1836.
Several men, citizens of Oswego and Cayuga counties, New York, came out to Michigan in 1836 to prospect for land. The party consisted of David Miller, Caleb Hanchett, B. H. Carrier, Abram Hadden, and Amaziah Carrier. Their choice was timber land, to explore which the county surveyor was engaged, and the pioneers started into Lee, but encountering the great marsh, turned back, and located in the northeastern part of Marengo. Miller chose section 5, and also . land in Sheridan. Carrier entered on section 2, as did Caleb Hanchett, who took up land in Lee. The others settled in the neighborhood in Lee and Clarence. Miller lives in Marshall, his son Charles being on the farm. Caleb Hanchett occupies a brick dwelling, the first of the material built in the town. Others are living on the farms located by them in 1836.
In the spring of 1837 the associate settlers set out from New York with their families, and came through with ox-teams. They cooked their food by the way- side, and slept in their wagons. Roads were execrable. Floods had swept away bridges, and the route along Lake St. Clair was submerged two feet in water. Many emigrants on the way rendered frequent mutual assistance to extricate their wagons from sloughs of mud. In places the united strength of eight yoke of oxen was requisite to pull through. David Hanchett, proceeding in advance, was de- tained thirty-six hours at Windsor by floating ice, which temporarily cut off ferriage. He finally proceeded eighteen miles down the river, and effected a crossing on the ice at a place where it extended nine miles along the head of Lake Erie to the Michigan shore. Twenty-one days were occupied on the journey. Provisions were scarce, and a stock was obtained by sending ox-teams to Detroit. During the summer, three wagons, each drawn by two yoke of oxen, were sent for pro- visions, and a fortnight was required for the trip. The prices assigned to pro- visions were extortionate and extravagant. " Wheat was worth at that time four dollars per bushel, flour eighteen dollars per barrel, pork forty dollars per barrel, and other provisions at equally high rates." No wonder that the people sought substitutes. The treasures of the Black Hills would scarcely maintain such prices.
The settlement was made at the corners of four townships,-Marengo, Lee, Sheridan, and Clarence,-and has since borne the name of " Rice Creek settlement." The fairest spots are the favorite lurking-places of the most deadly reptiles. The Massasaugers swarmed along the creek. Mr. Miller, in mowing grass upon the marsh adjoining, killed eighty of these rattlesnakes within a mile's distance. Black snakes were plentiful and of great size. Some were killed that measured ten feet in length. Their favorite food was the young of fowls and turkeys.
PRISTINE EVENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
A bridge across Rice creek, where the Territorial road crosses near Marshall, was built by Colonel Ainsley in 1833. Messrs. Adams & Thompson opened a stage route from Detroit to Kalamazoo during the winter of 1832-33. They began with a two-horse wagon. The four-horse coach followed, and this was superseded by the Michigan Central railroad, constructed by the State through a board of internal improvement. The road was completed and the first train of cars was run through Marengo in 1844. The State, by Act 42 of the year 1846, sold the road for two million dollars, the act named being at once a deed of sale and a charter.
A saw-mill, now in use, and owned by Perrin & Robinson, was built on Rice creek by George Ketchum in 1835. Ketchum sold to M. J. Bagg, who operated it some years. The first flouring- and grist-mill was built in 1839, by Sidney S. Alcott, who supplied four run of stone, and engaged as miller John Evans, just then arrived from Rochester, New York. The mill was burned in 1844, and three years later Evans erected another on the same site. The old miller is still at his post, and, enjoying a good patronage, has invested his profits in the purchase of real estate in the village and its vicinity. Mr. Evans is proprietor of a saw- mill, erected in 1847 by Mr. Pattison, near the flour-mill. Carding machinery
was brought into Marengo by Henry Mallory in 1835, and quite a business was done by him for some time in carding wool.
Of the various store-buildings erected at different times but one remains in use,-that of H. M. Evans, who deals in general merchandise suitable to the locality.
The pioneer blacksmith was George Christian. The village now contains two blacksmith-shops, a wagon-shop, and a cooper-shop.
CO-OPERATIVE BUILDING.
Unanimity of action has made the farming class powerful,-controlling trans- portation, reducing prices of machinery, and securing other advantages. In 1866, Marengo farmers, desiring a place from which to ship their produce, erected, by subscription among themselves, a building to be used as a freight depot and pas- senger station. The building, which stands in the village near the Michigan Cen- tral railroad, has been purchased of late by the railroad company. A railroad, : verging toward completion, and extending from Marshall to Coldwater, extends along the western part of the township, and promises much for the farming com- munity. A strong water-power, supplied by the river, drives the machinery of a flouring-mill and saw-mills. There is capacity for large manufacturing establish- ments, and time may be when through this agency Marengo village may become a city. The improved thrasher and separator was introduced by E. Lusk and S. Chapin, and the first combined reaper and mower was owned by S. G. Pattison.
The first-born white child in Marengo was Mary, daughter of Hiram Dowling, on September 21, 1831, and hers was the first death, six months later. Lorenzo Dowling, born in March, 1833, was the first male child native to the township. The first adult death was of Noah Neal, father of Seeley, on July 30, 1832. The grave-yard, not now in use, was given by Mr. S. Neal to the town. The village cemetery was laid out in 1839, and the wife of Lewis Grant was the first to be buried in that inclosure.
The first marriage in Marengo took place August 4, 1833, at the residence of Roswell Wilcox, uncle to the bride. The parties were Clark Smith, of Marshall, and Mary A. Wilcox, of Marengo. The magistrate employed was General Isaac D. Crary. Not in form, ceremony, and display, but in mutual respect, regard, and forbearance, rest the hopes of happy union.
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