USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 49
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ECKFORD TOWNSHIP.
THE township of Eckford, as known on the government surveys, is township 3 south of range 5 west. It is one of the four congressional townships from which Homer was formed in 1834, and was organized as a separate division of the county in 1836. It derives its name from a gentleman in England, named Henry Eckford, who was a much-esteemed friend of Oshea Wilder, the first settler in the township. Mr. Wilder had met him while traveling in England, and pre- served his memory by giving his name to a township of land in the beautiful oak openings of southern Michigan.
Eckford is exclusively an agricultural township, and possesses many superior advantages for farming purposes. Its soil is everywhere excellent, and, with but few exceptions, there is no waste land. It is well known as being in the front rank of wheat-raising townships, and its fruit is also equal in quality to any raised in the county. It never was as heavily timbered as some other townships, and much of its surface consists of fertile burr oak plains, upon which are found most excellent farms and fine improvements. The southeastern portion is generally known as " Cook's prairie," a broad and beautiful plain which lies in the four townships of Eckford, Albion, Homer, and Clarendon. In the northern and eastern portions the land is also of much the same appearance, and on the west, between the Nottawa-seepe and Wilder creeks, the soil and general contour of the country cannot be surpassed for agricultural purposes. The fact that this was one of the first townships in the county to attract the attention of settlers to its superior advantages speaks volumes for it, while its appearance to-day, after forty- six years of toil expended in its general improvement, is a fitting memorial to the noble efforts of the pioneers. Everywhere over its surface are seen neat residences and comfortable out-Buildings; the fields bear testimony to the great care expended upon them ; the schools and churches stand forth prominently to testify to the moral tone of her citizens, and everything wears a clean, fresh look which is most gratifying to the beholder. Let the inhabitant of the city, with its smoke and dust, or the sojourner in the coal-mining regions make a trip to Calhoun County, and drive over some of her best townships, including Eckford as one of the fore- most, and he will dream he has suddenly been transported to fairy-land, and his return to smoke and grime will be none too pleasant for contemplation.
Eckford is well watered by the Nottawa-seepe and Wilder creeks, besides having numerous never-failing springs. Pure and cold well-water is procured by digging, not usually to exceed forty feet, and it is generally found at a depth of about twenty feet. Brace lakes, situated in the northwest part of the township and extending into Fredonia, are very pretty sheets of water, containing fish in abun- dance. They originally formed a single lake, but by drainage much of the water has been drawn off. The east shore of Lower Brace lake is clean and beautiful, and the road passes close along the beach. The most of the distance around the lakes, however, is marshy. These lakes were named from Horace Brace, who settled in the township of Marengo, but whose land extended to the lake-shore. The original area of the lake was about one and a half by two miles.
The general surface of the township is rolling, and in a few places the land was originally quite stony. The stones have been, to a great extent, gathered up and walls made of them.
The health of the town is generally excellent, owing to the invigorating atmos- phere, pure water, and absence of malarial propagators in the way of marshes and decaying vegetable matter. But very few marshes are found in the township, and they are small and insignificant. The principal one is that along the " Not- tawa" creek. which is a dark and ill-favored stream, with low banks, which are flooded in high water. This stream is more or less marshy along its entire course. It crosses the southwest corner of the township and flows thence in a general westerly course until it finally unites its waters with those of the St. Joseph river, in St. Joseph county.
Wilder creek is named after Oshea Wilder, and takes its rise in the southeast part of the township. After making a detour into Albion township, it returns to Eckford, and, starting in on section 24, passes in a northwesterly direction across the township, crossing the line into Marengo at the northeast corner of section 5, finally debouching into the Kalamazoo and flowing westward into Lake Michigan. Its banks through Eckford are in most places high and free from marslı, and at Lower Eckford a dam has been constructed across it and its power utilized for running a saw-mill.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Lower Eckford .- At this point was made the first settlement in the township. Oshea Wilder was a native of Massachusetts, coming from the town of Gardner. For about eight years previous to the date of his emigration to Michigan he had resided in Rochester, Monroe county, New York. In the fall of the year 1831, he left that place and came alone to Michigan. During the winter he located all but the northwest quarter of section 8 in Eckford township, and made all neces- sary arrangements for the comfort of his family, who came to the place in October, 1832. The family then consisted of his wife and seven children,-six sons and one daughter,-all of whom came except the oldest son, Daniel, who remained at Rochester a short time and followed them afterwards. Mr. Wilder secured his land from the government, and on the northeast quarter of the section built a large, double house of round tamarack logs, with a huge stick chimney and a commodious fireplace. This house stood a little southeast of the one now occu- pied by Philo H. Budlong, on the west side of the creek. Several very fine springs afforded abundant water, one of them a strong sulphur spring. Mr. Wilder included in his original purchase several pieces of land not on section 8, and afterwards owned other lands in the neighborhood.
The next summer after the family came, or in 1833, a frame saw-mill was built, which stood very nearly on the site of the present one owned by Mr. Budiong. It contained one upright saw, and was quite an institution at the time. The dam was of the kind known as a " spar dam," the water running over the centre. It was constructed about one-fourth of a mile above the mill, and a portion of it is yet standing, some parts of it having been washed away and replaced by new timbers.
One child, Cornelia, was born in 1834, hers being the first birth in the neigh- borhood and probably in the township. She died when quite young, and hers was also the first death in the immediate neighborhood, though not in the town- ship, that being the decease of the wife of Stephen Powers, who died January 10, 1835, and was buried on the old Elijah Cook farm. Her baptismal name was Rhoda. -
Two of Mr. Wilder's children are now living, both in Marshall,-William N., in the east part of town, and Sarah A., who is the wife of S. V. R. Lepper. Mr. Wilder lived on his place until November, 1846, during which month he died, aged sixty-four years. He served a short time in the war of 1812, but saw no hard service. He became a surveyor, and after settling in Eckford, spent much of his time in surveying lands for settlers and speculators. In 1834 he surveyed a few village lots on the northeast quarter of section 8, and sold them at low prices to new-comers. The first lot was purchased by Jacob J. Ehle, who was a shoemaker by trade and of German descent. He erected the building known as the " Eckford House," and opened a hotel, the first one ever kept at the place. When he bought the property one of the considerations was that in case he built an inn he should keep no bar, consequently the house was as strictly temperate as the most enthusiastic believer in total abstinence could wish. Mr. Ehle also worked at his trade, having the first shop of the kind in the township.
Mr. Wilder himself built a blacksmith-shop about the same time he did his saw- mill, and hired a man named Francis Peck to work in it. In 1835 he also erected a large building on the east side of the saw-mill, which was used as a wagon-shop and chair-factory. One of the first wagon-makers who worked here was Charles Hinkle. The common " Windsor" (wooden) and the rush-bottomed chairs were made, the person employed to manufacture them being a man by the name of Ebenezer Avery. He finally left and went to Bellevue, Eaton county, where he continued the business by himself. After this, the manufacture of chairs at Lower Eckford was abandoned, and the building was removed to the place now occupied by Guy Markham.
Mr. Wilder was always a prominent man in the township and county. He held numerous township offices, and was before the public as the occupant of some office most of the time after he settled. This was not from constant office-seeking, but because he was the choice of the people.
" Lower Eckford" is a name adopted through usage by the early settlers in other parts of the township, who would remark, when they were coming to this part, that they were " going to Lower Eckford."
Probably as early as 1835 a post-office was established at Lower Eckford, and Oshea Wilder was appointed first postmaster. He held the office some ten years,
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and was succeeded by his son, William N. Wilder. A few years after the latter removed from the place the office was abolished, after having been in existence about twenty years.
A postal route was early established between Marshall and Jonesville, and Eck ford post-office established immediately after. At first the mail was carried on horse- back. Soon a horse and buggy both were impressed into the service, and finally a four-horse stage-line was put in operation. The route was extensively traveled, being a connecting link between two important points destined to become, in the near future, the thriving and populous towns they now are, and terminal points for a connecting line of travel between the two great railways, the Michigan Central and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. The days of the rattling stage, with the notes of its winding horn, the cracking of the driver's whip, and the hurry and bustle incident to an "arrival" or " departure" or "change," are passed away, and the distant whistle of the locomotive, and the heavy rumbling of the iron wheels as they pass swiftly along the far-stretching parallel bands of steel, have taken their place. The stage-coach was one step in the grand advance of the settlements and of improvement towards a future which should completely revolutionize the slow plodding of the emigrant's wagon, and the weary journey of miles upon miles through mud and mire and over hill and dale, and in its place was exactly the right thing for the time. The sight of a four-horse couch, with its regular equipment of boot and saddle, noisy driver, long whip, weary passengers, and clouds of rolling dust, would carry the observer back to a time thirty years ago, when such sights were frequent and great notice was taken of them, for they were novel and interesting through the long years they existed. Now the arrival of a loaded train creates no excitement, and it whirls away into the distance almost unheeded. Yet, to return to the old customs would be such a retrograding step that a full realization of the change would then be felt, and the wonders which serve us to-day through the researches of master intellects would be seen in their true light. Truly, this is an age of progression which is accepted as matter-of-fact and inevitable.
Jeremiah Hinkle came from Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, with his wife and one child, Sarah, now living in Kansas, and located at Lower Eckford, purchasing one hundred and forty acres of land on section 8. Mr. H. and his family arrived here on the 4th of July, 1835. Mrs. Hinkle speaks of the appearance of the country at that time as most beautiful. Wild-flowers were blooming every- where; the atmosphere was filled with fragrance ; the prairies and groves made a beautiful mosaic, and Nature seemed to have surpassed herself in her efforts to render a pleasing effect. The same experience was the lot of all who came at that season of the year, and Michigan bore a new and different aspect to the idea they had formed of it before seeing it. All were well pleased with the country, and, satisfied that they might go very much farther without finding its equal, resolved to settle here and make themselves homes in this region so exquisitely touched by the hand of a master. The sight well repaid them for their long and toilsome journey of so many hundred miles, and " their hearts were filled with thanks- giving."
Mr. Hinkle built a house of round tamarack logs on his place, and the building is yet standing, being the front part of the house now occupied by his widow. It has been sided up, and on the inside lathed and plastered. The family lived for a while at first in a " saw-mill house" owned by Mr. Wilder, and did not com- mence to build their dwelling until the spring of 1836. Mr. Hinkle also erected a blacksmith-shop, and worked at the business a number of years. He had learned his trade at Germantown, now a suburb of the city of Philadelphia, and was induced to stay at Lower Eckford by Mr. Wilder, because of his being a mechanic. Nine children were born in the family after their settlement, and of the ten there are eight now living. A daughter, Mary A. Hinkle, died when small. She was the first one born after her parents came west, the date of her birth being June 9, 1836. A son, William H. Hinkle, enlisted in Chicago, in the First Board of Trade (Seventy-second Illinois) regiment, and was killed at Vicksburg, Mississippi, June 18, 1863. He had that day been promoted to orderly sergeant. Mr. Hinkle himself died October 20, 1874, aged sixty-eight years. When they first came to the township a road passed across the country in a diagonal direc- tion, pointing toward Marshall. That road has long been abandoned, but traces of it are yet seen. The "Homer road" was laid out about 1837-38, and follows an old Indian trail.
Deer were exceedingly plenty around the little settlement, and at night the fierce gray wolf was heard howling forth his savage spite against everything living. Their noise was terrific at times, and little sleep could be indulged in while it was kept up. Indians came to the settlement to trade, and killed great numbers of the deer. A bear occasionally came on an exploring expedition into the midst of a settlement, seeking for something wherewith to satiate his appetite. Wild turkeys were so numerous that any person could have a supply of their meat on hand if he were only a good shot. Altogether, the life of the pioneer families
was fraught with a great deal of excitement and no small amount of danger. Yet their hardy nature and the freedom of their actions bore them through all safely, and finally the wilderness was changed into a garden.
The first settler in the township, outside of Lower Eckford, was Henry Cook, who came to Michigan in the fall of 1831, and lived there during that winter in Saline, Washtenaw county. In May, 1832, he removed to the beautiful prairie which has been ever since called " Cook's prairie," and located the farm on section 36, where his sons, John and Theodore Cook, now live. Mr. Cook was born in Palestine, Montgomery county, New York, February 16, 1788, and afterwards re- moved to Cayuga county, where he was living at the time he came west. He was married August 7, 1814, to Maria Mumbrue. When he came to Michigan he brought his wife and eight children with him, and three children were born after -.. wards. Nine of them are yet living.
Anthony Doolittle accompanied Mr. Cook from Washtenaw county, and the two purchased four hundred and eighty acres of land from second hands, paying one dollar eighty-seven and a half cents per acre for it, or an advance of fifty per cent. from government price. It had been entered during the previous winter by Dr. Hays, of Marshall. When Mr. Cook brought his family from Washtenaw county they followed an Indian trail, driving their stock and encamping by the wayside at night. The last encampment before reaching their new home was on the hill east of Homer, when the family slept under the wagon-box. Mr. Cook had been out a short time previous and built a small log house, and the only other house in this part of the county at that time was one which had been built on the " Penn- sylvania plains," southeast of Homer, by a man named MeMurtrie.
At the first township meeting, held in April, 1834, when this was a part of Homer, Mr. Cook was moderator, and he also acted in the same capacity the follow- ing year. He afterward held numerous township offices, and in the fall of 1839 was elected to represent the county in the State legislature. He was for many years a deacon in the Presbyterian church at Homer. He died September +, 1874, aged nearly eighty-seven years. His wife died June 15, 1871.
Silas Comstock came from Herkimer county, New York, and settled on section 19 in 1832. He became a prominent man among the settlers, and was always enterprising and industrious. He was twice married, and finally removed to Eaton county, where he died. None of his family nor relatives are now living in Eckford.
Charles K. Palmer came from Rochester, New York, in 1832, and settled on section 19, on the open plain since known as " Palmer's plains." He built a log house on the west half of the northwest quarter of the section, and owned alto- gether one thousand and six acres of land. He was extremely ambitious, and in his efforts to build up the country he had settled in he finally became heavily in- volved, and was so unfortunate as to lose all his property. He felt the loss so deeply that he lost his reason from the effects of it. He was taken in charge by some parties, who started with him for Connecticut to place him in an asylum. On the way, while crossing Lake Erie, he took advantage of an opportunity af- forded him one dark night, and jumping overboard somewhere in the vicinity of Cleveland was drowned. His body was afterwards washed ashore and recovered by his friends. He lived but a few years on his place.
About 1832-33, William Herrick settled on the place now owned by Harvey Clark, on section 13. He located the first tract of land in the neighborhood. He is now deceased.
Charles Oiin, afterwards one of the associate judges of Calhoun County, located on the farm now owned by J. W. Pease, section 14, in 1833-34. He built a house in 1834. Has been dead a good many years.
Edward L. Rogers came from Norwich, New London county, Connecticut, and on the 11th of May, 1826, arrived at a place four miles from Ypsilanti, Washtenaw county, Michigan. He lived in that county until October, 1833, when he came to Calhoun and purchased two hundred and twenty acres of gov- ernment land, and two hundred acres more of his cousin, Elisha Rogers, who lived in Connecticut. Mr. Rogers cleared up three hundred acres of his land, and lived on the place thirty years. He came from Washtenaw county with his wife and one son, Edward, who now lives in Marshall, and was born in said county in 1830. One son was born in 1836, and died when but eighteen years of age. These were the only children of Mr. Rogers. The land on which he settled was on the fertile " Palmer's plain," and was one of the best farms in the township. It was located on sections 19 and 20, and he was the first settler upon it. His house stood on section 19, and was built of round burr-oak logs, hewed or "faced" on the inside. This house he occupied the entire time he lived on the farm. A wing was added to it, preparatory to building a large frame house, but he left before completing that. He now lives in Marshall. The last twenty years he lived on his farm he raised one hundred acres of wheat each year, and the last season before he left he raised one hundred and twenty acres. He was elected three successive terms to the office of justice of the peace,
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the first time in 1840, and was also assessor and school inspector a number of years. When he first came to Washtenaw county there were only about thirty families within its limits, the first ones having come in during the year 1824. It soon began rapidly to fill up, and when Mr. Rogers left it there was a considera- ble population within its borders.
Calvin Rogers* came from Orleans county, New York, and settled in Claren- don township in the spring of 1833, and removed to Eckford about 1851 or 1852. His son, Luther Rogers, came to the farm now occupied by him, on section 14, about 1863. Calvin Rogers died in the fall of 1853, aged fifty years, and his wife died in 1858, aged about fifty-three years.
Daniel Dunakin came from Clarkson, Monroe county, New York, in 1834, and settled on the farm where his family now lives, on section 25, where he took up eighty acres of government land. He brought his wife with him. She was a daughter of Elijah Cook, who came with them, and went back after his family the next spring (1835). Mr. Dunakin became a much-respected and prominent personage among the citizens of the township. He was supervisor for several years, and in 1856 was elected to the legislature. While in that body he used his influence and got a bill passed giving a charter to the " Hillsdale college," at Hillsdale, Michigan. Mr. Dunakin died the 16th of May, 1875, aged sixty-six years.
Eli T. Chase came from near Brockport, Monroe county, New York, in 1834, at the same time with Daniel Dunakin and Elijah Cook, and located on an eighty- acre lot adjoining Dunakin's land on the south, also on section 25. Mr. Chase has never voted outside of the township since he came to it. In September, 1837, he was married to Margaret A. Whitcomb, by whom he has had nine children, of whom six are now living. Mr. Chase was an officer in the militia company which was raised in the neighborhood during the famous "Toledo war." Daniel Dunakin was captain of the company. The troops went to Marshall at the time the Indians were removed from the vicinity, and that was about the last of their training.
Medad Bordwell was born in Shelburne, Massachusetts. In 1834 he came from Madison county, New York, where he was then living, and located two hun- dred and forty acres of government land, on sections 14 and 23, in Eckford. In May, 1835, he brought his family-consisting of his wife and eight children-to their new home, and lived upon it till June, 1865, when he died, having reached the age of seventy-five years. His wife died several years previous to that date. Four of Mr. Bordwell's children are now living-one son in Oregon, a daughter in Lansing, Michigan ; another son, who is a Congregational minister, in Iowa ; and another son, D. B. Bordwell, in Marshall, Michigan. The latter owns the old homestead in Eckford. When Medad Bordwell started from New York with his family, they were accompanied by several other families who were also coming west. Together they chartered a canal-boat on the Erie canal, and towed it to Buffalo with their own horses. From Buffalo to Detroit they came by water, and Mr. Bordwell-the only one of the number who came with his family to Eckford -here bought a yoke of oxen, and came through from Detroit to Eckford with them, -the trip occupying eight days, on account of terribly bad roads. A house was built of round logs, on section 14, and was eighteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions. This was occupied until 1841, when the frame house now standing was put up. The farm is in the midst of a beautiful and highly fertile plain.
Elijah Cook was born July 17, 1793, in Oneida county, New York. Some years later he removed to Clarkson, Monroe county, where he married Miss Cath- arine Roatruck. After coming to Michigan, in 1834, with Eli T. Chase and Daniel Dunakin, he returned to New York, and in the spring of 1835 came back with his family and settled on section 35. He afterwards purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 36. He lived on his place until his death, which occurred January 31, 1872, when he was nearly seventy-nine years of age. For a long time he had been a member of the Masonic lodge at Homer, and was also a member of the Free-Will Baptist church. Resolutions of sorrow at his death were passed by the quarterly meeting of that society, and also by the lodge of Masons to which he belonged. When he came through from New York with his family he drove through Canada with a span of horses. He raised eight children, of whom six are now living,-two sons and four daughters. In 1843, Mr. Cook was licensed to preach, and in 1845 he was publicly ordained as a min- ister of the gospel. One of his sons, Henry R. Cook, is living on section 2, in Clarendon township.
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