USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 5
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
The surplus wheat of the crop of 1840 was placed by the Statesman at 268,000 bushels, and of other grain at 44,000 bushels, and the surplus pork; butter, and cheese, at 350 tons. In 1847 there were shipped from Calhoun County, by the Michigan Central railroad, 104,037 barrels of flour, being 10,000 more barrels than Jackson and Kalamazoo combined, and 40,000 more than Jackson alone.
PRODUCTS OF THE PRESENT.
The census of 1874 gives the following exhibit of farm lands and products raised in 1873: 65,777 acres in wheat produced 951,828 bushels, and 27,711 acres in corn produced 1,079,161 bushels, and there were of other grain raised 417,681 bushels. Potatoes, 144,533 bushels ; hay, 31,377 tons ; wool, 486,355 pounds ; pork marketed, 2,331,092 pounds ; cheese made, 16,498 pounds; butter, 1,019,921 pounds ; fruit dried for market, 212,008 pounds ; cider made, 11,309, and 110 gallons of wine, with 8380 pounds of maple-sugar; 8284 acres in or- chards, vineyards, small fruits, melons, and garden vegetables produced 325,427 bushels of apples, 30 bushels of peaches, 1465 bushels of pears, 72 bushels of plums, 5865 bushels cherries, 665 hundredweight of grapes, 387 bushels straw- berries, 1744 bushels currants and gooseberries, and 30,844 bushels melons and vegetables, the value of all such fruit and garden vegetables being $115,791. In 1874 there were owned in the county 10,664 horses, 134 mules, 446 work oxen, 10,804 cows, 9490 other neat cattle one year old and over, 22,712 swine over six months old, and 81,465 sheep over six months old. There were 439,629 acres of taxable land in the county, and 1546 acres exempt from taxation, the latter valued at $999,735. The improved lands covered an area of 242,529 acres. There were 3786 farms, averaging 103.89 acres. The lands exempted from taxa- tion included 842.46 acres railroad grounds, 213.75 acres owned by poor persons unable to pay taxes, 100.75 acres in school sites, 46.25 acres church property, 146.50 acres burying grounds, 7 acres fair grounds, 177.75 acres other public purposes, and 12 acres for libraries and benevolent institutions, etc.
The manufactures of the county of Calhoun have been in times past much more flourishing than now, but they are such at the present time as to be no inconsid- erable portion of the wealth of the community. They began at a very small point and have enlarged to a magnificent circle, that brings to the notice of a large area of our country the products of that branch of Calhoun's industries. The first manufacture of any kind in the county, aside from the Indian or pioneer mill, -hollowed out of a stump and an iron wedge lashed into a stick attached to a spring pole, to beat and bruise the corn,-was the saw-mill built by George Ketchum, on Rice creek, in Marshall, in the summer of 1831. He followed this with a flouring-mill, which began to be operated the latter part of 1832, and was for years patronized from all portions of the county. Benjamin Wright was the millwright. A. B. Cook began the manufacture of wagons in 1832, the first one built in the county being sold, by him, to S. Camp, who ran it as a stage between Jackson and Marshall, the summer of 1833. Mr. Cook's shop and machinery were somewhat primitive. While the grist-mill was in process of construction and nearing its completion, the tub-wheel being in position, Mr. Cook obtained permission to attach his turning-lathe to the shaft and use it for a day or so. He made his attachment with a gearing attached to a tamarack-pole connecting with his lathe, and thus obtained power by which he turned two sets of wagon-hubs and some table- and bedstead-legs, working one day and night thereat. With these he made two tables, two bedsteads, and two wagons, giving one of the former to Mr. Ketchum, and keeping the other himself, which is in his house at the present time. Asahel Warner hewed and squared the plank and timber for the first saw-mill, and the bents were raised by means of trees bent down, by the recoil of which the men were greatly aided in their work. In 1835 the first saw- mill was erected at Albion, by Tenney Peabody and Wareham Warner. In 1837,
17
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Asa B. Cook, Sidney Ketchum, and Arza C. Robinson began the erection of the first stone flouring-mill in the county. The Ketchum mill was a frame building, twenty-five by thirty-five feet on the ground, with a basement and one and a half story, and two run of burr-stone. The stone mill had four run of stone, and was devoted to merchant work. They hauled their flour to Ypsilanti at first, and then to Ann Arbor. In 1837, during the great emigration, flour rose to twenty dollars per barrel, but fell off again in the fall, and wheat sold at one dollar per bushel. The first oil-mill erected in the State was built in Marshall, by Lewis Wilson and Darius Clark, in 1839, and the farmers went into the flax culture, but it was not a long-lived business. The first furniture manufacturing, aside from Mr. Cook's first venture, was done by H. W. Pendleton, in Marshall, in 1833. He was succeeded by F. A. Kingsbury in 1835, who conducted an ex- tensive business. The first foundry built in the county was erected by Lansing Kingsbury and Josiah Leffer, in the spring of 1836, in Marshall. Douglass built thrashing-machines in the same place in 1843, or thereabouts. In 1836, Judge Dickey engaged extensively in the manufacture of fanning-mills, selling them all over the county and into Indiana, and west to Niles. In 1840, J. D. Pierce and Frink built a flouring-mill at Ceresco, which did an extensive business for many years, and one on the same site is now in operation. Mr. Alcott also had a mill in Marengo in 1840. At one time it was shown by the census reports that Calhoun had more run of stone in operation within her boundaries than any other county in the State. In 1873, Oakland county only exceeded her ; Calhoun having seventy-two runs, and Oakland ninety-three runs. The great manufacturing establishments of the present, in the county, are Nichols & Shep- herd's foundry and machine-shop in Battle Creek, and the Gale Manufacturing Company of Albion, besides the heavy flouring-mills in various parts of the county. In 1841 there were thirteen flour-mills in the county, with forty-one run of stone; twenty-one saw-mills; two iron-foundries ; two carding-machines ; one oil-mill, and one limestone quarry, whose estimated product, in pounds, was placed at one thousand five hundred and eighty-five tons. The capital invested in business in the county in mercantile and manufacturing transactions was placed at five hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There were thirty merchants then. The first tannery operated in the county was one at Albion, in 1842.
PIONEER ARTISANS.
The first blacksmith who built and worked in his own shop was Peter Chis- holm, who worked in the village of Marshall in the summer of 1831. The first carpenter to follow his trade for a business was Asahel Warner, also in Marshall, and the first job was done on George Ketchum's saw-mill, in hewing the plank and squaring the timber for the same. L. G. Crossman was also a pioneer carpen- ter, and followed his trade from March 1, 1832, for five or more years. The first shoemaker was H. C. Goodrich, also of Marshall, whither he came in 1831. The first wagon-maker and furniture-manufacturer was Asa B. Cook, in Marshall, in 1832. The first tailor was William R. McCall, who opened his shop in Marshall in 1833, and still continues to ply his vocation in that city; when he first came he had to bake his goose at a neighbor's. H. W. Pendleton was the first chair- manufacturer, and was also the first to follow furniture-making as a business, and he began in Marshall, in 1833. S. S. Burpee was the first tinsmith in the county, and he was at Marshall too, in 1835. In 1874, there were over one thousand five hundred artisans of all kinds in the county.
PIONEER TRADERS.
The first merchant to open a stock of goods for retailing, aside from the Indian traders, was Charles D. Smith, who brought a small stock of general merchandise to Marshall in 1832; and Messrs. Trowbridge and Babcock (the former now a resident of Kalamazoo), agents of Charles Winslow, of Brockport, New York, opened the second stock of similar goods in the winter of 1833-34. The first hard- ware stock was that of Schuyler and Wallingford, who opened the same in the same locality, in 1836-37. The first-named partner, Montgomery Schuyler, has been for the past twenty-five years an eminent Episcopalian divine of St. Louis, Missouri. The first drug-store opened was that of Drs. Comstock & Mont- gomery, in 1836, though the other merchants kept an assortment of standard drugs and medicines. A. O. Hyde opened his stock in Marshall in 1840, and still con- tinues therein. There were in 1874 three hundred and five merchants of all classes in the county.
MANUFACTURES OF THE PRESENT.
In 1873 there were in the county the following manufactories : twenty flouring- mills, three of which were operated by steam- and seventeen by water-power, having seventy-two run of stone, employing sixty persons, and an investment of $337,000, which manufactured one hundred and twenty thousand nine hundred and thirty-three barrels of flour, valued at $1;063,731 ; twenty-one saw-mills,
six operated by steam and fifteen by water, employed forty-two persons and an investment of $53,700, and manufactured three million nine hundred and seventy- one thousand three hundred feet of lumber, valued at $69,580; six planing- mills and sash, door, and blind factories, four operated by steam- and two by water- power, employed fifty-four persons and a capital of $48,500, whose product was valued at $59,500; six machine-shops and foundries, three steam-, two water- and one other power, employed two hundred and ninety-eight persons and a capi- tal of $636,500, whose products were valued at $718,800; three steam- and one water-power agricultural implement works employed one hundred and five men, $119,000 capital, and produced goods valued at $145,000 ; five carriage- and wagon- factories employed seventy-seven persons, $83,800 capital, and manufactured $87,- 500 worth of stock ; two steam chair- and furniture-factories employed fifty-one persons, $36,200 capital, and their product was valued at $62,500; two pump- factories, steam- and water-power, employed seventeen persons, $15,000 capital, and manufactured stock valued at $17,000; one stave-heading and hoop factory, steam, employed eight persons, $3000 capital, and its product was valued at $7200; five cooperage factories employed thirty-three persons, $11,050 capital, and produced goods valued at $37,200 ; two tanneries employed eighteen persons, $44,500 capital, and their product was valued at $38,000; three saddle, harness, and trunk factories employed nineteen persons, $13,000 capital, and their product was valued at $34,000; one axe and edge-tool factory employed ten persons, $11,000 capital, whose product was valued at $50,000; two breweries employed four persons and a capital of $7000, which brewed one thousand barrels of beer, valued at $7500; two tobacco and cigar manufactories employed sixty-six per- sons and a capital of $50,500, whose product was valued at $88,800; one paper- mill employed fifteen persons and a capital of $20,000, whose product was valued at $50,000; one boot and shoe factory employed eleven persons and $1300 capital, and produced $9000 worth of stock; two clothing manufactories, one steam- and one water-power. employed eighty-four persons, and a capital of $84,- 500, whose product was valued at $129,000 ; one soap-factory used three persons and $2500 capital, and made $1800 worth of the saponaceous compound; two vinegar and cider establishments employed four persons and $1000 capital, and made $2000 worth of cider and vinegar; one brick-yard employed eight men and $1500 capital, and made $8000 worth of goods ; three marble-works or stone- yards employed ten persons and $11,000 capital, whose product was valued at $18,000; one gun shop, one blank-book manufactory, and one chewing-gum factory employed thirty-one men and a capital of $12,200, whose product was valued at $27,700. The aggregate of manufactures in 1873 included one hun- dred establishments, twenty-seven operated by steam, forty-four by water, and twenty-three by other power, one thousand and thirty-eight employees, and over $1,600,000 capital, whose products were valued at over $2,750,000.
BANKING.
The facilities for exchange between the east and west in the early days of Calhoun's settlement were meagre, and when the merchant flouring-mills were built, flour was the medium of transmission between the western merchants and their eastern creditors. But banks were not only a necessity even in those early days, but also a decided convenience ; and soon after the settlement at Marshall had acquired a permanency, steps were taken to establish a medium of exchange and discount, and a place of deposit for surplus funds of the mercantile and manu- facturing community. The Calhoun County bank was chartered in 1836 under the safety fund system ; Sidney Ketchum being the first and only president and George S. Wright the first cashier, W. B. Porter afterwards succeeding as cashier. Its capital was one hundred thousand dollars, and it continued to do business until September 15, 1840, when it ceased operations. Mr. Ketchum was the manager of the institution during its entire career. The history of its organiza- tion is briefly this: There were at the time two rival portions of Marshall vil- lage,-the upper and lower village, the east and west ends of the same. The west end was the town, and the east principally a frog-pond. The west end mag- nates were Dr. Hays, S. Camp, Charles D. Smith, S. S. Alcott, and others, and the eastern ones the Ketchums, Sidney and George. The books were opened at the National-now the Facey-House, and the stock was being subscribed by the west-enders quietly, no one having appeared from the east end until towards evening, when, just before the closing of the books, George Ketchum came in, took up the book, and looked it over, after which he took his seat and began to subscribe for himself and friends various amounts of stock, and pay into the hat, the receptacle for the first cash instalment, the five per cent. of the subscrip- tions demanded on the same. The subscriptions grew apace and the money accumulated in the hat, until the west-enders began to grow alarmed as they saw the Ketchums and their adherents getting control of the stock, and the fairy visions of bank directorships, presidency, and cashierships began to dissipate into thin air ; whereupon Smith, by a coup de main, got possession of the book,
3
18
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
when Ketchum reached for the deposits, which he succeeded in retaining, and the work of organization was suspended. However, the matter was compromised by the Ketchums securing a controlling interest, and a bank building was erected just inside the line of the plat of the lower village, and business operations carried on there.
The next attempt at banking was under the "wild-cat" system, the felines which afflicted Calhoun with their ravages being the banks of Marshall, Battle Creek, Homer, and Albion, organized in the early part of the summer of 1837. Horace Brace was president and Joseph C. Frink cashier of the one at Mar- shall, and the office of the bank was in the new court-house in 1838, but the close of the year saw the claws of the " varmints" extracted, and their power for mis- chief annihilated, together with the system that gave them birth. Their capital authorized by law was four hundred thousand dollars. Private banking was carried on successfully from 1840, at Marshall, by Charles T. Gorham, and Horace J. Perrin later, and by others in Battle Creek, but no regularly chartered bank was organized after the collapse of the Calhoun County bank in 1840, until the Bank of Michigan was organized in 1863 in Marshall, under the State banking law, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars; Joseph Sibley president, William Powell cashier, which was subsequently reorganized as the National bank of Michigan, Horace J. Perrin president, in 1865.
There are at the present time five National banks in the county ; the National bank of Michigan, the First National and City National of Marshall, First National of Battle Creek, and National Exchange of Albion, with a capital, surplus, and undivided profits in January, 1877, amounting to $842,909.67. Their outstanding circulation amounted to $432,800, secured by United States bonds amounting to $484,000. Their deposits, on certificate and subject to check, were $473,123.99, and their loans and discounts amounted to $902,617.34. Their real estate, furniture, and fixtures were valued at $72,249.44, and there were due them from approved reserve agents, other National and State banks, and bankers $124,277.47. Their cash on hand in their vaults amounted to $102,078.66, and their redemption fund with the United States treasurer, five per cent. of their circulation, amounted to $20,980; their total assets being $1,769,555.89, and their total liabilities, other than to their individual stockholders and on account of their circulation, being $493,846.22.
CHAPTER VIL.
CIVIL ORGANIZATION-COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES-FIRST OFFICIAL ACT-EARLIEST DATED DEED-FIRST VILLAGE PLATS-THE COURTS, CIR- CUIT, COUNTY, AND PROBATE-CELEBRATED CAUSES-BOARD OF SUPER- VISORS-ASSESSMENTS AND TAXES-COUNTY BUILDINGS-COURT-HOUSE, JAIL, AND ALMSHOUSE-SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR.
THE boundaries of Calhoun County were assigned by the legislative council of the Territory of Michigan, October 29, 1829, and were as follows : " So much of the country as lies south of the base line, and north of line between townships 4 and 5, south of the base line, and west of the line between ranges 3 and 4, west of the meridian, and east of the line between ranges 8 and 9, west of the meridian, be and the same is hereby set off into a separate county, and the name thereof shall be Calhoun." The county was so named in honor of John C. Cal- houn, who was then a member of President Jackson's cabinet. On the 4th day of November, 1829, Calhoun County was attached to St. Joseph county for judicial purposes, which connection continued until July 30, 1830, when Kala- mazoo county was organized, and Calhoun was attached to it, for similar purposes. At the date of the attachment of the county to St. Joseph, all of the country embracing the unorganized counties of Branch, Calhoun, and Eaton, and the country lying north of Eaton, was formed into one township, called Green, which sent one supervisor, Seth Dunham, to the October meeting of the board of super- visors of St. Joseph county, in 1830, which board was composed of four members : two from St. Joseph county proper,-Luther Newton, of White Pigeon, and Henry Powers, of Nottaway prairie; and one from Kalamazoo county, then organized, together with territory to the north, as the township of Brady; William Duncan, and Dunham as before named, from Green.
In the year 1831 Governor Porter appointed Roger Sprague, Thomas Rowland, and Joseph W. Torrey commissioners to locate the county-seat of Calhoun County, and they reported in favor of its location " at a point in the line dividing sections 25 and 26, township 2 south, range 6 west (Marshall), at or very near the centre of the west half of northwest quarter section 25, and east half of northeast
quarter section 26, being northeast distant about three miles from the geograph- ical centre of the county. Governor Porter issued his proclamation establishing the same in accordance with the commissioners' report, October 17, 1831.
On the 29th of June, 1832, the whole county was organized into one township, called Marshal, as the name was then spelled, and the first town-meeting ordered to be held at the school-house, in the village of Marshal, on the first Tuesday of September following. General Isaac E. Crary was appointed the first justice of the peace for the township, then under the jurisdiction of Kalamazoo county. On the 6th day of March, 1833, Calhoun County was organized, and a term of the circuit court of the Territory ordered to be held therein in November follow- ing, to which court all suits pending in any court or before any justice of the peace in Kalamazoo county were to be transferred to prosecute to final judgment and execution, and all taxes levied in Calhoun were to be collected there the same as though it was unorganized. On the 29th of March the township of Marshall was reorganized, and its boundaries limited to townships 3 and 4 south in ranges 4 and 5 west, and townships 1, 2, 3, and 4 in range 6 west, and the name changed to Marshall, in honor of the chief-justice of the United States supreme court. At the same date the townships of Marengo and Milton were organized, the former including within its boundaries townships 1 and 2 south, ranges 4 and 5 west, and the first town-meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Loren Maynard. Milton included townships 1, 2, 3, and 4 south, in ranges 7 and 8 west ; and the first town-meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Pollidore Hud- son. In 1840 the name of the township was changed to Battle Creek, after the stream of that name passing through it, and included then a single government township,-township 2, range 8. On March 7, 1834, Homer township was organ- ized, and included in its limits townships 3 and 4 south, ranges 4 and 5 west ; and the first town-meeting was directed to be held at Barney's. On March 17, 1835, Athens township was organized, including townships 3 and 4 south, ranges 7 and 8 west, and the first town-meeting appointed at Lot Whitcomb's house. Eckford, Sheridan, and Tekonsha were set off into separate townships in 1836, and included township 3, range 5 west, township 2, range 6 west, and township 4, range 6 west, respectively within their limits. In 1837, Burlington, Albion, and Convis were set off as independent sovereignties, and included in their boundaries town- ships 3 and 4, range 7 west, township 3 south, range 4, and township 1 south, range 6 west, respectively. In 1838, the townships of Cady, Clarendon, Fredo- nia, Le Roy, Newton, and Pennfield were assigned a separate civil existence, and included a single government township each in their limits, viz. : Cady (which was changed to Emmett in 1839), township 2 south, range 7; Clarendon, township 4 south, range 5; Fredonia, township 4 south, range 6; Le Roy, township 3 south, range 8 ; Newton, township 3 south, range 7; Pennfield, township 1, range 7. In 1839, a township including township 1 south, range 4, was set off under the name of Pinckney, and the name changed in 1841 to Clarence. Bedford was also organized in 1839, and included, as at present, township 1 south, range 8. Lee was organized in 1840, making the roll of townships complete, and included, as at present, township 1, range 5. The cities of Battle Creek and Marshall were chartered as independent municipalities in 1859, and include four sections each in their limits, viz. : Battle Creek, sections 1 and 2, township 2 south, range 8, and sections 6 and 7, township 2 south, range 7; Marshall, sections 25 and 26 south, one-half sections 23 and 24, and north one-half sections 35 and 36, township 2 south, range 6.
The county of Calhoun was surveyed into townships, in 1824, by William Mul- lett, and subdivided into sections, in 1825, by Lyon and others.
The first official act performed by a Calhoun County officer, so far as the same appears of record, was performed by Charles D. Smith, deputy register of probate and deeds, by filing for record a deed executed by Tyrus and Content Hurd, of Niagara county, New York (parents of Isaac N. Hurd, deceased), by Jarvis Hurd, attorney in fact, in favor of Hiram Hurd, grantee, on the 3d day of June, 1833, the deed being executed the same day. It was recorded in liber A, page 1, of deeds.
THE EARLIEST DATED DEED
is, probably, one executed by Andrew L. Hays and Clarissa his wife to Samuel Camp, both parties of Calhoun County, which, for the expressed consideration of four hundred and fifty dollars, conveys to Camp the east half of northwest quarter and west half of northeast quarter section 36, township 2 south, range 6 west. It is dated January 7, 1832, and was acknowledged before Calvin Smith, justice of the peace, of Calhoun County, and recorded July 19, 1833, in liber A, page 27, of deeds.
The first village plat recorded was that of the " Lower village of Marshall," which was platted on the 26th of August, 1831, and recorded in Kalamazoo August 29, 1831. The proprietors of the plat were Sidney Ketchum, Isaac N. Hurd, George Ketchum, and Calvin Smith. The " Upper village of Marshall" was sur- veyed by Oshea Wilder for Sidney Ketchum, proprietor, and located on the east
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.