USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 52
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THE FIRST ANNUAL MEETING.
The first annual meeting was convened April 5, 1836, at the house of R. A. Abbott. Orris Clapp was called to the chair, and William M. Pearl and Daniel Rosseter were chosen clerks. Election proceeded, and resulted as follows : Super- visor, Chandler M. Church ; Town Clerk, Howell Bidwell ; Assessors, Orris Clapp, William C. White, and Reuben Abbott ; Justices of the Peace, William M. Pearl, Daniel Rosseter, Martin Tichnor, and Howell Bidwell ; Collector, J. W. Hicks ; Overseers of the Poor, William C. White and C. M. Church ; Commissioners of Highways, Phineas Spaulding, M. J. Lathrop, and Daniel Rosseter; Commis- sioners of Schools, W. C. White, J. P. Coonrad, and O. Clapp; Constables, J. W. Hicks, H. A. Stevens, Phineas Spaulding, and Cyrus Dutton ; and Fence-viewers, R. Abbott and William C. Harding. The following is a list of supervisors : C. M. Church, Campbell Waldo, David H. Miller, J. E. Wild, Thomas Burton, Cyrus Dutton, C. M. Cobb, William H. Bothwell, John Kreitzer, Samuel J. Henderson, David Verplank, R. B. Shipman, James Graves, and Wellington Bidwell.
EDUCATIONAL.
Primitive schools were started at an early date. The first of these was kept in a board shanty which stood on the farm of Howell Bidwell, whose daughter Ursula was the first teacher. Coeval with this school another was opened in 1832, by Henry Beeker, in a log house near the southern part of the town. A third school was commenced by James Hicks, on the Church place. The pioneer school- house of Sheridan was erected in 1838. It was of round logs, and was located on section 26, south of the road, and nearly opposite the present brick school-house site. Exclusive of the village graded schools, there are six schools in the township.
PIONEER TAVERNS.
In a log house located on the Territorial road in the west part of the town Reuben Abbott started the first tavern, long a landmark for westward-bound travelers. The hostess was active and obliging. More than once she set off on foot in the early morning, and traveled miles to obtain material for the breakfast of her guests.
Another tavern in the east part of town, on the same road, was kept for several years by Julius Chamberlain. In 1844 the advent of rail facilities marked a de- cline in travel on the old post-roads, and the taverns losing patronage closed their doors to the public. Pleasant hours were passed by old travelers sitting at evening time before the huge fireplaces, while the time sped swiftly under the charm of song and story. All important gatherings were held at the taverns; here the farmer came for mail and news. Newspapers were a rarity, and eager perusal followed when a chance paper was thrown from a passing stage.
PIONEER EXPERIENCE.
A man, now wealthy, came to Sheridan in early manhood, and erected a small shanty, his lone abode the first year. He built a log cabin, which was roofed but not closed upon the ends, and placed part of his land in crop. He was joined the
142
MARSH DICKEY.
L.H. EVERTS & CO., LITH. 7/6 FILBERT ST. PHILAD!
RESIDENCE AND FARM OF MARSH DICK
MRS.MARSH DICKEY.
DICKEY, SHERIDAN, CALHOUN CO., MICHIGAN.
GILBERT DEL.
1
DANIEL BILLINGHURST.
RESIDENCE OF DANIEL BILLINGHURST, SHERIDAN, CALHOUN CO., MICH.
143
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
second year by his mother and sisters. Having married, he built a small house, using rough boards, and borrowed an old stove from a neighbor. The inside being burned out, no baking was possible. His wife's mother presented an old tin re- flector, in which baking was done by placing it before the fire. The table was home-made. The chair-frames, purchased in Albion, were seated with bark, ob- tained at the swamp. That pioneer now occupies one of the finest residences in this section, and is the owner of a choice farm tract. His brother, with a similar experience, occupies the brick structure on the adjoining farm. Views of their homes are given in this work.
Again : a man came in with a family of six children and an aged mother. He worked out by the month, and thereby not only obtained their support but secured means to purchase a farm of forty acres. Alternating labor upon his land and for others, he accumulated sufficient to purchase a second forty-acre lot. At his death he had acquired a competence.
A BEAR STORY.
It has elsewhere been remarked the prevalence of bear, and their fondness for the flesh of hogs. The following is related of John Gay : he was called up late one night by neighbors who had treed a bear near his house. A young man re- siding with the family took the only gun in the house, and Gay, in passing the logging-ground of the previous day, armed himself with a handspike. A fire, kindled to restrain the untimely descent of the bear, blazed brightly at the foot of the tree, about which the gunless settlers kept guard. The gun was brought into requisition, and following the report the bear fell crashing through the branches, to the ground with a shattered shoulder. Gay advancing, struck heavily with the handspike, but was caught by the arm and a close encounter followed. The set- tler, despite powerful effort, was unable to free his arm. An unsuccessful attempt was made by a neighbor to get in a blow with an axe, which narrowly escaped in- juring Gay. The bear suddenly rising to its hind feet, with a supreme effort threw his antagonist several feet and made for the woods. A second shot closed the contest. The arm caught was badly lacerated, and clothing was rent in shreds.
EVENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
The first marriage in Sheridan was of Fernando Rathburn to Eunice Colf, on June 26, 1836. The first death in Sheridan was that of Valeria A. Tichnor, who was buried in a lot on the farm of W. A. Pearl. The old abutments of a log-
built bridge some eight rods below the present structure indicate the site of the first bridge across the Kalamazoo in this township. A saw-mill was erected in 1838 from logs taken from the farm of Rufus Burr, upon land now owned by Emery. The enterprise was undertaken by Daniel Rosseter and Reuben Abbott. The former dying, it was completed by Abbott, who operated it a few years and then let it fall to ruins. It was the only mill built in the township.
Blacksmithing was commenced in 1838, by Enoch Whipple, near the cross-roads. L. Wiselogle and Charles Muffley are blacksmiths of the present day. Improved agricultural machinery was first used in Sheridan by R. B. Shipman, who intro- duced a Buckeye mower. T. Soule introduced the first improved reaper. The Shipmans, R. B. and J. D., W. Rice, and T. Soule united to purchase a drill as an experiment, which proved a success. Sheridan has shown steady improvement in agriculture; well-tilled farms yield large returns. Many who came here in poverty have a moderate competence, the fruits of industry. Church attendance has been at Albion. Mills and manufactories are not found outside the village. The township is strictly rural, and abounds in fine farms. The modern residence has replaced the log cabin, in which, despite its rude accommodations, many happy days were passed. Therein the young settler and his bride began the world for themselves ; there children were born and reared, and associations known of life memory.
Prosperity is evinced in Sheridan by its large barns and granaries, and its wind- mills in extensive use to supply the various pasture-lots with water for the stock.
Population in 1874 .- Males, 877 ; females, 810; total, 1687.
Live-Stock .- Horses, 629 ; work oxen, 10; milch cows, 571 ; neat cattle, other than work oxen and cows, 477; swine, six months old, 961; sheep, six months old, 3602 ; sheep sheared 1873, 4255 ; mules, 9.
Wheat on the ground May, 1874, 3456 acres; wheat harvested 1873, 3145 acres ; corn harvested 1873, 1432 acres ; wheat raised 1873, 43,232 bushels ; corn raised 1873, 47,320 bushels ; other grain, 30,970 bushels; potatoes raised, 8017 bushels; hay cut, 1985 tons; wool sheared, 19,380 pounds; pork marketed, 209,280 pounds ; cheese made, 300 pounds; butter, 46,375 pounds ; fruit dried for market, 9702 pounds ; cider made, 624 gallons ; acres of orchards, 511; straw- berry vines, 2 acres; apples raised 1873, 18,378 bushels ; pears, 79 bushels ; plums, 2 bushels ; cherries, 328 bushels ; grapes, 13 hundredweight ; strawberries, 31 bushels ; currants and gooseberries, 105 bushels.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
REUBEN ABBOTT.
.
In eastern climes it little recks what a man himself may be, the honors have their source in ancestry ; far otherwise in these United States, or little could be said of Reuben Abbott. He was born in Great Barrington, Vermont, on July 9, 1797. Little is known of his parentage or early life. About the year 1816 he removed to New York and located near Albany, where he engaged in his trade of cordwainer. During September, 1818, he was married to Tryphena Abbott, a native of Albany, and two years and a month his senior in age. The Abbotts soon removed to Pittsford, Monroe county, and there Mr. Abbott engaged in farming and worked at intervals at his trade. Time had been when this locality was famed for wealth of soil, and western pioneers sent back from the peninsula like tales of marvelous fertility. Influenced thereby Mr. Abbott sold his farm, and, starting with his family, arrived at what is now the township of Sheridan, on September 29, 1831. He was the first settler in the township. He, at the time, entered eighty acres, to which he later added other eighty. This land is now the property of Reuben Emery. A log house, sixteen by twenty feet, was erected, and this structure, which was subsequently enlarged, was known for years as Abbott's Tavern and as the " Waterbury Post-Office," Mr. Abbott having received the appointment of postmaster.
In the Abbott Tavern was held the first town-meeting. The various offices of justice of the peace, assessor, and like positions requiring intelligence and discern- ment, were held by him. It is said that, although quiet and unassuming, his mind was firm and his convictions positive.
In 1838 himself and Daniel Rosseter began the construction of a saw-mill, but the death of the latter occurring meanwhile, failure resulted, and Abbott lost heavily.
Influenced by that strange yet general spirit of unrest which has ever resulted in migration, Mr. Abbott sold his Sheridan farm in 1844, and removed, first to Illinois, then to Wisconsin, where he died on July 31, 1869, aged seventy-two years. His wife had died in 1857.
Their descendants, six in number, are known as Samuel, Sylvester, Philander, William, Caroline, and Joshua. Of these Sylvester, a resident of Sheridan, is a prosperous owner of one of the best cultivated farms in the township.
THE SHIPMAN FAMILY.
LUMAN SHIPMAN, born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1789, served as a soldier during the war of 1812, and was stationed with his regiment at Sackett's Harbor. Term of enlistment having expired, he resumed civil life, and engaged in distilling at Rodman, New York. Later, he is found the owner of a farm in Perrinton, Monroe county. There, in 1820, he married Miss Fanny Burr, by whom he had two sons,-Robert B. and Joseph D. Shipman. Mrs. Shipman dying, the widower married her sister, Emily Burr, now the wife of Elijah Green.
In 1835, Mr. Shipman came to Michigan, entered eighty acres in Sheridan, and returning east, was engaged in preparing to move out with his family when he died.
The eldest of his two sons, ROBERT B. SHIPMAN, born January 6, 1821, left his father at the age of sixteen to earn his livelihood. During the summer season he found work with different farmers, and in winter attended the district schools. In the winter of 1838 he was a student of Pennfield academy, and in the year fol- lowing came out to Michigan, and settled on the land previously entered by his father. Having erected a frame of small size, he sent for his stepmother and her two daughters, whom he met at Plymouth, and escorted to their new home. Mr. Shipman has served as town supervisor, and ranks among Sheridan's prominent citizens. Miss Fanny Pierce, daughter of Amos B. Pierce, a settler in 1843 from Genesee county, New York, married Mr. Shipman in the year 1845.
The family at present consists of the parents and three children,-Ida May, . born August 3, 1857, and Oma and Orah, twins, born May 23, 1860.
JOSEPH D. SHIPMAN, the junior son, was born in Perrinton, Monroe county, New York, April 22, 1824. He resided at home until the death of his father, which occurred when Joseph was twelve years old, and continued to reside with
his mother, Fanny F. Burr Shipman, until their removal to Calhoun County, in 1842. At the death of his father Joseph was thrown entirely upon his own re- sources for his support and education, obtaining the latter principally at the dis- trict schools at the winter terms of the same. His final schooling was obtained under the instruction of Prof. C. C. Olds. When he arrived at Sheridan, in 1843, he had but two dollars and a half in his pocket, and lived with his brother in his cabin, the grandmother being the housekeeper, until the boys married, which events took place in 1845 and 1846, Joseph marrying on the third of February of the latter year, Jane Davis, a daughter of Reuben Davis, who settled in Cal- houn County in 1837-38. During the summer of 1846 Mr. Shipman worked the farm of his uncle, and in the fall of that year located on a portion of his father's original purchase, and built a house by putting stakes in the ground and putting up boards perpendicularly to inclose the same, and covering it with boards with a single slope. The cabin was twelve by sixteen feet, and high enough to stand up in, and nothing to spare, and had a single door and window. In this primitive dwelling the young couple lived until the second winter, when the husband built a more comfortable and roomy house, into which they removed. For four or five years Mr. Shipman's only means of conveyance was a yoke of oxen and a bob-sled, not being able to own a wagon. He has now, by dint of hard labor and judicious management, a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres and as good a house and barns as there are in the township, a view of which we present our readers on another page of our work. He has accumulated a large amount of money by the raising of fine-wooled sheep, an excellent flock of which he now has on his farm. The political sentiments of Mr. Shipman are and always have been in accord with those of the Democratic party, and, though in the minority, he has held several of the minor offices in his township. The children born to him by his wife Jane were Martha F., now Mrs. C. C. House, of Sheridan, born March 1, 1847; El- mina, now deceased, born May 1, 1848; and Jane D., now Mrs. Orrin Seaman, also of Sheridan, born September 18, 1850. Mrs. Shipman died October 4, 1850 ; and in 1851 Mr. Shipman, leaving his children with friends, crossed the plains to California, where he remained two years, principally engaged in mining. He re- turned to Sheridan in 1853, taught a winter term of school, and in September, 1854, was again married, to Esther Fowler, daughter of Edmund Fowler, late of Sheridan, now deceased. Mrs. Shipman was born March 27, 1830, and has borne to her husband three children,-Elva, now deceased, Alma J., born August 12, 1857, and now at home, and Edna, deceased. Mr. Shipman is at the present writing the purchasing agent of the Albion grange, No. 124.
DANIEL BILLINGHURST
was born in Pittsford, Ontario county (now Monroe), New York, November 26, 1810. His father, William Billinghurst, was quite a prominent man in his day, having represented his district in the State legislature, being one of those mem- bers who assisted at the first excavation of the Erie canal, near Rome, New York. He was born at Brighton, Sussex county, England, and it was from him that Brighton, in Monroe county, New York, received its name. He raised a family of twelve children, of whom the subject of our sketch was the third.
When quite young, Mr. Billinghurst accompanied his parents to Brighton, and from there he removed to Batavia, New York. In September, 1844, he removed to Michigan, and settled on the farm now occupied by Charles Rogers, in Sher- idan township. In 1861, he moved on to the farm where he now, and has since resided. It contains two hundred acres, and is remarkably well cultivated, and very fertile and productive.
On the 29th of January, 1833, he married Miss Jane Elizabeth Hatch, a native of Brighton, New York, by whom he had nine children, all living. May 25, 1859, his wife died, and, being left with a family of small children, he married soon afterwards to Laurelia T. Hatch, sister of his deceased wife. She was born at Brighton, October 5, 1827. This marriage was blessed with two chil- dren. Mr. Billinghurst has held several town offices, among others, that of justice of the peace, for one term; all of which he filled with general acceptability. In poli- tics he is a Jacksonian Democrat ; in religion, liberal. He is a man very extensively known and much respected by the people of the community in which he resides.
144
RUFUS BURR.
MRS. RUFUS BURR.
RESIDENCE IN 1838.
RESIDENCE OF RUFUS BURR, SHERIDAN, CALHOUN CO., MICHIGAN.
0
J. D. SHIPMAN.
MRS. J. D. SHIPMAN .
RESIDENCE OF J. D. SHIPMAN , SHERIDAN, CALHOUN CO., MICH.
145
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ASAHEL WARNER.
The subject of our present sketch is one of the leading farmers of the town- ship of Sheridan. He was born in Gorham township, Ontario county, New York, April 8, 1800. His parents, Wareham and Cynthia (Adams) Warner, were natives of Connecticut, from whence they emigrated to New York in the early part of the nineteenth century, and followed the business of farming, in the then unbroken forest of Ontario county, and subsequently removed into Mon- roe county. Asahel Warner came to Calhoun County in 1831, locating in Marshall, where he followed his trade, which was that of a carpenter, for several years. He assisted in the erection of the first mill in Marshall, hewing the plank and squaring the timber therefor, the same being raised by natural derricks formed by bending trees downwards, and the recoil assisting materially in bring- ing the heavy bents into position. In 1835, Mr. Warner assisted in the erection of the first saw-mill at Albion, the same being owned by his father and Tenney Peabody. He bought, at different times, three hundred and twenty acres of land in Marengo township, and located his residence thereon in 1836, where he re- mained until 1849, removing at that date to Albion, where he remained one year only, and then removed to Sheridan, to a farm he bought, on which he resided until 1862, when he disposed of the same, and bought his present location of three hundred and thirty-three acres, on section 33 in Sheridan, and section 4 in Albion. We present our readers a view of the commodious and comfortable farm-houses and barns of Mr. Warner on another page. On the 13th of May, 1846, Mr. Warner was united in the holy bonds of matrimony to Mary Jane, daughter of Noel and Nancy (Butler) Moore, who were natives of the State of New York. Mrs. Warner was born in Mendon, Monroe county, in the last- named State, in 1827. This union has been blessed with the following-named children : Corydon Adelbert, who is now on the old homestead with his parents ; Francis E., now deceased ; Corlinda Estella, now Mrs. Charles B. Oakes, of Battle Creek ; Asahel M. and Charles Ernest, both at home with their father and mother. Mr. Warner was engaged from 1851 to 1853 in mining in California. In politics he is a Democrat, and has ever been true to his party. Both himself and his worthy helpmeet are and have been prominent members of the Methodist church.
MARSH DICKEY.
The subject of this sketch, Marsh Dickey, though a quiet, modest, and unassum- ing gentleman, is none the less to be reckoned among those who have contributed to make Calhoun County what it is in point of excellence and importance among the sisterhood of counties in the Wolverine State. He has attended quietly to his own private affairs, and holds a'high place in the estimation of his neighbors and fellow-citizens. Averse to public life, he has pursued the path of the private citizen, thereby enjoying the comforts of domestic life, and escaping the rough jostling of partisan strife, and is now calmly enjoying the results of years of labor, a well-earned competency. He was born in Ackworth, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, July 12, 1808, of which State his parents, Benjamin and Isabella (Marsh) Dickey, were natives. The lad lived with his parents on the farm in Ackworth until he was fifteen years of age, at which time the family removed to the northern part of Vermont near the Canadian border, where Marsh resided for six years, removing when twenty-one years of age to Brockport, New York, where he worked one summer (1830) on a farm, and spent the summer of 1831 in traveling in Michigan. He returned to Brockport, and there and elsewhere in Monroe and Niagara counties spent the time until 1840, at which date he removed with his family to Fredonia, Calhoun County, Michigan, arriving there in November of that year. He purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Fre- donia, and improved the same, and together with other lands he had added to it subsequently sold in 1864, and bought a farm three miles west of Albion in Sheri- dan, on section 31, and on section 36 in Marengo, the same being his present loca- tion, which now contains two hundred and five acres. It was somewhat improved when he first bought it, but he has added largely to its value in improvements and buildings, a view of which may be seen on another page of our work. In October, 1834, Mr. Dickey was united in marriage to Susan, daughter of Orrin and Rhoda (Brainard) Smith, natives of Connecticut. This marriage, which has been a happy one, has been blessed with the following-named children : Sylvester B., now of Pilot, Illinois; George, who died in infancy ; Albert L., now on his own farm in Marengo; Francis, who died at sixteen years, while attending Albion college; and Anderson, on the old homestead with his father. Politically, Mr. Dickey is a Republican, having formerly been a member of the Whig party. For forty-seven years Mr. and Mrs. Dickey have been members of the Methodist church, and are now highly esteemed, by the society at Albion, for their works' sake.
CHANDLER M. CHURCH.
Among the prominent pioneers of Sheridan, Chandler Munson Church stood in the front. Prominent in every good work, his character challenges the admira- tion of all who knew him. He and his estimable companion, who survives him, and, as a token of her estimate of his worth, causes this tribute to be paid to his memory, were the foremost supporters of the Methodist Episcopal church of Albion, the former being also a most liberal supporter of the Albion female col- lege, in the establishment of which he was one of the prime movers. He was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, July 31, 1804. His parents, Jesse and Margery (Munson) Church, with their three children, removed to the town of Riga, Genesee county, New York, in the year 1806-07, then an unbroken wilder- ness. Chandler obtained such an education as he could acquire at the common. schools of the day, but so improved his meagre advantages that he was enabled. to assume the role of teacher in the grade of schools wherein he was once a pupil .. He subsequently acquired a knowledge of surveying, and followed and taught the profession. On the opening of the Erie canal he engaged in the forwarding busi- ness until 1834, at which time he emigrated to Calhoun County, Michigan, and located on section 33 in Sheridan, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres, to which he and Mrs. Church have added one hundred and forty acres more. It was of the original oak openings, but is at present one of the best-cultivated farms in the township. He migrated with his family from Monroe county, New York, traveling through Canada with an ox-team, being a month on the way, and when he had got finally settled in his cabin, with his household treasures, he had just two shillings left, and spent that for postage on a letter to the " old folks at home," telling them of the new home in the west. In 1851 Mr. Church and his wife went to California, where he followed farming in Nevada county until his death, which occurred November 22, 1857. Mr. Church commenced life poor in this world's goods, but by economy and good judgment, combined with untiring in- dustry, he amassed a handsome property both in Michigan and California. In politics he was a Democrat, and was elected the first supervisor for the township of Sheridan, and also held the offices of justice of the peace and postmaster for several years. Mr. Church and his wife joined the Methodist church, when young, in New York, he being the class-leader of the Albion church for many years.
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