USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 25
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In January, 1838, a second tragedy occurred in the Stanley home when the father of the lost child was killed by the caving in of a well.
In 1836, Abram Hadden, a brother of Amos, settled in the township. In 1839, Benjamin Thomas located in the north central part of the township. B. S. Ward, D. P. Wood, Joseph Gardinier, Stephen Aldrich, F. Garfield, John Weaver, T. S. Havens, Charles R. Thomas, Jesse Ackley were among the early comers and helped to make possible the Lee town- ship of today.
In 1836, a saw mill was built on Indian Creek by Sidney S. Alcott, who had located much of sections 6 and 7. The mill was operated for a number of years. Later it burned and was never rebuilt. It was the only water power mill ever operated in the township.
In 1844, the "Dover Company" was formed by G. W. Dwyer and Vol. 1-13
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others. This company purchased a large tract of timber in the vicinity of what is now the village of Partello. The company began the erection of a mill and some time after their failure to complete it the property was bought by J. R. Partello, who put up a saw mill in place of the one begun but which had fallen into decay. Within a year or two after completion, the mill was destroyed by fire. A like fate awaited its suc- cessor and no other was built. In 1856, a mill was erected at Lee Centre by Messrs. Fisher and Bean. It was operated by a Mr. Greenough in the manufacture of lumber and stoves. This mill burned in 1862 and was rebuilt as a stove mill only.
Scarcely had pioneers of Lee got their own cabin homes under roof before they began preparation for the education of their children. The first school house in Lee township was built in 1839 on land owned by Amos Hadden and situated in the southeast corner of the township. The first school in the northern part of the township was opened in 1845. Miss Sophia Stowell, who subsequently became the wife of Henry Crit- tenden of Albion, and who for many years was one of the elect ladies of that city, was the first teacher. With the increase of population and wealth, the school advantages of the town have improved and the children of the township, though there is no populous centre, do not have to go away from home to get the rudiments of an education.
In 1845, a Sunday school was organized in a school house on section 9. Two years later there was formed at Lee Centre a class of six members which was the nucleus of the church which has ever since existed there, and soon after a house of worship was built.
At Partello a well sustained church exists. At Rice Creek church facilities are afforded to all in that section who wish to attend.
Lee township was organized in 1840 and the first annual town meeting in the township was held at the home of F. Garfield, on the 6th day of April of that year. Mr. Garfield was chosen chairman and Sidney S. Alcott, clerk for the day. The following named officers were then duly elected: Supervisor, John Weaver; Town Clerk, F. Garfield; Treas- nrer, Jesse Ackley ; Collector, Benjamin Thomas; Assessors, F. Garfield, Amos Hadden, Stephen Aldrich; Justices, F. Garfield, T. S. S. Holmes, Amos Hadden. Charles R. Thomas; Overseers of Highways, Amos Had- den, Charles Thomas, F. Garfield, Jesse Ackley, Oliver Thomas; School Inspectors, Amos Hadden, Stephen Aldrich, Benjamin Thomas; Poor Masters, John Ackley, William Garfield; Constables, John Clough, E. Aldrich.
LEROY TOWNSHIP
It is claimed by some that this township was called LeRoy at the suggestion of David C. Fish, formerly of a town of that name in New York. Another historical claim is that to Mr. and Mrs. David C. Fish was born Angust 26, 1836, a son whom they called LeRoy, and was thought to be the first child born in the township, and in recognition of that event the proud mother suggested to Silas Kelsey, who had done much to get the township set off and organized, that the name of her first born son be the name given the township, which was accordingly done. But when the name LeRoy was recorded and published and the
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reason for its selection given and the date of the birth of LeRoy Fish given, along came the parents of Charles E. Baker, residents of the same township, and claimed that their son was born two months and nine days before baby Fish; and before either of these boys, the ancient chrono- logists say Esther A., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Cole, was born, May 1, 1836.
Whatever is the exact truth as to name and the reason given for choosing it, certain it is that the township called LeRoy was first known only by the surveyors' description as town 3, south, range 4, west, and that for several years it belonged to a confederation of which Athens, Burlington and Newton were co-members, and that not until by an act of the legislature of 1837-38 was it organized and named as above stated.
There is said to be an unusual diversity of soil in this township. On the west bordering on Kalamazoo county, there were beautiful burr oak plains and again some heavily timbered lands. The soil in this section was of the best. When the first settlers came, they found a large marsh extending through the central part of the township, running from the south in a northwesterly direction. Much of the low ground having been drained is now rated among the best land. This swamp or marsh divided the town into two sections, so that almost from the beginning it has been known as East and West LeRoy. There are but three small lakes and no streams of any consequence in the township.
The first settler in the township was William Bishop, who located on section 6 in the northwest corner. David C. Fish made a permanent set- tlement on section 1, in 1836. In this same year came Heman Baker, who located on section 7; Timothy Kelsey, Jonathan Sprague, wife, six sons and two daughters, settled on section 2. In 1837 among others who came were Dudley N. Bushnell, wife and two sons, accompanied by Silas Kelsey. John H. Bushnell, T. B. Barnum, John E. Mulholland, Isaac Hiscock, Polydore Hudson, who had been living for some years in Battle Creek, and Harlow Burdick all came into LeRoy some time during the year 1837.
Silas Kelsey is said to have erected in 1837 the first frame house in the town and in 1850 Chester Cole built the first brick house. The first school in the town was taught by Miss Hannah Sprague, daughter of Jonathan Sprague, in 1837, in district No. 1. The first saw mill was built on Pine Creek, by Jeremiah Drake and John Coats, in 1837. Truman S. Cole built a steam saw mill in 1847. This mill was destroyed by fire in 1856 and was never rebuilt. In the last named year a second steam saw mill was built by Andrew J. Quick at Quick's Corners. The first postoffice in the township was established in 1851 and Truman S. Cole was the first postmaster. Later an office was established in East LeRoy, but since the establishment of the rural free delivery, there has been no postoffice in the township. The first burying ground in West LeRoy was laid out in 1840 on land donated by Silas Kelsey. The first burying ground in East LeRoy was laid out in 1839-40 and was donated by Joshua Robinson. What is said to have been the first death in the township was a tragedy. In the spring of 1838 the clothes of Miss Harriet Kelsey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Kelsey, accidently
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caught fire and before assistance could be rendered she was fatally burned, death resulting in a short time. The fatality cast a gloom over the settlements all about.
The people who first settled in LeRoy township did not leave their religion behind them when they came to Michigan. As early as March 14, 1837, a Presbyterian church was organized, the meeting for that pur- pose being held in Climax. At a meeting held January 25, 1840, it was voted unanimously to change the name of the church from the First Presbyterian Church of Climax to the First Presbyterian Church of LeRoy. The ecclesiastical relation was changed from the Kalamazoo to the Marshall Presbytery. In March, 1846, by mutual consent of the official members, it was changed to the Congregational Church of LeRoy. This was under the pastorate of the Rev. Asa Bushnell. Many of the foremost citizens of the town have been enrolled as members of this church, among them may be mentioned Jonathan Sprague, Heman Baker, Silas Kelsey, William A. Sawyer, John H. Bushnell, Dudley N. Bush- nell, F. E. Bush, H. P. Nichols and S. O. Bush, and their influence for good is still felt in the town.
Here as elsewhere in Calhoun county, and in Michigan generally, the Methodists were early on the ground. A class was formed in 1837 and regular services were held when there were not more than sixty white people living in the township. In 1856 a cirenit was created in LeRoy and preaching was sustained at East, West and South LeRoy. Houses of worship, which are a credit to the town and its people, have been built at West LeRoy and East LeRoy. Among the people of LeRoy who have been identified with the Methodist Episcopal church may be men- tioned Ammon Mills, Thomas Sprague, Lyman R. Hall, Benjamin F. Morgan, R. Stanton, M. Canright and Joseph M. Fish in the east part of the town in the west part Mrs. Caroline MeNary, Francis Clark, Benjamin Griswold, Ammon Mills, Jr., Daniel Reasoner, Charles N. Farmer, D. W. Lay, L. Cole and S. N. Hyde. Sabbath schools have al- most from the beginning been maintained at each and all the churches named. In the moral and religious character of its people, LeRoy has always ranked among the foremost in the county.
In the days when to be called a "Black Abolitionist" was as hateful an epithet as could be hurled at one, there were those in LeRoy township who counted it an honor to be openly known as anti-slavery men. As early as 1840, Caleb Smith, J. H. Bushnell and Silas Kelsey stood up and were counted, by their votes, as the avowed friends of the slaves and the enemies of slavery. On the 4th of July, 1842, there was held in a grove on the farm of Silas Kelsey, a gathering of people from all over the county, and for many years was spoken of far and near as the "big meeting," which was addressed by Dr. Bennett, an eloquent anti- slavery orator. The sentiments proclaimed certainly gripped the com- munity, for it will be an everlasting distinction for the township of LeRoy that it was the first in the United States to give a majority in favor of the abolition of slavery. When the war, that was waged for the preservation of the Union, but resulted also in the destruction of slavery, broke out, LeRoy's sons were true to their fathers and struggled
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on the battlefield for the triumph of the sentiments that in childhood they had first enunciated at the fireside.
MARENGO TOWNSHIP
Marengo shares with Marshall the distinction of being the oldest settled community in the county. On the 16th day of June, 1831, four entries of land were made in the township by the following persons, viz: Seeley Neal, Asahel Warner, Elijah Crane and A. Drestin. Colonel John Ainsley and Erastus Kimball on the 4th of July. Joseph Ames, Thomas Chisholm, Alfred D. Wright, Elijah A. Bigelow, Nathan Pierce and Francis Phillip, all in the year of 1831. Several in this list came into local prominence. Nathan Pierce served in both the house and senate of the Michigan legislature. Seeley Neal was one of the com- missioners appointed to locate and survey the Territorial road. Alfred Killam and Melancthon J. Bagg came in May, 1832. Loren Maynard came in 1833 and put up a commodious log house on Section 23, and for nearly a dozen years kept tavern; his place being noted for hospitality. Maynard had a strong bend toward public life, serving at different times as postmaster, supervisor, sheriff and state senator. Dr. R. B. Porter, a graduate of Castleton College, Vermont, who came into the township in 1836, was the pioneer physician. Dr. Porter had an extensive prac- tice. His professional services were called for not only in Marengo, but in Sheridan, Eckford, Clarence and Albion. He was the father of William H. Porter, the present probate judge of the county. Judge Porter was the first native Marengoite to graduate from college.
Several of the men above named were in consultation, about the time the township was organized, as to what name should be given. The choice seemed to lay between Marengo and St. Cloud, with final selection of the former name. Originally the township embraced what now constitutes the townships of Marengo, Sheridan, Clarence and Lee. This was in accordance with the action of the Territorial council of 1834. By the surveyors' notes Marengo was known as township 2 South, Range 5 West and by action of the state legislature of 1836-7 the four townships above named were all organized as independent units. Excel- lent soil characterizes the land as a whole. The surface is rolling. The Kalamazoo river flows from east to west through the southern half, while Rice creek comes down into the township from the northeast as if to enter the Kalamazoo, but takes a sudden turn and flows to the south- west, later forming a junction with the Kalamazoo at Marshall.
Seeley Neal, whose family consisted of himself, wife and ten children, built the first white man's house in the township. It was a log structure, located on section 27 and on the south side of the Territorial road. It was nearly on the spot where later Colonel John Ainsley built his home, which is well remembered by many of the older settlers. The excellent water power in the township was early taken advantage of. In 1835 George Ketchum built a saw mill on Rice creek. A flouring and grist mill was built on the Kalamazoo river near Marengo village in 1839. While that mill was destroyed by fire, another was built, and grists now are ground at the Marengo mill as in the early days. Marengo had
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its boom in 1836-37. A plot was made and recorded, many buildings some public and others private, were put up. The speculator got in his work here, and when the financial collapse came, Marengo's ambitious outlook for the future went with it. In the year 1834, George W. Patti- son began teaming between Detroit and Marshall, and for a number of years he was the main dependence of the community, both as to freight and passengers.
George W. Dryer, with his family, arrived in the fall of 1833 and was the first justice of the peace in the village being appointed in 1835 by Stevens T. Mason, who was then acting governor. Messrs. Pattison and Dryer brought in the first stock of dry goods and groceries in 1834, which they sold in a short time to Harris and Austin. Pattison and Dryer then engaged in the stock business, buying considerable numbers of cattle both in Illinois and Indiana and bringing them to Michigan, where they found a ready market among the large numbers of new comers from the East. The township was long known for its fine quality of blooded sheep, and it is still one of the best stock townships in the county.
The first school in Marengo opened in the year 1833, in the house of Amos Kimball. In 1834, S. Powers taught in a house erected on the land of Thomas Chisholm. The first school house in Marengo village was put up in 1836, on the site of the present brick structure, and Miss Sarah Dennis was the teacher.
The first religious services held in Marengo were conducted by the Rev. Randall Hobart, of Marshall, who, as a local preacher in the Metho- dist Episcopal church performed a great deal of gratuitons service of a religious character in an early day among the people of the county. In 1853 there was built in Marengo village a Union church, a frame struc- ture, forty by fifty feet in size. The leading contributors to the build- ing fund of this church were: John Evans, S. G. Pattison, G. W. Dryer, R. B. Porter, Milo Soule, Alden Boughton, Augustus Lusk, Loren May- nard, Jacob Gardinier, Joseph Otis, O. D. Rogers, William Hewitt and William Hoskins. The donors are all gone, but the building, which their generosity made possible, still stands. It has been kept in good repair, and promises for many years to come to serve the people of Marengo as a place of public worship, to hold Sunday school, and from which to bury their dead. Men, who do these things for those who come after them, are worthy of remembrance. In 1842 a Methodist Protestant church was formed at Rice creek, near where the four townships of Ma- rengo, Sheridan, Clarence and Lee corner. A house of worship was built in 1853 and for sixty years it has furnished a meeting place for those living in that section, who are religiously inclined.
A postoffice was established in the winter of 1831-32, Seeley Neal being the first postmaster. The mail was frequently brought by the Rev. Elijah H. Pilcher, a well known pioneer preacher in the Methodist Epis- copal church. It was carried by him without compensation and simply as an accommodation. Sometimes it was brought by travelers, who are journeying westward through the place. The office being located on the Territorial road, made it very convenient for the volunteer carriers to both, bring and take the local mail. At this time the township, except the village of Marengo, is well cared for by rural carriers.
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The first annual town meeting was held on the first Monday in April, 1833, at the home of Seeley Neal. Joseph Ames was chosen chairman and Seeley Neal, clerk, pro tem. The following named were duly elected the first town officers: Seeley Neal, supervisor; Harmon Neal, clerk; Al- fred Killam, Reuben Abbott and Seeley Neal, assessors; Joseph Ames, Seeley Neal and Benjamin Wright, road commissioners; Harmon Neal, constable and collector; Joseph Ames and Reuben Abbott, directors of the poor ; Joseph Ames, overseer of roads. Those were great days for the politically ambitious. Every man was sure of an office, and some had two or three thrust upon them.
It will be seen by reference to the chapter on the Civil war, that Marengo has an enviable record in that titanic struggle. She not only put up her full quota of soldiers, but some of the bravest and most dis- tingnished men furnished by the county went from within her bor- ders. Marengo township has a record in war and in peace, for which her people need make no apologies.
MARSHALL TOWNSHIP
The history of Marshall City and township are so interrelated as to important events and the personnel having to do with them that the chapters elsewhere treating of various phases of the city covers much of the township. There are some things pertaining to the township that should be perpetuated.
As is generally known, Marshall, by authority of the Territorial council, originally embraced all of Calhoun county. It was named in honor of the great chief justice, John Marshall, who probably never had a superior if, indeed, an equal in the place he long filled in the highest court of our land. The various townships now composing the county, were gradually set off, and Marshall township, with its 36 sections of splendid land, well watered and well drained, took its place as one of the twenty township units that now compose the county. It so remained until 1859, when a block, two miles square, embracing the whole of sec- tions 25 and 26, the south half of sections 23 and 24 and the north half of sections 35 and 36, was set off and included in the corporate limits of the City of Marshall.
The township is generally level. Originally it was timbered with white and burr oak. The soil is a rich sandy loam, fertile and adapted to the growth of grains and fruits, such as are grown in this climate. The Kalamazoo river and Rice creek unite within the corporate limits of Marshall city, and flowing westward, leaves the township at Ceresco village. A fine water power exists at Ceresco, which has long been utilized for milling purposes. A saw mill was erected there as early as 1838 and the following year John D. Pierce, Joseph Frink and S. S. Alcott built a flouring mill at the village at a cost of $30,000.00. This mill was built of stone and fell down. In 1854, Charles T. Gorham had it rebuilt and later it burned. E. Morse and Co. had it rebuilt in 1869 and again it burned. In 1876 it was again rebuilt, this last time by H. J. Perrin. The last time it seemed to be a success.
The first settler in the county was a Mr. Fuller, who came in 1830
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and erected, about three miles north of the present City of Marshall, the first house in the county. John Bertram, in 1832, built on the Seminary lands, which he had bought of Samuel Camp, the first frame house in the county. Bertram also put up the first frame barn in the county. Thomas Knight came to the county in 1832, as did Henry Failing, who afterward removed to Tekonsha. Thomas Knight and Daniel Woolsey were among the early comers. These, with others of the pioneer settlers, helped to make Marshall township one of the garden spots of Michigan. Aside from the district schools, which were early established and have been well maintained in the township, the youth have had the advantage of the Marshall grade and high schools. So, too, the people have largely relied on Marshall City for church privileges.
Marshall and Ceresco furnish excellent shipping facilities, as the Michigan Central and what was termed the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw railroads run through both these places. Besides these, the electric interurban third rail system, running from Jackson to Kala- mazoo, affords hourly passenger service, besides an avenue, by which much freight is carried. Marshall township, the oldest in the county, maintains her early prestige for the intelligence, thrift and culture of her people.
NEWTON TOWNSHIP
This township takes its name from Newton, Massachusetts, at the sug- gestion of Benjamin Chamberlain, who was a native of the old Bay state and a resident of the own of Newton, near Boston. By the Government survey, the town is known as town 3 South, Range 7 West. Newton probably had more acres of heavy timber and fewer of "oak openings" and plains, than any other township in the county. Because of this condition, it is believed, the township was slow in settling. The pioneers generally avoided the heavy timbered lands because of the hard work in clearing and the delay in getting productive farms. The Not- tawa creek is the only stream that traverses the township, and this is not large enough to afford water power for mills. There are no lakes of any considerable size in the township. The soil is excellent and once cleared produced excellent crops.
The early settlers in Newton were principally from western New York. As a class they were hardy and resolute and determined to better their condition in the new country and to make homes for themselves, and their children. They built log houses for themselves and log houses for school and church purposes. One of the first things they sought was the education of their children, and closely allied with this was the moral and religious instruction, that came from the introduction of public worship, hence the preacher was welcome and there was no objection to using the school houses as places in which to hold religious services. People sunk their denominational differences for the common good. Not only the preaching services, but Sunday schools and the bible classes were well attended.
Granville Beardslee, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, came from Rochester, New York, in the fall of 1831. He was the first settler in the township, locating on section 1 and 12 in the northeast
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corner. Mr. Beardslee had about 400 acres, which he converted into an improved farm with good buildings and orchards. Jerry and Asa Wood- ward came in 1835, and located on section 3. George Smith settled on the south line of the town in 1833 on a very choice piece of land. His sons, Stephen, George and Henry, located in the same neighborhood and each and all became possessed and excellent farms. Harvey Smith settled near the center of the town and died on the same farm in 1863. He rendered the township a valuable service, by bringing in improved breeds of stock. George and John Cameron came about the same time as Harvey Smith and located near him. John and James Hardin came in 1835, and settled in the east part of the town. Benjamin Chamber- lin was one of the early comers, locating on section 15, in July, 1836. He gave much attention to the cultivating of fruit, in which he was very successful. He was one of Newton's esteemed and valuable citizens. Moses Gleason was another who figures conspicuously in the early history of the township, serving at different times as justice of the peace and Supervisor. Stephen Graham, John Pearl, John Van Fleet, Daniel Mer- ritt, James Dowling, Eleazer Donnelly and Asa Phelps may be listed among those who labored in the early days to largely make Newton township what it is now. The sons of these and other pioneers went out to do heroic service in the war for the preservation of the Union.
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