USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 13
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There is something quite engaging in the contem- plation of the rude, free life of the trapper, and the joys that must have been his in traversing so beautiful a region while it was still in a state of nature.
But it is the advent of the white man as a perma- nent settler which must most interest all of those per- sons who now enjoy, or in the future shall enjoy, those blessings which the pioneers of Cass County, having laboriously earned, left to them as a free but priceless legacy .
The first permanent settlement in the interior of Michigan was made in Oakland County in the spring of 1817.
In the preceding chapter a full history has been given of that guiding star of the pioneer, the Carey Mission, founded by the zealous McCoy in 1822. The effect of that missionary station in the wilderness has been fully described. It was the center of settle- ment for Cass and Berrien Counties.
The first actual settler in Berrien County was Squire Thompson, who located at Niles, in 1823, and brought his family there in the following year.
In 1825, upon the 22d of November, Uzziel Put- nam made the primal settlement in Cass County, moving onto Pokagon Prairie, where he lived until his death, in the summer of 1881, witnessing that won- derful work of development which in a half century converted the surrounding country from an uninhabited and trackless expanse of woods and prairies into one of the best improved and most beautiful farming regions of the West. Baldwin Jenkins was the second settler, and arrived in less than a week from the time that Put-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
nam came into the country. In the spring of 1827, Squire Thompson removed from Niles to Pokagon. The settlement was further increased by the arrival of Ira Putnam and Lewis Edwards.
In the meantime the southern part of the county became the scene of pioneer beginnings, Ezra Beardsley making his home, in 182 i, upon the prairie in Ontwa, which bears his name.
In the following year, the Pokagon settlement re- received accessions to its population in the persons of William Garwood and Israel Markham with his several sons, and Beardsley was cheered by the arrival of sev- eral neighbors, among whom were George and Sylves- ter Meacham, George Crawford and Chester Sage.
Very naturally the earliest locations were made upon the prairies, and the heavy timbered land from which farms could only be hewn out by almost hercu- lean toil were as a rule the last chosen by immigrants. Many of the pioneers had already experienced a battle with the forest in Ohio or Indiana, and for such the prairies possessed beauties which were hidden from other eyes.
La Grange Prairie was the scene of the next settle- ment, and Abraham Townsend was the first man who built a cabin there. His son, Gamaliel, and himself, with other members of the family, arrived upon the 1st of March. Soon after, came Lawrence and James Cavanaugh and Abraham Loux, and in October Thomas McKenney and James Dickson settled on the prairie which bears the name of the former. In the same month, the family of William R. Wright located on La Grange Prairie.
Penn Township was permanently settled soon after La Grange and had some squatter residents at a prior date. Joseph Frakes, who arrived in 1827, was the first of these. In 1828, after a short visit to Ohio, he returned, with his bride, and subsequently removed to Kalamazoo County. He made the positive state- ment to the writer of his biography in the history of that county that he was the first settler in Penn. In 1828. settlements were also made by Rodney Hinkley, Daniel Shaffer, John Reed and some others, all of whom, however, sold out their claims the following season, except Shaffer. John Reed conveyed his im- provement to Daniel McIntosh. Other settlers of 1829 were George Jones and his sons, John Price, John Rinehart and sons, Stephen Bogue, William MeCleary and Martin Shields.
Jefferson Township was settled in October, 1828, by Nathan Norton, Abner Tharp, Moses and Will- iam Reames, all of whom made permanent locations except Tharp. IIe removed to Calvin in the spring of 1829, and in 1830 returned to Jefferson. He soon after went to one of the Western States, but sub-
sequently returned and settled in Brownsville. John Reed moved into the township from Penn, in the fall of 1829, and was the second settler there.
In Porter, John Baldwin was the pioneer, locating on the prairie which bears his name, in 1828. Will- iam Tibbetts and Daniel Shellhammer settled in the south part of the township in 1829, and John White in the north part the same year.
Volinia was settled in 1829. Samuel and Dolphin Morris arrived upon the 27th of March, and three days later Jonathan Gard settled on Gard's Prairie, and Elijah Goble and Samuel Rich, on the western side of Little Prairie Ronde. Both parties were guided to their locations by Squire Thompson, of Pokagon. In the same season, Jacob Morland and Jacob Charles arrived, and in the following year Josephus Gard, William Tietsort, John Curry and Samuel and Alexander Fulton.
Elam Beardsley was the first settler in Mason in 1830, and Denis Beardsley was the second settler, coming into the township in 1832.
Howard was settled some time prior to Mason, but the exact date is not known. The pioneer of this township was William Kirk.
Milton Township was settled about the same time as Mason, but it is not absolutely known who was the first settler. The honor belongs either to John IIudson or J. Mellville. The latter purchased land Septem- ber 24, 1829.
In Newberg the first settlement was made by John. Bair, in 1831. IIe located in the southern part of the township. Daniel Driskell and George Poe ar- rived in 1833. The township was settled slowly until after 1837.
Wayne Township was settled in 1833, and Jacob Zimmerman was probably the pioneer.
In Silver Creek the pioneer was James McDaniel, who located there in 1834. Jacob A. Suits became a settler in 1836, and there were but three other men in the township when he arrived, viz., MeDaniel, John Barney and Jacob Van Horn.
Marcellus was the last township in the county to be settled. Joseph Haight, who arrived in 1836, was the earliest resident .*
These whom we have named, their cotemporaries and those who followed closely after them were among the pioneers of one of the grandest armies earth ever knew -an army which came not to conquer with fire, and force and carnage, but to hew away the forest, to till the prairie's pregnant soil, to make the wilderness blossom as the rose-the army of peace and civiliza- tion. The pioneers were the valiant vanguard of snel
* The subject of settlement is very briefly treated here, as it formun the larger portion of each and every chapter of township history.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
an army as this-an army which, after the passing of half a century, has not fully occupied the country which it has conquered, but whose hosts are still fast and irresistibly pressing onward.
The settlement of Cass County did not proceed uniformly or unbrokenly. Several disturbing in- fluences had an effect upon the current of emigra- tion.
The first of these was the scare which the far-away Sank or Black Hawk war created in 1832. The scene of actual hostilities was in Western Illinois and Wisconsin ; but the inhabitants of the less remote West were, and not without some reason, very much alarmed. There was no telegraph then as now to convey the news, and it came in the form of vague rumors, and imagination picture l a hundred horrors for every one related. There were two grounds of fear ; first that the terrible Sauks would invade the country, and second that the Pottawatomies, scattered through Southwestern Michigan, would become inflamed by news of the hostilities and either join the force of Black Hawk or wage war independently. When the dread tidings of the Sauk uprising were received at Chicago, the Government agent there sent an express to Michigan asking for the aid of the militia of the Territory in defending that point, Gen. Joseph W. Brown commanded his brigade to take the field, ap- pointing Niles as the place of rendezvous. Those who arrived there by the 24th of May were mustered and marched out toward Chicago. Cass County furnished as many men as her small population would allow. The news was brought to Cassopolis by Col. A. Houston and communicated to Abram Tietsort, Jr., whose duty it was, as Sergeant of the company, to notify members of the order issued by their com- mander. Isaac Shurte was Captain, and Gamaliel Townsend, one of the Lieutenants. There was great agitation in the scattered prairie settlements of the county as the order to turn out was carried from house to house, and still greater when the men started away from their homes for what their wives and chil- dren supposed was to be mortal combat with the fero- cious Sauks and Foxes.
The terror of those left unprotected `was very real and very intense, although when the actual condition of affairs was learned, when it was found that there had been no hostile Indians within two or three hun- dred miles of Michigan, some of the occurrences dur- ing the season of supposed danger appeared rather ridiculous. The few settlers in the central part of the county seriously considered the project of taking refuge upon the island in Diamond Lake and for- tifying it against the enemy, and would undoubtedly have done so had their suspense not been ended just
when it was. The plan was certainly a feasible one, and it is altogether probable that in past ages the island has served exactly the same purpose to which the alarmed inhabitants proposed to put it in 1832. It is an admirable natural stronghold.
In the Volinia settlement-upon the farm of Elijah Goble or possibly that of Jacob Charles, the women began to erect a fortification, but had not made much progress with their work when Samuel Morris and the Rev. Mr. Pettit arrived with information which allayed their fears.
During the absence of the militiamen from the settlements, it was a common thing for the few males who remained at home, and the women and children, to abandon their cabins at night and sleep in such hiding-places as they could find. They were in con- stant fear that the war-whoop of the Indian would assail their ears, and that their cabins would be fired to light the scenes of butchery that would follow.
One squad of the militia returning home in the evening, when near Cassopolis, greatly alarmed a family by the name of Parker, by firing off their guns. The firing was intended to serve as the signal of joyful home-coming, but Parker mistook it for the noise of battle and fled precipitately to the bank of Stone Lake, and throwing himself into his canoe, paddled in great haste to the center of the little sheet of water, where he remained until morning.
One individual in La Grange Township, who was prejudiced against labor, remonstrated against the planting of corn during the season of supposed danger. " Why," said he, " what is the use; by harvest time there won't one of us have a scalp on our heads."
Many of the militiamen did not go farther from home than Niles, but they each received a full month's pay and a land warrant. But whatever of benefit ac- crued to individuals was more than counterbalanced by the effect upon the country at large. Immigration was almost completely checked. Rumors of the scare found their way East, and many who contem- plated coming into the country either abandoned their plans altogether and sought locations in Ohio, or de- layed their settlement in Michigan for a year or so. Interviews with the pioneers of Cass County reveal the fact that very few of them arrived in 1832.
Another cause which affected immigration to South- western Michigan was nothing more or less than a heavy frost which occurred in June, 1835. It created great damage to the growing crops, and the impres- sion went abroad that a land in which such a catas- trophe could come to the husbandman was not a desirable one to emigrate to. The reputation of the climate received a blow from which it did not fully recover for a number of years. Of course the frost
LEWIS EDWARDS.
MRS. LEWIS EDWARDS.
LEWIS EDWARDS.
Lewis Edwards, or, 'Squire Edwards, as he was fa- miliarly known during his lifetime, was perhaps more prominently connected with the initial events in the history of Cass County than any one else.
He witnessed its transition from a wilderness to a highly productive and fertile country, from a sparsely settled region to a busy and prosperous community, and in his own person so typified the agencies that wrought these changes that no history of Cass County would be complete without an extended and elaborate sketch of his life and that of his worthy wife, who, per- haps, is entitled to almost as much prominence as he,
as she bore with him the trials, hardships and depri- vations of the early days.
He left an enviable name and an unspotted repu- tation, and so long as anything is known of the history of the county of which he was one of the founders, the name of Lewis Edwards will be held in grateful remembrance by those who will be reaping the benefits of his self-sacrificing toil, and the many things he did to advance the interests of the county.
To his son, Lewis, the patrons of this volume are indebted for the portraits of this eminent couple, and to his nephew, Joseph R. Edwards, of Cassopolis, for the ably written sketch of his life, which will be found on another page in this history.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
in June was a phenomenal occurrence. It has never been paralleled in Cass or the adjoining counties. Farmers who were living in the county at the time suffered quite severe losses. Very little other than prairie land was in cultivation at that time, and hence the loss was general. Corn and all other growing crops were cut to the ground. The wheat crop was an almost total failure. Many of the settlers did not have enough for seed, and had to go long distances to procure sufficient quantities for sowing ; and it often happened, such was the scarcity of money in those days, that they were obliged to pay for it in labor. There is some dispute among old residents as to the exact date of the occurrence of this frost of 1835 ; but good authority places it in the night of the 19-20th of June.
Notwithstanding the effect of the frost in retarding immigration, the records show that the land sales of 1836 were larger than those of any former or subse- quent year. Just how much they would have ex- ceeded the amount actually reached, had not the frost occurred, cannot of course be determined. That in Cass County at least, the entries would have been far more numerous is beyond dispute. It is probable, however, that the report concerning climatic severity did not reach the full measure of its effect until 1837.
CHAPTER X.
PIONEER LIFE.
Beauty of the Country in a State of Nature-C'abin Building Described -- Furniture and Household Utensils-Food-First Mill-Occupations of the Pioneers-" Breaking"-Women Spinning and Weaving Social Amenities-First General Pioneer Gathering at Elijah Goble's in 1837-Character of the Pioneers-Two Classes-Job Wright, of Diamond Lake Island, as a Type of the Eccentric Class.
T
THE pioneers who penetrated Southwestern Michi-
gan found a land as fertile and as fair to look upon as heart could wish. In the spring the woods were odorous with the spicy exhalations of bursting buds, and the prairies were jeweled with strange and brilliant flowers-" the stars that in earth's firmament do shine "-while the luxuriant growth of tall, wav- ing grass gave evidence of the strength of the virgin soil which it clothed. One early settler (George Red- field, of Ontwa, whose eyes for the last ten years have been closed to the beauties of nature which he so well loved) gives an enthusiastic description of the loveli- ness of the scene which met his gaze when he first visited Cass County. The profusion and the variety of the wild flowers was remarkable. They gleamed through the cool, green grass in countless millions. Mr. Redfield owns seven or eight hundred acres of Beardsley's Prairie, which has been for years in a su- perb condition of cultivation and inclosed with miles
of living fence, but he says that the land has never appeared so beautiful to his eyes as it did when in a state of nature.
The long aisles of the forest led away into mazes of vernal green and twilight shadow, where the swift deer bounded by or paused to hear the rolling echoes of the woodman's ax. The underbrush nearly every- where had been annually burned away by the Indians, and where the ground was level the vistas stretched far away, there being nothing to obstruct the vision but the brown boles of the trees which appeared like innumerable pillars supporting the fretted ceiling of a vast temple.
The placid and pellucid waters of the little lakes mirrored the overhanging boughs of the great trees which lined their banks and lent brightness and variety to the view.
All about were displayed the lavish bounties of nature. Animate life abounded in forest and in lake. Game was plenty. The waters teemed with fish. Water fowl-swans, geese and ducks-were in their season present in great flocks.
But the pioneers came not to enjoy a life of lotus- eating ease. They could admire the pristine beauty of the scenes around them; they could enjoy the vernal green of the great forest and the loveliness of all the works of nature; they could look forward with happy anticipation to the life they were to lead in the midst of all this beauty and to the rich reward that would be theirs for the cultivation of the mellow, fer- tile soil, but they had first to work.
The pioneers arriving at their places of destination after long and tedious journeying over Indian trails or roads rudely improved by the whites, as a rule brought very little with them with which to begin the battle of life. They had brave hearts and strong arms, however, and possessed invincible determina- tion. Sometimes the men came on without their families to make a beginning, but more often all came together. The first thing done after a rude, tempo- rary shelter had been provided, was to prepare a little spot of ground for the growth of some kind of a crop. If the location was in the woods, this was done by girdling the trees, clearing away the under-brush (if there chanced to he any), and sweeping the surface with fire. Ten, fifteen, twenty, or even thirty acres of land might thus be prepared and planted the first season. In the autumn, the crop would be carefully gathered and garnered with the least possible waste ; for it was the chief food supply of the pioneer and his family, and life itself might possibly depend upon its safe preservation.
While the first crop was growing, the pioneer busied himself with the building of his cabin, which
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
must answer as a shelter from the storms of the com- ing winter, and perhaps serve as a protection from the ravages of wild beasts. The pioneer who was com- pletely isolated from his fellow-men, occupied an unenviable situation ; for, without assistance, he could construct only a poor habitation. In such cases, the cabin was generally made of light logs or poles,. and was laid up roughly only to answer the purpose of temporary shelter, until other settlers should come into the vicinity, by whose help a more solid structure could be built. Usually a number of families came into the country together, and located within such distance of each other that they were enabled to per- form many friendly and neighborly offices. After the first year or two had elapsed from the first settle- ment of the county, there was no difficulty experienced in cabin-building. Assistance was always readily given a pioneer by all of the scattered residents of the country within a radius of several miles. The com- monly-followed plan of erecting a log cabin was through a union of labor. The site of the cabin home was generally selected with reference to a good water supply. It was often by a never-failing spring of pure water, or if such could not be found in a location otherwise desirable, it was not uncommon to first dig a well. If water was reached, preparations were made for building near the well. When the cabin was to be built, the few men in the neighbor- hood gathered at the site and first cut down within as close proximity as possible the requisite number of trees, as nearly of a size as could be found, but rang- ing from a foot to fifteen inches in diameter. Logs were chopped from these and rolled to the common center where they were to be used. Often this pre- liminary part of the work was performed by the prospective occupant of the cabin. If not, it would consume the greater part of the day. The entire labor of erecting the cabin would commonly occupy two or three days. The logs were raised to their position by the use of hand-spikes and " skid-poles," and men standing at the corners with axes notched them as fast as they were laid in position. The place of " corner-man " was one of honor.
When the cabin was built a few logs high, the work became more difficult. The gables were formed by beveling the logs and making them shorter and shorter, as each additional one was laid in place. These logs in the gables were held in position by poles which extended across the cabin from end to end, and which served also as rafters upon which to lay the rived "clapboard " roof. The so-called " clapboards" were five or six feet in length, and were split from oak or ash logs, and made as smooth and flat as possible. They were laid side by side,
and other pieces of split stuff were laid over the cracks so as to effectually keep out the rain. Upon these were laid logs to hold them in place, and the logs were held by blocks of wood placed between them.
An important part of the structure was the chim- ney. In rare cases it was made of stone, but most commonly of logs and sticks laid up in a manner similar to those which formed the cabin. It was in nearly all cases built outside of the cabin, and at its base a huge opening was cut through the wall for a fire-place. The sticks in the chimney were held in place and protected from fire by a plastering of mud. Flat stones were procured for the back and jambs of the fire-place. An opening was chopped or sawed in the logs on one side of the cabin for a doorway. Pieces of hewn timber, three or four inches thick, were fastened on each side by wooden pins to the ends of the logs, and the door (if there was one), was fastened to one of these by wooden or leathern hinges. The door itself was a clumsy piece of woodwork. It was made of boards rived from an oak log, and held together by heavy cross-pieces. There was a wooden latch upon the inside, raised from without by a string which passed through a gimlet hole. From this mode of construction arose the old and well-known hospita- ble saying, "You will find the latch-string always out." It was only pulled in at night, and the door was thus fastened. Some of the cabins of the pioneers had no door of the kind here described, but instead merely a blanket suspended at the opening.
. The window was a small opening, often devoid of anything resembling a sash or glass. In lieu of the latter, greased paper was frequently used and some- times an old garment constituted a curtain, which was the only protection from sun or rain.
The floor of the cabin was made of puncheons- pieces of timber split from trees about cighteen inches in diameter, and hewed smooth with a broad ax. They were usually half the length of the floor. Some of the cabins earliest erected in this part of the county had nothing but earth floors. Occasionally there was a cabin which had a cellar, that is a small excavation under the floor, to which access was had by removing a loose puncheon. Very commonly the cabins were provided with lofts. The loft was used for various purposes, and among others as the " guest chamber." It was reached by a ladder, the sides of which were split pieces of sapling.
While the labor of building a rough log cabin would be concluded in two or three days, the occu- pant was often employed for months in finishing and furnishing it. The walls had to be "chinked and daubed," various conveniences provided and a few rude articles of furniture manufactured.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
A forked stick set in the floor and supporting two poles, the other ends of which rested upon the logs at the end and side of the cabin, formed a bedstead. A common form of table was a split slab supported by four rustie legs set in auger holes. Three-legged stools were made in similar simple manner. Pegs driven in auger holes in the logs of the wall supported shelves, and upon others was displayed the limited wardrobe of the family. A few other pegs or perhaps a pair of deer horns formed a rack where hung the rifle and powder horn which no cabin was without.
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