USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 44
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THOMAS W. ADAMS.
Thomas W. Adams was born in Buffalo, N. Y., March 6, 1832. His parents, John and Lilly (Shank- land) Adams, were natives of Scotland, and came to this county in 1826. The elder Adams was a manu- facturer of " Paisley shawls" in the old country, but established himself here in the wholesale and retail dry goods business, which he carried on extensively for many years. Thomas W. received a liberal com- mon school education and at the age of sixteen com- menced life as a clerk in a hardware store in Palmyra, N. Y. After several changes of location, he came to Dowagiac in 1868, where, with the exception of a few intervals, he has since resided. He first engaged in the grocery business, but that class of merchandis- ing not proving congenial, he engaged in the express business, and after a brief connection with a hardware house in Chicago, he returned to Dowagiac, and asso- ciated himself with the hardware firm of Ross & Co. In 1868, he bought into the firm, and has since been a member. Mr. Adams has not only connected him- self prominently with the business interests of this city, but has in all matters of public import taken a prominent part. He has filled acceptably several positions of trust and responsibility. In 1879, was Mayor of the city. In 1854, Mr. Adams was united in marriage with Miss Adelia, daughter of Asa Lyon, of Van Buren County. She was born in Catherine, Schuyler County, N. Y., April 15, 1832. They have a family of four children-Adelia, George, Thomas W., Jr., and Charles W.
STRAWTHER BOWLING.
Strawther Bowling was one of the early comers to Dowagiac, who was well and favorably known to its people as a good citizen and most worthy man. He was a native of Virginia, and emigrated from there to Ohio, and thence to Michigan, locating in Dowagiac in 1848. He lived in the town until his death at the age of fifty-six years, in 1870. He was a shoemaker, and carried on that trade during his entire term of residence in Dowagiac, except when filling the office of Justice of the Peace. With him, or at later periods, came to Michigan several of his brothers- Benjamin F., who is now in Marcellus Township ; Thomas, who afterward removed to Indiana, and several others. Mrs. F. M. Sanders, a daughter of the latter, and H. D., a son of Strawther Bowling, now reside in Dowagiac.
THE MCOMBER FAMILY.
The McOmber family became residents of the south- west corner (Section 30) of Wayne Township in the year 1837, and a portion of the village of Dowagiac was subsequently built upon their land. James Mc- Omber was born in the town of Berkley, Mass., Feb- ruary 28, 1801. His father died before he was born, and his mother still a widow, in 1805, removed with her children to Vermont. James was there married in 1824, to Nancy McArthur, and the pair took up their residence in Castleton. To them were born several children. In 1832, they removed to New York, and in 1834 to Michigan. They stopped in Adrian one winter, removed to Jackson in the spring of 1835, and, as we have said, to Wayne Township in 1837. They settled on the farm now owned by David McOmber (and owned also a part of the Jay McOmber farm). They had some trials in coming to their new home, that part of the journey between Kalamazoo and the site of Dowagiac alone occupying four days. Mr. McOmber was a surveyor, and spent much of his time in seeking locations for those who intended to become settlers, or who had a speculative interest in seeking purchases. He surveyed the road through the swamp by the Watson settlement, assisted by his sons, Patrick Hamilton, the Hills and the Watsons. Mr. McOmber continued to reside on his Wayne farm until his death (with the exception of two years spent in Kalamazoo), and was once elected Supervisor of the township. He entertained in his little log cabin many men who were passing through the country in the early forties, and five years after he made his settlement he built a larger house, in which he kept hotel. The stages of the Humphrey line stopped there until the railroad was built and the lohl-fashioned means of travel superseded by the iron 4
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
horse. A store was also kept in a portion of the house before the village was laid out, by Messrs. Goss & Darling. James McOmber died in December, 1848, and his wife in May, 1851. Their children were Susan N., born in April, 1825; Jay W., in 1826; Daniel M., in 1828; Angeline S., in 1830, and Marietta. The last named died in 1839. Susan N. married A. J. Wares in 1941, and built the Dowagiac House soon after the village was laid out. Their daughter Frankie, now Mrs. C. J. Geenleaf, was the first girl child born in Dowagiac. Jay W. Mc- Omber was married in 1861, and still lives in Dowagiac; Daniel M. still claims Cass County as his home ; Angeline S. was married to Charles Northrup in 1847, and died in 1861; Mrs. Wares is still living, a resi- dent of Fargo, D. T.
G. C., HORACE C. AND AZRO JONES.
The Jones brothers, G. C., Horace C. and Azro, were from Hopkinton, Merrimack County, N. H. G. C. was the first to emigrate to the West. He located in Cassopolis in 1846, and in 1850 removed to Dowa- giac and went into business with Joshua Lofland and Henley Lybrook, for whom he had clerked two years in Cassopolis. He has been actively engaged in busi - ness until very recently when he was succeeded by his son, W. D. Azro Jones came to Dowagiac in 1855, and Horace C. in 1857. Both have been prominently identified with the mercantile and gen- eral business interests of the town.
THE MOSHER FAMILY.
Ira D. Mosher and family settled on the site of Dowagiac in the fall of 1847, before the railroad was built. Mr. Mosher was one of the pioneers of the county, having located in Wayne Township in 1837. He was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., October 26, 1802. He married Fanny Johnson (who was born June 24, 1800), upon the 22d of May, 1822. They emigrated to Michigan in 1828, and settled in Wash- tenaw County, where they remained until they re- moved to Cass County in 1837. They were the parents of seven children, viz., Harriet D., born July 2, 1823 ; Zebedee, born July 13, 1825 ; Francis J., 'born March 22, 1828; Elizabeth S., born December 20, 1831; Marinda J., born September 18, 1833; Ethan, born November 8, 1838, and Elmer E., born June 12, 1842. Of these there now living-Zebedee, who resides in Iowa ; Ethan, a resident of the north- ern part of the State, and Francis J., the well-known grocer of Dowagiac. Elmer E. Mosher died in the service of his country. He enlisted in August, 1861, in Bustead's Battery of the Chicago Light Artillery,
and was very soon afterward transferred to Battery G, of the First New York Artillery. He died in the Mill Creek Hospital at Fortress Monroe, on the 15th of September, 1862. He possessed and deserved the reputation of being a brave soldier. Ira D. Mosher the pioneer and father of this family, died November 27, 1880, aged seventy-eight years. His wife, Fanny J. Mosher, died October 5, 1851.
I. S. BECRAFT.
In 1849, I. S. Becraft and family became settlers here. They boarded with the McOmbers until Mr. Becraft built, near the Methodist Church, a comfort- able dwelling (the first house in Dowagiac having an L or wing.) Mr. Becraft was a carpenter and builder, and, in connection with Daniel Heazlett, reared the Baptist Church and many other buildings in Dowagiac. He was born in Orange County, N. Y., in 1811, and died in 1865. His widow and a son, Julius O. Becraft, Deputy Postmaster, still reside in Dowagiac.
JOEL H. SMITH.
Capt. Joel H. Smith, who came into the embryo village from Cassopolis in January, 1848, with the first stock of goods, was born in 1820, in Oneida County, N. Y. He became a resident of Cassopolis in 1846. During the war of the rebellion, he organ- ized and commanded Company A, of the Nineteenth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry.
HENLEY C. LYBROOK.
Mr. Lybrook has been a resident of Dowagiac since 1850, and one of the heaviest merchants and general business men of the place during a long term of years. Few men in Cass County have had a wider acquaint- ance or a larger number of friends among its people. Perhaps none have enjoyed a fuller or better merited confidence than has he. For many years wher there was no bank in the village, and even after one had been established, it is said that it was a common thing for the farmers of the surrounding country who had a few hundred dollars they did not want to use, to deposit the same for safe keeping with Mr. Lybrook. Although his business was quite successful and he accumulated considerable property, his later years have brought reverses which have left him consider- ably poorer in worldly goods than in reputation and character. Ile was a native of Giles County, Va., and born November 28, 1802. He came to Cass County in 1830, and located in the southwest por- tion of Pokagon Township, where he taught school far a short time. In 1832, he moved to Cassopolis, where he resided until coming to Dowagiac, eighteen years later.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
NICHOLAS BOCK.
Mr. Bock was one of the earliest arrivals in the infant village, coming in the year 1848. He was born in Belgium, in May, 1800 ; came to American in 1832. He lived for a time in Missouri, and moved from that State to Michigan in 1840. He was thus a pioneer beyond the Mississippi before he became a pioneer in the Wolverine State. Shortly after his arrival in Dowagiac, he built the American House (now the Commercial), which he still owns, and of which he has been most of the time landlord. He has accumulated considerable property and recently built a fine brick residence, which is known as the Bock House, where he entertains "the wayfarer and the stranger" as he did in earlier years at the American.
GEORGE W. ANDREWS.
In 1850, came to the new village George W. and Julius C. Andrews, moving from Portage County, Ohio, whither the family had emigrated from Ver- mont. They opened the first hardware and tinning establishment in Dowagiac, occupying at the start the basement of the old American (now the Commercial) House. Julius C. Andrews removed in 1853, to Cali- fornia. George W. Andrews, who brought with him to the village his wife, Saralı A. (Jones), and two children, has ever since resided in Dowagiac and been one of its leading citizens. Soon after coming to the place, he was elected Justice of the Peace and has served most of the time since in that capacity. His brother, Luman, came to the State also in 1850, and to Dowagiac three or four years later.
CYRUS TUTHILL.
Cyrus Tuthill came into the county in 1855, from Middletown, Orange County, N. Y. (where he was born in the year 1827), and began the mercantile business in Dowagiac, which he followed for about six years. For fifteen years, or thereabouts, farming engaged his sole attention, but for the past six he has been Secretary of the Cass County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company.
WILLIAM K. PALMER.
William K. Palmer came to Dowagiac in 1854. He was born in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1825, and came to Tecumseh, Mich., with his parents when a boy; in 1837, removed with them to Wayne Township, Cass County, and subsequently to La Grange. He has been engaged in woolen manufact- ure, the dry goods and livery business, and is at present, a grocer (of the firm of Mosher & Palmer.) He was Sheriff of Cass County from 1861 to 1865, and has held several appointive Federal offices.
GIDEON GIBBS.
One of the most enterprising and well-to-do of Dowagiac's old residents is Gideon Gibbs. He has probably done more for the material improvement of the town-erected more substantial buildings within it than any other one man. He now owns, among other property, several fine business blocks which are ornaments to Front street. Mr. Gibbs and his wife, Martha (Hilton), whom he married in 1846, came into the village in 1851, and have resided in it ever since. Mr. Gibbs came into the county in 1841, with his father, David Gibbs, and removed to La Grange in 1843, where he resided until coming to Dowagiac. He was born in Litchfield County, Conn., September 16, 1820.
DANIEL LYLE.
Daniel Lyle, who is perhaps the most successful citizen of Dowagiac, came to the village in 1853, and began on a very small scale the harness and boot and shoe business. In 1865, he went into the banking business, which has since engrossed his attention, In 1869, he bought a controlling interest in the First National Bank, and has since then been its President. He was born in England in 1830, and came to this country with his parents when a child. His brother, G. H. Lyle, was born in Van Buren County, and located here in 1857.
BRIEF PERSONAL NOTES.
Thomas H. Adams, of the F. H. Ross hardware house, came to Dowagiac in 1861, from Steuben County, N. Y.
Dr. Thomas Rix has practiced dentistry in Dowagiac since 1864. He came from Clinton, Mich., but was originally from Vermont, where he was born in 1834.
William Griswold came to the village in 1857, from Battle Creek, where he had located in 1842. He came to Michigan in 1838, from Genesee County, N. Y.
William Houser, whose parents were early settlers in Pokagon Township, has resided in the town since 1862, and has been engaged in his present business since 1876.
Richard Heddon came here in 1860, from Keeler Township, Van Buren County, to which place he came from Genesec County, N. Y., in 1849. He was born in Devonshire, England, in 1820. For two years he was connected with the Basket Manufactur- ing Company of Dowagiac, and since the removal of the works to Chicago, has been traveling for the house operating. Ilis son James, who also lives in Dowagiac, is a noted bee culturist.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
J. G. Defendorf and family arrived in 1857. His sons are well known business, men in the community, Marvin, in the dry goods business, a member of the fırın of Dewey, Defendorf & Lyle, and Harmon the proprietor of a planing mill.
Louis Reshore, a native of France, a man who took a leading part in the business of the town, was an arrival of 1857 from Huron County, Ohio. He died in 1870, and the business which he established has since been carried on by the family.
Henry, a son of Adam Michael, of Virginia (who settled in Pokagon in 1830, and afterward removed to Berrien County, where he died in 1838), came to Dowagiac in 1851, and has ever since been a resident of the town, following the trade of a gunsmith.
Samuel Ingling (connected with the F. H. Ross hardware house) has been a resident of Dowagiac since 1864, at which time he left the army. He came to Michigan in 1847 from Ohio, and located at Browns- ville, Calvin Township, from which place hé removed to Newberg Township.
Hervey Bigelow came to Dowagiac in 1851, from La Grange village and began the furniture business which he still carries on. He was from Connecticut originally and settled in La Grange as early as 1837.
In the same year as the above came Abram Town- send, from Flowerfield.
The Larzeleres, Daniel, F. G. and William, came to the village in 1855 from Clinton, Lenawee County, Mich., where their parents were early settlers. Will- iam, who now resides in Dowagiac, has carried on the livery business since 1875. F. G. Larzelere, it will be remembered, was shot by a burglar in Carlin's store about twenty years ago, and quite seriously hurt.
Arthur Smith has been a resident of Dowagiac since 1863, and since 1877 has represented the town in the Board of Supervisors. He was born in Penn- sylvania in 1834; came to St. Joseph County, Mich., in 1857, and soon after removed to Cassopolis, where he was in business for five and a half years, most of the time with J. P. Osborne. He carried on harness- making for a number of years after his removal to Dowagiac, but was compelled to abandon it on account of poor health.
CHAPTER XXV.
POKAGON.
Arrival of Putnam-Incidents of his Journey-Baldwin Jenkins- Squire Thompson-Lewis Edwards-Alexander Rogers-The Pio- neer Plow and First Crop-Townsends-Markhams-The First Religlous Meeting-Organization of the Township-First Marriage -First Roads-Early Postal Facilities-Sauk War-Assessment of 1834-Shakspeare - State Hatchery -Churches-Civil List-Land Entries.
In the history of Cass County an especial interest attaches to Pokagon Township. It was the cherished dwelling-place of the last, lingering remnant of a once powerful Indian tribe, the name of whose " good chief" it perpetuates. The corn fields of the Potta- wotamies spread their verdure over the prairie for many summers, before the white man disputed posses- sion of the rich domain, and the region abounds in the legends and traditions of the race that has well-nigh passed away. But while the red man's occupation of the country affords romantic material for the imagina- tion, and is a fascinating field for the research and speculation of the antiquarian student, it is the fact that here was made the first white settlement which constitutes Pokagon as the " classic ground " of Cass County. Here came the vanguard of the pioneers- Uzziel Putnam. Here the little beginning was made of that development which, in half a century, has completely conquered the wilderness, and added it to the mighty realm of civilization. In its primeval condition, the region now known as Pokagon was a beautiful one, and this circumstance, which had made it one of the favorite localities of the Indians, in- fluenced the white settler to choose it for his future home. The beauty of the scene was supplemented by the promise of rich reward for the husbandman's toil. The fertile prairie was ready for the plow, and the luxuriance of the lofty forest trees attested the wealth of the soil which upbore them. The aspect of nature was kindly and inviting. And yet it was only through toil, privation and suffering, and incessant little acts of every day life, humble in themselves, but making up an aggregate of noble heroism that "the soil was won " by the pioneers and wrought into a splendid heritage for their children.
It is our purpose in this chapter to give some idea of the trials of Putnam, the pioneer, and to show who and what manner of men were those who followed him into Pokagon Township.
As early as 1821, the fame of the valley of St. Joseph had been carried by Indian traders and trappers to the frontier settlements in Ohio, and it excited in the minds of many adventurous individuals a desire to explore the region and to substantiate the representations made of its beauty, fertility and natural resources. Among the number was Baldwin
Wycie Particip.
HON. UZZIEL PUTNAM, JR.
The late Hon. Uzziel Putnam, Jr., was the first white child born Tin Cass County, "and he thus seemed to rightfully inherit the privilege of always being closely identified with its history." He was the son of the earliest pioneers of the county and the descendant of the old Green Mountain stock' which from time to time made the name of Putoam tamous in the history of the country.
The subject of our sketch was boro in Pokagon Township August 12, 1826, considerably less than a year from the time when his parents Uzziel and Anna (Chapman) Putnam built their first little cabin upon the prairie. A friend says of him: " Ile early manifested a thirst for knowledge, but in thit primitive day his home advantages for schooling wero very limited." He made the most' however, of anch opportunities as he had, and early in his teens attended school for two years in Niles. Then he went to Keysy lle, N. Y., where he remained a year ; afterward he wont to Albion and spent two years in study, and finally to Ann Arbor University, from which institution he graduated with high honors, after a four years' coura, in 1853. Mr. Putnam then read law for two years with Messrs. E. C. & C. I Walker, a prominent firm in Detroit. In July, 1455 he was admitted to the bar, but he never made very strenuous attempts to gain a practice, and devoted himself to the profession for only a brief perlod. He opened a law office in the then newly platted village of Pokagon, but soon abandoned it for the quiet home life upon the farm, to which he was accustomed and warmly attached.
Mr. Putnam'a strong native ability, his fine education and th. unwavering integrity of his nature commanded the respect and confidence of the people, and they called him to assume varione public trusts. IIn was School Inspector a number of years, Justice of the Peace for twelve years and was Cirenit Court tommissioner for one or twotorms. The higher offless which he filled, like the humble ones, came to him unsought, simply through the recognition and as the rewards of his manliness of character. He was a life-long It-public in . While he took a deep interest In public measures and in the success of party, he was not in any sense a politician. He was elected, in 1868, a Representative to
the Lower House of the Legislative Assembly, And in 1870,chosen as State Senator. While in the Senate, in 1871-72, he served upon three committees-those on Agriculture, on Enrolled Bills, and on State Library, being chairman of the last named. Ile served his constituency with ability and faithfulness, at the same time keeping in consideration all of the broader duties which he owed to the people at large. In January, 1874, he was appointed by Gov. Bagley a member of the Board of State Commissioners for the supervision of charitable, pennl, pauper and reformatory institutions, and in January, 1877, was re-appointed by Gov. Croswell, and held the position until his death. He wuen also President of the Cass County Pioneer Society, a position for which he seemed peculiarly fitted, not alone trom the fact that he was the oldest native of the county, but because of the livoly interest which he exhibited in all matters of early history and pioneer experience.
Mr. Putnam was twice married. His firet wife was Jane, daughter of Lewis Clyborne, one of the pioneers of Pokagon-though at the time of the marriage, January 9, 1862-the family resided at Gulesburg, Ill. Mrs. Putnam died February 14, 1871, leaving one child, Mabel, born April 8, 1869, Upon the 16th 01 February, 1875, after remaining four years single, Mr. Putnam was united with Miss Lizzio Finch, daughter of Col. Caleb Finch, who was one of the early settlers of Knox County, Ill. The offspring of this union was one child, Hilda L., born November 29, 1875.
Surrounded by the blessings of family life, enjoying the friendship of thou- sauds, possessing the respect of all who knew him, when Uzziel Putnam had scarcely passed beyond the prime of life he was taken from life. His death oc- curred February 10, 1879.
One who knew him vory intimately, writes : " He was a friend to the poor, a friend of education, of good morale and of everything that would elevate and enobile his fellows. Ilia character rested on a granite basis and sustained a high publle virtue and private integrity that nothing could corrupt. Ile has left streaming behind the bright effulgence of his character, to illumine the way for others, and to lighten and soothe the sorrows of bereavement. ITis life is hie eulogy."
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Jenkins, who, in company with five others, left his home in Ohio for a tour of exploration in October of 1824. On their arrival at the trading-post at Fort Wayne, his companions declined to go any further into the unbroken wilderness. Sending a hasty dis- patch to his wife, and taking a pack of provisions on his back, he started alone, taking the direction of the Wabash River, and followed it down to a trading post, where the present city of La Fayette now stands.
Retracing his steps to a French trading post, on the present site of the city of Logansport, he struck north toward the St. Joseph River, reaching it where South Bend nowstands, and following down the south bank to Cary Mission, one inile west of the present city of Niles.
After exploring the southeastern part of Cass and Berrien Counties, he returned up the St. Joseph River to mouth of the Elkhart, and, after following the course of that stream some distance, he took a south- easterly direction to Fort Wayne, and from thence to his home in Ohio.
In the same year, Abram Townsend, who then re- sided in Sandusky County, Ohio, visited the St. Joseph country for the purpose of exploration. On his return home, he gave a most flattering account of what he had seen, and prepared to remove with his family to Pokagon Prairie ; his statements were cor- roborated by an Indian trader by the name of An- drus Parker, who had also explored the valley of St. Joseph.
The neighbors of Townsend listened with interest to his narratives ; they were convinced that beautiful homes, located in a rich and fertile valley, and easily won competences were within their reach. Public meetings were held for consultation, and it was re- solved that they would emigrate as a colony with him to the beautiful region which he had explored.
Among those who attended this meeting was Uzziel Putnam, then thirty-two years of age and in the prime of his strength. The glowing accounts of fertile prai- ries, extensive meadows luxuriant with native grasses, affording hay and pasturage in prodigal abundance; of its belts of majestic timber, its oak openings car- peted with flowers, and offering a broad and unob- structed highway, awakened in him a spirit of advent- ure, and he was thoroughly convinced that it was a favored spot for one commencing the world with only his natural resources for his capital.
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