USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 49
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Some time in March, Mr. Edwards proceeded to Uzziel Putnam's, on Pokagon Prairie, and remained at his home three or four weeks, while he built his log house, on Pokagon Prairie, ready for occupation. He brought along a set of carpenter's tools, and being skillful with them, he soon had the windows and doors, etc., in the house, and bedsteads and furniture impro- vised, and his little family domiciled in his rude but comfortable home. He brought in the bottom of his wagon four iron kettles ; sap troughs and spiles were readily prepared, and a sugar camp started, and plenty of maple syrup and sugar made for family nse. He also brought out a peck of apple seed, and planted a nursery. He made several trips back to Ohio, and brought out fruit trees, stock, farming utensils, dried fruit, etc., for himself and neighbors. He always took a deep interest in fruit culture, and at an early day ob- tained grafts of his father in New Jersey, of some of the finest fruit in that State. He undoubtedly had for many years the finest and greatest variety of apples of any man in the county. In pears. he was equally as successful.
The raising of stock, especially of horses and cattle, received a due share of his attention, and he expended considerable time and money in securing good breeds, and was successful in raising some fine specimens.
He remained on his farm, extending his improve- ments, raising his family, witnessing the constantly increasing settlements around him, the building of railroads, the growth and development of the country, until 1852, when he determined on another Western adventure.
Ilis daughter, Mrs. Lucien Heath, of Niles, being in ill health, Mr. Heath had determined to make the overland trip to Oregon with family. Mr. Edwards
entertaining fears that they would not be able to make the long and perilous journey alone, and being greatly attached to his noble daughter-his " eldest born"- concluded to accompany them. The outfit consisted of one four-horse team, one two-horse spring wagon, three extra horses, two cows and young cattle, thirteen head in all, with an ample supply of provisions, etc., and they started on their journey on the 23d day of March, 1852. After encountering the usual difficul- ties, hardships and deprivations incident to the over- land trip, and a long and wearisome journey of six months, they arrived in King's Valley, Polk County, Oregon Territory, on the 25th of October, 1852. Here Mr. Edwards met his son, Joseph, who had pre- ceded him. Mr. Heath and family settled in Oregon. Mr. Edwards remained until June, 1854, when he started for his home in Michigan, in company with Joseph Harper, arriving June 29, 1854.
Mr. Edwards remained on his farm the balance of his life and lived to see his family of nine children all married and settled. He died on the 24th day of June, 1878, of hemorrhage of the bowels and typhoid fever, in the eightieth year of his age, leaving eight children, four sons, Joseph, Lewis, Jr., William and Henry, and four daughters, Jane, Clarisa, Patience and Martha.
He served several terms as Justice of the Peace, and in that capacity displayed his nsnal good common sense and probity that characterized him in all his other duties of life, always exercising a just regard to the right or claim of each party, advising an equitable settlement rather than encouraging litigation between his neighbors. He received the sobriquet of " Squire Edwards," and was generally known by that name.
Mrs. Edwards relates two amusing anecdotes of his judicial life, one of which is given in the history of Pokagon. On his return home from a journey, his wife informed him that a young couple desired him to tie for them the " nuptial knot." IIe was very much indisposed and Mrs. Edwards entered an emphatic protest against his going, but knowing that it would be a serious disappointment to the young people, he concluded to go. Ou arriving at the home of the bride, he found that no license had been procured, and informed them of the fact that the marriage under such circumstances would be illegal. They proposed to make it a subsequent matter, but as he was inex- orable, the wedding feast was partaken of and the parties went to Cassopolis, where the license was pro- cured and they were married. On his return, Mrs. Edwards asked if he had performed the ceremony. He replied that he had not, but had partaken of the supper and had given the entire company the mumps.
Mr. Edwards was an honest, industrions, energetic
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and conscientious man, always temperate in his habits, totally abstaining during his long life from the use of tobacco and spirituous liquors. He was endowed with a remarkable memory, an agreeable conversation- alist, a generous and hospitable neighbor, a kind and faithful husband, and a provident and indulgent parent.
His memory will always be revered as the peer of any among that great host of pioneers that have already gone.
WILLIAM BALDWIN JENKINS.
William Baldwin Jenkins, son of Aaron and Re- becca Baldwin Jenkins, was born Oct. 4, 1783, at Fort Jenkins, Greene County, Penn. In 1799, his father emigrated to Middle Tennessee, his mother dying while en route. Here he lived in the wilder. ness the following winter with three brothers and a sister, twelve years of age, to do the household work, their father having returned to Pennsylvania. They cleared twelve acres of heavy timber during the win- ter. As they killed fifty-two black bears during the winter, some idea regarding the newness can be ob- tained from this fact alone. To avoid the institution of slavery, he, in 1804, removed to Greene County Ohio; where he deceased four years later, leaving 900 acres of land to his children, and on the portion given Baldwin was a saw and grist mill, which he conducted in connection with his farm. He made frequent journeys down the Mississippi to Natchez and New Orleans to dispose of his products, making the return journey home on foot or on horseback, as circum- stances favored, and while so doing encountered many dangers and hardships. In 1824, he came West on an exploring expedition, visiting Indiana and this State, and then for the first time visited this county. The following year he came here in company with several others, and selected a site one-half mile north of the present village of Sumnerville, where an Indian wig- wam was prepared for a winter's residence, to which place he in November brought his family from Ohio, consisting of his wife and seven children and a bound boy, Nathaniel Young, and an interesting account of his pioncer life will be found in the township history. He purchased some 2,000 acres of land, which was ultimately divided among his children. His home was near the bridge that crossed the Dowagiac Creek, which was on the direct line of emigration and his house became a noted stopping-place for travelers and emigrants, from whom he would receive no com- pensation. IIe carried this hospitality to such an ex- tent that the products of his farm and labor were largely consumed by the public. He placed great confidence in his pioneer compeers, loaning them money, selling
them stock and farm products on time, without re- quiring written obligations, and charging no interest. In 1809, he united in marriage to Mary, daughter of Aaron and Hannah Hackney, in Pennsylvania. She deceased in 1840. His death occurred June 16, 1845, at the residence of his daughter, Eliza Murphy, at Berrien Center, and was interred in the cemetery at that place. He was a devout mem- ber of the Baptist Church. He was possessed of a remarkable retentive memory, a great reader, and could remember every event of any importance for forty years. His mind was an encyclopedia of local knowledge, for he could not only tell the names but also the ages of nearly all of his neighbors. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace in Western Michigan, having been appointed by Gov. Cass for the township of St. Joseph, which comprised all the territory west of Lenawee County. He was also the first Road Commissioner in the county, and one of the first Associate Judges appointed under the territorial government, and one of the delegates to the first con- stitutional convention of the State. His name will be transmitted to posterity in connection with the noble band of pioneers who performed the initial labors necessary to the development of this county. Of his family, his wife, one son and a daughter lie buried with him in the cemetery, and one son is interred in California; three children-Eliza (Murphy), Re- becca (Lybrook) and Silas Jenkins, reside at Berrien Center ; Nimrod in Berrien County, and John resides at Lake Village, Ind.
CHAPTER XXVI.
LA GRANGE.
Experience of the Pioneers-The Townsends. Wrights, Shurtes, Ly- brooks, McKenneys, Tietsorts and others-Early Events-First Death-First Marriage-Mary Bonnell the first child born-The first School and Teachers-Deer Killing-First Township Election -Families of the Early Settlers-Complete List of Land Entries- Principal Officers of La Grange from 1830 to 1880-Churches Living and Defunct - Burlal Places- The Village of Whitmanville - Mechanicsburg.
T THE history of La Grange begins with the spring of the year 1828, at which time Abraham Town- send made the pioneer settlement of the township, near the spot where his son Gamaliel now resides, in the northeast corner of Section 21, and upon the bor- der of the beautiful La Grange Prairie, originally known as Townsend's Prairie. The man who made this the first settlement in the township was a typical pioneer, well qualified for the life that was before him, and he lived long years in the home he here estab- lished, enjoying in his old age the fruits of his early industry. He had seen much of pioneer life prior to
HON.JESSE G.BEESON.
HON. JESSE G. BEESON.
Jesse G. Beeson was born December 10, 1807, in Wayne County, Ind., where his parents, who were both natives of North Carolina, settled at an early day. In 1828, Jesse G. Beeson was married to Anna Renesten, who was the mother of his eight children. In 1830, he made a tour of inspection through South- western Michigan, visiting the Carey Mission during his stay, and in 1833, with his wife and three chil- dren, came to La Grange Township, Cass County, which has ever since been his home. He first located on the farm now owned by Abram Ficro, and there built a small log cabin. After five years of pioneer- ing experience at this place, he removed, in 1837, to the farm he now lives upon, which he bought of James Cavanaugh. Mr. Beeson has devoted his encr- gies principally to farming and has been very success- ful. He is widely known in the county and univers-
ally respected. In politics, he is a Republican. He has been honored with election to various local offices, and in 1853 was chosen to represent the people of his county in the State Senate, which he did with credit to himself and his constituency. Now, at the age of seventy-five years, he is a hale, well-preserved man, both mentally and physically, and his vigorous health attests the correctness of his life.
The children of Jesse G. and Anna (Renesten) Bee- son, eight in number, are all living. They are : William H., of La Grange ; Isaac N., of Three Rivers ; B. F., of Calvin ; Mary Jane (Huff), of Lin- coln, Neb .; Lorana (Dickson), of Wisconsin ; Laura E. (Cammeron), of the same State, and Anderson G., of Lincoln, Neb.
Mr. Beeson's first wife died in 1870, and in 1872 he married his present wife.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
his arrival in La Grange. Born in New York State in 1771, he had gone, while very young, to Upper Canada, and in 1815 he became a settler in Iluron County, Ohio, a region which was then in the front- ier. After a very brief stay there, he moved west- ward into Sandusky County (where a township was named after him), and there he resided until 1825. In this year we find him in Pokagon Township of Cass County, with Uzziel Putnam, but without his family. He had visited Michigan in 1824, and be- came favorably impressed with the country. In 1826, he came early in the spring, and planted with corn a piece of ground on Pokagon Prairie. His son Gamaliel, came in July of that year, and in the year following, Abraham Townsend brought out his family, consisting of his wife, Statta (Kinney), and two un- married daughters, Amy and Eliza. This was the family which, with a full knowledge of pioneer life, its pains and privations and hardships and its" simple pleasures, (a knowledge gained through sojourns in several localities in the West,) that found, finally, a permanent home on La Grange Prairie.
Townsend, as has been said, arrived upon the 1st of March. The season was a favorable one for the flow- ing of sap in the maples, and the first work of the family was the making of sugar to supply their own wants and to barter, should opportunity offer, for other articles. The first building erected in the town- ship was a rude shanty which Mr. Townsend put up for shelter while he was engaged in sugar boiling. It stood west of the present residence of Gamaliel Townsend. After the pioneer had planted his corn, he had leisure to build a good, snug log cabin. This was located on the land now owned by Orlean Put nam. In the year following (1829), Mr. Townsend built a still better cabin, where Gamaliel Townsend's barn now stands.
Mr. Townsend was not long without neighbors, Lawrence Cavanaugh and wife, and their son James, came to the township the same spring, and, for a time, lived with him, though the father soon after located on Section 22, and the son where Jesse G. Beeson now resides. The former removed to Berrien County in 1830.
Abraham Loux, of Sandusky County, Ohio, a son- in-law of Townsend's, and his wife Mary, came also in the spring of 1828, and located on Section 23.
In the autumn, Thomas MeKenney (after whom the northwestern part of the prairie was named), and James Dickson, his son-in-law, came to the township and located on Section 17.
In the month of October, the Wright family arrived, and located on Section 21, where Stephen D. Wright now lives ; and about the same time. came Eli P. Boul-
nell and his wife (Elizabeth Wright). William R. Wright and his wife Sarah (Baldwin) were from Butler County, Ohio, and had come there in 1808, from New Jersey. They came across the country from Southwestern Ohio in wagons, and had a dreary ride, which, perhaps, prepared them for a season full of trials in their new abiding-place. After leaving Fort Wayne, Ind., they saw no human beings, until they arrived at Edwardsburg; but encamped nights in the most favorable places they could find in the dreary woods. On arriving at their destination, they bought two acres of standing corn from Abraham Loux, and this was all they had with which to feed five horses and twelve head of cattle they had brought with them. Mr. Wright had made a trip to the scene of his settle- ment in the summer, and cut twelve acres of hay, but that gave out, and they were obliged to browse their stock on the sweet inner bark of the hackberry trees which chanced to be quite abundant in the vicinity. They cut the trees down and split them into rails for convenience in carrying and removing them to their cabin, hewed the rough bark from them, and then stripped off the spongy nether layer, which was usually half an inch thick, and fed it to the hungry horses. In the absence of better food it was readily eaten both by cattle and horses, and it proved suf- ficiently nourishing to keep them alive through the winter, though they were much reduced. During a large part of the season, the ground was thickly covered with snow, and Mr. Wright and his sons had to break paths through it for the weakened cattle. Some of the animals were so weak that when they got down it was impossible for them to arise, and they required constant watching and tending.
The family fared during this first winter almost as poorly as did their stock. It was very difficult to procure breadstuffs. Corn meal and potatoes were more easily obtainable, and were the principal sup- porters of life.
Spring brought relief and a vast burden of labor. The prairie lands had to be prepared for planting. Joining forces, the few families of pioneers, with huge teams attached to rough, strong plows, broke up the soil, which was held together by the rope-like " red root." In later years, this plant gave less trouble, as the plows which came into use cut the roots off farther below the surface, where they were, of course much smaller, but to the early settlers upon La Grange and most of the other prairies, it was a very serious annoy- ance.
In 1829, the settlement was increased by the arri- val of the Lybrooks, Isaac Shurte's family, the Rit- ters, the Simpsons, Robert Wilson, Thomas Vander- hoof, David Brady and Abram Tietsort, Sr.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Isaac Shurte, who was a native of New Jersey, had moved with his parents at an early day to Butler County, Ohio, and from there to Niles in 1828. He was one of the many who tarried for a season at that Michigan Mecca of the pioneers. On arriving at La Grange, he stopped over night with Abraham Loux, and in the morning bought out his " betterments," or improvements, for a horse, saddle and bridle. He soon sold this, however, for $100, with which he pur- chased eighty acres of land, upon which he still resides.
John Lybrook was another settler of this year who had gained a pioneering experience at Niles or in that vicinity. He was a native of Virginia, but removed to Preble County, Ohio, in 1811, with his parents. As early as 1823, he came to Michigan, assisting Squire Thompson to move his family and goods. After seeing them safe at their destination he returned home, traveling day after day on foot through the seemingly interminable forests in which the snow lay knee deep. He had intended to go only a two days' journey with Thompson, and his parents had given him up as lost. In the spring of 1825, accompanied by his sisters-Annie and Mary-and three young men, he came out again, and built a cabin and planted some corn on the " Indian fields" on the Dowagiac River, a short distance above its confluence with the St. Joseph, near the site of Niles. In the fall, he returned to Ohio and brought out his father and mother -Henly and Hannah (Hankey) Lybrook-and four sisters. On his return from this trip, he brought with him some seed wheat, which was sown on the " Indian fields," and believed to be the first in the St. Joseph country. The same season he brought on horseback from Detroit a small grindstone, which was used at Niles by many settlers who came twenty, thirty, and even forty miles for the express purpose of sharpening their axes and other implements. On coming into La Grange, Mr. Lybrook bought out the claim of Lawrence Cavanaugh on Section 22, on the east side of the prairie, and here he lived the remainder of his days.
It has been already stated that the Ritters were settlers of this year. John Ritter was a son-in-law of Henty Lybrook, having married his daughter, Sarah, in Preble County, Ohio, whither he had come from Virginia, in 1809 or 1810, with his mother and step-father. Shortly after their marriage, in 1816, the couple moved to Union County, Ind., and in 1828 they journeyed to Michigan, locating at a point about two and a half miles north of the site of Niles, where Mr. Ritter entered land. Upon the morning of the last day of their journey, October 21, their daughter, Eve, died. The funeral was held at HIenly Lybrook's.
A year later they came to La Grange, bringing with them their four young children. The experience of the family was very sad and bitter. The time of their coming was about the 1st of August, and they had bright an- ticipations of building up a happy home, but, upon the last day of the month, John Ritter, the husband and father, was suddenly taken from this life. The family was living at the cabin of John Lybrook, hav- ing been unable to build one for themselves, when, upon August 31, a storm arose, accompanied by fre- quent flashes of lightning. A bolt struck the little log house, stunning and scaring all of its inmates, and instantly killing John Ritter. Mrs. Ritter was pros- trated by the lightning, but recovered from the shock. Strangely enough, no other inmate of the cabin was injured.
In the year 1830 came Hiram Jewell, William Renesten, the Hass family, Abram V. Tietsort (known as " Big Abe"), Abram Tietsort, Jr. (son of the settler of 1829), James Petticrew and several others, of whom we shall make extended mention in another portion of this chapter.
Abram Tietsort, Jr., who built his cabin upon the east bank of Stone Lake, about where the bowl fac- tory now stands, in Cassopolis, was considerable of a hunter, and his long-barreled rifle brought down many a deer in La Grange Township, and upon the site of the present county seat. His wife was a woman of nerve, and occasionally was able to assist her husband in supplying the larder from forest and lake. One of her adventures was the capture of a superb deer in the middle of Stone Lake. Her husband had scared it out of the woods on the opposite side of the lake, and perhaps had wounded it. At any rate, the af- frighted animal took to the water, and swam straight out. Mrs. Tietsort seeing the head and antlers of the animal across the smooth surface of the lake, sprang into a canoe, moored conveniently near the cabin, and paddled fearlessly toward the animal. She succeeded in holding its head under water with the canoe paddle until the deer was drowned, and then towed the car- cass to the shore. It proved to be in fine condition, and the venison supplied the table of the Tietsort family and those of two or three of their neighbors for several days. Venison was a very common food among the pioneers-far more so than pork or beef for a number of years. A good marksman like 'Tiet- sort or David Brady could at almost any time bring in a deer carcass after an hour's hunt. Often the an- imals were seen in herds of twenty or thirty, or even larger numbers.
While the early settlement was making-while the (lots of human habitation were increasing in number on the prairie, and the little patches of sunshine were
STEPHEN D. WRIGHT.
RESIDENCE OF STEPHEN D. WRIGHT, LA GRANGE, MICH.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
growing larger around the cabins of the pioneers in the forest, the various events of life were occurring. Children were born, men and women died, and maidens were given in marriage. The old, old drama of life and love and death was being enacted upon virgin soil.
The first sad event-and a very sad one it was, too, -was the death of David L. Wright, son of William R. Wright, upon the 30th of December, 1828. He was a young man-twenty-three years of age-born November 10, 1805. He was the first person who was laid to rest in the little burying-ground on the farm of Isaac Shurte.
The second death occurring in the township was that of Mrs. Mary Loux, a daughter of Abraham Townsend. This death was early in 1829, and upon August 31 of the same year the settlement was shocked and grieved by the sudden taking off of John Ritter, of which an account has already been given. The first couple wedded in La Grange were James Cavanaugh and Amy Townsend. They were united in marriage in 1829 by Squire William R. Wright, at the house of Abraham Townsend, who was the father of the bride. The groom was a son of Law- rence Cavanaugh. Mrs. Cavanaugh is now living in Iowa City, where her husband died in 1880.
Mary Bonnell, a daughter of Eli P. and Elizabeth (Wright) Bonnell, was born January 6th, 1830, and was the first white child born in the township. She was the first wife of J. N. Webster (now resident in Jefferson Township) and died July 1, 1867.
Julia Ann Tietsort, who has been commonly con- sidered as the first child born in La Grange, was born five months and twenty-seven days later than the Bonnell infant, or upon July 3, 1830. She was the daughter of Abram (Jr.) and Rachel (Thompson) Tietsort. She married John Gates, and is now living in Orleans County, N. Y.
In the summer of 1830 the first school was taught by Miss Arlantha Jane Brown (a sister of Gamaliel Townsend's first wife), who is said by her old pupils to FIRST ELECTION OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. have been "a good teacher for that day." The following is believed to be a very nearly, if not quite complete, list of the girls and boys who attended the school : Henry Tietsort, Daniel Wilson, Martha Wilson, Betsy Wilson, Hiram Townsend, Abram Townsend, Jr., Wilson Henderson, Thomas M. Chit- tenden, Harriet Chittenden, Elizabeth Shurte, Eliza Whitman, Adeline Whitman, Harriet Whitman, Sally Ann Whitman, Rosette Whitman, Olivia Whitman, Ruth Davis, Mahlon Davis, Cornelius Tietsort, Squire Tietsort, Otis Whitman, Nancy Davis, Peter Brady, Polly Brady, E. T. Dickson, R. J. Dickson, Dorcas A. Dickson, Hannah Ritter, Henry Ritter, David As a preliminary of the election, Thomas McKenney
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