USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 53
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RESIDENCE OF CHARLES FIERO, LA GRANGE.
TTET
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
would have fallen, but the chief of the band for whom the others seemed to have a great respect, interposed and saved his life. " Me save him; me make him chief," said the warrior, and swinging the little fellow on his shoulder, he tramped on, giving orders that no more of the prisoners should be slain. In spite of this command, however, another child, the remaining Butler boy, aged six years, was killed, a few minutes later making the fifth victim. The life of Henry Grass was spared undoubtedly that he might carry the surviving Snow boy. The place where the capture was made was on Cold Creek, about three miles from Sandusky Bay, toward which the In- dians, with their eight prisoners, rapidly made their retreat. The party embarked in birch canoes, and made their way across the narrow body of water to a peninsula. Traversing this at a point where it was not over three quarters of a mile wide, and drag- ging their canoes, the party soon reached the shore of the open lake. Here the Indians were much alarmed at finding numerous foot-prints along the beach, and halting, sent out scouts to ascertain if there were white people near at hand, in the mean time keeping the pioneers huddled together and covered with blan- kets, for the purpose, as they supposed, of more readily taking their lives, should they find an enemy in the vicinity before whom they would be compelled make an unimpeded flight. The spies returned with accounts which seemed to ally any fear that might have existed, and after raising a large dug-out, which had been filled with sand and sunk in the lake, the Indians and their captives embarked and proceeded toward Detroit. They stopped at Malden and at Brownstown, and at the latter settlement, Mrs. Put- nam was placed in the family of a half-breed French trader, known as Ironsides. Orlean Putnam was taken by the chief, who had adopted him, to Detroit. This chief proved to be no other than the great Pon- tiac who, in his time, wielded more power than any other Indian in the West.
Mr. Putnam remembers perfectly the tall, com- manding form of the celebrated warrior, although he was but five years old when in his custody, and he has a vivid recollection of the capture on Cold Creek, Ohio, and the horrible fate of his little companions.
At Detroit, a Judge May, who had known the Putnam family when they were in Detroit two or three years before, prior to settling in Ohio, recognized Orlean, and interceded with Pontiac in his behalf, telling him that he must return the boy to his mother. He objected, saying that he was going to raise him as a chief, but finally the nobler impulses of his nature got the better of him and he allowed his little prisoner to be taken to Mrs. Putnam, who was still in the
family of the half-breed trader. Several times, how- ever, when Pontiac was under the influence of liquor he would demand the return of the boy. At length he entirely surrendered his claim in consideration of receiving from Mr. Ironsides thirty quart bottles of whisky. Liquor was perhaps never put to better use than it subserved in this bargain and sale.
After remaining in Detroit about three months, the Indian captives were all returned to their homes. Mrs. Putnam and Mr. Snow, coming to meet them and securing their passage down the lake on a schooner sailed by Capt. Ramsdell. Mr. Putnam's joy on find- ing his wife and child safe and well was overwhelming.
The boy was generally known in the vicinity of his home by the nick-name of Pontiac, and retained it until he grew up and emigrated to the farther west.
In 1825, he first came to Michigan and spent the winter with his elder brother, Uzziel, the pioneer of Pokagon. The following summer, he worked for William Kirk near Niles, and in 1827 was employed as one of a surveying party under charge of William Brookfield, who was then engaged in laying South- western Michigan off into townships, as provided by Congress. His position was what is known as rear chainman. In this capacity, he traversed Cass County while as yet there was no settlers within its limits ex- cept a very few in the township of Pokagon. He was with the party when they discovered Young's Prairie, in Penn Township, and the same season en- camped two weeks on the bank of Diamond Lake, when the snow was so heavy as to make surveying impracticable. After following various lines of em- ployment, young Putnam, in 1832, again joined a surveying party which was engaged in " running the lines" in the Grand River region. While they were at the mouth of the river, their pack horses strayed away one night, and news of the outbreak of the Sauk war having been received only a day or two before from a vessel which stopped at the harbor, the men could not be induced to go in search of them, their imaginations picturing the forest as swarming with hostile Indians. Putnam and another at last under- took the job of finding the animals, being offered a dollar a day extra remuneration for their services. They followed the Grand River up to the point where Grand Rapids has since been built, and there in the neighborhood of a great Pottawatomie village found their horses and were assisted in catching them.
After returning from this trip, Mr. Putnam offered (first having taken his chance in the draft and being cleared) to go into the Sauk war as a substitute for a drafted man, named Godfrey, if he would furnish him a saddle horse. The offer was accepted by the sub- stitute-searcher and Putnam served as a volunteer
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
soldier until he was discharged. Godfrey, however, kept both the horse and the Government pay.
Mr. Putnam was married April 15, 1834, to Amelia, daughter of Thomas Vanderhoof, one of the earliest pioneers of La Grange, and four or five years later he became a resident of the same township, lo- cating west of his present home, and upon the north side of the road. The farm on which he now resides was purchased in 1853. The married life of Mr. and Mrs. Putnam extended over a period of more than forty-seven years, and terminated on the death of his wife on the 5th of November, 1881. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are living and two deceased. Alvira, the first born, and Mary, the third child, are dead. Those living are Julia Ann (the widow of John Reynolds), is in Dakota, as is also Maribee (wife of Levi Hain) ; Susan (Mrs. Henry G. Myers), is in Iowa ; Sarah (Mrs. Elias Jewell), in La Grange Township ; Charles, upon the home farm; Eva, in Dowagiac, and Joseph W., in Dakota.
ABRAM FIERO
The progenitor of the Fiero family was Christian Fiero, who came from Holland about 1776, and set- tled in Greene County, N. Y., where he resided until his decease, and where he was married to Miss Maria Myers, by whom he reared a family of six children, three boys and three girls, Peter C., father of the subject of this sketch, being the second son. He was born in Greene County, N. Y., where he married Miss Hannah Post. Shortly after their marriage, they removed to the town of Gorham, Ontario Co., N. Y , where Abram Fiero was born February 22, 1827. In 1832, the family removed to Sandusky County, Ohio, where the elder Fiero resided until 1878, when he came to Branch County, Mich., where he died the following year. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and ability, and highly esteemed for the possession of many admirable traits of character. In 1880, his wife died, they having lived together for the extraordinary period of sixty-two years. Abram re- sided in Sandusky County until he was twenty-five years of age, when he came to La Grange Township with his family, which consisted of his wife and one child, John, who was born in Ohio. He purchased the farm now owned by Norman Jarvis, where he resided until his removal to the farm he now owns, in 1855. Mr. Fiero has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, in which he has been successful. His farm, a view of which we present on another page, is evi- dence of thrift and prosperity. Although not a pioneer, Mr. Fiero has witnessed the larger part of the development of La Grange, and has identified himself with all its material interests. In his political
affiliations he was formerly a Republican, and a stanch supporter of Horace Greeley, whom he supported for the presidency. Since that time, he has not connected himself with any political organization. In 1869, he represented La Grange upon the Board of Supervisors, and while not wholly eschewing politics, he has never been an office-seeker. preferring the cares of business to the perplexities and annoyances of political strife.
October 4, 1849, Mr. Fiero was married to Miss Fanny, daughter of John Thorp, of Sandusky County, Ohio. She was born in Ontario County, N. Y., in 1824.
They have reared a family of three sons-John, Byron and William. Coming into the county in its early days of settlement, Mr. Fiero has watched the progress of improvement in the various branches of industry in the county-a man of strong personal character, and ambitious in all business operations.
Liberal in his views, he is also liberal in his assist- ance in every enterprise looking to the building-up of good society, and the support of churches and schools. He has always taken a deep interest in the agricultural interests of the county, and was one of the founders of the Dowagiac Union Fair Association.
SAMUEL FINLEY ANDERSON.
The subject of this sketch, for many years a resident of La Grange Township, was intimately identified with the affairs of Cassopolis, living where his widow still resides, in the suburbs of the village. He was born, February 19, 1803, in Ira, Rutland Co., Vt., and was a descendant of the Anderson family, of Londonderry, N. H., Scotch-Irish, who emigrated to America at an early day, for the purpose of enjoying religiou - liberty. John Anderson, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a notable man, and served with honor in the Revolutionary war. He was a member of the Vermont Legislature for eleven terms. Samuel was the youngest son. About the time he came to maturity, he emigrated to Western New York, and cleared a farm of eighty acres. At the age of thirty-three, being attacked by the Western fever, he made a tour through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. He located, in 1835, just south. of Stone Lake, buying 200 acres of land. In May, 1836, he married Mahala Phipps, who was born in Lee, Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1807, the descendant of a Puritan family, among whose an- cestors was Sir William Phipps, Governor of Massa- chusetts in colonial times. Soon after the young couple had become settled in their new home, Mr. Anderson was instrumental in forming the first Meth - odist Episcopal class in Cassopolis. In 1842, he took a leading part in the organization of the Presbyterian Church, and was elected to the office of Elder, which
RESIDENCE OF ASA KINGSBURY JR. LA GRANGE, MICH.
RESIDENCE OF JAMES G. HAYDEN, LA GRANGE, MICH.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
he held until his death. In the same year, he was elected on the Democratic ticket as a member of the State Legislature. He held the position of Associate Judge in 1845 and 1846. Until the enactment of the fugitive slave law, he was a firm Democrat, but then joined the Free-Soil party. When the war broke out, he was not capable of bearing arms, but two of his sons-Albert P. and Thomas W. Anderson-went into the service. The first named lost his life in action. Samuel F. Anderson, of whom this is a brief and imperfect sketch, died at his home April 14, 1877, mourned by a very wide circle of friends.
CHARLES FIERO.
Charles Fiero, one of the early settlers and success- ful agriculturists of La Grange, was born in Catskill, Greene Co., N. Y., January 13, 1820. He was the son of Peter C. and Hannah (Post) Fiero. In 1822, the family removed to the town of Gorham, Ontario Co., N. Y .. where they resided ten years. He was reared to the life of a farmer, and received a good common-school education, and when twenty-three years of age came to La Grange, then comparatively undeveloped, and purchased a portion of the farm on which he now resides. After a short stay, he returned East, where he remained until 1847, when he came back and commenced the improvement of his farm. In November, 1850, he was married to Laura A., a daughter of Jonas Clark, of Washington County, Vt., where Mrs. Fiero was born, January 29, 1828. Her people were originally from Massachusetts. From Vermont they came to Sandusky County, Ohio, at which place Mr. and Mrs. Fiero were married. They have two children-Mary Francis, now Mrs. A. C. Hathaway, and Sarah A.
The life of Mr. Fiero has been devoted solely to agriculture, and his pleasant home and fine farm (a view of which we present on another page) attest his success, and both he and Mrs. Fiero are enjoying the results of a long life of industry and economy.
WILLIAM H. SHANEFELT.
William H. Shanefelt, son of William and Eliza- beth (Earnest) Shanefelt, who were among the first settlers of Cassopolis, was born near Circleville, Pick- away County, Ohio, December 7, 1824. In 1835, the family came to Michigan, and first stopped in Cassopolis where they remained about a year when he removed to the farm now owned by his son Will- iam H. The elder Shanefelt was a potter by trade, and he is also recollected by many as a local preacher, He died in his sixty-seventh year, his wife in her fifty ninth. In 1847, William was married to Miss
Susan, daughter of David Bleacher, of La Grange. She was born in Pennsylvania, in June of 1828, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1845. After their marriage they came to the place where they now reside, which consisted of eighty acres of new land, to which he has added 100 acres. His farm, a view of which is given on another page, attests his thrift and prosperity.
CHAPTER XXVI.
PENN.
Why so Named-Organization-Soll, Lakes and Water-Courses-First Settlements-Narrow Escape of Daniel McIntosh from Freezing to Death-A Primitive Grist-Mill-Tragle Death of an Indian- Original Land Entries-Stock Marks-Vandalia-Religions Organi. zations - Masonic- Geneva, the Lost Village - Early Roads- Schools-Assessment Roll of 1837-Civil List-Biographical.
N the 4th of March, 1681, the celebrated Quaker, William Penn, received "letters patent " from Charles II, to a certain tract of land now known as the State of Pennsylvania, and, in 1682, consummated his celebrated treaty with the Indian nation, which, for a period of forty if not fifty years, remained un- broken, and " the land of Penn " was thus preserved during all that time from the reeking scalping-knife and deadly tomahawk of the wily savage.
This great " Apostle of Peace," who can appropri- ately be called the promulgator of his peculiar religious belief in this country, builded stronger than he knew, and his descendants, ever noticeable for their adler- ence to the sterling principles of peace, integrity and honesty as enunciated by him, have ever been ready to commemorate his memory by naming localities after him, and it was this feeling of love and affection for the great exponent of their religious belief that caused the early settlers of the portion of the county of Cass, of which we write, to name it Penn ; and, surely, no name could have been selected which would more nearly have typified the peaceful pastoral people who have ever since its formation been its inhabitants.
While other portions of the county have at divers times been thrilled by horrid deeds, perpetrated by its inhabitants, this township has been phenomenally free from everything of the kind, and no descendant of that Biblical personage, Cain, has ever taken that which he could not restore.
As will appear farther on in the history, quite a large percentage of the first settlers emigrated from the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas, and what caused them to leave a warm, de- lightful climate and seek the wilds of Michigan, more than any one thing else, was their utter abhorence of the system of human slavery.
Unrequited toil, with all the social degradation that
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
it necessarily entailed, was so repugnant to the kindly feelings of the Quakers that a desire to go where they would not come in contact with those who practiced it, and their subjects, was the primal cause which resulted in so many of these estimable people settling in this county.
By an act of the Territorial Government, approved November 5, 1829, we learn that "all that part of said county (Cass) known as Townships 5, 6, and the north half of Township 7, in Ranges 13, 14, west, and the county of Van Buren, and all the country lying north of the same, which is attached to and comprises a part of the county of Cass, shall form a township by the name of Penn, and the first township meeting shall be held at the house of Martin Shields in said town- ship." Thus the township, as first laid out, comprises what is now Marcellus, Volinia, Newberg, the north half of Porter, the north half of Calvin and Penn Township as now bounded. The portion of terri- tory attached to Penn was from that time erected into other townships until it now comprises that portion of territory embraced between Volinia on the north, Cal- vin on the south, and Newberg and La Grange on the east and west respectively, and includes 15,872 acres of land, now embraced in farms.
Although an election was ordered in 1830, the rec- ords do not show that any was held until 1831, and the most careful inquiry among the oldest inhabitants, and who were residents of the township at that time, fails to elicit any information regarding one taking place at an earlier period, or that any one acted in any official capacity whatever previous to that time.
At the first election the following officers were duly elected : Supervisor, John Agard ; Assesors, Lewis Rinehart, Jonathan Gard; Collector, Hardy Lang- ston ; Treasurer, Hardy Langston ; Clerk, Ira Nash; Constable, Lewis Rinehart ; School Inspectors, John Townsend, John Agard, Thomas England, William H. Brice, Jacob Rinehart ; Highway Commissioners, Samuel Crosson, Jonathan Gard, Henry Jones.
Corporations, the same as individuals, cannot exist without incurring expenses, and the first money raised for incidental expenses was $75, which in those early days was no doubt judiciously expended, as frugality in public as well as private life was then noticeable.
prairie which has the dark alluvial soil found in most of the prairies of this State.
Elm, sugar (maple), beech, poplar, linden, oak and walnut timber was originally scattered over the town- ship, while pawpaw and spice bushes flourished amain ; these comprising the principal deciduous trees, tama- rack only being found in limited quantities.
The prairie, of which mention has been made, cen- ters in about Section 21, extending north and south about three and one-half and east and west two and a half miles, and is a very productive tract of land, yielding ample returns to the husbandman. Its name, ". Young's," was acquired, as is many of the places in the West, by being named in honor of its discov- erer. Accompanying a surveying party was a man named Nathan Young, who attended to the cuisine department ; from a gentle eminence could be seen what the others in the party called a lake, and it cer- tainly presented such an appearence, as the tall prairie grass nodded to and fro and rose and fell in the autumnal breeze, much resembling the rising and falling of the waves as they seek the shore, as it bowed in meek obeisance to the wind while the gentle sun as it glistened o'er the seed-filled blades of grass gave it that silvery appearance and deceived all ex- cept the trained eyesight of Mr. Young, who persisted, notwithstanding the derision of his companions, in calling it a prairie, until the proof became apparent as they emerged from its woody skirting and beheld it filled with native verdure. For services rendered the surveying party Young was given one-fourth a section of land, and selected it in close proximity to what is now the village of Brownsville, which he to a great measure cleared up. Being of an invent- ive turn of mind, he conceived the idea of improving the primitive thrashing machine, and inventing a straw-carrier. Becoming wholly engrossed in his new enterprise, he finally removed to Mishawaka, Ind., where he could enjoy better facilities to prosecute his work. He labored most assiduously to perfect his machinery and had just demonstrated the feasibility of his plans. when they were appropriated and patented by an argus-eyed individual, who derived the benefit therefrom. While prosecuting his labors, heavy drafts were necessarily made upon his capital, and he disposed of his farm, which was ultimately swallowed up, until to-day, he is an old man seventy- five years of age, and in very indifferent circum- stances.
The boundaries of Penn Township were surveyed by William Brookfield in 1827, and the subdivisions by Calvin Britain, D. S., who completed them July 22, 1828, and his description of the land in a majority of cases was "first-class." On the east the land is This town is not devoid of ancient mounds and garden-beds, evidences of former habitation, although the latter, once so plainly visible on certain portions of the prairie, particularly on the farm now owned by gently undulating and hilly, and was originally cov- ered with thick woods, the soil being in a ineasure sandy, while on the west it is more of a clayey loam, the center being, to a limited extent, occupied by a , I. Bonine, have long since been obliterated by the
STEPHEN BOGUE.
STEPHEN BOGUE.
The progenitor of the family to which this pioneer of Penn belongs waa Josiah Bogue, a Scotchman and a member of tha Sociaty of Friends, who sailed for America some time in the early part of the eighteenth century, and settled at Edenton, N. C. Ha had & family of five children, Jesae, Joseph, Job, Mary, And Lydia. Joseph, tha fathar of Staphen Bogue, was boro in Perqui- mans, N. C., where ha waa reared to, and successfully followad, the life of a planter. He married Mary Nawby. Thay wara tha parents of fifteen children. the youngest of whom, Stephen Bogua, was born October 17, 1790. Hia father died when ha was quite young, and the boy anccaeded to the management of his amall eatata. Owing to the ardyoua duties thna thrust upon him, to feeble health when a child, and to the acarcity of good schoola, ha obtained only an imperfect education, but he had a vigorous, inquiring mind which made him an apt pupil ia the lite schools of observation and experience.
The prohibition of slavery in tha Stataa of the old Northwest drew to them the selt of the south a vast immigration of tha bast elementa of population from the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessea and Kentucky. In 1811, when Stephan Bogue was twanty-one years of aga, the family emigrated to Preble County Ohio. Their abhorence of slavery waa perhaps the chief influence which operated to il duce this change of location. Their estate, however, small at the time of the father and husband's death, waa materially reduced by the demanda of the larga family which anbsiated upon It, and thair comparatively poor condition was another consideration which had actuated them in removing to a new country. On arriving st Prebla County they had but $200 left with which to purchase land. With thia sum, however, one hundred and twenty acrea was aecnrad, which by dint of tha ntmost toil waa clearad and converted into a farm. Stephen Bogue was one of the earliest pioneers of the county, and endured many hardshipe and privations.
In January, 1822, ha was nnitad in marrisgo with Elva Elliott, of Wayne County, Ind. Three children ware the offspring of their merriaga, viz .: Sarah (now Mrs. J. E. Bonine), and Joseph And Banjamin who died in childhood. Mra. Bogna died in 1828.
In 1829, Stephen Bogua cama to " tha St. Joseph country," the fame of which had gona abroad through the more Eastern Stataa, and of which he had received favorable reports from his aistar, Mrs. Charlea Jonaa, and her husband, who had located in Penn in 1828. Mr. Bogna antared a tract of land in the same town- ship, and than raturned to Ohio, journeying, as he had ou the way ont, on horseback along the Indian trails.
He married in March, 1831, Mre. Hannah Bonina, mother of James Bogna Bonina. By thia naion there were four children-Elvira, now Mrs. Silas Thomas, Susannah, William E. and Stephen A. Har maiden nama was East, a native of Grayson County, Va., born in December, 1798. She had gona with her parante to Tanuessea in 1807, and from thera to Wayne County, Ind., in 1816, whare she was married to James Bonine In 1824. In October, 1831, Mr. Bogua and his wife removed to Michigan and settled in Penn Township, on the
MRS. STEPHEN BOGUE.
farm now owned by their son Stephen A. Bogna. Here the pioneer resided until his death, which occurred October 11, 1868. His widow is still living-a resident of Vandalia.
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