USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 55
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THOMAS J. CASTERLINE.
MRS. THOMAS J. CASTERLINE.
RESIDENCE OF DR. THOMAS J. CASTERLINE, PENN, MICH.
JOHN NIXON
JOHN NIXON.
The subject of this sketch was born in Randolph County, N. C., November 15, 1808. He was the son of Phineas and Millicent Nixon, who reared a family of twelve children. The elder Nixon was born in Perquimans County, N. C .; of his ancestors but little is known further than they were English Quakers. He was a physician and a man of marked ability, and was sent to Congress in the interest of a colonization scheme for the negroes of North Carolina. In his religious ideas he was a Quaker, and exemplified in his life the teachings of that remarkable faith. He died in North Carolina. John, in his boyhood days, evidenced many traits of character that have since become his distinguishing characteristics ; he believed that the time to be happy was in the present, and that " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." IIis happy disposition rendered him somewhat unmindful of the importance of education, and he received what might be called a limited common-school education. He learned the trade of a tanner and currier, which avocation he followed for a short time. In 1830, he started for Michigan, arriving at Richmond, Ind., where his brother Gabriel resided ; he induced him to accompany him, and the two brothers arrived in Penn in October of that year. John found employment at
MRS. JOHN NIXON.
different vocations until February, 1831, when he joined a surveying party, and for a number of months was engaged in the northern part of the State.
In 1832, he was married to Miss Esther, daughter of Henry and Hannah Jones, whose biography can be found on another page. Mrs. Nixon was born in Preble County, Ohio, in January of 1814. After his marriage, Mr. Nixon bought an interest in a saw- mill owned by his father-in-law, which he operated for three years, when he bought a farm of eighty acres on Section 18, where he lived until his removal to the place where he now resides. Mr. Nixon has been intimately connected with the affairs of Penn Township, and has served his fellow-citizens in vari- ous capacities. He may appropriately be called the father of the Cass County Pioneer Society, having made the initial movement for its establishment, and of which he has been President, and has done much to promote its growth and prosperity.
This sketch would be incomplete without special mention of Mrs. Nixon, who has been the mother of eleven children, nine of whom are living. She in- herits many of the prominent characteristics of her father, and has been a devoted wife, a kind mother, and a valued friend.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
numbers, notwithstanding their large slaughter, that the township in April, 1833, appropriated $50 to help pay for their extermination, the payment per head to be the same as that offered by the county, which really raised the price so that the settlers were amply re- warded for the labor spent in securing the coveted pelts.
James B. Bonine, although not born in this coun- ty, has spent nearly his wholelife here, being but six years of age when, with his mother and step-father (Stephen Bogue), he came here, and was raised by the kindly Quaker gentleman who had assumed the posi- tion of father, his own father passing away the first year of his marriage, in the county of Wayne, In- diana. Although 80 long in the county, his recollec- tion of pioneer history is necessarily limited, owing to his extreme youth, when settlements were being made. Mrs. Bonine (daughter of that grand old Quaker di- vine, Charles Osborn), is with her husband, now en- joying the fruits of a well-spent life on a farm, in the corporation of Vandalia.
Thomas Kirk came in as a young man and worked for others several years, until February 5, 1836, at which time he located eighty acres of land in Section 24, and getting married about this time, henceforth labored for himself until his death.
Indiana was the stopping-place, for a short time, of many from the South and East, who ultimately came to this county and became permanent settlers. Among this number was John Alexander, who was born in Burke County, N. C., in 1780, who, with his wife, who was born in 1785, made their way to the above-named State on horseback, carrying two chil- dren and all their worldly effects. In the spring of 1831, this county was reached and a farm purchased. The house in which they lived for several months was nothing but a shanty covered with basswood bark. He passed away June 15, 1850, and his wife February 16, 1845. As illustrative of his character, it is stated that one year, when grain of all kinds was very scarce and high, oats and corn bringing from 75 cents to $1 per bushel, he having an abundance, placed the price at 25 cents per bushel, and would take no more. limiting his sales to settlers only. His family con- sisted of nine children-Sophronia, Mrs. J. Irving ; Sophia, Mrs. Alpheas Ireland, in Oregon ; Caroline, Mrs. H. Copley, in Northern Michigan ; Samuel and Margaret, deceased; Leah, now with her son-in-law, J. A. Jones, Sheriff in Cassopolis ; Ephraim, in Da- kota ; John, in Vandalia ; and Peter, the youngest, who lives in Section 8, is the possessor of 240 acres of land. His first wife, by whom he had one son, B. Frank, died some years since, and two children bless his second marriage with Hannah Haines.
Hon. James O'Dell was a Virginian by birth, his birthday being on the 20th of July, 1779. At the age of twenty-one, he moved to Highland County, Ohio, where he remained until 1831, when he came to Mich- igan, first settling in St. Joseph County, where he raised one crop on Pigeon Prairie, and in 1832 came to this county and purchased the farm which he owned at the time of his death, which occurred August 23, 1845, and on which still resides one of his sons, John W. O'Dell. Their journey to this State was a long and laborious one, as with all their household goods stowed away in the capacious wagon, with stock driven along the unfenced highway, or what was dignified by such a name, it being almost impassable in many cases. This was particularly the case in what was known as the Black, or Twelve-mile Swamp, through which they needed a guide to prevent losing their way, there being nothing to keep them from taking a trail and passing into the impenetrable bogs, mire and woods, with which they were surrounded. Even then they were not wholly exempt from casualties, for some having passed along with a portion of the stock, John W. O'Dell and others, who were driving the hogs, took the wrong forks in the trail. The hallooing of the men in the advance as it reverberated through the swamp, de- ceived them, and it was not until the voices waned so as to become nearly inaudible, that their mistake was dis- covered. Night was upon them and their steps could not be retraced, and they stopped at a cabin overnight. No inclosure being at hand, their swine scattered in so many directions that it was several days be- fore they were secured and again started westward. A miller by occupation, he ran the Carpenter Mill, which he purchased, for several years. In township affairs, Mr. O'Dell was very prominent, holding the office of Supervisor six years and tho offices of School Inspector and Highway Commissioner for several years, was also a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1835, and represented his district in the State Leg- islature. All of his official actions were a credit not only to himself but the people he so ably represented. His public spirit led him often to neglect his private affairs, in the interest of the public ; particularly was this the case, when, in 1834, he visited Buffalo and helped secure commissioners, who had a railroad sur- veyed from Detroit to Lake Michigan, which survey was afterward followed by the Michigan Central Rail- road at almost every point. His integrity was unim- peachable and offers of Buffalo speculators to pay him liberally to locate the land along the prospective rail- road was quickly rejected.
Mr. O'Dell served his township in official affairs for many years, holding the offices of Collector, Consta- ble and Highway Commissioner, his numerous re-elec-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tions bearing witness to his efficiency in a public capacity .
The first physician that settled among these people was Dr. Henry H. Fowler, who came from Connecti- cut and located 91 acres in Section 31, where the embryo village of Geneva once had an existence. He immediately came into prominence, being elected sec- ond Sheriff of the county while he did duty as School Inspector, and Treaurer for the township. His East- ern education rather unfitted him for his Western associates, who described him as being somewhat aris- tocratic. About 1836, he removed to Bristol, Ind., where he died, the failure to secure the much coveted county seat at his place in a measure curtailing his stay. These early settlers, while enduring the many inconveniences and deprivations incidental to the set- tling of any new country, did not experience the hardships which those in some less favored portions were called upon to undergo. They always had enough to sustain life, the fertile prairie yielding enough to maintain life, while the woody portions were being cleared up. The wild plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries, whortleberries and other fruits that grew in abundance extended the bill of fare, which, with the palatable meat of the wild turkey and deer, furnished a living by no means despicable. The people had many enjoyments in those early days, and the marriage feast was occasionally celebrated, the first one in honor of the marriage of George Meacham to Miss Catherine Rinehart, which took place on Young's Prairie, October 6, 1829. The first death also occurred this year, the deceased being a stranger. The coffin used was made out of boards, or slabs, split out of a cherry tree by John Reed.
LATER SETTLERS.
From this time on settlers came in very rapidly, and the development became quite general all over the township, and substantial buildings began to give place to those hastily erected when first com- ing in the county. The first land entries were made in June, 1829, and continued until May 2, 1853, on which day Amnos Smith located forty acres in Section 28, and Jacob Keen thirty-six acres in Section 13. The settlers who came in subsequent to those recorded, formed the nucleus for the present wealth and develop- ment of the county already established, still a great many entered upon land as found in a state of nature, and with the exception of having better facilities for procuring the necessaries of life, and disposing of their products, passed through the same hardships as those who came at a somewhat earlier date. Among those who came in at this period (1839) was Joseph D. Dodge, who is now with his son in Vandalia, previous
to which he improved a farm of 200 acres. Mr. Dodge was born in Montgomery County, N. Y., and came from Baldwinsville here. He was engaged in the "Patriot war, " and was taken prisoner at the battle of the Wind Mill, fought opposite Ogdensburg. He with 124 others crossed into Canada with muni- tions of war, under the leadership of a Polander named Ben Schultz, and while there the boat that conveyed them over was taken away. The Canadians failed to come and get the supplies as agreed upon, and they were very unexpectedly forced to give battle to 1,500 British soldiers, who bore down upon them, their force numbering but sixty, sixty four having been detailed to care for the supplies. From behind their barricade they killed and wounded a large number before the British retired, an I then with re-enforcements amount- ing, in all, to 3,000 men, they captured the handful of adventurers and carried them prisoners-April 9, 1839-to Fort Henry, at Kingston, where thirteen were hung, and seventy transported to Van Diemen's Land for life. By dint of the neatest strategy, Mr. Dodge was freed and thus his life saved, but the 200 acres of land promised by the weak-kneed Canadi- ans for supplies, was never secured.
Among the prominent families are numbered the Bonines, they having done much to forward the in- terests of the township and enhance its value. Isaac Bonine, who was born in Virginia, removed to Ten- nessee, from there to Indiana, and then to Michigan, settling on Young's Prairie, on the place now owned by Mr. N. Jones, in 1842. Born of Quaker parents, he accepted their religious faith, and could not tolerate slavery, else it is doubtful if he ever left the South. He was the father of eleven children-seven boys and five girls, as follows: Susan, Daniel, James E., Sam- nel, Evan J., Jacob, Lot, Lydia, Isaac, Sarah and Jonathan. Daniel, Jonathan, Susan 'and Jacob are deceased, the first two when quite young, and Susan is the wife of Isaac P. James ; Evan J. is a practicing physician in Niles ; Lydia is the wife of Nathan Jones, in Penn; Samuel, a Quaker divine in Kansas ; the other sons are farmers in Penn. Having farmed it largely in Indiana, and in the most approved fashion, he taking particular pride in blooded stock, he brought with him fine stock of all kinds, including Berkshire hogs, Blakewell and merino sheep. He passed away at the ripe old age of eighty-three years, beloved and respected by all, and his children look back with much pride to the time when, becoming involved to such an extent by going security as to nearly sweep away the fine fortune he had accumulated in Indiana, he liqui- dated every indebtedness, although it necessitated his moving to the then comparatively new country of Michigan. ITis son, Lot, has a farm in Section 34,
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and takes much pride in fine stock, and now possesses, as he claims, the only Saxony sheep in the State. Their wool is of silky fineness, and brings double price in the market. When a young man, he trapped as long as it was remunerative. Another son, Isaac, also in this township, is a successful farmer ; he also devoting considerable attention to stock. Being of a progressive nature, he was the first man in his section to adopt the use of that great labor-saving machine, the mower. James E. Bonine came in one year sub- sequent to his father, and purchased eighty acres of land, and now is the possessor of 1,600 acres, contain ing five houses and eight barns. Everything around him betokens the man of thrift and cultivated taste, from the elegant brick house, with fine fountain and attractive surroundings to the farthermost field.
On his farm is a beautiful grove, twelve acres of which are included in an elk and deer park, established some twenty years since by procuring one pair of elk from Iowa, and one pair of deer, also from the West. Since that time he has sold $1,000 worth of elk, seven of which were sold to King Emmanuel, of Italy, who sent a war vessel for them and numerous other animals of this country, he had purchased for his park of fifteen hundred acres, where they doubtless are to this day. The park is surrounded partially with a high picket and the balance with a rail fence. It is most beautifully sodded, and is supplied with water from a spring, and it is an attractive sight to see these deni- zens of the wild roaming around at pleasure with their young capering at their side. Nearly opposite his residence is a chestnut orchard of 100 trees, set out regularly, which is now bearing finely, the nuts being larger and finer than the seed procured some twelve years since from East Tennessee, they com- mencing to bear at the age of nine years. Thirty acres of fruit trees much more than supplies the necessities of the household. Around his residence is planted a row of native pines which although only fifteen inches high when set out, now measure more than thirty-two feet across the tops. They not only tell their age, but do service as a yearly barometer, plainly indicating the wet and dry seasons for each year is sent forth a row of limbs encircling the trunk, and if the season is wet the growth may exceed two feet to the next years' outshoots, but if dry, or very dry, the growth is proportionately small. Very fine stock of all kinds can be found grazing over the farm, while among the bovines, grazing as quietly as if upon the wild prairies of the West, will be found several buffalo, which adds a certain picturesqueness to the scene.
Exactly opposite his residence, which is on a corner, is the finely-built storehouse, from which radi-
ate two rows of arbor vitæ. We doubt if Michigan can produce another farm that can compare with this.
I. A. Bonine, son of J. E., possesses a farm south of his father's, and completes the list of Bonines, they possessing in the aggregate a very large amount of real estate.
S. S. Ashcraft came in in 1840, from Berrien County, and purchased one of the old farms, on Section 20, while Samuel Thomas, of whom mention has been made, came in in 1842, and removed to St. Joseph County in 1850, where he died in 1856, his son, Silas H., residing on Section 34. Harmon Delong, who came from Steuben County, N. Y., in 1847, is the husband of Caroline (James), her father coming here in about 1840. When in the fall of 1846, Mr. George Longsdaff came from Logan County, Ohio, Vandalia, his present residence, had no existence at that time, and having worked to obtain the money by chopping wood, he purchased a new farm and cleared up the same. He cut the tail race to the first mill erected in Vandalia, and now is President of this village. John Hollister came from Livingston County the same year and purchased the farm on which he now lives, it being at that time all woods, and he knows what it is to haul wheat to Con- stantine at 50 cents per bushel. Forty-four years ago, John N. Jones came from Ohio and settled in Porter Township. His daughter Emily, married S. Curtis, whose father came in one year previous. After a short residence in Porter, they moved to Penn, and in 1866 Mr. Curtis died, leaving his wife with two small children on a farm with but forty acres cleared, an unfinished house, no barn, and an incumbrance of $1,900. With a brave heart, she set to work, and to- day has a farm in good shape, with good buildings and no incumbrance. Her son, J. N. Curtis, who works the farm, assisted his mother soon as old enough, her daughter having married some time since.
In 1848, Amos Smith came from Erie County, Penn. Twenty of the last thirty years he has spent as school teacher, and is now, and has been for a number of years, County Surveyor. The first land he possessed was eighty acres in Kent County, which was given in payment for forty days' work, making a road through the marsh west of Vandalia. Being unusually expert as a driver of oxen he was given more wages than ordinary hands. He now possesses a farm in this township and makes a specialty of fruits, having 1,000 apple trees, 100 peach, 50 pears, 125 chestnut trees, all in fine condition.
Reason L. Pemberton and his brother Joseph came to Cass County with their uncle in December, 1835, and, staying less than one year, he went to Henry Coun-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ty, Ind., returning, however, in 1840. Since that time, he has been officially identified with the township as Supervisor, Treasurer, Clerk and Justice of the Peace, which office he now holds, while fulfilling the part of "mine hoste" to the Vandalia House at Vandalia.
Jacob McIntosh, son of William, went to the rescue of our country in the time of her distress, and enlisted August 7, 1861, in the Sixth Michigan Infantry ; was afterward transferred to the heavy artillery, and served for three years, when he was honorably discharged, having been promoted to Sergeant, May 27, 1863; was wounded by a minie ball above his right knee, but not severely enough to disable him. He was at the siege of Port Hudson, battle of Baton Rouge, etc.
Richard Stewart, a successful farmer, was born in Virginia, and, when ten years old, went with his par- ents to Tennessee ; in 1824, to Ohio, and, 1860, to Cass County. He had five sons in the army, two of whom died there.
George Moon, father of B. Franklin, came into the county in 1846, and died in 1878. B. F., who is on the old homestead, is now living with his third wife, for- merly U. H. Overmyers. He had one son by first wife, John F., and four children by his second, of whom Reuben J. is at home.
Thomas J. Casterline was one of the first settlers in the timber lands bordering on the northwest corner of Young's Prairie, only four families preceding him-a widow lady named Mary Hunter, who had been there some time, and came from Ohio, Albert White and Na- thaniel Casterline, the latter came from Allegany County, N. Y., in 1843, and Hiram Wyatt; and, in the fall of 1844, two additional families-a Mr. Van- wart and Gabriel Hathaway-both building their log cabins in the woods ; the former was a blacksmith, and the latter a carpenter and joiner by trade, each being quite an acquisition to the settlement. Mr. Caster- line first mentioned came from Seneca County, N. Y., in the fall of 1844, and settled where he now resides. In the spring, he erected a log cabin, and commenced to clear his land, at the same time abandoning the practice of medicine, excepting in cases of urgent ne- cessity. Even at this late date, they were accustomed to go to Niles, twenty miles distant, and St. Joseph, about forty miles, to do their principal marketing- ox teams being the most used-notwithstanding it had been many years since the settlement of Young's Prai- rie and the erection of the county seat at Cassopolis- the principal market then in the county.
In 1829, George Jones and his wife Lydia (Hob- son) became settlers on Young's Prairie. Their sons Henry, Charles, Nathan and George, and two daugh- ters, also came to the township. The old gentleman
died at his home in Penn, in 1834. He was born in Georgia in 1770. He was an early settler in South- eastern Ohio-Preble and Butler Counties-and it was from the latter county that the family emigrated to Michigan. Henry, the oldest son, was married when he came to the State, his wife being Hannah (Greene). He died in 1850, in his sixty-first year. His children were Esther (Nixon), now in Penn; Lydia, Rebecca and Elizabeth (all three of whom are deceased) ; Amos, a resident since 1853 of La Grange Township ; Phebe, (deceased); George, in Marcellus ; Hannah and Abigail (deceased); Henry, in Oregon; Jesse, in Penn ; and Phineas in Cassopolis.
Jesse Kelsey and his wife Mary (Decou), from Warren County, Ohio, settled in Jamestown, Penn Township, in 1837. They were married in 1831. After residing in Michigan eight or ten years, they moved back to Ohio, and from there went in 1853 to Iowa, where the husband died in 1869. The widow returned to Cass County in 1872, and married George Moon, and after his decease was united with her pres- ent husband, Hiram Warner.
Christopher J. Stamp and his wife, Caroline (Slor- row), now deceased, came from Steuben County, N. Y., and settled in Porter in 1844, their children at that time being John, Mary J., James H., Caroline, Maria and Nancy. Since then, Martin, Martha and Eugene have been born. Their son, James H., moved to Penn Township in 1854, and represented his town- ship as Supervisor in 1875-76. He was elected Sheriff in 1876, on the Republican ticket. Although retaining his farm in Penn, he resides in Cassopolis.
C. M. Osborn, formerly a resident of Chautauqua County, N. Y., but later of Berrien County, this State, came to Penn Village in 1860, and is conducting a mercantile business. While a resident of Berrien County, he was traveling salesman for marble and sewing machines. His first wife, Harriet L. Mont- gomery, died in Wisconsin. Sophia Tibbetts was the maiden name of his present wife. He is the father of two children-Lela, at home, and Mrs. Potter, of Niles. Both his grandparents were old Revolutionary soldiers, and lived to a ripe old age, ninety-six being the age of Daniel Osborn at the time of his death.
Joshua G. Johnson came in the township in 1852, from New York State. His wife's (Emiline Hinshaw) father was an old pioneer, coming in 1832.
Dr. L. Osborn, son of Josiah Osborn, formerly of Knox County, Tenn., is now a practicing physician in Vandalia, and one of its prominent men. He is identified with every good work, besides being officially connected with the village, of which he has been a resident since 1852.
WM. JONES.
MRS. WM. JONES.
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM JONES, PENN, MICH.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
In 1857, L. F. Williams came from St. Joseph County, and settled in this county. He is now en- gaged in agricultural pursuits.
The following embraces the original land entries :
SECTION 1.
ACRES.
Robert Meek, St. Joseph County, Mich., July 13, 1836 .. 119 William Meek, St Joseph County, Mich., July 13, 1836. 78 Abijah Hinshaw, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 10, 1836. 80
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