History of Cass county, Michigan, Part 83

Author: Waterman, Watkins & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, Waterman, Watkins & co.
Number of Pages: 670


USA > Michigan > Cass County > History of Cass county, Michigan > Part 83


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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David Reams, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 1, 1835. 40


Sarah Reams, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 21, 1835 40


Nathan Norton, Cass County, Mich., Sept. 21, 1835. 40


L. D. and P. Norton, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 6, 1836. 40


Alanson Ward, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 6, 1836. 80


Ambrose Marshall, Cass County, Mich., Jan. 25, 1847 40


PLEASANT NORTON.


PLEASANT NORTON.


The subject of this sketch, during his life one of the best known citizens of the county, was born in Grayson County, Va., in 1806. When two years of age, his parents moved to Champaign County, Ohio, and a short time afterward to Logan County, in the same State. He moved from there to Cass County, and settled in Jefferson Township in 1832, where he resided until the day of his death, in 1877. He was married in 1826, to Rachel Fukery, who is still liv- ing. Mrs. Norton was born in Highland County, Ohio, in 1808, and is the mother of ten children, six of whom are living, viz., Amanda (Mrs. C. G. Banks), Elizabeth (Mrs. W. W. Peck), Louisa (Mrs. D. J. Hayward), Maxwell Z., Hiram and John C. Norton. Jane (Mrs. Nicholson), James L., Harriet and Mary Ann are deceased. The latter died in infancy.


Mr. Norton was always a firm but consistent Demo- erat. He cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson. So long as he would consent to serve the public, he occu- pied prominent official positions. He was twice elected to the State Legislature; was nine times


elected Supervisor from Jefferson, and was for four terms the Treasurer of his township. His career was useful and varied. At his decease he left a large property, which had been accumulated by his persist- ent industry, and held by good management.


Though of limited education, he was acknowledged to be a man of far more than ordinary native ability and force of character. In whatever publie position he was placed, his friends and neighbors always looked to him with confidence as a safe and honest leader, nor were they ever disappointed. He was a man of kind and generous impulses, ever ready to help the suffering poor and to contribute from his means to the material well-being of his township and county. The deserving young who appealed to him for assistance in their first struggles for position in society always met with kind, fatherly counsel and not infrequently with more substantial evidence of his generous nature. Mr. Norton's popularity and the esteein in which he was held were attested by the remarkably large at- tendance at his funeral, over six hundred persons being present from all parts of the county.


373


HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY MICHIGAN.


SECTION 12.


ACRES. Nathan Norton, Cass County, Mich., Feb. 20, 1830 80 Maxwell Zane, Logan County, Ohio, March 12, 1830. 80 Maxwell Zane, Logan County, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1831. 80


William Zane, Logan County, Ohio, Sept. 15, 1830 .. 160


Pleasant Norton, Champaign County, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1831 160


David T. Nicholson, Oct. 18, 1834 36


1. Norton and William Zane, Dec. 16, 1835. 40


SECTION 13.


Pleasant Norton, July 10, 1835 40


Pleasant Norton, Aug. 22, 1835. 35


Elizabeth Thomas, Aug. 27, 1835. 80


Giles Norton, Sept. 21, 1835. 40


Moses Reams, Oct. 19, 1835.


40


llenry Carmichael, Feb. 2, 1836 80 80


George Redfield, April 21, 1836.


George Redfield, Feb. 1, 1837. 80


Levi D. Norton, Dec. 5, 1836. 80


Moses Mellvain, Dec. 6, 1836 40


Moses Mellvain, Feb. 9, 1837. 40


SECTION 14.


John P. Miller, Cass County, Mich., June 26, 1833 40


William Zane, Cass County, Mich., Feb. 17, 1834. 40


William Zane, Cass County, Mich., Aug. 22, 1835. 40


William Zane, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 16, 1835. 40


Robert Painter, Cass County, Mich., July 7, 1835. 40


Elizabeth Thomas, Aug. 27, 1835. 40 40


Elizabeth Thomas, Dec. 7, 1835.


Elizabeth Thomas, Jan. 2, 1836. 40


Peter Smith, Clark County, Ohio, Oct. 26, 1835 40


Levi D. Norton, Cass County, Mich., Nov. 13, 1835 40


Peter R. Reams, Cass County, Mich., Nov. 28, 1835. 40


Peter R. Reams, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 12, 1835. 40


Cynthia Hoag, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 6, 1836 80


Moses Reams, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 21, 1835. 40


Moses Reams, Cass County, Mich., March 23, 1837 40)


SECTION 15.


Aaron Reams, Feb. 17, 1834 40


Christian Smith, Clark County, Ohio, Oct. 26, 1835. 80 Peter Smith, Clark County, Ohio, Oct. 26, 1835 40


Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 14, 1836. 200


George Redfield, May 14, 1836.


42


Alex H. Redfield, Dec. 6, 1836


114


Cynthia Hoag, St. Joseph County, Dec. 6, 1836. 33


SECTION 16.


School Lands.


SECTION 17.


Isaac Sears, Erie County, Penn., Sept. 11, 1835. 160


Lawrence, Imlay & Co., May 14, 1836. 400


George Redfield, May 14, 1836. 80


SECTION 18.


Mason Lee, Ontario County, N. V., Aug. 27, 1834 320


Wm. H. Fluallen, Cass County, Mich., Nov. 7, 1835 80


John T. Adams, Cass County, Mich., July 15, 1836. 80


Mason Lee, Dec. 5, 1836


160


SECTION 19.


Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 14, 1836


320


A. H. Redfield, Dec. 5, 1836.


161


Asa Northam, Dec. 5, 1836


164


SECTION 20.


ACHES.


George Redfield, March 15, 1836. 146 Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 14, 1836 411


SECTION 21.


Adam Miller, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 13, 1832 40


David Carmichael, Shelby County, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1832 188 John P. Miller, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 21, 1835. 80 Lawrence, Beach & I., May 14, 1836. 103


A. H. Redfield, Dec. 5, 1836. 40


SECTION 22.


Calvin Colt, Monroe County, N. Y., June 29, 1835. 200


Maxwell Zane, June 29, 1835. 40


Henry P. Voorhees, June 29, 1835. 400


SECTION 23.


John P. Miller, June 26, 1833. 80


John P. Miller, Jan. 25, 1836 80


John P. Miller, July 15, 1836. 40


Noah Zane, Elkhart County, Ind., Jan. 8, 1834. 40


Charles Still, Sept, 13, 1834.


40


Josephus Baldwin, July 2, 1835


80


Elizabeth Thomas, Aug. 27, 1835 40


Abner Tharp, Sept. 23, 1835.


200


George B. Turner, Washington County, N. Y., April 29, 1836 40


SECTION 24.


Levi D. Norton, Feb. 6, 1834. 40


Levi D. Norton, Nov. 30, 1835. 40


Benajah Williams, Aug. 8, 1834. 40


James White, Aug. 26, 1835 40


And. White, Oct. 6, 1835


40


Elizabeth White, Oct. 6, 1835. 80


And. White, Oct. 9, 1835.


40)


Alex. White, Dec. 22, 1835.


80


George White, Dec. 5, 1836.


80


Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 28, 1836 80


Marcus Sherrell, Feb. 1, 1837.


40


Horace Hunt, March 20, 1837


40


George Redfield, April 3, 1847


40


SECTION 25.


Peter Shaffer, Cass County, Mich., Jan. 2, 1835 40


Joseph Smith, Cass County, Mich., Jan. 23, 1835. 40 Moses Mellvain, Champaign County, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1835 120


Elizabeth Thomas, Jan. 2, 1836.


160


Horace Hunt, Champaign County, Ohio, Feb. 2, Dec. 3, 1836 100


SECTION 26.


Joseph Smith, June 29, 1835.


80


Joseph Smith, Dec. 19, 1849. 40


Joseph Smith, Assignce, June 28, 1853. 80


Abner Tharp, Sept. 23, 183'


40


John Rosebraugh, Feb 23, 1836.


80


Sterling A. Turner, Washington County, N. Y., April 29, 1836 I20


Isaac Williams, Jan. 17, 1837 40


Silas Hunt, Jan. 30, 1837


40


Horace Hunt, March 20, 1837


40


A. Il. Redfield, March 29, 1837


80


SECTION 27.


Abner Tharp, June 25, 1831.


80


Johu Vaughn, June 29, 1833 40


Joseph Smith, Nov. 2, 1838. 160


Joseph Smith, June 29, 1835 120


George Redfield, Ontario County, N. Y., Aug. 1, 1834.


160


John Rosebraugh, Dec. 16, 1835.


80


374


HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


SECTION 28.


AORES.


William Barton, Berrien County, Mich., Jan. 1, 1831 80 William Barton, Berrien County, Mich., June 6, 1831 80 John P. Miller, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 13, 1832 40 Henry D. Tharp, Hardin County, Ohio, March 5, 1834. 40 Geeorge Redfield, Ontario County, N. Y., July 21 and March 16, 1836. 40


George Redfield, Ontario County, N. Y., July 21 and March


16, 1836


200


Jonathan Samson, Cass County, Mich., Feb. 5, 1836. 40 Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 14, 1836. 80


Silas Baldwin, Dec. 3, 1836. 40


SECTION 29.


George Redfield, Cass County, Mich., March 15, 1836. 320


Lawrence, Imlay & B., March 14, 1836. 320


SECTION 30.


Ephraim Hanson, Cass County, Mich., Oct. 26, 1835 46


George Redfield, Cass County, Mich., May 15, 1836 55


Lawrence, Imlay & B., May 14, 1836. 480


SECTION 31.


William Mendenhall, Cass County, Mich., Nov. 1, 1831 80


Myron Strong, Ontario County, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1834 ..


160


Barton B. Dunning, Cass County, Mich., Dec. 15, 1834. 40


Barton B. Dunning, Cass County, Mich., Nov. 28, 1835. 40 Barton B. Dunning, Cass County, Mich., Jan. 16, 1837 80


William Schenck, Herkimer County, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1835 87


Lawrence, Imlay & Co., May 14, 1836. 166


SECTION 32.


Myron Strong, Nov. 5, 1834. 80


Myron Strong, Feb. 6, 1836. 40


Myron Strong, Dec. 5, 1836 40


Daniel Farnham, Nov. 20, 1834 40


Henry Dwight, Seneca County, N. Y., Oct. 8, 1835. 80


Mehilable Bogart, Oct. 20, 1835. 80


Thomas M. Adams, Jan. 6, 1836. 80


Joseph L. Jacks, March 5, 1836. 40


Jacob Price, May 7, 1836. 40


Jacob Price, April 33, 1836. 40


Robert Foster, Dec. 5, 1836. 80


SECTION 33.


Obadiah Sawtell, Erie County, Penn., July 6, 1831 80


Ezra Beardsley, July 16, 1831.


80


John McDaniels, Logan County, Ohio, June 12, 1834 80 John McDaniels, Logan County, Ohio, June 12, 1834 40


David Short, Ontario County, N. Y., July 21, 1834. 160


Horace B. Dunning, Cass County, Mich., July 29, 1834. 40


Samuel Noyes, Jan. 14, 1835 .. 80


Henry Dwight, Seneca County, N. Y., June 10, 1835. 40


Edwin Morse, Seneca County, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1835. 40


NECTION 34.


Isaac Ilultz, June 24, 1831 80


Isaac Dunning, Nov. 5, 1834. 40


Joseph Smith, June 9, 1835. 40


Henry Dwight, June 10, 1835. 120


Henry Smith, Aug. 17, 1835. 160


Baruk Mead, Oct. 16, 1835. 80


Horace B. Dunning, Nov. 28, 1835. 40 Silas Baldwin, Dec. 3, 1836. 80


SECTION 35.


ACREA.


Henry P. Voorhees, June 29, 1835 605 Joseph Smith, July 8, 1836 42


SECTION 36.


Henry P. Voorhees, June 29, 1835 320


William Sherwood, Oct. 16, 1835 125


Joseph Smith, April 3, 1848 43


Aside from those who came and settled in an early day, are others who came in later and contributed largely to the development of the township, and are entitled to notice. In this connection, we refer to R. B. Davis, a native Virginian, who reached this county in 1840, after a five years' stay in Clark County, Ohio, and purchased a quarter-section of land, which he still retains. At that time, but thirty acres had been cleared. Mr. Davis has not been an aspirant for civic honors, he devoting his energies almost exclusively to agriculture, his chosen occupa- tion, but has ever taken a deep interest in religious matters ; and it was through his instrumentality that the Christian Church of Jefferson was organized, he being one of the original nine members. He has now retired from active business, the farm being conducted by his son, H. C. Davis, who is a member of the . Executive Committee of the County Pioneer Society, and has filled several township offices.


The most trivial circumstances frequently change the location a person selects for a home, and this was the case with Matthias Weaver, who came here from Montgomery County, N. Y., and, not finding land that suited him, was about to start for Berrien County, this State, when accosted by Asa Kingsbury, who, learning the state of affairs, took him to Section 35, where he purchased the farm on which he died in November, 1869, his wife Catharine following him in June, 1876. Being a carpenter by trade, he at once erected a frame house, it being among the first in the township, and was erected on a farm where not a stick of timber was amiss. The old homestead is now occupied by his son, William Weaver. Will- iam Hanson came from Albany, N. Y., when eleven years of age, with his father, and by persistent effort, since arriving at the age of maturity, has acquired a competency and now resides in Edwardsburg, his two sons, Charles and H. A. (Hanson) Hanson, occupy- ing two of his farms in Jefferson.


The father of George S. Parker (Haines) came from Logan County, Ohio, in 1848, and settled in Calvin. His death occurred in Jefferson. Mrs. Par- ker is a daughter of Rev. B. H. Kenneston, one of the first pastors of the Christian Church.


Among those quiet ones who go about their daily labor, which in the aggregate expands and develops


375


HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


the county, is M. A. Thayer, who, when he first com- menced laboring on his present farm in 1855, found but thirty acres under cultivation.


Mr. Thayer has an exemplar in the person of William E. Morse, who came from Onondaga County, N. Y., in 1858, and is now a resident in Section 24. And still another of these quiet workers can be found in the person of Smith Wooden, a son of Zaccheus Wooden, who trapped in this county in 1813, Smith becoming a resident of the county in 1853.


This township has always been irrevocably Dem- ocratic in politics, but through the indefatigable efforts of J. J. Higgins-Republican-and some others, this majority was cut down one half at the last election. Mr. Higgins takes great interest in anything that per- tains to the general weal of his township and county, he being a resident since 1858.


Among the prominent grangers of the county is W. E. Peck, who came from Onondaga County, N.Y., in 1866. Cassopolis Grange, No. 162, includes in its jurisdiction Penn, La Grange, Calvin and Jefferson Townships, and was organized December 18, 1873. Mr. Peck is Master of the Grange, and his wife, Sarah E. Peck, is Secretary. A record of the society will be found in the general history. Mr. Peck has been appointed by the Secretary of the State as re- porter of the agricultural products and resources of his township.


Since the advent of J. A. Reynolds into the coun- ty, from Chenango County, N. Y., he has been iden- ! tified with many of its public interests. First settling in Howard, he acted as one of the Commissioners to reconstruct the roads and have them surveyed as at present. Since 1850, he has been a resident of Jefferson, and has served as Justice of the Peace and in various other public offices. On his farm can be found fine farm buildings, while from an orchard of eight hundred trees, the largest in the township, he derives a fine income.


The County Infirmary, located in this township, is a rather imposing looking building, and the manner in which it is kept by A. J. Tallerday reflects credit upon him. Mr. Tallerday has been a resident of the county since 1846.


Lester Graham possesses one of the oldest farms in the township, it being located in Section 2. Mrs. Graham is a daughter of the pioneer Maj. Smith, whose record appears elsewhere.


Although an Englishman by birth, no more patri- otic Republican can be found than D. Rose, who has been a resident since 1876.


William A. Runkle, a representative young farmer, is a son of one of the pioneers noticed elsewhere, while Frank Fox, also a forehanded young farmer,


sought after the mystical pot of gold to be found by the setting sun, and returned from the Pacific Slope well compensated for his search.


The name of Frank Hayden should not be omitted as among the later agriculturists, and thus have we traced the records from the first tillers of the soil, who performed the initial labors among many dis- couragements, down to the time when improved farms with modern machinery for tilling are in pos- session of young men who start life under far more auspicuous circumstances than did their predecessors. Fifty-four years, during which time many momentous events have occurred in nations as well as communi- ties, have passed into eternity since the first settlers located in this township, and now we find it teeming with a population of 1,014 individuals who possess in the aggregate 19,721 acres of land, divided into 160 farms. On these farms, in 1869, they raised 69,- 437 bushels of wheat, 104,225 bushels of corn in the ear, 633 bushels of clover seed, 6,055 bushels of po- tatoes, 1,700 tons of hay. In 1880, they possessed 550 horses, 482 head of cattle, 1,996 hogs and 2,300 sheep; 418 acres are occupied by orchards, while lesser fruits can be found in great abundance. There can still be seen quite a number of log houses, but these are fast being replaced by more elegant and commodious buildings.


INITIAL EVENTS.


When the early settlers came into the county, those who went north from Edwardsburg made a detour along the western side of Jefferson, and then eastward through La Grange, following an old trail as marked out by some one unknown. Isaac Hulse, who came from Clark County, Ohio, changed the road by first staking it out with burnt sticks, and then drawing an immense log the entire distance several times, to give it the appearance of an old traveled road, and when, in 1837, David Crane, Jacob Silver and George Rogers, Road Commissioners, instructed H. P. Bar- num, Surveyor, where to survey the road-that ex- tends from Edwardsburg to Cassopolis-they followed, with hardly any variation, the road as laid out by Mr. Hulse, and which, by the way, had been traveled up to this time. This was the first road laid through the township, and to that row of burnt and blackened sticks in the hands of one who wanted " a short cut " is this diagonal road attributable.


The next road that was projected extended west from the present farm of L. Graham. Many roads were laid out by the Commissioners crossing in all directions through the land, the accommodation of those making the petitions being the principal consideration. Many of these were never worked, and eventually


376


HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


taken up, so that unless lakes interfere, the roads are now principally on section lines.


The Grand Trunk Railroad runs diagonally from nearly the northeast to the southwest corners, while the Michigan Central Air Line runs through three sections in the northwest corner, and on which is located Dailey, the only railroad station in the town- ship


In the " estray book," under the date of December 8, 1835, we find the following, signed by Benjamin Cooper : "Taken up by the subscriber in Jefferson Township and county of Cass, M. T., a steer one year old last spring, colored read and with white star on his forehead, marked with a half crop off' the side of the left ear."


This shows a custom then existing among settlers of cropping and otherwise disfiguring the ears of their stock, so that when lost they could be identified by means of these "marks " as they were designated.


The first frame barn was erected by Maj. Smith, on the farm now owned by James Lowman, in 1838, and that season, or the one following, he constructed the first frame house. Deacon Sherrel was among the first to erect a frame building.


Orchards, now so plentiful as to elicit no comment, were once considered almost invaluable. In 1832, Peter Marmon, Richmond Marmon and D. T. Nichol- son, set out orchards, the first in the township.


The first marriage bells rung in the township was in honor of the marriage of Mary Colyar to Peter Reams, in the winter of 1831.


The stern messenger of death is ever with us, and first made his appearance in the family of D. T. Nich- olson, who lost a child.


DAILEY.


The only place in Jefferson that can be dignified by the name of village, is Dailey. It is located in Sections 5 and 6 on the Air Line Railroad, to which it owes its existence. After the completion of the road, in 1871, the citizens, desiring a station, pur- chased three acres of land and donated it to the rail- road company, who erected thereon a freight and passenger house. The names of the donors of the land as far as can be ascertained, are: I. A. Shin- gledecker, H. Kimmerle, William Hain, H. C. West- fall, William Sailesbury, T. T. Higgins and S. Ste- phenson. In 1872, a post office was established, with M. T. Garvey as Postmaster. The business is done at two stores, one machine shop and one blacksmith shop.


In March, 1881, the Dailey Cornet Band was or- ganized, with Schuyler Hain as President ; William Brewer, Secretary ; H. D. Gifford, Treasurer, and has a membership of thirteen ; is now officered as follows :


Ralph Hain, President ; A. J. Gifford, Vice-President ; Schuyler Hain, Secretary, and W. T. Very, Treasurer.


A post office has been established at Redfield's Mills, where also can be found a small country store.


Jefferson Post Office is numbered among the things that were. It never was a necessity and has ever had an uncertain existence.


SCHOOLS.


Knowledge is power, and that those who early in- habited this township realized this fact is evinced from the interest taken in educational affairs ; the young being instructed, before a schoolhouse could be erected for them, in private houses. The first school was taught by Martha McIlvaine (now Norton), in the smoke house of Maxwell Zane, in 1833. Mother earth smoothed and patted down constituted the floor, and the scholars sat on benches made of slabs split from logs. the legs to the seats consisting of four roughly- hewn sticks inserted in auger holes. The school was maintained by subscription. The first schoolhouse was constructed of logs, on the corner, near the pres- ent residence of Lester Graham, and afterward moved south to the forks in the road, on the same place where stands the brick schoolhouse. M. Hunter taught the first school in this house. The second schoolhouse was built on the farm now owned by John Condon, also of logs.


With other things, the school interests have ad- vanced, until now it comprises seven school districts, with one brick and six frame schoolhouses, having a seating capacity of 379. There are 106 volumes in the school libraries. During the school year ending in 1880, there were twenty-two and one-half months taught by male teachers, who were paid $716.50, and by female teachers thirty months, and they received as compensation $522.90. The districts are free from bonded debts, and have a school population, that is, children between the ages of five and twenty years, of 306.


MANUFACTORIES.


The location of this township in the interior, with no water communication, no streams of any consider- able size, and until of late years no railroad communi- cation, would naturally prevent very extensive manu- facturing establishments being erected. It is not, however, destitute of them. To John Pettigrew, Jr., belongs the honor of building the first saw-mill in the township. He came from Clark County, Ohio, in 1830, and in the spring of 1831 or 1832 erected on the South Branch of the Pokagon, in Section 6, a saw- mill containing an old-fashioned upright saw, the irons and saw for which were brought from Ohio in wagons drawn by oxen. This mill played an impor-


377


HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


tant part in the early settlement of that section, and, in fact, it helped very materially in the advancement of the country many miles distant, for lumber was sold at Niles, this State, and Mishawaka, South Bend and Elkhart, Ind. When worn out, it was replaced by another located farther down the stream; to which was dug a race. thereby increasing its motive power. This mill has also had its day of usefulness, and is now numbered among the things that were. The next record we have concerning mills was one erected by Peter Shaffer, of Calvin, and Dr. Beards- ley, of Elkhart, Ind., on the Christiana Creek, in 1836. This soon passed into the hands of Hon. George Redfield, who ran it for a number of years ; but this, too, has succumbed to the ravages of time, and in its place, or nearly so, stands a grist-mill of three run of stone built by Mr. Redfield in 1867. This is now run very successfully by Mr. W. B. Hay- den, under the firm name of Redfield & Hayden, and is used for custom work almost exclusively.


About 1840, Robert Painter built a grist-mill, with two run of stone, just below the Shaffer-Beards- ley mill, and commenced the manufacture of flour. His mill pond, when flooded so as to give sufficient water, interfered with the saw-mill just above, and he therefore changed its site further down the stream, nearly on the bank of Painter's Lake, cutting a mill- race from his dam first built, which, passing through a small pond, afforded ample water-power. With his in- creased power, his ambition to manufacture increased. Therefore, a saw and woolen-mill were added to the grist-mill. The outlay necessarily made exceeded his means, and recourse was made to his friends. The property did not pay, however, and his creditors were forced to foreclose their mortgages, and take the property, which was hard upon those who had be- friended him. From this time on, it changed hands rapidly-the machinery to the woolen factory having been removed, it not being a paying investment-until all was closed up, and the grist-mill machinery taken to Edwardsburg, where it now does duty.


In 1876, Mr. John McPherson, son of Joseph McPherson, whose early record can be found in La Grange Township history-built a grist-mill with two run of stone, on the site occupied by the John Petti- grew saw-mill, and is now engaged in manufacturing flour, which is branded " Centennial," in honor of our national anniversary, which occurred the year the mill was erected. This mill turns out 2,700 barrels of flour per year, besides grinding over fifteen thou- sand bushels of feed per annum.


In 1875, Benjamin Field established a machine shop in Dailey, after a two years' trial in Jones, this county, and since that time hy diligence and industry, has suc-




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