USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 23
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dance! Of course this was too much and was respectfully declined, but it was about as much as kingly dignity could do to prevent all the little Indians from tripping it on the light, fantastic toe, to the music of the piano as played by Mrs. Rockwell. Arising with the dignity peculiar to his race, Fisher exclaimed, as he gazed at the piano, "Man could not make it; Manitou made it!"
In front of the Riggs Hotel, and near the sidewalk, stood then two or three oak trees of medium size and fine shade. In preparing for building, these were carefully preserved until after the hotel was completed, and travelers and others began to hitch their horses near, when the constant stamping of horses and cattle about their roots caused their decay. I have often thought it would have been money well invested to have inclosed those trees with a substantial fence, far enough from their roots to have preserved them. Like the one which still remains at the house of Ben. Birdsall, those trees would now have towered up in the grandeur of the "tall oak of the forest," and spread their branches wide, and shaded and sheltered and protected from storm and sun not only the hotel, but many buildings near, and the traveler and pedestrian as they passed along LeRoy street. But they have gone; the doom of decay was upon them, and, like all things terrestrial, they were soon passing away.
My recollection is that the first preaching we had in Fentonville was from Elder Jones (late of Holly, and whose sons are settled there, or near), a Baptist minister, and that he held forth at the house of Doctor Patterson.
On the north side of the river, about where David Smith's house is, was a log school house. Ministers of other denominations made occasional visits and preached there. The want of some convenient place for church and public meetings was soon seen and a house for that purpose was built by William M. Fenton on the southwest corner of Elizabeth and LeRoy streets. It was a one-story building of fair length and width, fitted up with seats and a plain desk, and answered the purpose, not only for religious, but public meetings for some years, and was free of rent. The first Presbyterian minister was Mr. VanNess, who was succeeded by Mr. Burghardt, and all seemed very glad to have a place for worship. Several political meetings were held there also and a debating school was started with headquarters in the same building. It may be that the numerous young men of Fentonville who have become somewhat eminent in the legal profession gained their first ideas of oratory in that same first church edifice, which, after the building of the First Presbyterian church, was sold to Robert LeRoy, who removed it to where Roberts' hotel is, and it now constitutes his bar-room. Among the young men, graduates from Mr. Fenton's law office, which stood adjoining, may be named Thomas Steere, Jr., now of Woon- socket, Rhode Island., and late United States consul at Dundee, Scotland; Thomas A. Young, late a soldier in the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry, killed and buried on the battlefield of Shiloh; J. G. Sutherland, of Saginaw, now judge of that circuit; and Henry Clag Riggs, Esq., well known among us, now journeying to the far West, seeking perhaps a new home and more room for his ambition to soar in. They have all done themselves credit in their profession, and we need not be ashamed that their first training constitutes part of our early history. Among the merchants of Fentonville may be named Samuel N. Warren and William M. Thurber, now of Flint, and David Shaw, of the same place. Physicians of an early day were Doctor Pat- terson, before named; Dr. Thomas Steere, long and favorably known, whose remains, with those of his wife, now repose in the cemetery; Doctor Gallup, now principal of a female seminary in Clinton, New York; all intelligent and highly respectable as
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practitioners and as citizens and doing themselves and the residence of their adop- tion credit while among us.
The log house was soon found to small for the rising generation (for be it known that pioneers are generally young married people, whose offspring come fast upon the stage and require schooling) and a school house of fair dimensions and tolerable appearance was erected near the site of the First Presbyterian church. The lot for this, as well as the church, were donations so was the cemetery-to the public, but church and school house have disappeared. The title to the lots is vested in private persons, but the cemetery remains a monument to those who have passed away, and there are none among us who visit its scenes without being reminded of the familiar and beloved faces of friends, relations and companions, who once trod the stage of life and mingled in the busy scenes of the little village in its incipient enterprise and gradual development.
Among the earlier mechanics were one Sage, a very neat joiner; Snapp, a mill- wright, living now, I believe, and one of the first who helped to start East Saginaw in building its first mill. David Smith was prominent among them, and could then do more work in a day than any man I ever knew; perhaps he can now-at all events, he is reliable every way. Ed. Franks was another; he is father-in-law of Russell Bishop, of Flint, and keeps hotel at Mackinac. Mrs. Bishop was born in Fen- tonville (I believe in the second story of the store, corner LeRoy and Shiawassee ave- nue, where Franks kept house). Let me not forget Seth Rhodes, who was a timber- hewer and one of the best ever known. It was said after a stick was tolerably scored and Rhodes had struck his line, each blow of his broad-axe (and it was a very broad one) would carry the keen edge through the stick, leaving a surface as straight and smooth as if countershaved. Rhodes had forty acres of land adjoining Wilbur's, enough to have made him comfortable, could he have kept it. But, alas! like many others, his running expenses outran his income, and after he had got out and hewed the timber for the first grist-mill and settled his accounts, he found it necessary to sell out to pay his debts; it was familiarly said of him that he with his family (all huge eaters and provisions high) had eaten up his year's work and forty acres of land. He, too, has gone from among us-peace to his ashes-yet history would be imperfect without mention of his name. .
The first regular hotel-keeper was Thomas Irish, and at that hotel the first town- meeting was held after the organization. Irish was a carpenter also-in fact, there was no man among us who could not turn his hand to building fences, putting on siding, laying floor, painting, etc., and this all who participated in the earlier settle- ment of our place will remember well. In the early part of March, 1838 (say 5th), the ground between Ben Birdsall's house and the west line of the village, extending from Shiawassee avenue down north to the marsh, had been plowed and was sowed with oats. It was protected by a rail fence. During the month there was no rain in the daytime, but, like the period in the building of King Solomon's temple, gentle showers watered the earth at night. The air was balmy and warm as in the months of June and July, and vegetation was well advanced, until before the close of the month (say 25th) there could be seen, where now stand several fine dwellings, a beautiful green field-oats springing up luxuriantly, and the oak-openings all around presented to the eye the beauties of spring. In the early history of the country it was not unusual to plow in February, but in this year (1838) crops were generally sown in March. The variation of the seasons then was remarkable, for the preceding year ice was upon the ground up to April.
Some one who has preceded me in relating the historical incidents of this town
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has said that the changes in streets have created some confusion and that the record thereof could not be found. For the convenience of reference to inquiring minds in that regard, I have caused examination to be made, and find that the record exists among the archives of the circuit court for the county of Genesee, in the first volume, on page 75. It is an order vacating certain streets, and was made the 7th of March, 1842. Before that time that highway commissioners (in 1839) had altered Shiawassee avenue and the dwelling house of Judge LeRoy had changed hands. Its front, once north, had been reversed to face the new street, and in a short time after, by the aid of the first church moved to its new front, was converted into the "LeRoy House," and kept for a while by Robert LeRoy. It is a little curious to examine that old record. It was made at a time when the court had what the lawyers called epaulettes-that is, associate judges. At that time the counties kept in office by election two judges, who sat upon the bench with the circuit judge (who was also a justice of the supreme court, as then formed), and that is about all they did, viz. : to sit on the bench with the presiding judge. True, the two could, being the ma- jority of the bench, overrule the presiding judge, but they seldom did it. Sometimes their sympathies for their neighbors involved in litigation, perhaps under indictment, would lead them to act, and in such case, if they happened to differ with the learned circuit judge, he would, after consultation, give the judgment of the court accord- ingly, but with a frown and a distinct announcement that it was not his opinion, but he was overruled by his learned ( ?) associates.
In the court where the order referred to was made sat only one, as the records show-Lyman Stow, formerly of Flint, now sleeping that long sleep that knows no waking. No one accused Judge Stow of any remarkable legal acumen, but he was one of the earliest of the pioneers of our county, and as such deserves honorable mention. When the red man was almost the only human being in all the country round, Judge Stow penetrated the forest and preceded at first, but ultimately lived to see developed, the march of civilization which levels the forest and brings in train enterprising villages, mills and manufactories, and converts the wilderness into pro- ductive farms. May he be as happy in the home to which he has gone as his honest worth in this world seemed to entitle him!
One of the earlier settlers of the town was Joseph A. Byram, who lived on a lake bearing his name (Byram lake). He was from Flushing, Long Island, and with his family had lived in luxury. The quiet of his grounds was seldom disturbed by the white man's tread until Augustus St. Amand-then a young Frenchman, just from Paris, who, by the way of New Orleans and the Mississippi, had reached Michigan- made Byram's acquaintance. The result was he came out with Byram from Detroit and purchased near him. His fowling-piece and fishing-rod brought with him afforded him amusement, and in the bachelor's hall which he erected out of logs were all the various articles of luxury he had been able to bring with him. He was hospitable and glad to entertain any friend who might visit him-indeed, we found in the first experience of pioneer life a real treat and pleasure is visiting the beautiful openings and clear lakes, as well as the hospitable dwellings of both Byram and St. Amand. Not the least romantic of the earlier scenes of pioneer life was what befel St. Amand. "In one of his journeys to Detroit for provisions (for be it known what little money a man brought here was soon used up in that way), on his return, when on the Saginaw turnpike, near Springfield, he found a carriage broken down. A gentleman and lady were there-father and daughter; the lady appeared to be in distress, the gentleman taking things easy, as was his wont. But the chivalric feelings of St. Amand could not be restrained, especially as he gazed on the young form and saw
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the youth and beauty, with the intelligence and sparkling eye of a damsel in distress, and quick as thought he was upon his feet, rendering such assistance as was required to repair damages and see the travelers on their way to Pontiac. St. Amand could at that time speak but few words of English, but a look of gratitude and admiration beamed in tender eyes, and St. Amand felt the dart of love piercing his heart, as, moving his hand, he bade the damsel adieu, and exclaimed, "Au revoir." It was indeed with them "Au revoir," for the attachment formed on that then romantic and forest road soon culminated, and Augustus St. Amand became the husband of Caroline LeRoy. Sweet girl she was, and became the mother of sons, one of whom has laid down his life in the cause of his country, falling a sacrifice in the war to restore the Union.
In times gone by there was an excitement known as "Anti-Masonry," in western New York, and there was a place called Stafford, near Batavia. At the first-named place dwelt, among others, a man named Elisha Holmes, who removed to and became one of the pioneers of Fentonville. In the days of our early settlement, after Holmes had finished his labor in his shop (he was a blacksmith), he would regale his listeners with racy anecdotes and with many a tale of how Morgan was supposed to pass through Stafford, inside the stagecoach of the "Swiftsure Line," gagged and manacled, on his way to "that bourne from which no traveler returns," just before the dawn of day ; and, as he was postmaster, he would say, "If there was anything of the kind, wouldn't I have known it?" And so he would defend those who had been accused of the big crime of abduction, and wind up by saying that "Weed, the whisker- clipper, circulated the story, and boasted that the body he found was a good enough Morgan until after election."
Elisha Holmes was a man of strong memory, and especially in the political his- tory of the country unequaled. From his postoffice of Stafford he brought barrels of newspapers, and if ever at a loss for facts (which seldom happened), would ransack the barrels until he found the document-and he was always right, his memory infallible.
The first mail obtained in the new village was by a mail-route, procured after a long effort, running from Pontiac via White Lake twice a week. I well remember, in those days of slow mails, the anxiety we experienced on the eve of an important event. One with which Holmes was connected is illustrative of many :
The national convention of Democrats was assembled for nomination of a Presi- dent in 1844, and anxiety to hear the result was general. Cass was a candidate, and others. A crowd had assembled, waiting for the expected mail, which was sure to bring the news, and after much speculation, Holmes, in his dry way, said, "Gentlemen, you are all mistaken. The nominee will be a new man; guess who." At last Holmes said, "Gentlemen, I have got the history of this country, and its statesmen in and out of Congress, in my head, and the nominee will be James K. Polk." "Polk-Polk -who is he?" "Why," said Holmes, "you don't read the newspapers; it is James K. Polk, of Tennessee." Yet the bystanders were not satisfied; indeed, they all agreed that for once Holmes was mistaken. But the mail came and Holmes was right. The old anvil was brought out, the nomination saluted in ancient style, amid shouts of
"James K. Polk, of Tennessee, The very man I thought 'twould be."
and Holmes was triumphant.
But the town goes on; enterprise. still exists. Even at an early day David L. Latourette, Esq., now an enterprising citizen and banker among us, came to a Western
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home. He was the first to encourage the growth of flax and entered into the manu- facture of linseed oil. Like many other pioneers, this didn't make him rich, but his enterprise in another sphere of action did (so said) ; and now, with new life and energy, he is putting his shoulder to the wheel to open another iron road to our pleasant village. May his efforts meet the success they deserve !
Among the men of Pontiac who came here at an early day was Judge Daniel LeRoy, of whom mention has before been made. He was singular in many things, not the least of which was that he became pious, joined the church and thereupon became one of the abolitionists of the old stamp, who, though in a very small minority, thought they were right, and went ahead, believing that time would, with patience and perseverance, accomplish all things, and like Wellington at the battle of Waterloo, that they could pound the longest-and so they have. * * * This is a digression, perhaps, but illustrative of the times when the judge took the only abolition paper circulated in Fentonville-The Star of the East-published in the state of Maine.
While on this subject let me call to mind some of the scenes of 1840-"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." There was an immense gathering and great excitement in our usually quiet village. Tom Drake and others were here, and the frame of the new flouring-mill was up and the roof on. There the people began to assemble. Drake walked to and fro in front of the hotel-hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground- digesting the matter for the coming speech and preparing, as well as he could, to digest the pork and beans and hard cider with which the crowd was to be regaled. Wagons with hard cider were drawn up in front, the kettles were on the fire, the pork and beans were boiling, and one team had arrived from Flint with a load of shingles to be used in dealing out the refreshments, for be it known that knives, forks and spoons were alike interdicted; pork and beans were served on shingles and from a split shingle spoons were formed. The speeches went on in the usual way. The people were told that in the White House gold spoons were used; that Van Buren contemplated a standing army of at least twenty thousand men, and insisted on that odious scheme called the "sub-treasury," whereby the money of the people was to be locked up and we were all to be reduced to beggary-a shilling a day and a sheep's pluck for wages and meat-and "that same old coon," dead but stuffed, was run up on a pole, and all the people shouted and roared, and drank hard cider, and pulled out their "latch-strings," and ate pork and beans off a shingle with a split shingle for a spoon, while Elisha Holmes, quietly hammering away at his anvil, looked down the vista of time, ransacked his memory for a parallel, and with pro- phetic vision, exclaimed, "Go it while you're young, boys; feel good while you may ; but if my name is Elisha Holmes, your 'Tyler, too,' will be a tartar; for my history tells me Tyler is a life-long Democrat, and you will find his policy stamped on the next administration, or I am not Elisha Holmes."
And history has recorded the truth of his prophecy. Would that there were more among us who looked to the lessons of the past, and so performed their duties as good citizens to bring about the greatest possible good in the future!
Another of our early settlers deserves mention here. Hon. Jeremiah Riggs, who settled in Michigan when it was a territory, was a member of the territorial council (as was Judge LeRoy), and at the formation of the state government took part as one of the framers of the first and best constitution-for surely innovations have not improved our first constitution. He was a man of kind and genial disposition, beloved by all, and for many years after he came to this village might be seen at the Riggs hotel, his mind treasured with memories of the past and his conversation instructive, and amusing beyond what is often found. He has left behind him sons, some of
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whom are among us, and a memory which will be cherished with respect by all to whom he was known.
Dustin Cheney, the first settler in the township as well as in the village of Fenton, was a veteran of the War of 1812. Mr. Cheney's son, Harrison Cheney, was the first white child born in the township (1835). Immediately following the arrival of Dustin Cheney at the site of Fenton, came Clark Dibble, George Dibble, Lauren P. Riggs, John Galloway and Robert Win- chell. With them at the early "raisings" were John Alexander Galloway, William Gage and Hannibal Vickery. One of the early "characters" in Fen- ton was "Johnny" Wilber, also a veteran of the War of 1812, noted for his jovialty, quaintness and honesty. "Uncle Dick" Donaldson was another favorite among the pioneers of Fenton. Robert LeRoy, the partner of William M. Fenton in laying out and building up the village, came with his father, Daniel LeRoy, from New York to Detroit in 1818 and, after a residence in Pontiac from 1830, came with Mr. Fenton, in the winter of 1836-1837, to the site of the latter village. They opened the first store in the place. Others came in rapidly and in a short time the settlement began to take on the aspects of a promising village.
The village of Fentonville was platted in 1837 and included the portion which extends from Robert street, on the north, to South street, on the south, and from East street to West street. These remained the limits until 1859. Previous to the first platting, the place was called Dibbleville, from one of its early settlers, Clark Dibble.
Fenton and LeRoy built the first tavern in the village, named later the Riggs House, from Judge Jeremiah Riggs, who occupied it from 1843. They also purchased and greatly improved the saw-mill which the Dibbles had built previous to 1837, and built a grist-mill. Robert LeRoy became, in 1838, the first postmaster of the village and held the office for thirteen years. Mail was first brought here on horseback over the Grand River road.
The first law office in the village was opened by William M. Fenton, and several who afterwards became able practitioners received the rudi- ments of their legal education in his office. Another pioneer lawyer of Fenton was Alexander P. Davis, a native of Aurelius, Cayuga county, New York, who later became state senator .: The first physician to practice here was Dr. Samuel W. Pattison, who came in 1836. The second was Dr. Thomas Steere, who came about 1838, from Norwich, Chenango county, New York. With him for a short time was Dr. John C. Gallup. Very prominent among the early physicians who came later to the township was Dr. Isaac Wixom,
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who, previous to his residence in the township, practiced in Argentine and was a state senator in 1841.
Fentonville had an early rival for village honors in what has become the village of Linden. The first settlers here were Richard and Perry Lamb, who settled in 1835, on section 20. For a long time the house of Perry Lamb furnished accommodations for travelers and Mrs. Lamb was known far and wide as an excellent housewise, a courteous entertainer and a most exemplary pioneer lady. Mrs. Lamb's father, Zenas Fairbank, came to the neighborhood in 1836 and began the practice of medicine. Other early settlers in the vicinity of Linden were Asahel Ticknor, Charles and Joseph Byram, Seth C. Sadler, Consider Warner, Eben Harris, Jonathan Shephard and Beniah Sanborn.
The village was first platted in February, 1840. Consider Warner and Eben Harris were among the original proprietors. Mr. Warner built a saw-mill here in 1837, and in 1838 began the erection of a grist-mill. In 1839 Warner and Harris opened a store and, in 1840, a drug store. Be- tween 1836 and 1840 a log bridge was built across the Shiawassee at Lin- den, and soon after it was carried away by the raising of the dam a frame bridge was thrown across, the first of many others to follow.
The first school in Linden was taught in 1839, by a daughter of Abel D. Hunt, in a shanty which stood in front of the grist-mill. Walter Brown taught at the same place the following winter; he had taught earlier a school about three-fourths of a mile east. The first building erected purposely for a school house within what are now the corporate limits of the village, was a log structure put up in 1840 on the street running south from the Union Block. Louisa Hillman and John Morris were among its early teachers; it was used only about two years, when a frame building was completed.
The first religious society in the village was organized previous to 1838 by the Free-Will Baptists; its first minister was Rev. Mr. Jones, from Holly, Oakland county, who is said to have preached his first sermon here the previous year from a pile of saw-logs in the mill-yard. Rev. Hiram Madison was also early, having preached a funeral sermon in August, 1836. The second religious organization was formed by the Methodists, who or- ganized a class about 1838-39. An early minister was Rev. Daniel Miller.
In 1840 a village was laid out at Mount Pleasant, by John Cook, who with his brother, Solomon, had settled there. On the eastern shore of Long lake, below the "narrows," Philip H. McOmber settled in 1834 and long kept a tavern known as the Long Lake House. The vicinity of this pleasant
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