USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 25
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The township takes its name from Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York. When it was erected into a separate township in 1855 the meeting for the election of officers was held in an old abandoned log house which stood on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 34. The whole number of votes polled at this election was seventy-four, and the following officers were chosen: Supervisor, Ezekiel R. Ewing; township clerk, Bradford P. Foster; treasurer, Samuel R. Farnham; justices of the peace, Frederick Walker, H. S. Root and Daniel Pettengill; highway com- missioners, Alanson Payson, Rodman W. Albro and H. S. Root; school inspectors, G. L. Ewing and J. L. Deland; overseers of the poor, Alanson Payson and William S. Pierson; constable, E. L. Johnson.
GENESEE TOWNSHIP.
Until 1833 no white person resided in the township of Genesee. Then came Luman Beach and Addison Stewart, between whom lies the honor of being the first settler. Beach settled in section 30 and Stewart on section 31. This was the nucleus of the "Cold Water settlement." The name, jokingly conferred by their neighbors, in reality was a tribute to the exemp- lary habits and irreproachable character of these settlers, who were all total abstainers. Good health gave them good appetites, for which their settlement received the ambiguous compliment of "Hungry Hill." Other
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than Beach and Stewart, the earliest members of this settlement were Lewis Buckingham, Isaac N. Robinson, John Pratt and Benjamin Pearson.
The intelligence and progressiveness of the pioneers of the "Cold Water settlement" insured the prompt establishment of a school for the education of their children. The first school in the township was kept here at the house of Lewis Buckingham, by Sarah Curtis, as early as 1835-36, with some eight or ten pupils. In 1836-37 a school house was built on section 31, in which the first school was taught by Harriet Hoyes.
Here also was organized the first religious society in the township. The Methodists held meetings in 1836 at the house of Lewis Buckingham, which were addressed by Rev. William Brockway, a missionary and Indian agent, who afterwards stopped there on his way between Detroit and Saginaw. Previous to this, in 1834-35, Elder Gambell, of Grand Blanc, a Baptist minister, held occasional services at the house of John Pratt. A Presbyter- ian society was organized in May, 1834, by Rev. Mr. McEwin, of Detroit, either at the house of John Pratt or Isaac N. Robinson. The society built a frame church in 1834 or 1835. One article of faith adopted reflects the strong sentiment which gave the settlement its name:
"Article 3. We believe that the manufacture and vending and use of all intoxicating liquors, except for medical and manufacturing purposes, is morally wrong, and consequently do agree to abstain therefrom."
From this beginning settlement extended into other parts of the town- ship. A settlement almost as well known as "Cold Water settlement" was the "Stanley settlement." This was begun in 1835, at the corners of sections 8, 9, 16 and 17, and was named from its first settler, Sherman Stanley. Mr. Stanley was a very thorough, energetic farmer, a man of the strictest integrity and a conscientious member of the Baptist church. He came from Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York. With him came Albert T. Stevens. Both men brought their wives and children, who later married. and settled about the old homes. The same year came Cyrenus Lake, with his wife and five children, and Joseph Simons, with his mother, two sisters and three brothers. In 1837 Ezra Stevens and numerous relatives added their fortunes to the colony. The next year came Peter Snyder, Henry D. Hunt, Charles R. Cooley and an Irishman named Patrick Daly. The whole settlement except three Stevenses and Daly were from Mount Morris, New York. Daly was from Ireland and Cooley from Wayne county, New York.
The lands of the township were rapidly taken up, in 1833, a little more than one thousand two hundred acres; in 1834, a little more than one thou- sand five hundred acres; in 1835, almost four thousand acres, and in 1836,
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when the grand rush came and the tide of immigration was at its flood, over fifteen thousand acres were entered.
At this time about a quarter of the township was covered with pine, following generally the course of the river and lying principally on its south bank. The rest was mainly white oak. A number of saw-mills were early built, the first by Mr. Harger, probably in 1834. The power was furnished by Kearsley creek. A second mill was built on the Kearsley in 1836 by the Joneses about a mile above the Harger mill. Another was built there in 1837 by Ogden Clark.
Probably the first white child born in Genesee township was Damon Stewart, a son of Addison and Lucy Stewart, in 1834; this honor is dis- puted between Mr. Stewart and Edward Beach, son of Luman Beach, who was born in the same month, the exact birthdays being uncertain. Henry Cadwell and Ann M. Stanley were the first persons to be united in the bonds of matrimony, in the fall of 1838. During the same fall occurred the first death among the settlers, that of Abigail Stevens, the little daughter of Weed H. Stevens. The first death of an adult was that of Eliza Bucking- ham, wife of Isaac N. Robinson, in February, 1839. In 1840, or 1841, the first burial ground was opened in Genesee, on land purchased by John E. Upton.
Genesee township takes its name from the "Genesee country," New York, from which came many of its early pioneers. It was organized in 1838. The first meeting was held in the "Cold Water settlement" at the house of Juba Barrows. The following officers were chosen: Supervisor, John Pratt; town clerk, Charles N. Beecher; assessors, Addison Stewart, Daniel Curtis and A. H. Hart; school inspectors, Addison Stewart, Juba Barrows and I. N. Robinson; commissioner of highways, Sherman Stanley, Bushnell Andrews and Alanson Dickinson; justices of the peace, A. H. Hart, Jeremy Hitchcock, C. N. Beecher and Asa Spencer; collector, L. G. Buck- ingham; constables, L. G. Buckingham, Frederick Walker, Albert T. Stevens and G. L. Jones; directors of the poor, John Martin and Peabody Pratt; overseers of highways, road district No. 1, B. Piersons, road district No. 2, N. Cone; road district No. 3, William Thayer ; road district No. 4, Sherman Stanley; road district No. 5, J. Hitchcock; road district No. 6, William Tillori; road district No. 7, Samuel Clark, Jr.
GAINES TOWNSHIP.
The history of Gaines township began later and developed perhaps less rapidly than most of the other townships of the county. This was due
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partly to the large acreage of dense and heavy timber, the lack of streams large enough for mill purposes and the situation of the township on the western border of the county. Philander McLain, who moved his family from Oakland county to this township in December, 1838, has stated that the only settlers in the town of that time were Hartford Cargill, the Fletch- ers and the Darts-probably the Darts had not yet come in.
Hartford Cargill, the first settler of the township, moved in from Bloomfield, Oakland county, in 1836, and settled on section 36. Ephraim Fletcher, from "York state," settled in the same year in the locality known as "Fletcher's Corners." Joshua Dart settled a little to the east of the "Corners" in 1839. As the oldest man in the township at the time of its separate organization, he was given the privilege of naming it, which he did, after an acquaintance of his, General Gaines.
The first township meeting for the election of officers was held in 1842 at the house of Ephraim Fletcher, at which twenty-one votes were polled. The following officers were elected: Supervisor, William B. Young; town- ship clerk, Martin Dart; treasurer, Ephraim Fletcher; school inspectors, Martin Dart, Marvin Williams and Walter B. Beers; directors of the poor, Martin Dart and Ephraim Fletcher; commissioners of highways, James P. Allen, Lyman Perkins and William Gazlay; justices of the peace, James P. Allen, Philander McLain, Walter B. Beers and Frederick Wilcox; constables, Elisha Martin and Lanman Davis; overseers of highways, William B. Young, Jonathan Yerkes, Marvin Williams, William Gazlay, Walter B. Beers, John Rood, Hartford Cargill, Fred Wilcox and Elijah Lyman.
Owing to the relatively slow development of Gaines township, it was not until 1842 that the number of children warranted the formation of a school district. About 1845 the settlers living in the Van Fleet and Cargill neighborhood hired a teacher and had a school kept in the Cargill place. It is probable that a daughter of Mr. Cargill was the teacher.
It was 1856 before the first settlement was made on the site of the vil- lage of Gaines. On the Fourth of July in that year the first passenger train over this portion of the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad passed over the site of the village, then in the midst of heavy forest. In that year the first dwelling house was built there by Thurston Simmons, who came in from Livingston county. In the same year came George B. Runyan, who was appointed postmaster at the new "Gaines Station Postoffice." The village was platted in 1859.
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BURTON TOWNSHIP.
A majority of the early settlers of Burton township came from the towns of Adams and Henderson, in Jefferson county, New York, and their location was known for many years as the "Atherton settlement." In 1835, two brothers, Shubael and Perus Atherton, settled on the Thread river. With them was Pliny A. Skinner. They came in from Oakland county. These three families passed the winter alone in the wilderness, but before the lapse of twelve months there was destined to be here a thriving settle- ment of some thirty families.
Previous to the coming of the Athertons, Levi Gilkey, one of the very earliest pioneers in the vicinity of Flint, came from Genesee county, New York, and for a few years lived on or near the mouth of the small stream which still bears his name. The date of his purchase, which was all that part of section 7 remaining outside the reservation, was May 11, 1831. Very little is known about this first settler. But in 1834 Reuben Tupper came in from Grand Blanc and located on the Saginaw road near the site of the later Atherton settlement. Mr. Tupper was thus the first permanent white settler in the township. Among those who settled, mainly at the "Atherton settlement," previous to 1840 were Henry Schram, Capt. Nathan- iel Curtis, Adonijah Atherton, Ashael Robinson, Elisha Salisbury, all with their families, and Harmon Clark, Barnabus Norton, James Ingalls, Joseph Chambers and sons, John Hiller, William Tilton, Thomas Bownes, William Bendle, Benjamin Boomer, Horace Boomer, Clark Boomer, Cephas Car- penter, Tunis Cole, Adoniram Dan, Daniel Estes, Col. T. Gorton, John L. Gage, Ovid Hemphill, Harris Hibbard, Charles Johnson, John McCormick, Samuel McCormick, Benjamin F. Olmsted, Walter Rall, William Rall, Thomas Sweet, Ephraim Walker and Jesse Whitcomb, Jacob Eldridge, Ed- ward Eldridge, John Clifford, Levi Walker, Benjamin Pearson, Samuel S. Todd, Zenas Goulding, Charles P. Day, Nathaniel B. Overton, Jesse Chap- man, Joel Bardwell, Jr., Jonathan Harrington, Albert G. Gage, Daniel Hil- ler, Ira Donelson, Timothy B. Tucker, Peter Stiles, Samuel C. Stiles, Abel S. Donelson, George Beckwith, Warren Annable, Oliver Short, and a large family of sons, Nathan Lamson, Mark M. Jerome and Andrew Cox.
The first years were trying ones to the people in the "Atherton settle- ment." The removal from New York to Michigan and the purchase of their lands had in most instances exhausted their means. For a year or two many of them worked for the Atherton brothers, Captain Curtis and
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Pliny A. Skinner. But soon their resources were gone. Poor crops re- duced all to a common poverty. Destitution and privation existed upon all sides. Women, nurtured amid the comforts and luxuries of their eastern homes, wept and prayed alternately as their vision took in the dense forests stretching beyond the few acres of stumpy land which had been cleared about their rude cabins. But the band of common suffering only the more firmly knit the ties of friendship and neighborly affection and urged on the strong arms and undaunted hearts that were to wring from the frown- ing wilderness a competence.
The consolations of religion naturally formed a bulwark of strength among these pioneers. A religious society was early formed. A majority in the "Atherton settlement" were, or became soon after their arrival, mem- bers of the Baptist and Congregational societies. Shubael Atherton was a deacon of the Baptist church. His brother, Adonijah, was a deacon of the Congregational church. The first religious meeting in the township was held in Shubael Atherton's house some time during the summer of 1836. The following winter a revival took place. Meetings were held in the school house. Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodists joined in the services and, as a result, every man, woman and child of the thirty families, except one family, was converted and baptized.
The first school house was built in the "Atherton settlement" in the summer of 1836. The first teacher was Betsey Atherton, daughter of Adonijah. From 1836 to 1856 the schools and school reports are so inter- woven with those of Flint township that separate school data for Burton is practically impossible to obtain.
On April 7, 1856, the first township meeting was held at the Atherton school house, when the following officers were elected: Supervisor, Harlow Whittlesey; township clerk, Daniel E. Salisbury; treasurer, Robert Cham- bers; school inspector, Henry D. Frost; justices of the peace, Jacob M. Eldridge, Talman Frost, Nelson Norton and Joel Bardwell; highway com- missioners, Enoch M. Chambers, Abalino Babcock and Harrison G. Conger ; directors of the poor, Ira Chase and Salmon Stone; constables, Edward Eldridge, Lorenzo T. Frost, Charles Pettis and Perry Judd; overseers of highways: District No. I, William Van Buren; No. 2, Francis Hitchcock ; No. 3, James Bigelow; No. 4, Jacob Plass; No. 5, Richard Bush; No. 6, Joseph W. Metcalf ; No. 7, Salmon Stone; No. 8, John F. Alexander; No. 9, Caleb Gillett; No. 10, Daniel Jeffers; No. 1I, Ambrose Jones; No. 12, William L. Van Tuyle; No: 13, Perus Atherton; No. 14, Henry F. Frank- lin; No. 15, John O'Conor; No. 16, David Smith; No. 17; Joel Wardwell;
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No. 18, Asa Wolverton; No. 19, Ira Chase; No. 20, Wallace W. Gorton; No. 21, Rufus Chase; No. 22, Henry F. Hill.
CLAYTON TOWNSHIP.
The township of Clayton was originally covered with dense forest, where the wolf, the panther and the bear found safe retreat, where the pride of the forest-the deer-had his home and where the red man am- bushed his foe or stalked his game. A more herculean task than that of clearing away this sturdy greenwood and preparing the pleasant farms which today dot its surface can hardly be imagined, but the indomitable will and perseverance of the pioneers, together with their ability to endure long and severe toil with all its attendant hardships, accomplished the mighty work.
The history of this achievement began in the locality known as the "Miller settlement." In 1836, Adam Miller, a native of Germany who had lived for a time in Livingston county, New York, settled with his family on section 35. They came into the township by way of Flint, following : well-worn Indian trail which led north as far as the Indian sugar camp in Gaines township. This trail became approximately the line of a portion of what afterwards came to be known as the "Miller road," the first in the township.
During the infancy of this settlement, people coming here from the direction of Flint spoke of going "up the Swartz." In time the small stream flowing near became known as Swartz creek, though only a branch of the main stream, which gave its name to the postoffice established there in 1842. The mail route extended from Flint north to the Grand river road, via Vernon and old Shiawasseetown. Peter Miller, a son of Adam Miller, was one of the first postmasters. In the same year with the postoffice a store was started in the Miller settlement by Miller and Rall. The village of Swartz Creek was not platted until 1877, the year after the railway was completed.
It was probably in this settlement that the first school in the township was taught. The children of the settlement first attended a school kept by Miss Watkins, of Mundy, in a log school house built across the line in Gaines in the spring of 1838. In 1839 a frame school house was erected on the north side of the line where later the store of Messrs. Miller stood. A religious society was here organized by the Methodists as early as the
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fall of 1837. Rev. Whitney, then stationed at Flint, was the first preacher. In 1856 a frame church was built on land taken from the Miller property.
Early pioneers of 1837 in or near the Miller settlement were John and Thomas Nash, John Hartsock, Seth Silsby, Emir Woodin, Seth Hath- away and Sedgwick P. Stedman.
Another early beginning was the "Lyons settlement," in the northwest part of the township. In the winter of 1839 Isaac Lyons, in company with his brothers-in-law, Jacob Coddington and John Clement, all from Tompkins county, New York, but residing since 1836 in Flint, settled here. Mr. Lyons built a log blacksmith shop on the corner of his place, for a long time the only one within a radius of many miles. About 1844 a log school house was built on the corner of his land, in which the first school was kept by Miss Angeline Smith.
A third settlement of note in the early days was the "Donahoo settle- ment." In 1845 Michael Donahoo, always known here as "Squire" Dona- hoo, came from the north of Ireland to America and settled in Clayton. When he came to the township there was but one team of horses in it except a span of ponies owned by Daniel Miller, although several owned one horse. Oxen were used universally for teaming. "Erin's green isle" sent several sons to become residents of Clayton. Considerably earlier than Squire Donahoo were Bernard Lennon and Patrick Conlen, who came in 1834-40. Both later married sisters of Michael Donahoo. Bernard Trayor, who also married a sister of Mr. Donahoo, came with the latter and located in the same neighborhood. Three Carton brothers, William, Peter and John, set- tled about 1842 in the northern part of the township. Patrick Bradley located four miles east of Lyons Corners. A near neighbor was James E. Brown, who settled in 1840 and became one of the most prominent men in the town.
Among other first settlers of the township were Joseph Burbridge, from England, who settled near the center of the town in 1837; the Ottawa broth- ers-James, Stephen, George and John-also from England, who settled in the summer of 1840; Albert, Granger, William and Richard Goyer, about 1840-42; James W. Cronk, E. W. Fenner, James Glass and Peter Lan- non, Sr.
In 1844, as shown by the official list, the resident taxpayers in what is now Clayton township numbered seventy-four. In 1846 the township was deemed to have a sufficient population to warrant its separate organiza- tion. At the first election, which was held in the school house in district No. 6, fifty-one votes were cast. The following officers were elected: Super- visor, Alfred Pond; town clerk, Francis Brotherton; treasurer, Theron Wal-
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lace; justices of the peace, Seth Newell, Isaac Lyons and Caleb Calkins ; asses- sor, Harry Brotherton and Seth Silsby; commissioners of highways, Richard C. Goyer, John C. Clement and John M. Nash; inspectors of schools, Alan- son Niles and Alfred Pond; directors of the poor, Alex. H. Fenner and Barn- ard Carpenter; constables, John M. Nash, Silas Henry and Elhanan W. Fenner ; overseers of highways, Alfred Richardson, Wright N. Clement, Albert Granger, Alexander H. Fenner, William Piper, Bernard Lennon, John M. Nash, Morgan D. Chapman, Abraham Knight and David Felt.
VIENNA TOWNSHIP.
In July, 1833, Charles McLean came to Vienna township from Sagi- naw county, whither he had emigrated about 1826 from "York state." His house became one of the earliest hostelries in this township, on the Saginaw turnpike. He also built the first frame school house in the township, about opposite the later village school house; in this house was kept the postoffice, established in 1836 or 1837, for all the region lying between Flint and Sagi- naw, and there also was held the first township election.
Prominent among the early settlers of this township were Sylvester Vib- bard, Hiram Benjamin, Joseph C. Winters, Humphrey McLean, George Sparks, Waterman W. Neff, Clark Abbey, George Huyck, Theodore P. Dean, Reuben and Daniel Warner, Russell G. Hurd, William Hotchkiss, Isaiah Merriman, Edward Maybee, Christopher Hughes, William Sissins, Joshua Pattee, George T. Bingham, Samuel Rone, John R. Whittemore, Ormond and Joel Booth, Marcus Goodrich, Nahum N. Wilson, Lemuel John- son, John Jackson, Charles Montle, Justin S. W. Porter, Nicholas Sigsby, Daniel N. Montague, Capt. Robert L. Hurd, Grovener Vinton and Seth N. Beden.
Among the "first things" in the township, to Hiram Benjamin is ascribed the honor of being the father of the first white child born in the new settle- ment-a daughter-her birth occurring early in 1836. Theodore P. Dean, from Saginaw county, built the first saw-mill in the township, in 1838, at the site of the present Clio.
By the same act as Mundy township, Vienna was organized March II, 1837, and the first township meeting was held April 3 at the house of Charles McLean. Officers were chosen as follows: Moderator, William Hotchkiss; inspectors of election, Hiram Benjamin, Grovener Vinton, Josiah C. Winters; clerk, Thomas J. Drake; supervisor, William Hotchkiss; town clerk, Hiram Benjamin; assessor, Clark Abbey, Isaac Van Tuyl and George
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Sparks; collector, Edward Maybee; directors of the poor, Charles McLean and Theodore P. Dean; highway commissioners, Grovener Vinton, Hiram Benjamin and Waterman W. Neff; constables, Edward Maybee and Charles McLean; school inspectors, Russell G. Hurd, William Hotchkiss and I. Mer- riman; justices of the peace, Russell G. Hurd, Hiram Benjamin, George Sparks and Isaiah Merriman; fence-viewers, Grovener Vinton, Hiram Benja- min and Russell G. Hurd; overseer of Highways, Russell G. Hurd; pound- master, Charles McLean.
The first school house in Vienna township of which record is pre- served was a frame building, situated in the "Pine Run settlement." Josiah W. Begole, later a prominent resident of Flint and governor of Michigan, taught the first school there, in the winter of 1837-38.
The Methodists were the first to hold religious meetings in the township. Their circuit preachers came to Pine Run as early as 1836. A class was formed here in 1837 or 1838, the leader being Isaiah Merriman. A Congre- gational society was organized here in 1845, by Rev. Orson Parker, an evan- gelist.
THETFORD TOWNSHIP.
As late as the beginning of 1835, Thetford, which was heavily timbered, remained still a wilderness unbroken by the axe of the white man. From 1835 to 1840 scattered settlements were made in different parts and a large share of the town was purchased from the government. A considerable por- tion, especially the best pine lands, were bought up by speculators. The first land was taken by Grovener Vinton, in January, 1835; he was also the first settler. He came originally from Avon, Livingston county, New York, but had lived since 1831 in the Saginaw valley. His location in Thetford was on section 31. His second daughter, Roxy Ann, was the first white child born in the township. Mr. Vinton occupied a prominent and influential position among the pioneers of Thetford and enjoyed their unlimited confidence and esteem. He lived to a hale and hearty old age, witnessing the vast changes and improvements in the region with whose history his name was so inti- mately connected and interwoven. Until the fall of 1836 Mr. Vinton's was the only family in the township, when Isaac and Nelson Van Tuyl, with their families, came in from Oakland county, settling on section 29.
One of the earliest and most influential pioneers of Thetford township was Corydon E. Fay. He came from Avon, Livingston county, New York, and settled in the fall of 1837 on section 30. His house was about a quarter of a mile north of Vinton's. He was a blacksmith by trade and built a
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small log shop on the section corner, the only one in the region. The first job of blacksmithing consisted of making a plow-clevis out of the poles of two old axes; the clevis was made for Grovener Vinton. In 1850 travel on the Saginaw turnpike had so increased as to call for houses to entertain the travelers and Mr. Fay opened the first inn in the town. It was known as the Fay House, and was in excellent repute with the travelers who then thronged the roads leading to the pineries of Michigan. This was the begin- ning of Fayville. Several other buildings were built and quite a settlement sprang up. But its life was short. A postoffice was established here in 1842, with Corydon Fay as postmaster. It was called Thetford and was kept in Fay's log house. A school house was built here as early as 1838, known as the Fay school house, on section 31. This was a frame building and was built by Isaac and Nelson Van Tuyl. It is probable that the first school was taught previous to this by Josiah W. Begole, in a private log house. The first school taught in the Fay school house was kept by Miss Calista Hurd, of Pine Run, in 1836.
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