USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 32
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Brent's and Pine runs are the principal water courses. These streams flow towards the northwest and ultimately empty their waters into Flint river. They have rendered service in former years to assist in sawing into merchantable lumber the valuable pines which once swayed their towering tops over a large portion of the township, and the latter stream has done duty in propelling the machinery of the grist-mills in Clio. The people are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, the staple products being wheat, corn and live stock. Since the disappearance of the pine forests and lumbering interests the attention of the inhabitants has been more exclusively devoted to agriculture. The soil, though light and sandy in those portions once denominated "pineries," is well adapted to wheat and other cereals. The whole township is being rapidly developed into good farming lands, and a corresponding increase in wealth and population is the result. Since Flint became a city of approximately eighty thousand, the scarcity of houses there has brought to Clio and Mt. Morris many who are employed in the factories.
THETFORD TOWNSHIP.
Thetford township contains some of the good farming lands of Genesee county, and the beautiful scenery, the well-tilled fields, the majestic woods, and the fine dwellings and barns that denote the thrift and industry of its people, well repay the observant traveler for the trouble incidental to a trip through the town.
Down to a period of time as late as the beginning of the year 1835 it had been a wilderness. The surveyors in the employ of the United States
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had passed through the trackless maze of its dense forests, recording their progress by, and leaving as tokens of their presence the "blazes" on trees that marked the section lines and corners. Some wandering, adventurous white hunter or trapper may have casually passed through in pursuit of his perilous calling, but, aside from these persons, it is probable that, of human- kind, none save the moccasined foot of the Indian had trod the virgin soil or rustled the leaves with which the lofty trees had carpeted the earth be- neath their spreading branches.
These Indians belonged to the Chippewa nation and were only transient inhabitants here, they not having any village within the limits of this town- ship. They came here to hunt and fish, though the latter sport was not as plentiful as the former on account of the lack of lakes and large streams. They had a well-defined trail, which started from the banks of the Flint river, in the present township of Richfield, and ran in a direction a little west of north and in a nearly direct course to Tuscola, on the Cass river, and to Saginaw bay, near the present site of Bay City. This trail entered Thet- ford not far from the southeast corner, followed the pine ridges and crossed the line into Tuscola county near the corner of sections 3 and 4. Along this trail the Indians traveled for many years, sometimes in large parties and again singly or by twos and threes. They were generally mounted on their hardy ponies and in sandy places the hoofs of these sturdy little animals had worn away the soil to the depth of a foot or more. These Indians remained here many years after the settlement of the country by the whites began and the most amicable feelings existed between the two races at all times. They had a favorite camping-place near the residence of Richard Buell, where two or three families, more or less as the case might be, would come and stay for a few days at a time while they hunted the deer and other game with which the forest teemed. They were on especially friendly terms with the Buell family, for whom they had conceived a great liking when they first settled here and with whom they often engaged in trade. Another of their favorite camping-grounds was on the banks of Butternut creek, in the south- east corner of the town, near the present village of Whitesford.
In the work of cultivating the soil the farmer's plow frequently brings to the surface some relic of the aborgines, in the shape of flint arrow or spear-heads, stone knives, pipes, or pieces of rude pottery. Frequently, too, the plow breaks into the shallow grave of some of these former dwellers and turns their bones up to bleach in the sun-to be destroyed by the chafing fingers of the storm and the ever-destructive touch of time. Do these sense- less bones represent the once proud form of the haughty warrior who strode
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forth defiantly to battle with his equally haughty and courageous foe, and fell beneath his enemy's superior prowess?
DAVISON TOWNSHIP.
The surface of Davison township, north of a line drawn diagonally from the northeast corner to the center of the west border is comparatively level. That portion lying south of this line is rolling, with an altitude of per- haps forty-five feet above the former. Kearsley and Black creeks are the principal water-courses. The former enters the township from the south and, flowing in a general southwest course, leaves it on the west border of section 7. The latter takes its rise from Potter lake and, flowing thence north, describes in its passage through a portion of Richfield township, the arc of a circle. It then enters Davison from the north border of section 2. and continues in a southwesterly course until it effects a junction with the Kearsley, on section 7.
Potter lake, containing an area of about one hundred and fifty acres, lies mainly within section I of this township, the remainder in Lapeer county. Hasler lake, considerably larger in extent than the former, lies also across the line dividing the counties of Genesee and Lapeer, though the greater portion is within section 36. Vast tamarack swamps, now partly drained, extend across sections 1, 12, 13, 14, 23 and 24, making an almost continuous waterway between the two lakes. This was a timbered township originally. oak, beech, maple and other varieties of deciduous trees predominating. Small groves of pine were found on portions of sections 14, 27 and 33.
The soil is of the same character as that of surrounding townships-a sandy loam on the knolls and higher portions, a dark alluvium mixed with vegetable mould on the lowlands. A system of drainage has been inaugurated by many landowners within the past few years, by which the value of their acres has been vastly enhanced and many other fields reclaimed and rendered productive which, but a few years since, were considered valueless. The peo- ple are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, stock raising, wool growing and the cultivation of fruits, corn, potatoes, beans, sugar beets and the cereals being the specialties. Many fine farms, residences and commodious outbuild- ings dot its landscape, giving evidence of the enterprise and thrift of the people who reside here, and that they are rapidly surrounding themselves with all the comforts, conveniences and many of the luxuries of life.
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RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP.
The surface of Richfield township is slightly rolling, being roughest in the northeast part and along the course of Flint river. The original forest of this town was in most parts a variety of all kinds of hardwood timber, but along the course of the river was a belt of pine of an average width of about one and a half miles, and along Hasler and Briar creeks similar growths were found. This pine, covering about one-third of the town, was to some extent interspersed with other timber and was of good quality and size. The soil of the pine lands is lighter than that of the rest of the town, which varies from a sort of marl to a black, gravelly or sandy loam, fertile and easily tilled. The best part of the township for agricultural purposes lies in the southwest half, but all is productive, and well repays the toil of the husbandman with remunerative crops.
Unlike many townships in Michigan, there are none of those small lakes, so common in this state, within the borders of Richfield. The princi- pal water-courses are the Flint river and Black creek. Flint river enters the town near the northeast corner of section 12, and runs in a somewhat tor- tuous, but generally westerly, course, passing through portions of sections I, 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18, passing into the township of Genesee near the southwest corner of section 7. Its course in this town is about twelve miles in length and its current, rather sluggish. Black creek, which is the outlet of Potter lake, enters the town near the center of the east line of section 36, runs westerly about a mile and three-quarters, turns sharply to the south and passes into Davison. Hasler's creek is the outlet of a lake of the same name lying in the town of Elba, Lapeer county, and runs northerly along the east border of the town through section 13, and in a northwest course across section 12 till it reaches the Flint river and unites its waters with those of the larger stream. Briar creek, Belden creek and four other small streams are tributaries to Flint river. The two first named unite with it in the eastern part of section 18, the former flowing from the north and the latter from the south.
Many traces still remain to testify of the presence here of the aborigines -those nomadic wanderers who have now so nearly disappeared from this country which was once one of their favorite hunting-grounds. Numerous trails led in various directions through the township, the principal ones being the Saginaw trail, near the Irish road, and one from the vicinity of Nepes- sing lake, in Lapeer county; in this township the Indians had a camping-
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place on the south bank of Flint river, in section II. Near this place they cultivated some corn on a sort of opening, which gave to the locality the name of "the Indian garden." On sections 20 and 21 and in other localities in the town they had "sugar-bushes," where they tapped the maple trees and in their rude way manufactured an inferior kind of maple sugar. Among these traces of former inhabitants of this section of our country none possess a greater interest to the antiquary or the historian than the mysterious mounds that here and there lie scattered about throughout the state. In the pinery, on section 5, is a large mound, evidently formed by the work of human hands, as is proved by the mixed condition of the soil composing it. Its diameter is some twelve or fourteen feet and its elevation above the sur- rounding surface, about five feet. A smaller mound on the bank of Black creek, in section 35, was opened and a skull and some other bones taken out. Upon these mounds large forest trees were growing at the time of the first settlement, indicating that they had then reached an age of at least a hun- dred years since the mounds were piled up.
FOREST TOWNSHIP.
The lands of Forest township were originally heavily timbered and gen- erally with pine of fine quality and large size, intermingled with oak, maple, beech, ash, elm, butternut and many other varieties of timber in limited quantity. Owing to the fact of the existence of this pine timber, the land was largely taken up by speculators or by those who held them till lumber was worth a price which would warrant them in cutting the timber.
The soil is varied in its composition, being composed of sandy, gravelly and clay loam, distributed very irregularly. It is all underlaid by a heavy clay subsoil of great depth, and is fertile and easily worked. It is well suited for the cultivation of general crops and is excellent for wheat.
The surface of the land is usually lightly rolling in its nature, though in some parts it becomes a little more uneven and rises in low hills. In the south part of the town lies what is known as Compton hill, which is the point rising highest above the surrounding surface. Probably the most elevated part of the town is the northern portion. Commencing with the lakes, near Otisville, a strip of territory made up of alternating knolls and marshes runs in each direction, reaching nearly across the town from north to south.
There are quite a number of small lakes scattered about the town. At Otisville a cluster of them, seven in number, lies south and east of the vil- lage. It is supposed that originally these were all united in one body of
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water, but that the changes in the streams, the decreased rainfall caused by the clearing up of the forests, and the accumulation of decayed vegetation, have lowered the surface of the water and built bars and marshes that now separate them one from another. Two others of these lakes are found one and a half miles west of Otisville, one on section 20 and one on section 29. Another, known as Crawford's lake, is located in the south part of section 24. Near the northeast corner a small portion of Otter lake extends into this township. These lakes are all of the same general character, having an average depth of some thirty or forty feet and a sandy or muddy bottom. The shores in some places are bold and in others, more or less marshy. These lakes were formerly abundantly supplied with fish of various kinds and, though somewhat depleted by unseasonable and unsportsmanlike fish- ing, still furnish a fine field for sport to the lover of the piscatorial art.
The principal stream of the town is the outlet of Otter lake, which flows across the town diagonally, in a southwest course, entering Thetford near the west quarter line of section 31, and is a tributary of Flint river. Its shores were originally covered along its whole course with a heavy growth of butternut trees, which fact gave it the name of Butternut creek, a name which it still bears. It receives the waters of a few tributary streams, the largest one being the outlet of the Otisville lakes.
MONTROSE TOWNSHIP.
The surface of Montrose township is varied and cut by the valleys and ravines formed by the Flint river and its tributaries. This was a pine town- ship originally and during the first years of the white man's occupancy the inhabitants were chiefly engaged in the various occupations incident to a lum- bering region. For this reason, added to the fact that it was the latest settled district in the county, Montrose long wore a general aspect of rough- ness or newness in strong contrast to the major portion of the county.
The present inhabitants are principally employed in the pursuits of agriculture. The soil, though in some places light and sandy, produces fav- orably and time only is needed to bring the products of this up to the best of the other townships in the county. Its principal water-course, the Flint river, enters the town near the center of the south border and, flowing in a general northerly direction, passes through the central part and leaves the township just west of the center of the north border. Brent's run enters from the south- east corner and, flowing in a northwest course, discharges its surplus waters
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into the Flint on section 15, and Pine run, another tributary of the Flint river, in flowing to the northwest crosses the extreme northeast corner of the township. Coal-and rock similar to the Flushing sandstone-crops out in the bed of the Flint on section 28.
A portion of the Pewangawink reservation of the Saginaw Chippewas extended into this township, including the whole of section 4, the west half of section 3, the east half of section 5, the north half of section 9, the north- east quarter of section and the northwest quarter of section 10.
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CHAPTER IX.
PIONEER AGRICULTURE.
When the settlement of Genesee county began in earnest, after the day of the redman and the adventurous hunter and trapper, the earliest industry that engaged the white settlers was agriculture. The soil of the county is not unlike that of the "Genesee country" of western New York, whence came so many of the settlers of Genesee county. The surface was then largely covered with timber of various kinds and the soils varied somewhat with the timber. There was some heavily timbered land, especially in the region of Forest township; there were oak openings, burr oak plains, some pine tracts, and numerous spots where the land was treeless and covered with grass suggesting the prairies of the west. The heavily timbered hardwood lands were largely clay. This soil, although as productive as any in the state, was more difficult to clear, and usually cost from ten to fifteen dollars an acre to fit it for cultivation. There was one advantage in timbered land, however, for the settler of small means; after the timber was cut down the soil scarcely required plowing. A drag drawn by one yoke of oxen gen- erally was sufficient to render this highly mellow land ready to receive the seed. The pine lands were somewhat sandy. The white oak openings, which covered a large part of the county, were quite different from the timbered lands. Their surface was covered with a layer of vegetable mould. Marl was generally found under this surface, and limestone, pebbles, sand, and frequently clay and yellow loam, were found below. This soil was specially favorable to wheat and was among the most valuable wheat lands in the county. It was easy to till and seldom failed to produce a good crop even in the most unfavorable seasons. Oats and corn throve well on it, though it was not so good for hay. The only disadvantage was that the soil, on ac- count of the thick tufts of matted grass, required sometimes four or five yoke of oxen in order to make any headway in breaking it up for the seed. The burr-oak plains presented the appearance of vast cultivated orchards. The soil was somewhat like that of the white-oak openings. It contained a great deal of lime and its great productiveness made it specially prized by the settlers.
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In the heavily timbered township the settler's first problem was to clear the land. If he could afford to hire this done he could generally get it for the equivalent of about fifteen dollars an acre. The trees were felled and either were split into rails for fences or logs for the buildings, or were rolled together and burned. Where the timber was light the trees were frequently girdled to let in the sun.
The settlers usually judged the lands of the county by those with which they were familiar. The prime test was its ability to produce wheat, and the frequent verdict respecting the lands of Genesee was that in this respect they were superior to those they had left in New York. The first care of the settler was the immediate needs of his family. Wheat was generally the first crop he sowed, and in quantity limited to the extent of the small clear- ing in the timber or the amount of land he and his sons could bring under cultivation. Enough potatoes and other vegetables were raised for the fam- ily use. Abundant crops usually rewarded these first labors. After a little while they began to haul a surplus to Pontiac or other distant market, though the price received was often scant reward for the labor. Wheat has been, and still is, one of the leading agricultural products of Genesee county, although beans and sugar beets are prominent factors in the list. Wheat har- vested in 1840 amounted to 37,399 bushels. In 1910 it reached 278,064 bushels.
The production of hay in Genesee county is conducted on a large scale. At first it was grown only in sufficient quantities for stock. At an early day, however, it began to be produced in excess of stock requirements. The first marketed was sold to lumbermen and brought a considerable revenue. Later it was pressed into bales, first by hand and then by power-presses. The hay product has increased from 1,941 tons in 1840 to 121,209 tons in 1910.
Stock, especially sheep and cattle, were raised at an early day. Even the earliest settlers raised some sheep, from whose wool garments were made in the home by the thrifty housewife and daughters. "Home-spun" was the prevailing style of cloth among the pioneers. A comparatively large number of fine-wooled breeds of sheep were early introduced into Grand Blanc, and a little later into the adjoining towns. In 1852 it was officially reported at the county fair that, "If Genesee county deserves special credit for her pro- ductions in any one department of stock over others, it was observable in the sheep-pens. It is but a very few years since the fine-wooled varieties were first introduced among us, yet we now find them represented here in a display which would be creditable to much older counties." That year
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33,000 pounds of wool were sold at Flint, at twenty-nine cents a pound. On this record an agricultural journal comments, that "wool is commencing to be an article of considerable revenue to the farmers of Genesee county." The following year, 50,000 pounds were sold in the same market at prices varying from thirty-five cents to fifty-five cents a pound. These amounts steadily increased with the years. The price also increased under the extra- ordinary demand created by the Civil War. At one time it exceeded one dollar a pound.
These war prices led to the formation of the Genesee County Sheep- Breeders' and Wool-Growers' Association. The meeting to organize was held, May 25, 1865, at the house of Jonathan Dayton in Grand Blanc. A large number of the leading farmers of the county were present. At the same time, there was considered the plan of holding annual sheep-shearing festivals. The plan was adopted, and continued to bring, annually, pleasure and profit for many years. At this meeting Henry W. Wood was chosen to preside; F. H. Rankin was secretary. The report on a plan and constitu- tion, made by D. H. Stone, E. G. Gale, and D. H. Seeley, was adopted. The following officers were chosen: President, H. W. Wood, of Flint City; vice-presidents Emmaus Owen, of Grand Blanc, R. A. Carman, of Flint, and A. P. Gale, of Atlas; secretary, Francis H. Rankin, of Flint; treasurer, D. H. Stone, of Grand Blanc; auditors, Charles Pettis, of Davison, and Henry Schram, of Burton; executive committee, C. H. Rockwood, of Genesee, Jonathan Dayton, of Grand Blanc, J. K. Pierson, of Atlas, H. C. Van Tiffin, of Flint, E. G. Gale, of Atlas, E. J. Pierson, of Grand Blanc, and Edmond Perry, of Davison.
For this meeting a sheep-shearing program had been prepared and was greatly enjoyed by all. Many people were present from neighboring counties and some from the state of New York. Among those who took part in the shearing were Josephus Morgan, Joseph Barton, Benjamin Newman and S. Miner, of Grand Blanc; M. F. Dunn and Orson Bingham, of Genesee; Will- iam Hawkins, Alfred Ewer and Edward Ewer, of Flint City; J. C. Rocka- fellow, of Davison; W. H. Borden and Eben Higgins, of Mundy; Levi Beecher and Charles Beecher, of Atlas; William Dullam and Frank Cousins, of Flint township. Some one hundred and fifty sheep were in the yards, but not all were shorn. The judges were as follows: On bucks, J. W. Begole, R. A. Carman; on ewes, David Schram, C. C. Pierson, Stephen Jordan; on weighing, Oren Stone: on shearing, J. W. King, C. H. Rockwood, A. S. Donelson. Among owners of sheep whose fleeces were specially commented
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on, were E. J. Pierson, D. H. Stone, Charles Bates, Gurdon Watrous and J. C. Dayton, of Grand Blanc; H. W. Wood, of Flint City; A. P. Gale, of Atlas; P. A. Montgomery, of Burton; Charles Pettis of Davis, and C. H. Rock- wood, of Genesee. A meeting was held the following year at Flint. Of this meeting Mr. Rankin, the secretary, published in the next issue of his Wolverine Citizen the following comment: "There was not an inferior sheep upon the grounds and, although in older counties larger exhibitions may have been had, we question if anywhere in this state an equal number of better animals have ever been collected together. * * The wool of * the fleeces was all of fine texture, good length of staple, pliant and soft, such as any locality might feel proud of producing and such as would do credit to a display of such animals (Merinos) even in those parts of Vermont and New York, where their care and cultivation is made a specialty: The flocks of Messrs. Gale, of Atlas, Dewey, of Mount Morris, Rising & Munger, of Richfield, Stone, of Grand Blanc, Rockwood and Beahan, of Genesee, Pettis, of Davison, Crasper, of Burton, and others, are destined yet to have a fame in the annals of sheep-husbandry." The following premiums were awarded :
On bucks, three years old and over, first premium to E. B. Dewey, of Mount Morris; second premium to E. G. Gale, of Atlas.
On bucks, two years old, first premium to P. A. Montgomery, of Burton; second premium to William Lobban, of Davison.
On bucks, one year old, first premium to D. H. Stone, of Grand Blanc; second premium to Stone & Dayton, of Grand Blanc.
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