USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 111
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During the war of the Rebellion, Forest did its full share to sustain the government in its struggle for existence, and by men and money upheld the administration until the sword of Lec was surrendered beneath the historical apple- tree of Appomattox. A special town-meeting was held Feb. 20, 1864, at which it was voted to issue bonds of the town to the amount necessary to pay $100 each to every volunteer accredited to this town, till the quota under the pending calls was filled, or a draft took place. A second special meeting was held on the 18th of August following, and the bounty was raised to $300, to be paid to each volunteer credited to the town on any call as long as the war should last.
THE VILLAGE OF OTISVILLE
had no existence until the building of the Hlayes saw-mill brought to this place the necessary force of meu to run the mill, and to cut the timber and get the logs to the mill. At that time there were three houses within the present incorporation, viz. : Stephen Begel's, Amos Begel's, and Matthew McCormick's. The mill was built in 1851, and Hayes built a house for his own occupancy on the site of Mrs. Freeman's present residence. The mill company also built a boarding-house and a store, and several of the mill hands built small houses for themselves. This store was the first one kept in the township. It stood a little south of Hayes' house. The boarding-house was near the present site of Robert Alexander's house. About the same time Ira S. Begel built a house, the one now owned by James Moshier.
In 1852 a change was made in the management of the mill, and Lyman Crowl was placed in charge of the busi- ness. lle then built a house on the sonthwest corner, where the road coming from the west intersected the State road, and George Reed built the first hotel in town-the American House-on the opposite or northwest corner. The corner room of this building he fitted up for a store, and rented it to Robert B. Shaw, who put a stock of goods in it and kept store there for a while, and then sold out to E. C. Freeman. In 1859, Ira S. Sanders built a store on the north end of the public square, and occupied it for a few years. Then Ira S. and John R. Begel, in 1860-61, built a store about two rods east of the present post-office. Ira was considerable of a surveyor, and resurveyed the cast-and- west road through the village. He then found that the line of the road ran a couple of rods farther north than had been supposed, and thus a strip of ground on the south part of Main Street, and north of Crowl's line, was found to still belong to the Begels. On to the east end of this strip
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FOREST TOWNSHIP.
they moved their store, where it still stands, having been afterwards sold to Mr. E. C. Freeman.
During this time a number of dwelling-houses had been erceted by new-comers, and the village had attained a con- siderable size. A foundry, devoted to plow and custom- work, and employing four or five hands, had been built by Salvin F. Kellogg and R. W. Woodruff, on the north side of the outlet of the lakes. Woodruff sold out to Kellogg in 1859, A room had been built as an addition to the saw-mill and fitted with one ruu of stone, bolts, ete., neces- sary for a grist-mill, and had done considerable grinding. In 1860, Otis & Crocker built the present grist-mill, which was fitted with two run of stone and corresponding ma- chinery. This mill is now owned by John II. McCormick.
June 6, 1863, William F. Otis and T. D. Crocker made a village plat, and placed it on record in the register's office at Flint. Dr. Rogers recorded an addition Sept. 3, 1866, Ira. S. Begel and Robert B. Shaw another one Aug. 5, 1867, Freeman and Crowl another March 19, 1868, and Mr. Beccher another June 22, 1872.
In 1864, Tra S. Begel built a saw-mill, and in 1867 another one, both of which are mentioned elsewhere. In the latter year he also built a hotel, which has always been known as the Lake House, and of which he was the host for a time. In 1868 he enlarged this hotel. IIe also built a store on the corner where the post-office now stands, which, together with the drug-store of Ellis S. Swayze, standing just east of it, was destroyed by fire. On its site the pres- ent Hunton Block was built by Hunton Bros., in 1875.
The foundry was traded by Mr. Kellogg to M. S. Pres- cott, in 1875, and was by him converted into a furniture- factory. It was then sold to Silas Patten, who made broom- handles there until a year ago, since which time it has been used for storage purposes.
A steam saw-mill and sash-and-blind factory were also built by George Reed, near the depot, and run by him for a time, but are now dismantled and idle.
School district No. 5, which is the largest district in the town, includes the village of Otisville, and was formed in its present shape about twenty-five or thirty years ago. The school-house then used stood about one-half mile south of Otisville, on the State road. The present school-house, which is a commodious, convenient, and well-proportioned frame building, was erected in 1867, on land reserved for the purpose by Dr. Rogers when his plat was laid out the year before, and at that time the school was divided into a primary and a grammar department, with William II. Begel as principal. Since that time the primary depart- ment has been supplemented by an intermediate department. The cost of the building was about $4000. The principals in charge of the school, succeeding Mr. Begel, have been Mr. Van Vleet, Jefferson Lewis, A. D. Metz, William L. Laing, and Wm. II. Begel, who has now nearly finished his third year of continuous service.
The present number of scholars enrolled is 130, and the average attendance about 100. A branch primary school is kept at IFunton's mill for the accommodation of the smaller children in that part of the district. Though claiming no special merit, this school claims to average well with similar ones in the State, and points with pride
and satisfaction to the list of teachers who have gone out from among its pupils.
The present statistics of the village show about as follows: There are ten stores, including one drug and two general stores, and the usual variety of the different branches of trade. There are seven or eight mechanics' shops of the usual kinds. In the line of manufactories there are two es- tablishments. The first is the stave-factory of Silas Patten, which is run under the supervision of Joseph Myles. It was first built by J. W. Hinman, in 1872, on section 32, two and a quarter miles southwest of its present location. In 1874, having been sold to Messrs. Norris & Hinkle, it was moved to its present location ; it was then manufac- turing sawed staves and headings. In October, 1875, it was sold to Silas Patten, who then introduced the manu- facture of cut staves. Since 1878 the manufacturing of broom-handles has also been carried on. The mill uses a twenty-five-horse-power engine, employs fifteen hands for about four or five months in the year, and turns off an annual product of about 87000 in value. The second es- tablishment mentioned is the grist-mill of John N. McCor- mick, which has two runs of stones operated by steam-power, and does considerable flouring in addition to its extensive run of custom grinding. There are also two hotels in Otisville,-the American House, recently rebuilt, and run- ning under the management of Branch Brothers (Thomas and Frank Branch), and the Lake House, which is kept as a temperance hotel by Eugene Ostrander. There is one church belonging to the Methodist Episcopal denomination ; also the fine school-building already spoken of, the depot of the Flint River Railroad, and about 75 dwelling-houses, some of them quite large and tasty modern houses, and all indicative of a thrifty, progressive spirit on the part of the iuhabitants. The population is about 375.
The village was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, approved by Governor Charles M. Crosswell on the 21st day of March, 1877. The territory included in the cor- poration limits is one mile square, and is distributed on four different sections,-on sections 21 and 28 three-eighths each, and on sections 22 and 27 one-eighth each.
The charter limited the powers of taxation for general purposes to one per cent. per annum of the assessed valua- tion of all the taxable property in the corporation.
The first election was designated to be held on the first Monday of May, 1877, at the public hall in said village. This was understood to mean the hall at the Lake House ; but when the election came to be held the board gave a liberal construction to the aet, and the election was held at the office of John S. Elwell, Esq. As a step preparatory to the election, George Reed, Matthew T. McCormick, and Christian E. Osborne were appointed as a board of registra- tion, and met on the Saturday preceding the election for the purpose of registering the voters.
At the election officers were chosen, whose names and also those of their successors down to the present time will be found in the following list of
OFFICERS OF OTISVILLE VILLAGE.
PRESIDENTS.
1877, George Reed; 1878, Salvin F. Kellogg; 1879, John II. McCormick.
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HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
CLERKS.
1877, Anthony D. Burnell; 1878-79. Frank C. Trowbridge.
TREASI'RERS. 1877-78, Albert K. Hunton ; 1879, F. W. Nicholson.
TRUSTEES.
1877. George E. IIunton, John II. McCormick, Christian E. Os- borne, Ozias C. Swift, Salvin F. Kellogg, Eugene Ostrander ; 1878, John W. Nicholson, Allen B. Clark, Charles Moon, Silas Patten (v.) ; 1879, Robert B. D. Alexander, John B. Laing, Silas Patten.
STREET COMMISSIONERS.
1877, II. O. Cheney ; 1878-79, Edgar Rawling.
ASSESSORS.
1877, Allen B. Clark ; 1878, Anthony D. Burnell; 1879, John S. Elwell.
MARSIIAI.S.
1877, Abram D. Van Gordon ; 1878-79, John S. Decker.
CONSTABLES.
1877, Alexander A. Dingman : 1878, Charles Wesley ; 1879, Wil- liam Gott.
The village has been greatly improved in many respects since this act of incorporation went into effect. Through- out the thickly-settled part fine, broad plank walks have been built, which very greatly facilitates and adds to the pleasure of traveling the streets. A basement in the Craw- ford Block has been fitted up for a "lock-up," and in it refractory violators of the laws of the commonwealth are sometimes restrained from the enjoyment of their personal liberty. A small hand fire-engine has been provided as a protection against fires, and the work of building reservoirs to store water for use at such times is now about to be undertaken. The village rents a room in the Hunton Block, and there the trustees meet, on the first Monday evening in each month, to transact the business connected with the management of the affairs of the corporation.
A volunteer fire department was organized Nov. 6, 1878, with the following members : F. W. Nicholson, J. Ostrander, A. M. Smith, Eugene Alexander, John E. Smith, E. R. Freeman, M. L. Eckler, M. A. Bentley, William Gott. The trustees of the village then placed the management of this department in the hands of a chief-engineer, and ap- pointed Charles Moon to fill that position. The other officers were chosen as follows: Foreman, William Gott; First Assistant Foreman, Eugene Alexander ; Second As- sistant Foreman, J. Ostrander ; Engineers, F. W. Nichol- son, A. M. Smith ; Secretary, F. W. Nicholson ; Treasurer, E. L. Freeman. The company now numbers twenty mem- bers.
The charter elections are held on the first Monday in March in each year.
The village also boasts one paper, The Otisville Obser- ver, published monthly, by Rev. A. G. Blood. It is a small folio, devoted to home news, and forms an excellent medium for advertising the wares of the business men of the town. It was started in October, 1878, and is a very readable publication.
THE SOCIETIES OF FOREST.
The first society organized in this town, of which we have any account, was
OTISVILLE LODGE, I. O. G. T.
It was instituted on the 14th day of August, 1876, by Charles P. Russell, with twenty-eight charter members. There had been a lecture at the church the evening before, and the preliminary steps were then taken to organize the Lodge. The following officers were chosen at the organiza- tion, viz .: W. C. T., John S. Elwell; W. V. T., Mrs. Amanda M. Burnell; W. Sec., Joseph Myles ; W. F. S., A. J. Kellogg; W. Treas., Charles Moon; W. Chap., William Birdsall; W. M., John S. Decker; P. W. C. T., Charles Hanchett; W. I. G., Mary E. Lansfield ; W. O. G., Sylvester Fuller ; R. H. S., Mrs. Irvilla Myles ; L. II. S., Elsie Cheney; W. A. S., Susan Reed; W. D. M., Mrs. Mary E. Hanchett ; L. D., A. J. Kellogg ; Trustees, H. O. Cheney, C. II. Hanchett, Charles Moon.
The Lodge hired a room above Freeman's store, and fitted it up for their use at an expense of about $75 for furniture and regalia. After holding their meetings there for a year or two they rented, and moved to, a hall owned by John 11. Fuller. A few months later they removed one and three-fourths miles west of Otisville, to a hall furnished by William II. Butler, where the meetings are now held.
Commencing with 28 members, the list was rapidly en- larged until within a year they numbered 100. Since then the membership has grown smaller, but is now again on the gain, and is at present 30. The lodge has been more than usually successful in promoting temperance work, and points to the reformation that in certain cases has been worked by the strong influence, the pure principles, and the effective teachings of the order.
The present officers are as follows: W. C. T., George Webster; W. V. T., Mrs. Lucia Webster; W. See., Charles Weeks; W. F. S., William H. Butler ; W. Treas., Mary Begel ; W. Chap., Mrs. Mary J. Butler ; W. M., E. Begel; W. I. G, Charles Branch ; W. O. G., Harley Butler ; P. W. C. T., Joseph Gillett; R. H. S., Margaret Butler ; L. H. S., Jennie Butler; W. A. S., Mrs. Ange- line Gillett.
The red-ribbon movement was first inaugurated here by Charles Johnson, of Flint, in the spring of 1877. He delivered an address on that phase of the temperance re- form at the Methodist church, and organized a club with about 100 members. He was followed by other speakers, and the interest of the movement was well sustained for a few months, when it began to decline. In November, Mrs. Gertrude Barnes, of Detroit, came and aroused the enthu- siasm of the temperance community by an able, eloquent, and effective address, which infused new life into the move- ment. She came twice afterwards, at intervals of about one month, and by her efforts succeeded in increasing the membership of the club to 211. The club at that time held weekly meetings at the church. After a while the meetings were held semi-monthly, then monthly, and at last were discontinued entirely.
Another Lodge of Good Templars was organized in the Dimond neighborhood, which was called
EUREKA LODGE, I. O. G. T.
It was instituted by Mr. Andrews, of Flint, in the early part of November, 1877, with 20 charter members. There
437
FOREST TOWNSHIP.
had been several temperance meetings held at the Dimond school-house, which were addressed by Stephen Griffin, and to his efforts the success of the attempt was mainly due. The organization was effected at the house of D. Moody, and the following officers were chosen and installed : W. C. T., Stephen Griffin ; W. V. T., Anna Mcclellan ; W. Sec., Bird Root ; W. F. S., Louisa Dimond ; W. Treas., John Bodine ; W. Chap., Perry Dimond ; W. M., Morris Bidwell; W. I. G., Clarence Wakefield ; W. O. G., Henry Dimond ; P. W. C. T., Denman Moody ; W. A. S., George Rohrer ; W. D. M., Laura Daniels ; L. D., Joseph Bidwell.
The Lodge meets every Saturday evening in a hall rented of Morris Bidwell. It has been fairly prosperous, having reached a membership of 30 in 1877-78, and is now in a prosperous condition, with a membership of 25. The present officers are as follows: W. C. T., Perry Dimond ; W. V. T., William Rohrer ; W. Sec., Byron Ilouser ; W. F. S., Stephen Griffin ; W. Treas., Joseph Bidwell ; W. Chap., J. Bodine ; W. M., Charles Upper ; W. I. G., C. Kennedy ; W. O. G., Robert Harris ; P. W. C. T., Mor- ris Bidwell ; R. Il. S., Miss Ella Hiscock ; W. A. Sec., C. Williams ; W. D. M., Mrs. A. Lee; L. D., William Rohrer.
EAGLE LODGE, NO. 320, I. O. O. F.,
was instituted at a meeting held in a hall over Beemer's blacksmith-shop, on the 17th of October, 1878, by E. Il. Thompson, G. M. of the State. The number of charter members was 5.
The Lodge has been prosperous, having increased its mem- bership to 23, and has expended about $200 in fitting up its lodge-room and purchasing regalia. It meets every Saturday evening.
The first officers-and they are also the present ones- were as follows : N. G., Charles E. Kingsbury ; V. G., Wil- liam E. Clark ; Sec., A. J. Kellogg ; Treas., Allison W. Whipple ; I. G., N. T. Wilson; O. G., Samuel Wilson ; Con., D. W. Allen ; Warden, John Bodine.
BRYANT LODGE, NO. 1334, KNIGHTS OF HONOR,
was instituted by Edward Newkirk, of Bay City, Jan. 13, 1879, with 22 charter members, and the following officers, viz. :
D., J. B. Laing ; V. D., John S. Elwell ; A. D., T. W. Averill ; Rep., A. W. Nicholson ; F. R., F. W. Nicholson ; Treas., Joseph Myles ; Chap., Charles Moon ; Guide, Wil- lard P. Ranney ; Guardian, William Gott; Sent., Robert Beemer; P. D., Frank C. Trowbridge ; Trustees, Charles E. Kingsbury, John S. Elwell, Silas Patten.
The present membership is 23, and the Lodge meets regularly on the first and third Tuesday evenings of each month in Odd Fellows' Hall.
RELIGIOUS.
The first religious meetings in Forest were held at the houses of Nathaniel Smith and Henry Heister. The people of the vicinity would assemble at one or the other place on nearly every Sabbath, and employ an hour or two in prayer and praise to God, and in exhortation to one another to continue on in the true path to happiness in this world and in eternity. Whenever any one happened to be present
who could preach, a sermon was had from them, and the others considered these occasions-though, perhaps, the preacher was rough and uncouth, and his discourse more earnest than elegant-rare spiritual treats, and enjoyed them with a gusto unknown, to a great extent, in our more modern religious assemblages. As soon as the Smith school-house was erceted the meetings were held there with more or less regularity. These meetings were not in any sense denominational. Christians of all shades of religious belief joined together in perfect harmony to worship the one Lord, who is the head of all Christian churches.
About the year 1848, one Orlando Johnson, a minister of the Protestant Methodist denomination, organized a class of that Church at the Webster school-house, at Weeks' Corners. This was the first church organized in the town. It grew out of a protracted meeting held by Mr. Johnson, and was quite large. It maintained an existence for a period of about twenty years, and then died out.
A couple of years later than the Protestant Methodists came the Christian denomination, and through the efforts of Mrs. Dolly Richards, one of its ministers formed a church at Weeks' Corners, with a small membership, which was rapidly increased, and in a short time reached about forty in number. This church maintained its organization until about the year 1870, and held meetings at the Weeks' and Butler's school-houses during the time. Among the min- isters who served the church were Revs. George Osborne, Mr. Fifield, Mr. Copeland (colored), Mr. MeIntyre, Mr. Jennings, L. I. Wicker, Mr. Dodge, and Mr. Warner.
The Methodist Episcopals next came into the field, and organized a class at Otisville in 1853. A history of this church, which follows this sketch, kindly prepared for the work by Rev. A. G. Blood, its present pastor, gives in de- tail the matters connected with this church.
The Free Methodists organized a class of about a dozen members at the Dimond school-house in 1866. A year or two later a small class was formed at the Weeks' Corners school-house. Both appointments are on the Richfield circuit, and are kept up, though the north class has changed its place of meeting to the school-house just over the town- line in Millington. At a revival, resulting from a protracted meeting held in the Weeks' school-house during the winter of 1876-77, several persons were converted and joined the class, which now numbers about a dozen persons.
METIIODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF OTISVILLE.
There may have been preaching by Methodist Episcopal clergymen at an earlier date, but the records begin with the proceedings of the First Quarterly Conference of Mara- thon mission, held at Marathon, Nov. 26, 1853. Rev. George Smith, Presiding Elder; Rev. Charles Haynes, Preacher in charge ; David Burritt and John Coley, Class- Leaders, were present. Richard A. Gossler, William W. Brown, John Coley, James McDowell, and Lafayette War- ren were appointed stewards. Abrain Herrington, David Burritt, and John Coley were appointed a missionary com- mittee. The preacher's salary was as follows : quarterage, $264; table expenses, $100; traveling expenses, $15; presiding elder's claim, $12; total, $391. A missionary appropriation was received, amounting to $50, and the
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HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
balance was apportioned among the different appointments, one-half on either side of Flint River. Of the appoint- ments of the mission, elasses had been formed at Marathon, Millville, Gray's school-house, Moore's school-house, Steam- mill in Forest (Otisville), and North Branch, and among the other preaching places mentioned were Lathrop's, War- ren's, Railroad, Le Valley's, and Brownson's Lake. Of these several elasses, that at Marathon had a membership of 13 ; that at Millville, 9; Gray's school-house, 9 ; Moore's school-house, 11 ; North Branch, G ; and Steam-mill, Forest, C. The names of those forming this latter elass, from which the Otisville Church has sprung, were as follows: Richard A. Gossler, class-leader; Elizabeth Gossler, Brother Her- rington, Sister Herrington, John Herrington, and Sister Woodman. About this time Nathaniel Crawford was chosen as steward.
The appointment belonged to Marathon mission until the Detroit Annual Conference was organized, when it became an appointment on the Marathon circuit, Flint district. In 1858 it was a part of Forest circuit, and the name was changed in 1872 to Otisville circuit, as it is now desig- nated, and ineludes, at present, appointments at East Forest, Marathon, and Otter Lake.
The pastors who have had charge of the mission and circuits to which this class has belonged have been as fol- lows, the date given being that of their appointment by the Annual Conference in the fall of each year : 1853, Rev. Charles Haynes ; 1854, Rev. William Sly ; 1855, Rev. George Chipman and Rev. Isaac IIallenbeek ; 1856, Rev. Henry Carlton ; 1857, Rev. Jesse Kilpatrick ; 1858, Rev. E. C. Wright ; 1859, Rev. R. Johnson ; 1860, Rev. Wil- liam Downing and Rev. Mr. Eldredge ; 1861-62, Rev. L. S. Tedman and Rev. Mr. West (asst. 1861); 1863, Rev. E. B. Prindle ; 1864-65, Rev. S. P. Lee; 1866-67, Rev. N. W. Pierce; 1868, Rev. A. Gee; 1869-71, Rev. L. S. Tedman ; 1872, Rev. W. J. Clack ; 1873-74, Rev. D. B. Millar ; 1875-76, Rev. S. L. Ramsdell; 1877-78, Rev. A. G. Blood.
The list of local preachers and exhorters ineludes the names of John Hamilton, John Branch, Salvin F. Kel- logg, and William Birdsall, who have at different times served the church and employed their talents for the fur- therance of the interests of the Master's kingdom. Among those who have held position as official members of the church we find the following names recorded : Richard A. Gossler, Nathaniel Crawford, Amos Ranney, Isaae Heming- way, Ira S. Sanders, Lyman Crowl, John Goudy, E. C. Freeman, George Merriam, John H. McCormick, Silas Patten, Abel C. Smith, and Henry G. Cook.
A parsonage was purchased in 1856 for $150, which was improved in 1862, and sold in 1871, when the present site was seeured and the present parsonage built thereon.
The subject of building a church was broached in 1865, but no steps towards its erection were taken until the year following, when, at the second Quarterly Conference of that year, S. P. Lee, Joseph Burlingame, Frederick Olds, F. E. Dodge, Emory How, William W. Brown, Anthony D. Bur- nell, and Robert B. Shaw were elected as a board of trus- tees, and they let the job of building the church to Benjamin Moses, for the sum of $3600. The building of the edifice
progressed through this and the two years following, and the dedication was held in September, 1869, Rev. J. S. Smart being present, and, we infer, preaching the discourse upon that occasion. The debt upon the society aggregated $1438, and they held notes and subseriptions estimated at a net value of $800, with which to meet these demands. In 1872 this debt still remained at about $1000, and there was also a debt upon the parsonage of $368, which was in the form of a mortgage held by E. C. Freeman. In 1874 the pastor, Mr. Millar, endeavored to raise the load of in- debtedness under which the church had so long labored, but, on account of an unfortunate dissension that manifested itself, the effort was but partially successful. In 1876 the clouds of financial distress which had so long loomed dark and threatening in the sky, seemed about to culminate in a devastating storm. The reported debt on the church had risen to $1500, and that on the parsonage to $600, and to meet this the officers of the society had but $200 or $300 in notes. The Quarterly Conference voted to let the par- sonage go on the mortgage, and instructed Joseplı Myles to make out the necessary papers, reserving the use of it till September, 1878. In the spring of 1878 a compromise was effected with the ereditors, and, through the efforts of the pastor, Rev. A. G. Blood, subseription notes were ob- tained sufficient to cancel the obligations of the church. Then an excursion was planned from Otter Lake to Bay City, which took place Aug. 13, 1878, and met with al- most perfect sueeess. It netted to the church the sum of $628, which, with the addition of $50, sufficed to pay off the entire indebtedness of the society, and left it to breathe the atmosphere of freedom from debt for the first time in a series of long, weary, worrisome years. On Sabbath, August 18th, a praise-meeting was held at the church and thanks- giving rendered to the Good Father for this gracious deliverance of his people.
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