USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 66
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Other carly members who joined the society were, in 1834, Samuel Rice, Abigail Rice, Susan Baldwin, Julia A. Webster, Samuel C. Baldwin, Edwin Baldwin, Sarah M. Baldwin, Moses P. Butler, Eliza Butler, Moses A. Buell ; in 1835, Maria Brigham, Abigail Owen, Andrew Slack, Sarah Slack ; in 1836, Henry Le Roy, Luey Le Roy, Edward Parsons, Aun Butler; in 1838, Sophia Dayton ; in 1839, Silas Smith, John Burrington, James Rice, Eliza A. Boss, Elizabeth Burrington, Grace Burrington, Sophia Coy, Sophia Rice, Jane Elsefer, Emeline Davison, Rebecca Brown, Helen Brown, Silas D. Halsey, David W. Law- rence, Ann Lawrence, Gurdon G. Cook, Wealthy Cook, Margaret A. Cook, Gavin McCoy, Mary MeCoy, Susan McCoy, and Harriet MeCoy.
The first board of trustees was elected in 1836, and was composed of Samuel Rice, John Butler, and Jeremiah R. Smith.
The church edifice was dedicated Sept. 12, 1855, and cost $2600. It has sittings for 300 people, and is situated in the village of Grand Blanc.
Present membership, 64. Scholars attending Sabbath- school, 86. G. Russell Parker, superintendent.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI.
This organization, probably the first class in Methodism instituted in the territory now known as Genesee County, like a large majority of those of this denomination, has no written history or records of the past that are available. It is stated that the first class was formed in the school- house at Gibsonville, by Rev. Oscar North, in the year
1835, the first members being William Blades, Charlotte Blades, Thomas Cartwright, Catherine Cartwright, Daniel Nobles, and Susan Nobles.
The school-house in Gibsonville was used for a place of worship until 1854, when a church edifice situated in the village of Grand Blane was completed at a cost of about $2000. A parsonage was erected at the same time, which cost about $1000. The trustees in 1854 were Adam C. Kline, Jay Adams, Arthur Ellsworth, Edwin Ellsworth, and Abial L. Shaw. George Smith, presiding elder. G. N. Belknap, pastor in charge.
The pastors of the society since 1851 are the same as those of the Burton Methodist Episcopal Church, both being in the same charge, viz., Revs. Mr. Blades, Bradley, Lee, Belknap, Cawthorne, Crane, Allen, Frazer, Sutton, Crip- pen, Seelye, Crippen, Joslin, Shore, Mosher, Whitmore, Brown, Westlake, Hicks, Hamilton, and Gage, present pastor. Present membership, 40. Joseph Taylor, super- intendent of Sabbath-school.
We desire to return our thanks to Hon. Alexander W. Davis, Joseph McFarlen, Caleb S. Thompson, Newell Tupper, John P. Fritz, Adam C. Kline, Edward Parsons, J. C. Wolverton, Addison Armstrong, E. A. Sawyer, Ar- thur C. McCall, Mrs. C. D. W. Gibson, Mrs. Phineas Thompson, Mrs. E. N. Johnson, and others, for much val- uable information.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
SIMEON M. PERRY.
The oldest living male settler in Genesee County is Simeon M. Perry. He was born in Schenectady, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1804. His father, Edmund Perry, was the see- ond settler in the county, and located the second farm in the county. Edmund Perry purchased of the government in 1824 two lots of land, and in March, 1825, settled thereon with his family. This was in what was then called Grumlaw, now Grand Blanc.
Simeon M., his sister, and a cousin (Thompson) eame West with Edmund Perry in March, 1825. The father and sister returned to New York, while Simeon and his cousin remained on the farm, and kept bachelor's hall until the return of the family in the fall. He remained with his father eight years, helping him clear up the new farm. On the 3d day of December, 1830, he bought of the govern- ment the west half of the northwest quarter of section 14, in Grand Blanc, and in 1839 the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 11, in the same town. In 1834 he built a small frame house on his " eighty," and moved into it. IIe had prior to this occupied a log house near where Seymour Perry's house now stands. In that log house Miss Isabel Perry, the first white child born in the county, first saw the light of day.
Simeon Perry is a man possessed of a strong constitution, and has been a great worker. He has helped to clear two hundred acres of land,-part of it being the farm where he now resides, the balance the farms owned by his father.
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IIISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Ile has seen, as a pioneer settler, many hardships, and has been subjected to exposures which have caused him many hours of pain. In the first year of his residence in the county his father's stock ran at large, and, in searching for them through the marshes and swamps, he was often wet to the skin for hours at a time. Often the eattle woukl wander miles away, causing him all-day tramps to find
SIMEON M. PERRY.
been entirely helpless and dependent upon the eare of his daughter Isabel, who is devoting herself with filial care to his every want. Mr. Perry was formerly a Demoerat, casting his first vote for Andrew Jackson. On the organ- ization of the Republican party he joined it, and has since been a member of the same, although he has never solicited or held office. Ile has been a member of the Baptist
LITTLE
MRS. SIMEON M. PERRY.
them. Ile relates an instance, when he had been looking for them all day, with nothing to eat, and had got some ten miles away from home, suddenly he came upon an Indian seated at a fire partaking of a muskrat-stew. The Indian invited Mr. Perry to eat, which he gladly did, and he now declares food never tasted better than did that stew. In 1865 he was prostrated by disease, which was brought ou by his hardships and exposures, and for five years he has
Church for thirty-five years. On the 19th day of March, 1828, he married Miss Sarah Cartwright, daughter of Thomas and Isabel Cartwright, who was born March 17, 1806, and died Sept. 17, 1875. The result of this union was six children,-Isabel C., born May 13, 1829; Emily A., born July 26, 1831 ; Joseph and Mary, born March 7, 1833; Mary E., born Aug. 31, 1837; and Esther, born Nov. 22, 1840.
GURDON G. COOK.
The aneestors of Mr. Cook were among the early Eng- lish settlers of New England. Deacon Gurdon W. Cook was a native of Connecticut, and in 1805 removed with his family to Western New York, and settled at Lima, Livings- ton Co. Ile reared a family of four sons and four daughters, of whom Gurdon G. was the second son. Ile was born at the old home in Connecticut on the 7th day of June, 1802.
He was reared on the farm, and at the age of seventeen went to learn the trade of a tanner ; he followed that occu- pation at Avon and Bethany for several years, during which time he became acquainted with Miss Wealthy Pierson, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Pierson, old settlers of Avon. They were united in marriage, Feb. 15, 1827. After his marriage he continued the same business until 1834, when he took charge of and managed the farm of his father-in- law. In the spring of 1836 he made a trip to Michigan in quest of a home: he selected and purchased of the gov- ernment two hundred and forty acres of land in the present township of Grand Blanc, Genesee Co., about ten miles south of the city of Flint. Ile then returned to New York,
settled up his business, and in the fall of the same year re- moved with his family to their new home in the wilds of Michigan. The family moved into their new log house in the following February. Then followed the usual routine of chopping, logging, clearing off the timber, and all the other hard work, hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, together with anxieties and fears of wolves and Indians on the part of the mother, for the first year or two. But in a few years the Indians and wild animals disappeared, and were replaced by settlers and neighbors; and, under the sturdy stroke of the pioneer axe, the forest had given place to fields of waving grain. The adventurous family, who a few years before had braved all the discomforts and dangers of settlers in the wilderness, had fully realized all that their hopes and anticipations had pictured to them of a comforta- ble home with peace and plenty smiling around them.
Mr. Cook was a man of genuine piety, and an honored member of the Congregational Church for upwards of forty years. For the last fourteen years of his life he was blind, the result of an accident in early life and subsequent in- flammation ; but under this terrible affliction he always
249
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP.
maintained a cheerful and hopeful spirit, and continued to manage his farm and business with all his accustomed pre- cision and sagacity. In 1853 he made an addition of eighty aeres to his farm, so that at his death, which oc- curred Oct. 6, 1860, it consisted of three hundred and twenty acres. lle left to his bereaved widow and children a comfortable fortune and an unblemished character.
Mrs. Wealthy Cook, his widow, comes of a long line of honored ancestors. The Pierson family is also of English origin, and embraces some of the earliest settlers of New England.
Ephraim, the grandfather of Mrs. Cook, lived and died in Connecticut. He left a family of ten children,-six sons and four daughters. Joseph, the fifth son, was born at the old Connecticut home, and while a young man went to Albany, N. Y., where he was married to Sarah Watrous. Ile first settled on a farm in Albany County, but in a few years he removed to Livingston County, bought a farm, and settled at Avon. He reared a family of three sons and six daughters, of whom Mrs. Cook was the sixth child. She was born at Avon, Dec. 26, 1801; was reared on a farm, and in the pure atmosphere of farm life, along with its duties, habits, and toils, she acquired a strong and vigorous constitution, and a knowledge and experience which in after-years were of great value to her husband and children. She resides at the old home in Grand Blanc, tranquil and happy, enjoying a ripe old age in the society of her chil- dren and time-honored friends. She and her deceased hus- band are the parents of four children, named Joseph P., Sa- rah M., Henry H., and Ellen A., all of whom are living. Joseph is married to Julia II. Slaght and has six children ; he resides on a part of the old home-farm, and is a man of much consideration and influence in his locality. Sarah is unmarried, and resides with her mother at the old home. Henry is married to Sarah D. Parker, and has four chil- dren ; he also owns and resides on a part of the old home- farm. Ellen is the wife of Andrew J. Cronk, and resides on their farm in the town of Burton ; they have two chil- dren. On another page may be found a view of the home of this old pioneer couple.
MICHAEL FERGUSON
was a native of Oneida Co., N. Y., and born on the 31st day of March, 1815. Hle was left an orphan at ten years of age, and found a home with his uncle, Charles Ferguson, with whom he resided until he was twenty-one. Ile ob- tained a good education, and also learned the trade of wagon-making, which business he followed at Fort Plain, N. Y., until 1834, when he came to the Territory of Michi- gan, and purchased eighty acres of government land in Shiawassee County. He remained with his uncle in Grand Blanc two years, when he returned to New York, and became engaged on the Erie Canal, first as an ordinary " hand," afterwards as captain of a boat, and finally as con- tractor. He continued in that business some ten years, when he engaged in the commission business, which he followed for ten or twelve year's.
In 1860, on the first day of January, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret S. Hlager, of Fort Plain, N. Y.
In 1865 he removed to Michigan and settled on a farm of one hundred acres in the township of Grand Blanc, where he remained until his death, which occurred on the 18th day of November, 1874. He was the father of five chil- dren, named as follows: Everett, George R., Annie E., Edward E., and Joseph M., all of whom are living except the first named.
Mr. Ferguson was a man of great influence and consid- eration among his fellow-townsmen, who manifested their confidence by repeatedly electing him to positions of respon- sibility. He served his town for three years as supervisor, a position he held at the time of his death. In politics he was a Democrat of the old school. He was a man of pure life and morals. Ile was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and whether as apprentice, master, or companion, was always known and regarded by the craft as that highest type of a Mason, an honest man.
Ilis widow still resides on the home-farm, and is at this time (1879) the wife of John Bloom, to whom she was married on the 12th day of October, 1876. On another page may be seen a fine view of the home of the family.
CALEB S. THOMPSON,
of whom this brief sketch is written, was born in North- bury, Worcester Co., Mass., April 23, 1805. Ilis father, who was a tanner and currier by trade, moved into Oneida Co., N. Y., when Caleb was five years old, and followed his trade and also farming. In 1816 he moved to Avon, N. Y. Ilere Caleb grew to manhood, and although he went only to a common school, he acquired more than an average education. He was a great student, and having free access to the library of Dr. Little, he made good use of it and stored his mind with much useful knowledge.
On the 30th day of May, 1829, he, in company with Jonathan Dayton and Caleb Embury; started for Grand Blanc (then called Grumlaw), in Genesee Co., Mich., going by canal-boat from Rochester to Buffalo, and thence to Detroit by the steamer " William Penn." From Detroit to Grumlaw they went by team. There they found the Riggs, Stevens, Spencer, and Perry families. At that date Gene- see County contained but forty-seven inhabitants. Soon after his arrival he bought of the government the east half of the northwest quarter of section 23, in Grand Blanc, and subsequently the west half of the northwest quarter of the same section. On this tract he settled and com- menced its improvement. The next fall he returned to New York, and taught school through the winter, having previously taught,-an employment which had given him his start in life. In February, 1830, he again came West, this time with his own conveyance,-an ox-team,-going through Canada. The following summer he cleared and sowed sixteen acres, and the next season harvested one hundred and sixty bushels of wheat; from that time he considered starvation out of the question. During the next six years he so added to his farm that he owned four hundred acres of land, two hundred and ten acres of which he had plowed and three hundred acres fenced. Ile had six hundred bushels of wheat, and owed no man. From
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HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
this time on he continued to improve his farm, cach year adding to his wealth and to his reputation as a sneeessful business man. In 1856 the subject of a plank-road from Holly to Grand Blanc was being agitated, and finally be- came a fixed fact through the enterprise and energy of Mr. Thompson, who took the contract of building the road ; he did build it, although he lost many thousands of dollars by so doing. But what was his loss was the people's gain, as the road was the means of finally securing to Grand Blanc
CALEB S. THOMPSON.
a railroad, which has been of incalculable value to not only its people, but to those of IIolly and the surrounding coun- try. Mr. Thompson's loss in this enterprise resulted prin- cipally from his inability to manage the affairs of the road personally, by reason of his being stricken down with the rheumatism, which finally resulted in his becoming a help- less invalid. For more than twenty years he has not been able to get out of his chair or turn over in bed without assistance. This great affliction deprived the county of the
active services of one of its most enterprising and public- spirited citizens, and Mr. Thompson of the pleasure to be derived from an active and successful carcer. Still he bears his sad lot with patience, watched over and eared for by an affectionate and faithful wife and a loving daughter.
On the 4th day of February, 1832, he married Miss Clarinda Perry. Their union was blessed with the follow- ing children : Susan, born Dec. 4, 1834, and Rush, born April 4, 1836. Mrs. Thompson died June 4, 1840. For
MRS. CALEB S. THOMPSON.
his second wife Mr. Thompson married, May 9, 1848, Miss Ermina C. Wilson, who was born March 5, 1824. There has been born to them one daughter, Clara C., born April 9, 1849.
In politics Mr. Thompson was first a Whig and later a Republican ; he has always taken great interest in political matters, and was an active worker before his siekness. He has held most of the township offices : was elerk for twenty years, and for a considerable period held the office of deputy sheriff.
JONATHAN FROST.
MRS. JONATHAN FROST.
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE JONATHAN FROST, ATLAS, MICH .
ATLAS.
THE township of Atlas, known in the United States sur- vey as township No. 6 north, range No. 8 east, is situ- ated in the southeast corner of the county. Its boundaries on the north and west are the respective townships of Davi- son and Grand Blanc, in this county, while Lapeer County lies upon the east and Oakland County on the south border.
The surface is rolling, and, in a state of nature, was quite heavily timbered in the north part. The southern portion consisted generally of rose-willow and hazel-brush openings. The soil-a sandy loam-is of an excellent quality, and in the quantity and excellence of its products Atlas takes a front rank among Genesee County townships.
Its water-courses are the Thread and Kearsley Rivers. The former takes its rise in Oakland County, and flows in a northwest course across the southwestern corner of the township. The latter stream also finds its source in Oak- land County, and, entering the township from the southeast, receives as a tributary the outlet of Lake Neshinaguac, flows on in a northwesterly direction through the central part of the town, and leaves it from the north border of section 4. In its passage the Kearsley affords excellent water-power privileges, which have been in use at the vil- lages of Goodrich and Davisonville since the first settlement of the township.
Neshinaguac Lake, with an area of about 160 aeres, lies in the central part of section 27. The mill-ponds on the Kearsley formed by the dams at Goodrich and Davisonville each cover an expanse of about 100 aeres. Other small bodies of water are situated upon section 3.
Numerous springs, several of whose waters are impreg- nated with iron, exist in all portions of the territory de- scribed, and as a whole the township is well watered and drained. The people are successfully engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, their farms are in an advanced state of cul- tivation, and neat, tasteful residences and outbuildings abound ou every side. The population in 1874 was 1316.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
Asa Farrar, the first settler in this township, was a brother of Pearson Farrar, who settled in Grand Blanc during the year 1830. They came from Monroe Co., N. Y., and it is very probable that they made the journey to Michigan in company. Pearson settled upon section 12, in Grand Blane, while Asa located his lot upon section 18, in this township. They were upon adjoining sections, and in the eastern part of the settlement, then known as Grumlaw.
Asa purchased the west part of the northwest quarter of section 18, Sept. 2, 1830. He then built a log house, and became a permanent resident during the latter part of the same year. The first birth and the first marriages in
the township oeeurred in his family. His son Nelson was born in the latter part of 1833, and his daughters, Eveline and Almira, were married to the brothers Roswell and Daniel Holeomb, respectively, in the spring of 1834. Norman Davison, then justice of the peace for Grand Blanc township, performed the marriage ceremony.
Judge Norman Davison and family, the second to settle here, came from Avon, Livingston Co., N. Y. Ile visited the township in the summer of 1831, purchased land situ- ated upon section 8 in July of the same year, and soon after erected a two-story frame house upon the same, the lumber being obtained from Rowland B. Perry's mill. He then returned to New York, and brought out his family the same fall. His family consisted of his wife, Huldah ; sons, Paul G., Oliver P., Dewitt C., Benjamin F .; and daughters, Sylvia, Jane A., and Maryette. The two elder sons, viz., Paul and Oliver, accompanied their father on his first journey, and remained here chopping and clearing, while he returned for the remaining part of the family.
At this time Michigan was a dense and almost unbroken wilderness. Ilere on the banks of Kearsley Creek this healthy, resolute, and indomitable family pitched their abode, beneath the shadows of a stately forest, and on the spot where now stands the village of Davisonville. A saw- mill was erected in 1833, followed by a grist-mill in 1836. Well do the early travelers in this region remember being directed over long and weary miles by Indian trails and marked trees to Davison's Mills. The first township-meet- ing was held at these mills in April, 1836, and here the first post-office was established. Judge Davison's commis- sion as postmaster was dated March 13, 1837, and signed by Amos Kendall, postmaster-general. Ile was a member of the convention that met in Detroit the second Monday in May, 1835, to frame the first State constitution ; the first supervisor of the old town of Grand Blanc, in 1833; and at an early day, when Atlas formed a portion of La- peer County, was one of the judges of the latter county.
When Congress proposed to settle the " Toledo war" by surrendering a portion of the State to Ohio and Indiana in exchange for the Upper Peninsula, Judge Davison was one of the delegates who assembled at Ann Arbor. He held various other offices, in the discharge of the duties of which he gave general satisfaction, and secured the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and associates.
John and Aaron Brigham, brothers, came from Lewis Co., N. Y. They purchased land situated upon section 5, Dec. 13, 1833, and immediately put up a small log house, where they kept bachelor's hall for a period of eleven weeks. In 1836 they removed to Hadley, Lapeer Co., where both at present reside. Mr. Aaron Brigham is quite certain that at the time of his settlement in this township the
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HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
only families then here were those of Asa Farrar and Judge Davison.
During the summer of 1834, Nehemiah S. Burpee, from Livingston Co., N. Y., settled upon section 18, and in the fall of the same year Samuel Lason, from Rush, Monroe Co., N. Y., settled upon the same section. Both of them had been residents of Grand Blanc since 1830.
The settlers of 1835 were Alexander Lobban and his son James Lobban, upon section 5; James McCraith, and his two sons; Ezra K. Paschall, from Ontario Co., N. Y. : Noah Owen, and his son William, from Niagara Co., N. Y. ; Joseph R. Johnson, and his son Joseph, from Craw- ford Co., Pa. ; James G. Horton; Talford and Daniel Powell ; Lewis Mentor.
In September, 1835, the brothers Moses and Enos Good- rich came from Clarence, Erie Co, N. Y., and purchased of the general government more than 1000 acres of land, situated upon different sections in the central part of the township. They built a small log house on section 20, and then returned to their home in Clarence. In Feb- ruary, 1836, accompanied by their mother and brothers, Reuben, Levi W., John S., and several other members of the family, they again journeyed to the wilds of Michigan. The father, Levi H. Goodrich, a native of Hampshire Co , Mass., joined his family here in the fall of the same year. Ile was supervisor of the town of Clarence at that time, and delayed his departure for Michigan until after the fall meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Erie Co., N. Y.
From the period of their settlement in Atlas township to the present time the name of Goodrich has been inseparably interwoven with all its social, commercial, and political his- tory. They founded mills, a village, and stores, and opened to cultivation wide fields of the finest lands found in this portion of the State.
Moses Goodrich, the elder brother, still resides upon the fine farm which was included in the purchase of 1835. Surrounded by an affectionate family, and all the comforts which an honorable, industrions life so surely entails, he bids fair to remain a pioneer, a link connecting the present with the past, for many years.
In the fall of 1846 Enos Goodrich was elected to repre- sent this constituency in the lower house of the State Leg- islature. The session of 1847 which followed, was mem- orable for being the last held in Detroit. Mr. Goodrich took an active and conspicuous part in the struggle which ensued for the removal of the State capital to Lansing, and in 1852 was sent to Lansing to represent this county in the State Senate. After a long and eventful career in the vil- lage and township which he assisted to found, he removed, a few years since, to Watertown, Tuscola Co., where he at present resides. Although he has arrived at the age when most men relinquish the cares and burdens of an active life, we find him, with mind unimpaired and physically strong, still battling successfully with life and its duties. llis brother Reuben, who for so many years was associated with him in business in the village of Goodrich, is now a resident of Traverse City, Mich. John S. was a successful attorney, and attended at the opening of the first courts established in this county. He died early.
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