USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 80
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Mr. Murray, at a later day, established a cooper-shop and a blacksmith-shop on the east side of the river pre- vious to the building of the grist-mill. A man named George Elliott worked in the blacksmith-shop, but, his wife becoming dissatisfied with the place, he finally moved back to Plymouth, Wayne Co., from which place he had come.
A tailor-name not remembered-came to the village at an carly day, built a house, and worked at his trade sev- cral years.
Castle and George G. Sutherland located here early. The former built the stone blacksmith-shop on the west side of the river, and the latter built the planing-mill he is now operating. Their father, Col. Sutherland, lived in Livingston County.
In 1845, Dr. Isaac Wixom, now of Fenton, moved with his family to Argentine, from Farmington, Oakland Co., where he had resided since 1829. He was the first resi- dent physician at the place. Ile purchased the Murray property, including the mills and store, and managed the milling and mercantile business for fifteen years. Mr. Murray moved to Farmington, but about 1860 came back to Argentine, where he died in 1871, in the house where his widow at present resides.
Dr. Wixom, who had purchased the property before moving upon it, laid out the village-plat of Argentine, Oct. 9, 1844, since which time no additions have been made. Hle built to considerable extent, and through his efforts the place became of' much importance, having at one time three stores and numerous other establishments. The building of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway through Fenton and Linden, leaving Argentine so far to one side, effectually destroyed all its hopes of future greatness. The doctor located at Fenton in 1869, since which time that village has been his home .*
. For more extended untice of Dr. Wixom see Fenton history.
30
40)
Warren J. Lobdell, “ July, 1854 40
John Ilalpin, Wayne Co., Mich.,
January, 1855. 80
306
HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
William Lobdell, who came from near Auburn, Cayuga Co., N. Y., settled near Argentine village, as stated, in March, 1836. Ile built a log house on his place, chinking up the crevices. He had come to Detroit with his family in the fall of 1835, and stayed at that place during the winter. Ile was the owner of a wagon and three horses, and found plenty of employment in transporting pioncer families and their effects through to Grand River. On one of these trips he found the land upon which he afterwards settled. Hle teamed more or less after settling in Argentine, besides working his farm. The lake near the village was named for him.
Mosquitoes were so plenty during those days that it was almost impossible to live in comfort, or to open the mouth, or go through the woods without taking something to brush away the troublesome pests. Mr. Lobdell's house, like nearly all other pioneer habitations, was always open to set- tlers who were on their way to their new homes, and one night forty persons slept in it. As usual the mosquitoes were on hand with their bills, and sleep was almost out of the question. One Irishwoman among the number re- marked, "The muskethers crawl through a very small hole." They were coming in through the chinks.
While the settlers themselves were inventing means to keep off the mosquitoes, it was necessary also for them to look well to their pig-pens, lest the wolves should carry off the inhabitants thereof, as those animals were numerous, and never loath to indulge in a choice morsel of fresh pork of their own killing.
Upon the old Lobdell farm (which was cast of Argentine village, and is now owned partly by John Hyatt, of Fenton) were two most excellent springs, one of which was near the shore of the lake, and never froze over. Murray's dam finally caused its overflow by back-water. The other was farther back, and the Indians often encamped beside it. In Mrs. Lobdell's possession is a fine fossil tooth, which was found on the farm when it was first settled.
The first death in the township was very probably that of an infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lobdell, which died in June, 1836. A man named Bugbee lived in the neigh- borhood, and perhaps a son of his, born on his place, was the first white child born in town. It died when about a year okl. Mr. Lobdell's little girl, Esther L., who died when a year and a half old, was also born in the township, and one or two children were born early in the family of William Beamer, who had settled early in the summer of 1836. Ile stayed with William Lobdell until he could build a house for himself. Ile finally sold out to Benja- min Taylor.
A man named Ayers, who lived on the White Lake road, in Tyrone, Livingston Co., showed Mr. Lobdell the land he purchased, and in 1837 the Messrs. Rhodes, who lived also in Tyrone, came up and helped Mr. Lobdell cut his marsh hay ; this was plenty, and the only kind to be pro- cured.
The log house built by William Beamer was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1837 or 1838, including its con- tents, among which was a lot of maple-sugar and maple- syrup. The families made maple-sugar on an island in Lob- dell's Lake.
Hannibal Lec, although not a resident of Argentine, lived close enough to be a neighbor, his home being just across the line in Livingston County. His place was sub- sequently sold to Danich Locke. After a short time, Charles Green settled to the west of the village. The Mid- dlesworths, David and Abram, settled carly,-the latter op- posite the present hotel in the village, and the former far- ther west. William Alger and William Jennings settled a short distance cast. Among the early residents of the village were William and Henry Pratt and Ira Murray ; the latter was a cousin to James II. Murray, and moved afterwards to Owasso. Shiawassee Co., where he died. Israel Crow lived west of the village.
Calvin W. Ellis, brother to Mrs. J. H. Murray, came with Mr. M. to the village. He was then a single man ; after- wards owned and lived on a farm on the bank of McCaslin Lake, where he died. Mr. McCaslin, for whom the lake was named, occupied the same farm in later years; he is also deceased, but two of his sons live on the place.
Before Murray's grist-mill was built, Benjamin Taylor came in from Vermont, and lived with Mr. Murray seven or eight years. He afterwards married and settled in Linden, where he died about 1869.
A post-office was established at the village at an early day, and called Booton, but, owing to its inconvenience on account of another office existing in the State with a some- what similar name, it was finally changed to Argentine. James H. Murray was the first postmaster, and to him is given the credit of naming the township. Mail was carried on horseback over a route which extended from Pontiac to Ionia. William Hubbard, now of Flint, was an early mail- carrier, as was also Brown Ilyatt, now of Linden. The present incumbent of the office is Luman Bishop.
Amos Sturgis, a native of Avon, Oakland Co., Mich., came with his father, Thomas Sturgis, to Argentine in 1837 or '38, the latter settling with his family on the Byron road, two miles northwest of Argentine village. Two other sons, John and Lewis Sturgis, are also now living in the township. Among the residents of the town when the Sturgis family came were James H. Murray, David Brooks, Solomon Sutherland,-who kept a tavern on the bank of what is now known as Myers' Lake,-William Lobdell, Halsey Whitehead, and possibly George Goff, who was either here then or came soon after, and is now living in Byron, Shiawassee Co.
Asa Atherton settled about 1838, and took up consider- able land, including that upon which his son, Freeman Atherton, now lives. He lived north of the railroad, on the place now occupied by Stephen Atherton. Samuel Atherton, Asa's brother, came soon after the latter, and now lives cast of Freeman Atherton.
Ilalsey Whitehead, a native of Hanover, Morris Co., N. J., and afterwards a resident of Seneca County, N. Y., came to Michigan in 1832, and in 1837 settled in Argen- tine, where he lived until his death, which occurred Sept. 2, 1874, when he had nearly reached the age of eighty- three years. He was a prominent citizen of the township, and had served in the army during the war of 1812.
David Brooks, who located first in Oakland County. set- tied in Argentine in 1836. He was elected, in 1837, the
0
PHOTO BY JH PHIPPS
LEWIS LAHRING.
17
RESIDENCE OF LEWIS LAHRIN
PHOTO BY J H PHIPPS: .
MRS.LEWIS LAHRING.
ARGENTINE, GENESEE CO , MICH .
ARGENTINE TOWNSIIIP.
307
first justice of the peace in the township, and has continued to hold the office to the present. Most of the supplies for family use had then to be procured at Detroit, while Pon- tiac was the customary objective point for those wishing grists ground, as the nearest grist-mill was at that place.
Mr. Brooks one year raised 40 bushels of wheat, which he had threshed out with a flail and winnowed by pouring back and forth between two blankets laid on the ground and held down by rails. He finally took 30 bushels of wheat in his wagon, hitched two yokes of oxen to it, and started with that and his family to Pontiac, to get a grist ground, having to cut his road a good share of the distance, and being guided the greater part of the way by marked trees. On the evening of the second day after starting they reached Pontiac. On going to the mill, Mr. Brooks found the miller reading. The latter inquired of Mr. B. if he had come to mill, to which he replied that he had come forty miles, cutting his road most of the way, and asked when he could have his grinding done. His disappointment can scarcely be imagined when he was told that he would have to wait four weeks, as the water was very low ! Upon mentioning to the miller that he and his family had lived for three weeks on boiled wheat,-which was a fact,-his heart soft- ened, and he at once ground Mr. Brooks' grist and let him go on his way rejoicing, even though the mill was then full of grain waiting to be ground. It took two days to grind the 30 bushels.
John Boyd, of Scotch descent, located in the township in the spring of 1845, returning soon afterwards to Ilart- ford, Conn., for his family, and bringing them back with him. The farm upon which he settled had a log house previously built upon it and a few acres improved. Mr. Boyd died in March, 1862.
George W. Hovey, from Livingston Co., N. Y., came to Argentine in 1843. Upon his arrival in Flint he traded his horses and wagon to George M. Dewey for the 80 acres upon which he now lives, and after the transaction was completed had but thirty cents left. In 1850 he built a saw-mill, which he continued to operate until 1875.
Stephen Jennings, a cooper by trade, settled hall' a mile south of the village in 1843.
Isaac R. Middlesworth, a surveyor by profession, from Newark, N. J., bought 400 acres of land in the township June 1, 1837, and settled in 1840.
From the assessment roll for 1844 is made up the following list of resident tax-payers iu Argentine township in that year :
Alger, Daniel.
Ellis, Calvin W.
Alger, William.
Ferris, William B.
Atherton, Asabel.
Goff, Zibit.
Bird, Elijah.
Goff, George.
Brooks, David.
Green, Charles A.
Barron, John.
Holdson, Robert.
Craw, Israel.
Harmon, Almond.
Bushnell, Joseph,
Hicks, William 11.
Cummins, William.
Hallock, Almon.
Chase, John F.
Cuchran, John B.
Collins, Norman.
Campbell, Miner.
Middlesworth, Isaac R.
Middlesworth, Richard I.
Middleswinth, John.
Middlesworth, William.
Middlesworth, David.
Murray, James Il.
Mason, William P. (one dis-
tillery, together with one
Smith, Robert.
aere of land adjoining James 11. Murray's grist- mill). Myers, William.
Mitchell, Dominicus.
Parker, James E.
Starks, Enoch.
Taylor, Benjamin. Whitehead, Halsey.
The heaviest resident tax-payer was James II. Murray, whose property was valued at $3200, and whose total tax was $117.60.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND PARTIAL CIVIL LIST.
The following aet creating the township of Argentine was approved July 26, 1836 :
"SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tirex of the State of Michigan, That all that part of the county of Gen- esce comprised in surveyed township number five north, of ranges five and six cast, be a township by the name of Argentine, and tho first township-meeting be held at the now dwelling-house of Charles Byram, in said township, on the second Monday of August next."
The house of Charles Byram was on the shore of Byram Lake, in what is now the township of Fenton, formed from the east half of Argentine, in 1838. The early records of the township of Argentine cannot be found, and it is im- possible to give a full list of her officers. Some account of the first township-meeting will be found in a historical ad- dress included in the history of Fenton village. The rec- ords preserved in the town clerk's office in Argentine begin with the year 1850, from which date to 1879, inclusive, the officers elected each year have been as follows, viz. ;
SUPERVISORS.
1850-53. William 11. Hicks.
1860-62. John B. Cochran.
1854. Isaac Wixom.
1863. William Myers.
1855. A. Middleswortb. 1864-65. J. C. Wilcox.
1856. Isaac R. Middlesworth.
1866-67. John B. Cochran.
1857-58. William Il. Ilicks.
1868-73. Horton Healey.
1859. William Myers.
1874-79. Jacob S. Dodder,
TOWN CLERKS.
1850. W. W. Wixom.
1865-67. B. Stevens.
1851-53. Isaae Wixom.
1868. M. V. B. Wixom.
1851-55. J. G. llicks.
1869. Anson Shotwell.
1856. Horatio N. Richards.
1870. Albert E. Ilall.
1857-58. James L. Topping.
1871-72. Bimsley Stevens,
1859. Isaac Wixom.
1873-74. Edward B. Field,
1860. J. L. Topping.
1875-76. Albert E. Hall.
1861. Franklin Bradley.
1877. Michael Hull.
1862. D. N. Roberts.
1878. Lorenzo V. Fletcher.
1863. Richard R. Britton.
1879. Albert E. Hall.
1861. J. W. Sherwood.
TREASURERS.
1850-52. William Myers. 1853. Abram Middlesworth.
1868-69. Jacob S. Dodder.
1851. Oliver 11. Whitehead.
1870-71. William T. Jennings.
1572-73. Jacob S. Dodder.
1874. William Harper.
1859-61. Oliver HI. Whitehead.
1875-77. John Barron.
1862-63. Franklin Bradley.
1878-79. Alexander Gillespie.
1861-65. R. R. Britton.
IS66 67. J. W. Sherwood.
Johnson, John 1. Kelly, Samuel. lwbdell, William.
1855-56. Elijah Bird.
1857-58. William Myers.
Cory, Cyrus Il., & Co. (near Murray's Mill).
Dodge, Ira.
Sturgis, Thomas.
Sturgis, Amos.
Shaw, Nathan E.
Smith, Reuben. Stroger, John. Sutherland, Solomon.
Tillman, David. Thomas, Ezekiel.
308
HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1850. William Cummins.
IS66. II. G. Whitehead.
1851. Halsey Whitehead.
1867. David Brooks.
N. J. Whitehead.
1868. Sedgwick P. Stedman.
1869. David R. Reed.
1879. Stephen B. Cooley.
1870. William Harper.
TOWNSHIP SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS.
1875. J. E. Vail. 1877. James R. Burr.
Ashley T. Craw.
D. N. Roberts.
1857. James F. Mead.
1872. Peter Aerc.
Castle Sutherland.
1873. R. R. Britton.
1858. Mathias Cummins. John A. Royec.
1859. J. L. Topping. David Brooks.
1874. M. Commins. Benjamin Van Riper.
1860. Lorenzo C. Fletcher.
1861. J. L. Topping.
1862. Matthias Cammins.
1863. David Brooks.
1861. Jacob S. Dodder.
1878. Robert K. Struble.
1865. Franklin Bradley. D. N. Roberts.
1879. 11. L. Bishop.
F. Atherton.
18GG. M. Comieins.
ASSESSORS.
1850. William Crane.
William Myers.
1852. Halsey Whitehead. Elijah Bird.
COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS.
1850. Matthias Cummins.
1865. D. M. Case.
1851. John Barron.
1866. G. B. Whitney.
1852. John B. Cochran.
1867. M. Cummins.
1853. William Myers.
D. N. Roberts.
IS54. John Darron.
1868. Robert K. Struble.
1855. John B. Cochran.
1856. Joho D. Williams.
1857. llenry II. Brownell.
1858. John B. Cochran.
1871. Robert K. Struble.
1872. Lewis Lahring.
1873. Asa Devore.
1874. Warren Ince.
1875. Robert K. Struble.
IS62. Bimsley Stevens.
1876-77. Bimsley Stevens.
1863. Matthias Cummins.
1878. E. F. Lillie.
1864. No record.
1879. William J. Tower.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
1850. Ilalscy Whitebead.
1855. Wm. Cummins.
Isaac Wixom.
1856. Joseph Middlesworth.
1851. No record.
A. S. Harmen.
1852. 11. Whitchead.
1857. John Kimball. Green Hicks.
Matthias Cummins.
1853. Il. Whitehead.
1858. Green Ilieks.
William Cummins.
Halsey Whitehead.
1854. II. II. Brownell.
1859. D. N. Roberts.
1855. A. Fletcher.
II. Whitehead.
SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
1850. William Whitehead.
1859. James L. Topping.
1851. George S. Fletcher.
1860. Jacob G. Ilicks.
1852. Jefferson H. Dowoer.
HI. II. Brownell.
1853. Jaceb G. Hicks.
1861. Washington W. Faulkner.
Reuben M. Ford. 1854. N. J. Whitehead. W. W. Faulkner.
1862. J. G. Ilieks. J. C. Wilcox. 1863. N. J. Whitehead.
1864. M. V. B. Wixom.
1856. William W. Faulkner.
1857. Isaac Wixom.
185S. Jacob (. llicks.
1865. J. C. Wilcox. J. W. MeCellum. 1866. Geo. W. Chase.
1866. M. V. B. Wixom. 1871. No record.
1867. M. V. B. Wixom. Wm. Harper.
1872. Albert E. Ifall.
1873. William Harper.
1868. N. J. Whitehead.
1874. Albert E. Ilall.
David R. Recd.
1875-78. William Ilarper.
1853. Reuben M. Ford. John Barron. 1854. Matthias Cummins. 1855. Joseph Collins, David Brooks. 1856. George A. Fletcher.
1869. S. P. Stedman. George Fox.
1870. Matthias Cummins. J. L. Wolverton.
1871. David Brooks.
1876. Jesse M. Crandall. 1878. Aaron R. Ingram.
DRAIN COMMISSIONERS.
1871. John B. Cochran (appt'd). 1876. William Tnmmingly.
1872-73. Warren Lace. 1877. E. F. Lillie.
1874. William Temmingly. 1878. Freeman Atherton (2 yrs.).
1875. William L. Smith.
CONSTABLES.
1850. Daniel M. Case.
1863. J. Shank.
Samuel Fichis. H. Whitehead.
Castle Sutherland.
Freeman Atherton.
Albert Voorheis.
1851. Jobn D. Beanett.
1864. M. V. B. Wixom.
C. Sutherland.
F. Atherton. R. R. Britton.
D. M. Case. Jacob G. Ilicks.
A. N. Newman.
1865. II. Whitchead. D. M. Case. Amos J. -. #
John Niles.
1853. Lafayette Lampson.
1866. M. V. B. Wixom. Anson Shotwell.
Amos Lebdell. David M. Case.
Charles Whittaker.
1854. Wm. Il. Hicks. D. M. Case. N. J. Whitehead. Ashley Craw.
1855. George W. Chaso. N. J. Whitehead. Jacob W. Craw. Norton G. Skinner.
1856. John I. Middlesworth. N. G. Skinner. George W. Chase. Jason Whitehead.
1857. Halsey Whitehead. L. F. Lampson. D. M. Case. Ambrose Kitchen.
1870. George Lillie. D. R. Reed. Warren Hawley. Stuart Douglas.
1871. D. N. Reed. Charles Devena.
L. F. Lampson. Halsey Whitehead.
B. Stevens. Ralph Collins.
1859. Jacob Shank. D. M. Case.
Isaac Wixom, Jr.
Ilalscy Whitehead.
1860. Jacob Shank. Isaac Wixom, Jr.
1873. John Baird. John Develin.
D. M. Case. HIalsey Whitehead.
Ralph Collins. D. R. Recd.
1861. Ilalsey Whitehead. D. M. Case. John F. Wise. Jacob Shank.
James I1. Page. Ralph Collins.
1862. Jesse Harris. William Brady. Jacob Shank. Il. Whitehead.
1875. J. 11. Page. George Dodder.
D. R. Reed. Edgar Durfee.
* Record illegible.
D. M. Case. Halsey Whitehead.
1867. J. S. Wolverton. David Niles. Anson Shotwell.
D. M. Case.
1868. D. Niles. Bimsley Stevens.
1860. Jacob S. Dodder.
1869. D. N. Roberts. J. B. Cochran. 1870. Eliphalet Lillie.
1859. William Il. Hicks.
IS61. James C. Wilcox. David N. Reberts.
John T. Wolverton. John Middlesworth.
1869. William Bowk. D. R. Reed. Andrus Betterley. Byron llopkins.
IS5S. D. M. Casc. Jacob Shank.
1872. James H. P'age. George Lillie. D. N. Reed. James C. Whalen.
1874. I. R. Reed. George Miller.
1855. N. J. Whitehead.
1875. David Brooks. B. Stevens.
1876. Richard R. Britton. 1877. Bimsley Stevens.
1851. No record.
1852. L. F. Thompson. Warner Lobdell.
Oliver Whitehead. William Myers.
John D. Bennett.
1852. Jefferson H. Downer.
L.C. FLETCHER.
MRS.L.C.FLETCHER.
RESIDENCE OF L. C. FLETCHER, ARGENTINE , MICHIGAN
309
ARGENTINE TOWNSHIP.
1876. Hugh Murray. Edgar Durfee. James C. Whalen. D. R. Reed.
ISTS. It. Murray. John Cowell. Moses Parker.
Frederick Moran.
ISTT. Il. Murray.
J. R. Hurr. J. C. Whalen. D. R. Reed.
1879. William Itatt. James Il. Page. llugh Murray. James B. Stedman.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in the township was taught in a small cooper-shop, owned by James H. Murray, as early as 1838-39, by Sarah Murray. A log school-house was built, probably the next season, on land owned by James Olney, and afterwards the property of Halsey Whitehead. It now belongs to Allen Leonard. The following report of the township school-inspectors shows the condition of the schools in town for the year ending Sept. 2, 1878:
Distriet No. 1* has one frame school-house with 60 sit- tings ; value of property, $200; one male and one female teacher ; number of school-children, 54; attendance during the year, 47 ; school taught 180 days.
District No. 2 has one frame school-house, 50 sittings ; property worth 8600; one male and one female teacher ; 5S school-children, of whom 45 attended during the year ; school taught 160 days.
District No. 3 * has one frame school-house ; 39 school- children, all in attendance during the year ; school taught 160 days ; number of sittings, 40 ; value of property, 8450 ; two male teachers.
Distriet No. 4 has one frame school-house with 44 sit- tings ; value of property, $1000 ; 49 school-children, and 31 in attendance during the year; school taught 160 days; two female teachers.
District No. 5 has oue brick school-house, 60 sittings, and property valued at $500; one male and one female teacher ; 65 school-children, of whom 55 attended during the year ; school taught 160 days.
Distriet No. 6 has 47 school-children, 46 in attendance ; school taught 158 days; two female teachers ; one frame school-house; 43 sittings; value of property, $600.
The amount paid to the teachers of these six schools was : five male teachers received 8485 ; seven female teachers received 8420; aggregate. $905. Total receipts for the year, $1468.23; expenditures (less amount on hand), $1158.99.
RELIGIOUS.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ARGENTINE VILLAGE.
A class was organized here in February, 1869, by Rev. J. W. Ilolt, with B. G. Whitney as class-leader. The ap- pointment was at first on Oak Grove circuit, but was changed to the Linden circuit in 1870. The frame church now standing was built and dedicated in 1873. The pres- ent membership of this church is 34, and the pastor is the Rev. O. Sauborn.
THE " DODDER SCHOOL-HOUSE CLASS"
was originally organized in Fenton township, at the Blair school-house, in February, 1867, by Rev. James Berry. B. F. Hitchcock was chosen first class-leader. This class
was subsequently changed to the Dodder school-house, in Argentine, where its meetings are still held. It is a part of the Linden circuit, in charge of Rev. O. Sanborn, and has a membership of 27.
Among those who have furnished material aid in the compilation of this chapter, and to whom thanks are hereby tendered, are Mrs. Palmer, of Argentine village (the widow of James HI. Murray) ; Mrs. William Lobdell, of Linden ; David Brooks, Dr. Isaac Wixom, of Fenton ; Amos Sturgis, Albert E. Hall, town clerk (for use of books of record), and others.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JOHN BOYCE COCHRAN
was born in Camden, Maine. Nov. 13, 1812, and died at Argentine, Mich., March 8, 1876. He was the son of the Rev. Thomas Cochran, who graduated at Brown Univer- sity in the class of 1799, and who, subsequently (in 1805), received from his Alma Mater the degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Cochran's mother, whose maiden-name was Mary Barstow, was the daughter of Nathaniel Barstow and Elizabeth Cushing, who was the daughter of the Ilon. Judge Joseph Cushing. of Revolutionary fame. Mr. Cochran's father died when he was quite young, and he went to reside with one of his paternal uneles at New Bos- ton, N. H., the birthplace of his father.
His ancestry on his father's side was of that hardy. noble Scotch-Irish race that settled New Boston, N. H., where the earth rises to meet the heavens; where cataracts foam and waters leap ; where, above the herds that graze and the fields that bloom in the valleys below. the eagle wheels to his home in the cliff's. It was there, among those hills and bold and majestic scenery, that he spent his youth and early manhood. Mountainous regions have always pro- duced a race possessed of sterling qualities, hardy, ardeut, generous, patriotic lovers of liberty ; simple and sometimes blunt in their address, they are men who have always dis- tinguished themselves in seasons of emergency ; aud Mr. Cochran had many of these characteristics.
It has been said that "New Hampshire is rough and rocky, her climate cold and uncongenial, and the produc- tions of her soil granite and ice." This is true in part, but there is a product of which she may justly feel proud. She has raised good men, and from her native hills a living stream has swept over this land, enriching, like the Nile, every spot where it has flowed, and Michigan and "old Genesee" have received the benefit of their intelligence, principles, and morals. Mr. Cochran was a native of one State and the adopted son of another, but he was proud of both. Though he never desired to forget from whence he came, yet his interests and sympathies were all with the State and community of his adoption. His temperament was ardent, nervous, and generous. He was a lover of his race, a man of broad charity and deep sympathies,-a genial, large-minded man, upright in his conduct. " the very soul of honor," commanding the confidence and esteem of all. lle was full of " the milk of human kindness," which was re-
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