USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE ERA OF DEVELOPMENT.
The Railroad-Laws to Facilitate its Construction-Its Completion to Hillsdale-Marked Improvement-Orchards and Fields-Another Township-The County-Seat moved to Hillsdale-A New County Building-The Old Jail Burned-New Jail-County Offices and Records burned-New Court-House built-The State sells its Rail- road-It is extended to Jonesville-Rapid Construction to Chicago -Formation of Amboy-The Frame-House Era-The Crisis of 1857-The Last Township-The Tocsin of War-Hillsdale's Re- sponse.
BY far the most important public object to which the attention of the people of Hillsdale County was attracted at the opening of the new decade was the attainment of a railroad. This was to be the magic power which should connect the lonesome settlements in the still uncongenial forests of Michigan with the great world outside.
The country was beginning to recover from the stunning blows of 1837, and the Legislature of Michigan still ad- hered to the theory that the State could profitably build and manage any kind of public works that might be deemed necessary. Accordingly, in March, 1841, a law was passed granting two hundred thousand dollars to build the Southern Railroad as far west as Hillsdale village. Work was begun along the line between Adrian and Hillsdale, but not very rapidly.
In February, 1842, another law was passed authorizing the board of commissioners of internal improvement to pledge the net proceeds of the Southern road for five years, in order to iron the road and to build it from Adrian to Hillsdale. Through 1842 the work was continued with much energy, the people watching with intensest interest, as if, instead of grimy engineers and brakemen, a host of shining angels were expected to come over the slender rails.
At length, in the spring of 1843, the road was completed as far as Hudson, close to the eastern border of Hillsdale County. Renewed efforts were made, and in the autumn of the same year it was finished sixteen miles farther to Hillsdale, and the first locomotive began its regular trips in the county.
Nor were the people much mistaken in thinking that the railroad would be the harbinger of an era of great prosperity. The road, in connection with the great improvement in busi- ness consequent on the reaction from the previous depression, certainly worked marvelous changes in Hillsdale County. The products of its farms, so long imprisoned by the un- fathomable roads between here and Lake Erie, now found
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ready egress to the East, and brought back returns of money which, in comparison with the supplies of previous years, might be called abundant. New facilities were also furnished for emigration, and for several springs and sum- mers not a week, hardly a day, passed without some new- comer from the East making his home amid the dense forests or fertile openings of Hillsdale County.
Improvement began to be observed, too, in the condition of the farms and character of the buildings. The massive stumps, which looked as if they could defy the assaults of an army of giants, began rapidly to disappear under the destructive influences of time. Although log houses still remained the rule, yet here and there a modest frame house was to be seen even outside of the only two villages in the county-Jonesville and Hillsdale. Orchards had been set out by nearly all the early settlers very soon after their arrival, and during the decade now under consideration their fruits became comparatively common throughout the county.
Meanwhile, another civil township was organized ; Cam- bria being formed from Woodbridge, in 1841, embracing same territory as at present,-survey-township No. 7, in range 3.
As before stated, ever since Hillsdale village had been founded its proprietors and inhabitants had been striving to make it the county-seat. The law directing the removal of the seat of justice to Osseo had been a failure, because very few really wanted it there, and the commissioners had not procured the erection of any buildings there. Hillsdale still continued its efforts to remove the coveted " seat" to its own " Court-House Square," while Jonesville struggled desperately to retain its failing grasp. Vigorous efforts were made on either side to elect representatives and sena- tors favorable to Hillsdale or to Jonesville, as the case might be, and ordinary politics were subservient for a time to the all-important question of the county-seat.
At length, however, the central position of Hillsdale tri- umphed, and the long-vexed question was finally settled. On the 30th of January, 1843, a law was passed declaring that the present seat of justice of Hillsdale County (without specifying whether it was at Jonesville or Osseo) was thereby " vacated," and establishing the same on the Court-House Square, in the village of Hillsdale. The courts were di- rected to be held at Hillsdale as soon as commissioners named in the bill should procure the use of a suitable building to be occupied until a permanent one could be erected.
Heman Pratt, Jolin Mickle, and Wray T. Palmer were appointed by the act commissioners to carry out the removal, and in this case there was no hesitation about doing so. A temporary building was at once procured, and the change was speedily consummated.
The new law also provided that the supervisors should sell all the county buildings and lands in Jonesville, and build a jail at Hillsdale with the proceeds. There were no " county buildings" at Jonesville except the old log jail. This was used until 1844, when it caught fire, and was speedily consumed. The jail still standing in Hillsdale City was begun in 1845 and finished in 1846.
In 1843, soon after the passage of the law moving the county-seat, a building was erected on the site of the present
court-house, for county purposes. It was merely a one- story wooden structure, about twenty-five feet by forty, with a hall through the middle, and rooms on each side for the treasurer, clerk, register, and sheriff. The courts were held in the Presbyterian church, now belonging to the Catholics.
In 1847, the county building just described was burned to the ground. Nearly all the records were destroyed with it; in fact, scarcely anything was saved except the book which recorded the various canvasses of votes and certifi- cates of elections. This, however, is just what is necessary for our purposes, and from it we have been able to obtain a nearly full list of the county officers with their terms of service.
For two or three years nothing was done to repair the loss, but at the session of the Legislature in 1850 an act was passed authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Hillsdale County to borrow money for the purpose of building a court-house. The board forthwith proceeded to exercise the authority thus conferred, and the same year they made the necessary loan and began the erection of the present plain but substantial stone edifice.
The new structure was completed in the winter of 1850 -51. F. M. Holloway was the first official occupant ; taking possession of the room assigned to the register of deeds about the middle of February, 1851.
Meanwhile there had been some progress in railroad- building. By 1846, the people had become thoroughly disgusted with the experience of the State in that kind of work, and in that year the Legislature sold the Southern Railroad to a company, with Edwin C. Litchfield at its head, for five hundred thousand dollars, in ten equal annual instalments. During the next four years the new company only built four miles, extending the track as far as Jones- ville. In fact, it could hardly be said that the company built even that. As before stated, the route, as adopted by the State Commissioners, ran westward from Hillsdale, leaving Jonesville out in the cold. But after the Litch- field company bought the road, the people of Jonesville offered, if the company would bring it there, to build the road from Hillsdale to that place, ready for the iron, free of cost. The offer was accepted and the road was built. Ransom Gardner, a public-spirited citizen of Jonesville, obtained as large a subscription as he could, and then proceeded to grade the track and put down the ties. It was completed to Jonesville in 1849.
In 1851, the company began building the road westward. They pushed it forward with extraordinary rapidity, con- structed it far beyond the western boundary of Hillsdale County the same year, and in March, 1852, completed it to Chicago.
Another township was also added to the previous num- ber. Amboy was formed in 1850, from the southern por- tions of Ransom and Woodbridge ; comprising the southern tier of sections in township 8 and fractional township 9 in range 2, the corresponding parts of the same numbered townships in range 3. The new township was thus twelve miles long east and west, by from two miles and a third to two miles and two-thirds north and south, being the nar- rowest at the east end. The extreme tenuity of Amboy is one of the results of the " Toledo war." If it had not
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
been for the enforced yielding by Michigan to Ohio of the territory which the former had long claimed as her own, the fractional townships would have been from three to four miles wider. In that case, doubtless, three more civil townships would have been organized in the south part of Hillsdale County. So that, by the adverse termination of that memorable conflict, the people have been deprived of the services of three sets of town officers, which is a great pity.
The population of the county by the census of 1850 was sixteen thousand one hundred and fifty-nine, and the increase both in population and improvements went steadily forward. The remaining forests were rapidly going down before the woodsman's axe, thousands of fertile acres were every year uncovered to the sun, and smiling orchards took the places lately occupied by gloomy elms and towering oaks.
The decade lasting from 1850 to 1860 also witnessed a great part of the change which especially marks to the outward eye the transition from the pioneer period to the farming period ; viz., the change from log houses to frame houses. Outside the two villages of Jonesville and Hills- dale there were almost no frame houses erected before 1840. From 1840 to 1850 a comparatively small number had taken the places of their rude though serviceable predecessors, but between 1850 and 1860 a decided majority of the farmers found themselves able to enjoy the luxury of frame houses of various styles and sizes.
Pumps, too, took the place of the picturesque "sweeps,". which in every pioneer's door-yard had greeted the eye afar, and from each of which depended the " old oaken bucket" renowned in song, but somewhat difficult for a woman or small boy to manage. Changes from inconvenience to con- venience were to be seen in every part of the county, and prosperity was unquestionably the order of the day.
The "crisis" of 1857 only slightly checked the tide. It was so light in comparison with the terrible crash of 1837 that old settlers scarcely considered it as worthy of the name of crisis.
In 1858 the eighteenth, and till the present time the last township in the county was formed,-that of Hillsdale. It comprised the south half of the former township of Fayette (survey township 6 south, in range 3 west). At the same time Fayette was extended so as to take in the southern tier of sections of Scipio. These changes were made by the Board of Supervisors, which had been invested with authority to act in such cases.
After a year or two of depression, the business of the county again began to manifest its old vitality. The census of 1860 showed a population of twenty-five thousand six hundred and seventy-five, an increase of fifty-nine per cent. in ten years. Thus prosperous, and, perhaps, as happy as could well be expected in this world of difficulty, the peo- ple of Hillsdale County entered the fateful year 1861, hardly able to believe that the treasonous threats wafted on every Southern breeze would be carried out by American citizens, however frenzied in their devotion to slavery and their hatred of freedom.
But the electric tocsin which sounded through the land on the 14th day of April, 1861, quickly dispelled this de- lusive trust in the patriotism of the South, and from the
Atlantic to the Pacific the North sprang to arms in defense of the country. Among all the millions who thus responded to the call of patriotism, none made a better record than did those who represented the county of Hillsdale. In the following chapters we give that record so far as we have been able to obtain it.
CHAPTER IX.
THE FIRST AND SECOND INFANTRY.
Preliminary Remarks-Basis of Military Records-The First Infan- try-Number from Hillsdale County-On the Peninsula-Second Bull Run-Antietam and Fredericksburg-Hard Fight at Gettys- burg-The Campaign of 1864-The Siege of Petersburg-Capturing Fortifications at Poplar Grove Church-The Final Conflict-List of Members-The Second Infantry-Its Numbers from this County -On the Peninsula-Severely engaged at Williamsburg-Also at Fair Oaks-Other Conflicts-The Second joins Grant-Battle at Jackson-Ordered to Knoxville-A Desperate Conflict-Back to the Potomac-The Wilderness and Spottsylvania -- Hard Fighting before Petersburg-Storming a Breach-Other Battles-Storming of Fort Steadman-Final Victory-Names of Members.
IN order to show as fully as possible the part taken by the soldiers of Hillsdale County, we have determined that in every case in which there were twenty or more men from that county in a regiment, we would give a slight sketch of the services of the regiment in question ; although, of course, where the number was as small as that, the notice can only be extremely brief. When there was a larger number in a regiment, and especially when there were two or three hundred, the regimental record has been given at consider- able length. Attached to each regimental history are the names of the officers and soldiers from Hillsdale County belonging to that regiment. All those belonging to regi- ments in which there were less than twenty Hillsdale men each, are grouped together in the closing chapter of the military record.
That record is derived mostly from the admirable reports of Gen. John C. Robertson, adjutant-general of the State throughout the war, and still holding that position. His reports are more full than those of almost any other State, and being obtained from the commanders of regiments from year to year during the war, are far more reliable than any accounts which could -now be gathered elsewhere, unless the latter were based on the diaries of officers or soldiers. We have found none such, however, in this county, and have, therefore, depended principally upon the adjutant-general's reports, eking them out in some cases by incidents derived from members of the regiments. We are under especial obligations to Mr. Asher B. La Fleur, now county treas- urer, for interesting items regarding the 4th Infantry. We have, of course, used only such portions of the reports as are applicable to Hillsdale County men, and in case of small detachments have condensed the official statements into very small compass.
The lists of officers and soldiers are also based on those reports, though there are occasional corrections made by those who have personal knowledge of the matter. The list of officers from this county could only be obtained at the adjutant-general's office, as their residence is not given in the published reports. We beg leave to acknowledge the
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
courtesies extended us there, as well as the great aid afforded us in our work by the reports. Without further preliminary, we proceed at once to tell the story of the part taken by the soldiers of Hillsdale County in the war for the Union.
FIRST MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
There were, during the war, fifteen Hillsdale County men in Company C of this regiment, four in Company H, one in Company I, and one in Company K ; in all twenty-one. The regiment, organized for three years, after the discharge of the first regiment of three-months' volunteers, left the State in September, 1861. During the succeeding winter it was in Maryland, guarding the Baltimore and Washington Railroad. In the spring of 1862, it went with the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula, where it took part in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, and Malvern Hill.
Joining Pope's army immediately after, the 1st partici- pated in the battles of Gainesville, Second Bull Run (in which over half its members were killed or wounded), Antietam, and Fredericksburg.
The next spring it took part in the campaign of Chancel- lorsville, and after numerous severe marches reached Get- tysburg on the 2d of July, 1863, in time to engage in that memorable encounter. Nearly a third of the small number which followed its banner were killed or wounded.
During the remainder of the year and the forepart of 1864, the 1st was engaged in the various movements made in Virginia by the Army of the Potomac, and in the mean time was reorganized as a veteran regiment. Going into the great campaign of 1864 on the 1st of May, the regi- ment took part in most of the battles and skirmishes of that terrible time, including Alsop's Farm, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Jericho Mine, and Cold Harbor. In June, 1864, when the 4th Infantry went home to be mustered out and reorganized, its veterans and the later recruits were assigned to the 1st, and remained with them until June, 1865. It took an active part in the siege of Petersburg, was present at the battle of Weldon Railroad, and partici- pated in the desperate conflict of Poplar Grove Church, where alone it carried two strong fortifications, and a part of an intrenched line.
The regiment remained engaged in the siege of Peters- burg throughout the winter, taking part in the battle of Hatcher's Run in February, and in another conflict at the same place in March. It was also engaged in the closing battles of the great struggle, including the affair at Appo- mattox Court-House on the 9th of April, 1865. The regi- ment was mustered out in July.
LIST OF MEMBERS FROM HILLSDALE COUNTY.
Luther S. Millard, Co. C; killed at Gaines' Mill, Va., June 27, 1862. Eliab F. Rogers, Co. C; died Sept. 18, 1862, of wounds received at Bull Run. John Ball, Jr., Co. C; died.
John E. Crane, Co. C; died at Fortress Monroe, Va., Sept. 21, 1862. George Garrett, Co. C; died at Washington, D. C., Oct. 1, 1862. John Smalts, Co. C; died at Washington, D. C., Oct. 10, 1862. Truman A. Hodgkins, Co. H; missing in action, Jan. 15, 1864. Ambrose Cole, Co. I; died of wounds, July 2, 1864. Isaac Smith, Co. C; died near Alexandria, Va. Michael Helmick, Co. C; disch. for disability, April 3, 1862. John C. Iles, Co. C; disch. at Point Lookout, Md., Feb. 1, 1863. James McDougall, Co. C; disch. to re-enl. as veteran, Feb. 17, 1864. Wm. R. Newman, Co. C; disch. to re-enl. as veteran, Dec. 25, 1863. Cornelius Fuller, Co. H; disch. to re-enl. as veteran, Feb. 17, 1864. Allen O. Goodrich, Co. C; trans. to Vet. Res. Corps, July 1, 1863.
James McDougall, Co. C; must. out July 9, 1865.
Julius R. Newman, Co. C; must. out at expiration of service, Oct. 24, 1864. Wm. H. Pettit, Co. C; must. out at expiration of service, Nov. 19, 1864. Cornelius Fuller, Co. H; must. out July 9, 1865.
Charles D. Hodgkin, Co. H; disch. for disability, Feb. 15, 1863. Philo M. Palmer, Co. K ; must. out July 9, 1865.
SECOND INFANTRY.
This regiment numbered among its members no less than seventy soldiers from Hillsdale County ; comprising eigh- teen in Company A, forty in Company D, three in Com- pany E, five in Company F, one in Company G, and one in Company K.
It was the first three-years' regiment which left the State; setting out in the forepart of June, 1861. Its only combat that season was at Blackburn's Ford, Va., on the 18th of July. Remaining near Alexandria during the winter, it went to the Peninsula in March, 1862. After taking part in the siege of Yorktown, the regiment proceeded to Wil- liamsburg, where it was actively engaged in the battle of that name ; having seventeen killed, thirty-eight wounded, and four missing. It also took an active and gallant part in the battle of Fair Oaks, where ten of its members were killed and forty-seven wounded. The regiment shared the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac during the remainder of the year, being present at the battles of Glendale, Mal- vern Hill, second Bull Run, Chantilly, and Fredericksburg, but being so stationed as not to suffer very serious loss.
In March, 1863, the 2d was ordered West, and in June of that year, as a part of the 9th Corps, it joined the army of Gen. Grant, near Vicksburg. It arrived in front of Jackson, Miss., on the 10th of June. The next day it ad- vanced in skirmish-line and drove the rebel skirmishers from their rifle-pits, but was in return driven back by the main line of the enemy; the total of killed, wounded, and cap- tured during the battle being fifty-six. It remained in the vicinity, aiding the operations which resulted in the fall of Vicksburg, about a month after which it went up the river to Kentucky.
In September, 1863, the 2d marched to Knoxville, Tenn., and remained in East Tennessee throughout the year. In the latter part of November and forepart of December it was actively engaged in the celebrated defense of that city, which resulted in the complete defeat and withdrawal of the enemy. In a charge made on the 24th, the regiment assailed the rebel intrenchments with desperate valor, more than half the number engaged having been killed or wounded.
Having re-enlisted as veterans in January, 1864, the regi- ment returned home on furlough. In April it again joined its old comrades in the Army of the Potomac, and soon plunged into the long and bloody campaign which was to decide the fate of the nation. In the battle of the Wilder- ness, on the 6th of May, the 2d had six men killed and thirty-two wounded ; at Spottsylvania Court-House, on the 12th, it had two killed and nine wounded; and at Bethesda Church, on the 2d of June, two were killed and thirty-six wounded.
After crossing the Chickahominy and James Rivers to the vicinity of Petersburg, the regiment took part in the severe battles of the 17th and 18th of June, 1864; having eight killed and seventy-four wounded on the former day, and fourteen killed and sixty-nine wounded on the latter.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Again, on the 30th of July, after the explosion of the cele- brated Petersburg mine, the regiment took an active part in the fruitless attempt to storm the breach, having six men killed, fourteen wounded, and thirty-seven captured by the enemy. It was also in the battles of Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church, and Boydton Plank-Road.
During the winter of 1864-65 the 2d was actively en- gaged in the siege of Petersburg, taking its full part in trench and picket duty, and sharing all the hardships of that gloomy period. On the 25th of March it took part in the storming of Fort Steadman, suffering heavily in killed and wounded. After the capture of Petersburg and surrender of Lee the regiment was on duty in and near Washington until the 1st of August, when it was sent home and dis- charged.
OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS FROM HILLSDALE COUNTY.
Edwin J. March (previously capt. of the 27th Inf.), appointed lieut .- col. April 1, 1864; wounded before Petersburg, June -, 1864; commissioned col. Sept. 30, 1864; resigned April 17, 1865.
Richard W. Ricaby, appointed capt. April 1, 1864; wounded June 24, 1864; com. lieut .- col. Dec. 1864; disch. for disability Dec. 14, 1864.
Edward A. Sherman, com. Ist lieut. April 1, 1864; wounded near Petersburg, June, 1864; died Ang. 1864.
Hurlburt Regg, com. 2d lieut. April 1, 1864; wounded July 17, 1864; disch. for disability Oct. 14, 1864.
Franklin Burns, Co. A; killed near Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. Mathew M. Ormsby, Co. A; died of wounds June 19, 1864.
Sanford Rogers, Co. A; died of wounds Aug. 16, 1864, at David's Island, N. Y. Edwin C. Holmes, Co. D; killed near Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. George Hatch, Co. D; died of wounds at Washington, D. C., Aug. 2, 1864. George Crisp, Co. G ; died of wounds at Washington, D. C., July 28, 1864. Roselle S. Dickson, Co. D; died at Washington, D. C., July 28, 1864.
Samuel B. Rogers, Co. A; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864.
Richard Hogarth, Co. A; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864.
Warren Copeland, Co. A; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., Sept. 30, 1864.
John Tracy, Co. A ; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., Sept. 30, 1864; re- turned.
Charles W. Daniels, Co. D; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864; returned.
James Beard, Co. D; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864; returned.
Alvin E. Hank, Co. D; missing in action near Petersburg, Va., Oct. 27, 1864 ; returned.
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