USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 41
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Horton Mann, James Valentine, and William Miller settled on what is called Saratoga Street the same year.
In May, 1836, a mail-route was established between Jonesville and Marshall, and in the fall of that year a post- office was established in this place and Hervey Smith ap- pointed postmaster. The mail was carried on an Indian pony, by Henry Dorsey, of Homer, a boy about thirteen years old. The mail-route followed an Indian trail a large portion of the way. In those days it took the price of a bushel of wheat, viz., 25 cents, to pay the postage of a letter if carried 150 miles or over ; if less than that distance the price was 182 cents.
In the summer of 1836, Hervey Smith bought 65 acres of land of Samuel Riblet, John Woods, Solomon Riblet, and Mary Woods, now Mary Barber, on sections 10 and 15, on which he built a saw-mill and platted the village of Litchfield. He then sold the saw-mill and water-power to George C. Munro, of Jonesville, who built the flouring-mill, now owned by A. G. Conger, in the year 1841. The set- tlement of the town was rather slow, however, until the year 1837, when emigration began to flow in in a more constant stream, and the town was soon pretty well filled up. Henry Stevens put up his log house with the help of his hired man ; A. K. Bushnell got men to come from the town of Homer, some of them over ten miles, to raise his house;
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
while Samuel Riblet built his of small logs, such as he and his wife could handle alone, raising without help.
In those times there was not a school-house, a church, or any other privileges of civilization nearer than Marshall, and it was to that place the people had to go to mill.
The first sermon ever preached in Litchfield was de- livered by Stephen Wilcox (a missionary), in June, 1835, in Samuel Riblet's log house, to a congregation of seven hearers.
The first frame house in the township was built by S. Geer in 1837. The first frame school-house in 1839. The first church (the old Methodist) in 1841. The first school ever taught in Litchfield was taught by Isaac Agard, Sr., in the winter of 1837-38, in the old log school-house, and he was succeeded the next summer by Miss Ada Bushnell. The first furrow turned in town was on the farm of Henry Stevens, on the 20th day of May, 1834, at which time all the inhabitants of the town were present, viz., Henry Stevens and his two hired men, and Samuel Riblet and Solomon Riblet, of Pennsylvania, who all took turns at holding the plow.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWN.
Previous to the year 1837 this township was attached to the town of Allen, but in the winter of 1836-37 the Leg- islature passed an act authorizing the organization of the town, and appointed Samuel Riblet, who was then a justice of the peace in the town of Allen, to select and qualify an election board and preside over the first election, and thus the town was organized on the first Monday of April, 1837. There were about 20 votes cast at the first election, and nearly every man got an office.
NAME.
A meeting was notified and held in the winter of 1836, to petition the Legislature for an act of organization and to select a name. Several names were proposed, among which were Pulaski, Smithfield, Lewis, and Columbus, all of which were successively voted down but Columbus, which name was sent to the Legislature in the petition. But a small portion of the minority, headed by Henry Stevens, who was a turbulent man, and always wanted to have his own way in everything, got up another petition, with the name of Litchfield, a name that had not been proposed at the meet- ing, and Mr. Stevens went to Detroit, where the Legislature was in session, and by the free use of liquid and other ar- guments prevailed on the Legislature to adopt that name. There was great dissatisfaction, not at the name so much as at the means by which it was obtained.
ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY BEFORE SETTLEMENT.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of the plains and open- ings on the north side of the river when in its natural state. The fires that had annually swept over the surface had kept down all the underbrush and trimmed the trees to the height of about fifteen feet, above which were large, spreading tops. On the surface was a rich carpet of grass, ornamented and intermixed with a vast profusion of flowers of various colors and fragrance, and strawberries were so thick in many places that the cows often came home with their feet stained with
the juice of that delicious fruit. On the south side of the river, where the fires had not run so much, there was an al- most impenetrable thicket of hazel, thorn, and plum-bushes, interwoven with grape-vines and woodbines. West of Sand Creek the land was mostly heavily timbered with beech, maple, whitewood, black-walnut, etc. On sections 17 and 20 was an old windfall, grown up between the old logs, with blackberry-bushes, from which the early settlers gathered immense quantities of blackberries.
Thus the town of Litchfield has had a steady and solid growth in wealth and agricultural improvements, but the growth of the village was comparatively slow until the com- pletion of the Lansing branch of the Lake Shore and Mich- igan Southern Railroad, in the spring of 1872, since which time it has more than doubled in business, and has had a corresponding increase in population. It was incorporated in the spring of 1877.
LITERARY.
The first newspaper published in Litchfield was the Litch- field Pioneer, about the year 1848, edited and published by Dr. Zenas Brown, devoted to general news and the advocacy of the eclectic system of medical practice; it was a short- lived thing, and died for want of patronage.
From that time until 1872 Litchfield was left in the dark, excepting what light it received from other sources than a local paper. * In June, 1872, Silas H. Egabroad started the Litchfield Investigator, but discontinued it in October of the same year, and Litchfield was again left in the dark until October, 1874, when Edward H. Graves commenced the publication of the Litchfield Gazette. He soon sold out, however, to G. L. Woodward & Co., its present proprietors, who have published it uninterruptedly to the present time. It is a well-conducted paper, its typography is good, has a pretty good patronage, and bids fair to become a permanent institution. During the last three or four years another spicy little sheet has put in an occasional appearance, called the Ready-Pay Reporter. It is devoted principally to the advo- cacy of the ready-pay system of doing business, is published by H. N. Turrell, and it has nearly revolutionized the man- ner of doing business in the place ; for before its appearance most of the business was done on credit, but now, notwith- standing the hard times, it is mostly done on ready pay.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first school-house was built of round logs, in the summer of 1837, on the section line, about 60 rods east of the centre of the village. In 1839 the district bought the site where the union school now is, and erected a frame school-house, 22 by 26 feet in size; but as the population increased the school became crowded, and then an addition was put to it of 16 by 22 feet, and the school was divided into two departments, the smaller fry being put into the new part, under the tuition of another teacher. This last arrangement worked well, and was continued until 1853, when the school again became crowded, when the present commodious building was erected, and the school organized as a union school. The building is calculated for four departments, but generally only three are occupied. The classics have never received much attention in this school,
RESIDENCE OF S. S. FAIRBANK , LITCHFIELD, MICH. ( LOCATED ONE HALF MILE WEST OF DEPOT.)
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
but it is distinguished as affording excellent opportunities for acquiring a good practical business education, and many of the farmers in the surrounding country send their grown- up sons and daughters there to finish their education. It also enjoys the reputation of being an excellent institution for young people to qualify themselves for the business of teaching school, and it has turned out a very large number of very successful teachers.
The whole number of persons in the district between the ages of five and twenty is at present 235. Whole number attending school, 245. There are 9 districts in the town- ship, with an aggregate population of 621 between the ages of five and twenty, and an attendance of 587.
HEALTII AND MEDICAL PRACTICE.
Until the spring of 1839 there were no doctors in town; but, fortunately, they were not much needed, as until that time there was not much sickness. But in the summer of 1839 there was a terrible rage of malarial fevers, which con- tinued with more or less severity for about ten years. In September, 1840, there were over 60 persons down with bilious remittent fever at one time in a population of less than 400. Business was almost entirely suspended, as it took all the well ones to take care of the sick. Some people laid it to the breaking-up of so much new land,- that the decomposition of so much organic matter in the sod produced the malaria ; others thought it was caused by obstructing the water of the river by mill-dams ; while others, still, were ungenerous enough to lay it to the doc- tors. Probably it was owing to the three causes combined, for certain it is that the physicians having come from the East, where malarial diseases are not very prevalent, were not as successful in the treatment of that class of diseases as the doctors of the present time. Drs. Chester E. Clapp and James Skinner, both allopathic physicians, came here in 1839, and in a few years after Dr. Melvin, who followed the botanic practice, moved in. Dr. Zenas Brown moved into town in the year 1848, and introduced the eclectic system of practice; he published a paper ( The Litch- field Pioneer) in which he advocated the principles of that system. In the year 1853, Dr. A. R. Brown, an eclectic practitioner, set up business here. A few years after that Dr. Melvin died, and Dr. Clapp quit the practice of medicine, and Dr. Skinner moved away. Dr. Brown lived here over fifteen years, had a very extensive and suc- cessful practice, and when he left, Dr. L. B. Howard took his place as the eclectic physician of the place, and has been fully as successful as his predecessor. Dr. Rora- bacher moved here in 1865, and introduced the homœo- pathic system of practice ; he has succeeded in building up a very extensive and successful practice. Besides these, there are several others, who have practiced a short time each at different times, among whom are Drs. Leonard, Coston, Austin, and Atkinson, and recently Drs. Spining and Walters have set up business here.
RELIGIOUS.
There are four religious societies in Litchfield, each of which has a commodious and comfortable church.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first Methodist Episcopal Church society of Litch- field, Mich., was missionary, and was established in the year 1835, by Stephen Wilcox. It consisted of 7 members, viz., Samuel Riblet, Deborah Riblet, Mrs. Henry Stevens, Daniel Kuhnley, Mrs. Kuhnley, Clarissa Allen, and Mary Woods, now Mary Barber; and Samuel Riblet was chosen leader. Litchfield circuit was formed in 1836, and the first preacher, after it became a circuit, was Rev. Mr. Lawrence, and Chester Stoddard was appointed leader by request of brother Riblet, the former leader. In the year 1840 the first Methodist Episcopal church was built, under the ad- ministration of Revs. John Scotford and Reader Smith as pastors, on the grounds where the present church stands. The present church was built in 1865, during the adminis- tration of Rev. John Clubine. During the year 1876 a new parsonage was built under the administration of A. Hunsberger.
The society is divided into two classes, with an aggregate membership of 113 in full connection. A. M. Kellogg and Orin Mason are the leaders. There is also a very respect- able church at Sand Creek, built in the year 1861, with a society of about 50 members. Ephraim Page is leader.
The ministers have been as follows: Revs. Stephen Wil- cox, mission, came in the year 1835; Mr. Lawrence in 1836, remained two years; Mr. Perkiser in 1838, two years ; John Scotford (Reader Smith assistant) in 1840, one year ; John Pitezell in 1841, two years; Samuel Lap- ham in 1843, two years ; Solomon Steele (Norman Ablott assistant ) in 1846, one year; Henry Penfield (T. H. Jacokes assistant ), two years ; Isaac Bennet (J. M. Arnold assistant), two years ; V. P. Boynton (W. Parsons assistant) in 1850, two years ; Nahan Mount (J. E. McAlister assistant), one year ; J. S. Finch (John Nobles assistant), one year ; Wm. Mothersill (B. N. Sheldon assistant), one year; S. C. Woodward in 1856, two years ; N. Thoms, one year; M. B. Camburn, two years; Henry Penfield in 1861, two years ; Hiram Law, two years; John Clubine in 1864, three years; H. H. Parker, one year; G. W. Hoag in 1869, one year ; G. W. Tuthill, two years ; W. H. Ware, one year ; E. D. Young in 1872, two years; E. Marble, one year ; A. Hons- berger in 1875, two years; Noah Fasset in 1877, yet officiating.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH .*
The First Baptist Church of Litchfield, Mich., was organ- ized March 16, 1839, with 7 members, as follows ; Rev. John S. Twiss, pastor, Hervey Smith, Morris Todd, Archi- bald Scott, Noah Chapman, and sisters Desire Twiss and Clarissa Smith. The church was built in 1845, and dedi- cated Jan. 1, 1846.
June 6, 1867, the membership was 57. June, 1878, the membership was 143, as represented at the annual associa- tion. In the year 1874 the church was thoroughly repaired, and rededicated Dec. 10, 1874.
The succession of pastors is as follows: John S. Twiss, G. Wisner, J. M. Coe, G. W. Warren, L. A. Alford, G. C. Tripp, L. A. Davis, Elder Burroughs, J. R. Monroe, L. C. Pettingill, M. H. De Witt, N. N. Smith, P. Van Winkle.
* Furnished by L. N. Fowler, clerk of the church.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The first Presbyterian Church of Litchfield was organ- ized by Rev. Elijah Buck, July 14, 1839, and was reor- ganized with a Congregational form of government by Rev. Rufus B. Bement, March 20, 1841.
The present elegant and costly church was built in the year 1870 ; previous to that time the society had a very comfortable frame church building, built about the year 1846, but there is nothing in the church records to show when it was built.
The ministers have been Revs. Elijah Buck, 1839; Rufus B. Bement, 1841; J. J. Bliss, 1845; James Van Wagner, 1849; J. L. Seymour, 1856 ; Mr. Wells, 1857 ; G. W. Newcomb, 1859; Mr. Frost, 1865; Mr. Updyke, 1873; George Williams, 1875 ; J. D. Wells, 1878. Besides these there was a Rev. Mr. Kidder and a Rev. Mr. Wil- liams preached for the society many years ago, but their names are not found in the church records. The present membership of the society is supposed to be about 150.
EVANGELICAL CHURCH .*
In the year 1868, Rev. M. J. Miller, presiding elder of St. Joseph district, Michigan Conference, visited a few of our people who had emigrated from the East to this place and preached for them a few times, and being encouraged he brought the matter before the Conference, which ap- pointed D. C. Rholand as missionary in the year 1870, who organized the first society of 15 members in the house of Rev. G. Craft, in April, 1870.
In the year 1871, Rev. J. M. Hany was appointed here, who labored with much success.
In 1872, Rev. J. Paulin was appointed here. In 1873, Rev. T. Davis, who died during his term of appointment.
In 1874, Rev. T. W. Loose came, who organized the Litchfield society. In 1875, Rev. L. Kemerling was ap- pointed to the work. In 1876, Rev. G. Hetler, who served two years on the work.
In 1878, Rev. L. Kemerling was appointed the second time to this work,-the building of the church.
In the year 1875, January 15, Rev. L. Kemerling pro- posed to the quarterly conference the building of a church in Litchfield, which received a favorable consideration, and was adopted by the official board. Subscriptions were circu- lated, and about $1200 secured. The proper steps were taken. Trustees were elected as follows: A. Wagner, N. Dibler, N. Yinger, J. P. Sheder, and Rev. G. Craft.
The church was commenced in the spring of 1876, under the labors of Rev. G. Craft, and completed in the month of November of said year, and was dedicated on the twelfth day of November, 1876, by Rev. Wm. Yost, of Cleveland, Ohio. The following brethren assisted : Rev. L. Kemer- ling, of Marshall Circuit; Rev. B. F. Wade, of Lima Circuit ; Rev. S. Coply, presiding elder.
The church is 50 feet by 33, 16 feet high, with spire and bell. Number of members at present, 97 ; Rev. L. Kem- erling, pastor.
INDIANS.
Litchfield township was embraced in the hunting-grounds of what was called the Leathernose family, a branch of Baw Beese's tribe of the Pottawattamie Indians. They num- bered about 40 or 50 individuals. They usually wintered in the dense forests of Butler and Girard, in Branch County, but in the summer time encamped on the openings and plains, where there was less annoyance from mosquitoes, moving from place to place, according to the scarcity or plentifulness of game.
Their principal camping-ground was on the farm of A. K. Bushnell, on section 9, where they had their corn-field and garden. The first work Mr. Bushnell did on his farm was to plow up the Indian planting-ground and sow it into wheat. After that they quit planting entirely, and bought such agricultural products as they needed of the whites, paying for them with berries, peltry, and baskets, until the United States Government removed them to the place al- lotted to them west of the Mississippi River.
Among them was a remarkably old squaw, altogether the oldest-appearing person the writer of this ever saw. Indian Bill said she had lived through " much more as a hundred winters.
The old woman would sit still on her bear-skins in the tent for days, very seldom saying a word to any one, or ap- parently noticing anything, until they were ready to move to another place; then, when everything was ready, she would give a whoop and jump up like a young squaw, climb up on to the log to which her pony was led, mount the pony, then wait till the other squaws were mounted, then give another whoop, then start, the other squaws following. The Indians always went in advance afoot, carrying their rifles. There were a number of very old people of both sexes among them, which seems to prove that neither the climate of Michigan nor habits of nomadic life are unfavorable to longevity.
CHARACTER OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The world has in all ages and in all countries had its heroes. Many a hero dies unknown for want of oppor- tunities to manifest his heroism in actions, and heroes are oftentimes as necessary in times of peace as in war ;- the men that shoulder their axes to conquer the wilder- ness and plant the standard of civilization therein require more energy and perseverance, if not as much physical courage, as those who shoulder their arms to meet a hostile army. And as when an army is raised of volunteers, it is not the cowardly and effeminate that enlist, but the brave and patriotic, so when a distant wilderness is to be de- nuded of its primeval forests and converted into a fruitful field, it is the men of energy, perseverance, and courage that volunteer to go. And the young woman, too (for most of the first settlers were young married people), who will leave the comforts and luxuries of a good home under the parental roof, and emigrate with her young husband to a distant wilderness, must not only have courage and energy, but also an implicit trust and confidence in him whom she has chosen for her partner and protector.
Such was the general character of the first settlers here. And that their descendants are not degenerate sons of
* Reported by Adam Wagner,
WM. J. BETTIS.
OTIS BETTIS.
WILLIAM J: AND OTIS BETTIS.
There is on earth no spectacle more beautiful than that of two old men who have passed with honor through storm and contest, and retain to the last the freshness of feeling which adorned their youth. Such is a true, green old age, and such are a pleas- ure to know. There is a southern winter in declining years where the sunlight warms, although the heat is gone.
There are still living in Litchfield two of the town's first settlers, Otis and William J. Bettis, the former having settled in 1834 and the latter in the spring of 1835. For forty-four years they have ob- served the momentous changes which have culminated in the present stage of advancement. When they left their homes in the State of New York and came to Hillsdale County, they found a wilderness, with here and there a clearing, and neither Hillsdale nor Jonesville had reached the distinction of a village. Beneath their observation, in a grand life panorama, Hillsdale County has been organized and developed into one of the foremost agricultural regions in Southern Michigan.
It is in keeping with the self-abnegation of such men that they have retired to the background, and quietly look on as the great and varied interests, of which they laid the foundation, are seen to rise and extend in prominence and utility.
Their father was William Bettis, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was at the battle of Bunker Hill, and participated in nearly all of the decisive battles of the war. At its close he again returned
to the farm, and ended his days in Westmoreland, Oneida Co., N. Y., in the year 1824.
William J. was born in Wilton, N. H., Sept. 16, 1786, and at an early age was apprenticed to the printer's trade, at which he worked many years.
Otis was born in East Rutland, Vt., May 1, 1798. His early days were passed in poverty ; his father, who was wealthy at the close of the Revolution, be- came bankrupt by the depreciation of the Continental money. Otis was apprenticed to a manufacturer of woolen goods, which occupation he followed until he came to Michigan.
Both William and Otis are well qualified from ex- perience to speak of the trials, privations, and hard- ships of pioneer life; and, did our space permit, we could pen from their lips many a story which, to the present generation, would sound more like fiction than fact.
Otis purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land where he now resides, and through a period of forty-five years their interests have been in common.
It is questioned what resource is left to the aged when no longer able to pursue an accustomed round of labor. Otis and William Bettis are qualified to reply. They have not mingled in party strife, nor have they been known in official circles. They have marked out and pursued a line of action whose goal has proved a satisfaction. They have enjoyed the quiet of home and the retirement of the farm, and their long life affords a marked contrast to the brief existence of the votaries of pleasure and prematurely exhausted members of the stock exchange.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
noble sires, but have inherited the noble qualities of their parents, is abundantly proved by the bravery of the Mich- igan troops in the late war of the slaveholders' Rebellion.
It is true, indeed, that a few effeminate individuals drifted in with the current of emigration, who had not the neces- sary qualities for settling a new country, but such soon got discouraged and went back.
There were others again who had raised their expectations too high, and when they failed to find roasted pigs and tur- keys running about in the woods ready for the carving- knife, they pulled up stakes and drifted on to the great prairies of the West, hoping there to reap the rewards of patient industry without its necessary toils.
INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE.
In the winter of 1835, Mr. Otis Bettis (a bachelor of about 45) lived alone in a log shanty, just high enough for him to stand up in, and covered with bark. One even- ing he brought home a quarter of fresh venison and laid it on a shelf. The following night he heard the tramp of some heavy-treading animal approach his shanty, and after walking several times around his domicile, attracted no doubt by the smell of the fresh meat, and finding no place of ingress, finally climbed up on one corner, and began to tramp around over the bark roof. Mr. Bettis, at this juncture of affairs, began to feel uneasy for fear the beast might break through; and in that case, being unarmed, he might, perhaps, in the event of an encounter with the brute, come out second best. And, as he did not like the idea of him- self serving as a supper for the hungry animal, he concluded that discretion might be the better part of valor; so he raised himself up in his bed, and spoke with all the sang froid at his command : " You would better step careful up there, old fellow, for there is nothing but bark between us." The beast then walked to the lowest side of the shanty and jumped off. Next morning Mr. Bettis found the huge tracks of a bear around and on his premises.
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