USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 63
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Mr. Gale's brother, Brooks Gale, came to the village in 1838, and died here; and a third, Orlando C. Gale, who came in 1840, is now living on a portion of the old Benson purchase, in the village.
About the year 1843 George Gale established a foundry at this place. The iron with which the first cupola was built was melted in a three-pail kettle, a hand-bellows being used with which to fan the fire. After he had finished the cupola he began the manufacture of plows, and con- ducted the business a number of years. The foundry was in time purchased by Mr. Gale's sons, who in turn sold to J. H. Kies & Co. S. W. Perry & Co. afterwards owned it, and it is at present operated by Jerome W. Murray. The Messrs. Gale removed to Albion, Calhoun Co., where they established a manufactory on a large scale, and where they still continue to make as good plows as are to be found in the West. Their father died at Albion.
The first mercantile establishment in the village was owned by Matthew D. Willard, who started in business here probably in 1837, his brother, J. Willard, being asso- ciated with him afterwards. Their store was in the red building now standing near the residence of Mr. Tryon.
When Brooks Gale came, in 1838, he brought a small stock of merchandise, and established the second store at the place. He enlarged his stock in 1839. Upon start- ing here he built a small frame store on the ground now occupied by the shop of G. E. Carter. All the citizens collected and aided in cutting and framing the timbers.
Sheldon W. Sharp. Ira Mumford.
1860. Joel Moore.
248
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
His brother, O. C. Gale, entered into partnership with him upon his arrival in 1840. The store.now occupied by Amandur Thompson was begun by Osman Blackmar, and purchased by the Gale Brothers before it was finished, they moving their stock into it. The building now occupied by the drug-store was built much later than those mentioned, probably by Benjamin Fowle.
The house which is at present used by Isaac Harper for a dwelling was erected for a tavern by Charles Ladd, some time between 1840 and 1850.
About the year 1835, James Murray came to the village from Erie County, N. Y., his family following in May, 1838. He, with his son William, and four of his daugh- ters, are yet living in the village. When Mr. Murray came, his father, John Murray, had been here a couple of years, and was keeping a tavern on the west side of the creek, near where James Murray at present resides.
In the month of July, 1833, Isaac S. Knight came with his wife and three children, and his parents, from Crown Point, Essex Co., N. Y., to Columbia, Jackson Co., Mich. His parents died in the town of Summit, in the same county. Mr. Knight continued to reside in Jackson County until August, 1850, when he removed to Moscow village, where he is now living, engaged in the manufacture and sale of boots and shoes.
Thomas White, familiarly called major, from the fact that he served in the Black Hawk war, is now living in the town of Wheatland. He owned the first blacksmith-shop at the village of Moscow, or for a long distance in either direction on the Chicago road. The shop was in a small shanty on the east side of the Kalamazoo River. For an anvil a large granite bowlder was pressed into service, and although it would not ring as merrily beneath the blows of the hammer, yet it answered every purpose by the exercise of a little patience. Such a rude " contrivance" in these days of anvils with shape fitted to all requirements would appear curious enough ; and yet the time is not far past since it was in actual use, and the work done upon it was perhaps as satisfactory as that of the most skilled mechanic to-day.
The bowlder anvil was not the only article used at that period which would look very inferior beside those for the same purposes to-day. Agricultural implements have, per- haps, undergone the greatest improvements, while progres- sion has been marked in everything. The early settlers were neither slow to perceive nor unwilling to perform, and any improvement was adopted by them with an instantaneous appreciation of its advantages. As the years rolled away more rapid strides were made toward perfection ; and the various implements and tools now in use are in nearly every case wonders of mechanism, yet so simple that it looks curious why they never were discovered before. The reaper of thirty years ago was an unwieldy affair in com- parison with the light-running yet strong machine now in use. The same may be said of all.
The settlement at the village was long known as " Little Kalamazoo," from its location on the stream of that name. On the 21st of April, 1842, the original village of Moscow was laid out by Benjamin Fowle, on the north part of the east half of the southwest quarter of section 11. The same person platted an addition April 21, 1848, and a second
one Oct. 10, 1856. A third addition was laid out by Henry McCowen, March 20, 1857.
The first saw-mill in the township was built near the village in 1836-37, by Benjamin Fowle. Grain was ground early in an iron mill owned by Charles Fowle, worked with a sweep by ox-power. This was the first step toward a grist-mill in the township. In 1849-50, a run of stones was placed by George Gale in his foundry, and feed was ground. About 1852 these were removed to Benjamin Fowle's saw-mill, south of the village. A grist-mill was built at the same place during the war of the Rebellion, and is now owned by Mr. Fowle's son, Dr. O. Fowle, being very popular with those in its neighborhood. The large grist- mill at the village was erected in 1873, by C. N. Lewis.
Hamilton Lodge, No. 113, F. and A. M., located at Mos- cow village, was organized in August, 1858, with 8 mem- bers. Its first Master was Henry Griswold. The present membership (winter of 1878-79) is about 85, and its offi- cers as follows, viz. : Worshipful Master, George C. Wyllis ; Senior Warden, Cyrenus M. Parker; Junior Warden, Oliver Hitt; Sec., Seneca W. Perry; Treas., David M. Lyons; Tyler, Addison Rowley.
Moscow Grange of Patrons of Husbandry is one of the first organizations of the kind in the county, dating to Oc- tober, 1874. Its first Master was H. N. McCowen. It has a present membership of about 80, and contemplating the erection of a hall during the season of 1879. Its pres- ent officers are : Master, Seneca W. Perry ; Overseer, Geo. C. Wyllis ; Sec., Cyrenus M. Parker ; Treas., Dr. Daniel Timms ; Lecturer, H. N. McCowen.
Moscow village, although very pleasant, and having nu- merous local advantages, does not enjoy the prosperity it had during early days, when its hotels were full and popular, its merchants doing an excellent business, and its manufac- turing institutions working on full time. The decline of travel over the famous " Chicago road," and the building of railways to other points, gave it a hard blow, such as many other villages of equal importance were forced to sus- tain. The inhabitant of the present listens in vain for the sound of the coachman's horn, or the angry snap of the lash ; the foaming horses which once panted at their stop- ping-places have given room to the steady-going team of the farmer ; the old hotel has comparatively little custom ; all the peculiarities of the early days have disappeared, and instead of the great activity and bustle then common " all along the line," the traveler beholds a scene of quiet, every- day life, such as is found in most of the rural villages through- out the land. Now that the tide of immigration has ceased to roll in, and the people have settled to earnest work, the rush once known is no longer necessary. The vicinity of Moscow is one of the bright spots which are so common in this " beautiful peninsula."
Dec. 16, 1878, the village contained 2 hotels, 1 dry-goods store, 1 drug-store, a post-office, a Methodist church, a shoe- shop, a blacksmith-shop, a millinery-shop, a paint-shop, a wagon-shop, a foundry (where wagons and sleighs are also made and repaired), a grist-mill, etc.
For items furnished we are under obligations to O. C. Gale, Charles Fowle, Jacob Kesselring, and many others.
-
DANIEL MCNABB.
MRS. DANIEL MCNABB.
DANIEL MCNABB.
The McNabb family are of Scotch extraction. Peter McNabb, the father of the subject of this narrative, was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to this country about 1803, and settled in Johnstown, Fulton Co., N. Y., where Daniel was born Aug. 18, 1814. The elder McNabb was married to Margaret Campbell. She was a Scotch- woman, and was a passenger on the same vessel which brought over her husband.
They were blessed with three children, who grew to maturity, our subject being the youngest. When Daniel was a child his father removed to Livingston Co., N. Y., where he ended his days, and where Daniel resided until his emigration to Hillsdale, in the spring of 1835.
His means being limited, he worked by the month until December of that year, when he purchased from government eighty acres of land, and returned to New York. The following spring he returned with his mother and widowed sister, and commenced the improvement of his farm.
Two years subsequently he was married to Miss Joanna, daughter of Daniel Rowley, Esq., of Mos-
cow, one of the town's first settlers. Mrs. McNabb was born in the town of Wales, Erie Co., N. Y., Nov. 29, 1815, and came to Moscow with her father's family in the spring of 1836.
Mr. McNabb has been a constant and unceasing worker; and now, after an active business life of over forty years, is enjoying a well-earned compe- tency. Industry, economy, and integrity were the first and last lessons of his boyhood. They have been the guide of his life, which is attested by his success in business, and in the high respect and love of his neighbors. Although Mr. McNabb has taken a proper interest in political matters, the whole ambition of his life has been to be a good farmer; and his fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres, and the position he holds among the substantial farmers of Hillsdale County, is evidence of his success. He has been a powerful aid in developing the resources of his town, in build- ing up and advancing the best interests of society, and is in every way worthy of the position he holds among the representative men of Hillsdale County.
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
249
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ISRAEL BUCK.
ISRAEL BUCK.
Among the venerable pioneers who by their own industry, perseverance, and energy laid the foundation for the pres- ent wealth and enterprise of the town of Moscow, none are more worthy of a prominent place in the history of Hills- dale County than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. The progenitors of the Buck family were English Quakers, and settled somewhere in New England; but little is known of their history further than that they were a sturdy race of people, and were true to the tenets of their religious faith. Levi Buck, father of our subject, was born April 21, 1786, in either Massachusetts or Connecticut, and when a mere lad moved to Clinton Co., N. Y., where he resided until his death, which occurred June 18, 1816. But little is known of his early life; he followed the trade of a carpenter and joiner, and was a man of great industry, and highly esteemed by all who knew him. He married Ruth Hoag, Oct. 30, 1805. She was born on Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, June 28, 1789. She died in the year 1816.
Israel Buck, their only child, was born in the town of Peru, Clinton County, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1807; when, in his ninth year, his father died, and he was thrown upon the world to fight unaided the battle of life, and being com- pelled to rely wholly upon his own resources he developed in boyhood many strong points of character that otherwise might have remained latent. He early resolved to follow farm- ing as a business for life, believing it to be most conducive to health and happiness, and until he attained his majority he worked on a farm by the month. Educational advan- tages were extremely limited in those days, but by dint of energy and application he obtained what was considered to be at the time a good common-school education. At the age of seventeen he removed to Dutchess Co., N. Y., where
MRS. ISRAEL BUCK.
he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jane E. Green, whom he married in the year 1828. She was born in the town of Stanford, Dutchess Co., Aug. 3, 1808. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Buck purchased a small farm in the town of Chatham, Columbia Co., N. Y. Here they remained about five years, when, owing to the poverty of the soil and his ambition to become a large farmer, he resolved to emi- grate to what was then considered to be the far West. Ac- cordingly, in the spring of 1835, he came to Hillsdale County, and purchased two hundred acres of land, where he now resides. Completing his business, he returned to New York, and in the spring of 1836 he came on with his family, which consisted of his wife and three children. The town at this time was almost a trackless wilderness, and Mr. Buck is well qualified to speak of hardships and priva- tions of pioneer times, and did our space permit we could pen from his own lips many a statement that, to the rising generation, would sound more like fiction than fact. Al- though his location was a fortunate one, still the construc- tion of a farm was a work of no small magnitude, but by degrees field after field was added and industry and frugality were rewarded, and his farm is now considered to be one of the most productive and valuable ones in the county ; and as a farmer he holds a deservedly high reputation. Mr. Buck is now in his seventy-second year, and still possesses much of his former vigor and energy. He can look back upon his past life knowing that he has achieved success, and that the toil and privation of early days have been rewarded. But we should be recreant to our duty did we not speak of the many virtues and the valuable assistance rendered him by his worthy helpmeet, who has shared his joys and sor- rows and has been his partner in all his trials and hardships. Mr. and Mrs. Buck have been blessed with six children,- four boys and two girls. John L., was born in the town of
32
250
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Chatham, N. Y., Sept. 1, 1829; Emily, now Mrs. G. C. Wyliss, of Moscow, was born in Chatham, July 22, 1832; James J., a prominent attorney of Emporia, Kan., was born in Chatham, Aug. 14, 1835 ; Helen, wife of Geo. B. Hall, of Shelbina, Mo., was born in Moscow, Jan. 22, 1839;
Edmund and Albert B. were born on the old homestead, the former June 30, 1844, and the latter May 10, 1847. John L. married Miss Emeline Sprowls; James J. married Miss Mary H. Tichenor; Edward married Miss Elizabeth Collins ; Albert B. married Miss Sarah E. Smith.
Photos. by Carson & Graham, Hillsdale.
AZARIAH MALLORY.
AZARIAH MALLORY
was born in the town of New Ashford, Mass., on Nov. 27, 1804. His parents were Quakers, sober, staid, and relig- ious ; and he early in life imbibed the principles that in after-years became prominent points in his character. When a child, his parents removed to Wayne Co., N. Y., where his boyhood days were passed, and where he resided until he came to Michigan, in June, 1837 ; he settled in the town of Moscow, where he resided until his death. Here he purchased two hundred acres of land on section 17. Mr. Mallory was a man of great energy and remark- able industry,-in fact, they were his prominent charac- teristics,-and he became a large land-holder, owning at one time over nine hundred acres of the most valuable land in the town.
In the year 1826, Mr. Mallory was married to Miss Azuba, daughter of Abisha White, of Macedon, Wayne Co., N. Y. She was born in the town of Douglas, Worces- ter Co., Mass., March 12, 1807 : her father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died soon after its close. Mr. and Mrs. Mallory were blessed with nine children, all of whom are now living but one.
Mr. Mallory was a man of pronounced temperance prin- ciples, and a liberal supporter of all religious enterprises; he did much to build up and advance the best interests of society, and was a powerful aid in developing the re- sources of his town,-a man of broad charity, generous liberality, and manly honor.
MRS. AZARIAH MALLORY.
HORATIO N. ROWLEY.
The Rowley family were originally from Wales, Great Britain, emigrated to this country previous to the Revolu- tion, and settled in Connecticut. The immediate subjects of this sketch are from Revolutionary stock. Daniel Rowley, our subject's grandfather, was a soldier in the Revolution ; he had a family of seven children, Daniel Rowley, Jr., our subject's father, being the second son. He was born in Washington Co., N. Y., whither his father had removed shortly after the close of the Revolutionary war. The elder Rowley subsequently removed to Wyoming County, where he died at the advanced age of eighty years.
Daniel, Jr., lived with his father until he was twenty- three years of age, at which time he was married to Miss Lois Holmes. Shortly after his marriage war was declared between the United States and Great Britain, and he en- listed as a soldier and participated in many battles. At the close of the war he settled in Erie Co., N. Y., where he remained until his emigration to Hillsdale County in 1836, and where he resided until his death, which occurred April 2, 1867. His wife died some six years previous. He was blessed with nine children,-Lydia, John M., Joanna, Nel- son, Horatio N., Phebe, Sydney H., Oscar P., and Lois M .; of the above, five are now living. Mrs. Daniel Rowley, our subject's mother, was born in the town and county of Sara- toga, N. Y., July 22, 1791. She was the eldest in a family of sixteen children. She emigrated to Erie Co., N. Y., with her parents, about 1807. Horatio N. Rowley was
Alexander Hewitt
Mary E, Hewitt
PHOTOS.BY CARSON & CRAHAM.
RESIDENCE OF HON. ALEXANDER HEWITT, ALLEN, HILLSDALE CO., MICH. .
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
born in Erie Co., N. Y., Sept. 15, 1819. When seventeen years of age he came to Hillsdale County with his father, where he has since resided. The elder Rowley purchased one hundred and eighty-five acres of land on sections 3 and 4, in the town of Moscow. He resided with his parents until February, 1843, when he was married to Miss Betsey A. McKercher. She was born in the town of Broad Albin, Montgomery Co., N. Y., Aug. 23, 1824. She was the youngest in a family of eleven children. After his mar- riage Mr. Rowley moved on to the farm where he now resides ; it was entirely unimproved, and originally consisted of eighty acres, to which he has added three hundred and twenty. Mr. Rowley is justly considered to be one of the successful and prominent farmers of the county. He has been largely identified with Moscow ; he has held all the offices in the gift of his fellow-townsmen ; for eight years
he represented them upon the Board of Supervisors. In his religious affiliations he is a Methodist, and is a promi- nent member and a liberal supporter of church interests. He is radical in all measures of reform, and is a pronounced temperance man ; he raised the first barn ever erected in Moscow without the aid of whisky.
Mr. and Mrs. Rowley have been blessed with eleven children,-Marion D., John M., Daniel D., Ransom A., Horatio N., Diantha V., Osman B., Elizabeth A., William C., Josephine L., and James W., four of whom are now living. Mr. Rowley is emphatically a self-made man. Coming into a new country with only his natural resources for his capital, he has achieved success in every depart- ment of life, and is justly entitled to the reputation he holds, that of a kind father, a valuable neighbor and friend, and a worthy citizen.
ALLEN.
THE original township of Allen, as formed by act of the Legislature, March 17, 1835, included the west one-fourth of the county of Hillsdale, as embraced in range 4 west of the principal meridian. From it have since been formed the following townships, viz. : Litchfield, from township 5 south, range 4 west, March 11, 1837; Reading, from town- ships 7, 8, and 9 south, same range, at same date ; Camden, from townships 8 and 9 south, same range, March 21, 1839, leaving Allen as at present, including township 6 south, of range 4 west.
The surface of this township is hilly to some extent in places, while marshes and lowlands are found in others, and at Allen village is an elevated plain, which has received the name of " Allen Prairie." The principal stream is Sand Creek, which flows through the township east of the centre, and has a rapid current. Numerous smaller streams abound, among them being Hog Creek and others, of which the former furnishes considerable power. It is the outlet of Hog Lake, in the southeast part of town, and flows in a northwest direction. Aside from Hog Lake are several others, all small. Duck Lake is in the same neighborhood, and Hamlin Lake lies for the most part in the township of Reading.
The soil is in general good, and the various grains, vege- tables, and fruits common to this region are successfully raised here. The main line of the Lake Shore and Michi- gan Southern Railway crosses the township from east to west, with a station one mile north of Allen village.
According to the " Gazetteer of Michigan," published in 1838 by John T. Blois, Esq., now of Jonesville, the town- ship of Allen contained at that time 2 saw-mills, a merchant, 242 head of neat stock, 51 horses, 42 sheep, 310 hogs, and a population of 353. The State census of 1874 gives the
following figures, which will compare somewhat favorably with the above :
Population (825 males, 779 females) 1,604
Acres of taxable land.
22,616
Land owned by individuals and companies. 22,715
Improved land.
13,238
Land exempt from taxation ..
99
Value of same, including improvements $35,750 Number of acres in school-house sites .. " in church and parsonage sites ... 1
5
6
in burying-grounds
3
Number of farms in township acres in same.
19,775
Average number of acres in farms.
94.61
Number of acres of wheat sown in 1874. 66 " " raised in 1873.
2,795
16
bushels of wheat raised in 1873
35,041
66 corn raised in 1873
68,745
acres of all other grain raised in 1873
12,788
60
bushels of potatoes raised in 1873. tons of hay cut in 1873.
1,391
pounds of wool sheared in 1873.
23,118
pork marketed in 1873.
83,495
16
butter made in 1873.
81,010
66
fruit dried for market in 1873 16,795
66
barrels of cider made in 1873.
826
66
pounds of maple-sugar made in 1873
8,030
66
acres in orchards in 1874
573
bushels of apples raised in 1872 1873. 32,355
$15,225
Value of fruits and garden vegetables, 1872. "
1873 $16,177
Number of horses, one year old and over, owned in 1874.
501
Number of mules. work oxen.
milch cows.
596
neat cattle, one year old and over, other than oxen and cows ..
265
swine over six months old. 938 sheep over six months old ..
5,006
66
sheared in 1873.
4,932
flouring-mills in township.
1
" persons employed in same ..
2
Amount of capital invested in same.
$2,500
2 Number of runs of stone in mill.
barrels of flour made.
200
in railroad right of way and depot grounds. 90 209
2,977
4 corn raised in 1873
1,715
7,345
30,650
66
9
6
251
252
HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Value of same. $1,400 3
Number of saw-mills in township in 1874. persons employed in same 5
Amount of capital invested in same
$5,000
Number of feet of lumber sawed. 570,000 $6,000
Value of same ..
The total amount of land entered in the township of Allen (or what is now said township), at the close of the year 1833, was but 1720 acres, which was divided among Moses Allen, John S. and Thomas S. Reed, Richard W. Corbus, Abram F. Boulton, R. E. and N. Stiles, John Ewell, Newell Kane, David Stiles, Ichabod Burdick, Henry Clark, and Hiram B. Hunt. By the records of the land- office it appears that the following persons had made
ENTRIES OF LAND
in the township previous to April 27, 1838, viz. :
Section 1 .- Timothy Eddy, Lewis O. Miller, John L. Egerton, William C. Kelly, William J. Bettis, Wheeler M. Dewey,-653.82 acres.
Section 2 .- B. Allen, Elias Harrison, Zebulon Doty, Marcus N. Mulliner, James Rainey,-660.76 acres.
Section 3 .- Nathan Munroe, Levi Warren, Eliza Stiles, Ruda Stiles,-664.92 acres.
Section 4 .- Oliver Johnson, Luke Hazen, D. Goddard, John R. Willis,-674.19 acres.
Section 5 .- Ammi Whitney, F. Barnhart, David C. Stuart, William Pierce, Center Lamb, Stephen E. Ed- monds,-666.36 acres.
Section 6 .- John Keagle, William Wilkinson, John Jones, Philip L. Harding, O. E. M. & A. W. Langdon,- 647.70 acres.
Section 7 .- John Keagle, Michael Walsh, William Wilkinson, John Jones, Lewis Darrah, John R. Willis,- 618.69 acres.
Section 8 .- Stephen N. Edmunds, Thomas G. Reed, Isaac Eslow, Robert Bett, John S. Reed, William Lindley, John Graham, Alonzo Standard, Tunis Cronkite, Samuel Sawyer, Horace Eddy,-640 acres.
Section 9 .- Ichabod H. Benedict, Hiram B. Hunt, George Mosher, Solomon Wells, Maxwell Brady, Rufus Osborn, Solomon Williams, Ammi Whitney, Abigail H. Lindsley,-640 acres.
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