USA > Michigan > Hillsdale County > History of Hillsdale county. Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 69
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Mr. Duryea remained an honest and respected citizen of this town for upwards of thirty-five years, and died here surrounded by friends. One son, W. H. Duryea, is now living in the southwest part of the town.
The other settler referred to was Horatio Hadley, who was a native of Vermont, but had spent the years of his boyhood and youth in the town of Sandy Creek, in Oswego Co., N. Y. He was married there, and with his wife and one child, a daughter less than a year old, started for Michi- gan about the middle of the month of September, 1835. His route was over the Territorial road leading from Mau- mee to Jonesville, and his wagon, drawn by an ox-team, very often sank to the hubs in the muddy road, which the
thick forest prevented the sun from drying up. He left his wife and child at Samuel Cooley's, in the town of Pitts- ford, while he located his land, which he selected on sections 10 and 11, taking up 160 acres. As soon as possible he put up a "10 by 12" log hut on the north side of the road, a few rods from the present site of his farm buildings, and brought his family from Mr. Cooley's to their new home about the middle of October. Soon after he was for- tunate enough to discover a " bee-tree," and from it took about 50 pounds of very nice honey. His wife, who re- membered with regret the comforts of her Eastern home, said that this was probably intended to make her contented with her home in the woods. At any rate it was a wel- come addition to their larder, and served to sweeten their food if it did not their lot in life. During the first winter of his residence here, Mr. Hadley captured a large wolf by means of a trap, and stuffed the hide with hay, after which he set it up beside his house to show the passing traveler what kind of foes the settlers had to contend with. One day two Indians who were passing stopped, and pointing to the wolf said, in guttural tones, " kill much plenty wolf, make Great Spirit mad." They killed the wolves only in self-defense or when pressed by hunger, and thought the Great Spirit would be angry at what they deemed the wan- ton destruction of his creatures. They also deprecated the killing of rattlesnakes, especially if they gave the warning rattle, which they interpreted as the serpent's mode of beg- ging for mercy. Mrs. Hadley succumbed to the hardships of her pioneer life and the unhealthiness of the climate, and died about four years after her arrival here. Mr. Hadley then married Sarah Bullard, and both are still living on the farm which shows such evidence of his toil and careful thrift, surrounded by friends, and blest with the comforts of competency. He was one of the earliest magistrates of this section, and only through his reluctance to accept offi- cial positions has he escaped the cares of office. He has, ever since its formation, been an influential member and a liberal supporter of the Osseo Methodist Church.
In the following winter, 1835-36, Robert McNeal, with his wife, one daughter, and four sons,-Robert, Jr., Wil- liam, Alonzo, and Samuel,-settled in the town. It being winter, and the ground covered with snow, they selected a farm between Lake Pleasant and Baw Beese Lake, think- ing it was a level prairie ; but when the spring came, and the snow and frost disappeared, they discovered that they were on a marsh, or filled lake, and had to remove.
Robert lived only about two years before he succumbed to the hardships of pioneer life and passed away. His son, Robert, Jr., remained a resident of this town until he died, about 1850, and was a prominent citizen. His neighbors' respect for and confidence in his probity of character is attested by their act in retaining him for nine consecutive years in the responsible office of treasurer of the town.
William was at that time a young man of twenty-one, and in the spring of 1837 was married to Jane Decker, a girl of fifteen. He was a carpenter by trade, and, together with his father, worked at that businesss. The money he thus earned he invested in small tracts of land, on which he erected houses, and then sold them to new-comers as opportunity offered. He continued to live in this way,
35
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
moving several times before he settled down permanently, about 1845. He died two or three years ago. One of his sons, Seth D. McNeal, is now engaged in the practice of the law in Jonesville. Of the other sons of Robert McNeal, we can only say that Alonzo died here some thirty years ago, and Samuel removed from the town in a few years after his arrival.
James H. Thorn was the first person to enter any of the land in this town. He was a young man living in Otsego Co., N. Y., and came West to make his fortune. After his arrival in this State he worked for a while at Detroit and Ypsilanti, and in the fall went to Farmington, Oakland Co., where he taught school during the winter of 1834-35. In the spring he had money enough due him to purchase 80 acres of land; but was able to collect only half, and consequently had to content himself with a forty-acre farm. Coming to the Bean Creek Valley, he made his selection, and traveling on foot to Monroe, entered it on the 22d day of May, 1835, the receiver at the land-office remarking, " You have the entire township to select from." The land he took up was the northeast quarter of the southeast quar- ter of section 13, near the present village of Pittsford. After paying for his land and the fee for administering the oath he had but ten cents left, and this he invested in crackers and cheese, and started on foot for Tecumseh, where he had a friend living, of whom he hoped to be able to borrow a little money till he had the opportunity to earn some. Upon his return to this town he hired out to Ozen Keith, who lived a mile and a half west of Hudson, and while in his employ, and engaged in logging, received an injury that incapacitated him for labor. He then went to Grand River, where he remained until the spring of 1836, at which time he returned here and went to work on his place. His first plowing was done with three yokes of oxen, and he had to go to Medina, in Lenawee County, to get teams to help. A son of Elder Warner came back with him, and assisted in the breaking up of a five acre lot, which was sowed to wheat in the fall. In October, 1836, he was married to Mary Monroe, who died in 1852. He was married a second time in April, 1853, and, with his second wife, is still living on the homestead, now increased to 160 acres. During his residence here Mr. Thorn has been one of the leading citizens of the town, a successful farmer and merchant, and has repeatedly been called to official positions, filling, among others, the office of super- visor for five years, and justice of the peace for thirteen years.
Another settler in the spring of 1836 was William Hecox, who arrived from Maumee, Ohio, in the month of March, and located on a farm of 80 acres, it being the west half of the southwest quarter of section 2. He was a farmer, and made for himself and family a comfortable living by that pursuit. The Methodist Church in this town owed its organization, existence, and prosperity more to his efforts and generosity than to those of any other person. For many years he was a zealous and consistent member, and a liberal contributor to its support. His death occurred in this town in 1876. His widow and a married daughter survived him, and are living on the homestead.
Peter Failing, in the fall of 1836, settled on the south-
east quarter of section 4, and built a log house near the northeast corner of his land. In the fall he brought his family from their former home in Orleans Co., N. Y. He did not after the first few years devote his time to farming, but worked for the State upon the railroad, and upon its completion became a "section boss." After about thirteen years of life in this town, he received a cut in his knee by a blow from an adze, from the effects of which he died soon after. His widow is still living on a portion of the farm, and a daughter, Mrs. Warren Thompson, is also living in town. He was the first tax collector, and in 1841 was elected town treasurer.
Amba Orcutt was a son-in-law of William Duryea, and followed him to this town, in the spring of 1836. His daughter, Phebe Orcutt, now Mrs. Robert Jones, of Piqua, Ohio, was born on the 26th of October, 1836, and was the first white child born in the town.
Four brothers, named Chauncey, William S., Matthias A., and Henry B. Leonard, came to this town in the spring of the same year. The first of these settled on the south- east quarter of section 9, and at once rose to prominence among his fellow-townsmen. In addition to his farming business, he was active in political matters, and was re- peatedly called to take official trusts. He was supervisor two years, town clerk four years, town treasurer three years, justice of the peace ten years, and held other town offices at different times. On account of some unfortunate financial embarrassments, he removed from the town a couple of years since, and is now living in Sand Lake, Kent Co., Mich. William S. and Matthias A. are still living on their farms a short distance south west from Osseo. The other brother, Henry B., died about five or six years after settling here.
James and Henry Bullard, with their mother, younger brother Charles, and sister Sarah, also settled liere in the year 1836, the first in the spring and the others in the fall. Their location was about a mile west of Osseo. Sarah Bullard (now Mrs. Horatio Hadley) taught the first school kept in the town, in the summer of 1839, in a log school- house that stood about a half-mile east of the present school building. James Bullard remained here but a few years.
Another of the emigrants of the year 1836 was Owen B. Coffin, who took up a farm of 80 acres on the northwest quarter of section 2. He was an excellent citizen and a prominent Methodist, and his neighbors deeply felt his loss when he died, about 1850.
James P. Howell settled here Aug. 29, 1836. He came from Minnesink, Orange Co., N. Y., and was married to Emily Perrin on the 9th of November following. This was the first wedding celebrated in the town of Jefferson. He was a Baptist, and a candidate for the ministry, and was called upon to officiate at the first funeral in the town, that of a child of William Green, who died in September, 1836. He was ordained to the ministry in Wheatland, on the 8th of January, 1838. He is now a resident of the adjoining town of Pittsford. Four of his brothers also settled here about the same time. Their names were Michael B., William, Alser, and Walter. The first re- mained here until after the late war, but the others removed from the town within a few years after coming here.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
In September of this year Harvey Black, with his family of a wife and nine children, came from Ridgefield, Huron Co., Ohio, and settled on a tract of 320 acres lying in sec- tions 23, 26, and 27. He was a resident of the town at the time of his death, in 1853, and three sons, Harvey P., Philancourt, and Marquis D., are still living on parts of the original homestead.
Orrin Anderson located on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 22, in 1836. He was one of the first highway commissioners, and the second tax collector of the town. His widow and son are now living on the home- stead.
Wait Chapin was another settler in that year, on section 10. About 1841-42 he built a saw-mill on the stream near his house, and this mill sawed a good share of the lumber used in the new settlement for several years. He was an industrious, hard-working man, a good citizen, and possessed the respect and good-will of all who knew him. He died some eight or ten years ago, leaving his farm to his two sons, Loren and Lucius, who still occupy it.
William Green, the Nimrod of this town, was one of the emigration of 1836, and came in the spring of the year, locating on the west half of the southwest quarter of sec- tion 3, where he lived till his death, in 1862, and where his widow and one son still reside. His clearing and farm work was done mornings and evenings, and the days were devoted to hunting. The crack of his rifle rang the death- knell of the unlucky deer which chanced within its range, and the number of them that fell victims to his prowess as a hunter, while he resided in this town, is variously stated at from 1000 to 1500. His son, William W. Green, studied law, and became quite prominent in town affairs. He is now practicing law at Fairwell, in this State.
James Wallace settled in town in 1838, and is now liv- ing on the farm he has cleared and improved on Bird Lake.
Some time in the winter of 1836-37 Jacob and Eras- mus D. Ambler, two brothers, came into the town. Jacob went into partnership with Henry P. Adams, and built a saw-mill that spring where Lamb's grist-mill now stands. He was a Baptist minister, but while he remained here was engaged in the lumber trade. He was the first supervisor, and held the office three years, until he removed to Hills- dale. Erasmus D. settled on section 3, and died there some twenty-five or thirty years ago.
Isaiah Green, with his wife and two children, came from the town of Barre, Orleans Co., N. Y., and arrived here May 10, 1837. He purchased lands in Genesee Co., Mich., as early as 1835. His settlement was with the Bullards, who were his wife's relatives. Soon after his arrival here he hired out to work a farm in Jackson County, and lived there for a year and a half, when he returned here. The Osseo Village Company gave him a lot if he would put up a hotel, which he did in the spring of 1840. He has been a hotel-keeper from that time till the present, and by nearly twoscore years' experience is well qualified to cater to the wants of the traveling public. He has been active in building up the village, and has several times been called to official positions in the town.
Warren Thompson purchased of Christopher Quaid the 240 acres he had taken up in sections 3 and 10, in the
winter of 1836-37, and sent George Jenkins, to whom he had sold 40 acres, to look after it. Dec. 25, 1838, he brought his wife, three sons, and two daughters, and became a permanent resident. He hired a vacant log house near William Duryea's, and lived there until spring, when they moved into a new house he had built on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 3. Mr. Thompson was a native of Warrensburg, Warren Co., N. Y., and was named after that county. After living several years in Vermont he removed to Niagara Co., N. Y., and from there came to Adrian, Mich., in 1837. Since his settling here he has been one of the leading men of the town, and has held office many years. He has been engaged in agriculture principally, though he was for several years engaged in the grocery trade at Osseo, and is now retired from business, enjoying that rest and repose of mind and body that a busy life so well merits. One son, Francis W. Thompson, resides in Osseo, and another, the youngest, George W. Thompson, is a rising and successful practitioner at the bar of Kent County, having his residence at Grand Rapids.
Besides those we have mentioned, we find that George Jenkins (now living at North Adams, at the age of eighty- four years), Henry P. Adams, William Scoon, and Perez Dimmick resided here previous to the spring of 1837; Albert Vredenburgh (the first shoemaker in town), Gus- tavus Stevens, and Israel S. Hodges, before the spring of 1838; Matthew Armstrong, Marlin Parsons, William D. Stout, Hezekiah Marvin, Miles and Harvey Lyon, Joseph Bailey (now living at Pittsford), Abel Bailey, Charles Led- yard, Isaac Ambler, and Orrin Cobb, before the spring of 1839 ; Ralph and Alvin Hamilton, Hiram and Erastus C. Decker, Alanson Driscoll (an early blacksmith), Finley McArthur, Rufus Davis (a carpenter and joiner, who worked for the railroad company for several years), Willet Green, Julius Richards, Henry Sherman, David K. Chase, Levi H. Durgee, and William P. Darrow, before the spring of 1840 ; Silas S. Lindsley, Albert Blount, Henry Trumans (still living on section 31), Aaron W. Nichols, William Way (still living on section 1), John Bullard (who enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war and died there), and Pela- tiah Hyde (who died in the army during the late war), before the spring of 1841 ; and Hiram Howe, Solomon Fenton, Peter Conrad, Isaac Doty, Joseph W. Ashley, Philo A. Wells, and Joseph G. Howe, before the spring of 1842.
Of these settlers nearly all are dead or have removed from the town.
Among the later settlers was Charles D. Luce, who settled in 1846, on section 20, and has been one of the most prominent and substantial citizens of the town. A more detailed sketch of his life will be found in another part of this work.
E. D. Ford was an early settler in the State. He was from Wayne Co., N. Y., removed to Medina Co., Ohio, in the spring of 1833, and in the fall of 1836 settled in the south part of the town of Adams. He lived in Indiana several years, returned to Michigan in 1849, locating at Hillsdale, and removed to this town in 1854, where he has continued to reside till the present. His farm, showing marks of careful culture, is a part of section 18.
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Amasa and Avery Blunt, who have long been ranked as substantial citizens of the town, are sons of Lemuel Blunt, an early settler in the town of Woodbridge. Amasa came to this town in 1841, and his brother, Avery, some years later. They were originally from Barre, Orleans Co., N. Y.
James Leonardson, who settled here in the fall of 1843 (having been a resident of the State from 1836), came from Montgomery Co., N. Y. He has been a leading and influential citizen, has served in the most important town offices, was Deputy United States Provost- Marshal for Hillsdale County during the war, and is now living at Pittsford village, near which place he owns a fine farm of 170 acres.
This town is designated in the United States survey as township 7 south, of range 2 west. It is six miles square, lies south of the town of Adams, of which it formerly was a part, is bounded east by Pittsford, south by Ransom, and west by Cambria, and is the most hilly of all the towns in the county. The surface may be described as generally rolling, rising into hills in the southeast and subsiding to level lands in the southwest. A strip some two miles wide, crossing the town diagonally from northwest to southeast, lying a little north of the centre, and following the general direction of the principal water-course, is of the kind of land known as " oak-openings," and has a sandy or gravelly soil, which is poorer in quality than the timbered lands which border it, and occupy the northeast and southwest parts. In the eastern part, south of the centre, there was originally a considerable area of tamarack swamps, some of which have not yet been reclaimed, and in the northwest there was considerable marshy land, much of which by improved drainage has become tillable land. The soil is varied in its character, being mainly sandy or gravelly, with some clay in the south and west parts, and occasionally loam or alluvial deposits in the bottom-lands. It is well adapted to all kinds of crops, and on many farms the best grade of wheat is successfully grown.
The largest body of water in the town is Bird Lake, in the central southern part, on sections 27 and 28. It was named after Rowland Bird, of Ransom, who was, at the time, the nearest settler to it. It is longest from east to west, is divided into two parts by a peninsula jutting out from its southern shore, and the outlet, called Burt Creek, is situated at the southeastern extremity. Its waters cover an area of some 125 acres, and are very deep. Lake Pleasant, covering an area of about 70 acres, lies chiefly in the north- west quarter of section 8, with its outlet at the western end, connecting it with Baw Beese Lake, in Cambria. The shores of this lake are surrounded by wide marshes, and the bottom, which is of a muddy character, shelves rapidly a few feet from the shore and sinks to the depth of over 70 feet in some places. Deer Lake is the largest of a chain of eight small lakes and ponds that envelopes the western part of Osseo village in a semicircle, and stretches away to the southeast two or three miles. It lies just south of the vil- lage, and in form resembles an axe. It is very deep in some parts, having been sounded to a depth of 120 feet without finding the bottom. The name was, in all probability, de- rived from its being a favorite place for the deer to come for water and to feed on the marshes. Mud Lake is a small
body of water near the town line, in sections 34 and 35, and is so called because of the muddy character of its banks and bottom, and the muddy tinge of its waters. It covers about 3 acres, and its outlet flows into Burt Creek. Near the northwest corner of section 28 is a pond of about 1 acre, called Mabb's Lake. Its peculiarity is that it is surrounded to a considerable distance by a bog, which seems to lie upon the water, showing that the land is encroaching on and gradually filling up the lake. The outlet of this lake is called Acorn Creek, a name given it by the Indians, and flows south into Ransom, where it is called Ransom Creek. In all there are 17 lakes and ponds within the limits of the town, the rest of which do not appear to have been christened. A small part of Bass Lake and Baw Beese Lake lie across the west- ern boundary in section 6. The waters of Lake Pleasant and its tributaries find their way to Lake Michigan through the St. Joseph's River, while the rest of the lakes empty their waters through the Little St. Joseph's and Maumee Rivers into Lake Erie. The principal stream is the outlet of Deer Lake, which flows through the town in a southeasterly course, entering Pittsford near the north line of section 25.
Previous to its settlement by the whites, and for a few years after, there were a good many Indians living here, who belonged to Baw Beese's tribe, and subsisted by hunting and fishing and cultivating a little corn on the openings along the shores of the lakes. They were always peaceable and friendly towards the whites until about the time of their removal to the Indian Territory, in 1839, when the killing of an Indian's dog by one of the white settlers made bad blood between them, and this was used as an argument to hasten their removal from this locality. Every winter the Indians were in the habit of setting fire to and burning the grass and bushes that covered the marshes along the north shore of the lakes, and each year the fire extended a little farther into the timber, and formed the " burnt openings" that occupied a considerable portion of the land north and east of Osseo village.
Along the north shore of the chain of lakes, and also on the shore of Bird Lake, are found a considerable num- ber of mounds, which tend to show that this country was once inhabited by a race now unknown to man save by the relics they have left behind them. That these have not been explored and examined by scientific men is a wonder, for they are rich magazines of proofs of the residence of the mound-builders in this region. They are of various sizes, from 4 to 10 feet in diameter, and 2 or 3 feet high, and all contain the skeletons of a number of people, some more, some less. Those that have been opened by curious people hereabouts have furnished many specimens of pot- tery, such as pipes, bowls, etc., that are treasured as relics by those finding them. Mr. Andrew Vanarsdale, who lives in the south part of the town, opened one a few years since, from which he took the skeleton of a man, who must have been about 5 feet 3 inches high. He was buried in a sitting posture in a small mound a short distance from a larger one; from which we are led to infer that he was a person of distinction, and that he was a warrior is shown by a hole in the skull above the right eye, evidently the effect of a wound, which is about three-eighths of an inch in diameter and half an inch deep. The skull does not
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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
possess the high cheek-bones of the Indian, and differs from theirs in other respects. In the tomb was a clay vessel, evidently moulded in a sort of wicker-frame, smoothed on the inside with the fingers, and then hardened by exposure to great heat. It is about 5 inches high, and nearly the same in diameter. These mounds and their contents were not of Indian origin, for the tribes of this region knew nothing of them, and the implements and utensils were totally dissimilar from any ever used by them.
In section 18, and extending quite a distance to the northeast, evidences are found of the track of the mighty tornado that many years ago swept through the forest with resistless force, and in a few seconds of time felled to the earth as many of the forest monarchs as it would have taken one man a lifetime to demolish. The path it took was at the time of settlement plainly indicated by the strip of second-growth timber it bore. Only a surmise can be made as to the time when it occurred; but in one instance a basswood-tree having between sixty and seventy concentric rings, each supposed to indicate the growth during one year, was cut down, which stood on the same ground for- merly occupied by an ash-tree which was blown down by the wind. This would indicate that the storm which did such harm to the forest must have occurred nearly or quite a century ago.
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