History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 115

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772

USA > Michigan > Eaton County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 115
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 115

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Section 18 .- 1836, G. Johnson, C. and W. H. H. Roberts, C. Burr, J. Rhines ; 1852, O. C. Buck.

Section 19 .- 1836, C. Burr, F. Spears, T. T. Rudger.

Section 20 .- 1836, I. E. Clark ; 1837, D. Foote, A. Dibble, S. Har- rington ; 1839, J. Oatley.

Section 21 .- 1836, C. Burr ; 1837, D. Foote, A. Spicer, C. Babcock ; 1840, J. H. Arnold, N. Casler ; 1841, J. M. Bentley ; 1852, S. Clark.

Section 22 .- 1837, II. Lobdell ; 1846, Wm. E. Bigelow ; 1850, J. Fowler; 1850, P. W. Rogers ; 1853, C. C. Chatfield ; 1865, Henry A. Shaw; no date, Betsey Lader.

Section 23 .- 1836, R. Whitmarsh, C. Borr, A. Sumner.

Section 24 .- 1836, C. Bnrr, R. Whitmarsh ; 1837, J. Bunker, J. J.

Adam ; 1838, S. M. Puffer; 1839, G. Mandeville; 1841, A. Phelps.

Section 25 .- 1836, A. Carrier, C. Townley, C. Burr; 1837, T. C. Adam ; 1848, Ww. Anderson.

Section 26 .- 1836, C. Burr, J. Penfold, A. Sumner.

Section 27 .- 1836, J. Penfold, C. Burr; 1837, S. Miller, A. Spicer, W. Winn, J. Winn ; 1839, W. R. Beadle.

Scetion 28 .- 1836, C. Burr, D. Foote, W. D. Thompson ; 1837, H. D. Miller ; 1839, J. Casler; 185], J. Rorabeck ; 1852, B. Mason.

Section 29 .- 1836, C. Burr, P. Gallery ; 1838, J. Casler, W. Bradley ;

1851, B. Petty ; 1854, J. Knight; 1858, William Havens, II. A. Shaw.

Section 30 .- 1836, HI. Ackley, C. Burr, A. Ilyde.

Section 31 .- 1836, J. & J. H. Allen, A. Hyde ; 1838, D. Barr; 1839,

J. S. Moe; 1854, C. C. Chatfield ; 1858, A. F. Gaylord, Ed. Kelly. Section 32 .- 1836, James McQueen, A. Spencer; 1837, James Mc- Queen ; 1839, A. Skinner; 1847, J. McQueen ; 1853, N. Witherell, B. F. Mills.

Section 33 .- 1835, A. Spencer; 1836, Dyer Foote, James McQueen ; 1837, J. Rhead.

Section 34 .- 1835, A. Spieer; 1836, John Penfold, G. Ward, A. Shepard.

Section 35 .- 1835, R. Montgomery ; 1836, J. Turney, J. Montgomery ; 1837, H. Potts, S. Miller, S. Fowler, A. F. Fitch ; 1843, B. Binks ; 1850, R. Montgomery ; 1858, R. Montgomery.

Section 36 .- 1835, Johnson Montgomery, John Montgomery ; 1836, G. Scovell, W. Bush; 1837, C. W. Bush, R. Montgomery ; 1838, W. Montgomery ; 1848, J. Phelps; 1861, Alfred Skinner (M. W. Chase).

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

Johnson Montgomery,* a native of Johnstown, N. Y., came with his wife and three children to Michigan in the fall of 1836, starting from Attica, Tompkins Co., N. Y., where they were then living. The outfit was composed of

# Mr. Montgomery made the first improvements in the township, but did not get his house finished ready for occupation until the spring of 1837, in February of which year John E. Clark had moved into a small shanty in the north part of town. Mr. Montgomery settled on section 36, where he resided nntil about 1870, when he removed to his present location, immediately west of the village of Eaton Rapids.

461

462

HISTORY OF EATON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

two yokes of oxen and a lumber-wagon, in which latter were the family and the household goods. A steamer was taken at Buffalo, which conveyed them to Detroit, and after leaving the latter city the real toil of the journey began. The roads were in terrible condition, and it was almost impossible to proceed. About five days after leaving De- troit they arrived at Dexter. While fording the Portage River the wagon became fast in the mirc, and Mr. Mont- gomery's brother, Robert, went two miles after a team to help them out of their difficulty, Mr. Montgomery having in the mean while waded through mud and water waist deep, and carried his wife and children and some of the goods to " dry land." They finally extricated the wagon, with the aid of the borrowed team, and proceeded on their way. The second night afterwards they " camped out," turning the cattle loose to feed. In the morning their dismay was great at finding those useful animals had disappeared. Upon examining their tracks it was concluded they had gone back over the trail, and Mr. Montgomery set out to find them, and finally discovered them after having traveled fourteen miles. The sun was searcely two hours high when he returned, but he found that his brother John, who knew they were coming, had gone out to meet them, and taken his family and a portion of his goods back with him to his house. About eleven o'clock at night the " cattle-hunter" also arrived at his brother's. Ile had previously purchased three lots of land near his brother, on section 36, and the day after his arrival he moved with his family into a shanty, about 10 by 14 feet in dimensions, which had recently been vacated by Mr. Tolles. Blankets were hung up in lieu of doors, and greased paper took the place of window-glass, and in this situation they were obliged to remain until nearly spring before they could obtain boards. They had arrived in the latter part of September, 1836. Mr. Mont- gomery found it necessary, as soon as he had his family settled in the shanty, to return to Dexter for provisions, which were very scarce, and difficult to obtain at any price. He writes as follows :

" It is hardly necessary to go through a long detail of events con- nected with the hardships and discouragements of settling n new country, bat briefly to say it is hard enough cutting roads, building bridges across mire-holes, prying cattle out of the mire, going sixty miles to mill, paying very high prices for provisions, sometimes going several miles lo help a neighbor raise a building, and cleaning out our will-pond, which we did with a very good will, expecting to reap benefit from it at some future time,-and which I did, for I got my wheat floured and took it East to Troy, N. Y., several years, where I received a reasonable price; here we could get only 44 cents per bushel, ond not cash at that. Corn was about 15 cents, bockwheat 122 cents, pork 1} cents per pound. This was mostly in consequence of the falling off of emigration, and the people had made improve- ments and were raising a surplus, and there was no home market. It is well known that in plowing up a new country the decaying vego- table substances produce sickness, and hut very few were fortunate enough to escape the fever and ague. We could generally tell how long a man had been in the State ; the second year he was obliged to wear his best coat every day, and the third year he was obliged to cut off his cont-tail to mnend the sleeves. It was often said, with truth, that the first settlers wore themselves out to prepare the way for cor- porate bodies, speculators, and loungers. At this time we found our- selvea in a new country without any school-district or school-house, so a few of us joined and built a small sbanty and supported a school without any public aid. It was foor or five years before we had a district organized and a school-house built. Oor schools then wero mostly supported by rate bills, with the aid of a little public money,

and having a large family it cost me considerable. My children ull received a good common-school education. After a while we got n plank-road. I took somo stock in that, thinking it would help save Eaton Rapids ; but we found it did not help us much. In a few years there enme up an excitement about the ' Ramshorn,' that went just far enough to benefit a few and then died awny. Two or three efforts were made to revive it, and once it went so far that considerable was subscribed; I was nmong those who subscribed. It gave employment to a few who liked good pay and easy work, and finally ' flashed in the pan.' After a while we got the Grund River Valley Railroad. Being badly involved nt that time I did not take any stock in it. But it did not save Enton Rapids, although we had the promise it would. Soon after this Mr. Frost discovered the artesian water, and that did not prove n saving element us was anticipated, for it was soon ascertained that a more commodious hotel was necessary for the entertainment of strangers. Well, they got up n stock company, calling tho capital stock $25,000, and after that was subscribed they raised the stock to $100,000, thereby destroying the value of tho shares ; so I, with others, lost the greater part of the stock we took. A few years later the Michigan Northern Central Railroad began to be discussed. We were told that all Eaton Rapids would ho saved if we would go in for that. The company claimed to be worth $90,000,000. I could not conscientiously give aid to such a com- pany ; I thought if they were worth that amount, what Eaton Rap- ids could do would make but little difference. .. . "

Mr. Montgomery lost a son in the battle of Chickamauga during the Rebellion, and another was killed when a lad by the wheels of a wagon passing over him, he having fallen from the vehicle. Ilis wife died in June, 1863, and in 187I he was again married, to Mrs. Nancy Kingman, who was then living in Attiea, N. Y., but who had taught school in her earlier years in Mr. Montgomery's and other neigh- borhoods in Michigan.

" Henry A. Shaw was born June 21, 1818, in the town of Benson, Rutland Co., Vt. Ifis ancestors were pioneers. John Shaw, bis graudfather, was among the first settlers of the town of Benson, to which place he migrated from Berkshire Co., Mass., when his father, Cheney Shaw, was two years of age.

"Ilere, in a valley in the southwest part of the town, nino miles from Whitehall, and one and a half miles from Lake Champlain, upon the same farm first occupied by his grandfather, he remained until sixteen years of age, when he removed, with his parents, to Portage Co., Ohio, where, at Ravenna, in the office of Francis W. Tappen, he completed the study of the law, already commeneed in Vermont, hav- ing received an academie education under the popular teacher of those times, the Rev. Samuel Bissell, of Twinsburg.

" Prior to his admission to the bar he was engaged several terms in teaching school in Charleston and Edinburg.

" In the fall of 1842, in consequence of a too sudden change from an active to n sedentary life, his health failed, and under medical ad- vice he started on a four to the West, with 850 sheep and a wagon- Joad of goods. These sheep were sold out during the fall and winter at Eaton Rapids, Charlotte, and Vermontville, in Eaton County. Not 200 sheep, prior to this, were owned in the counties of Eaton and Barry. Mr. Shaw, before his return, purchased lands in Eaton Rup- ids, and has ever sinco looked upon that place as his home. Few enterprises that have developed the country hut have received bis active co-operation, and he bus shared in a large degree the confidence of his neighbors. With an extensive practice in the law, he has nevertheless found time to look after and enrry on a good farm, mostly in the village of Eaton Rapids; und he aided largely in the building of the two railroads that afford such ample means of shipment. In 1855, Mr. Shaw became a member of the Legislature, and, by his untiring industry, at onee took and held a prominent position in the legislative halls. Few men have been instrumental in placing and retaining upon our statutes more measures of impor- tance. It was during that session that Mr. Shaw introduced and pro- cured the passage of several important measures, among which was the bill creating an independent Supreme Court ; making the Probate Court a salariod office; n bill for the relief of religious societies ; a bill to authorize the laying out of highways, under the constitution of 1857, which had not, prior thereto, been provided for ; and a bill provid-

463

EATON RAPIDS.

ing for the intervention of grand juries. At this and the special ses- sian of the Legislature in 1858, Mr. Shaw occupied the position of chairman of the judiciary committee. Ju 1857, Mr. Shaw was again elected by a larger majority than was ever given to a member from the first district of Eaton. On the assembling of the Legislature he was elected Speaker, which position he filled to the entire satis- faetion of all. Subsequently, Mr. Shaw served the people of Eaton County eight years as judge of Probate, doing much to place the pro- bate office of this State in a more practicable and useful position. Again, in 1865, the people returned the subject of this article to the Legislature, where again he was assigned the chairmanship of the judiciary committee, and few if any bills got farther that did not tend to the growth and prosperity of the State. Few men enjoyed more largely the conadenee of their associates than Mr. Shaw, and aside from the several positions here referred to, he has held the positions of trustee, attorney, and president of the village of Eaton Rapids. Ile also served with distinction in the war of the Rebellion, as first major of the Second Michigan Cavalry. Mr. Shaw has had great success as a teacher, and often refers with pride to the large array of eminent lawyers who have studied their profession with him, among whom are such men as O. M. Barnes, I. M. Crane, and M. V. Mont- gomery, of this State ; O. F. Rice, of Illinois ; and Anson Bronson, of California."*

John E. Clark, still living in the township, was its first actual resident, and occupies the farm he originally settled. Mr. Clark was from Middlesex Co., N. J., and located on section 20, Feb. 11, 1837. Johnson Montgomery was building a house on section 36, but did not occupy it until a short time later, living in the mean time with his brother, on the south side of the line, in what is now the township of Hamlin. Mr. Clark found no road to gnide him, nor had he a neighbor nearer than the Wall settlement, in the township of Eaton. He recollects that wild game was exceedingly plenty, and relates a few incidents indicative of that fact. Among them is the following : One day, while boeing corn, five or six years after his arrival, he heard a hog squeal, and hastened to see what was the matter. He found the " porker" in the embrace of a large bear, which, on seeing Mr. Clark, dropped the hog and retreated, but soon turned upon his human enemy, who sprang into a small tree, kicking the bear on the nosc as he caught a limb, and climbing upon the latter while the bear attended to its nose. Clark then shouted to his hired man, who came with a rifle and shot the animal. Bruin, who was only wounded, ran off, and Clark came down from the tree. Shortly after (on the 3d of July) he heard a hog squeal again, and taking down his rifle went out, in company with Daniel Champlin, ; now of Lansing, and killed the bear, whose love for fresh pork had induced him to run again into danger,-it proved to be the same which had treed Mr. Clark, was old, and its head was gray and its teeth dull.

The following reminiscences were related by Simon Dar- ling, Sr., in 1875, and published in the Eaton Rapids Journal. Mr. Darling entered his land, on section 12, in 1836:

" In the fall of 1829 I left my native State, Massachusetts, for the Territory of Michigan, which was reached after a journey of about two weeks. I stopped in a little village called Dexter, where I re- mained about two years; then I returned to the ' Bay State.' Was married in April, 1833, and we immediately set our faces westward. We settled in Dexter, which was at that time a decidedly new country compared with the one we had left. Ilaving heard much about the

# This article is copied from Pioneer Records.

t Mr. Champlin settled first in Jackson County, but lived after- wards near Mr. Clark.

' Grand River' country, I resolved to see if it was as fine as it was reported to be. So, with a companion (Braneh by name), we started westward in the fall of 1836. After mature deliberation, we bought land which was contiguous, and the last of November, 1837, with my wife and three children, Allen, Albert, and Alva, we left Dexter for our future home in the wilderness. I had a good yoke of oxen (which, by the way, were the first ever driven on what is known as the Lan- sing road). The day we started was a beautiful one, and when night had folded her sable garment we had accomplished about nine miles of our journey. The second and third days were not so propitious for emigrants. The rain fell copiously, but we pursued our journey, with our ardor somewhat dampened, I must confess, for our garments were completely saturated; and after erossing streams which were much swollen hy the rains that had prevailed throughout the States that autumn, we came to one that seemed more formidable than any preceding stream. It was in Leslie, known then as the Whitner Creek. A man had told me the best place to ford it, but I had forgotten his instruction, and knew if we crossed it would be with difficulty. But, true to Yankee foresight and precaution, we prepared for emergencies, and, after telling my wife to mount a chest which was quite high, and putting the little boys in a wash-tuh on the summit of the load, we plunged into the angry stream. The oxen swain and 1 waded, and we finally reached the opposite bank. Nothing daunted, we pushed onward. The next night but one we reached John Montgomery's, being the seventh one since we left Dexter. We were most hospitably entertained. The next morning, being refreshed and invigorated by our night's lodging, we started down the river for our plnee, which was on section 12, where I had erected a commodious shanty, twenty- two by sixteen feet. It had an old-fashioned Dutch fireplace, with a good stick chimney. And there our life of toil, sunshine, and shadow commenced in good earnest. My first employment was felling trees, as my farm was a dense forest, having previous to this cut only enough for a site to build my cabin. Mrs. Darling, too, was no great votary of fashion, or much given to visiting, and her time was exclusively given to her family. She was in the woods six months and never saw a white woman. The Indians were settled in all around us, but were quiet, and inclined to be very social, especially their squaws. The wolves often regaled us with their musical talent, which was extremely wonderful at times.

"Very important days were those that I had to go to mill, which was located in Eaton Rapids. But the way we went it was seven miles. And about four o'clock A.M., after a great deal of bustle and parade, I started, and would usually reach home by dark. Judge Spicer was at that time proprietor of the mill. Our first little girl, Olive, was born in 1839, and my wife wished very much to return to her native State to visit her parents, who were quite advanced in years. And in the spring of 1840 she went East, taking two children and leaving the two oldest, who were quite boys, with me. She was gone three mouths, and I had my hands full. One night I was awakened by the Indians, who were making a terrible fuss. I was somewhat frightened, but knowing there was no hostility between them and the whites their pow-wow was inexplicable, to say the least. I dressed myself quickly and went out to ascertain the cause. I whooped and was promptly answered by an Indian, who said the sol- diers were after them to take them away off. Gen. Cass had made a treaty with the red men, who were to leave and go beyond the Missis- sippi River. But when the time enme they refused to budge, and the soldiers had come to eompel them to go. Some ran away, and some went penceable, and others fought.

"We had prospered as well as could be expected, and we began to think of a school for our children. There were at that time two or three families who had children old enough to attend school, and after a year of agricultural prosperity, in 184] we put up our school-house. It did not closely resemble the more modern seminaries of learning, but was strictly in keeping with our simple, homely ways. It was built of logs, and the roof was of troughs which were laid slanting, and formed excellent conductors for the rain. The favorite pastime of the young hopefuls was ebasiug woodehneks from the excavation of those same troughs. We hired a Miss Cornell, and paid her a salary of one dollar per week. Our oldest boy was seven years of age, and was a very good scholar,-as good, or perhaps better than children of the same age nowadays. My wife had been a teacher before our marriage, and had taken considerable pains to instruct the children, not only in reading, but in figures, etc.

"Bears were quite plenty, and we used to tell the boys they must

464

HISTORY OF EATON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

make all the noises they could going to and from school to frighten the bears. It is sufficient to say that our injunctions were not dis- regarded. After the Indians left we were annoyed often by the bears, that killed our hogs, which were ranging in the woods to get their living. There was a man who had made himself famous by setting a large trap which would invariably ensnare them. Ilis name was Gruvenburgh. He was clearing off twenty acres of land where the ' Valley Mills' are now. Hle would come and set the trap in a place which was marked ; and if the trap were gone we would instantly start for this man, who would traek the bear and dispatch it with his gun. The trap weighed nearly eighty pounds, and the unfortunate bear would often drag it many miles. But we pioneers were very acute and vigilant, and could track as well as the ' red men,' and poor Bruin suffered. On ene occasion I heard a faint squealing from a pig, as I thought, and I ran to see where the noise came from. I thought it was at some distance from me, and I was running quickly along with a club in my hand, and stood for a second on an eminence of ground, and started forward again, but stepped, horror-stricken, for a moment would have brought me spat upon the bear. Ile snw me, and reared up on his hind feet. I struck him with my elub, yelled most terrifieally, and sprang behind a huge beech-trec. The bear turned and fled.

"I could hardly comprehend the situation so sudden was my delivery, and it was with feelings of the deepest gratitude to Provi- deuce that I found myself alone. The bear was of an enormous size, of a brown color, and long legs. I would have been an infant in the paws of that voracious animal had be chosen to attack me, for I was totally unprepared for an encounter. I ran with great haste to Mr. Grovenburgh. The trap was set and the bear caught. Ile disengaged himself from it, and dogs were then put on the track. The bear was much wearied, and was shot by Mr. Grovenburgh. At one time myself and little boys were going to the river and espied five bears quietly feeding upen acorns. When going at night for my cows I would take my rifle, and would very often shoot a deer, which when earefully dressed and served upon the table would make very nice meat. At one time I found a fawn in the woods, whose mother had been shot by n bunter. I took it home, and the children petted and tamed it. It would be off in the fields with the children, but if a strange dog chanced to pass it seemed to know instinctively that its most dreaded fue was at hand, and before it could be restrained it would be bound- ing away into the forest. Our early life was not all hardship. We were a very warm-hearted and social people, and elung to each other through privation and plenty. I remember when I first came to this county I had no potatoes. Branch and myself were at John Mont- gomery's, and he said we might each have two bushels if we could carry them home. We eagerly took bim at his offer and started joy- fully home with them on our backs, a distance of six miles. I don't think they seemed very heavy, for we were so glad to get them. Our family steadily grew in numbers. In 1841 we had a pair of twin boys given into our keeping. They did not resemble each other in the least, so we named them Simon and Fisher. The last mentioned did not live to attain bis eleventh year. Our relatives in the East used to pity our forlorn condition, and thought we endured untold privations, yet our children never went hungry or supperless to bed. Indeed, I recolleet Mrs. Darling's brother, Daniel Allen, visited us in 1839, and in a letter home to his friends he says, ' I was most agreeably surprised to find our sister in so good cheer and plenty. My imagination had pictured them in abject poverty, not knowing where food for the next meal would be obtained, bat, in addition to the necessaries, I found luxuries,-honey, maple-sugar, etc.'

" Everything, all fabrics especially for clothing, was sold at high prices. Prints, poorest kind, were eighteen eents per yard, thin cot- ton cloth eighteen or twenty cents. Six yards of prints would make a dress for my wife, of ample pruportions, but I don't think she put on many flounees. We men would buy buckskin of the Indians and make them np into breeches. They were very durable, and would have given satisfaction had it not been for some peculiarities in the ' buckekin.' To illustrate: a good neighbor bad a pair and was work- ing in the woods in a soft snow, when he found that his pants had elongated to such an extent that they retarded his progress. To ob- viate the difficulty he cut them off. In the evening as he was sitting before o blazing fire they shrunk up beyond all uccount, and his worthy helpmeet, upon learning the facts in the case, mude him take a pilgrimage in the woods. And the pants were spliced and became of a suitable length. I have digressed somewhat from the story of my

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 115

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 772

Author: Durant, Samuel W. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : D.W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 772