History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan, Part 79

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 79
USA > Michigan > Ingham County > History of Ingham and Eaton counties, Michigan > Part 79

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).

WHEATFIELD."

GEOGRAPHICAL.

THIS township is situated in the northeastern part of Ingham County, and bounded on the north by Williams- town, on the south by Ingham, on the east by Leroy, and on the west by Alaiedon township. It is designated in the United States surveys as town 3 north, of range 1 east of the principal meridian. The township-lines were run by Joseph Wampler in 1824, and the subdivision lines by the same in 1826.

The Cedar River nowhere touches its boundary, though it approaches closely on the north in sections 35 and 36, Williamstown, the nearest point, being within the village limits of Williamston, at the mouth of Deer Creek, where the distance from the township-line is less than forty rods.

Deer Creek is probably the largest stream in the town- ship. It rises in the western part of Ingham township and flows north, entering Wheatfield on the southwest quarter of section 33, and flowing thenee northeasterly through sections 33, 34, 27, and 26, and thence nearly due north, through sections 23, 14, 11, and 2, to its june- tion with the Cedar River, on section 35, Williamstown.

Doan Creek, which fiods its sources in Stock bridge town- ship, flows northwest through a corner of White Oak town- ship, thence north through the northeastern portions of Ingham township, enters Wheatfield on the southeast quar- ter of section 36, and, flowing north by cast through see- tions 36, 25, and the southeast corner of 24, passes into Leroy township, and flows thence north to the Cedar River, which stream it unites with in the edge of Locke township, on section 32.

A small stream heads on seetion 9, and flows northeast through the corners of sections 10, 3, and 2, and discharges into the Cedar River a mile west of Williamston village.

Another small creek rises on section 16, and flows north and west through the corners of Alaiedon and Meridian into the Cedar in the last-named township.

There are numerous springs in the township, more par- ticularly along the west side of Deer Creek.

Wheatfield has perhaps as little marshy and swampy land as any township in the county. The largest. areas of such lands are along the western border of the township, and lying partly in Alaiedon and on the margin of Deer Creek. Like mnost portions of Michigan, there are nu- merous small swamps, in common parlance known as " cat- holes," varying from a few square rods to several acres in extent. As in other parts of the county, these wet lands are being rapidly drained and made available for agricultural purposes.

TOPOGRAPHY, SOILS, ETC.

As a rule this township may be termed level or gently rolling, with a more broken surface along Deer Creek and in the southern portions.

The peculiar formations, dating back to the post-glacial and Champlain periods, which form such a marked feature in Delhi and Vevay townships, where they are denominated " hog-baeks," are also found in a somewhat lesser degree in Wheatfield, the most marked being along the margin of Deer Creek, which at intervals breaks through the ridge. This ridge passes into Ingham township, and extends a considerable_distance to the south. Another, less exten- sive, is found on section 16, and along the line between sections 21 and 22. These ridges are not always con- tinuous, but are at times isolated or in groups. Single elevations, some of them reaching an altitude of forty or fifty feet, are also found, as the fine specimens on sections 8 and 9, and a remarkable one on the northeast quarter of 29.

They are all, generally speaking, composed of sand and gravel, at times mixed with clay and some bowlders. They are not as lofty and abrupt as the " Hog's Back," in Delhi and Vevay, seldom rising more than forty feet above the surrounding country, but are, nevertheless, a marked and peculiar feature only to be understood by those who have a thorough knowledge of geology. The gravel in them abounds in fossils, particularly corals, and they furnish inexhanstible quantities of sand and gravel, being exceed- ingly valuable in the making of public highways. Their sloping escarpments are also the finest localities in the country for the growth of fruit-trees, which, in the autumn of 1880, were literally breaking down with luscious fruit.

The soils of the township are generally clayey and sandy loams, except among the marshes and swamps, the soils of which are a rich black loam or vegetable mould, underlaid by marl or elay.

The timber was the same as found generally in this re- gion, consisting of various kinds of deciduous trees, in- eluding the American larch or tamaraek in the swamps. No pine growing in a state of nature was found in the township by the early settlers. The timber was very gen- erally a heavy growth, as is still abundantly evidenced by large areas of uncleared lands.

The following list shows the names of those who orig- inally entered lands from the government, though many of them never settled in the township :

LAND ENTRIES.

The following entries of land were made in town 3 north, range 1 east, now Williamstown :

" By S. W. Durant.

321

WHEATFIELD.

Section 1 .- MeHenry, Kercheval, Healey, and Smith, May 24, 1836; Isaac Otis, June 24, 1836; Willinm II. Townsend, Sept. 23, 1836. Section 2 .- Mellenry, Kercheval, Ilealey, and Smith, May 24, 1836; Oswell Williams, July 24, 1836.

Section 3 .- Mellenry, Kercheval, Healey, and Smith, May 24, 1836; Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836; Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 4 .- Juhn Ellis and Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 5 .- Jobn Ellis and Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836. Section 6 .- Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 7 .- John Ellis, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 8 .- Russell Palmer, Charles A. Jeffries, July 2, 1836 ; llamil- ton Brunt, July 14, 1836; John Ellis, Aug. 1, 1836 ; Solomon Drullard, Aug. 3, 1836.

Section 9 .- John Ellis and Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 10 .- Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836; David 11. Pearson, July 12, 1836; John Ellis, Aug. 1, 1836.

Section 11 .- Jacob Rhodes, June 18, 1836; Collins Allen, July 1, 1836; Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836.

Section 12 .- Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836; John Bassett, July 16, 1836; James Grant, same; Nathan Brown, Aug. 2, 1836; Ilenry W. Delavon, Sept. 23, 1836.

Section 13 .- George M. Shannon, June 24, 1836; Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836 ; Jacob Countryman and Ephraim Mcech, July 16, 1836 ; Alexander Randall, Aug. 3, 1836; Cogswell R. Tropp, Jan. 9, 1837; Ephraim Mecch, Jan. 10, 1837.

Section 14 .- Elisha Davenport and Archibald Shannon, June 14, 1836; Joseph B. Putnam and John D. Duan, June 18, 1836; Oswell Williams, July 11, 1836; Eri Whitney, July 12, 1836; Cicero Webster, Feb. 25, 1837.

Section 15 .- Eri Whitney, John Hay, Eleazer Bennett, no date. Section 16 .- School section.

Section 17 .- Orman Coe, Aug. 1, 1836 ; Ilenry Howe, Aug. 3, 1836. Section 18 .- Solomon Drullard, Aug. 3, 1836.

Section 19 .- Samo as 18.

Section 20 .- Richard Lord, Dee. 15, 1836; Rhoda Fuller, Jan. 27, 1837.

Section 21 .- Thos. Field, Thos Clough, Chas. Belding, Nov. 25, 1836 ; Thomas W. Northrup, William D. Thompson, Dee. 15, 1836.

Section 22 .- Frederick P. Townsend, Edward Campbell, Nov. 14, 1836 ; William D. Thompson, Dec. 15, 1836; Caleb Carr, Feb. 20, 1837.

Section 23 .- Samuel F. Davenport, George M. Shannon, June 14, 1836; Ilenry M. Muore, Aug. 6, 1836; Johu Lyon, Nov. 26, 1836; Wil- liam Senman, Dee. 9, 1836 ; Cicero Webster, Feb. 25, 1837; Seeley Cook, April 10, 1837.

Section 24 .- Theophilus Reed, David Reed, June 14, 1836; Henry M. Moore, Aug. 6, 1836; John Lyon, Hiram Baleom, Nov. 26, 1836. Section 25 .- George Loomis, May 27, 1836; Charles Harford, May 28, 1836 ; Jnmes Huffman, June 15, 1836; Thomas Moore, March 24,1837.

Section 26 .- Seth Miller, May 27, 1836; Samnel Gilman, May 28, 1836; Benjamin Worden, June 15, 1836; Israel Pcouington, Nov. 14, 1836.

Section 27 .- Jerome Loomis, Jr., Aug. 6, 1836; William II. Towo- send, Sept. 23, 1836.

Section 28 .- George W. Tillotson, Israel Arms, June 13, 1836; Jerome Loomis, Jr., Aug. 6, 1836 ; William H. Townsend, Sept. 23, 1836; Henry W. Delavan, same; John Gould, March 20, 1837.

Section 29 .- William Pearce and Israel Arms, June 13, 1836. Section 30 .- Israel Arms, June 13, 1836.

Section 31 .- Israel Arms, June 13, 1836; Benj. Iluger, Aug. 5, 1836. Section 32 .- Cyrus Lull, May 31, 1836; Israel Arms, June 13, 1836. Ichabod B. Palmer and Jacob K. Lull, June 14, 1836.

Section 33 .- Israel Arms, June 13, 1836; Jubn Sayre, July 13, 1836; Robert Pringle, Aug. 5, 1836 ; John Gould, March 20, 1837.

Section 34 .- Oliver Raoney and Timothy Beard, June 11, 1836 ; David Gorsline, June 15, 1836; Alexander Randall, Aug. 3, 1836 ; M. Healey and B. B. Kercheval, no date ; Caleb Carr, Feb. 20, 1837.

Section 35 .- John C. Mathews, May 27, 1836; William Carr, June 3. 1836; Isaac Van Doren, June 14, 1836; David Gorsline and S. B. Worden, June 15, 1836.

Section 36 .- Ira A. Blossom and Elijah D. Efuer, Thomas Hunter Robert A. Chappell, Henry A. Munger, Erastus Avery, and Ben - jamin B. Kereheval, no dates.

The following were the resident taxpayers in the town- ship of Wheatfield in 1844:

William Ilammond, Alfred II. Keyes, George Becoian, George Ilig- gins, Ilenry Caswell, Tunis Taylor, William Tompkins, Joseph Whit- comb, William Drown, Jacob Countryman, Eunice Countryman, George N. Task, Benjamin Withey, Eli Withey, George Hay, Elins Kent, Jeremiah Kent, Charles Belding, Sidney King, Jacob Crippen, Elijah Hammond, Sheffield Crippen, Benjamin Martin, Ed- ward E. Cochran, Admiral B. Camp, Gardner Fletcher, David L. Cochran, Benjamin Martin, David Gorslive, llannah Martin, Turpin Green, Manford Felton.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The first white settler within the limits of Wheatfield township, as coneeded by every one, was David Gorsline, who entered land on the northeast quarter of seetion 34, on the fifteenth day of June, 1836, and settled with his family in October of the same year.

The Gorsline family was originally from France. IIis mother was descended from a Holland family. His father, Richard Gorsline, was a resident of Newtown, L. I., at the time of David's birth, which occurred May 3, 1802. He soon after removed to New York City, and when the war of 1812 broke out enlisted in the army, and was killed at the battle of Queenstown, Upper Canada, on the same day that the British Gen. Broek fell and Gen. Winfield Scott was taken prisoner. His wife remained in New York City until her death, in March, 1848.

About the time his father entered the army David went to live with an unele, where he remained about six years. In 1818 he commenced working by the month, and eon- tinued until he was married. His marriage to Miss Clarissa Worden, daughter of Pardon Worden, of Orange Co., N. Y., occurred Jan. 8, 1824, and the ceremony took place in the town of Liberty, Sullivan Co., N. Y. The young couple lived in Sullivan County for about two years, when they removed, in 1826, to Niagara County, where they made their home until 1836, when they settled in Ingham Co., Mich., before any township, excepting Stockbridge, had been organized in the county. Mr. Gorsline cleared up and improved his farm, and continued to reside upon it until 1872, when he removed to Williamston village, and in 1874 settled where he now lives, in the hamlet in Leroy township which has been variously known as " Phelpstown," "Shaeksboro'," and "Podunk." He sold his old home- stead, about 1872, to W. and D. Raymond.

Mr. Gorsline states as a curious fact, which is also eor- roborated by Gardner Fletcher and George Beeman, that the township of Wheatfield has never had a store, tavern, church, saloon, or practicing physician located within its borders. Mr. Gorsline, and probably other farmers, kept travelers occasionally, but not regular taverns ; and Joseph Whitcomb was accustomed to preseribe in mild cases of sick- ness in a manner akin to the botanical practice of medicine ; but he had no medical education, taking it up, as the Yankee would say, "in his own head."

Mr. Gorsline and his family experienced many hardships, passing the following winter in a rnde log cabin, with no, neighbors within a radius of six miles. The next settlers after Mr. Gorsline in Wheatfield were Daniel and Jacob, Countryman, who settled, in the spring of 1837, on seetion

322

HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 1

13. Ephraim Meech came with the Countrymans, but settled on section 18, in Leroy township. Daniel Country- man died some years later, and his widow has been since twice married.

In November, 1837, William Drown located in the neighborhood, and Mr. Gorsline, assisted by Randolph Whipple and William Carr, of Ingham township, rolled up a log house for the new-comer. Just thirty years from that day those three men with Mr. Drown met at the house of Harvey Hammond, had a pioneer supper, and talked over the secnes that transpired when their hairs were less gray.

The first death in the town was that of an infant child of William and Betsey Hammond. They came from Ni- agara Co., N. Y., in the fall of 1839, and settled on see- tion 2, Wheatfield. In the fall of 1840 their first-born, after a short existence, sickened and died. Medical assis- tance was almost out of the question, as the nearest physi- cian was about twenty miles distant, and most of the way through a trackless wilderness. Settlers were so remote from each other that but one or two, living some six miles distant, came in and assisted the afflicted family in the hour of their trouble. The occupation of the undertaker was then unknown in that vieinity, this being the first visit of the angel of death among us. J. M. Williams, of' an adjoining town, having a few joiner tools, and some experience in using the same, manufactured for them a coffin,-the first one required in the four northeast corner towns of Ingham County. With the assistance of Mrs. Elijah Hammond, a relative of the afflicted family, they laid the little one in its narrow bed. The day of the funeral was clear and calm; not a breath of air moved the leaves of that almost unbroken forest in which the newly- erected cabin of Mr. Ilammond stood. The funeral at that lone house, though few attended, was really a sad one. An old gentleman by the name of Sidney King, who settled on section 23 (northeast quarter) about 1839, with a spade upon his shoulder, headed the lonely procession ; next came Mr. Williams with the coffin containing the remains of the departed child under his arm ; then came Mr. and Mrs. Hammond ; lastly, Mrs. Elijah Hammond, a relative of the mourners : these five constituted the first funeral procession in the township of Wheatfield. Mrs. Hammond being in feeble health, the sad procession slowly wound its way among the stumps, logs, and brush of the newly-chopped fallow to a little knoll on the north end of the farm. There the two men hollowed a little grave, lowered the coffin into it, strewed some dried leaves of the forest over it, and heaped the newly-dug earth upon its lid. Mr. King, in the brief, fervent way of a backwoodsman, offered up to the throne of grace a few appropriate words-though not altogether refined, mingled, as they were, with the half- subdued sobs of a grief-stricken mother-in the stillness of that day, under the shade of those grand old forest trees, and the occasion will long be remembered by those few who bore witness to that sad ceremony.

William Hammond settled on section 2, in the fall of 1838. His widow still lives in the township, on section 11.

The two elder Williams brothers, O. B. and J. M., from Genesce Co., N. Y., settled ou section 11, about 1838, from

which they removed to seetion 13, where their father, Oswell Williams, had entered land July 11, 1836. From this last location they removed to the site of Williamston village in 1840.

Elias and Jeremiah Kent, brothers, settled on the south- east quarter of seetion 20, about 1840. Jeremiah and wife remained until their deaths, but Elias sold and removed to Williamstown.

Gardner Fleteher, another early settler, is a native of Vermont, having been born in the township of Berkshire, Franklin Co., in 1816, commonly known as the " cold season." His father, John Fletcher, removed to the town of Seguin Sabrevois, County Rouville,* Lower Canada, now Province of Quebec, when he was two years old, in April, 1818, where he remained for a period of seventeen years. Ile removed to Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., Mich., in 1835, and from there to the northwest quarter of section 4, in Ingham township and county, in 1840, where he re- sided until his death, Aug. 17, 1843.

Gardner Fletcher came with his father to Michigan, and to Ingham County. In the spring of 1840 he purchased eighty acres on the northeast quarter of seetion 29, Wheat- field township, then a part of Brutus. Previously he had bought of his father fifty-eight aeres, but after a short time sold it to Stephen Curtis, and purchased on seetion 29. Ilis father purchased in all 320 aeres in Ingham township.

In the fall of 1840 Mr. Fletcher commeneed chopping on his new purchase. He was then an unmarried man, and worked more or less at his trade (that of carpenter and joiner) in various places. In 1841 he built a log house on his land and kept "bachelor's hall" a number of months. In May, 1842, he rented his house to a family from Ann Arbor. The new-comer had a brother, and the three men cleared about thirty aeres and sowed it with wheat. On the 23d of March, 1843, Mr. Fletcher married Miss Pa- melia Putman, a sister of Daniel Putman, now residing on section 14. Ile immediately settled upon his land, and remained there until the spring of 1846, when he exchanged it for eighty aeres, where he now resides, on section 28. He made the trade with Jerome Loomis, who paid himu a considerable sum as boot money.

On the new place there were about two aeres of timber cut down, but none cleared, and there was no house on the premises. The spring and summer of 1846 Mr. Fletcher spent prospecting the mining region on Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior. In March, 1847, he settled permanently on his land in Wheatfield, having built a log cabin pre- vionsly on the ground where now stands his present dwell- ing. In this log dwelling he resided for a period of seven years, when he erected an improved log house on the south side of the road, where he had purchased additional land. In this building, which is still standing, he resided eighteen years and seven months to a day, when he removed into his present fine frame residence, which was erected in 1872. His farm and improvements are in excellent condition, and the contrast with that of forty years ago is very great.

W. M. Spaulding, also an early settler, was born in Ham- ilton Co., N. Y., then a part of Montgomery County, in

Now in Iberville County.

323

WHEATFIELD.

1805. He subsequently removed to Onondaga County, and from thence to Genesee County about 1828, where in the same year he married. In 1846 he moved to Michi- gan, and settled on the place he now owns on section 34. His place is situated on Deer Creek, with a small branch of the same running through it from south to north. This region of the township is considerably broken by the ridges before mentioned, but not to such an extent as to interfere with its cultivation. In this neighborhood are some very fine farms, among them those of the Raymonds, Dennis, Gorsline, and Carr.

Stephen Curtis settled just over the south line of the town- ship in Ingham as early as 1840, and about 1868 moved to section 33 in Wheatfield, where he has since resided.

John Jacob Rehle, from Prussian Germany, came to America with his family in 1849, and settled in Wayne Co., Mich., about nine miles from Detroit, where he re- mained five years, and in 1854 removed to his present lo- cation on the northeast quarter of section 8, where with his sons grouped around him he is enjoying the fruits of his labors. The family together own 300 acres of fine land, upon which are some of the best improvements in the town- ship. An extensive deposit of sand and gravel forms quite a group of hills at this point, rising probably from forty to fifty feet above the small creek which flows towards the north and west. This swell in the land affords beautiful and picturesque building-sites. Mr. Rchle purchased his land of a man named Sloan, who had cleared about twenty- five acres and built a log house. These primitive begin- nings have given place to broad fields and fruit-orchards, to herds of cattle, abundant crops, and fine and even elegant dwellings and good out-buildings.

The Putman family were early settlers in Michigan. Richard Putman, born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., removed to Dearborn, Wayne Co., Mich., in 1835. Ile remained there three years, and in 1838 removed to Leroy township, Ingham Co., where he resided until his death, in August, 1856. In the year 1838 he worked a farm in Ingham township. His land in Leroy was purchased from govern- ment July 15, 1836, from which it would appear that he had visited the county two years previous to his permanent settlement.

The two sons of Richard Putman, Daniel and David (who were twins), in 1853 purchased what has since been known as the Hammond farm, on section 25. This tract, the northwest quarter of the section, the brothers cleared up and occupied jointly until about 1860, when David sold his interest to Harvey Hammond, and removed to Williams- town, and subsequently to Leroy township. Daniel at a later date disposed of his interest in the farm, and in Jan- uary, 1864, purchased his present location on the north- west quarter of section 14.

William Beekman, from Orleans Co., N. Y., settled on the west half of the southwest quarter of section 10, in June, 1855. His farm (eighty acres) constituted a part of lands entered by John Ellis, a locomotive manufacturer of Sche- nectady, N. Y., in 1836, from whom Mr. Beekman purchased. It is a fine tract of most excellent land, as level as a floor, but in fine condition for cultivation. Mr. Beekman cleared up his land and made all the improvements.

George Beeman, from Steuben Co., N. Y., settled in Washtenaw Co., Mich., in the fall of 1836. In 1843 he purchased land on section 2, Wheatfield (110 acres), and subsequently 160 aeres on section 1, on the opposite side of the road. William Hammond purchased a portion of this land from Oswell Williams, who entered it from gov- ernment, July 24, 1836. Mr. Beeman purchased of IIam- mond. The latter had built a log house and barn, and the house was the one destroyed by fire in 1846. The place was rented at that time by H. C. Davis, who was town elerk in 1846. Mr. Beeman after the destruction of his log house built a board shanty sixteen by twenty-four feet, and again rented the place. About 1848 he built the frame dwelling still standing on the west side of the highway, and in 1876 erected on the southwest quarter of section 1 the fine briek mansion of which we furnish a sketch. Mr. Beeman's buildings and improvements are equal to any in the town- ship.

This township, though one of the best in the county for farming purposes, and though settled at an early period by a few pioneers, is nevertheless one of the newest in the county in general appearance, the stumpy fields, log dwel- lings, and large tracts of forest land giving it the appear- ance of a newly-settled region. There were two causes for this state of things : large traets were originally entered by John Ellis, before mentioned, Orman Coe, McHenry, Ker- cheval, Healey & Smith, William H. Townsend, and others for purposes of speculation, and these parties held their pur- chases for years without making any improvements, consid- erable tracts in a wild state still being held by the heirs of John Ellis.

Another cause was the scarcity of means among the early settlers, most of them bringing little besides strong hands and willing hearts for the subjugation of a wilderness swarm- ing with wild beasts, and filled with malarious swamps, mosquitoes, and rattlesnakes.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

Originally, what is now the township of Wheatfield formed a part of the township of Ingham, organized by the Legislature on the 11th of March, 1837, and ineluding what now constitutes the four congressional townships of Ingham, White Oak, Wheatfield, and Leroy. The first town-meeting was held at the house of Caleb Carr.

On the 22d of March, 1839, the Legislature erected a new township from Ingham called Brutus,* which included the north half of the old township and now constitutes the townships of Wheatfield and Leroy. The first town-meet- ing for Brutus was held at the house of Ephraim Meech, the first settler in Leroy, in the spring of 1840.

On the 19th of March, 1840, the eastern half of Brutus was organized as a separate township, under the name of Leroy, which left the present town of Wheatfield a con- gressional township bearing the old name of Brutus. This name not being quite satisfactory, at the suggestion of David Gorsline a petition was drawn up and forwarded to the Legislature, which, on the 20th of March, 1841,

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 79

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