USA > Michigan > Ionia County > History of Ionia County, Michigan : her people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 13
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About the middle of March, Major Mills and his wife went over to Glass's house upon hearing that Glass had hurt himself badly, and remained there during the night, doing what they could by way of help and care. Glass was neither seen nor heard of by the settlers thereabout after that night until, on the 28th day of March. Hiram Brown, straying into the Glass neighborhood on a bee-hunting expedition, came upon the burned ruins of that person's house, and among the embers discovered the burned bodies of three persons. He lost no time in giving the alarm and from miles and miles around people flocked to the place. A\ strict investigation showed the human remains to be those of the wife and two children of Glass, but as to Glass himself, he was not to be found, despite an organized and pro- tracted search.
The verdict of the jury called to make an inquest was that the three unfortunates had come to their deaths at the hands of a person or persons unknown, but popular belief pointed to Indians as the authors of the crime. This belief gained ground rapidly, and in a brief space of time settlements in Ionia and Clinton counties were terrorized to that extent that many people. abandoning their homes, fled to lonia, while others took vigorous measures in protecting their houses from prospective savage attacks; that there was a wide-spread feeling of uneasiness and dread may be easily imagined. The prospect of an uprising of the Indians, as indicated by the Glass tragedy. was an unhappy one to contemplate, for it conjured a sad picture of spoilation and massacre, and that settlers were sorely distressed is not to be wondered at.
The Indians of the Grand River valley, through their chiefs, denied the imputation that the work had been done by any of their people, although they admitted that there was savage deviltry at the bottom of it. and. to their credit, be it said they sought, through evidences of renewed kindness and friendly assurances, to restors popular confidence. However, their efforts were scarcely available, for it was argued that the Indians had killed the family, burned the house and carried Glass away a captive. After a bit came the story that Glass had been unearthed in Wisconsin, and with this disclosure came a sudden return of confidence and security. for then the belief became a conviction that Glass had committed the crime and fled. At
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all events, the theory that Glass was the murderer relieved the public mind of the Indian bugbear that had affrighted it, and in a little while matters resumed their normal condition.
The story of the finding of Glass is said to have been coined by a person who saw in such an invention the only medium for a restoration of public peace and contentment. No one will gainsay that the end justified the means. That the murder was the result of Indian work has never been doubted by many of those who were central figures in the incidents of that time, but they ever believed that the cause was simply traceable to the drunken frenzy of loafing savages, who, being opposed by Glass in their attempts to help themselves from his larder, killed him and then destroyed the rest of the family so that there might be no living evidences of their crime.
In May, 1838, Mrs. Elizabeth Palmer, a widow, with her sons, settled on section 14, and in the fall of 1838, Samuel E. Stoughton, of Oakland county, located on section 10. In that portion of the township Mr. Stoughton was the first. His nearest neighbor was Nathaniel Sessions, who, with his sons, assisted Stoughton in cutting a road from the Session settlement to section 10.
In January. 1839, William Edminister brought his family to a place on section 15, where, the June previous, he had rolled up a cabin. The same year, 1839. Amos Conkey, a bachelor, came along to occupy some land on section 15 and got the Sessions boys and Samuel Stoughton to give him a raise in making a road to his place and in building a house. Amos Conkey tarried but a year and then, selling out to his brother, Chauncey, moved farther westward.
In 1839, G. D. Kellogg. a New Yorker, came with his family to section 14. He had to make his own road from the Hayes settlement and found Calvin Crippen ready to locate upon section 14. To the same neighborhood, in 1840, came Caleb Bundy, Mr. Kellogg's father-in-law, and, later. E. C. Reed.
In April. 1843, Harvey Waterman moved from Clinton county and made a commencement on section 20. His widow says they got in by cutting their road at a painfully slow rate, and that for years they saw no chimney smoke except their own and Major Mills. A man by the name of Smith moved to a place a mile north of them in a little while, but he soon died and his family moved away. Besides Major Mills, Waterman had no near neighbor for twelve years, when a Mr. Pennington settled just west of them.
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Lyons was their first postoffice and their milling place was lonia. For a trip to the mill it was not uncommon to use up the better part of two days.
John McKelvey came to Michigan in 1834 with his father, who located near Lyons in that year and put in what is said to have been the first wheat sown in lonia county. John. the son, made a settlement in North Plains in 18.12. and for many years has divided his time between farming and law- practice. Mr. McKelvey enjoys the double distinction of having brought the first threshing-machine into the Grand River valley, in the year 1838 (a special journey having been made for it to Rochester, New York ), and the first lot of "civilized" hogs as well.
Jefferson Thomas located on a forty-acre tract in section 19 in 1848 and worked it three years for the use of it ( clearing in that time all but four acres). Elder B. B. Brigham was also a settler there about 1848. as was Avin Smith, who sold out some years afterwards to Edwin Moore, who came on with Thomas and settled on section 18. About that time Joel His- cock made a start on section 7.
There was a considerable Irish settlement in the township, mainly west of Hubbardston, which was founded in 18449 by John Cowman. Thomas Welch was among the earliest to follow him. in 1851, and after that acces- sions were rapid and numerous. They were mainly Catholics, and worshipped in a fine church edifice at Hubbardston. As to other early settlers and some later ones, mention may be briefly made of Bartley Dunn. a blacksmith. George W. Germain, Baker Borden. Loren Jenks. J. A. Williams. J Dalzell. S. Vamdosem, the Merrihews, D. W. Myers, A. C. Strachan, the Scotts. Henry Evans, LeRoy Pullman, A. M. Willett. Archibald Morris. C. Wright and W. Mcveigh.
Religious services were first held in the township at Hiram Brown's house by Methodist Episcopal preachers, among whom were Nathan Mount. Orin Mitchell and Larmon Chatfield. Services were held in various houses from time to time as convenience suggested, and eventually a Methodist Episcopal class was organized. Almer Soule, a fervent disciple of the Lord was leader as well as exhorter and, although gifted with a vigorous and resonant voice, he was sadly lacking in common education. Despite that draw-back, he affected to a liberal extent the use of big words, with a strong sound, and as he did not always seem to get a clear idea of the meaning thereof and strung them along in his talks promiscuously without much regard to their fitness for place. he created a good ideal of amusement at not only prayer-meetings, but at debate, for which he appeared to show an especial fondness.
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\ famous Fourth-of-July celebration, the first held in the township, took place in 1841 on the William Vance place in section 36. The Stars and Stripes which were run up on that occasion had been provided by the hands of Mrs. Charles Millard. the soul-stirring speech was delivered by 11. V. Libhart, and the music discoursed by John C. Millard, a great drummer in those days, who, by reason of his drum-beating skill, was called by the Indians, Hla-wa-gun. There was a large gathering of patriotic citizens at the celebration and there were also at hand a good many Indians in full paint and feather toggery, quite as jubilant as anybody and quite as active as their white brethren in making a grand success of the occasion.
The first child born in North Plains is supposed to have been a daughter of Silas Crippen. She lived but nine months and was doubtless the first per- son to die in North Plains. The first marriage was that of Calvin Crippen to Sarah Parks, a domestic in Jay Olmstead's family. They were married at Olmstead's house in 1839, but by whom, cannot be said. The first burial place used by the public was laid out on Silas Crippen's place, in section 30, the northeast corner of the south half-which Crippen donated for public burial places. The first burial there was that of Olive Palmer ( sister of Silas Crippen's wife ) in 1837. her death having occurred on the East Plain. In January. 1848, a township burying ground was established on section 31. and after that the Crippen cemetery was used no more.
The first crops of wheat were gathered simultaneously by Jay Olm- stead. Major Mills, Hector Hayes, Hiram Brown and Silas Crippen. The first orchards were set out in the spring of 1838 by Brown, Hayes and Olm- stead, their trees having been purchased of Thomas Cornell, of lonia. The first public highway laid out was a road on the western township line, run- ning from the southwest corner of the township northward a mile or so. Directly afterwards a road of a mile or more in length was laid from the northwest corner of section 31 eastward. The first postoffice in the town- ship, called North Plains, was established in 1844 and given in charge of Hiram Brown, who remained the postmaster until January 1. 1870. John Ransom and Jane Ransom were his successors. In 1878 the office was dis- continued.
In 1838 a man by the name of Barker, of Lebanon, while attempting to cross the Maple with a pair of oxen was swamped and drowned. In 1876 one Yarner killed a man named Brown in a bar-room fight. Conviction fol- lowed his first trial, but upon a second trial he was acquitted. In 1878, near the center of the town, two men, named Kilduff and Wilbur, between
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whom there had previously been some hard feeling were out hunting, when Kilduff, watching his opportunity came up behind Wilbur and shot him dead.
SUPERVISORS.
1845-47, Silas Crippen : 1848-49, A. Mather; 1850-51, G. W. Germain ; 1852-53. H. Brown: 1854, A. Mather: 1855, H. Brown. 1856; G. W. Ger- main : 1857-62. W. Sessions; 1863-64, G. W. Germain: 1857-62. W. Ses- sions; 1863-64, G. W. Germain: 1865-69, W. Sessions; [870, L. J. Lemert; 1871-74, W. Reynolds; 1875-76. A. M. Willett; 1877, W. Patrick: 1878-80, W. Reynolds: 1881-82-83. William Patrick : 1884, A. A. Sunderlin : 1885-91, John W. Cowman: 1892-94, Herbert A. Sessions; 1895-96-97-98-99-1900- ot, John W. Cowman: 1902-03-04. Peter T. McKenna; 1905, S. Page Bor- den; 1906-07-08, John W. Cowman; 1909-10, Peter T. McKenna : 1911-16, James Burns.
HUBBARDSTON.
As early as 1836, J. R. Langdon, a wealthy capitalist of Montpelier. Vermont, visited Michigan for the purpose of speculating in lands, but more especially in lands embracing water-mill sites. Fish creek struck him as a good stream for mill power and he accordingly walked from the mouth to the source of the stream, picking out all the mill sites on its banks. Subse- quently he located lands embracing them all, his aggregate purchases in the premises covering something like two thousand acres. Langdon's purchases inchided the major portion of the site of the village of Hubbardston, which. until 1852. remained upon his lands as idle and unproductive property. In that year, however, he soll to Joseph Brown, of Kalamazoo, two hundred and forty acres that included the Hubbardston water power, and Brown pro- ceeded at once to construct a dam and erect a saw-mill at that point. Brown's saw-mill was a small affair, but, small as it was, the building of it and the dam had used up his means and brought his progress to a temporary halt.
At this juncture a company of Eastern capitalists, already the owners of about seven hundred acres of pine land in Montcalm county, bought Brown's mill property and his two hundred and forty acres, much to Brown's satisfaction, no doubt. The company, known under the firm name of Hlub- bard, Taylor & Company, and consisting of Thomas Hubbard. Wilson Homer, Newton, W. Taylor, Asa Patrick and J. F. Collister, took possession of the property in January, 1853, improved the dam, enlarged the mill, put on a
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force of about twenty men, and began at once to launch into the lumbering and milling business at a brisk rate.
In October, 1855, 1. F. Holbrook and D. F. Hunter, Massachusetts men, built the first store at Hubbardston, the village containing at that time the saw-mill. the mill boarding house, in charge of Calvin Crippen, the dwelling house, in charge of Calvin Crippen, and the dwelling house of Albert Collister, the manager of the mill and representative of Hubbard, Taylor & Company. The store built and occupied by Holbrook & Hunter was later used by H. ( Whipple, hardware store.
In the summer of 1856 J. (. Howard, who had been keeping the mill boarding house, built a tavern on the site of the present Chatteron block, and called it the Howard House. In 1856, also. Hubbard. Taylor & Com- pany, finding the water power to be failing, attached to their mill a hundred- horse-power steam engine, and maintained a cutting capacity of about twenty- five thousand feet daily.
In 1857 Patrick & Sabin started the erection of the grist-mill and almost directly joined with the saw-mill company of Hubbard & Company in completing it, the mill being fitted with three runs of stone.
In 1863 the saw-mill firm of Hubbard, Hitchcock & Company and the mercantile firm of Holbrook & Hunter consolidated their interests under the firm title of Homer. Holbrook & Company, and carried on saw-mill, grist- mill and store. besides dealing also largely in pine lands.
By this time. of course, Hubbardston had taken on the shape of a tan- gible village. Doctor Wilson, the first resident physician in the place, had opened, in 1858. a drug store in a two-story building put up by Warren A. Sherwood on the site of the Sunderlin block. In a few months Frank Bailey joined hint and to the drug store was added a department for general goods. In 1858 William Crossett opened a third store, and about the same time a Doctor Buchanan came in and became a village practitioner, while in the same year the first village school was built.
In November. 1864. the death of Holbrook caused a general dissolution of the mill firm and an immediate reorganization as Wilson. Homer & Com- pany, in which firm were included four of the members of Homer, Hol- brook & Company and N. F. Rogers. The new firm assumed the grist,mill and saw-mill business and in 1868. disposing of the grist-mill to D. F. & (. II. Hunter, devoted themselves to the prosecution of their lumber inter- ests. In 1850 the firm became incorporated as The Hubbardston Lumber Company, with a chartered capital of seventy-five thousand dollars. Five years previously, on December 18, 1865, Thomas Hubbard, Noah Hitch-
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cock, Newton W. Taylor, Wilson Homer and N. F. Rogers laid out and platted the village of Hubbardston, which was designated on the record plat simply as being on section 1, in range 5 west, township 8 north.
In 1872 the lumber company, looking forward to the passage through Hubbardston of the proposed Marshall & Coldwater railroad and antici- pating largely increased business therefrom, erected a large steam saw-mill at Hubbardston upon the site of the later mill, and expended on its con- struction upwards of thirty-one thousand dollars. It had a daily cutting capacity of forty thousand feet and employed something like forty hands. The railway failed to come and, as a consequence, the company found them- selves with an expensive mill on their hands, without adequate means of transporting the product to market. Despite the drawback, they managed to push the business, but the game was a losing one and resulted. in July. 1876, in the collapse of the corporation. The failure was a disastrous one. not only to individuals, but to the village, for the company had largely sus- tained the village's material interests, and when the check came it was natur- ally a serious one. The recovery came in due time and, although the village did not make the bustling business show it did in the palmy days of the lumber company. its growth and substance were more healthful. The pros- perity of the adjacent agricultural region will always make the village a place of some consequence, while the manufacturing interests bound to pre- vail there to a greater or less extent will add no small element to the general aggregate.
The company's mill property was bought by Cuddeback & Corey, who operated it in a small way until the spring of 1870, when it was destroyed by fire.
In 1874 the Hubbardston Water-power Company built what was known as the upper dam and expended thereon from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand dollars. Their purpose was to induce manufacturing interests to locate there, but the scheme miscarried and bad management wrecked it before it had got fairly under way.
Hubbardston is the largest village in North Plains township and to a certain extent is not as closely attached to Jonia county as some of the other villages. The reason for this is that it lies in the extreme northeastern cor- ner of the county and as there is no railroad passing through the village the inhabitants do not have ready access to the county scat. The people of Hubbardston are supplied with a stage from Ionia, which makes regular trips. This is a very prosperous little village and being situated in an excel- lent farming district the merchants do a thriving business.
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MATHERTON.
In 1842 or 1843 Asaph Mather bought of Dr. Morton Beckwith a half interest in the land on which the village of Matherton now stands. Mr. Mather was a practical millwright and, when he made the Beckwith pur- chase, had in view the building of a mill on Fish creek, but it appeared that James R. Langdon. a somewhat noted Michigan land speculator, owned the water power at that place. Mather and Beckwith accordingly bargained with him for forty acres that included the required mill-site. Langdon, who owned about all the water power on Fish creek, including twenty-four eight- acre lots, agreed to dispose of the forty acres, provided Mather & Beckwith would buy one-half of the twenty-four eighties on the creek and become equal partners with him. The proposition was accepted, and Langdon, Mather and Beckwith, under the firm name of Beckwith & Company, began improvements at Matherton. They cleared ten acres on section 24. They threw a dam across the creek and built a saw-mill which. completed in 1843. was the first mill erected either in North Plains or on Fish creek. At this time Matherton was in the midst of a wilderness, with no human habita- tions in the township nearer than the Sessions settlement. In the same year, however, Peter Briggs settled between Matherton and the Sessions neigh- borhood.
The product of the saw-mill was pine lumber, which found its chief market in Chicago, whither it was transported in rafts via the Grand river and Lake Michigan. The only additional improvements at Matherton up to 1845 were a few shanties for mill hands. In the latter year Mr. Mather brought his family to the place and became a permanent resident.
In 1846 Mr. Mather had become the sole owner of the village site and mill property. He continued the business as before and in 1849 made an effort to expand it by the erection of a grist-mill, fitted with two runs of stone. In that year Dr. W. E. Blanchard set up a trading post in a shanty near the grist-mill, and sent his son, Hiram, over to look after it, and now the place began to assume the aspect of a village.
In 1850 Matherton postoffice was established and Asaph Mather was appointed postmaster. He received mail once a week from Lyons, his young son carrying it on horseback, and the postoffice was conveniently kept by Mr. Mather in the grist-mili. The successive postmasters at Matherton were Hiram F. Blanchard, L. J. Lemert and N. P. Johnson.
On May 22, 1851, Asaph Mather platted the village of Matherton. which, on the record, is described as lying upon section 24, "commencing
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at a point where the highway intersects the county line on the east side of the county; running east from Fish Creek bridge, near Mather's grist-mill, on section 244; thence along the said county line north three degrees west seven chains and fifty links; thence south eighty-seven degrees west thirteen chains eight and seven-tenths links; thence south thirty degrees forty min- utes east eight chains forty-six and eight-tenths links : thence north eighty- seven degrees and nine chains fifteen and one-half links to the place of beginning."
In 1851 the lumbering interests at Matherton were considerable and. Eastern capitalists taking hold with Mr. Mather, business was quite lively for a time. The grist-mill was likewise pushed to its utmost capacity to supply demands Howing in from the then newly-peopled northern country. and Matherton, being the base of supplies, hustled and grew big with prom- ised greatness. Mathers prospered and expanded until about 1854, when Hubbardston, two and a half miles farther up the creek, was called into existence and, in cutting off the northern trade from Matherton, adminis- tered a serious blow to the latter's welfare. Still, there was a good show for business and the prospect was fair for better times.
About 1853 Joseph Brown put up the store building later occupied by Wood Brothers, and into it W. Z. Blanchard removed his goods. Mean- while, Eli Morse had opened a second store, and not long after Morse's advent a Mr. Brinkerhoff started a third traveling post.
In 1865 Asaph Mather. Isaac Smith and one Fremont built a woolen- mill at Matherton. They used steam-power, gave employment to about a dozen people, and manufactured woolen cloths. varus, etc. The enterprise gave excellent promise of beneficial results, but it failed to pay and, after an existence of four years, was discontinued. J. T. Irish started a foundry and sash and blind factory, but lost the property by fire in 1872.
Fire had invaded Matherion on frequent occasions, and invariably with deplorable results. Besides the foundry, the grist-mill and the saw-mill were burned in the fall of 1880. The mill, which Asaph Mather erected and carried on uninterruptedly from 1849 to 1867, was owned by Irish, Tooker & Company at the time of its destruction. The disaster was an especially unfortunate one, since upon the mill the town depended largely for its sup- port.
In 1872 Asaph and Vernam Mather, anticipating speedy railway advan- tages at Matherton, erected a fine steam saw-mill, but the railway never came and the mill was not as valuable property as it might have been. It was
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carried on more or less until the summer of 1880, and then transported northward.
At its best, Matherton was a thriving country village, and supported three stores, two mills and minor other industries. Untoward circumstances have operated against it sorely and later it has boasted of but one store. The fall at Matherton on Fish creek gave excellent power, being ten feet at the saw-mill and twelve feet at the grist-mill site.
CHAPTER XII.
ODESSA TOWNSHIP.
Odessa was set off from Berlin township March 25. 1846, and given the territory of six miles square. A meeting was held for the purpose of providing a name for the town at Esteven Russell's house, and upon declara- tion of opinions, it appeared that some wanted the name to be "Melissa." in honor of Myron Tupper's wife, others "Wellington," in remembrance of Wellington Russell, and others by some other name. The result of the dis- cussion was the appointment of a committee, with Elder Tupper as chair- man, to fix upon a name and report forthwith to the meeting. The report was presently made in favor of the name Odessa, and, by way of explana- tion, it was stated that the desire for a name likely to be somewhat exclusive led to the honoring of one of Russia's cities. The suggestion doubtless came from Myron Tupper, who was a great reader of history and rather admired Russian nomenclature.
The first township meeting took place at the house of Myron Tupper, April 6, 1846, and, there being but one mind as to who should fill the several offices, there was no trouble or delay in arriving at the result. There were but thirteen voters, of whom all but Emory Russell and J. A. Russell received offices, and that they did not was simply because they did not want them. The thirteen voters mentioned were Myron Tupper, Esteven Russell, Asa Houghton, George E. Kibbey, Benjamin R. Tupper, John D. Hight, Hiram S. Lee, Reuben Haight, James A. Galloway, Wellington Russell. Daniel Heeter, Emory Russell and J. A. Russell.
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