History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 100

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

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on the south by a range of hillocks about 20 feet high, and running parallel with the river. Beyond these, some 10 or 30 rods, is a gentle, undulating plain, extending south, east, and west for miles, and being covered with the most thrifty timber your committee ever beheld, con- sisting of whitewood, black, white, and blue ash, white and red oak, two kinds of beech and two of elm, black walnut, soft maple, some cherry, and especially hard maple in large quantity and the best quality. There is a spring, pouring out a barrel of water per minute, one-half a mile from where the mansion and manufactories will stand.' They say cobble-stone for buildings and dams are plenty on the domain, and sand and clay for making brick in abundance. Iron ore is known to exist on the domain, but its extent is not yet found out. The Michigan Central Railroad will run one and a half miles north of the proposed site of the mansion. They found no cause for fever here ; there were only 2 out of 150, in seven years, who died of fever. The soil of the domain is exceedingly fertile and of great variety, consisting of prairie, oak-opening, timbered- and bottom- land along the river, and about 3000 acres of it have been tendered to our association as stock to be appraised at the cash value. Nine hundred acres of this land have been cultivated, and nearly all the rest have been offered in exchange for other improved lands owned by members living at a distance.

"The convention there perfected, engrossed, and adopted their constitution, which was signed by 51 members, nearly all fathers of families, and respectable and thrifty farmers, mechanics, and manu- facturers. This number might easily have been doubled in Bellevue and vicinity, but the convention thought proper to restrict the mem- bership for the present to those who had taken an active part in the enterprise. The following is a list of the officers elected at this Belle- vue convention : President, Dr. H. R. Schetterly, of Ann Arbor ; Vice- President, A. Darrow, of Bellevue ; Secretary, E. S. Camp, of Mar- shall; Treasurer, John Curtis, Norville, Jackson Co .; Directors, G. S. Avery and Alanson Meech, Bellevue ; Harvey Keith, Wm. Earl, and Dr. Ezra Stetson, Galesburg ; Wm. Grant, Sandstone ; Amos Picket, Anson Delamatter, and C. W. Vining, Columbia, Jackson Co. ; Charles Mason and H. B. Teed, Battle Creek.

"We pass on in our history, and find the next scene laid in the township of Comstock, Kalamazoo Co. The beginning of the his- tory here consisted of the visit of the committee on location, of whom we have spoken. At that time the pioneers of this part of the county had enlarged their clearings into good farms. They were getting out of the woods, and began to enjoy the fruits of their hard toil in making their improvements. It was at this time, Dec. 23, 1843, that this committee came among them. Dr. H. R. Schetterly was the controlling spirit of this party, as well as of the association. He was a German, and had imbibed the views of Charles Fourier. He was a small, slender man, with dark hair and eyes and complexion ; was a man of talent, and an enthusiast on his special theme of Fourier- ism. With a Burr-like persuasiveness he soon won his way into the confidence, the homes, and the hearts of the old pioneers of Comstock. In the public meetings he held here, he pictured to their imagina- tions a life as picturesque as a Cooper could draw,-a life of Arcadian healthfulness and enjoyment; of Spartan fidelity and frugality ; & life in whose calendar the selfish ' mine' and ' thine' would not exist, for all would be absorbed in the more humane and harmonious ' ours.' He was an able and effective speaker, and could use the philosophy, the learning, and logic of Fourier and Owen with most convincing effect upon his hearers. We can imagine the glowing picture he drew of the pastoral and happy life there was in store for his adherents in their future mansion-home on the banks of the beautiful Kalamazoo. Here, surrounded by his wife and dear ones, the pioneer would realize the truth of the poet :

"'Here, on this fertile, fair domain, Unvexed with all the cares of gain,

In summer's heat and winter's cold, . He fed his flock and penned his fold ; His hours in cheerful labor flew, Nor strife, nor hate, nor envy knew.'

" From the first appearance of this disciple of Fourier among them the settlers were unusually interested in his new theory of living; and before he had been here three days many of them were enthusiastic Fourierites and anxious to join the association. Viewing the matter in the sober, calm reflection of to-day, we would as soon think of try- ing to cheat old Professor Playfair by inserting passages of a ' Fourth- of-July oration' into the demonstration of a proposition of Euclid as

370

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

that this little black-haired German Socialist should make Fourierites of such sturdy old pioneers as Lyman Tubbs, Amos Wilson, Harvey Keith, David Ford, Joseph Flanders, Dr. Ezra Stetson, William Earl, Roswell Ransom, James Noyes, Hannibal Taylor, C. L. Keith, P. H. Whitford, and scores of other early settlers, who, like them, were noted for their practical hard sense and shrewd discernment of mien and things. But the truth is, the Fourierite came among them just at the right time, for the common hardships and suffering, which all alike had passed through, had established a genuine brotherhood among the old settlers. Their property, although not held in common, caused no envy and created no distinctions. Their condition and surround- ings were such as to foster a feeling of brotherhood. They helped each other not only at raisings, but in clearing off their lands, in husking their corn, and through all troubles and over all difficulties. Wherever their aid or kindness could be of any avail, it was cheer- fully given. If they were not all poor alike, there was no wealthy class, no special strife or rivalry, but they lived together, in the same community, as harmonious and happy as if they were members of one family; so that when Dr. Schetterly came here to found his domestic and industrial association, which was now called Alphadelphia, he found many of the settlers, if not altogether, almost, Alphadelphians to begin with; and hence his work here was comparatively easy in his school of reform. As evidence of this, we quote the first part of the report of Dr. Schetterly concerning the success of his labors, as one of the committee on location, in Comstock. It is as follows :

"'GALESBURG, KALAMAZOO Co., Dec. 27, 1843.

"'TO THE FOURIER CONVENTION TO BE HELD AT BELLEVUE : Your committee arrived here on Saturday evening the 23d ult., and rejoice to say that an ardor now exists among the people in this place for enter- ing into association which never can be cooled until their wishes shall have been realized. Two meetings have been held, of three hours' duration each, by your committee, and attended by crowded audiences, and more information is still solicited.' Farther on he quotes David Ford as saying : ' No man must oppose a project so fraught with principles calculated to promote the best interests of mankind.'

" Under such favorable auspices, the work of founding an association in Comstock was soon effected. It was first intended to build the *mansion on the south side of the river. But the other side was after- wards selected for this purpose. The domain was intended to include the southeast quarter of the township of Comstock. The first year of the organization the association had possession of nearly all of section 23, the west half of 24, and a large part of the north halves of sections 25 and 26. The first meeting on the domain was held in the house of Harvey Keith, at eight o'clock A.M., March 21, 1844. The directors were Spencer Mitchell, Anson Delamatter, John Curtis, H. G. Pierce, John White, Henry H. Reading, James Weeks, Win. S. Mead, Albert Whitcomb, H. R. Schetterly, David Ford, and Benjamin Wright. The name of the association was to be Alphadelphia, or First Brotherhood ; its officers, a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and twelve directors. At this first meeting the above directors chose for president Anson Delamatter, secretary Henry H. Reading, and the association went to work. I cannot find the treasu- rer's name, nor the vice-president's. The meetings were held in the houses of the resident members until the mansion was built.

"The Comstock members lived in their own houses, and those who came from abroad were accommodated with such homes as they could get, until a long shanty was built on the north side of the river, which was occupied as a general ' tabernacle' by the new members until the mansion was erected, in the fall of 1844. This building was originally some 20 by 200 feet and 2 stories high.

"The first school was taught by James Allen Knight in a log build- ing on the south side of the river. The pupils lived on the other side of the stream, and crossed it in a boat used for that purpose. After- wards Mr. Avery, the Shaker, taught school on the north side, and was succeeded by Miss Nancy A. Tuttle, who married Levi S. Blakes- ley, the printer. Miss M. Hanchett also taught school there. They had no lawyer; they settled their difficulties by arbitration, and saved money and much trouble. Philander H. Bowman, of Jackson, was the physician ; James Hoxie, of Bellevue, was the leading carpenter; Leonard Luscomb was the tailor ; G. O. Ball and John Wetherbee, the shoemakers ; Nelson Tubbs, the blacksmith ; and C. L. Keith, the wagon-maker. The editors were Dr. Schetterly and Rev. Richard Thornton ; the printers, Levi S. Blakesley and C. W. Sawyer. The paper was called the Alphadelphia Tocsin. Mr. Thornton also pub-

lished the Primitive Expounder, which he had formerly published at Ann Arbor. This was a staunch Universalist journal. Most of the leaders of this movement were Universalists, and the preaching at Alphadelphia was mostly from ministers of that denomination, Revs. R. Thornton, J. Billings, and E. Wheeler officiating in that capacity generally. They also had preaching from ministers of other denomi- nations. Their constitution says, 'The religious and political opin- ions of the members are to be unmolested and inviolate; and no member shall be compelled to support, in any way, any religious worship.' It furthermore provides for 'the support of all resident members whose stock is insufficient to support them, in case of sickness or any other cause.'

" The constitution was explicit and ample on the subject of educa- tion, general health, and moral reforms. Any person of good moral character, of twenty-one years of age, could be admitted to member- ship by a two-thirds vote of the members present, provided he had six months' provision for the future, or the means to furnish it. They were to reward operatives in proportion to the labor or skill bestowed, and they were to equalize the labor and skill of males and females. The latter could become members at the age of eighteen, by the requisite vote of the members.

"The organization having been thoroughly effected, the mansion built, the property, both personal and real, of every member, having been appraised by competent judges appointed for that purpose, and the amounts entered upon the books of the association as credit to each member for so much stock, at $50 a share, Alphadelphianism was then ready to drive its team afield and turn its first furrow. Then the busy hive of Alphadelphians could go forth to work, each in his or her special vocation ; some as farmers, some as housewives, others as doctors, teachers, editors, and printers ; some as mechanics, teamsters, tailors, brickmakers, men-of-all-work, till all the profes- sions, trades, callings, talents, skill, and labor of the association that could be made available was turned into its proper field of useful- ness. This was the great object for which the organization was effected, to live and work together in harmony, and enjoy the benefits of each other's society and the fruits of their own labor, like a united, happy family. How far they succeeded in accomplishing this their four years' trial, that ended in a total failure, plainly tells.

"From the old census-list taken by C. L. Keith, in May, 1845, I find the number of male and female residents on the domain to be 188. There must have been at this time, counting resident and non- resident members, over 300 in all. The total value of the association's real estate, as appraised March 9, 1846, by Lyman Tubbs and E. M. Clapp, of the general council, was $43,897.21. The first death on the domain was that of the son of S. W. Vinton, in 1844. The first mar- riage was in October, 1845, when Rev. Asa Bushnell made one for life our old pioneer friend P. H. Whitford and Miss Emeline A. T. Whee- lock. The Alphadelphia poet, C. H. Bradford, sonnetized the happy pair in the columns of the Primitive Expounder, where you will find a poem, on the occasion of their marriage, called the 'Socialist's Bride.' We have heard Mr. Whitford remark that he ' went into the association with a yoke of oxen, and came out with a wife and a buggy.' We don't know how valuable the buggy was, but every one of his old friends will say that he left the Alphadelphia domain with a great prize,-his estimable wife.

"A large number put their farms into the association ; others put in various kinds of property; James Noyes put in his saw-mill, which was valuable in furnishing lumber to the society. That some of them lost much of what they put in; and that others sacrificed a great deal to get their farms back, or in taking ' what they could get' as an equivalent for the property they had bought there; and that some lost all they put in ; and that some went away richer than they came,-I believe one and all of these to be true.

" From their first meeting on the domain, March 21, 1844, till the last entry on the journal of the association, April 30, 1848, the presi- deuts were Anson Delamatter, Benjamin Wright, Harvey Keith, Ly- man Tubbs, and James Noyes. The first entry on the day-book is-

" 1844, July 23.

"ALPHADELPHIA. Sold to H. G. Pierce.

Two pair of hose at 28. 6d. 0,63 One spool-stand at 18. 6d. .19

Two spools of thread at 08. 3d. .03

" The last entry is-

" ALPHADELPHIA.

" 1848, April 30.

David Ford, Dr.

To use of Roger's farm and pasturage. $40.00

371

TOWNSHIP OF COMSTOCK.

" The last family on the domain was Hannibal A. Taylor's. When the county purchased the property, in the spring of 1848, Mr. Taylor delivered it over to the purchaser as a ' county-house and farm.' Dr. H. R. Schetterly, the guiding genius of the association, left with his family just before Mr. Taylor did, and went to an institution of like character, called the ' La Grange Phalanx,' in Indiana. From La Grange he went to another society of the same nature, in Wisconsin, called the ' Wisconsin Phalanx.' From Wisconsin he came to Michi- gan to take charge of the government lighthouse at Grand Traverse. Here he was some few years ago, and this is the last trace we have of Dr. H. R. Schetterly, the founder of the Alphadelphia Association in 1844, in Comstock, Kalamazoo Co., Mich. Most of the information contained in this history I have received from C. L. Keith and Han- nibal A. Taylor (old Alphadelphians), and from the books and papers of the association which they have in their possession.

" That this system lacked the elements of success is as clear now to the minds of the old members as that effect follows cause. In trying to get information from some of the old pupils in this Alphadelphia school, they would shake their heads and reply, 'Better let that be; we don't tell tales out of school.' Others would say, 'We can't tell you anything about it. When we left we banished every memory of the old domain from our minds, and have not wished to recall them.' Another would answer, 'Too many large families, poor and hungry, who could do no work, or were incapable of supporting themselves, got among us and were a continual expense,-a hole in the meal-bag, -from first to last, to the association.' The incompatibility of such a system with Yankee ambition, independence, and individual enter- prise ever has caused, and ever will cause, its failure.

"We have space for but few incidents : 'Uncle' Lyman Tubbs was regarded as the patriarchal Abraham of the brotherhood. Wise in counsel, clear in his views, able in speech, he was of great value to the organization. And if, in denouncing chicanery, he called it ' tri- kany,' or in telling them they were passing through a crisis, he said through a ' cri pus,' he conveyed all the full sense and meaning of the words if he did not pronounce them according to the Websterian style. At one time the brotherhood lived a good while on buckwheat cakes. This gave the poet Bradford an occasion to court his muse. Here is a verse that still lingered in the mind of an old member :

"' And if perchance a luckless wight Should from his dinner bilk, His supper then was sure to be Cold buckwheat-cakes and milk.'

"The school-teacher, James Allen Knight, was passionately fond of taking down ' the fiddle and the bow,' and regaling his leisure hours with the sweet Cremonan strains that he knew how to make from the sensitive strings. But into the adjoining room of his friend Avery, the Shaker, these strains did not come in such sweet measure. What was pleasure to the fiddler was becoming torture to him who was compelled to listen to the fiddling. We give a verse of a poem that appeared in the Tocsin at this time, entitled 'The Fiddler's Lament' :

"' Oh, Allen! oh, Allen ! how you do torture me; Surely you'll kill me as dead as a stone; All the while sawing, and rasping, and scraping me, Surely you'll scrape all the flesh from my bones.'

"It is no discredit to any of the Alphadelphia Association that they belonged to it and helped to carry out its contemplated reforms. Their object was the noble and beneficent one of aiding their brothers in other parts of the country to-

"" Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in the good for all mankind.' "

SCHOOLS.

" But soon they knocked the wigwam down, And pine-tree, trunk and limb Began to sprout among the leaves In shape of steeple slim.

And soon was heard the saw-mill's 'clack' Along the river's brim,- And up the little school-house shot, To keep the boys in trim."*

The first school in the township was taught by Betsey O. Comings, daughter of Sherman Comings, in the summer

of 1831. The school-house was a shanty that a man by the name of Carpentert had built for a dwelling. He having removed, Miss Comings used it for a private school for the term of three months at the time above stated. She had six pupils, and received one dollar per week for her services. The pupils were Nelson Tuttle, now of Chicago; Cynisca Tuttle (Mrs. Warren, of California); Amisette Townsend (Mrs. White, of Lowell) ; Eveline Townsend, now dead; Eveline Comings (Mrs. Nichols, of Muskegon) ; and Josiah Toland, of whom we have no record.

The first school-house was a log building 12 by 14 feet in size, and stood on the southeast corner of the west half of the southwest quarter of section 13. It was built in 1834 by a " bee" made by the settlers. Miss Jones, of White Pigeon, taught the first school in this building, in the summer of 1834. She had twelve pupils whose names, like the lost books of Livy, cannot be found. Ebenezer Flanders taught the winter school of 1834 in this building. He was the first male teacher in this part of the township. Miss Lucy White, afterwards Miss Adaline Hinsdill, and Miss Amelia Anderson, now Mrs. E. Beckwith, were among the early teachers of this school during the summer . terms.

Mr. Flanders taught the two succeeding winters. The old log building was then abandoned, and the school district erected a frame house on the northwest corner of G. Math- ews' land, on section 24. This was the first district school- house. The other, as we have said, was built by the set- tlers, and belonged to them. Mr. Flanders was the teacher in the new frame building in the winter of 1837. The house was then removed fifteen rods north, to the south- west corner of Ralph Tuttle's land, where it remained for many years, being used for a school-house, for religious purposes, and for township and political meetings, and gath- erings of all kinds.

In 1845 this building was moved into the village of Galesburg, on the site where the old brick school-house now stands. In 1853 it was sold to George Truax, and now stands-used as a dwelling-on the west end of Washington Street. The same year a brick building was erected by the district at a cost of $1700. William E. Powers was the builder, J. W. Cothren giving the land for the site. It was scarcely erected before it was burned. But, phoenix- like, the same year, another two story brick building arose on the same spot, for which J. M. Lay, the contractor, received $1749. In 1869 this house was condemned, the walls being defective. The district then erected the pres- ent large and beautiful brick building. The old district school régime had held till the new school-house was built ; then the union plan came in vogue, with the discipline of its graded courses. The cost of the new school building has been about $16,000.

The male teachers in this school from 1834 to the pres- ent day have been :

Ebenezer Flanders (1834-37), Ormando Howard, Wm. H. Harrison, Porter H. Whitford (two winters), Rufus S. Clapp, E. G. Hall, James A. Duncan, C. S. May, B. B. Tucker, Mr. Ellis, Myron

t This man, after leaving Toland Prairie, "traded off his wife with another man on Indian Fields for 14 acres of land." This was the current report at the time.

# Holmes.

372

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Rawson, J. Emory, W. D. Comstock, Job H. Aldrich, L. M. Gates (two winters), Smith Williams, Professor N. Abbott (three winters), A. L. Williams, H. Daniels, Frank Evers, T. W. Cris- sey.

The principals of the union school have been :

1870-72, M. H. Carleton; 1872, C. L. Swan; 1873, C. J. Thorpe ; 1874-77, R. A. Ingersoll; 1877, A. E. Ross; 1878, J. P. Kerno- ham ; 1879, J. W. Cupples, the present principal.

We have tried to get the full history of the organization of each of the eleven school districts in the township, and a brief sketch of each school. But the school district records are either entirely missing or too imperfect to give anything of a general outline of early history. Only a few districts, those that were formed later, give the first organ- ization of districts and some names of early teachers. Hence we have thought best to present what we have gath- ered from the records of the board of school inspectors of the township in regard to the school districts. The diffi- culties in starting the first schools have been nearly all alike. The first teachers and their pupils, like many of the early settlers and their families, were compelled to hut it for a ·year or more, until better buildings could be erected.

The first records commence April, 1838, and read as follows :

" At a meeting of the school inspectors, held pursuant to law for organization, Caleb Smart was chosen chairman.

"The town was divided into districts Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and fractional district No. 1. For description see files on record.

"A. H. STEVENS, "CALEB SMART, " HENRY SHELDON, " Board of School Inspectors.

" HENRY SHELDON, " Town Clerk."

On the 28th of May, 1842, the board of school in- spectors met, and, as the files of papers describing the boundaries of the school districts were lost, they then es- tablished the boundaries of the several school districts from the best information they could obtain. This included all but Nos. 8 and 15 of our present school districts.

The only districts in 1847 that drew primary-school money were District No. 1, 61 scholars ; No. 2, 20; No. 3, 103; No. 4, 19; No. 9, 50; fractional No. 1, 25.

In 1859 we get the first record of the eleven school dis- tricts,-the present number. They were District No. 1, 56 scholars; No. 2, 44; No. 3, 229 ; No. 4, 60; No. 5, 33; No. 6, 38 ; No. 7, 45 ; No. 8, 29; No. 9, 52; frac- tional No. 1, 41; fractional No. 15, 42,-making 669 scholars. The primary-school money was $311.08.

In 1866 the number of scholars in all the schools was 788.

The number of scholars in the township and the number attending school to-day (1880) are as follows : District No. 1 (fractional, Climax and Kalamazoo), 59 scholars, 54 in school; No. 2, 20 scholars, 20 in school; No. 3 (fractional, Climax and Comstock ), 260 scholars, 245 in school; No. 4 (fractional, Climax and Comstock), 50 scholars, 41 in school; No. 5, 31 scholars, 23 in school ; No. 6, 36 scholars, 26 in school ; No. 7, 20 scholars, 13 in school ; No. 8, 36 scholars, 25 in school; No. 9, 37 scholars, 32 in school ; No. 6 (fractional, Climax and Pavilion), 45 scholars, 35 in

school ; No. 15 (fractional, Climax and Kalamazoo), 60 scholars, 44 in school. Total, 588 scholars in township, 558 attending school. The primary-school fund is $300.48.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 100

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761