History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 103

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

USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan > Part 103

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).

culties, and Galesburg would have been a perpetual source of wealth to the town ever after. The work ceased, and the race, half dug, was deserted. Gale built a frame house near the west end of the mill-race, where he and his family resided. Martin Turner got out a frame for a saw-mill, which was not raised, and as Gale never paid Mr. Turner for it, he floated it down the river to Kalamazoo and sold it to Luke Whitcomb, who raised it for a saw-mill, where its " clack" for many long years mingled with the murmur of that beautiful stream.

The naming of Galesburg was an event which the old set- tlers distinctly remember. The denizens of the rude hamlet had assembled in Esquire Cothren's house for the purpose of naming it. Gale and Harris, the two competitors for the honor of the name, were there with their followers at the appointed time. The formalities of an organization being effected, the vote was taken. The counting of the ballots gave the honor to Gale. Hence the young hamlet was called Galesburg. Had Harris received the most votes it would have been called Harrisburg. Mr. Harris, after having taught school in a log house south of the river, near where Luke Keith now lives, during the winter of 1838, removed soon after to McHenry Co., Ill., and the last we heard of him he was a well-to-do farmer. 'Tis said Gale gave Harris $100, by which he got the sole claim to the name of the place. George L. Gale was some five feet ten inches in height, of fair complexion, dark hair and eyes, of erect stature, and of brisk and gentlemanly bearing. He was highly social and companionable, fluent in speech, a good entertainer, kind and generous to friends or "the stranger within his gates." His wife and Miss Merrick, her sister, who afterwards married Horace Clark, a well-known lawyer of Kalamazoo, were well-educated ladies. Gale's law practice at Galesburg was not extensive nor lucrative; it consisted of pettifogging occasional suits before a justice court. He did not go into the court-room "armed at all points with law cases, with the statute-book doubled down in dog's-ears," to defend the cause of his client, but went in relying on his general knowledge of the law, and on his ready talent and shrewdness in handling the case of his client as the trial should develop it. Had he given his attention to the law he undoubtedly would have made a good lawyer. 'Tis said he managed a case well before a justice, and could make a plea that would move " the stubborn six."

Mr. Gale, after a few years' residence in Galesburg, went to Kalamazoo to reside, and gave some attention to his profession there. From Kalamazoo he removed to Paw Paw. Levi Dunning, of Galesburg, remembers meeting Mr. Gale some time in 1849 or 1850 " on the plains" (now Nebraska), as he was going to California. This is the last record we have of him. The following incidents are given as illustrative of the times, if not of the character, of the subject of this sketch. George L. Gale came to Galesburg a Democrat, and remained one till " 1840," when he was carried away by " the great commotion that swept the country through." It is well known, as regards drinking, that Gale had an occasional " spree," and at such times he might get very hilarious. James Wright Gordon said at the log-cabin celebration in 1840, at Kalamazoo: " We are called the hard-cider party, not because we drink hard

380

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

cider, but because we don't." Gale was in his glory that day. He was a recent Whig convert, and the party felt that they must favor him, so he was put down as one of the speakers with Dawson and Gordon. But when he was called on for his speech he was found at the Kalamazoo House, so happy over hard cider and " Whiggery" that he had sought his bed to take it out in quiet slumbers there. He was soon found, and went over to the log cabin, where, 'tis said, he made a rousing Whig speech. The Democrats claimed that Gordon's assertion that the Whigs did not drink hard cider was false, for it was hard to find one that did not drink it.

During his residence at Paw Paw he went as delegate to a Whig convention at Jackson, and while there got drunk. When severely rebuked for it by Willard and Grimps, he indignantly replied, " As much as I dislike to disgrace you, I had to do it ; I had to get drunk here, in order to repre- sent Paw Paw !"

One day while Esquire Ransom, of Galesburg, was con- versing with Gale, the latter struck one of his grand schemes, and was soon above the small things of earth. While he was inspired with his theme the " Squire" quoted this maxim of Franklin's, " a penny saved is two pence clear, a pin a day is a groat a year." Gale heard it, and turning to his old friend, contemptuously exclaimed, " What a durned old fool that Ben Franklin was !"

His fine span of black horses are well remembered by many of the surviving pioneers, and when Gale sat behind them, with the reins in his hand and John Barleycorn in- spiring his brain,

"Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills of life victorious."

The following, from a pioneer paper of Judge H. G. Wells, will illustrate this :

" How many of you have already forgotten, if you ever knew him, George L. Gale, whose name, if not his good deeds, has been perpetuated in its connection with your own busy village of Galesburg. He was the biggest specimen of a loud, fast-talking man, for one of his size, that I have ever known. In 1836, Stevens T. Mason, then Governor of Michigan, visited Kalamazoo. In a crowd at the Kalamazoo House, Gale, in his quick, impatient way, thus introduced himself to His Ex- cellency, ' My name is Gale; I am engaged in improving at Gales- burg what is to constitute the most stupendous water-power on the continent of America. The enterprise is grand ; it makes me feel as though I weighed half a ton. I own a span of black horses that can go over any tolerably level mile of road inside of 2.40. Governor, I am familiar with your history ; you commanded the troops of Michi- gan in the Toledo war; no one questions your valor; we lost for Michigan in that war a strip of land ten miles wide, but we got glory ; you and the troops showed fight, but Gen. Jackson, the old sinner, took away your command. Ohio stole our territory, but the people of Mich- igan will never forget you. Governor, let us take something to drink, then a drive after my blacks. We will spin out a mile inside of 2.40, or I will knock the wagon into twenty-pound pieces and spill a Gov- ernor.' His Excellency was careful of his person (though not so large as the gentleman who now holds sway at Lansing, and luxuriates on a $1000 salary), and declined the drive, though not the drink. Gale was eccentric, but he should have credit, as a pioneer, for first project- ing and commencing the water-power improvement at Galesburg."

It was the last of April, in the year 1831, so rich in pioneer experience, that Deacon Philip Gray, in company with his nephews, Deacon Joseph Cory and his brother Philip, and Deacons Samuel Brown and Asa Briggs, left Detroit for Kalamazoo. A brief sketch of their journey to

this county will illustrate the difficulties of traveling in the new Territory at that time. They left Detroit in a mud- wagon, then the best public conveyance. At Ann Arbor, Cyrus Lovell, a young lawyer, joined them, and they pro- ceeded westward to Jacksonburg. Here was an end of traveling by public conveyance, or any other, save such as they could secure,-that was to go on foot. And from Jacksonburg to Tuttle's, on Toland's Prairie, with pack on back and staff in hand, they " footed it." Part of the way there was a wagon-track, the rest merely an Indian trail or the trackless wild. There were but few bridges, so they forded most of the streams. Near Jacksonburg they came to an emigrant's wagon mired in the marsh. Fastening the end of a long rope to the end of the tongue, all assisting, some at the wheels, some at the rope, but all pushing and pulling together, the wagon was brought out on hard land. They reached Blashfield's noted old tavern near sunset. This old stand was on the Territorial road, just in the east- ern edge of Calhoun County. Tired and hungry, they gladly hailed the sight of the rude log tavern. But they were soon informed by the landlord that he had more guests then than he could accommodate. He had not a bed for one of them. Then came the resort to expedients. The landlord, taking a scythe and some of the party with him, went to a marsh near by, and mowed some of last year's grass, yet standing. The party bound it into bundles and carried it to the house. Beds were made of this, on which the weary emigrants slept soundly and sweetly, for in ten minutes after they lay down they did not know whether they were lying on " Roman Catholic hay" or an Oriental couch. In the morning they paid the landlord 50 cents each for lodging and 50 cents for each meal. This old tav- ern was kept by Hiram Blashfield, who now lives at York- ville, this county. This was the last meal they got till they reached Tuttle's, on Toland's Prairie. At Marshall, George Ketchum was erecting a log house and building a mill. Battle Creek was not in existence,-the primeval forest, nothing more. On the south side of Goguac Prairie they saw two emigrant wagons. They bent their steps towards them. They were two of Isaac Thomas' sons, with their wives, who had just arrived there. The two parties pitched their tents together, and camped for the night on the prairie. They had gone supperless to bed, as the Thomases could give them no food. In the morning, without a morsel of food to allay their hunger, they took up sack and staff and started for Tuttle's, where they not only found a welcome but food and rest.

From Tuttle's the party went to Gull Prairie, where Deacon Gray located two lots, one for himself and one for his nephew, Philip Cory. Deacon J. Cory returned to Saratoga Co., N. Y., his home, in July, and came with his family to this township several years after. He was one of the first shoemakers in Galesburg, where he yet lives. A highly social and worthy citizen, a devoted and valuable member of the Congregational Church, Deacon Cory has ever had the esteem and confidence of the people of this community. He is now living with his second wife, an amiable and intelligent lady, with the comforts of life around them.

Deacon Philip Gray was from New Bedford, Mass. He

381

TOWNSHIP OF COMSTOCK.

was an old school-teacher, and in later years, in New Bed- ford, had been engaged in trade. After some four or five years he left Gull Prairie, and, purchasing the triangular piece of land on which the Prairie House in Galesburg now stands, and which extended back to the mill-race, he went to work to build up this village. A frame building for a store was soon erected, and a stock of goods put in it, and the trade of the town was started. In the spring of 1837 he built the first hotel in this place. Allan Ferris was the builder, Charles Whitcomb assisting him. As far as was in his power he pushed the enterprises of the town in every direction that would add to its growth. In conjunc- tion with his son Isaac he carried on the store. They built also a store at Yorkville, this county. Deacon Gray died in Galesburg, in 1844. His son Isaac left this place and settled in Springfield, Ill., in 1857. Father and son were both useful men in the community, staunch men on the moral enterprises of the day, and strong and influential members of the Congregational Church.

Deacon Gray had a vigorous, logical intellect, a lofty sense of justice and humanity, and consequently always took a lively interest in religious and philanthropic move- ments. He was a strong advocate of the Christian religion, and discussed ably any of the moral or political questions of the day. And so thoroughly versed was he in the Bible, that good old lady Tuttle gave him the name of Scripturian. Deacon Joseph Cory informed the writer that his uncle, " Philip Gray, and Cyrus Lovell argued all the way from Ann Arbor to Toland Prairie. It was mostly on the Bible and religious topics. Whether walking together along the pioneer's track or Indian trail through the woods, or resting on a log, or fording a stream, or stop- ping at a tavern for the night, they kept on arguing .*

Deacon Willard Mills is a member of a remarkable pio- neer family, some of whom came to Ann Arbor in 1827. He and his brother Simeon settled on Gull Prairie in 1831, and he came to Galesburg many years afterwards. He was the first tailor in this entire region ; the first coat made by a tailor in this county he made for John Moore, landlord of the " White Cottage" on Toland Prairie. He used to send a man on horseback to measure his customers at Marshall, get the cloth, and bring it to him on Gull Prairie, where he made the garment and sent it back by the same convey- ance. This was carrying on the tailor business by " pony express." Deacon Mills has been a pioneer in a double sense : he has helped to reclaim this wild region and has been foremost as a pioneer in planting churches and Sab- bath-schools, and establishing all religious and moral enter- prises for the good of the community where he has lived. He has lived in many parts of the State, and his influence, time, and money have been given, in the largest sense, to make men better and improve society. He and his faithful wife, devoted members of the Congregational Church, are now living in Galesburg.

His brother Sylvester came to Galesburg in 1836,

where he became a prominent and useful man. He and David Ford built the flouring-mill at Galesburg. He was a long time in the dry-goods trade, was a justice of the peace, an able and active member of the Congregational Church, and took a lively interest in all that would promote the prosperity of the village. He died in Chicago a num- ber of years since.

Levi Dunning came here from Genesee Co., N. Y., in 1834. He did not then remain long. After several years' residence in other parts of the State, he made an overland trip to California, and came to this village in 1854, where he has since resided. His has been a busy life, and he has secured enough to afford a pleasant home for his faithful wife and children. His wife is a daughter of Asa Mills.

"A REMARKABLE PIONEER FAMILY.

" Asa Mills was born in 1765, in the town of Norfolk, county of Litchfield, Conn. His father, Samuel Mills, served as captain during the Revolutionary war, and was deacon of the Congregational Church of his native town. In 1790, Asa Mills married Miss Arethusa Phelps. They had fourteen children,-twelve sons and two daughters. The family record runs thus : Francis, the first child, died in Connecticut, at five years of age; Elihu settled on Gull Prairie, and died in Iowa in 1867; Simeon, the subject of this sketch, settled also on Gull Prairie, where he subsequently died ; Augustus died on Gull Prairie in 1872; Roswell died at Sandy Creek, N. Y., 1868; Timothy died in Galesburg, 1864; George died in Genesee Co., N. Y., 1815; Francis was drowned in Buffalo Creek, N. Y., 1821; Loren is now living in Ann Arbor, where he settled in 1827; Mary Ann married Nehemiah Charles, and died in Wyoming Co., N. Y., in 1823; Willard now lives in Galesburg, Mich .; Sylvester died in Chicago, near 1862 ; Leander died in Genesee Co., N. Y., in 1820; Harriet married Levi Dunning, and now lives in Galesburg.

" With a family of nine children, Asa Mills, in 1807, moved from Litchfield, Conn., to Guilford, Chenango Co., N. Y., where he engaged in farming for four years, and in 1811 removed to Homer, Cortland Co. In the spring of 1812 he sent out his two sons, Elihu and Simeon, with pack on back and staff in hand, to pioneer the way for the family farther west into the Holland Purchase region. They secured land, and soon erected a double log house for the family. Here, at Orange- ville, Wyoming Co., they began life in the wilderness, and before they could support a minister the settlers were brought together in the log house, and Esquire Lewis, afterwards member of the Assembly, read the sermon, Deacon Israel Branch, who died at Ann Arbor, did the praying, and the Mills family the singing. But in the unreclaimed wilderness President Madison's call for troops, in the spring of 1812, reached them, and in September of that year Elihu, as drummer, and Simeon, as fifer, joined the army at Lewiston. They were there during the battle at Queenstown, being in service about one month. The next year four, Elihu, Simeon, Augustus, and Timothy, went as part of the military band to Buffalo, remaining there till they were discharged. Shortly after their return home Buffalo was burned. A little incident, while the family were emigrating from Chenango to Cortland, is related by the surviving members. The journey was made in the winter, and, in order to take all, the children were packed close as 'Jamaica figs' amid the straw in the sleigh. Stopping at a tavern by the roadside, the children having gathered around the warm and cheerful fireplace, the landlady was puzzled to know how the mother could tell when her children were all with her. The mother replied, 'Easy enough; I count them;' and she began numbering her little flock, when lo ! one of them was missing. An excited search resulted in finding the tenth son, Willard, sound asleep under the straw in the sleigh.

"In 1821, Loren and Willard were apprenticed to Deacon Abner Bryant, in Buffalo, to serve the accustomed time in learning the tailor's trade. While there they became members of a band of musicians, led by Mr. Ketchum, a hatter. At the time the 'Three Thayers' were executed in Buffalo, Loren and Willard were in the band that played the ' dead march' as the criminals were conducted from the court-house to the gallows, in the lower part of the town. They were also with the band of music that escorted Lafayette, in 1826, from Dunkirk to Buffalo. They remember the celebrated Seneca chief Red Jacket; have

* While on a steamer crossing Lake Erie he had a controversy with a Baptist minister on baptism. As the minister, discomfited, walked away, a Quaker who had heard the debate came up to Deacon Gray, and, putting his hand gently on his shoulder, said, "That minister will never tackle thee again."

382

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

often seen his noble, manly form as he walked the streets in Buffalo," . bearing on his coat the silver breast-plate given him by Congress.

" It was in Deacon Bryant's tailor-shop, in Buffalo, that the idea of emigrating to Michigan was first entertained. One day a man of commanding personal appearance and pleasing manners came into the shop to get his coat mended. From him they heard an interesting and vivid description of the Territory of Michigan, and especially of the beautiful region where Ann Arbor now is. The stranger was John Allen, of Virginia, who was destined to be one of the founders of Ann Arbor. Pleased with the report of this country, it was decided that Simeon and Augustus should go in advance and spy out the land for the family. It was not long before they took passage at Cleveland, in the ' Walk-in-the-Water,' for Detroit. This was the first boat that ever steamed across Lake Erie. Reaching the 'City of the Straits,' they started out afoot on the wagon-track or trail westward, sometimes finding their path so indistinct that they were lost in the trackless forest. Ten miles out in the deep woods they came to Ten Eyck's log tavern. Between this tavern and Ann Arbor there was an unbroken wilderness. This wild hamlet, now the Athens of Michigan, was then but three months old, with merely green-bough lodges, of Pottawattomie structure, for the abodes of its four inhabitants,-John Allen, Elisha Rumsey, and their wives. Simeon and Augustus were highly de- lighted with the country.

"In a short time they returned by way of Ohio. Their mother having died in 1818, their father had gone with some of the family to Gustavus, Trumbull Co., Ohio. The most memorable adventure of the family is now to be recorded. In the year 1826, Mr. Mills and his second wife, with Simeon, Elihu, Augustus, and their families, and Harriet, took the schooner at Conneaut, N. Y., for Michigan. They took their household goods, two yoke of oxen, and a cow. Arriving at Detroit, they, with their families and what goods they could put into an ox-wagon, began the journey inland to Ann Arbor. They sent the rest of their goods and a forty-gallon cask of whisky by flat- boat up the Huron River to Woodruff's Grove. Allen and Rumsey's new settlement, during the lapse of two years since the brothers had visited it, had grown into an ambitious rustic hamlet. The family, having become residents of the new country, went to work to improve their fortunes. At the organization of the Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, by the Rev. William Page, in 1826, the Mills family took a prominent part. The subject of temperance came up at this time. Mr. Page, who had lately been in Detroit, where he had heard this subject ably discussed, came back all emulous to do some good work for temperance in the new colony. His remarks not only brought Simeon to his feet, but to the clearest conviction of his duty on the question. They had heard all the reports concerning Michigan,-of the low, swampy lands and bad water generating diseases, of the 'fever and ague' lurking like an insidious foe in most localities, ready to as- sail whoever should settle in the Territory. In consequence of this they had been advised to take a barrel of whisky along, to be used medi- cinally against the diseases of the new region. Hence, when Mr. Page emphatically repudiated ardent spirits as they were then used, Simeon exclaimed, ' Well, Mr. Page, will you sign the pledge ? If you can do without whisky, I can.' He conferred with his father and brothers. For the family to know their duty it was ever held to be strictly neces- sary to perform it. On this occasion it was decided to turn their forty gallons of whisky into vinegar,-and it was done. The whisky dis- posed of, the father, several brothers, and their families, thirteen in all, signed the pledge, becoming members of the church and temper- ance society at the same time. Simeon, speaking of this pledge years afterwards, said, 'At that time we met the finger of scorn and the sneering remark, "You are teetotalers !"'

" This was the first temperance movement in the new Territory. Beginning with the Presbytery in Detroit in 1826, it was seconded and carried out at Ann Arbor soon after by Rev. Wm. Page and our pioneer family.

" The Mills' instrumental band was composed of the following per- formers (old-style instruments) : Elihu played the clarionet ; Simeon, a clarionet of another key ; Augustus and Willard, the bassoon ; Loren, the flute; Timothy, the hautboy ; and Sylvester, the drum. I pre- sume it made no difference which instrument the performer took up, for these favorites of Apollo seemed as much at home with one as with the other, whether it was the flute, clarionet, 'Dorian reed,' or hautboy.

"The father died at Ann Arbor in 1827, aged sixty-two years, the stepmother at Galesburg, many years afterwards.

" The last pioneer adventure was made in July, 1831. Simeon, William, and Sylvester this time were the avant coureurs sent out to view the Gull Prairie region. Taking the old trail, they went by way of Jackson, Marshall, and Battle Creek to their point of destination. Gull was the first prairie they had ever seen. At sight of such a delightful region, spreading out before them in all its picturesque beauty, Simeon exclaimed, 'God willing, I settle here.' And here he pitched his tent for the last time; here. his last pioneer work was done; here he spent forty-eight years of a most useful, exemplary Christian life; and here he died, in his eighty-fifth year, on the 20th day of May, 1879. His faithful and beloved companion, with whom he had lived sixty-five years, survives him. Her maiden name was Clarissa Porter. Their children are Mrs. Sarah A. Stevens, of Chicago; Eli P., now of Brookfield, Eaton Co .; Mrs. Oliver Fair- banks, of Richland; Mrs. Mariette Brown (deceased), wife of Charles Brown, of Richland ; Mrs. Maria Upjohn, wife of Dr. U. Upjohn, of Richland; Samuel, who died in 1843; and Charles H., now of Charlotte.

" Deacon Simeon Mills had the spirit of the genuine reformer and benefactor in him. He had the highest and noblest conceptions of human life, because he got them from the highest and best source,- the Bible. His faith in that book was as strong and unswerving as that of the old reformer, John Knox, and, like that stout old Protes- tant, what he believed he lived and advocated. Whether in the church, in society, in public or private life, his religious character was the measure of one of the most devoted Christian lives. In politics, he began life as a member of the 'old Liberty party,' and, true to his early convictions of duty, he labored for the abolition of slavery till it was, in the providence of God, accomplished. He became a Republican when that party was organized, because he believed in political reform, always sustaining the best men and the best measures. He possessed in a high degree that moral and political acumen, that keen logic, that so distinguished the old Abolitionist. This is why he was an angular man. The clear-cut Abolition reformer never lost his angles. Instead of wearing smooth from the pressure of contact and compromise, they grew sharp by opposition and controversy. This made strong, independent men, and bold, fearless leaders. The old controversy of religion and politics through which Deacon Simeon Mills has passed was one of the best schools for developing the natural theologian as well as logician. On either of these subjects our lamented friend was so well fortified that his opponents ever found him an able antagonist. He was a great opposer of secret societies, a staunch temperance man, a repudiator of the use of tobacco, a foremost man in all church and Sabbath-school work, a loving husband and father, a generous, kind-hearted man and citizen. His life forms a prominent part of the history of this county.

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 Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 103

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