USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan > Part 116
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Job Myers, who accompanied Mr. Woodard into the township, was the father of Milo Myers, born before John E. Woodard. The circumstances in this case prove that accidents were as liable to happen among the pioneers as in our later day. It is said that Myers and his inamorata had not yet taken upon themselves the yoke of matrimony when they arrived here, and that the determined girl had followed Myers to the western wilderness against the wishes of her family.
The credit of being the first white child born in the township is given by some authority to Miss Losette Harris, but the date of her birth is not stated. The first marriage in the township was that of Martin Lathrop and Elizabeth Root, who accepted matrimonial obligations at the hands of Cyrus Lovell, Esq., in 1834. (See Kalamazoo County Historical Directory for 1869-70.)
In June, 1833, three brothers, George, Chester, and Samuel Crooks, from Ontario Co., N. Y., visited this town, and stayed the first night with Jonas Woodard. The fami- lies of George and Chester Crooks had come with them as far as Plymouth, Wayne Co., Mich., where they remained with friends until the fall, when they came on and joined their husbands and fathers. Chester Crooks, whose death occurred about 1841-42, entered the land on which Samuel Crooks now lives. He died in Pennsylvania while on his way to New York City. George Crooks is now living in Kalamazoo township, two miles northeast of Kalamazoo. Samuel Crooks returned to New York after his visit in 1833, and remained until July, 1839, when he removed to Port- age with his wife and four children, and in October moved into a log house on the southwest corner of his present farm, which had been occupied previously by Russell Harris. George Crooks owned the place after Harris left, and sold it to Chester, of whom Samuel purchased. The Crooks farm is on the southern edge of the Indian Fields.
In 1836 a nursery was established by Timothy W. Dun-
ham at the corners on Indian Fields. Dunham, after a few years, sold his nursery and removed to the northern part of the State. David Mckee subsequently carried on the same business at the place, but is not now the owner of the nursery, although a part of the farm still belongs to him.
Eli Harrison, from Steuben Co., N. Y., came to Portage in 1835, with his wife and eight children,-two sons and six daughters,-and purchased the farm he now occupies, on section 14. For a few months after their arrival, he and his family lived on the Hounsom farm, in Kalamazoo town- ship, and for two years following they resided on the In- dian Fields, on the farms now owned by Samuel Crooks and John E. Woodard. In 1837 they removed to Gourd- Neck Prairie, in Schoolcraft, where they remained until 1840, when they finally settled at their present location in Portage. The oldest son, Andrew Harrison, who had emigrated to this county in 1834, lived in Kalamazoo. Eli Harrison, if he lives, will be ninety years old in May, 1880.
Russell Harris, now of Kalamazoo, and who has also been mentioned in connection with the Messrs. Crooks, was a neighbor of the Harrisons ; and James Campbell, now also residing on section 14, settled about 1841-42.
Rensselaer Evits was the first settler in the portion of the township lying immediately west of Austin Lake, having located on the farm now owned by James Ofield, where he erected the buildings necessary for use. Mr. Evits, in 1834, opened the first jewelry establishment in Kalamazoo, at which place his son, Myron H. Evits, is still in the same business. The elder Evits is deceased. He was from Le Roy, Genesee Co., N. Y.
Joseph Beckley, now living in the township of Kala- mazoo, north of Dry Prairie, settled in Portage in 1836.
George E. Martin was an early settler on section 8 (Dry Prairie), and occupied the farm now owned by his brother- in-law, Jacob Van Hoesen.
Alvin Bacon, from Ontario Co., N. Y., settled on the south edge of Dry Prairie, in 1836, with his wife and four children. He purchased land from Isaac A. Brooks.
Joseph Eastland and family also lived on the prairie, and were among the most influential settlers of the township.
Moses Pike settled in town about 1836-37, and died in the summer of 1879. His son, Nathan G. Pike, occupies a farm east of Portage Centre.
Orange Pike (not related to the above) came at a later date, and is now living in the township.
Elder Merrill, who lived on the north side of town, near the site of the Cooley mill, was one of the first ministers of the gospel who preached in the vicinity. A portion of his land was overflowed when the dam for the Cooley mill was built, and it caused him much uneasiness and greatly vexed his spirit. He purchased his land of Elder Reuben Winchell, who had originally entered it. Elder Winchell took up several hundred acres of land, and his heart was set upon laying out and founding a city upon it. He even proceeded so far as to cause a village plat to be laid and " staked out," but it was probably never recorded, and his pet scheme was destined to succumb to the force of cir- cumstances. No mighty ruins mark the site of his " city," and the tread of the would-be founder is hushed.
430
HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Ruel Starr, who is mentioned as being the first settler on Indian Fields, was from Pavilion, Genesee Co., N. Y., and lived on section 11.
Thomas Blackmer, who entered land on sections 1, 12, and 13, was not an actual settler, but had a brother who located in the town and afterwards removed to Kalamazoo.
Harvey S. Booth, from Genesee Co., N. Y., settled in Portage in January, 1837, and was at the time a young, unmarried man. He engaged in building barns, etc., and was one of the most worthy citizens of the township. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1841, and has held the position much of the time since.
Daniel Cahill, now residing in this township, has been a resident of the county since 1833, and one of its prominent citizens. From 1860 to 1866 he held the office of county clerk.
The " Portage Centre Hotel" was built by Daniel Lath- rop (now deceased), about 1852-53, he having at that time erected the south part of the present building. A log tavern, which had formerly stood a few steps to the west- ward, between the present hotel and the railway-track, was built by Henry Tuttle some time previous to 1840. Tuttle had previously lived in a log cabin, a short distance farther north, which he purchased, with 40 acres of land, of his brother, Stephen Tuttle, who also lived here. The cabin, however, was only occupied by Henry Tuttle until he could erect the log building which became his tavern. Both the Tuttles are now dead, Henry's death occurring about twelve years after he opened his tavern. That institution was conducted for a short time by Joseph Hutchins, who sold to Mr. Lathrop, as above, and the latter built the new edifice.
The road from Kalamazoo to Schoolcraft passed by in those days over a somewhat different route from that pur- sued at present. It was not then easy to fill across marshy and swampy land, and the road was laid over the more devious way which followed the hard ground.
The fact that Ruel Starr had removed to this township induced an old neighbor in Genesee Co., N. Y., to follow him. The neighbor was Moses Austin, from the town of Pavilion, in the above- named county and State. Mr. Austin, in company with his son, Benjamin M., and a hired man named Charles Swan, came to the county in 1833, reaching Bronson (now Kalamazoo) on the 7th of May, the day on which Benjamin M. Austin was fourteen years old. Within a few days they pushed on to the land they had entered, lying on section 24, north of the lake named for Mr. Austin. They at once proceeded to build a log shanty for a habitation, and during the summer and fall erected a building of hewed logs, which was one and a half stories high, and was kept as a tavern for many years.
The trip of the party from New York had been an ex- citing one, especially for the youth. They made their way through the " Cattaraugus Swamp," and at Dunkirk em- barked on the steamer " Sheldon Thompson,"-the first the junior member of the trio had ever boarded. In due time they reached Detroit, and then the real difficulties of the journey began. They had brought along a team of their own, and started with it towards the setting sun; and, in- deed, it seemed the sun would set upon their career as
emigrants, and leave them fast in the mud of Eastern Michigan. The "going" from Detroit to Ypsilanti was fearful beyond description ; seas of mud disputed their ad- vance everywhere; but finally the distance was passed be- tween the two points, and from Ypsilanti westward they bowled along at the rate of thirty or forty miles a day, through woods and openings, and across streams and prairies, reaching the embryo city of Kalamazoo on the day previously stated. According to B. M. Austin's recol- lection, the place then contained about a dozen houses.
In the fall the remainder of Mr. Austin's family came,- about the first of October,-including Mrs. Austin, their other son, William G. Austin, and a niece. The tavern was not quite completed when they arrived, and they occu- pied the shanty a short time. The latter had been built against a large tree, cut down for the purpose. William G. Austin afterwards studied law with Horace Mower, of Kala- mazoo, and died in November, 1844. Moses Austin con- tinued to carry on his hotel, which stood a little way north from the lake-shore, until within four or five years of his death, which occurred at Kalamazoo in the spring of 1859. A frame addition had been erected to the tavern, and a dancing-hall was fitted up, in which many a jovial assem- blage gathered 1
"To chase the glowing hours with flying feet."
And then the suppers spread by the genial host ! Ah ! the recollection of them will make the mouths of those who partook water even at the present day. Moses Austin's suppers were things that left touches of kindness and supreme satisfaction in the souls of those who ate them, and more than one old settler has spoken of them to the writer hereof in terms of the highest praise. The old building is still standing, and until recent years has been continued as a tavern, but the people who assembled there in early times are old and gray, or sleeping their last sleep, and the voice of the " landlord" is hushed forever. Yet the beams and ceilings of the old house almost seem to re- echo the laughter of by-gone days. The early "taverns" were institutions which were only found where the foot of civilization had but recently trod, and where the forests were but just giving way before the axes of the incoming tide of pioneers.
Mr. Austin's wife died in October, 1862. The old place is now owned by John Hawkins, and the former tavern is a tenant house.
Benjamin M. Austin came to Kalamazoo within a few years after his father settled at the lake, and learned the copper and tinsmith's trade, afterwards also that of watch- making. About 1846 he became associated with Mr. Tom- linson in the dry-goods trade at Kalamazoo, and opened an establishment at Jackson about 1850. In 1873, the Aus- tin, Tomlinson & Webster Manufacturing Company was established, with Mr. Austin as senior member. For many years he was a contractor in the wagon department of the Michigan State-prison. He at present resides at the south- east corner of Park and Vine Streets, in Kalamazoo.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
March 23, 1836, the two townships now known as Pa- vilion and Portage were set off from the original township
JOHN FOLIVER
MRS J. F. OLIVER.
RES. OF JOHN F. OLIVER , PORTAGE, KALAMAZOO CO., MICH.
431
TOWNSHIP OF PORTAGE.
of Brady and organized under the name of Pavilion, after a town of the same name in Genesee Co., N. Y., from which many of its early settlers had come. Moses Austin, at whose house the first town meeting was held, was instru- mental in naming the township. On the 6th of March, 1838, the township of Pavilion was divided, and the west half organized as a separate township by the name of Por- tage, said name being given in consequence of the Portage Creek being the principal stream of the town.
The first township-meeting in Portage was ordered to be held at the house of Elijah Root, and it there convened, in order to comply with the law, but adjourned to the tavern of Ebenezer Stone, which stood about ten rods from Root's house. Stone's building was originally erected for a dwell- ing, but was subsequently converted into a tavern, and it is alleged that the reason for adjourning the meeting lay in the fact that the tavern was more commodious and whisky more plenty : and in those days, especially about election time, it was necessary to drink considerable whisky, in order to keep off the ague ! The following is an account of the first town meeting, as transcribed from the records :
" First township-meeting in the township of Portage, county of Kalamazoo, State of Michigan, Monday, April 2, 1838, met at the house of Elijah Root, agreeable to an act of the Legislature. Moses Austin was elected chairman, and Caleb Sweetland clerk of said meet- ing. The meeting was then adjourned to the house of Ebenezer Stone, whereupon the following officers were duly elected : Supervisor, Elijah Root; Town Clerk, Caleb Sweetland ; Assessors, Martin Lathrop, James S. Chaffee, Roceter Howard ; Collector, Chester Crooks ; Jus- tices of the Peace, Caleb Sweetland, Ebenezer Stone; Commissioners of Highways, Thomas J. Chaffee, Stephen Howard, F. W. Howard ; School Inspectors, Caleb Sweetland, Stephen Howard, T. W. Dunham ; Constables, Chester Crooks, Chauncey Root; Overseers of the Poor, Thomas J. Chaffee, Joseph Eastland ; Pathmasters, Allison Kinne, Lowell Goodrich, Elijah Root, Enoch French, Jonas Woodard, Moses Austin, Elias Stone.
" The following votes were then taken :
" Voted, There be a committee of three to attend to the burying- grounds in said town.
" Voted, That Arad Cooley, Joseph Eastland, and Chester Crooks be said committee.
" Voted, That there be one hundred and fifty dollars raised in town for the purpose of fencing said burying-grounds, and voted that said committee be authorized to let out the jobs of fencing the said grounds to the lowest bidder.
"Voted, That all outside fences in said town shall be four and a half feet high ; two and a half feet of the bottom the rails shall be but four inches apart.
"Voted, That all hogs except boars over three months old be com- moners.
"Voted, That pathmasters be fence-viewers.
"Voted, That Elijah Root be poundinaster, and that his barnyard be the pound for the ensuing year.
" Voted, That all boars over three months that run at large be for- feited to the person taking them up.
"Voted, That all wolves that are ketched and killed in this town shall draw a bounty from said town of five dollars.
"Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to the house of Ebenezer Stone, in said town, to the first Monday in April, A.D. 1839.
(Signed) " MOSES AUSTIN, Chairman.
" CALEB SWEETLAND, Clerk. " April 2, 1838."
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In 1839 it was voted to raise nine dollars for defraying expenses of fencing burying-grounds, and Alvin Bacon and Timothy W. Dunham were chosen sextons, respectively, for the western and eastern cemeteries.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The following is a list of the officers of the township from 1839 to 1879, inclusive, except for the years 1867 and 1868, when no record of election was made :
SUPERVISORS.
1839-43, Caleb Sweetland; 1844, Martin Lathrop ; 1845-46, Roceter H. Howard ; 1847-48, Daniel Cahill; 1849, Allison Kinne; 1850, William Smith, Jr. ; 1851-53, Daniel Cahill ; 1854, Allison Kinne ; 1855-57, John Parker ; 1858, J. Eastland, Jr. ; 1859-60, Daniel Cahill ; 1861-65, John F. Oliver; 1866, Daniel Jones; 1867, no record ; 1868, John Kilgore; 1869, E. Pike; 1870, George W. Crooks ; 1871-74, Charles G. Weed; 1875-77, Richard A. Sykes ; 1878, James Campbell; 1879, Richard A. Sykes.
TOWNSHIP CLERKS.
1839, Martin Lathrop; 1840-46, Daniel Cahill; 1847-48, Joseph Eastland, Jr .; 1849, Isaac A. Brooks; 1850, Edward Hope ; 1851-53, J. Eastland, Jr .; 1854, Roceter Howard; 1855-58, George Sheldon ; 1859-60, John B. Taber ; 1861, Daniel Jones ; 1862-63, Ebenezer Durkee; 1864, George Wattles ; 1865, Eben- ezer Durkee; 1866, Edwin T. Eastland; 1867-68, no record ; 1869-70, John H. Williams ; 1871-72, C. F. Sheldon ; 1873, Ebenezer Durkee; 1874, Henry L. Sweetland; 1875, Clayton Zimmerman ; 1876-77, George Bolles ; 1878-79, Charles O. Cobb.
TREASURERS.
1839-41, Caleb Sweetland ; 1842-43, Martin Lathrop ; 1844-45, Eben- ezer Durkee ; 1846, William Smith, Jr. ; 1847-49, Roswell S. Page; 1850-51, Roswell Aldrich ; 1852-53, George Stone ; 1854, Rodney Russell ; 1855-56, Hugh Campbell ; 1857, George A. Oliver ; 1858, William Trumble; 1859, Reuben Booth ; 1860-61, Asa Ingersoll ; 1862-63, Leander Bonfoey ; 1864-65, John E. Woodard; 1866, Cornelius Quick ; 1867-68, no record; 1869, W. B. Bennett; 1870-71, Henry C. Ames; 1872, George Sutherland ; 1873-74, George Turner; 1875-76, Clinton B. Bacon ; 1877, Al- bert Smith ; 1878, E. J. Cooley ; 1879, Albert Smith.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1839, T. W. Dunham, R. H. Howard; 1840, M. Lathrop, D. Cahill ; 1841, M. Lathrop, Harvey S. Booth ; 1842, H. S. Booth, Thomas J. Chaffee ; 1843, Isaac A. Brooks ; 1844, Roceter H. Howard ; 1845, Otis Pitts; 1846, Harvey S. Booth; 1847, Moses Austin ; 1848, Ezra Carpenter ; 1849, Isaac Cox ; 1850, Elias Stone, Arad Cooley ; 1851, Moses Austin, Harvey S. Booth, Roceter H. Howard; 1852, John F. Oliver ; 1853, Levi B. Shaw, R. C. Baker; 1854, James Campbell ; 1855, Ebenezer Durkee; 1856, Ezra Car- penter; 1857, Roceter Howard; 1858, Samuel Crooks, John F. Oliver ; 1859, George Sheldon; 1860, E. Carpenter, Vaydor Pierce; 1861, Roceter Howard; 1862, S. Crooks, J. H. Moss, R. J. Purdy ; 1863, Vaydor Pierce; 1864, J. P. Simmons, L. A. Tor- rance; 1865, Ezra Carpenter, Henry S. Booth; 1866, Samuel Crooks, Stephen Howard ; 1867-68, no record; 1869, Levi Black - mer, James N. Cooley, A. T. Conklin ; 1870, Ebenezer Durkee, Alexander T. Conklin; 1871, J. Y. Eastland; 1872, Joseph Beckley, William Bennett; 1873, Levi Blackmer; 1874, Hiram Pattison, Franklin Abbott; 1875, James Campbell, Albert Smith ; 1876, William W. Brownell, Francis O. Rouse; 1877, John F. Oliver, William W. Brownell; 1878, Harvey S. Booth ; 1879, Isaac F. Weeks.
ASSESSORS.
1839, Daniel Cahill, Samuel Eastland, Chester Crooks; 1840, Chester Crooks, J. S. Chaffee, Martin Lathrop ; 1841, Chester Crooks, J. S. Chaffee, J. Eastland, Jr .; 1844, Otis Pitts, Elias Stone.
COLLECTOR.
1839-41, Chauncey Root.
COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS.
1839, Martin Lathrop, T. J. Chaffee, Daniel Cahill; 1840, Roswell Page, Stephen Howard, Samuel Crooks; 1841, Elias Stone, Ros- well S. Page, Stephen Howard ; 1842, Moses Austin, M. Lathrop, J. S. Chaffee; 1843, M. Lathrop, M. Austin, R. S. Page; 1844, John Stone, Joseph Eastland, Jr., George Thompson; 1845, M. Lathrop, T. J. Chaffee, Stephen Howard; 1846, M. Lathrop, S. Howard, R. S. Page; 1847, T. J. Chaffee, William Pettingill, R.
432
HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
H. Howard ; 1848, R. H. Howard ; 1849, John Parker; 1850, R. C. Baker, G. N. Thompson, William French ; 1851, William French ; 1852, Jared Blodget ; 1853, George M. Thompson ; 1854, Isaac Cox, Daniel M. Smith ; 1855, Asa Ingersoll ; 1856, Daniel E. Jones ; 1857, D. C. Hampton ; 1858, Jefferson Swift; 1859, Miles Chubb, Jeff. Smith, Richard E. Cox ; 1860, Ebenezer Pike; 1861, Levi Blackmer, Miles Cooley; 1862, Elisha Tracy ; 1863, Ebenezer Pike; 1864, Levi Blackmer, Jeff. Smith; 1865, George W. Crooks; 1866, Ira D. Matteson, David F. Laine; 1867-68, no record ; 1869, W. H. Cobb ; 1870, John C. Clermont ; 1871, W. W. Brownell ; 1872, David Mckee; 1873, Archibald Ludington ; 1874, William Campbell ; 1875, George J. Marsh; 1876-77, William H. Cobb ; 1878-79, Isaac Cox.
DRAIN COMMISSIONERS.
1873, William W. Brownell ; 1874, Levi Harris; 1875, Harvey S. Booth ; 1876, George J. Marsh ; 1877, Harvey S. Booth; 1878, George Pike (two years).
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
1875-79, George T. Hall.
SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
1839, Stephen Howard, Timothy W. Dunham, Caleb Sweetland ; 1840, Caleb Sweetland, Harvey S. Booth, Daniel Cahill; 1841, John H. Moss, C. Sweetland, J. Eastland, Jr. ; 1842, C. Sweetland, J. S. Chaffee, Chauncey Root; 1843, Ebenezer Durkee, Levi Black- mer; 1844, John F. Oliver, John H. Moss ; 1845, John H. Moss ; 1846, John F. Oliver ; 1847, Ebenezer Durkee ; 1848, John F. Oliver; 1849, John C. Baker ; 1850, John B. Cook ; 1851, John C. Baker, John H. Moss ; 1852, Rodney Russell, John F. Oliver ; 1853, George A. Oliver; 1854, John H. Moss ; 1855, Rodney Rus- sell ; 1856, John C. Baker; 1857, L. Brentano, A. F. Cox ; 1858, A. F. Cox, George W. Crooks ; 1859, George Sheldon ; 1860, Geo. T. Hall; 1861, Richard A. Sykes ; 1862, no record ; 1863, Rich- ard A. Sykes; 1864, Dwight C. Pierce; 1865, Ira D. Matteson ; 1866, Dwight C. Pierce ; 1867-68, no record ; 1869, A. G. Pierce, W. H. Marsh ; 1870, Wm. H. Marsh ; 1871, A. G. Pierce; 1872, Henry C. Ames, J. E. Woodard; 1873, Henry Nesbitt; 1874, John E. Woodard; 1875, Alfred G. Pierce; 1876-77, Dwight C. Pierce; 1878, J. S. Lewis ; 1879, Henry E. Thompson.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
1839, Elijah Root, Joseph Eastland; 1840, Jonas Woodard, Elijah Root; 1841, E. Root, J. Eastland ; 1842, T. W. Dunham, Chester Johnson ; 1843, Moses Austin, Martin Lathrop; 1844-48, Elijah Root, Arad Cooley ; 1849, Harmon Sherwood, Eli Harrison ; 1850-51, Elijah Root, David J. Smith ; 1852, M. Lathrop, T. J. Chaffee ; 1853, Wm. Pettingill, Otis Pitts; 1854, Thomas Cooley, Eli Harrison ; 1855, Moses Pike, Eli Harrison ; 1856, Isaac A. Brooks, Eli Harrison ; 1857, W. W. Beebe, Vaydor Pierce ; 1858, John H. Moss, J. R. Blodget ; 1859, John Parker, David J. Smith.
CONSTABLES.
1839, Chauncey Root, Alvin Bacon ; 1840, C. Root, Rufus Aldrich ; 1841, John H. Moss, C. Root; 1842, Jos. Eastland, Jr., Barton Johnson ; 1843, Aaron Roberts; 1844, Aaron Roberts, Lewis Har- ris ; 1845, Lewis Harris, George C. Oliver, John Stratton, Rich- mond French ; 1846, Stephen Wattles, Alonzo Bonfoey ; 1847, Stephen Howard, Alonzo Bonfoey ; 1848, A. Bonfoey, Wm. French, George W. Clark, Stephen Wattles ; 1849, Josiah Bush- nell, Hubbard Sherwood; 1850, Leander Bonfoey, Nathan Fran- cisco ; 1851, Henry Woodruff, David Ludington; 1852, Roswell Aldrich, William French ; 1853, William Jenkins, Wm. French, Alonzo Bacon, George E. Martin, Jr .; 1854, George E. Martin, Jr., Leander Bonfoey ; 1855, Samuel Sherwood, Miles Cooley, John F. Oliver ; 1856, Alvin P. Holmes, William Jenkins, Cor- nelius Quick, James Thomson ; 1857, A. S. Bacon, A. Ludington, V. Lathrop, W. Buck ; 1858, Jefferson Smith, Daniel Jones, G. A. Matteson, V. R. Lathrop ; 1859, Chauncey Root, D. J. Smith, Reuben Booth, Otis Pitts; 1860, Otis Pitts, W. S. Buck, Archi- bald Ludington, Jr., David J. Smith ; 1861, F. N. Shaw, Wm. B. Bennett, Hiram Patterson, Noah F. Howard; 1862, John Dodgson, Clinton Bacon, G. B. Chase, N. Johnson; 1863, John Shirley, Hiram Patterson, M. Meredith, Joseph -; 1864, W. Buck, S. B. Lanning, Eli B. Stark, Ebenezer Durkee; 1865, John Shirley, N. B. Moss, F. C. Rouse, Cornelius Quick ; 1866, Samuel
Sherwood, Ebenezer Pike, Wm. B. Bennett, Samuel B. Lanning; .1867-68, no record; 1869, C. Parrish, J. C. Clermont, T. J. Belcher, R. Hannahs ; 1870, Gustavus M. Gates, William B. Bennett, Ira D. Matteson, George A. Turner ; 1871, W. H. Oliver, Martin Ba- con, Frank Aldrich, Albert Bonfoey; 1872, Norton B. Moss, Eliphalet Parrish, Burr Lanning, Rosseau Durkee ; 1873, Oliver Parrish, William Oliver, Burr Lanning, William Quail ; 1874, M. Bacon, J. R. Blodget, William Oliver, Merritt Chubb ; 1875, James Cooley, Ebenezer Durkee, Wm. B. Sherwood, Ira D. Mat- teson ; 1876, Ambrose Beebe, Fred. Cox, C. Durkee, Charles O. Cobb; 1877, James N. Cooley, Ira D. Matteson, Henry E. Thomp- son, Orange D. Beebe; 1878, Martin Bacon, Andrew Gilmore, Ambrose Beebe, George W. Freeman ; 1879, Charles Smith, Mar- tin Bacon, Samuel J. Cromie, Ambrose Beebe.
POST-OFFICES.
For several years the settlers in Portage received their mail at Schoolcraft, or the " Big Island," as it was more familiarly known ; but about 1840, a post-office was estab- lished at Carpenter's Corners, and proved a source of great convenience while it was continued. The office for the township is now located at the Centre, and known as Por- tage Centre Post-Office.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in what now constitutes the township was taught by a Vermonter named Rufus Rice, about 1833-34, in Caleb Sweetland's log house on Dry Prairie.
A log house, probably erected for a dwelling, was built about 1835 near McKee's Corners, at the Indian Fields, in which a school was taught in 1836 by Miss Penelope Thayer. A frame building was afterwards erected in the same neigh- borhood, and was used both as a school-house and a church, meetings being held in it by the Methodists. Near by was a burial-ground in which a number of the early settlers were .
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