History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 123

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

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The mill at Flowerfield was completed in January, 1830, and from that time the settlers had no difficulty in getting their grain ground. Mr. Beadle also built a saw-mill in connection with his grist-mill, and here the Duncans hauled logs and got the lumber sawed from which they constructed their granary, in April, 1830.

In October of that year the land came into market, the government land-office being at Monroe. In the same month Mr. Duncan started on foot for Ohio to procure money with which to enter his land. In twelve days he had accomplished the work and entered his land, making the entire journey on foot.

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HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

At an election held at Abram I. Shaver's house, on the 17th day of May, 1830, he was nominated the first sheriff of Kalamazoo County, his commission dating from Oct. 1, 1830. He was sworn into office by Mishael Beadle, justice of the peace. When the county-seat was located at Bronson, he deputized Hosea B. Huston to act in his stead. Previous to the erection of a jail at Bronson, Mr. Duncan's house had been used for jail purposes.

In February, 1831, in company with Mr. Huston, he staked out the site of the county buildings, and Mr. Dun- can claimed that it was their influence which caused Titus Bronson to make a pre-emption at that place. He also claimed that their influence, in a great measure, determined the location of the county-seat at Bronson, instead of at Galesburg, or Comstock.

In February, 1832, he sold his farm, on the west side of Prairie Ronde, to John Knight, and removed to Gourd- Neck Prairie, where he purchased a farm and built a plank house. Knight failing to fulfill the contract, the farm fell into his hands again, and he sold the one on Gourd-Neck Prairie to Asa Briggs, and removed to his old homestead in July, 1832.

On the 1st of May, 1833, in company with Isaac Sum- ner, he started for a place on the Paw Paw River which is now called Watervliet, cutting his way through the woods, and arrived on the 15th of the month. At that place they built a saw-mill. The mosquitoes were so plenty that they were compelled to build a " smudge" fire to enable the men to continue work on the frame. The mill was operated about a year when they sold it to James Smith, and Mr. Duncan returned to his farm, on the prairie, in December, 1834.

In the spring of 1835 he erected the frame of the house in which he spent the remainder of his life. In May of the same year he made a journey with a team to the Mis- sissippi River to look for another mill-site, but finding no place to suit him, he returned in July and completed his dwelling. In company with his father, in the spring of 1836, he built a saw-mill on Rocky River. In the same year he also built a large barn, 40 by 60 feet, and in 1837 built another saw-mill, one mile above his mill, on Rocky River, and sold it to Reuben Edmunds in 1838.

In December, 1839, in company with his brother-in-law, Justin Clark, he made a prospecting tour of the State, during which they visited the " Carey Mission," and asked the privilege of staying overnight, either in the dwelling or barn, but were informed that the mission was expecting a large number of Indians, and could not accommodate them ; and they were compelled to proceed about four miles farther in a heavy rain and pitchy darkness, when they came to an Indian camp, the occupants of which kindly took them in, giving them shelter and food, such as they could furnish.

Mr. Duncan was nine years supervisor of his township, and filled the office of justice for a still longer period, though it is said he never had a lawsuit before him, always persuading the parties to settle among themselves or by arbi- tration. He was a stockholder in the plank-road company which constructed the road from Kalamazoo to the south end of Prairie Ronde, and a contractor during its con-

struction. In 1858 he was a member of the Legislature from his district. About 1855 he engaged in the mercan- tile business, in company with A. H. Scott & Co., at School- craft, which he continued until 1865.

In politics he was formerly a Whig, subsequently a Free- Soiler, and upon the formation of the Republican party be- came a member of that organization, and was a delegate to the first Republican State convention, held at Jackson, in 1854. He was president of the Schoolcraft and Three Rivers Railroad Company, and gave liberally of his time and means towards its completion. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 .. Mr. Duncan was a mild and genial gentleman ; a strong temperance man, and upright in all his dealings ; a friend of the poor, and a kind husband and father. In 1864 he was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Three Rivers, and became a director, holding the office until his death, May 1, 1870.

COL. ABIEL FELLOWS

was born in Canaan, Litchfield Co., Conn., Oct. 1, 1762. His grandfather emigrated from England, and was among the first settlers in the New England States. He left a

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family of five sons and three daughters. His father kept a public-house in Canaan, and married a Miss Rowe, by whom he had five children. Abiel, the youngest, received a common-school education. At the age of fifteen he went out with the Connecticut militia, who flocked to Gates' and Schuyler's army. He was with his uncle, who commanded a division at the battle of Freeman's Farm, Oct. 7, 1777, and at Saratoga, October 17th, when Burgoyne surrendered. He then returned home, but shortly after re-enlisted, re- maining in the service until peace was proclaimed. For his services he drew a pension of ninety-six dollars a year.

At the age of twenty-two he married Katharine Mann.

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TOWNSHIP OF PRAIRIE RONDE.

Their children numbered six,-Andrus, Amanda, Ann, Almira, Abiel, and Asahel.

In 1785 he went to Luzerne Co., Pa., where he located several thousand acres of land ; he sold a portion of it, re- taining about one thousand acres, upon which he lived forty-four years, until 1829.

In 1803 his wife died. In 1805 he married Dorcas, daughter of Timothy Hopkins, and niece of Rev. Samuel Hopkins, of Great Barrington, Mass. Their children were Katharine, Thomas J., James M., Simon S., Timothy H., John M., Caroline, Emma, Sarah, Orville H., Milo, Eliza- beth, and Lucy.

While in Pennsylvania he was county commissioner for several years, and justice of the peace eighteen years. He was colonel in the war of 1812; his regiment was with Perry in the battle on Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813; after- wards joined Gen. Harrison.

In 1817 he engaged in mercantile trade, and remained in the business several years.

In 1820 he explored some of the Western States. He traveled from Pennsylvania, on horseback, to Quincy, Ill., and located a land-warrant in Fulton County of that State.

Having comfortably settled his older children in Penn- sylvania, he concluded to take the younger ones West and locate farms in a prairie country. Therefore, in 1829, he started for Michigan in early spring, and reached Prairie Ronde in March. He staked off his claim on Gourd-Neck Prairie, returned to the eastern part of the State, and wrote his sons Thomas and James to come immediately to Mich- igan, for he had found the Eldorado. They came, arriving some time in May. In the mean time, Joseph Frakes and father came up from Young's Prairie, took possession of his claim, and held it. He then located on the southwest side of Prairie Ronde, now section 36, T. 4 S., R. 12 W.

They built a house and commenced fencing and plowing. The land not being in market, he could not secure it by purchase, and was obliged to remain on it in order to re- tain it.

In 1831 he purchased four hundred acres in a body, in Prairie Ronde and Schoolcraft townships.

In 1830 he was appointed postmaster of Prairie Ronde, and also had the contract for carrying the mail from White Pigeon to Prairie Ronde.

The same winter he built a saw-mill on Rocky River, on section 26, Prairie Ronde, the first saw-mill in Kalamazoo County. He sold his mill to Wheeler & Crosby in 1832. He was supervisor and highway commissioner, and with Christopher Bair and Delamore Duncan laid out the first road from Prairie Ronde to Bronson (now Kalamazoo), and assessed the first tax in the county.

In 1832, the year of the Black Hawk war, when Col. Fellows was seventy years old, he carried for Lyman I. Daniels, who was acting colonel, and was also land-agent for parties in Detroit, important papers and some money to Detroit. He rode a horse, carrying the papers and money in saddle-bags, and reached Detroit in three days, a distance of one hundred and sixty-five miles, and after transacting his business made the return trip in three days. Lyman I. Daniels said he was the only man he could find with suf- ficient courage to undertake such a perilous journey.

He was brought up a strict Presbyterian ; was generous, benevolent, ambitious, courageous, and of a strong sanguine temperament.

He died on the 18th of August, 1833, in the seventy- first year of his age.

GEORGE FLETCHER,

one of the pioneers of the town of Prairie Ronde, was born in 1783. He was the son of Joseph Fletcher, whose father's name was also Joseph. The progenitor of the family was of Irish birth and Scotch parentage, and emigrated to this country about 1743 with his family, which consisted of his wife, two daughters, and one son. He settled near Harris- burg, Pa., where the subject of this narrative was born. One

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Photo. by Packard, Kalamazoo.

GEORGE FLETCHER.

of the daughters married a Quaker by the name of Harris, and it is stated on good authority that the city of Harris- burg was named in his honor; he was a merchant, and one of the prominent citizens of the place. Joseph, Jr., his only son, moved to Hampshire Co., Va., where he reared a family of six sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to threescore and ten, and five died aged over eighty years. He was a farmer by occupation, but in his younger days taught school. He was a prominent member of the Meth- odist Church, and highly esteemed for his integrity of char- acter. George, eldest son of Joseph, just mentioned, lived with his father until he attained his sixteenth year, when he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. He served his time seven years, and followed this vocation at intervals until his death. He received a common-school education, and mar- ried, in 1804, Elizabeth Mullison, who was a native of New Hampshire, and one year his junior. They reared a family of ten children,-eight boys and two girls,-all of Virginia birth. Six of the family grew to maturity,-four dying in one week of diphtheria. Elijah acquired his father's trade, and at the age of twenty-one went to Ohio, where

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HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

he married a Quakeress, Nancy Nuby. After a residence of three years he emigrated to Schoolcraft in 1830, where he remained six years and returned to Ohio, where he died in 1837. The next elder, Jonathan, married Alice A. Farmer. He came to Schoolcraft in 1834, and died in 1846. Elias emigrated to Palmyra, Mo. He followed mercantile pursuits, and was one of the leading citizens of that place. His demise took place in 1856.

John M. was killed by an accident at the age of sixteen, near his father's home in Prairie Ronde. George W. was a farmer, and at the age of twenty-one years was married to Lydia Monroe. He died in Prairie Ronde at the age of twenty-seven.

Zachariah, the youngest of the family, was born in Vir- ginia, Jan. 7, 1828, being four years of age at the date of his father's emigration to Kalamazoo County. He well recollects the beautiful September day on which the family left the old home in Virginia, his mother on horseback. The party consisted of sixteen, including the family of his father's brother, Benjamin. The family effects were loaded in one wagon drawn by four horses. The elder members of both families traveled on foot. The journey occupied one month and one day. Benjamin located eighty acres of land on section 10, Prairie Ronde, where he resided until 1854, when he sold and removed to Iroquois Co., Ill., where he died. George first purchased on section 23. Four years afterwards he sold and purchased the farm where he spent the balance of his life. He was an exemplary man and a consistent Christian, carrying the precepts of his religion into all the transactions of life. He was one of the founders of the first Methodist Church in the county, and contrib- uted liberally for its maintenance. His integrity was un- doubted, and he was extremely conscientious in all matters. He was universally beloved for his benevolence and kind- ness of heart, and his hospitality was proverbial. He was a man of marked social qualities, winning the esteem and regard of all with whom he came in contact. He was twice married,-his first wife, the mother of his children, died in 1837. About 1840 he married Hannah Keyes, of Cli- max, whom he outlived five years. In his political belief he was originally a Democrat, but became a Republican upon the organization of that party. Zachariah was reared upon the old farm, and upon attaining his majority assumed the active management of his father's estate. In 1849 he married Miss Malansy, daughter of Capt. Moses Monroe, of Van Buren County. He was a cousin of President Monroe, and his wife bore the same relation to Benjamin Wade, of Ohio. He emigrated to Van Buren County in 1836, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher have reared a family of five children,-Ora A., Alice J., Harriet E., Walker E., and Clara M.,-all of whom are living. Mr. Fletcher is one of the thrifty and successful farmers of Prairie Ronde, and is prominently identified with all its interests. He is a staunch Republican, and although not a seeker of political distinction and its emoluments, has served his townsmen in an official capacity since attaining his twenty-first year.

JESSE M. CROSE,

one of the early settlers and prominent farmers of the town of Prairie Ronde, was born near Belvidere, Warren Co., N. J., Nov. 20, 1810.

His father, Christopher Crose, was also a native of New Jersey, and followed the occupation of a carpenter. He was a man of limited means, and Jesse, being the eldest child, received but few advantages. At the age of twenty

JESSE M. CROSE.

his father gave him his time, and he went to Wilkes- barre, Pa., to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner. After he had acquired his trade he went to Norwalk, Ohio, where he followed his calling for several months. Learn- ing of the advantages offered to settlers in Southern Michi- gan, he decided to make him a home in what was then con- sidered the Far West. Accordingly, in the spring of 1835, he came to Kalamazoo County and located in Prairie Ronde. He first purchased thirty acres of land. In the fall of the same year his father came, and the following spring they were joined by the family. The elder Crose resided in Prairie Ronde until his death. He was an in- dustrious man, a kind father, and a good neighbor. He reared a family of eleven children, Jesse being the fourth.

Mr. Crose has been twice married; first to Maria Bus- kirk, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1823, and came to Michigan with her father, who was a fellow-immigrant of Mr. Crose. She died in 1852, and in 1853 he married Mrs. Mary Predmore, who was born in Tioga Co., Pa., in 1827. By his first wife Mr. Crose had two children, Eliza- beth and Maria A., and by his second eight, five of whom are living, Ellen, Wilbur, James, Bela, and Eva. Mr. Crose has been the architect of his own fortune. Com- mencing life with only his hands and robust constitution, he has become one of the wealthy and influential farmers of Kalamazoo County, owning six hundred and forty- three acres of valuable land, and occupying a prominent position among the better class of farmers.

RICHLAND CENTRE, KALAMAZOO CO., MICH.

RICHLAND.

NATURAL FEATURES.

Geography .- Situated upon the northern border of Kala- mazoo County, east of the centre, lies a section of country most appropriately named.

It was surveyed by John Mullett, of Detroit, in 1826, and forming, successively, a part of Brady and Arcadia townships, began a separate existence as the township of Richland early in April, 1833, in accordance with an act of the Legislative Council, approved June 29, 1832.

Originally it embraced the organizations now known as Richland, Ross, Comstock, and Charleston, or the northeast quarter of the county. Comstock, including Charleston, was set off in 1834, and Ross in 1839.

Its present boundaries include an area of thirty-six square miles, or the territory designated in the field-notes of the United States survey as township No. 1 south, of range No. 10 west.

Bordering township organizations in this county are Ross on the east, Comstock on the south, Cooper on the west, while Prairieville, in Barry Co., forms its northern boun- dary. The surface, for the most part, is gently undulating.

Gull Prairie, which in its original form resembled very nearly a physician's old-fashioned saddle-bags, the top pointing towards the northeast corner of the township, or Gull Lake, included portions of sections 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, and 27, and embraced a total area of about 2800 acres .* The neck, or narrow part of the prairie, occupied the southwest corner of section 11 and northwest corner of section 14. Southwest of this neck, and upon lands recently owned by William L. Curtis, was a beautiful grove of beech and maples. The remainder of the township was timbered principally with oak, yet none of it very dense, except upon the Kirkland farm. Gener- ally speaking, the lands of Richland, other than the prairies, were such as are usually termed " oak openings."

Soil .- The soil is highly productive, and all products common to this latitude are here matured in the greatest abundance and perfection.

Lakes and Water-Courses .- Its water-courses are unim- portant ; but numerous lakes dot the surface, from which, with springs, wells, and the use of modern windmills, ample supplies of water are obtained.

Lakes of the township dignified with names are Gull, Grassy, Miller, Long, Jackson, Crosby, Etter, Brown, Up- per, Lower, and Middle.

Gull Lake, the largest body of water in the county, was named by the surveyors and early settlers, from the fact that sea-gulls were frequently seen skimming its surface. It is a beautiful sheet of water, four miles in length, with an average width of one mile, and embraces

large portions of sections 1 and 12. It abounds in fish of all kinds usually found in Michigan waters, and is a favorite resort for lovers of the sport piscatorial during fish- ing seasons, an island of about 20 acres affording good camping-grounds.

The road-bed of the proposed Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad-in the construction of which the people contributed money to the amount of $50,000-in- tersects sections 5, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 23, and 24.

Population .- The population in 1874 was enumerated at 1255. The greatest number of votes polled at any town- ship election was in 1875, when 297 was the aggregate. The present total population will not much exceed that given in 1874.

THE PIONEERS AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

The early spring of 1830 dawned upon the beautiful region since known as Gull Prairie and found it bedecked in all its pristine glory and natural loveliness. The old chief Noonday, with his remnant of a once powerful tribe of Pottawattomies, the wild beasts and birds of the forest, were its only occupants.

'Tis true Prairie Ronde was already the centre of an active community of pioneers, and the hardy yeomanry from New York and the New England States were daily pushing out and widening the circle of settlements west and north from Detroit, but as yet the smoke from the first settler's log cabin offered no landmark to him who, in search of advantageous locations, chanced to cross the clearly- defined boundaries of Gull Prairie.

Following the natural course of events, however, such a condition of affairs could not long exist. Therefore, when, in May, 1830, Col. Isaac Barnes and David H. Dillie, with their families, arrived from Medina, Ohio, and en- camped upon the virgin soil, with the purpose of making the enchanting spot their home, they but followed the natural laws of emigration, expansion, and development,- features which have characterized the North Americans since the days of the Pilgrim Fathers.

Mr. Barnes and family-consisting of his wife, sons George, Carlos, Lester, Lucius, and daughters Harriet and Julia-first built a log cabin near a spring, half a mile east of the farm now owned by Clarence Harvey, while Mr. Dillie settled upon the Boyles farm. The lands were not yet in market, and they held their claims by right of pre- emption. After remaining here two or three seasons, Mr. Dillie removed to Kalamazoo township, and became identified more particularly with that locality.

In February, 1832, Mr. Barnes purchased the northwest 40 acres of section 14, on the premises now owned by Horace M. Peck. Here he erected a good substantial log house, platted a village by the name of Geloster, and became

* An approximate estimate from the most reliable information. 58

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HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

the first postmaster at about the same period. He was one of the first justices of the peace elected in the township of Arcadia, and in 1832 was appointed the first judge of probate in Kalamazoo County. During the Black Hawk

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CARLOS BARNES.

war he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Kala- mazoo County battalion, and with it proceeded as far as Niles. He was elected the first supervisor of Richland, in 1833, and re-elected in 1834. Holding the office of post- master, he remained here until 1841, when he removed to Allegan County, where some members of his family still reside.

Col. Barnes' family was soon after joined by John B. Barnes and family, from Hudson, Ohio; Selden Norton* and family, from Aurora, Ohio ; and Orville Barnes.

In June, 1830, William Giddings, with a large family of sons and daughters, some twelve or thirteen in number, came on from Connecticut and established themselves here.

Several of the sons became prominent in the early his- tory of the township and county. The father, William Giddings, died of consumption in January, 1831, his being the first death to occur in the township.

In 1872, Hon. Marsh Giddings, while Governor of New Mexico, addressed a letter to the editor of the Kalamazoo Gazette, for the purpose of correcting an error concerning the first settlement of Gull Prairie. The letter is herewith reproduced entire:

"SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, Sept. 15, 1872.

" EDITOR ' GAZETTE,'-I noticed a few days since in your paper a statement that at a late meeting of the Pioneers of Kalamazoo County it was declared, and the declaration assented to, that the settlement of Gull Prairie (Richland) was commenced in the year 1831.

" Being almost as familiar with the early history of that place as in boyhood I was obliged to be with Murray's Grammar, and having kept a diary of events, dates, and incidents nearly from such boyhood, as well as a record of marriages, deaths, etc., in my own father's

family, I cannot mistake on this point, and I desire to correct this statement before it goes into permanent history.

" My father, William Giddings, with his family of twelve sons and daughters, arrived in Detroit, on his way to Gull Prairie, on the 10th day of May, 1830, and left there ten days after for Beardsley's Prai- rie, in Cass County, and on what was then called the Chicago trail, under the advice of Gen. Cass, who gave him letters to the late Major Abram Edwards, then residing at the latter prairie, who would assist him in obtaining some good farm-lands. Before arriving there, the best lands in that vicinity had been selected, and in a few days my father, with a part of the family, went on to Gull Prairie, arriving there late in June. However, before taking the family, he and my oldest brother had been up to the prairie and had selected eight lots on its western side, but while absent after the family, the Seminary Land Commissioners came on and located the lands they had selected, and forced him to take a smaller quantity on the east side.

" I remained with my mother and part of the family in Cass County until August, when, on board of an ox-team, with four yoke of oxen, and with A. S. Parker, Esq., and my older brother, we started for my father's place, and one day of our journey we made thirty-six miles, and camped at night near the house of Enoch Harris, on Dry Prairie. Not a very slow coach after all for an ox-team on an Indian trail.

" Arriving at Gull Prairie, I found about forty families of Indians settled on the southeastern edge of the prairie who had not yet aban- doned their ancient homes, and these families mostly remained until after the Black Hawk war, and were of considerable service in sup- plying venison to the early settlers.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 123

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