USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan > Part 126
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JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Mitchell Hensdill, John D. Batchelder, William Logan, Simeon Mills, 1836; Mitchell Hensdill, Alvan Hood, D. W. Hooker, 1837; George Rigby, 1838; Dauphin Brown, Isaac Briggs, Henry Lit- tle, 1839 ; Carlos Barnes, elected to fill vacancy, May, 1839; Marsh Giddings, 1840 ; Salmon C. Hall, 1841; S. W. Mills, Still- man Jackson, Edwin Mason, 1842; Mumford Eldred, Jr., Morgan Curtis, Marsh Giddings, Darwin W. Hooker, 1843; Hugh Kirk- land, Mumford Eldred, Jr., Morgan Curtis, Marsh Giddings, 1844; Marsh Giddings, Alfred Nevins, Ira Peake, 1845 ; Morgan Curtis, 1846; Daniel Correll, 1847 ; Alfred Nevins, John S. Por- ter, 1848; Samuel T. Smith, 1849; Elijah N. Bissell, 1850 ; Hor- ace M. Peck, 1851 ; Stillman Jackson, David H. Daniels, 1852 ; Alfred Nevins, 1853 ; David H. Daniels, 1854; Horace M. Peck, Benjamin F. Doolittle, 1855; Amasa S. Parker, 1856; Alfred Nevins, 1857 ; Benjamin F. Doolittle, Elmer N. Peck, 1858; Hor- ace M. Peck, 1859; Ira Peake, 1860; Newton J. Nevins, 1861; David Carson, 1862; John F. Hale, 1863 ; Melzer P. Barnes, 1864; Horace M. Peck, 1865; Ira Hoyt, 1866; John F. Hale, Elmer N. Peck, Nelson H. Walbridge, 1867; John F. Hale, David Carson, Elmer N. Peck, 1868; Amasa S. Parker, 1869; Eliner N. Peck, 1870; A. J. Burrell, Elmer N. Peck, Aaron Blake, 1871 ; Nelson H. Walbridge, 1872; Amasa S. Parker, 1873; David Carson, 1874; George Hoyt, 1875; Albert Little, 1876; Amasa S. Parker, 1877 ; David R. Chandler, 1878 ; George Hoyt, Charles Parker, 1879.
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS.
John Moore, Charles Andrews, Isaac Barnes, 1833; Simeon Mills, Isaac Barnes, Hazael Hoag, 1834; Isaac Briggs, Edwin Mason, Simeon Mills, 1835 ; Henry Little, Augustus Mills, Isaac Briggs, 1836 ; Abner Goodrich, Isaac Barnes, Isaac Briggs, 1837; Isaac Barnes, Abner Goodrich, Willard Butterfield, 1838; Edwin Ma- son, Samuel Boyles, Hezekiah Doolittle, 1839; Edwin Mason, Hugh Doolittle, Ira Peake, 1840 ; Josiah Buell, John F. Gilkey, Rockwell May, 1841 ; Phineas Cook, Benjamin F. Cummings, Morgan Curtis, 1842; Rockwell May, Samuel Boyles, Samuel Brown, 1843; Samuel Brown, Augustus Mills, Morgan Curtis, 1844; Merritt Barrett, Augustus Mills, James Henry, Jr., 1845 ; Josiah Buell, Merritt Barrett, James Henry, Jr., 1846; John Sumner, Merritt Barrett, Samuel T. Brown, 1847; Ira Peake, 1848; Mathew Gibson, 1849; Samuel Brown (2d), 1850; Elmer N. Peck, Marvin Barrett, 1851; John J. Lardner, 1852; Amasa S. Parker, 1853; Richard H. Warn, 1854; Samuel Knickerbocker, 1855 ; Charles Parker, E. N. Peck, Ira Peake, 1856; Ira Peake, 1857; Win. W. Russell, 1858; Charles Parker, 1859; Henry B. McBee, Levi Wood, 1860; Levi Wood, 1861; Austin H. Woolcot, 1862; H. B. McBee, 1863; Ira Peake, 1864; Asa Stratton, 1865 ; Charles C. Adams, Charles Parker, 1866; Charles Parker, 1867; Morgan Curtis, 1868; Isaac N. Carson, 1869; Randall Crosby, David V. Carson, 1870; Patrick H. Gilkey, Charles P. Hale, Nelson Boyles, 1871; Wm. H. Barrett, 1872; Charles P. Hale, 1873; Nelson Boyles, 1874; Charles Parker, 1875; Wm. L. Cur- tis, 1876; Charles Parker, 1877-78 ; George L. Slater, 1879.
DRAIN COMMISSIONERS.
George L. Gilkey, 1876; William L. Curtis, 1878.
COLLECTORS.
William Logan, 1833; Henry White, 1834; Timothy Mills, 1835-39; William Dana, 1840; Barna L. Brigham, 1841.
ASSESSORS.
Cornelius Northrop, Simeon Mills, G. C. Merrill, 1833; Edwin Mason, Dauphin Brown, William P. Giddings, 1834 ; Samuel Boyles, Henry Little, Samuel Woodruff, 1835 ; Henry Little, William Logan, Elihu Mills, 1836; Rockwell May, Edward Judson, Sam- uel Boyles, 1837; Rockwell May, John F. Gilkey, E. K. Howland, 1838 ; Dauphin Brown, Mumford Eldred, Jr., Augustus Mills, 1839; Augustus Mills, Hugh Kirkland, Mumford Eldred, Jr., 1840; Simeon Mills, William Dana, Marsh Giddings, 1841 ; Henry Little, Hugh Kirkland, 1842-45; Augustus Mills, Hugh Kirk- land, 1846; Hugh Kirkland, Ira Peake, 1847 ; John F. Gilkey, Ephraim Jones, 1848; Henry Knappen, Ephraim Jones, 1849;
* The fence-viewers, poundmasters, and overseers of highways were elected by ayes and noes.
59
466
HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN. .
David H. Daniels, Henry Knappen, 1850 ; Amasa S. Parker, Ormon Chamberlain, 1851 ; William H. Daly, Augustus Mills, 1852-79.
SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
Henry White, Isaac Briggs, Lovell Moore, 1833 ; Mitchell Hensdill, William Logan, George Torrey, 1837; Isaac Briggs, Marsh Gid- dings, Henry White, 1838; Isaac Briggs, Joseph Miller, 1839; Uriah Upjohn, S. C. Hall, Isaac Briggs, 1840 ; Isaac Briggs, Levi S. White, Morgan Curtis, 1841 ; Calvin Clark, Uriah Upjohn, Levi S. White, 1842; Uriah Upjohn, Alvin R. Brown, 1843; Gil- bert E. Read, Alvin R. Brown, 1844; Gilbert E. Read, Levi S. White, 1845; Gilbert E. Read, Alfred Nevins, 1846; Milton Bradley, 1847 ; John M. Nevins, 1848; Milton Bradley, 1849; Henry White, 1850 ; Milton Bradley, 1851 ; Harvey W. Glynn, 1852; Milton Bradley, 1853; Ira Hoyt, 1854; Milton Bradley, John S. Porter, 1855; Wright L. Barrett, 1856 ; John E. Powers, 1857; Wright L. Barrett, 1858 ; Miton Bradley, 1859 ; Nelson H. Walbridge, 1860; Milton Bradley, Daniel H. Sumner, 1861; Theodore B. Diamond, 1862; E. George Hall, 1863 ; Milton Brad- ley, 1864; Theodore B. Diamond, 1865; Milton Bradley, John E. Powers, 1866; Nelson H. Walbridge, 1867 ; Gilbert E. Read, 1868; Amos R. Cook, Marvin Barrett, 1869 ; Gilbert E. Read, 1870 ; Charles W. Jones, Randall Crosby, 1871 ; Elmer M. Peck, Thomas Raynor, 1872-73 ; Amos R. Cook, 1874; James Kirk- land, 1875-76 ; William L. Curtis, 1877; Robert Bennett, 1879.
DIRECTORS OF THE POOR.
John B. Barnes, Samuel Percival, 1833; Augustus Mills, John B. Barnes, 1834; Augustus Mills, 1835; Samuel Brown, Simeon Mills, 1836; Samuel Brown, Augustus Mills, Isaac Briggs, 1837; John D. Batchelder, Seymour Hoyt, Sr., 1838; Josiah Buell, Samuel Brown, 1839; Samuel Brown, Elihu Mills, 1840; Stephen Fairbanks, Daniel Jackson, 1841; Hildah Barrett, Samuel Brown, 1843; Hildah Barrett, Rufus Read, 1844; Hildah Barrett, Rufus Read, 1845 ; Samuel Brown, Hildah Barrett, 1847; Henry Little, Augustus Mills, 1848; Hildah Barrett, Samuel Boyles, 1849; Benjamin F. Cummings, John Lardner, 1850; Merritt Barrett, Edward Gaston, 1851; David Blanchard, Samuel Brown, 1852; Horace M. Peck, Josiah Buell, 1853; Uriah Upjohn, Hugh Kirk- land, 1854; Reuben S. Hawley, Alfred Nevins, 1855; John F. Gilkey, Reuben S. Hawley, 1856; Randall Crosby, Morgan Cur- tis, 1857; Randall Crosby, Charles B. Brown, 1858; Randall Crosby, Eli R. Miller, 1859.
SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS.
Simeon Mills, Orville Barnes, George Townsend, 1833; Samuel Wood-
ruff, 1834 ; Isaac Briggs, Samuel Boyles, 1835 ; William Logan, 1836; George Torrey, 1837.
TOWNSHIP SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
Milton Bradley, 1875 to 1879, inclusive.
POUNDMASTERS.
Isaac Barnes, Simeon Mills, 1833; Asa Jones, 1834; Philip Gray, 1835; Dauphin Brown, Asa Jones, 1836; Merritt Barrett, John F. Gilkey, George Torrey, 1837.
FENCE-VIEWERS.
William. Y. Gilkey, Roswell Ransom, Henry Little, 1833; Samuel
Brown, Hazael Hoag, 1834; Samuel Boyles, Selden Norton, Philip Gray, 1835; Joseph Miller, Augustus Mills, 1836; Samuel Boyles, Isaac Barnes, 1837; Abner Goodrich, H. B. Hayes, Joseph Miller, Mumford Eldred, Jr., 1838.
CONSTABLES.
William Logan, George Townsend, 1833; Henry White, Samuel T. Brown, 1834; Timothy Mills, 1835-36; Timothy Mills, D. D. Brockway, 1837 ; John McAllister, Gilbert Higgins, T. B. Pierce, 1838; Joseph Brown, Willard Dana, John Van Vleck, Timothy Mills, 1839 ; William Dana, Joseph Brown, 1840 ; B. L. Brigham, Elnathan Judson, 1841; Joseph Brown, Elnathan Judson, Hil- dah Barrett, Barna L. Brigham, 1842; Elnathan Judson, Andrew M. Rowell, Henry Knappen, Barna L. Brigham, 1843; Charles B. Brown, Henry Mills, 1844; Henry Knappen, Henry Mills, Charles B. Brown, Frederick Henry, 1845; Charles B. Brown, James Henry, Jr., William A. Ward, Samuel T. Smith, 1846; William
. A. Ward, George Hoyt, Charles B. Brown, Henry Edgecomb, 1847 ; William A. Ward, Charles B. Brown, Ira A. Munger, George Hoyt, 1848; George Hoyt, Newton J. Nevins, George M. Murray, Seth S. Coe, 1849 ; Hiram Shakespeare, Solomon Burtch, Sheridan P. Sabin, John Van Dewalker, 1850; William A. Ward, George A. Lockhart, Chauncey F. Stacey, William H. Daly, 1851 ; Sheridan P. Sabin, Elijah A. Daley, Charles Gibson, Benjamin Fairbanks, 1852; Newton J. Nevins, George Hoyt, 1853 ; George Hoyt, John M. Barrett, Andrew P. Mills, Chauncey F. Stacey, 1854 ; William J. Doane, Aretus H. Gould, George Hoyt, Harvey E. Jones, 1855; Aretus H. Gould, Harvey E. Jones, George Hoyt, H. Fisher, 1856 ; Aretus H. Gould, Sheridan P. Sabin, George L. Slater, Michael Fisher, 1857; George Hoyt, Ephraim B. Brown, Hobart H. Hamlin, 1858; George Hoyt, Charles Morse, A. H. Gould, Sheridan P. Sabin, 1859; George W. Wood, 1860; John Bassett, A. H. Gould, George W. Wood, Hamilton H. Pratt, 1861 ; Jonathan M. Hall, George Hoyt, John Baxter, William N. Jew- ett, 1862; B. W. Spaulding, C. H. Mills, George Hoyt, L. P. Townsend, 1863; B. W. Spaulding, Morgan Curtis, Charles Love- good, 1864; O. W. Truman, George W. Wood, George Hoyt, Jo- seph Corbett, 1865; George W. Wood, George Hoyt, A. M. Tucker, J. M. Hall, 1866; George W. Wood, H. E. Crawford, William J. Philo, 1867 ; S. P. Jewett, T. F. Miller, A. Butler, L. Townsend, 1868 ; A. J. Butler, H. Blake, G. W. Wood, George Hoyt, 1869; G. W. Wood, W. H. Barrett, J. C. Gay, H. Blake, 1870 ; Ira Blanchard, G. W. Wood, Samuel Foster, S. P. Jewett, 1871; H. Blake, G. W. Wood, A. J. Butler, George Hoyt, 1872; W. L. Curtis, G. F. Gilkey, G. W. Wood, 1873 ; L. G. Gilkey, W. H. Barrett, W. L. Curtis, 1874; W. H. Barrett, George Wood, 1875 ; J. Gilkey, N. S. Whiting, H. T. Grover, J. B. Parker, 1876; George Wood, H. T. Grover, Josephus Blake, 1877; Wil- liam H. Barrett, Charles Ward, 1878 ; William H. Barrett, George W. Wood, Josephus Blake, Samuel Polhurst, 1879.
STATISTICAL-1839.
The assessment-roll for 1839-the first complete roll made after the erection of Comstock, Charleston, and Ross townships-embraced the names of the following resident tax-payers, with value of property :
Benjamin Cummings ...... .$1250
998
Rockwell May 1457
Morgan Curtis. 370
William Cummings. 640
John & James White. 1705
Burton Barnes .. 262 A. & L. H. Jones 2830
William Wingert. 700
625
David H. Daniels 80
75
George Clark
311
Harvey Gould
110
Merrit Barrett.
2157
Philip Gray
1600
Josiah Buell. 811
Silas Gould
738
Mason Knappen 2066
J. S. Porter 1520
Joseph Mills 2285
Isaac Briggs. 895
Curtis Mills
611
Alexander Philow
156
William Stone.
225
Miss S. Norton.
752
Stephen Fairbanks. 848
P. C. Rowley
207
David Blanchard 240
Isaac Barnes
1372
Henry White 243
William Daubney.
2026
Elihu Mills
1346
H. P. Hoyt
215
Theodore S. Hoyt.
545
Francis Holden
225
Alvin Hood
498
Henry Little.
1752
Daniel Jackson. 575
Nehemiah Pope.
50
William Dana 720
Charles Parker.
565
Philip Cory 1091
Hugh Kirkland
3017
John Van Vleck
520
Samuel Whitlock 1223
117
Jane L. Giddings. 360
50
Hezekiah Doolittle ..
1748
Samuel Woodruff.
1565
Seymour Hoyt, Jr
610
John B. Barnes.
1078
Levi S. White
1292
Henry Hicks. 160
John F. Gilkey
6647
Edward Judson 1121
Dauphin Brown
1235
Elnathan Judson. 848
Augustus Mills
2031
William Logan 1654
557
chant)
5050
George M. Murray 859
Edwin Mason
408
rian Society . 200
Garrett Daley
1340
S. P. Graves.
245
Joseph Brown 640
William A. Ward.
Willard Butterfield.
500
D. W. Hooker.
Samuel Brown
2261
Samuel Boyles 2685
Carlos Barnes 120
Simeon Mills 2385
Ira Hoyt ... 651
B. F. Cummings 958
Timothy Mills (tavern) 1298
Daniel Macon
John Walker.
567
Daniel Deal
Mumford Eldred# (mer-
Phineas Cook
Treasurer, First Presbyte-
* Mr. Eldred's stock of goods was valued at $3000.
Ashbel Shepard $130
Ira Peake ..
Asa Turner. 838
LITTLE
JOSEPH MILLER.
HON. ELI R. MILLER.
Eli R. Miller was born in Winsted, Conn., Oct. 18, 1818, and was one of a family of nine children. His father, Joseph Miller, was born in Torringford, Conn., Oct. 17, 1779, and was a lawyer by profes- sion. In 1834 he removed with his family to Michigan, and settled in Richland. His children (who accompanied him) were Sherman, the eldest, who was lost at sea in 1838; Sarah Ann, married Ira Peak, and died in 1859; Jane, married Dr. Stetson, and is now living at Neponset, Ill .; Lydia, lives in Richland ; Joseph, Jr., married a daughter of Deacon Samuel Brown, and died at Kalamazoo in 1864; James, now practicing law at Grand
Rapids; and Eli, of whom this notice is written. The latter was married, in 1849, to Miss Arethusa Mills, and moved upon a farm in Prairieville, Barry Co. At the end of five years he bought out his father, and came back to the old place in Richland, and took care of his aged father until the latter's death, which occurred July 17, 1858. Eli Miller's wife died in 1852, and the following year he mar- ried Miss Harriet Cook, of Winsted, Conn., by whom he has had four children, three sons and a daughter. Mr. Miller has twice been chosen to the Legislature, and has been a member and presi- dent of the Fish Commission for six years.
467
RESIDENTS IN 1844.
The following list, arranged alphabetically, embraces the names of all those who were assessed as resident taxpayers in the year 1844, and shows also the sections upon which their lands were situated :
Sec.
Sec.
Barnes, Burton. 20
Hamilton, George B Personal
Barnes, J. B. 3,10,11
Boyer, Jesse. Personal
Barnes, J. B. (agent) .11, 14
Blanchard, David 35
Barrett, Hildah 28
Barrett, Merritt. 22, 32,33 Barrett, Marvin ... . .. Personal Boyles, Samuel 28
Buell, Josiah 28
Bogardus, William. Personal Butterfield, Justus. Personal Brown, N. P 23
Butler, David 14
Brown, Samuel 12, 14, 15
Brown, Samuel T. 15 Brown, Charles. 14,15
Lockhart, G. A .. Personal Logan, William 2,10 Miller, M. D 24
Mills, Augustus 23, 35 Mills, Elihu 25
Mills, Francis 23,35
Mills, Simeon 23, 25 Mills, Eli P Personal
Mills, Timothy 3
Mills, Henry L.
14, 24
Clark, Rev. Calvin (parsonage and glebe)
22
Chapman, William 32
Cummings, B. F 22, 23 Clark, William 31
Clark, George 31
Calkins, C. W 14 Nevins, Alfred. Personal O'Connor, John .13, 14
Curtis, Moses T. Personal Chamberlain & Tolles 6 Peck, H. M. .11, 13, 14, 35 Peake, Ira .. 20
Chamberlain, Ormon .. 10,15
3 Dakey, William
Doolittle, Frederick 8,9
Daubney, John Personal
Dana, William .. Personal Deming, Levi. . Personal
Davis, Isaac .Personal
Davis, Asa. 16
Daubney, Wm ... 17, 20,29 Eldred, Mumford, Jr., mer- chant ..
14, 22
Fairbanks, Stephen 23, 25 Fairbanks, Alonzo. 23 Sumner, John
13, 14 Fairbanks, Isaac Personal Stevens, H. M 15
Gilkey, John F .4,9,10 Gustine, Edward Personal
Vandewalker, William 4 Ward, William A 32
Giddings, Marsh 26,27 Giddings, Czar. Personal Woodruff, Samuel ... 10,11 White, Levi S Personal Giddings, Jane L 23,35 Glenn, John .. 33 White, John. 23, 24
Humphrey, William ...... Personal
White, Henry 24
Hoyt, Seymour. 24 Wells, Henry 3
Hoyt, Seymour, Jr. 8, 17
Walker, John 5
Webster, C. O 15 Hicks, H. B 5
During the same year Elnathan Judson paid $5 for tavern license.
The amount of taxies levied was $839.16, to be applied for the following purposes : county, $306.85 ; township, $127.28; highways, $35.21 ; schools, $364.82 ; poor, $5.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Richland at an early day was Democratic in politics. At the election held in 1833 to elect a delegate to Congress Lucius Lyon received 17 votes and Wm. Woodbridge 10 votes. At a general election held in September, 1836, of the 52 votes cast for delegates to the convention, the Whig candidate had 2 majority ; but at the Presidential election
in the following November the Democratic candidate re- ceived 5 majority. In 1840 the Whigs made a grand rally and carried the town by 80 majority. In the township elections the issue was made upon men or some local question until 1844. The Abolition element had at this time become quite strong, so much so that some of the leaders thought they could carry the town, and they put forward at an early day a strong ticket, headed with Wm. Logan as supervisor. The Whigs, supposing they had a majority, put forward a straight ticket with Dr. Upjohn for supervisor. The canvass was quite animated during the forenoon, the Democrats refusing to vote. After the open- ing of the polls in the afternoon, M. Eldred, Jr., who at this time was the postmaster and the champion of the Democrats, marched into the school-house, followed by about 20 Democrats, and announced " as we go so goes the election to-day," and deposited the ticket of the Abolition party ; this cheered the Abolitionists. The Whigs, although despondent, were not disheartened, but put forth greater efforts to bring in the voters, when at the close of the polls they found they had made a clean sweep, electing their entire ticket. During the summer following, after the nomination of candidates for the Presidency, political strife became quite animated. Mr. Eldred placed a large hickory poke in front of his store so as to compel all persons enter- ing the store to either pass under the poke or climb over the railing, which produced a good degree of bitterness. Dur- ing the month of August the Democrats made arrangements for raising a hickory pole. Invitations were sent out to the adjoining towns for the faithful to come and help. Elihu Averill, of Cooper, furnished a hickory pole 107 feet long ; Mr. Eldred furnished a barrel of crackers and a cheese for refreshments ; Mr. John Gibbs, of Genesee Prairie, superin- tended the raising. Everything being ready, orders were given to raise it, but it would not go; an appeal was made to the Whigs and Abolitionists to help. After they had become satisfied that the Democrats had not sufficient strength to bring it to a perpendicular, they took hold and helped raise it. The Whigs, not to be outdone, appointed a pole-raising for the 10th of October. Ash poles were ob- tained and spliced so as to make a very nice pole 145 feet high, and, to show the Democrats what they could do, raised it at sunrise without any aid outside of the town, Mr. John Sumner superintending. A table was set and loaded with refreshments, free to all, and there was speak- ing in the afternoon by Hon. J. R. Kellogg, of Allegan, and Hon. Horace Mower, of Kalamazoo.
At the November election following, Henry Clay had 72 votes, James G. Binney 27 votes, and James K. Polk 25 votes. The Whigs continued to hold the ascendency, although the Democrats were constantly gaining from the accession of new settlers from the west part of the town, until the spring of 1850, when the Whigs met their " Waterloo," the Democrats electing Stillman Jackson for supervisor over E. R. Miller by nearly 50 majority, and securing nearly the entire ticket. From this time until 1855 the Whigs were in a minority, but by a complete or- ganization and bringing forward their strongest men they
* Owner of one half of saw-mill, situated on northeast, fractional quarter of section 2.
t Owner of one half of Jones' saw-mill.
# Where the election was held.
Hardy, Madison Personal Henry, James 16
Hood, Alvin 21
Howe, Simon .. 15
Judson, Edward 10
Jackson, Stillman 14,15
Judson, Elnathan 14, 22
Jones, Asa* .1, 2, 13, 14, 23 Jackson, Daniel 17 Knappen, Rev. Mason. 33
Knapper, Henry. 33
Kirkland, H. & T. 8,9
Little, Henry 20
Brigham, B. L .. .Personal Brown, A. R. Personal Cory, Philip 13 Cory & Upjohn 24 Cummings, William 29 Cummings, Benjamin. 28
Curtis, Morgan 28,29 Cook, Phineas 11 Mills, Curtis. Personal Mills, Loren 23 Miller, Joseph
11, 12, 14 Mason, Edwint 2,11
May, Rockwell. 13, 24
Murray, George M 3
Mosher, Levi 15
Porter, John S 11, 12, 14
Parker, Charles. 11
Powers, William E 14, 23
Philo, A. B 23
Pennock, Jonah 2 Personal Pritchard, John Personal Rutner, Jacob.
Read, Rufus
16 Shepherd, Ashbel 2,23
Sabin, William C 15
Smith, S. T 15, 22, 24
Upjohn, Dr. Uriah .. 22
Hoyt, H. P
Whitlock, Samuel G. 5 8 Hooker, D. W 10,13
TOWNSHIP OF RICHLAND.
468
HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
were able to secure the most of the officers. Since the formation of the Republican party, it has been largely in the majority, sometimes polling three-fourths of the votes.
INDIANS IN RICHLAND.
When the first settlers came upon " Gull Prairie," they found two bands of the Pottawattomie Indians in the east part of the township. The Indian title to the lands had been extinguished, but they remained for a time near their old hunting-grounds,-the mounds where their dead were buried, and the land which they had cultivated. The out- lines of their garden-beds are still discernible, and several mounds are still visible one mile north of the village. In 1830 they had as many as fifty lodges or huts near some large springs in the east part of the township, not far from the place where Mr. Giddings built his long house. At this date they disposed of their dead by placing them in a sit- ting posture, inclosed by driving stakes into the ground, and covered to protect them from exposure. They were friendly, and were accustomed to traffic with their white neighbors, bartering their baskets for flour or meat. A few years later, when the Pottawattomies had disappeared, a band of the Ottawas was brought from Grand Rapids by Rev. Leonard Slater, who had established a mission among them, and located directly north of the base line in Barry County. Those Indians remained there fifteen or twenty years under his care. He was teacher and missionary. He bought lands for them, and managed their business with the government For several years their annuities were paid at this mission. These Indians generally came into Richland to sell baskets, sugar, berries, and skins. Some of them be- came persons of good character and were converts to Chris- tianity. Their chief Noonday died here as late as 1846. Mr. Slater was an earnest, true man, and did what he could to educate and Christianize his people. He spent the best part of his life among them. Two of his children-George L. Slater, Esq., and Mrs. Cornelius Mason-reside in this place, one son in Barry County, and two daughters in Kalamazoo. When the Indians removed farther North he went to Kala- mazoo, where he resided until his death in 1868, and was buried, by his own request, in Riverside Cemetery, not far from the ford of the Kalamazoo River where he had crossed, in the fall of 1826, on his way to the Carey Mis- sion, located near Niles, Mich.
MAIL-CARRIERS.
After the post-office was established at Richland, in 1832, H. B. Blashfield, then living in Parma, west of Jackson, carried the mail from Jackson via Gull Prairie to Prairie Ronde. During the winter of 1832 and 1833, Marvin Bar- ret, then a boy of thirteen years, carried it for Mr. Blashfield, on horseback, fording the river at Kalamazoo. The season following, Samuel Brown and J. F .* were the contractors to carry it from Battle Creek to Kalamazoo, and Samuel T. Brown was the driver. The ferry was at this time estab- lished across the river, at the east end of Main Street, and the stage was ferried across. Mr. Brown says that on many a night, when late, he would find the boat tied up on the
. east side of the river, the ferryman having become tired of waiting and gone back in his canoe. He would drive on, take off his leaders and hitch them facing his wheel horses, and pole the boat across the river alone. Mr. Brown drove the first coach that came into Kalamazoo.
VILLAGES.
Burns' quaint truism, that " the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglie," receives no better illustration than is afforded by the fact that two village plats, regularly surveyed and recorded, now form part of cultivated fields, while the village of to-day occupies ground never specially set apart for village purposes.
Geloster .- On the 19th of November, 1832, Carlos Barnes, acting under the instructions of Isaac Barnes and James Porter, proprietors of the land, surveyed and made a plat of the village of Geloster, describing the same as situated upon the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of section 14. The name was derived from Col. Barnes' sons,-George, Carlos, and Lester.
The streets of Geloster running north and south were designated Broadway, Pearl, Pleasant, Walnut, and Kala- mazoo ; those running east and west, High, Centre, and Main. The surveyor, in an explanatory note, said, "The lots are 65 feet front by 116 feet back, except those front- ing on Main and Centre Streets; they are 77 feet front by 65 feet back, except lot No. 1 of section 9, which is 65 by 116 feet. Lots Nos. 5 and 10 of section 9 are 66 feet front by 116 feet back. The regular streets are all 66 feet wide, except Main, which is 80 feet wide.
" Broadway is 216 feet wide, and designed expressly for public buildings and other public uses."
At about this time Geloster post-office was established, Col. Barnes receiving the appointment of postmaster, which position he continued to hold until his removal from the township, in 1841. The name of the office was then changed to Richland, and the same removed to the hamlet then known as Gull Corners, Mumford Eldred, Jr., becom- ing postmaster.
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