History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 144

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 144

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).

favor of Jerome Fletcher, who had been his deputy, and he was accordingly appointed. The next incumbent was Thomas Finlay, son of Hugh Finlay. Within a short period subsequently, it was held by a number of persons. John Long and E. T. Trimmer have been among the later occupants, and the latter was succeeded in March, 1875, by Samuel Hawkins, who had been a second time appointed, and who still holds the position. Previous to July, 1879, Mr. Hawkins had been a justice of the peace for thirteen consecutive years. When, in 1872, the village was incor- porated and the name changed to Vicksburg, the name of the office was changed to. correspond. One cause for such a step lay in the fact that considerable trouble arose from the similarity of the name " Brady" to that of " Bradley," which latter was borne by another office in the State. But, even at present, some confusion results from the similarity of the abbreviations " Mich." and " Miss."

John S. Day, now of Vicksburg, is a son of Gordon Day, with whom he came to the county in September, 1834. The family stayed one night at Schoolcraft, and, proceeding the next day to Portage township, remained there through the winter. In 1835 they located in the township of Comstock. John S. Day has lived in Vicks- burg since 1868. His father died in 1862.

Henry Springer, now living on a place near the Rufus A. Royce farm, on section 19, Brady township. came to Vicksburg in 1849, from Genesee Co., N. Y., and moved upon the farm in 1854.

INCORPORATION OF VILLAGE, WITH LIST OF OFFICERS.

The village was incorporated, under the name of the " Village of Vicksburg," in 1872, by an order of the Board of Supervisors of Kalamazoo County, under the general charter for the incorporation of villages in the State of Michigan. The name " Vicksburg" was given to it by the board in honor of its founder and first settler, -" Honest John Vickers." This name was always pre- ferred by the citizens.

The records of the village seem to have been very loosely kept at first, and those for 1872 and 1873 cannot be found. Beginning with 1874, the officers of the village to 1879, inclusive, were as follows :

1874 .- President, A. J. Johnson ; Clerk, Isaac M. Flint; Trustees, T. Rayner, Sr., J. J. Howard, - Franklin, A. C. Odell, E. T. Trimmer, A. A. Holcomb; Treasurer, Manfred Hill (?) ; Marshal, J. S. Day. In November, 1874, D. P. Anderson was appointed trustee in place of Holcomb, and C. W. Cooley in place of Odell, the two persons succeeded having removed from the place.

1875 .- President, Andrew J. Johnson; Clerk, Isaac M. Flint ; Trus- tees, N. V. Jones (one year), T. Rayner, Sr , D. P. Anderson, M. Van Duzen (two years); Treasurer, John Long ; Marshal, J. S. Day; Street Commissioner, William Dent; Assessor, II. J. Daniels.

1876 .- President, A. W. Ingerson ; Clerk, J. Cunningham ; Trustees (two years), E. S. Briggs, J. J. Howard, Isaac M. Flint, Jr. ; Treasurer, Manfred Hill ; Street Commissioner, Tyler John- son ; Marshal, N. V. Jones ; Assessor, David Kimble. Trus- tee Flint removed, and in September, A. J. Johnson was chosen in his place.

1877 .- President, H. J. Daniels ; Clerk, W. B. Anderson ; Trustees, John Long, M. Van Duzen, L. H. French, T. B. Finlay, E. S. Briggs, J. J. Howard; Treasurer, Manfred Hill ; Assessor, R. Bishop ; Marshal, J. S. Day ; Street Commissioner, A. J. Johnson.

Photos. by Packard, Kalamazoo.

MRS. WILLIAM H. FOX.

WILLIAM H. FOX.

WILLIAM H. FOX, M.D.,

was born in Herkimer, N. Y., April 13, 1815. He received a common-school education. He studied medicine with Dr. Sill, of Livonia, and Dr. Bissell, of Genesee, and graduated at the Medical College at Fairfield, Herkimer Co. In the spring of 1840 he located at Churchville, Monroe Co. On July 16th, of that year, he married Martha W. Tisdale, at Genesee, N. Y., who was born in New Hamp- shire Oct. 7, 1813. Her parents died when she was a child. She was brought up by her uncle Ebenezer Wright, who was descended from Lord John Wright, Mayor of London, England.

After Dr. Fox married, he lived at Churchville four years, when he came to Schoolcraft, where he has since resided. He has had an extensive practice in his profession, and has taken a high rank. He has been a member of the State Medical Society for many years.

Dr. and Mrs. Fox have been active and consist- ent members of the Baptist Church for more than thirty years. They have one daughter,-Mrs. P. F. Pursel. Dr. Fox is of German extraction, genial and companionable, and respected and in- fluential.

527

TOWNSHIP OF SCHOOLCRAFT.

1878 .- President, Tyrrell Rayner ; Clerk, Willard B. Anderson ; Trus- tees (two years), John Cunningham, John F. Young, Robert Baker; Treasurer, Manfred Hill; Marshal, John S. Day; Assessor, Russell Bishop ; Street Commissioner, R. N. Moore. In May, 1878, A. J. Guilford was chosen trustee in place of John F. Young, resigned. Mr. Van Duzen also resigned during the year, and D. Kimble was chosen in his place. A. J. Sliter was appointed marshal in place of Day, resigned. 1879 .- President, John Long; Clerk, C. W. Bailey ; Trustees (two years), N. D. King, James Stratton, J. Oman ; Treasurer, Manfred Hill; Marshal, A. J. Sliter; Street Commissioner, F. Trivelpiece, resigned, and R. N. Moore appointed ; As- sessor, J. W. McElvain.

RAILROADS.

The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway was completed to Vicksburg, July 19, 1870, and the occasion was cele- brated by the citizens in an appropriate manner. Music was furnished by the village band, and salvos of artillery awoke the air, while the applause from the throats of citi- zens, including the small boys, rang out upon the air in " glad acclaim."

The " Peninsular Railway," now the " North western Grand Trunk," reached the place about 1871, and since Vicksburg became a railroad station it has grown remarkably, while excellent business buildings and numerous tasty residences have been erected. Considerable grain and stock are shipped from the station over the two roads. Among the many who have made substantial improvements, the name of John Long may be mentioned. He has erected two substantial brick blocks on the west side of Main Street, and fitted up a very convenient public hall. Several brick stores have been erected by other parties, and the business of the place is active and prosperous. The various mercantile establish- ments number 25 or more, and the village contains also a saw-mill, two flouring-mills (one operated by water and the other by steam), a planing-mill, a stave- and heading-factory, a windmill-factory, and a foundry recently put in operation. There are also the usual number and variety of shops.

NEWSPAPERS.

The Vicksburg Monitor was established in December, 1875, by C. W. Bailey & Brother, and first issued semi- weekly for one year in the shape of a six-column folio. It was then changed to a seven-column folio and issued weekly, and this plan has since been adhered to. The Messrs. Bai- ley continue as editors and publishers. The sheet is inde- pendent in politics, and has a circulation of something over 300. It is printed on a hand-press.

The Vicksburg Commercial, an eight-column folio sheet, issued weekly, was established Jan. 18, 1879, by Frederick W. Cross, from Centreville, St. Joseph Co. Politically it is independent ; it has a circulation of between 800 and 900. Mr. Cross also issues a paper called the Wakeshma Sentinel, edited (locally) by Rev. D. H. Reiter, of Wakeshma. It is printed in the office at Vicksburg. A hand-press of the " Washington" Hoe pattern is at present in use, but the office will soon be remodeled and its conveniences largely increased.

PHYSICIANS.

The physicians at present residing in Vicksburg are four in number, as follows:

Dr. Ezra Smith visited the locality in 1843, and pur- chased land on sections 9 and 10, in Brady township. He

was from the town of Clarendon, Orleans Co., N. Y. In April, 1846, he removed with his family and settled on his place in Brady, and in August, 1856, located in Vicksburg, which has since been his home.

Dr. Abner Caldwell had lived and practiced here several years before Dr. Smith came. Drs. Beebe and Hill were also here previous to Dr. Smith's arrival. Dr. Jones prac- ticed a year or two in the place at about the same time.

Dr. Norman A. Hill came to Michigan from Allegany Co., N. Y., and lived in Nottawa, St. Joseph Co., for a time previous to his coming to Vicksburg.

Dr. S. C. Van Antwerp, whose family was originally from the State of New York, removed to Vicksburg in the spring of 1878 from near Angola, Ind. His parents at present reside in Morenci, Lenawee Co., Mich.

Dr. George Newton also has an office in the place.

D. G. Holbrook was here in 1878, but has since removed to Illinois. Numerous others have located in the village at different times, but their sojourn was brief, and they sought more congenial fields.

The physician who has been longest in practice here is Dr. Hill, and Dr. Smith is next on the list.

SOCIETIES.

Brady Lodge, No. 208, F. and A. M .- On the 17th of December, 1866, 14 members of the lodge at Schoolcraft were demitted for the purpose of forming one at Vicksburg (or Brady, as it was then known), and on the 21st at the same month Brady Lodge was accordingly organized. Its first officers were John Baker, W. M. ; D. P. Anderson, S. W .; E. G. Deming, J. W. The second Master was E. G. Deming,* who held the position five or six years. The lodge-room is located on Prairie Street, in a building belonging to a stock company known as the "Social Sci- ence and Literary Association." The lower part of the building has the Red Ribbon club-rooms, and the upper part is occupied by the Masons, Odd-Fellows, and Patrons of Husbandry. The present membership of Brady Lodge is about 70 (Nov. 20, 1879, it was 68). The officers are William Kimble, W. M .; E. A. Strong, S. W .; Myron Gleason, J. W .; C. C. Draper, Sec .; Z. N. Robinson, Treas. ; Ransom Kimble, S. D .; Samuel Oman, J. D .; Myron Winters, Tyler.

Vicksburg Lodge, No. 94, 1. O. of O. F., was instituted in the fall of 1873. Its first Noble Grand was L. H. Fort. The present membership is about 40, and the following are the officers : J. E. Parr, N. G. ; Daniel Sherman, P. G .; John S. Day, V. G .; William Sexton, Rec. Sec .; Samuel Fisk, Per. Sec. ; Preston Axtell, Treas. Its rooms, as men- tioned above, are in the building on Prairie Street occupied by the various other societies.

SCHOOLS.t

School districts Nos. 1 and 2, in the then township of Brady, were formed early in 1837. The former, organ-

# Mr. Deming came to the village in the winter of 1856-57.

t The first school in the township was taught in the summer of 1831, in a log building, on the farm of Richard Holmes, one mile west of Nathan Cobb's, by the latter's daughter, Mary Ann Cobb, who died in the fall of 1833. The house had been erected for a Mr. Met- calf, who had come in the spring of 1831, and owned what was after- wards the Henry Breese farm, south of Mr. Cobb's, now the farm of the Cox brothers. The school was a private one.

528

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

ized on the 7th of February, included sections 17, 18, 19, and 20, in what is now Schoolcraft township, covering the village of Schoolcraft. District No. 2 included sections 16 and 21, the southwest quarter of section 15, and the west half of section 22. Benjamin Taylor and Isaac Briggs were the school commissioners.

Before this time, however, schools had been taught in various places in the neighborhood. Rev. T. W. Merrill taught in the winter of 1830-31 at Insley's Corners, in Prairie Ronde township, that being the first attempt at having a school by the settlers in the vicinity. In the winter of 1831-32 a bargain was made with E. Lakin Brown to teach a school in the Joel Clark neighborhood, in the northcast corner of Prairie Ronde township, but be- fore the time arrived for him to begin his labors the posi- tion was given to an old man, and the school began before the day agreed upon with Mr. Brown. About 1832 a school was kept in the village of Schoolcraft, in a small frame building afterwards used by Frederick Hatch as a hat-shop.

James Smith, Jr., of the firm of Smith, Huston & Co., built a small office, in which school was taught quite early by Mrs. Thomas (sister to E. L. Brown), and also by a man named Brown, a graduate of Cambridge University, and a very intelligent man. This building is yet standing.

About 1846 an institution known as the " Cedar Park Female Seminary" was founded at Schoolcraft by Rev. William Taylor, then pastor of the Baptist Church at that place. The work was paid for from Mr. Taylor's private funds, and the school for some time was one of the best in the western part of the State. Considerable uncertainty now exists as to who was the first teacher, some asserting that it was Esther P. Straw and others that another person was in charge earlier. The lady mentioned was a graduate from New Hampton Seminary, New Hampshire, who came West under the auspices of Governor Slade, of Vermont, and remained in charge of Cedar Park Seminary a little over a year. Young ladies only were then received as pupils. "Father Taylor," as he was called, often visited the school. Mrs. Smith, a widow, took charge after Miss Straw returned to her home in Manchester, N. H., and also remained about a year. Several subsequent attempts to establish a school were unsuccessful, until, in the fall of 1849, Miss Mary A. Barrett, of Windsor, Vt., also a grad- uate of the New Hampton Seminary, opened a school, to which she admitted all ages and both sexes, and soon had a flourishing institution. In the fall of 1850 she secured as assistants Mrs. Kedzie, wife of Dr. Kedzie, of the State Agricultural College, and Miss M. A. Miles, now Mrs. E. L. Brown. The school was at this time very prosperous. In the spring of 1851, Miss Barrett was married to Edmund Fish, who had graduated from the State University as a member of its first class,-that of 1845. Mr. Fish and his wife conducted the school with great success, and had at times as many as 130 or 140 pupils. During the early part of their administration, in 1852, "Father Taylor" died. Previous to his death he had conveyed the sem- inary property to the trustees of the Kalamazoo College, under whose auspices the school was continued for more than twenty years. In the spring of 1868 the property was purchased by School District No. 4, of Schoolcraft,

including the seminary building and 2 acres of ground, for the sum of $2200. In September of the same year it was voted to raise $10,000 by issuing district bonds to pay for the grounds and build a new school-house, to be used as a " union" or graded-school building. In March, 1869, it was voted to raise an additional like sum, issue more bonds, and appoint a building committee. The old building was, however, repaired at considerable cost, and used for a few years. Finally, after numerous plans for a new building had been submitted, one by architect G. P. Randall, of Chicago, was adopted, and the house erected in 1871, being dedicated on Tuesday, December 5th, of that year. It was 50 by 60 feet in dimensions and three stories high, with a basement. Its seating capacity was something more than 400. The same bell was placed in it that had been in use nearly thirty years in the old Cedar Park Seminary. In January, 1872, but little more than a month after the new building had been opened for use, it was almost totally destroyed by fire, a portion of the walls only being left standing. The familiar tones of the old bell were heard no more, for it was melted out of shape amid the mass of fire in which it lay after its fall from the belfry. The old school-house, Merrill Hall, and a room over Knight & Vickery's store were fitted up for temporary use, and with the insurance-money a second union school building was erected on the site of the former one, part of the walls of the first entering into the new structure. Some improve- ments were made, and the house was finished so that school was opened in the fall of 1872. It is a sightly building, and stands in the eastern part of the village.

The present board of trustees in the Schoolcraft district (now No. 4) consists of the following persons, viz. : John Earl, Jerome T. Cobb, Dr. J. W. Briggs, Dr. B. Barnum, William T. Smith, and Gilbert Stuart. The teachers for the school year of 1879-80 are the following: Mr. Graves, Principal ; Mrs. Kniss, Assistant ; Miss Josephine Penham, Grammar Department ; Miss V. Burgess, Intermediate De- partment; Mrs. Caroline Pursel and Miss Miller, Primary Department.

At Vicksburg a log school-house was built at some date previous to 1844, on the ground now occupied by the resi- dence of Dr. Ezra Smith, in the southeast part of the vil- lage, immediately west of the township line. Some time between 1844 and 1850 it was replaced by a frame build- ing. Probably the first teacher in the log school-house was Miss Laura Royce, daughter of Rufus A. Royce. In the winter of 1854-55, Dr. Ezra Smith taught in the one-story frame building then in use,-the same which is now used as a store-house near the railway station. The doctor had previously taught for several years in Brady township. In 1869 a union school district was organized, trustees were elected, and the construction of a new school-house was at once begun. This building is of brick, two stories in height, and cost about $6000. The present school board is as follows : Mottram Hill, Moderator ; O. B. Dunning, Director; John Long, Assessor; A. J. Johnson, Howard Cook. The sixth place is vacant owing to the removal of James Kenyon. The teachers are : Principal, L. L. Perrin ; Preceptress, Miss Ida A. Mosher ; First Intermediate De- partment, Miss Phebe Nottley ; Second Intermediate De-

TOWNSHIP OF SCHOOLCRAFT.

529

partment, Miss Esther Briggs; First Primary Department, Miss Lucy Hill.

John Long, the present assessor of the school board and a prominent merchant in the village, has been connected with the board about twelve years. He came to the neigh- borhood of the village about 1851, and in 1860 or 1861 entered the store of Russell Bishop,-the same now owned by David T. Miller,-at the southwest corner of Main and Prairie Streets. Mr. Long afterwards purchased the estab- lishment, but is now located near the middle of the block on the same side of the street.

The following table is from the latest report of the town- ship school inspectors, and shows the condition of the schools at the time it was made,-Sept. 1, 1879 :

Number of districts (whole, 6; fractional, 3) 9

" " children of school age.

710

Attendance during the year. 687

Number of days school taught 1447

" school-houses (brick, 4; frame, 5) " sittings

940

Value of property $31,650 Number of teachers employed (male, 8; female, 23) .. 31

Wages paid teachers (male, $1880.75; female, $2726.12)

$4,606.87

Total resources for year (except Fractional Dis- trict No. 1, not reporting). $10,229.48 Amount on hand, Sept. 1, 1879. 964.61

Total expenditures, less amount on hand ... $9,264.87

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.

The early religious services in the township and through- out the region were held by traveling missionaries, wherever a convenient place could be found, and, after the settlers in- creased in numbers sufficiently, societies were organized and meetings held in school-houses or other places until suitable houses of worship could be erected.

Presbyterian Church, Schoolcraft .*- On the 28th day of April, 1844, a Congregational Church was organized in Schoolcraft by Rev. John S. Kidder, who had held religious services in the place since the 21st of October previous. The church at its organization consisted of ten members. Solomon Grant and Albert Dwelly were chosen deacons. Before the close of the year the number had increased to 25. Services were first held in the school-house, and sub- sequently in the hall of the public-house until it was burned.

Rev. Mr. Kidder left in the autumn of 1846. From the close of his labors the church was without the regular ministrations of the gospel until the employment of Rev. Hollis Russell, the time of whose coming the record does not state, but probably in the fall of 1848. On the 21st of April, 1849, at a meeting of the Congregational Church of Schoolcraft, regularly held at their usual place of wor- ship, a resolution was introduced to change the form of its government from Congregational to Presbyterian. Pend- ing the discussion of the resolution, a member of the church with strong Congregational proclivities, and tena- cious of the rights and usages of the denomination to which he belonged, and not being able, perhaps, to avoid the con- viction that the adoption of the resolution was a foregone conclusion, asked a letter of dismission, to unite with the

Congregational Church of Kalamazoo, which was granted without a dissenting voice, after which the resolution was unanimously adopted. Thus came into being the First Presbyterian Church of Schoolcraft. Before adjournment, Daniel C. Briggs and Anthony Styles were elected ruling elders in this church. At a meeting regularly held on the 30th day of April, the same year, Abner Dwelly and F. M. Tompkins were chosen to serve as deacons. On the same day, after the sermon, Daniel C. Briggs and Anthony Styles were ordained to the office of ruling elder, and F. M. Tompkins to the office of deacon. Why Mr. Dwelly (spelled also Dwella) was not at the same time set apart to the office to which he had been elected does not appear in the record. On the same day Rev. H. Russell and Daniel C. Briggs were appointed a committee to prepare a constitution for the church, and on the 14th day of May following reported a constitution of fifteen sections and forty articles, which was accepted and adopted by the church.

The first meeting of the season was held April 30, 1849, Rev. H. Russell moderator, at which time Mr. John Gault and Mrs. Jane Gault, his wife, were received on certificate from the Ninth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia ; on the 4th of May there were other accessions to the church, and on the 14th day of the same month, after the adop- tion of the " long constitution," Mr. John Gault and Mr. J. F. Murray were elected elders, and Mr. James Bates deacon. On the 10th of June following, by appropriate services, Mr. Gault and Mr. Bates were set apart to their respective offices, Mr. Murray having been previously or- dained to the eldership in another church. In May, 1849, twenty persons were received into the fellowship of the church, the largest accession had at any one time since its organization.

In 1848 or 1849 one of the four villages designed as a public common was leased to the Presbyterian society for church purposes for the term of ninety-nine years, and in 1850 a very respectable and commodious house of worship was erected, which is at this time in a very good state of preservation, and is still used by the Presbyterian Church and congregation, though by the growth of the town in other directions the location is no longer one of its central points.

Mr. Russell continued his labors with this church from the time it became Presbyterian, in 1849, until his death, which occurred in August, 1850. . . . Rev. A. L. Payson succeeded Mr. Russell, and served the church and congre- gation as stated supply from January, 1851, to January, 1856, a period of five years. . .. From April, 1856, to November, 1857, the congregation was favored with the ministrations of Rev. Seth Smalley, a period of one year and six months. His successor was Rev. Preston Taylor, who served the congregation as stated supply from January, 1858, to January, 1861, a term including three years. On the 20th day of September, almost nine months after the commencement of his labors with the church, Mr. Taylor enters this minute in the session book : "This day (Sept. 20, 1858) this record came into my hands. It appears that none of the doings or acts of the church have been recorded since October, 1858." During the last part of Mr. Payson's administration, the whole of Mr. Smalley's,

* From the centennial historical sermon delivered by the pastor, Rev. E. M. Toof, in 1876, with additional information to date (1879).

530

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

and the intervening vacancies, the session was not careful to keep its record. For three years the history of this church is a blank and cannot now be recovered. During the last year and a half of Mr. Taylor's service there is no record, the last entry having been made July 3, 1859.

After Mr. Taylor came Rev. Martin Post, whose term of service began in September, 1861, and continued to Sep- tember, 1865, a period of four years. After a vacancy of three months Rev. E. J. Stewart became the incumbent of the pulpit, which he occupied from January, 1866, to August of the same year. In March, 1867, Rev. William G. Hubbard was called as stated supply, and continued his labors with the congregation till March, 1869, a period of two years. At the coming of Mr. Hubbard the member- ship of the church was 25, which was increased during his stay to 29 by accessions on certificate. Several months after the removal of Mr. Hubbard, Rev. J. W. McGregor accepted a call from the church and congregation to serve them as stated supply, and entered on his labors Sept. 1, 1869, and continued until March, 1873, a period of three years and six months. ... Of the doings of the session in 1870 there is no record. On the 1st day of January, 1871, the session record their sorrow at the death of Alex- ander McCall, who had long and faithfully served in the capacity of ruling elder. At the very next meeting of the session, April 16th, they are bowed in bitterness as they record the death of another elder, Mr. Enos Miller, who had acceptably served the church for the term of six years. From this time the strength of the church began to decline, and by removals and death became so reduced that in 1873 it numbered less than 20 resident members. . . . In May, 1873, an invitation was extended to the present incumbent, Rev. E. M. Toof, to become stated supply, which was ac- cepted, and he entered on his labors with the congregation July 1, 1873. ... In three years the membership had more than doubled, and the Sabbath-school was in a more flourishing condition than at any previous time.

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 144

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