History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 11

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434

USA > Michigan > Kent County > History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 11

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).

1841-3

Lucius Lyon. .

1843-5

Robert McClelland.

1843-9

James B. Hunt. .

1843-7

John S. Chipman

1845-7

Charles E. Stuart.

1847-9

Kinsley S. Bingham

1849-51

Alex. W. Buel ..

1849 51

William Sprague

1849-50

Charles E. Stuart.

1851-3

James L. Conger.

1851-3

Ebenezer J. Penniman.

1851-3

Samuel Clark.

1853-5

David A. Noble. 1853-5

Hester L. Stevens. 1853-5

David Stuart ..

1853-5

George W. Peck.

1855-7

Wm. A. Howard.

1855-61

Henry Waldron. .

1855-61

David S. Walbridge

1855-9

D. C. Leach.

1857-61

Francis W. Kellogg. 1859-65

B. F. Granger.

1861-3

F. C. Beaman.

1861-71

R. E. Trowbridge.

1861-3

Charles Upson

1863-9

111

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

John W. Longyear. 1863-7

John F. Driggs

1863-9

Nathan B. Bradley

1873-7

R. E. Trowbridge. .. .1865-9

Jay A. Hubbell. 1873

Thomas W. Ferry

1869-71

W. B. Williams.

1875-7

Austin Blair. 1867-73

Alpheus S Williams. 1875-9

Wm. L. Stoughton. 1869-73

Mark S. Brewer. . 1877

Omar D. ( onger.

1869-81

Randolph Strickland. 1869-71

Edwin W. Keightley 1877-9

Henry Waldron. 1871-5

Jonas H. McGowan 1877

Wilder D. Foster. 187 .- 3

John W. Stone 1877

Jabez G Sutherland.

1871-3

Edwin Willits.

.1877

Moses W. Field.

1873-5

George Willard.

1875-7

John S. Newberry . 1879

The State printing is done by contract, the contractors for the last 13 years being W. S. George & Co. (Geo. Jerome), the former the active partner, who also publishes and edits the Lansing Re- publican, a paper noted for originality, condensation and careful " make-up."

TOPOGRAPHY.

Michigan is a little southeast of the center of the continent of North America, and with reference to all the resources of wealth and civilization is most favorably situated. It is embraced between the parallels of 41º.692 and 47º.478 north latitude, and the merid- ians of 82°.407 and 90°.536 west of Greenwich. The upper peninsula has its greatest extent east and west, and the lower, north and south. The extreme length of the upper peninsula is 318 miles, and its extreme breadth, 1642 miles; its area, 22,580 square miles. The length of the lower peninsula is 277 miles, its width, 259 miles, and its area, 33,871 square miles. The upper peninsula is rngged and rocky, affording scarcely anything but minerals as a source of wealth; the lower is level, covered with forests of valuable timber, and is excellent for all the products of Northern States.

The total length of the lake shore is 1,620 miles, and there are over 5,000 smaller lakes in the States, having a total area of 1,114 square miles.

RETROSPECT.

And now, how natural to turn our eyes and thoughts back to the log-cabin days of less than 50 years ago, and contrast it with the elegant mansion of modern times. Before us stands the old log cabin. Let us enter. Instinctively the head is uncovered in token of reverence to this relic of ancestral beginnings and early struggles. To the left is the deep, wide fire place, in whose commodions space a group of children may sit by the fire and up through the chimney may count the stars, while ghostly stories of witches and giants, and still more thrilling stories of Indians and wild beasts, are whisperingly told and shudderingly heard. On the great crane hang the old tea-kettle and the great iron pot. The huge shovel and tongs stand sentinel in either corner, while the great andirons

Roswell G. Horr. 1879

Julius C. Burrows 1873-5, 1879

Josiah W. Begole. 1873-5

Charles C. Ellsworth 1877-9

112

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

patiently wait for the huge back log. Over the fire-place hangs the trusty rifle. On the right side of the fire place stands the spin- ning-wheel, while in the further end of the room the loom looms up with a dignity peculiarly its own. Strings of drying apples and poles of drying pumpkin are overhead. Opposite the door by which you enter stands a huge deal table; by its side the dresser whose " pewter plates" and "shining delf" catch and reflect " tlie fireplace flame as shields of armies do the sunshine." From the corner of its shelves coyly peep out the relics of former china. In a curtained corner and hid from casual sight we find the mother's bed, and under it the trundle-bed, while near thein a ladder indi- cates the loft where the older children sleep. To the left of the fire- place and in the corner opposite the spinning-wheel is the mother's work-stand. Upon it lies the Holy Bible, evidently much used, its family record telling of parents and friends a long way off, and telling, too, of children

Scattered like roses in bloom, Some at the bridal, and some at the tomb.

Her spectacles, as if but just used, are inserted between the leaves of her Bible, and tell of her purpose to return to its comforts when cares permit and duty is done. A stool, a bench, well notched and whittled and carved, and a few chairs complete the furniture of the room, and all stand on a coarse but well-scoured floor. Let us for a moment watch the city visitors to this humble cabin. The city bride, innocent but thoughtless, and ignorant of labor and care, asks her city-bred husband, "Pray what savages set this up?" Honestly confessing his ignorance, he replies, "I do not know." But see the pair on whom age sits "frosty but kindly." First, as they enter they give a rapid glance about the cabin home, and then a mutual glance of eye to eye. Why do tears start and fill their eyes? Why do lips quiver? There are many who know why, but who that has not learned in the school of experience the full mnean- ing of all these symbols of trials and privation, of loneliness and danger, can comprehend the story that they tell to the pioneer? Within this chinked and mud-daubed cabin, we read the first pages of our history, and as we retire through its low doorway, and note the heavy battened door, its wooden hinges, and its welcoming latch-string, is it strange that the scenes without should seein to be but a dream? But the cabin and the palace, standing side by side in vivid contrast, tell the story of this people's progress. They are a history and prophecy in one.

Pix Johnson,

FIRST WHITE AMERICAN OF KENT CO.

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

INTRODUCTION.

Prior to entering upon a historical inquiry, or rather a consider- ation of the men who raised up this county from its wilderness state, and the means employed to effect the great work, it may not be inappropriate to refer to the value of local history. It is the duty of the present to commemorate the past, to perpetuate the names of the pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settle- ment and to relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age and this solemn duty which men of the present time owe to their ancestors, to them- selves and to their posterity, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In local history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe vessel, in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the great old men, who in their prime entered the wild forests of America and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number remaining who can relate the history of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preservation of historical matter without delay, before the settlers of the wilderness are cut down by Time. Not only is it of the greatest importance to render history of pioneer times full and accurate, but it is also essential that the history of the county, from its settlement to the present day, should be treated through its various phases, so that a record, complete and impartial, may be handed down to the future. If this information is not now collated and compiled in historical form, the generations of the future will be called upon to expend large sums of money in research and exploration. The present, the age of progress, is reviewed, standing out in bold relief over the quiet, unostentatious olden times ; it is a brilliant record which is destined to live in the future; the good works of men, their magnificent enterprises, their lives, whether commercial or mili- tary, do not sink into oblivion, but, on the contrary, grow brighter with age, and contribute to build up a record which carries with it precedents and principles that will be advanced and observed when the acts of soulless men will be forgotten, and their very

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116

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

names hidden in their graves. History entwines itself with the names of the notorious as well as with the illustrious. Wherever the former are held up for scorn, and the latter for the admiration of men, the pen of impartiality may be traced ; for never yet was the writer true to his conscience or to his duty who clothed the wolf in the fleece of the lamb, or made a hero out of a coward.

In the pages devoted to the history of Kent county the useful man and his work will have that prominence to which his physical and moral courage entitle him. It is a necessity that the unstained names of such men be transmitted ; because many of them, whose lives made material for this work, have passed into eternity ; others stand on the brink of the grave. Those who have joined the majority, as well as those who are soon to go to the better land, have done good service, claiming at last that their posterity should be reminded of their fidelity and profit by their examples.

To give effect to this desire is the aim of the writer. Turning over the records of the county, nothing of moment has been left unnoticed. Beyond these records all that is legendary has been examined and utilized. Although a full co-operation was extended by the old settlers, yet a great difficulty presented itself in the loss of the public records, which nothing but earnest, unceasing research could overcome. Success waited on such efforts, and resulted in bringing forth from their hiding places many valuable papers upon which to base accounts of early times. Many of the surviving old settlers were interviewed by the writer, and from their reminiscences of olden times, as related, a good deal of all that is historically valuable, in the pages of the history, was col- lated.

Now, it must be borne in mind that not every historical event is given in what we distinguish as the general history of the county. Nothing has been inserted in this department which does not belong to the county at large, instead of being exclusively confined to one neighborhood, township, village, or the city. Beginning with the history of geological formations, archaeological dis- coveries and physical features, the chapter is succeeded by a full account of Indian and pioneer times, the story of American settle- ment, organization, military events, and other chapters necessary to form a complete general history. This section of the work is followed by the various chapters devoted to local history and biography. No effort has been spared to render this portion of the work reliable. Unlike the history of the State, county, city, and towns, biography is the work of many men, whose notes were transcribed, re-transcribed, and submitted to the persons immedi- ately concerned, for correction or revision, so that if a literary error occurs it must be credited to the person who gave the bio- graphical sketch in the first instance. Printers often make grave errors which no foresight can prevent ; therefore if typographical errors do appear, let justice guide the critic to sympathize with the children of progress at the printer's case, and deal lightly with the excesses of the typo's art. With this introduction to the gen- eral history of the county, we will first consider its geology.

CHAPTER I.

GEOLOGY, ARCHÆOLOGY, ETC.

GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.

In tracing the geological history of the county it will be only necessary to revert to the era when the accumulated sediments of the ocean were being formed into masses of rock. Geology teaches that the continents of the world were once beneath the ocean. It is natural, therefore, to suppose that there are inequalities in the bottom of the ocean like those on the land. The recent deep-sea soundings confirm this opinion, and reveal mountains and hills, valleys and table-land. The greatest depth reached in sounding is 29,000 feet, which exceeds the height of the loftiest mountain of the Himalayas. Some of the mountains in the sea are steeper and more abrupt than any on the land. In the British channel the depth changes within ten miles from 600 to 12,000 feet; and it is very common, within a few miles of the coast of continents and islands, for the depth to change suddenly from a few hundred feet to many thousand. In other cases, as in a large part of the bed of the Atlantic between Europe and the United States, there are plateaux extending hundreds of miles with very slight undulations. The mysterious race that once occupied this continent may have sailed in their galleons over this Peninsula, and sounded the depths of the waters which rose above it in precisely the same man- ner as the mariner of to-day casts out the sounding line. At the close of the Corniferous epoch a great upheaval of sea bottom formed a line of land across the southern counties of Michigan, which extended to an older and wider formation in the south part of Ohio. The land, now within the boundaries of Kent, if not all that comprised in the counties laid off between 1829 and 1836, was still submerged ; but by degrees the southern belt rose higher, spread out toward the northern continent, and was actually approaching the state of dry land at the beginning of the coal- deposit era. At its close Kent and the counties bordering formed the highlands of the Lower Peninsula. It is stated that Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario were not in existence then, their places being represented by a swift running river, with expansions. The great geological age, the Mesozoic, dates from this time. It was marked by activity in the animal and vegetable

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118

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

kingdoms, mild climates, and the myriads of reptiles which swarmed in rivers and over lands. Save in the fossils there is no record of the progress of this age to be found within the bound- aries of Kent. The Tertiary period succeeded the Mesozoic. It was an age of beautiful climates, and high development of mam- mals. Animals greater than the mastodon roamed over the land, through verdant forests, meeting their enemy, man, and ulti- mately disappearing under his continued attacks.

The scene was changed; the snow and ice came on, burying all nature in its whiteness, and robbing the land of life. It was the beginning of the Glacial period. The duration of this age is lost in mystery. Were it possible to ignore the work of a God in the formation of the world, the continuance of the ice age might be set down at two thousand years; acknowledging a Divine economy in the handiwork of the world, the period of its duration might have been an incredibly short time. Spring time came, and with it the sea of ice, which covered land and water to a depth of over 5,000 feet, began to break up and dissolve, and the solids held within its grasp fell down and formed a bed of rocky frag- ments or boulder drift. The countless currents which sprang into existence and formed for themselves ten thousand channels, were the principal agents in the conformation of that peculiar stratum known as the "Modified Drift." Referring to this period the geologist Winchell says :

"In due time a change of climate, dissolving the glacier, origi- nated torrents of water which imparted an imperfect stratification. to the superficial portion of the drift materials. There was, per- haps, a subsidence which buried the whole State again beneath the waters of the ocean. Whether this were so or not, the great val- leys excavated by Mesozoic and glacier agencies were left filled with the water, which either was originally, or in time became, fresh water. The breadth of the great lakes exceeded vastly their present dimensions. The barrier to the outlet of the great lake waters had not yet been worn down at the present mouth of the Niagara river, and the water set back as one continuous lake from the bluffs at Lewiston to Monroe-to Detroit -- to Chicago."

From Saginaw Bay to Lake Michigan, via the valleys of the Shiawassee, Maple and Grand rivers, a great channel, deep and wide, extended. South of this line barriers existed that checked the flow of the waters south, and from hundreds of reservoirs. This accumulation of ice-water and the second season of ice re- sulted in the formation of another glacial field, differing from the great glacier in its depth and duration, being not over four feet in thickness. Along the borders of those reservoirs the ice became an integral part of the shore soil, of course including the lime- stone; and when the second geological spring-time arrived, mill- ions of cubic feet of water were added to these lakes, resulting in bursting asunder their green covering of ice, which, in ascending, carried with it the limestone tables, and, as the waters fell, deposited them in the positions which they hold to-day. As the

119

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

Niagara rock was worn down, the rushing waters made for them- selves deeper channels, the inland lakes lowered just in propor- tion as the great lakes. The present river system was laid out by nature.

In the following pages the structural and economical geology of the county is treated as concisely as the subject will allow. The fossiliferous, ferruginous sandstone formation of the Staté may be said to reach its thinnest stratum at Grand Rapids. This com- prised the following subdivisions: Thirty feet of coarse quartzose, yellowish gray sand rock; 15 feet of brown sand rock, with marine fossils; a short green rock with fossils and ferruginous spots rest- ing on a bed of hard, gray sand rock, one foot in depth. A dingy green, fine-grained sandstone, interstratified with sandstone, slate and a blue, shaly clay, supports the upper strata and is from 15 to 20 feet in depth. This rests in turn upon the yellow sand rock of a marine fossiliferous character, 20 feet in depth, and all based upon the fine-grained sand rock, slightly saturated.

The gypsum and coarse-grained sandstones peculiar to the Kent formations point out their saliferous character, though the creation of fissures in the sand rock has caused an almost total drain of brine conducing to exhaust the saturation of the rock, and lead the saline waters to other basins.

The black bituminous shales known as the Huron shales and flagstones are found in Kent. In sinking the Butterworth salt well this shale was penetrated to a depth of 59 feet; and again in the boring for the Lyon well it was found to reach a depth of 214 feet. The rock is laminated, bituminous, pyritiferous and dark blue or black in color. The outcrop of the Napoleon sand- stone, near Grandville, in Kent county, on the northwest bank of Grand river, is about 100 feet in depth, separated from the Mar- shall rock by a bed of clay from 10 to 15 feet in thickness.

The Carboniferous limestone of Kent county is the best known formation in the State. The rock along the rapids at the county seat is calcareous, with an arenaceous composition peculiar to the lower strata. Prof. Winchell, in his reference to this outcrop, states: This formation of Carboniferous limestone is best known at Grand Rapids, where the river has a fall of 18 feet in a dis- tance of two miles. The rock here exhibits gentle undulations, but the resultant dip is slightly toward the northeast. It occurs in generally thin, irregular beds, which are considerably broken up, and embrace frequent partings of argillaceous and bituminous matter. In composition it is eminently calcareous; but in the lower portion arenaceous matter gradually gains preponderance, and belts and patches of the same material are irregularly distrib- uted through the formation. In the upper part of the exposure is a belt five feet thick of red ferruginous, arenaceous limestone. The thickness of the formation below this is 51 feet, while the thick- ness above is probably less than that below. The portion of the formation below the ferruginous stratum contains numerous

120

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

geodes, filled with brown and white dog-tooth spar, brown pear spar, rhombic calcareous spar, selenite anhydrate, aragonite and pyrites.

This formation is common in other parts of Kent county. Ex- tending through Ada and Cannonsburg, it may be traced north to the Muskegon rapids. Its southern extension underlies the townships of Walker, Paris and Gaines, and terminates in the ex- posure on section 13, Summit, Jackson Co., where it exposes its true formation. This may be shown in the following record:

Sandstone, red, calcareous, highly shattered, breaking into wedge-shaped fragments with conchoidal surfaces, changing to limestone, highly ferruginous, brecciated in places, containing nodules of chert. The first stratum is 10 feet in depth and the lat- ter four feet. This rests on a bed of limestone two feet thick, are- naceous, brecciated, shattered, with thin layers of a sandy and greenish character. The whole exterior of some of the blocks is covered with a thick, loose coating of the same material. The upper surface is undulating but smoothed, as if by water, before the superior layers were deposited. Three of a crystalline, sili- cious, bluish-gray limestone, compact in form with crystals of dog- tooth spar, underlie the three described strata. The sandstone referred to at the beginning of the record is the dividing layer between the upper and lower portions of the rock.

THE MICHIGAN SALT GROUP

appears outcropping near Grand Rapids, in Wyoming township. Here, as has been stated, the Napoleon sandstone is exposed, and is succeeded capitally by saliferous shales, intercalated beds of gypsum and magnesian limestone, known to attain a depth of 184 feet. On the north side of the river opposite section 3, Wyo- ming township, is the gypsum bluff, 80 feet above the river, containing extensive gypsum deposits. In the boring on the banks of the Grand river, section 3, township 6 north, range 12 west, which was begun July 8, 1838, and finished in 1842, when it reached a depth of 473 feet, the stratification given in the follow- ing table was found to exist. In respect to this well, it must be remembered that after Dr. Houghton went forth on that fatal tour to Lake Superior, John Ball was placed in charge of the State works at Grand Rapids. It is the impression of Mr. Ball that un- der his direction the State well was bored to a depth of 700 or 723 feet. Michael Carroll was the blacksmith at the works.

121

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

THE WELL OF 1838-'42.

STRATA.

AT A DEPTH OF

INTERVENING 'THICKNESS.

FORMATIONS.

Alluvial soil, 512 feet clay, then sand and gravel

Clay, gypsum. 612 feet.

Ł-

Very hard rock, supposed to be limestone.

Clay and slate alternately, with 15 inches hard rock. several times recurring in the lower four feet.

Sand rock, hard. At depth of 68 feet a spring of brackish water, cavity three inches. Sand rock continuing ; softer, with numerous cavities; brine strengthening ; rock harder at! 104 feet ..

109

Mixture of clay and sand, quite hard.

170

Clay slate.

179

Hard sand rock, 19 feet ; cavities, water very salt; soft sand rock at 204-244 feet ; very hard at 245, 246 ; soft 247, 248. At 265 fect profuse flow of brine, and increasing to 284 feet. .

184

101

Blue clay

285

Common sand rock.

287

Ash-colored clay and sand rock, about equal parts.

307

Sand rock, quite hard.

331

159

Clay rock. Water doubled at 361, and somewhat stronger. From 417-421 very soft, like blue clay, then a few black gravel stones, then shale ..

343

130

Clay rock continuing

473

No. ft. No. f.

No. ft.

123

The foregoing record is taken from the report of Dr. Douglass Houghton, under whose direction the first salt wells in the State were bored. Another salt well, put down under the direction of Lucius Lyon, was begun January, 1840, and finished Dec. 25, 1842. This was sunk near the Bridge street viaduct; the record was kept by Lucius Lyon and from it the following descriptions of the strata are compiled:

122

HISTORY OF KENT COUNTY.

WELL OF 1840-'42.

STRATA.

AT DEPTH OF

INTERVENING

TIHOKNESS IN

FEET.

DEPTH OF

FORMATIONS.

Lime rock, lower nine feet geodiferous.

Yellow sand rock, probably lower arenaceous beds of the limestone

Blue clay.

Coarse, reddish sand rock.

Argillaceous beds interstratified with gypseous deposits

Very hard, sharp gritted, bluish sand rock. At 76 feet, fresh spring.

Clay rock. First indications of salt.

Argillaceous beds, sometimes sandy, sometimes gypseous.

100

Hard sand rock, water lime.

179

Clay rock.

180

171

Sandrock, varying from dark and hard to white and soft, 199 feet ; dark blue, 216 feet ; coarse, loose and reddish 248 feet ; cavity of six inches, and great spring of water at 26414 feet. Clay rock, intermixed with fine particles of sand.

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History of Kent County, Michigan, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 11

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1434

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Chapman, Charles C., & Co. (Chicago)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : C.C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1434