History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 10

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M. M. McManus .. Ireland .. Green Oak, Dec. 1844.

Edward G. McPherson . Born in Howell, March, 1845.

S. M. Yerkes Pennsylvania ... Howell, May, 1845.

James Harger

New York

..... Marion, May, 1846.

Arthur F. Field.

.. Cohoctah, Nov. 1846.

Abram Switz.

.. Oceola, May, 1847

Egbert F. Albright ...

. Hartland, March, 1848.

William L. Wells

. Howell, June, 1849.

John W. Ingraham .. ...

...... Tyrone, March, 1850.

THE LIVINGSTON COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.

This organization-the predecessor of the pres- ent society of the same name -- was formed in the year 1842, but no account of the proceedings on the occasion of its formation have been found. The first president, however, was the Rev. Jona- than Post.

The annual meeting of the society for 1843 was held at the Presbyterian meeting-house, in Howell, on Tuesday, the twenty-fourth day of January. In the absence of the president, William Noble, Jr. (one of the vice-presidents), was called to the chair, and Josiah Turner was appointed secretary pro tem. The following were then elected officers of the society for the ensuing year, namely :

President, Rev. Jonathan Post ; Secretary, Josiah Turner; Treasurer, A. L. Hill; Executive Com- Hosted by

Elisha W. Grant.

Robert Whitacre.

Mrs. N. Field ..

William R. Cobb.

: . Iosco, February, 1837.

Alanson P. Dickinson .... New York H. B. Rathbun Cyrenus Morgan .. 66

Deerfield, April, 1837.

Thomas B. Brooks.

Daniel Person.

Parley H. Sexton. Edward F. Gay. Mylo L. Gay

Edwin B. Winans. 66 . Unadilla, June, 1836.

Neil O'Hearn

November, 1841.

New York .. ... Deerfield, May, 1839. L. E. Riddle.

August, 1836. Peter Brewer

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

mittee, Rev. N. G. Chase, Rev. Mr. Cochran, E. F. Gay, Joseph B. Skilbeck, and William McPherson; Vice-Presidents, Isaac Smith, of Green Oak; John G. Horton, of Hartland; William Noble, Jr., of Brighton; Dillis Dexter, of Tyrone; James Bur- nett, of Hamburg; Pardon Barnard, of Oceola; Daniel Boutwell, of Deerfield; Charles Cowlam, of Putnam ; John T. Watson, of Marion ; E. E. Greg- ory, of Howell; Alva Preston, of Tuscola ; John J. Brown, of Conway; Samuel Conklin, of Handy ; John Wood, of Iosco; John B. Van Daren, of Una- dilla.

Notice was given by the Rev. Mr. Bacon that a branch society had recently been formed in Brigh- ton, and it was voted to turn over to that society the Bibles remaining in the hands of Mr. Noble. The executive committee were authorized to em- ploy the Rev. Mr. Dixon as agent to distribute Bibles to the destitute through this county, and the following named gentlemen were appointed delegates to the meeting of the State Bible So- ciety, at Jackson, February 16th, viz .: Rev. Jona- than Post, E. F. Burt, Rev. Mr. Dixon, Josiah Turner, Rev. E. E. Gregory, William McPherson, Rev. Seth Hardy, Rev. E. Mosher, and Rev. John Scofield.

The annual meeting of the society in 1845 was held at the Congregational (Presbyterian) meeting- house, in Howell, on the tenth of April, and the following officers were elected for the year, viz. :

President, E. E. Gregory, of Howell.

Vice-Presidents, Deacon Isaac Smith, Green Oak ; Rev. J. G. Horton, Hartland; Rev. Jonathan Post, Brighton; Dillis Dexter, Tyrone; Deacon James Burnett, Hamburg; Pardon Barnard, Genoa; Lorenzo Boutell, Deerfield ; Charles Cowlam, Put- nam; J. T. Watson, Marion; A. L. Crittenden, Howell; Horace Cook, Tuscola; Charles Thomp- son, Conway ; Samuel Conklin, Handy ; Levi Mun- sell, Iosco; J. L. Hartsuff, Unadilla.

Secretary, Josiah Turner, Howell.

Treasurer, Nicholas Sullivan, Howell.

Executive Committee, Rev. J. H. Rasco, Rev. R. Pengelly, Rev. A. L. Crittenden, William Mc- Pherson, J. B. Skilbeck.

The above account of the early meetings of the society is given principally for the purpose of re- cording the names of the men who were prominent in its organization, and who were earnestly engaged in the promotion of the praiseworthy objects for which it was formed and maintained.

A new society, under the same name, was formed in 1849, but the names of its first officers cannot be given. That the interest in it was continued unabated for many years, and that its officers and members were no half-hearted workers, is shown

by the following report of the proceedings of the society, at its annual meeting in 1859, viz. :

" The eleventh annual meeting of the Livingston County Bible Society was held, agreeable to pre- vious notice, at the Methodist church in Howell, June 12, 1859; Hon. Josiah Turner, president of the society, in the chair.

"The following officers of the society were duly elected for the ensuing year :

" President, Hon. Josiah Turner.

" Vice-President, J. B. Skilbeck.

"Secretary, E. F. Burt.

" Treasurer, George W. Lee.

" Executive Committee.

" Rev. R. McBride, Howell.

" Rev. R. C. Crawford, Howell.

" Rev. J. G. Horton, Occola.

" Rev. Mr. Alford, Unadilla. " J. F. Jennings, Esq., Green Oak.

" After a discussion by Rev. Mr. Wright, agent of the American Bible Society, and others, it was

" Resolved, That the society now proceed to appoint suitable persons to canvass the townships of Howell, Oceola, and Marion,-said townships each to be divided into four equal districts, to wit :

" Howell-First District, J. G. Mason and B. W. Cardell; Second District, H. P. Baker; Third Dis- trict, S. M. Yerkes ; Fourth District, Joseph Stafford.

" Oceola-First District, Ebenezer Kellogg ; Second District, Rev. J. G. Horton ; Third District, L. Whit- ney ; Fourth District, J. M. Eager.

" Marion-First District, E. Hart ; Second District, E. F. Burt ; Third District, A. J. Itsell ; Fourth Dis- trict, L. P. Mellendy.

" Resolved, That Rev. R. McBride and E. F. Burt be appointed a committee to superintend carrying out the plan of exploration and supply provided for by the foregoing appointments, and that the same be com- pleted within three months from date.

" Resolved, That the executive committee have power to fill any vacancies that may occur in the said appointments, and that said committee also be author- ized to appoint one or more suitable persons to canvass the townships of Iosco, Handy, Conway, Oak Grove, Deerfield, Tyrone, and Hamburg."

The society is still in existence, but no such active work as that indicated above has been done in the later years, probably because the necessity for it no longer exists. The present officers of the society are

R. C. Hatton, President. John Black, Secretary. Newton T. Kirk, Treasurer.

Depository, at H. H. Wilber's drug-store, corner of Grand River and East Streets, Howell.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

CHAPTER V.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Public Highways-Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal, and Dexter Branch-Plank-Roads-Detroit and Grand River Plank-Road Company-Howell and Byron Plank-Road Company-Detroit and Howell Plank-Road-Lansing and Howell Plank-Road- Railroads-Detroit and Shiawassee Railroad Project-Other Proposed Railroads-Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad.

PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.

THE first step in the direction of public internal improvement in all countries and regions is the building or opening of routes of travel, however primitive and rude these may be. The immigrant, in traveling towards his prospective home in the wilderness, must bestow some labor-be it more or less-in opening a route over which to reach it with his family and the few household necessaries which he brings with him. In densely wooded regions this task is often a heavy one, while it is comparatively trifling in such a country as the first settlers found in Livingston County, where access could be had to almost any spot through the con- venient openings. But even here the new-comers were obliged occasionally to use the axe, to open a path through an intervening thicket or to fell a few trees to make a solid way across a stream or marshy place. And this work, light and insignifi- cant as it was, was road building,-an improve- ment which it was necessary to make before the settler could reach the spot where his cabin was to be reared.

The first highways in Livingston were the In- dian trails, of which the principal was the Grand River trail, traversing the county through its centre from southeast to northwest, as has already been mentioned, and over this route, first while it was a mere trail, and afterwards when it became the Grand River road, a large proportion of the immi- grants to the county passed on their way to their places of settlement.

On the fourth of July, 1832, the Congress of the United States passed an act directing the President to appoint three commissioners to lay out a road " from Detroit, through Sciawassee County, to the mouth of the Grand River," for military and other purposes. The road was accordingly "laid out," and the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars was expended by the government in the years 1833 and 1834 in working the eastern part of the road ten miles out from Detroit. A further appro- priation of twenty-five thousand dollars was made by Congress, March 3, 1835, and this amount was expended in 1835-36 in clearing the road one hundred feet wide through the timbered land, and

in constructing bridges on its line across the Rush, Huron, Shiawassee, and Cedar Rivers. This was the last work done on the Grand River road by the general government, as Michigan had ceased to be a Territory and became a sovereign State. A grant of five thousand acres of land was, how- ever, obtained from the United States for the ben- efit of the Grand River and the Saginaw roads, of which grant this road received its proportion.

After the United States ceased making appro- priations for the Grand River road,-or Grand River turnpike, as it was called,-very little was done on it for a time. When Judge Turner came to Livingston County (1840) little, if any part of the road was graded west of Brighton. The State, however, took up the work soon after, and the con- struction of the road was continued by State ap- propriations made from time to time. An act, ap- proved April 2, 1841, provided that five thousand dollars be expended on the construction of this road, under the direction of the Board of Internal Improvement ; this sum being taken from the sixty thousand dollars which remained unexpended of the appropriations previously granted for the "Northern Wagon-Road," which project had at that time been virtually abandoned. A part or all of this appropriation was expended, under the su- pervision of Mr. Mullett, of Detroit, in opening the road from Fowlerville to Lansing, and about that time, or soon after, the first line of stages (lum- ber-wagons) was put on the route between Howell and Lansing by Ralph Fowler, O. B. Williams, of Williamston, and others. In 1845 an act was passed (approved March 24th), authorizing and di- recting the expenditure of certain non-resident highway taxes upon that portion of the Grand River road "between the village of Howell and the house of Justus Gilkey, in Ingham County." The non-resident taxes so directed to be expended embraced all the taxes of that kind levied on prop- erty lying within two miles of the road on each side, in the years 1845 to 1848, inclusive, and also all of such taxes which remained unexpended on the first of May, 1845. Ralph Fowler, of Handy, and J. H. Kilborn, of Ingham County, were ap- pointed by the act special commissioners, "to have superintendence of said road within their re- spective counties, and to direct where the labor shall be performed on said road."

An act was passed in March, 1848, providing "that ten thousand acres of internal improvement lands be, and the same are hereby appropriated, for the purpose of improving the Detroit and Grand River road, between the village of Howell, in Liv- ingston County, and the village of Michigan, in the county of Ingham;" six thousand acres to be

Hosted by

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

expended in Ingham, and four thousand acres in Livingston County, under direction of special com- missioners appointed by the Governor. By these appropriations, with subscriptions, and the expen- diture of local highway taxes, the road was finally completed.

The old route of the road was north of the north bend of Cedar River; but in 1849 it was changed for a more southerly and nearly straight one through the west part of the township of Handy, and over this the road was opened and worked by Ralph Fowler and others, with funds raised largely by subscription. The construction of this part of the road will be found more fully noticed in the history of the township of Handy.

A large number of State roads were authorized by the first Legislature of Michigan, at the session of 1835-36, several of which were to be laid out across the county of Livingston, or some portion of it. An act, approved March 26, 1836, provided that "there shall be laid out and established a State road from Allegan, in the county of Allegan, through the county-seats of Barry, Eaton, and Ingham; and the said road shall terminate at Howell, in the county of Livingston, where it may intersect the United States road running from De- troit to Grand River; and Joseph Fisk, of Alle- gan, Calvin G. Hill, of Barry, and F. J. B. Crane,* of Livingston County, be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for that purpose."

Other roads authorized by act of the Legislature at the same time, and of which the proposed routes lay partly in Livingston, were the following, viz. :

" A State road from Jacksonburgh, the county- seat of Jackson County, by the most direct and eligible route to Howell, the county-seat of Liv- ingston." The commissioners appointed to lay out and establish this road were William R. Thompson, Oliver Russ, and George B. Cooper.

A State road from Pontiac, Oakland County, to be laid out over the most direct and eligible route, and "to terminate at the county-seat of Ionia." Alfred L. Williams, Erastus Yeomans, and William Terry, commissioners to lay out and establish the same.

A State road " commencing at Ann Arbor, and running in a northwesterly course on the most direct and eligible route to the county-seat of Livingston." Henry Rumsey, Moses Thomspon, and Benjamin Hobart, commissioners.

A State road " from the village of Saginaw, or the county-site of the county of Saginaw, to run thence in a southerly direction through Byron [?],

the county-site of Livingston, and thence through the village of Dexter, in the county of Washtenaw, to intersect the United States road running from Detroit to Chicago, at or near the village of Clin- ton, in the county of Lenawee." The commis- sioners named in the act were Alfred L. Williams, Salmon H. Matthews, and Nathaniel Noble.

A State road "from the village of Pontiac, in Oakland County, to Mapes and Bursley's mills, on Oak Creek, in township three north, range six east [Hartland], and thence to the centre of Shia- wassee County." John S. Wilber, Samuel Mapes, and George Buckley, commissioners.

Legislation providing for the construction of roads was continued quite as briskly during the next two years. By an act approved March 17, 1837, the laying out of a State road was author- ized and directed "from the village of Pontiac, in the county of Oakland, by the most direct and eligible route to the village of Lyons, in the county of Ionia ;" and Truman F. Lyon, A. F. Bell, and John McKelvey were appointed commissioners for the purpose. Another section of the same act directed that "there shall be laid out and estab- lished a State road from the county-seat of Gen- esee to the county-seat of Washtenaw County ; and that Ira D. Wright, Philip H. McOmber, and Jesse Pinney be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for that purpose." The routes of both these roads traversed Livingston County ; the first from east to west, and the latter from north to south by way of the village of Brighton. And by section thirty-seven of the same act, a road to pass through the northeastern part of Livingston was authorized, viz .: "A State road at or near Farmington City, so called, in the county of Oakland, running by the head of Walled Lake, to Byron, in the county of Shiawassee, on the most direct and eligible route;" the commissioners appointed by the act for the purpose being Erie Prince, Isaac Wixom, and John Thomas.

A road " from Dexter, in the county of Washte- naw, to the county-seat of Ingham, and from thence by the most eligible route to the village of Lyons, at the mouth of the Maple," was authorized by act approved February 16, 1837, to be laid out before January 1, 1839. Solomon Sutherland, of Una- dilla, Livingston County, and Edward Lyon and A. Crosman, of Dexter, were appointed commis- sioners.

In 1838, by act approved February 28th, a road was authorized to be laid out by Ephraim B. Danforth, of Ingham County, George W. Jewett, of Livingston, and Albert E. Bull, of Barry, com- missioners " from the Grand River road at Howell, the county-seat of Livingston County ; thence on

* An act approved March 18, 1837, appointed Guy C. Lee com- missioner in place of Mr, Crane,

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

the most eligible route, by the county-seats of Ingham, Eaton, and Barry, to the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, in the county of Allegan."

During the seven years next succeeding 1838, State roads were directed to be laid out through or in Livingston County, as follows :

1839 .- Road " commencing at a certain point upon the west line of Ingham County, where the State road laid out and established from Bellevue to the west line of Ingham County terminates ; thence in an easterly direction to the mills in Les- lie, on the most eligible route, until said route shall intersect the Grand River turnpike, at or near the village of Pinckney, in the county of Living- ston." Commissioners, Henry Fisk, Benj. Davis, and Amos E. Steele. Act approved April 18th.

1839 .- State road "commencing at the village of Pontiac, in the county of Oakland; thence on the most direct and eligible route through the county of Livingston, by the way of Meadville, to what is called the Battise Trail, in the township of Stock- bridge, Ingham County ; thence on the most direct and eligible route to the village of Jackson, in the county of Jackson." Commissioners, Solomon Sutherland, Thomas Godfrey, and Mason Branch. Act approved April 18, section 24.

1840 .- "State road running from the village of Milford, in Oakland County, to the township of Howell, in Livingston County." Commissioners to lay out, Morgan L. Smith, Phineas Bates, and W. A. Buckland. Act of March 4th.

1841 .- " A State road commencing at or near the fifty-seventh mile-post on the Grand River turnpike; from thence on the most eligible route along the valley of the Red Cedar River, until it intersects said turnpike at the meridian line . . . " Commissioners, J. H. Kilborne, of Ingham, Elijah Grant and Martin W. Randall, of Livingston County. Act approved April 13th.

1844 .- "State road from Ann Arbor, in the county of Washtenaw, by way of the village of Brighton, in the county of Livingston, Murray's Mills, and the village of Flushing, in the county of Genesee, to the Saginaw turnpike, at a point about fourteen miles north of the village of Flint." Com- missioners, Albert Stevens, John Kenyan, Isaac Penoyer, and James H. Murray. Act approved March 9th.

1844 .- State road "commencing at or near the point where the road leading from the village of Dexter, in the county of Washtenaw, to Mason, in Ingham County, crosses the west line of Liv- ingston County; running thence by the most fea- sible route through the township of Hamburg to the village of Brighton, in said county of Living- ston." Commissioners, Solomon Sutherland, Jus-

tus J. Bennett, and Jasper H. Buck. Act approved March 9th.

1845 .- " A State road from Pontiac, in the county of Oakland, to Hillman's Tavern, in the township of Tyrone, in the county of Livingston." Commissioners, Willard K. Goodrich and William Capron, of Oakland, and Jairah Hillman, of Liv- ingston. Act approved March 24th.

1845 .- " A State road commencing at the vil- lage of Brighton, in Livingston County, and run- ning thence to the village of Fentonville, in Gen- esee County." Commissioners, Harvey T. Lee and Alonzo Slayton, of Livingston, and Elisha Holmes, of Genesee. Act approved March 24th. In 1848 an act was passed (March 23d) appropri- ating two thousand acres of the State internal improvement lands for the purpose of opening and improving this road.

It is to be borne in mind, however, that to "lay out and establish" a road-particularly in the earlier years-was not equivalent to opening and making it ready for travel; but that in many in- stances years intervened between the time when a highway was laid out by the commissioners and the time when it was made passable for vehicles ; and that it was not unfrequently the case that roads which had been authorized and laid out were never opened.

CLINTON AND KALAMAZOO CANAL, AND DEX- TER BRANCH.

The project of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal, -to be built by the State as part of the extensive internal improvement system inaugurated about the time of the admission of Michigan into the Union,-was introduced in the Legislature at the session of 1837, and resulted in an appropriation (by act approved March 20th) of the sum of twenty thousand dollars from the internal improvement fund, for the prosecution of several surveys for canals and slack-water navigation on rivers, among these being included as follows: "for the survey of a canal, or for a canal part of the way and railroad the balance of the route, commencing at or near Mount Clemens, on the Clinton River, to termi- nate at or near the mouth of the Kalamazoo River." Under this appropriation a preliminary survey was made, of a route to pass through Livingston County by way of Crooked Lake in the township of Genoa; thence to the waters of the Cedar, and so west- ward to the Grand and Kalamazoo Rivers. A more southerly, as well as a more northerly, route through the county was examined, and each had its adherents, who, respectively, were confident of the superiority and ultimate adoption of that route in which they were most interested. By people Hosted by

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

having no local interests to serve, however, it was generally believed that the route by way of Crooked Lake was the one to be preferred. In connection with this, a project was conceived by private parties to construct a branch canal to unite with the pro- posed State canal in Livingston County, and con- tinue along the valley of the Huron to Dexter, in Washtenaw County, where it would strike the central of the three lines of railway which had then recently been authorized by the Legislature to be built by the State. In 1839 the project of this branch canal was brought before the Legisla- ture, which thereupon passed "an act to incorpo- rate the Dexter Branch Canal Company," approved April 19th, in that year. By the terms of this act, the company so incorporated was empowered and authorized (as soon as funds were provided) " to construct, make, and finish a canal of suffi- cient width and depth to admit the passage of such boats or other craft, through said canal, as are commonly used and employed in the carrying trade, and also to make such locks and guards, in and around said canal, as shall render the occupation safe and easy for boats or any other craft that may be used thereon. Said canal to commence at the village of Dexter, in the county of Washtenaw, and extend to the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal, in the county of Livingston, by the following route: commencing at the village of Dexter, from thence up the valley of the Huron River, or as near the valley as prac- ticable, to the peninsula between Portage and Bass [Base?] Lakes ; from thence to the northwest side of Bass Lake; from there up the valley of the out- let of Crooked Lake, on the most approved and direct route, where it will intersect the line of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal. ... It shall and may be optional with this corporation, that in place of the aforesaid canal they may use the bed of the Huron River, commencing at the village of Dex- ter, and from thence to improve the same by ex- cavation and by dams and locks and other im- provements, so as to make a safe and easy slack- water navigation for boats and other craft up said river to the lakes before described, and also to im- prove and use the lakes as a part of said navigable communication, and from said lakes by the afore- said canal route to where the same intersects the line of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal." The commissioners appointed by the act of incor- poration were Samuel W. Dexter, Asa Williams, Nathaniel Noble, Alanson Crosman, Cyrel Nichols, and Nelson H. Wing. The capital stock of the company was fifty thousand dollars. It was re- quired that the work be finished within six years from the passage of the act:

Beyond the above-mentioned legislation and the making of some preliminary surveys, nothing was ever done towards the construction of either the main line of the Clinton and Kalamazoo Canal, or of the Dexter Branch, through any part of Living- ston County, though a portion of the east end of the main work was completed from Mount Clem- ens. But, for a period of about ten years from the inception of these projects, strong hopes were entertained by many that they would ultimately be completed; and extravagant expectations were indulged in of great advantages to accrue in con- sequence, to the county, and particularly to certain localities along the projected line. As late as 1845 the matter was discussed in the public prints in a manner showing that there was still abundant confidence among the people in the accomplish- ment of the scheme and in the great and beneficial results sure to follow. An editorial article, which appeared in the Detroit Advertiser in February of that year, in speaking of the main canal, and of a change of route which seemed to the writer to be desirable, said that " the western route of the canal should be so modified that, after leaving the Clin- ton River and the small lakes of Oakland and Livingston Counties, it should pass down the val- leys of the Red Cedar and Grand Rivers to Lyons, Ionia County, and to the head of navigation on Grand River," and added that the work appeared to be second in importance only to that of the Central Railroad. At the same time the Living- ston Courier thought that the canal ought to com- mence at Detroit, instead of Mount Clemens, and that its proper route would be from the former place northwestwardly through Livingston County to the head of navigation on Grand River. "A canal," said the Courier, " connecting Detroit and Grand River would undoubtedly be one of the greatest of our internal improvements and the greatest source of revenue to the State." Similar views and expectations were quite generally enter- tained during the earlier years of the canal agita- tion, but beyond the privilege of indulging for a time in these pleasant anticipations, the people of Livingston County never derived any benefit from the visionary projects of the Clinton and Kalama- zoo Canal and its Dexter Branch.

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History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 10

Author: Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 617

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 617