History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 46

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William A. Clark, Jan. 1837. Charles Robinson, June, 1833. Benjamin Blain, June, 1833. Aaron H. Kelly, June, 1833. Charles Robinson, July, 1834. Wm. S. Conely, Aug. 1835. Leonard Burnham, Oct. 1835. H. McCloud, May, 1836. Nath. Thurston, Aug. 1836. Benjamin Tanner, Sept. 1836. Aaron H. Kelly, Nov. 1833. Jacob Winchell, Sept. 1834. Wm. S. Conely, Aug. 1835. S. T. Williams, Aug. 1835. Arnold Douglas, Sept. 1835. William Winchell, Sept. 1835. Wm. A. Clark, Sept. 1836. Seth Bidwell, Sept. 1835. Jacob Winchell, Feb. 1836. Charles Spencer, March, 1836. F. A. House, June, 1836. Samuel Waldoe, Aug. 1836. Arnold Douglas, Aug. 1836. Allen McDonald, Aug. 1836. Wm. N. Clark, Sept. 1836. Elijah Clark, Feb. 1834. Cath. Thompson, March, 1834. Chas. W. Pease, April, 1834. E. Chamberlain, July, 1836. Isaac Van Voorhies, Aug. 1836. Thos. J. Le Count, Sept. 1836. H. H. Warner, Nov. 1836. Elijah Clark, Feb. 1834. Richard Lyons, Sept. 1834. E. D. Fisher, Sept. 1834. John S. Johnson, Oct. 1835. Julia A. Armes, April, 1835. Geo. W. Burch, June, 1836. Horace Braster, June, 1836.

Fred Ring, Aug. 1836. Richard Lyons, Aug. 1836. H. H. Warner, Nov. 1836. H. V. Libhart, Oct. 1832. Gardner Bird, Feb. 1833. Aaron Beach, Oct. 1833. Smith Beade, Oct. 1833. John Van Heuven, Nov. 1834. Isaac Bisbee, April, 1835. Ibrook Tower, April, 1835. Isaac Bisbee, May, 1835. Ibrook Tower, May, 1835. Jacob Petus, Aug. 1836. Jude Field, Aug. 1836. Elijah Marsh, Oct. 1832. Job Cranston, Oct. 1832. Ezra McComber, Oct. 1833. Job Cranston, Oct. 1833. Gaines Fuller, July, 1835. Mary L. Cranston, July, 1835. Elijah Marsh, Oct. 1835. R. Harrington, Feb. 1835. Marcus Pultz, June, 1836. Anson Cranston, July, 1836. Henry Thurston, Aug. 1836. R. Harrington, Feb. 1837. Andrew Wohtrabe, Feb. 1837. Gardner Bird, Feb. 1833. Melzer Bird, July, 1833. Gardner Bird, Nov. 1834. Hiram Johnson, Nov. 1835. L. Fuller, March, 1836. Wm. N. Betts, Aug. 1836. John C. Allstadt, Aug. 1836. H. H. Warner, Nov. 1836. Cath. Thompson, March, 1834. Wm. S. Conely, Nov. 1834. Isaac L. Platt, June, 1835. Cyrus Jackson, June, 1836. Wm. N. Betts, Aug. 1836. Peter Lane, Dec. 1835. Nehemiah Paine, June, 1836. Florus A. House, June, 1836. John M. Kenzie, Aug. 1836. William Tunis, Aug. 1836. Orman Coe, May, 1833. Wm. Winchell, Sept. 1834. Hugh Gordon, Nov. 1834, and Feb. 1835. Wm. S. Conely, Sept. 1835. Wm. Winchell, Sept. 1835. Wm. S. Conely, July, 1836. Abram Pietch, Aug. 1836. George Post, July, 1836. E. C. Allen, May, 1833. John Cronet, Aug. 1835. Erastus Kellogg, Feb. 1836. John Moore, July, 1836. John Dean, Nov. 1836. Oliver Sprague, Nov. 1836. George Moon, April, 1837. Rastus H. Ransom, April, 1837. Samuel H. Fox, June, 1838. B. B. Kercheval, Nov. 1836. John S. Winkler, Aug. 1836. Joshua Sheffield, June, 1835. Abel Palmer, June, 1835. William Palmer, June, 1835. Orange Bruce, Sept. 1835. Sarah Knowles, Sept. 1835. Samuel M. Conely, Sept. 1836. Elias Sprague, Jan. 1836. Simeon Carpenter, June, 1836. John Powell, July, 1836. Salmon Porter, Aug. 1836. William Paul, Aug. 1836. ·Benj. W. Conklin, Sept. 1834. Robert L. Lam, Sept. 1834. Peter Wemmill, Sept. 1834. Geo. N. Kuckle, March, 1835. John S. Johnson, April, 1835. Isaac S. Platt, June, 1835. Peter Wemmill, Aug. 1835. Samuel D. Tuthill, Aug. 1833. Aaron Beach, Oct. 1833. Smith Beade, Oct. 1833. Richard Lyons, Sept. 1834. Wm. Valentine, June, 1835. Richard Lyons, Sept. 1835. Abram J. Andrews, June, 1834. H. C. Andrews, May, 1835. Otis Durfee, July, 1835. Iliram Johnson, Nov. 1835. Robert L. Lam, July, 1836. Jacob Bindermagle, Aug. 1836. Andrew Wohbrake, Sept. 1836. Hiram Johnson, June, 1833. George Bailey, Nov. 1833. Jacob Bindermagle, Aug. 1836. Andrew Wohbrake, Feb. 1837. Jacob Bindermagle, Feb. 1837. Henry Thurston, Sept. 1836. William Sterling, May, 1835. Philip I. Johnson, June, 1835. Elijah Johnson, Sept. 1835. John Arnold, June, 1835. Caleb Carr, Jr., Oct. 1835. W. W. T. Ward and others, April, 1836. Garret Martin, May, 1836. John McConnell, May, 1833. David Durfee, July, 1834. Robert Edgar, Nov. 1834, and Aug. 1835. Henry C. Andrews, Feb. 1836. Obd. J. Norton, Feb. 1836. Joseph Flanders and Samuel S. Kitchan, July, 1836. Elias Sprague, Nov. 1836. Hoste Robert L. Lam, July, 1836.

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RESIDENCE OF P. J. SEARS . BRIGHTON , LIVINGSTON

COUNTY, MICH.

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BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP.

Isaac S. Platt, Aug. 1836. Reuben Hickox, Sept. 1833. Richard Lyons, Sept. 1834. F. T. Le Count, Sept. 1834. William S. Conely, Oct. 1834. Richard Lyons, March, 1835. Moses Lyon, March, 1835. Isaac L. Platt, June, 1835. Joseph Flanders and S. S. Kitchan, June, 1835.

Evander T. Fisher, Sept. 1834. Moses Lyon, Sept. 1834. William T. Tunis, Sept. 1834. William S. Conely, Oct. 1834. Moses Lyon, March, 1835. Mark Healey and B. B. Ker- cheval, May, 1836.

Elijah Bancroft and Benjamin Flanders, Nov. 1835. Robert S. Bowne, July, 1836. Joseph Williams, Sept. 1836. Daniel Dean, March, 1837. Charles Ross, Aug. 1837. A. M. Fox, Feb. 1838. John G. Spencer, Sept. 1838. Robert Thomson, Dec. 1843. Grace Sitler, Sept. 1844. K. S. Bingham and Robert Warden.

Andrus and Ezra Rood, Sept. 1836.

Eli M. Fergo, Sept. 1834. Josiah Leonard, May, 1836. William Noble, June, 1836. John S. Mundy, Dec. 1832. Mary Fuller, June, 1835. Orlando A. Fuller, June, 1835. Jacob Lewry, Aug. 1835. John Henry, Feb. 1836. Edward Mundy, May, 1836.

P. C. Bartlett, Jan. 1836. William Tunis, Aug. 1836. Lewis B. Fonda, Oct. 1832. Stephen Bunnell, May, 1833. John Henry, Oct. 1833. George M. Cracken, Sept. 1834. Moses Lyon, Oct. 1835. Mark Healey and B. B. Ker-

cheval, May, 1836. Joseph L. Briggs, Aug. 1836. William Wagner, Aug. 1836. Evert Woodruff, March and April, 1833. George W. Glover, May, 1833. Hugh Alexander, Dec. 1833. Smith Parks, Jr., Jan. 1834. Richard Toncray, May, 1835. Joseph L. Briggs, Oct. 1835. Daniel Marlatt, March, 1836. John Davis, April, 1836. Horace Toncray, July, 1836. Luther Parshall, May, 1833. Richard Toncray, May, 1833. John W. Peavey, May, 1838. James Corey, May, 1835. Horace Toncray, May, 1834. Luther Parshall, Dec. 1835. Joseph Watkins, Aug. 1836. Orlando Rogers, June, 1836. Isaac L. Platt, Aug. 1836. Thomas Curtis, Dec. 1835. George W. Glover, May, 1833. Luther Parshall, Nov. 1833. Joseph Wood, April, 1834. Thomas Curtis, June, 1834. John S. Beach, June, 1834. Joseph Wood, June, 1834. Emma Parshall, July, 1834. Garry Griswold, June, 1835. Thomas Curtis, Oct. 1835.

SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS.

It seems an established fact that Elijah Marsh was the first settler in the township of Brighton outside the village limits. He left Hadley, Mass., in 1832, and purchased from the government, on the 20th of October of that year, the southwest quarter of section 12. Later he added 40 acres on section 1. With Mr. Marsh came Job Cranston, who shared with him all the privations of his pioneer life, having entered at the same date 80 acres on the same section. These two settlers for a brief period lived alone, with no neighbors save the migratory Indians, who paid them brief visits, and furnished them venison and other game for the very scanty returns they were able to make. Soon, however, their loneliness was cheered by the presence of Gardner Bird, who reached the county in Feb- ruary of the following year, and entered 160 acres on sections 11 and 17. Mr. Bird devoted himself at once to clearing a tract of land whereon to erect his cabin and sow his grain. Meanwhile he en- joyed such rude hospitality as was cheerfully ac-

corded him by his neighbors. After this he returned, and in April brought his family, Mrs. Bird being the first married lady who took up her residence in the township. Meanwhile, Messrs. Marsh and Cranston had returned for a visit to their families, and Mr. and Mrs. Bird were left the sole occupants of the forest of Brighton from April until the following September.

Mr. Marsh, as soon as he was able, employed two men to split rails with which to inclose a por- tion of the land he had purchased, and on his re- turn from the East made a comfortable home for his wife and children in the shanty he had occu- pied. Three children were born after the removal of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh to Michigan, the first of whom, born April 22, 1834, was among the first in the township.

Mr. Marsh might be termed a Yankee peddler, and followed this calling soon after he became a permanent settler in the township, loading his primitive cart with such marketable wares as were in demand among his patrons, and depending upon his faithful oxen to carry him from point to point. The nearest blacksmith-shop was eighteen miles away, and Ann Arbor the nearest market town. Mr. Marsh died in 1857, and his son, Richard J., now occupies a fine farm opposite his father's for- mer home.

Mr. Bird remembers the difficulties he encoun- tered in reaching his new home, and the absolutely unbroken condition of the country. Deer and wolves roamed the forests at pleasure, and forty of the former were seen by him on his way to his new possessions. After the land was sufficiently cleared to admit of being broken, the plow became a necessity, and he was compelled to travel to Dexter, twenty-two miles away, to have the irons sharpened and repaired when necessary. Mr. Bird, before coming to Brighton, had resided for a brief season in Webster, Washtenaw Co. On one occa- sion, when coming from there to Brighton, he brought with him a hog and nine pigs, driving them the distance of eighteen miles. After re- maining a few days to split rails, he returned to Webster, leaving, as he supposed, his recent ac- quisition of stock behind, but his surprise was great to find that they had followed him and ar- rived almost as soon as himself, much preferring the comforts of civilization in Washtenaw County to pioneer life in the wilds of Brighton. While Mr. Bird was breaking up his land the lad he em- ployed to drive the ox-team was confined to the house by illness, but the work was not impeded, for Mrs. Bird herself went into the field with the oxen and assisted to plow four acres. Joseph Bird, their oldest son, born in Michigan, was among the

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

first children born in the township, the date of his birth being October, 1834.

In the year 1833, Melzer Bird, a nephew of Gard- ner Bird, was induced, by the emigration of his uncle to Michigan and the advantages the State offered to young men of energy, to place his name upon the roll of pioneers. He arrived from On- tario County, N. Y., in 1833, and entered 120 acres on section 14. In May of the following year he started in a wagon drawn by oxen and laden with his wife and two children, and such household goods as he could bring, and wended his way to the tract of land which was henceforth to be- come to them a home. They came by way of De- troit and were exceptional in the fact that they experienced very little difficulty in reaching their destination. They followed the Indian trail, which was an unerring guide, and on their arrival found a welcome to the home of Gardner Bird until Melzer could erect a shanty for himself. The same summer he cleared 10 acres and sowed it with wheat, fencing three sides of the lot, the fourth side joining his uncle's land, which ren- dered fencing unnecessary. He was rewarded by a harvest of 200 bushels, which he regarded as a very satisfactory return for his industry, and Mr. Bird, in the winter, recalled with gratitude the progress he had made during his first season as a pioneer. Indeed, he and his family seem to have been fortunate in escaping many of those depriva- tions and annoyances which are incident to early emigration, and in a very pleasant interview with this venerable gentleman, the writer was unable to recall to his mind any memories of early days which did not afford a pleasing retrospect.

A post-office was established very early in the neighborhood, which was known as the Pleasant Valley office, and for years Elijah Marsh held the position of postmaster. His successor was Peter Delamater, who, not wishing to qualify, transferred the emoluments of the office, together with its honors, to Melzer Bird, who held it for six years and distributed the not very weighty mail which arrived weekly from Brighton, or Ore Creek, as it was then designated.

The first residents of the township early turned their attention to the means of education for their children, and erected, in 1834, on government land, on section II, a small log school-house, in which the little ones of the neighborhood were congre- gated under the supervision of Miss Sarah Hunt- ley, of Hartland. The teacher enjoyed in turn the hospitality of all her patrons, and was certainly the earliest instructor in the township, as the building in which she taught was unquestionably the first school-house in the township.

The little community were saddened by a death which occurred June 13, 1835, at the house of Mr. Robert Edgar. A young man, named Abram L. Andrews, twenty-seven years of age, had been in- duced, by the hope of improved health, from the active exercise that the clearing of a new country necessitated, to enter 80 acres of land on section 23. He lived but three weeks in his new home, and there being at the time no clergyman to per- form the funeral rites, Mr. Edgar officiated on the occasion and delivered an address. Melzer Bird took from his barn the boards with which to make the coffin. This was the first death which occurred in the township. One of the earliest settlers men- tions another early death,-that of Abel Whalen, a teacher, which occurred in a house on the hill north of the Woodruff mill.

Benjamin Blain emigrated to the State of Mich- igan from Orleans Co., N. Y., in 1833. Having a brother in Green Oak, he repaired to his house, on the banks of Silver Lake, and remained with him a brief time, meanwhile locating 160 acres of land on sections 5 and 6, in the township of Brighton. For a year and a half he was employed by Kinsley S. Bingham and Robert Warden, but being desirous to establish a home for himself, he began, in Oc- tober, 1834, the erection of a log house on his land. This house, though simple in design, required as much time and labor in the construction as many more elegant habitations of the present day. Very few tools were procurable with which to assist the work, but Mr. Blain made stakes for the roof and cut sticks for the chimney, and in the ensuing spring secured boards enough at Woodruff's saw-mill with which to lay two floors,-a ladder serving as stair- case from the lower to the upper story. Four acres of the land were cleared and planted with potatoes. The first winter his quarters were shared with Seth Bidwell and Leonard Barnham, the lat- ter gentleman afterwards becoming sexton of All Saints' Church, of New York City.

Upon the occasion of Mr. Blain's first visit to the place not a tree had been felled from the forest standing on the site of the future village of Brigh- ton. The Indian trail followed the course of the present Grand River Street, turning to the left near the house now occupied by George Cushing, crossing the creek just above the residence of John A. Meyer, and returning in a line nearly parallel with the street. Mr. Blain was skillful in the use of the rifle, and found in the forests of Liv- ingston County an ample range for the gratifica- tion of his favorite pastime. The first year of his residence, eighty deer were among the trophies of his skill. For six years he continued the isolated life of the hunter, varied occasionally by long pil-

RESIDENCE OF THE LATE AARON H. KELLEY, BRIGHTON , LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICH

RESIDENCE OF O. K. VAN AMBURG, BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN.

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BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP.

grimages in search of land. He seemed a verita- ble Leather-Stocking, a kindly, silent soul, delight- ing in hunting, and loving solitude. His present home is far from the traveled thoroughfare, and accessible only through a succession of fields and gates. On the west bank of a beautiful lake is located his quiet residence, where, with an old- time hospitality, he welcomes his friends and en- joys with them the recollection of his early years.

In the spring of 1833, Evert Woodruff entered 160 acres on section 34, and took up his residence upon it, with his family, on the last day of May of that year. To Mr. Woodruff the township is largely a debtor for the enterprise he manifested in the erection of mills, which aided greatly in its development. In the fall of the same year of his arrival he built a saw-mill, and a grist-mill was erected the year following, being supplied with water-power from a stream on which it was built, known generally as Woodruff's Creek. It was at that time the most northerly mill in the county, all the other mills being in the southerly range of towns. Evert Woodruff bore a reputation far and wide for sound business principles, probity, and honesty. His dealing with his customers was modeled after the good old golden rule, and no charge was ever made that too much toll was ex- acted at the Woodruff mills. His son, Egbert Woodruff, was the first child born in the township, and soon after, Richard McConnell was born in the neighborhood, a very early birth, and possibly the second.

Mr. Woodruff's miller, Mr. Scollard, was a man whose eccentricities were only equaled by the fidelity with which he served his employer. He was a man of muscular frame, and the weighty bags of grain were lifted and tossed as easily by him as though his employment were a mere diver- sion. Combined with a certain brusqueness of manner was an earnest desire to satisfy all cus- tomers, and to receive a snubbing from the miller rendered it by no means certain that the grist would meet a similar indifferent handling. Mr. Woodruff and his miller are both remembered by the survivors of those early days for many acts of kindness in the neighborhood, to whose comfort they were large contributors. On one occasion a settler appeared at the house of Mr. Scollard with an urgent request that he should depart from his inflexible rule to grind no grists on Sunday. He was told at once that the Sabbath was a day of rest, and that both mill and miller were entitled to the respite from labor which the fourth commandment enjoined upon them. The man explained that he had started the previous Friday from home, a dis- tance of many miles, hoping to return on Saturday,

and on the way he had met with an accident which had rendered haste impossible; at home were his wife and children entirely destitute, and depending upon the flour which he should bring them for food. The heart of the miller relented, the grist was ground, and the man went on his way rejoic- ing.

The first marriage-service was performed by Justice Peavey. This event occurred in 1834, and the happy couple were named respectively Mr. Joseph I Briggs and Hester Fisher, the marriage taking place at the house of the justice.

Fred. W. Goodenoe entered land on section 2 in 1833, and added to it in 1836. He made rapid progress in the improvement of his possessions. Soon after his arrival he cleared 25 acres, and when his nearest neighbor came, in 1835, had already erected a house and barn and dug a well.

None of the early pioneers were better known or more distinctly remembered than Robert Big- ham, or "Uncle Robert," as he was more fre- quently called. He was born near Belfast, Ire- land, in 1789, emigrated in 1810, came to this township in 1834, and for years kept a house of entertainment about one mile north of the village.

Many of his surviving neighbors recall the quaint old sign "Call and C," which was planted some distance beyond his house to attract the eye of the traveler in search of food and shelter. This old sign was long a landmark, and those who re- sponded to its invitation to "Call and C" Uncle Robert always found a warm welcome. His bear- ing was cordial alike to rich and poor. He pos- sessed all the qualities that make the excellent landlord, and, together with the good cheer which his wife provided with a liberal hand, his unfailing humor was always a source of diversion to his guests, and his tavern a resort for some of the most prominent characters in the State. Mr. Bigham pur- chased a tract of land of the late Governor Kinsley S. Bingham, but by mistake settled upon land ad- joining, to which John Cushing afterwards laid claim and obtained, Bigham retiring to the tract of 147 acres, which he afterwards occupied. Later still he purchased the land on which the tavern was located, and at the time of his death, which oc- curred Sept. 30, 1876, was living in the village of Brighton, having been the proprietor of the pres- ent Brighton House.

Aaron H. Kelly, lately deceased, entered 63 acres on section 6, and 208 acres on section 7, in 1833. He built a substantial house and a saw- mill, and made many improvements on the land he owned.

Richard Toncray came from Oswego Co., N. Y., in 1833, and entered 8ostacres of land on sec-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

tion 35, and two years later 40 on section 34. His brother Horace also located 80 acres on section 35, and a year after 40 on the adjoining section. Many members of the family have since died, and others left the township.

. Another character of prominence in the town- ship was Sherman D. Dix, who resided upon a fine farm east of Woodruff's Mills, and was well known in connection with the Kensington Bank, of which he was cashier and director. He was a man of much polish of manner, adroit in business, with a keen eye for a bargain, and withal one of the most generous and kindly neighbors that an early settler could desire.

The bank scheme, of which he and Alfred A. Dwight were the originators, finally brought dis- aster, and he repaired to Texas and engaged in cattle speculations. At one time he projected the idea of making the point where the Woodruff mills are located, a village, which was to supersede Brighton, and with that end in view, he had maps made of a village plat, with regularly laid out streets and all the appointments of a growing town, including a large flouring-mill and an equally large hotel, which he took to New York, and easily disposed of the lots to parties in search of Western investments. It was christened Liv- ingston.

Henry T. Ross emigrated from Ohio in 1835, and purchased 160 acres of his present farm, which had been previously entered from government, and had 10 acres cleared and a shanty erected. This he occupied until he was able to erect a sub- stantial farm-house. At this time there were many Indians in the immediate vicinity, and their camp-fires were often seen upon the grounds of Mr. Ross, though they congregated in larger num- · bers upon the banks of Long Lake, in Hartland.

The wolves at this time were the especial ene- mies of the sheep, as well as of calves and year- lings, and the neighbor of Mr. Ross experienced so much difficulty in raising them that, after the gradual depletion of his flock of sheep, he gave up all further efforts. Finally, but one old ram of all his fine flock remained, who seemed proof against all the ravages of the destroyer. His days were, however, numbered, the hungry pack having one day surrounded and destroyed him in broad day- light, under the very eyes of his owner. Mr. Ross established a reputation in early life as a skillful hunter. He is also well known as a lover of bees, which he turns to very profitable account. Hav- ing caught a swarm the first year of his arrival, he has never been without them since.

Benjamin Blain entered, in 1853, 80 acres on section 5, and in 1836, 40 acres on the same sec-

tion. Some years later he removed to Hartland township, where he now resides. Seth Bidwell lo- cated 80 acres upon the same section in 1835, and a like number of acres upon section 8, at the same date, and still resides upon it.

In the year 1836, Rev. William A. Clark, D.D., arrived in the township from New York City, and made large entries of land on sections 5, 6, 7, and 8, and in the following year arrived with his family, and took up his residence in Brighton. Mr. Clark had been the rector of an Episcopal Church in New York City previous to coming to the State. He at first located upon section 7, but in 1839 purchased the mill now owned by Albright & Thomson, and also erected a saw-mill on sec- tion 5. He introduced the first sheep into the township, having purchased a large flock in Ohio and distributed them throughout the neighbor- hood. Mr. Clark, who was the father of the present postmaster of Brighton, B. T. O. Clark, Esq., did much by his capital and enterprise to develop and improve the township. He opened a store for the accommodation of the numerous men whom he constantly employed, and he had also through his influence a post-office established near his residence, which was called the Mont Lake Post-Office. His death occurred in Brighton, Sept. 13, 1842.

Another early settler was Lewis B. Fonda, who came from Plattsburg, N. Y., in October, 1832, and entered the west half of the southwest quarter of section 32, and still occupies this ground with the additions he has made to it. He arrived first at Detroit in the old steamer "Superior," and from there walked to Ann Arbor, where he remained five years. At the expiration of that time he removed to his land, having in 1834 erected upon it a frame house, said to have been the first in the county, which was at the time regarded as a dwell- ing of considerable pretension. The timber with which it was built was drawn from Ann Arbor, a distance of eighteen miles, with ox-teams. At the time that Mr. Fonda entered his land, the only near neighbor he had was a man named Cornish, who had preceded him and entered 160 acres across the lake in the township of Green Oak, which was subsequently owned by George W. Walker. The government road had previously been surveyed, and caused much excitement among lookers for land, who discovered in the forests lying adjacent to the road a fine oppor- tunity for speculation. Mr. Fonda on his arrival enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. Stephen Lee, who had previously located in Green Oak. The country was then almost entirely unbroken, and numerous Indian wigwams dotted the banks of the lake now

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History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 46

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

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