History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 88

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The following list of pastors, taken mostly from memory, as was necessary in the absence of any written record, is very likely to be somewhat im- perfect. The names are given as nearly as may be in the order of their service, and are as follows : Revs. Washington Jackson, John Cosart, Baker, - Bennett, J. G. Horton, Benjamin H. Hedger, Orrin Whitmore, Lyman Dean, Alfred Allen, James R. Cordon, Alexander Gee, B. H. Wightman, James H. Curnalia, James H. Caster, Joseph W. Holt, William H. Benton, O. H. P. Green, Thomas Seeley, Robert C. Lanning, Thomas J. Joslin, Charles L. Church, Henry W. Hicks, Andrew J. Richards, James Balls, Orlando Sanborn, William Birdsall, Edwin Daw, Orlando Sanborn. The latter was appointed by the Conference of 1879.

THE WOLVERTON CLASS.

This was the second class in the town, and was organized about forty years ago (1839), with Jona- than L. Wolverton as class-leader and steward. It then had about a dozen members, which in- creased quite rapidly till it once reached upwards of 30. At the present time the number of mem- bers is about 20. Among the earliest members were Jonathan L. and Hannah Wolverton, Robert McGarry, and Dexter Farnham.

Since its formation the class has maintained reg- ular fortnightly services at the school-house. The pastors who have preached here came from the different circuits to which the class has been at- tached at different times, including in the list Fen- ton, Highland, Hartland, Groveland, and Parshall- ville, and for one year was supplied from Oak Grove. Though not able to give a full list of the pastors, we mention those who we know served at some time, though perhaps not in the regular order of their service. They are as follows: Revs. Al- fred Allen, Richard Kerr, Joseph W. Holt, E. West- lake, R. Campbell, James H. Caster, William Bux- ton, Charles Simpson, E. Clough, - Brown, - -

Worcester, William A. Blades, Giles Belknap, and, since 1874, the preachers on Parshallville circuit, as before given.

Hiram Farnham is the present class-leader and steward.

A Sabbath-school has been connected with the church for many years. It was organized first as many as thirty-five years ago as an undenomina- tional school, under the superintendency of John Knox. Soon after it was reorganized as a Meth- odist school, and Dexter Farnham was elected as its first superintendent. It had a large field to occupy, and at one time numbered 40 or 50 schol- ars. During the past summer (1879) the average attendance has been about 20. The present super- intendent is Wesley Barnum, and Hiram Farnham is the assistant.

FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF TYRONE.

This church sprung from the third class organ- ized in this town about thirty-five years ago, at the Cranston school-house, and was called the Crans- ton or Tyrone Centre Class. The first class-leader was David E. Cranston. Among the first mem- bers were Caleb, Gilbert, and David Cranston, and J. N. Barnes, and probably other members of their families. In all, the class then numbered about a dozen members. Its meetings were held regularly at the Tyrone Centre school-house for many years, and the class grew to be the strongest in the town. It had other points at which occasional services were held, generally at school-houses in the re- spective localities. At one of these a class was formed, and an appointment kept up for several years ; it was called the Germany or East Tyrone Class, and held its meetings in the school-house in District No. 9. John C. Salsbury was the first class-leader. It was organized in 1869, and the appointment was taken up and the class merged in the Tyrone Centre Class in 1878.

The circuit relations of the different classes have been very much mixed, and it is almost impossible to tell with any approach to accuracy who have been the pastors of any particular class. The fol- lowing list embraces the names of those ministers whom we suppose to have held the pastoral rela- tion to what is now the First Methodist Episcopal Church. It is as follows : Revs. Alfred Allen, Jo- seph W. Holt, Eli Westlake, William A. Blades, Giles N. Belknap, Alfred Allen, - Browne, Wells (or Wales), B. H. Wightman, J. Harvey Caster, Thomas Wilkinson, Benjamin H. Hedger, Curtis Mosher, - Cross, Thomas Seeley, J. Kil- patrick, William H. Benton, Charles L. Church, James R. Cordon, Joseph W . Holt, O. H. P. Green,

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

James H. Curnalia, J. Kilpatrick, Charles Simpson, Andrew J. Richards, William Buxton, Richard Kerr, Eli Westlake, W. W. Washburn, - Hitch- cock, James Balls, Orlando Sanborn, William Birdsall, Edwin Daw, and Orlando Sanborn, the present pastor.

The class has been connected with Fenton, Highland, Hartland, Traphagen, and Parshallville circuits.

In 1874 it was decided to build a church, and at a quarterly meeting of the circuit, held at Deerfield Centre on the 29th of October, the following trus- tees-proposed by Rev. James Balls, preacher in charge-were elected: John C. Salsbury, William Shook, J. B. Cramer, Peter Becker, and W. D. Gardner. There was considerable difference of opinion regarding the location of the site of the new church, a large share of the members pre- ferring a site near the centre of the town, while others wanted it farther south. It was finally de- cided to build upon section 28, opposite the bury- ing-ground, where Amilo Gardner offered an acre of ground for a church-site. In the spring of 1876 work was begun on the church,-Albert Kenyon being the carpenter in charge of the job,-and it was rapidly pushed to completion, being ready for occupancy in August. It is 32 by 50 feet, tastily designed and well constructed, and cost, including furnishing, about $2500. It was dedicated in August, 1876, by the pastor, Rev. O. Sanborn, assisted by Rev. E. E. Caster, of Saginaw.

The present membership is about 50, and the officers are : John C. Salsbury, Class-leader; Peter Becker and William Shook, Stewards; John C. Salsbury, William Shook, J. B. Cramer, Peter Becker, W. D. Gardner, Daniel Betts, and Heman Gillett, Trustees.

The Sabbath-school was first organized about 1840, at the Cranston school-house, as a union school. It was soon changed to a Methodist school, and when the church was built was reorgan- ized there with William Shook as the superinten- dent. He is also the present one. The other offi- cers are: Henry A. Cornell, Secretary ; P. J. Becker, Treasurer. The school has a good library of 75 or 80 volumes, and a membership of about 75 scholars.

Two other Methodist Sunday-schools have been started in Tyrone. The one at the Love school- house, about twenty-one years ago, with John C. Salsbury as superintendent, lasted only a couple of years. The other was organized several years ago at the No. 9 school-house, with the same gentle- man acting as superintendent. It is still in exist- ence, and George G. Perry is the superintendent.

At the time when the East Tyrone class was

broken up, in the fall of 1878, Rev. S. A. Nor- throp, the Baptist minister of Fenton, began preach- ing at the school-house in District No. 9, once in two weeks. These services have been kept up since that time with gratifying success. A four weeks' series of nightly meetings was held in Feb- ruary and March, 1879, and resulted in the con- version of 20 or more persons. It is now in- tended to organize a church there in the spring of 1880.

THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS.

This sect of Christians once had a church in this town which disappeared many years ago, although some of its members still remain residents of this town.

The first step which led to the organization of this church was the coming of Rev. Charles C. Foote, in the spring of 1850. He was a recent graduate of Oberlin College, and a very ardent and zealous worker. He instituted a series of meetings at the Love school-house, at the close of which he organized a union church with a mem- bership of 13 persons. This church lingered along a few years, but became somewhat reduced in numbers and interest. Just at this time, about 1856-57, Rev. Mr. Seymour and his wife, from Ohio, came and held a series of meetings and preached the Advent doctrines to the people. These meetings were successful in reviving the spiritual ardor of the attendants upon them; but no steps were taken to organize a church. About a year and a half later, Rev. James White and wife came and held a two days' meeting in William Dawson's barn, which still further advanced the cause and aroused new interest in the peculiar doctrines of the Adventists. The field being thus thoroughly prepared, Rev. John N. Loughborough came and organized a church with about 15 members. Among them were Jacob Chrispell, John P. Kellogg, William and Maria Lockwood, Elkanah and Arvilla Stone, William and Henrietta Dawson, and several others. Officers were chosen soon after, and William Lockwood was elected as the first elder, and Mr. Jones as the first.deacon, of the church.

The meetings were kept up at the Cornell school- house with considerable regularity for seven or eight years, during which time the society was known as "The Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Tyrone," and then it was moved to Holly, where it now is.

The discipline of the sect does not recognize the establishing of pastoral relations between the ministers and churches of the sect, so that no list of preachers is toHbeehad. Among those who

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TYRONE TOWNSHIP.

have preached here are Revs. Bates, James White, J. N. Loughborough, and Merritt Cornell, a son of Isaac Cornell, who has been a minister of the denomination for twenty-five years.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF TYRONE.

When the membership of the Methodist Church was so much interested in discussing the question of a site for the new church, the differences of opinion became so decided that, when it was de- cided to locate at the southern point, the class divided and made application to have an appoint- ment continued at the Cranston school-house, in addition to the one at the church. But the officers of the Conference refused to grant this request, thinking that it would lead to the reunion of the divided class by compelling the seceding part to go without preaching or to attend the meetings at the church. But they were not to be coerced in the matter, having made up their minds that they were entitled to preaching in their own locality, and they at once invited the Congrega- tional minister at Hartland, Rev. William H. Osborn, to come and preach to them. He came, and on the 17th of December, 1876, organized "The First Congregational Church of Tyrone" with 15 members, whose names were as follows : Sylvester P. and Victoria Harvey, Albert and Mary A. Fletcher, Robert and Catharine Petty, Joseph and Mary Barnes, William S. and Martha A. Buxton, Eliza Chase, Frances Cranston, Emma Love, Frances Holmes, and Mrs. Lodema Arch- bold.

At this first meeting, Sylvester P. Harvey and Robert Petty were chosen to act as deacons, and Albert Fletcher was elected scribe. Articles of Faith and Covenant were read and adopted.

The annual meeting of the church was fixed for the first Saturday in December in each year, at I o'clock P.M.

The first preparatory lecture was given on the 27th of January, 1877, by Rev. W. H. Osborn, the first pastor of the church. At that time Almon L. Chase was elected treasurer.

Rev. W. H. Osborn continued to preach till the summer of 1878, when he resigned his pastoral charge, and a committee of five was appointed to confer with a similar committee from the church at Hartland Centre to make arrangements for the hiring of a pastor. Messrs. Robert Petty, Joseph Barnes, Sylvester P. Harvey, Albert Fletcher, and Adam F. Andrews constituted the committee. As a result of their deliberations, Rev. D. A. Strong was called to the pastorate, and is still serving.

Up to the winter of 1878-79, the meetings had been held at the school-house, but the society,

deeming themselves able to undertake the work of building a house of worship, decided to do so, and called a meeting to incorporate, preparatory to that step. This meeting was held at the school-house on the 15th of February, 1879, Rev. D. A. Strong presiding, and Frederick C. Wood acting as clerk. The following trustees were elected to hold office at the pleasure of the church, until removed by death, resignation, removal, or misdemeanor, viz., Philo B. Street, Amos Wolverton, Silas Fletcher, Armstrong Reid, and Frederick C. Wood. This board chose officers as follows: Amos Wol- verton, Chairman; Frederick C. Wood, Clerk ; Armstrong Reid, Treasurer. The meeting then empowered the trustees to secure a site for the church, to be "the most eligible one on the State road, from the centre one-half mile north," and instructed them to have inserted in the deed the following clause: "That the Congregational society shall have full control of the premises by their board of trustees, but shall not debar any evangelical or orthodox church from holding occa- sional services thereon."

The trustees selected a site on the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of section 16, and purchased one-half acre of Edward Williams for the sum of $50. Work was begun on the church early in the spring of 1879, and it was completed about the first of October following. The build- ing is of elegant design, beautifully proportioned, and built in a substantial and workmanlike man- ner. The main part is 32 feet in width and 47 feet long, with a vestibule 10 by 14 feet in front. The roof is of Gothic style, and the whole structure is surmounted by a handsome steeple and spire, reaching upward 84 feet from the ground. The total cost, including furnishing, was about $1825. It was dedicated on Sunday, Oct. 19, 1879.

At the present time the membership of the church is 76, and a spirit of harmony and peace pervades the society. The present officers are as follows: Sylvester P. Harvey and Robert Petty, Deacons; Adam F. Andrews, Scribe; Almon L. Chase, Treasurer; Amos Wolverton, Frederick C. Wood, Armstrong Reid, Philo B. Street, and Silas Fletcher, Trustees.

There is a flourishing Sabbath-school carried on in connection with the church.

To all the kind friends who assisted the writer in his work of gathering historical matter in Ty- rone he returns his sincerest thanks, and wishes for them that they may ever meet with as kind a welcome and as generous a hospitality as that with which they met him when his business called him to their doors.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

LITTLF

REV. ISAAC MORTON.

Among the venerable pioneers, who by their energy and industry laid the foundation for the present wealth and enterprise of the town of Ty- rone, none are more worthy of a conspicuous place in its history than Isaac Morton. He was born in the town of Williston, Chittenden Co., Vt., April 3, 1807. His parents, Isaac and Nancy Morton, were of New England origin, and reared a family of nine children. They were farmers, useful and honorable members of society, and worthy mem- bers of the Baptist Church. As was customary in those days, Isaac acknowledged obligation to his father in his labor until he attained his twenty-first year, when he started in life for himself as a farmer. But the rugged hills and impoverished soil of Ver- mont gave him very unsatisfactory returns for his hard labor, and he resolved to come to Michigan. Accordingly, in September of 1831, he started with his family, which consisted of his wife and one child,-Minerva (now Mrs. Hoysington, of Fenton), -for what was then considered to be the far West. The journey was made by boat from Burlington to Whitehall, and from thence to Buffalo via the Erie and Northern Canal, and from Buffalo to Detroit by lake. He first settled in the town of Saline, Washtenaw Co., where some of his friends had preceded him. Being in extremely limited circum- stances, he was obliged to rent a farm. At the expiration of his lease (two years) he purchased a new farm, in the town of York, which he improved,

LITTLE

MRS. ISAAC MORTON.

and upon which he resided until his emigration to Tyrone, in January, 1837. The journey was made with an ox-team, and occupied five days. As the country was for the most part a wilderness, they were obliged to ford the streams. The following spring the town was organized, and Mr. Morton was elected its first assessor. He has been a resi- dent of the town since 1837, and has been largely identified with its development. Dec. 3, 1828, Mr. Morton was married to Miss Harriet Abbey. She was born in East Windsor, Conn., March 23, 18II. She was an estimable woman, a worthy helpmeet, a devoted wife, and an affectionate mother. She died Sept. 27, 1879, leaving her husband and five children to mourn her loss. In his religious affiliations Mr. Morton is a Methodist Protestant. In 1849 he was ordained a minister of that faith, and has preached for many years. He never had the advantages of education, but is pos- sessed of good, sound common sense, and is a man of much natural ability. He has a decided taste for poetry, and has composed many poems. We append a few stanzas, written on the death of his wife :

" Sleep, darling, in thy narrow bed, Thus Christ has sanctified and blest ;

Thy mouldering place rich flowers will spread,- Forget-me-nots upon thy breast.

" Thy smiles in sickness and in health, Would vanquish sorrow fast away ;

The hand that plied the many cares, Now mingles with its mother-clay. gle

DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP.

413

" Can I forget that dreadful night ? Clasp'd to my bosom there she fell; She saw my tears, bid me not weep,- ' I bid you one and all farewell.'

" For fifty years we lived in love, I love her, claim her still as mine ; With her I took my pledge of love, She left with me her love behind.

" This love's a ring that ne'er will break, It did our hearts together twine ; Though sorrow's path I alone must take, I will the hill of Zion climb."

JOHN T. CARMER

was born in the town of Ellery, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Sept. 3, 1831. His parents, Daniel Carmer and Bethiah Turner, reared a family of eleven children,-six sons and five daughters. When John was four years of age the family removed to Craw- ford County, where they resided until June, 1849, when the elder Carmer removed to Tyrone, pur- chased the farm now owned by his son, John T., and resided there until his death, which occurred in 1879. He was born in New Jersey, Sept. 3, 1789, and married Bethiah Turner in 1820. She was born in New York, Feb. 17, 1802, and is still living. The elder Carmer was a very exemplary man, strictly honorable in all dealings, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.

John received a good common-school education, and his life has been devoted to his chosen calling,

that of a farmer. He has earned an enviable repu- tation for integrity and ability, and is prominently identified with the political history of the town of

LITTLE

JOHN T. CARMER.

Tyrone. In 1870 he was elected supervisor, and re-elected in the years 1872, 1874, 1875, 1878, and again in 1879. On the Board he is recognized as an able exponent of the interests of his town. He has filled the office with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents.

DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP.

THE town of Deerfield embraces a territory a little more than six miles square, lying on the north line of the county of Livingston, just east of the centre. In the United States survey, it is known as township 4 north, of range 5 east. It is centrally distant from Howell, the county-seat, nine miles in a northeasterly direction, and is bounded on the north by the town of Argentine, in Genesee Co., on the east by Tyrone, on the south by Oceola, and on the west by Cohoctah. It is of the kind of land known as timbered oak- openings, and presented such a peaceful beauty to the eyes of the land-lookers that it is no wonder they were led to come and settle beneath the shades of its beautiful oaks. The whole upland of the town was like one immense grove, where the majestic trees, standing wide apart, let the sunlight

of heaven in upon the earth, to produce the luxu- riant growth of grass and flowers that delighted the eyes of the beholder. Through the wide aisles of this forest the startled deer fled precipitately before the tread of the settler; the saucy squirrels whisked their bushy tails, and chattered loudly from their high perches in the tree-tops, as if protesting against the rude invasion of their syl- van domain ; the sober-plumaged partridge crept stealthily from its nest and suddenly whirred away through the trees; and the shy wild turkeys stole like black ghosts into the undergrowth, and hid from the sight of their foes.

The general surface of the town is lightly roll- ing, becoming more hilly in the northwest and west parts, and subsiding to more level lands in the central and southern parts. The soil is varied in

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

its character, and distributed somewhat in streaks, running east and west across the town. These streaks are of a light, sandy nature, and between them are corresponding streaks of a heavier soil, a sort of clayey loam, which predominates largely in the southern part of the town. The soil is well adapted to the cultivation of general crops, and well rewards the husbandman for his toil, and the heavier soil is especially well adapted to the grow- ing of wheat.

The streams are more rapid than is usually the case in Michigan, and two of them furnish mill- seats in their course through this town. The prin- cipal stream is the south branch of the Shiawassee River, which enters from Cohoctah near the north- west corner of section 18, runs north to the north line of section 7, then east a half-mile, and then north till it passes into Argentine. Where it crosses the line between sections 6 and 7 the stream has a considerable fall, and affords the finest water- power in the town, and the only one that is util- ized. From the Shiawassee, going eastward, we next reach the stream known as Yellow River. The Indian name, which had the same significa- tion and was probably given it on account of the color of its waters, was "Saw-ick-sah." This stream takes its rise in a small lake in the north part of Oceola, which bears the name of Lown's Lake, from an early settler in that vicinity. An- other branch of it rises in the south part of sec- tion 35, and flows west to about the centre of the south half of section 34, where it joins the outlet of the lake, and the combined streams follow a westerly, northwesterly, and northerly course, till it enters the southern extremity of Indian Lake. It leaves the lake, passing in a northerly course, crosses the county line, and unites with the Shia- wassee River in the town of Argentine. Next east of Yellow River we come to Cranberry Creek, so called because it had its rise in a cranberry marsh. It rises in section 36, and is the outlet of Payne's Lake, on that section. Its general course through the town is northwesterly, and near a point seven-eighths of a mile north of the southwest corner of section 4 it empties into the Yellow River. On sections 15 and 10 it passes through a string of four lakes, and is augmented by their overflow. As we approach the eastern boundary of the town we reach another stream, more particularly described in the history of Ty- rone, which is only second in importance to the south branch of the Shiawassee, if, indeed, it does not outrank it. It is North Ore Creek, and enters the town from Tyrone about eighty rods south of the northeast corner of section 13, pursuing a northerly course till it enters Bennett Lake, on the southeast

quarter of section I. It once more leaves the lake, in the northeast quarter of section 2, and, running northwest, crosses the county line into Argentine, where it affords a very fine mill-seat at Argentine village. Its waters join the east branch of the Shiawassee in Argentine. The other streams of the town are little brooks, tributary to these larger streams. The land along these water-courses is generally more rolling than elsewhere, and in some parts the knolls and ridges are almost worthy to be designated as hills.

The town has rather more than the usual number of lakes. The largest is called Indian Lake, from the fact that an Indian family lived for many years upon its bank, and was known among the Indians as Portabeek's Lake. It lies west of the centre of the town, and contains an area of about 450 acres of open water. The marshes upon its shore are more or less overflowed at certain times. Most of the lake is on section 17, but its southern ex- tremity reaches a few rods into section 20, and a limb extends north into section 8. Its length from north to south is about two miles, and its average width not far from three-eighths of a mile. Its outline is very irregular. Its outlet is the Yellow River. The next one in importance is sometimes called Laird Lake, but should be called Bennett Lake, after William Bennett, the first settler along its shore. The practice seems to have obtained here of calling these lakes by the names of those residing nearest them, changing the name every time the property is transferred to some new owner. This is a reprehensible practice, and should be dis- couraged. If-as would have been the best way- the Indian names for these lakes and streams could not be learned and perpetuated, it might answer to name them after the first settlers upon their shores; but once named, that name should be continued through all time, unless some more appropriate or better name should be, by common consent, con- ferred upon them. In this work we follow the rule, as far as possible, to call these lakes and streams by their earliest names, believing that they are the ones that should be preserved.

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History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 88

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

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