USA > Michigan > Livingston County > History of Livingston County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 92
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CIVIL AND POLITICAL.
When the county of Livingston was organized, this town formed a part of the township of Howell, and so remained till the spring of 1837. In.the winter of 1836-37, the inhabitants began to think that they were entitled to become a separate polit- ical division, and held a meeting at the house of Charles D. Topping to consider the question. The meeting was held in the evening, and was attended by about a half-dozen persons. A petition was drawn up and signed preparatory to its presenta- tion to the Legislature, and several names were proposed. This petition was duly forwarded, and the Legislature, ignoring all of the names pro- posed, gave the town the name that it pleased them to select. The act of erection read as follows :
"SECTION 3. All that part of the county of Livingston, desig- nated by the United States Survey as township four north, of range five and six east, be, and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township, by the name of Deerfield; and the first township-meeting therein shall be held at the house of Benjamin Bennett, in said township."
As will be seen, the territory thus set off em- braced the present town of Tyrone, which a year later was taken off and made into a new township.
Pursuant to the provision of the act, the first town-meeting was held at the house of Benjamin Bennett; but the record of the meeting being kept
* Town 5 north, range 5 east.
+ Town 4 north, range 6 east.
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DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Of the experiences of the pioneers we can speak but briefly, though the trials and adventures they met with would be sufficient to fill a volume. The nearest trading point was at Pontiac for a number of years, and some went even so far as Detroit to find a market for their produce, and a satisfactory stock of goods from which to select what they wanted. When Howell was made the county-seat, and stores were established there, this trade was gradually transferred to that point. The grain market was at Pontiac until the building of the Grand River plank-road afforded a better transportation route from Howell. The pioneers had to go to Pontiac, too, to get their milling done, and each trip occupied at least four days, and.often a week's time would be necessary to complete it. On one . occasion John How had to go to mill, and before going had to get wheat at Farmington. The trip was a long one, and before he returned the fam- ily's stock of provision had run very low, and for a few days they lived on bran pancakes and on buckwheat cakes, made from flour ground in a coffee-mill and screened in a flour-sieve. The boys, who were hard at work splitting oak-rails, used to speak feelingly of the unsatisfactory char- acter of this kind of food as a strength-producer. The How family used to dress in deer-skin, and,
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
on loose paper, has, along with those of several succeeding years, become lost, thus making the task of procuring a list of officers laborious and per- plexing.
CIVIL LIST OF DEERFIELD.
The following list contains the names of all the officers of the town of Deerfield, from its organi- zation in 1837 to the present year, 1879, as far as it has been possible to learn them from any trust- worthy source, either from records, or from memory when records failed. The books of this town, like those of most other towns, have generally been kept in a careless and slovenly, and utterly un- business-like manner, and the work of gleaning from them the statistics needed for a work of this character has been laborious, vexatious, and un- satisfactory. The present clerk, Mr. Cameron, is an exception to the general rule. His books are kept in a tasty, methodical, and careful manner, rendering them ready for reference, and reliable as to statement. For the benefit of future historians it is to be hoped that the citizens of Deerfield will continue so capable and efficient an officer in that position as long as he can be induced to accept it. With these preliminary remarks, we now introduce the list of officers, by years, as follows, viz. :
1837 .- Supervisor, John How, Sr. ; Town Clerk, Montgomery P. Adams ; Collector, Daniel Boutell; Justices of the Peace, Robert Chambers (one year), Charles D. Topping (two years), Samuel L. Bangs (three years), David Dickson (four years) .*
1838 .- Supervisor, John How, Sr. ; Town Clerk, Edwin P. Spen- cer; Collector, Daniel Boutell; Justice of the Peace, Robert Chambers ; School Inspectors, Alfred Holmes, Lorenzo Boutell, David Dickson. t
1839 .- Supervisor, John How, Sr. ; Town Clerk, Edwin P. Spen- cer ; Collector, Daniel Boutell ; Treasurer, John How, Sr. (appointed) ; Justice of the Peace, Charles D. Top- ping; Assessors, Elhanan F. Cooley, Samuel L. Bangs, Daniel Boutell; School Inspectors, Edwin P. Spencer, John How, Jr., Samuel L. Bangs.
1840 .- Supervisor, Charles D. Topping; Town Clerk, Edwin P. Spencer; Collector, Daniel Boutell; Treasurer, John How, Sr .; Justice of the Peace, John Lyons; Assessors, Daniel Boutell, Samuel Leonard, Sidney M. Hawley ; School Inspectors, Edwin P. Spencer, Darius Lewis, James Pratt.
1841 .- Supervisor, Alfred Holmes; Town Clerk, Edwin P. Spen- cer ; Collector, Daniel Boutell ; Treasurer, John How, Sr .; Justice of the Peace, David Dickson; Assessors, Sidney M. Hawley, Joseph Walsh, Rufus Clark ; School Inspectors, Edwin P. Spencer, Horace H. Nottingham, John How, Jr.
1842 .- Supervisor, Alfred Holmes; Town Clerk, Edwin P. Spen- cer ; Treasurer, John How, Sr .; Justice of the Peace, John Sellers; Assessors, Samuel Leonard, Ira Marble, Alfred Holmes ; School Inspectors, Horace H. Notting- ham, John H. Sanford, Edwin P. Spencer.
1843 .- Supervisor, Robert Chambers; Town Clerk, John How, Jr .; Treasurer, John How, Sr .; Justice of the Peace,
Charles D. Topping ; Assessors, Robert Chambers, John Ryan, Freeborn Luce; School Inspectors, Joel S Stil- son (two years), J. H. Downer (one year).
1844 .- Supervisor, Ira Marble; Town Clerk, John How, Jr .; Treasurer, John How, Sr. ; Justice of the Peace, John Ryan; Assessors, Ira Marble, John Ryan, George Green ; School Inspector, Sidney M. Hawley.
1845 .- Supervisor, Ira Marble; Town Clerk, John How, Jr. ; Treasurer, John How, Sr .; Justice of the Peace, David Dickson; Assessors, Ira Marble, Robert Chambers, Sid- ney M. Hawley; School Inspector, Benjamin Bangs.
1846 .- Supervisor, Ira Marble; Town Clerk, James Vanben- schoten ; Treasurer, Lyman Lee; Justice of the Peace, Robert Chambers ; Assessors, John W. Locke, Freeborn Luce ; School Inspector, Horace H. Nottingham.
1847 .- Supervisor, Darius Lewis; Town Clerk, John Sellers; Treasurer, Lyman Lee; Justice of the Peace, Charles D. Topping ; Assessors, Daniel Boutell, William Payne ; School Inspector, Benjamin Bangs.
1848 .- Supervisor, John How (formerly Jr.) ; Town Clerk, James Scullin ; Treasurer, Bela Fenner; Justice of the Peace, John Lyons; Assessors, Sidney M. Hawley, William Payne; School Inspectors, Benjamin Bangs (full term), John Bennett (vacancy).
1849 .- Supervisor, Charles D. Topping; Town Clerk, James Scul- lin; Treasurer, Bela Fenner; Justice of the Peace, David Dickson; Assessor, no record ; School Inspec- tor, James L. Topping.
1850 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Scullin ; Treasurer, Enoch M. Marble; Justice of the Peace, John Anderson; Assessors, William Payne, John W. Locke ; School Inspector, Enoch M. Marble.
1851 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Scullin ; Treasurer, Enoch M. Marble; Justice of the Peace, Charles D. Topping ; School Inspector, Simeon Kittle.
1852 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Scullin ; Treasurer, Enoch M. Marble; Justice of the Peace, Ira O. Marble; School Inspectors, Enoch M. Marble (full term), Orlando Topping (vacancy).
1853 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Scullin ; Treasurer, George Bunting ; Justices of the Peace, David Dickson (full term), Robert Chambers (vacancy) ; School Inspector, John Bennett.
1854 .- Supervisor, Daniel Boutell ; Town Clerk, Darius Lewis; Treasurer, John D. Converse; Justices of the Peace, Augustus C. Fox (full term), Robert Chambers (vacancy) ; School Inspector, Benjamin Bangs.
1855 .- Supervisor, Charles D. Topping ; Town Clerk, Enoch M. Marble; Treasurer, John W. Locke; Justices of the Peace, William A. Hull (full term), Oscar V. Marble (vacancy); School Inspectors, Orlando Topping (full term), Mishal Hull (vacancy).
1856 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, Enoch M. Marble; Treasurer, John W. Locke; Justice of the Peace, Charles D. Topping ; School Inspector, James Scullin. 1857 .- Supervisor, Sidney M. Hawley; Town Clerk, Enoch M. Marble; Treasurer, Charles D. Topping; Justices of the Peace, Franklin Bradley (full term), D. T. Hyatt (va- cancy) ; School Inspectors, Orlando Topping (full term), James Cameron (vacancy).
1858 .- Supervisor, Sidney M. Hawley; Town Clerk, Enoch M. Marble; Treasurer, John W. Locke;} Justices of the Peace, Augustus C. Fox (full term), John Ryan (va- cancy) ; School Inspectors, James Cameron (full term), John How¿ (vacancy).
# Refused to serve, and the Town Board thereupon appointed Charles D. Topping to fill the vacancy on the 22d of April.
¿ How vacated the office, and on the 11th of October the Town Board met and appointed Ira Q. Marble to fill the vacancy.
* No record of assessors or school inspectors.
+ No record of assessors.
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DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP.
1859 .- Supervisor, Enoch M. Marble; Town Clerk, John F. Topp- ing; Treasurer, James Scullin ; Justices of the Peace, Philander Sackner (full term), John Ryan (long va- cancy), Sidney M. Hawley (short vacancy); School In- spector, Enoch M. Marble.
1860 .- Supervisor, Sidney M. Hawley; Town Clerk, John F. Topping ; Treasurer, James Scullin; Justices of the Peace, Joseph Wise, Jr. (full term), George Boutell (vacancy) ; School Inspector, Cornelius Bennett.
1861 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, George Bunting; Treasurer, James Pratt; Justices of the Peace, A. D. Royce (full term), Azariah H. Van Camp (vacancy) ; School Inspector, Orlando Topping .*
1862 .- Supervisor, John Sellers; Town Clerk, Robert Chambers; Treasurer, Ira O. Marble; Justices of the Peace, Simeon Kittle (full term), William How (vacancy) ; School In- spectors, Cornelius Bennett (full term), James Cameron (vacancy).
1863 .- Supervisor, John Sellers ; Town Clerk, Robert Chambers ; Treasurer, Ira O. Marble; Justices of the Peace, John Ryan (full term), Thomas How (vacancy); School In- spector, John Scullin.t
1864 .- Supervisor, John How ; } Town Clerk, John F. Topping ; Treasurer, George G. Rich ; Justice of the Peace, Joseph Wise, Jr .; School Inspector, Henry O. Caldwell .? 1865 .- Supervisor, Ira O. Marble; Town Clerk, Robert Cham- bers ; Treasurer, George G. Rich ; Justice of the Peace, George Douglass; School Inspectors, William B. Skin- ner (full term), James Cameron (vacancy), Ellsworth S. Bennett and Enoch M. Marble, appointed May 9th.
1866 .- Supervisor, Ira O. Marble; Town Clerk, Robert Cham- bers ; Treasurer, James Pratt; Justice of the Peace, Simeon Kittle; School Inspectors, James Cameron (full . term), Henry O. Caldwell (vacancy).
1867 .- Supervisor, Ira O. Marble; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, John Ryan ; Justice of the Peace, Augustus C. Fox ; School Inspector, Henry O. Caldwell.
1868 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, John Ryan; Justice of the Peace, Luther Field; School Inspector, Enoch M. Marble.
1869 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, William W. Henderson; Justices of the Peace, David Royce (full term), Wiltsie Glaspie (vacancy) ; School Inspector, William B. Skinner.
1870 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, William W. Henderson ; Justice of the Peace, John F. Topping; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan; School Inspector, Enoch M. Marble.
1871 .- Supervisor, Elias H. Sellers; Town Clerk, Stephen B. Cooley; Treasurer, William W. Henderson; Justice of the Peace, John R. Bunting; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan; School Inspectors, John Sweeney (full term), James Cameron (vacancy).
1872 .- Supervisor, John How ; Town Clerk, Stephen B. Cooley ; Treasurer, Charles H. Topping ; Justice of the Peace, James Bennett; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan; School Inspector, James Scullin.
1873 .- Supervisor, John How; Town Clerk, Henry Robb; Treasurer, James McKeone; Justice of the Peace, Wil-
liam B. Skinner; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan; School Inspector, not recorded.
1874 .- Supervisor, James Cameron ; || Town Clerk, Henry Robb; Treasurer, James McKeone; Justices of the Peace, John F. Topping (full term), William B. Skinner (vacancy) ; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan; School Inspector, Stephen B. Cooley.
1875 .- Supervisor, E. Henry Stiles ; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, Minor J. Hosley ; Justice of the Peace, Mishal Hull; Drain Commissioner, John Ryan ; [ School Super- intendent, John R. Sweeney; School Inspector, Stephen B. Cooley.
1876 .- Supervisor, E. Henry Stiles ; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, Minor J. Hosley ; Justice of the Peace, James Bennett; Drain Commissioner, Sidney M. Hawley; School Superintendent, John R. Sweeney; School In- spector, William B. Skinner.
1877 .- Supervisor, Ira O. Marble; Town Clerk, James Cameron ; Treasurer, James McKeone; Justices of the Peace, William Leonard (full term), Frederick W. Bredow (vacancy) ; Drain Commissioner, Charles Lamb ;** School Superintendent, Charles H. McKeone; School Inspector, William B. Skinner.
1878 .- Supervisor, E. Henry Stiles; Town Clerk, James Cam- eron ; Treasurer, James McKeone; Justices of the Peace, John R. Bunting (full term), Matthias Cummins (va- cancy) ; Drain Commissioner, David B. Bradley ; School Superintendent, Charles H. McKeone; School Inspector, William B. Skinner.
1879 .- Supervisor, E. Henry Stiles; Town Clerk, James Cam- eron; Treasurer, Charles Lamb; Justices of the Peace, Alfred V. D. Cook (full term), Joseph Wise (three years' vacancy), James Lanning (two years' vacancy) ; Drain Commissioner, William Robb; School Superintendent, Timothy F. Sweeney; School Inspector, William B. Skinner. tt
The places at which the annual town-meetings have been held are as follows: in 1837-38, at Benjamin Bennett's; 1839, at Robert Chambers'; 1840, at Elhanan F. Cooley's; 1841-46, inclusive, at Darius Lewis'; the 1846 meeting was ad- journed to the school-house at Deerfield Centre, and from that time till 1863 the meetings were held there; 1864, at Calvin W. Leonard's; and since 1865, at the town-house.
It seems, from an examination of the records, that it was at first customary to furnish liquor upon the occasion of town-meetings and elections, and sometimes, it is said, a noticeable degree of hilarity was produced in some who were most fain to partake of the enticing beverage. On one occasion two elderly citizens had become so over- come by the united effects of politics and whisky as to be nearly oblivious to their external sur- roundings. As their homes lay in the same di- rection they, mindful of the motto, "United we stand, divided we fall," took hold of hands in
* Removed from town the following winter, and on the Ist of March, 1862, the Town Board appointed John F. Topping to fill the vacancy.
+ He failed to qualify, and William Harper was appointed in his stead.
į Refused to qualify, and on the 16th of April the Town Board filled the vacancy by the appointment of Sidney M. Hawley.
¿ During the following summer William Harper removed from the town, and on the 24th of September the Town Board appointed Ellsworth S. Burnett school inspector to fill the vacancy.
|| Resigned April 13, and E. Henry Stiles appointed in his stead.
[ Mr. Ryan died in office, and Joseph Wise was appointed to fill the vacancy.
** He failed to qualify, and Joseph Wise was appointed.
tt Failing to qualify, John R. Sweeney was appointed to fill the vacancy.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
order to assist one another homeward. The result proved the truth of another adage, "When the blind lead the blind," etc .; for "both" fell "into the ditch," and in falling they became separated. Each struggled to his feet, but with their faces turned in opposite directions. Each insisted that his way was right, and as neither could convince the other of the "error of his way," finally trudged away in opposite directions. Through the inter- vention of friends both finally reached home safe and sound. Warned by such occurrences as this, the voters determined to pursue a different policy, and in 1843, and for several years thereafter, an- nually voted that no liquor should be furnished at elections.
But this action does not fairly represent the position of the town on the liquor question, for it has generally been a liquor-trafficking and liquor- drinking community, at least to a more marked degree than most of its sister towns. The only records bearing upon the matter are those of votes taken at four different times. The first, in 1845, was 17 voted for license, and 15 against it. The second was taken in 1846, and resulted for license, 25, against license, 48. The third was the vote of 1850, when 66 votes were cast for license, and only 14 against it. The last was that taken in 1868 as to changes in the constitution of the State, when the vote for the prohibitory clause was 23, and the vote against it was 185.
In the matter of building a town-house, the first public action was taken at the town-meeting in 1863, when $300 was voted for the purpose of building a town-house, and a committee of five, consisting of Ira Lamb, James Pratt, James Cam- eron, John Sellers, and William Payne, was ap- pointed to select and procure a site as near the centre of the town as possible. The committee purchased a site of Bela Fenner. At the town- meeting of 1864, $300 was voted to apply on the job, and the committee were instructed to build a new house, to cost not more than $800. The com- mittee sold back to Mr. Fenner the lot purchased of him, and bought of Mr. Leonard one-half acre of ground a little west of the northeast corner of section 21, for the sum of $20. The contract was let to the lowest bidder, Jethro Shout, for $790, April 28th, and on October 15th, the job being completed, the house was accepted, and was occu- pied for the election. The total cost of the build- ing and lot, including furnishing, amounted to about $920.
A special meeting was held Feb. 22, 1868, to consider the question of issuing town-bonds to the amount of $15,000, in aid of the "Chicago and Michigan Grand Trunk Railway." The project
met with a chilling reception, being negatived by a vote of 126 to 46.
At the annual town-meeting of the same year, the proposed changes of the constitution were voted upon with the following result : in favor of the new constitution, 35; against it, 185. For annual sessions of the Legislature, o; for bien- nial sessions, 191. For prohibition, 23; against it, 185.
Another vote on constitutional amendments was taken Nov. 5, 1872, and the following votes were cast : for the payment of railroad bonds, 13 ; against it, 198. For the re-division of the judicial districts of the State, 12; against it, 200. For the proposed change in the salaries of State officers, 14; against it, 197.
During the war for the suppression of the Re- bellion this town did its best to fill its quota under the several calls for troops, and to accomplish this result held several special township-meetings. The first of these meetings was held in response to a petition signed by prominent citizens. It was held at the house of Calvin W. Leonard, Feb. 20, 1864, and a resolution was passed to raise $100 bounty for every man enlisted and credited to the town till its quota was filled, by a vote of III to 19. March 21, 1864, another petition, bearing the names of 29 citizens, was presented, praying for action at the town-meeting to extend this provision to others. At the town-meeting held April 4, 1864, it was ac- cordingly voted to raise by loan a sufficient sum to pay each volunteer who had enlisted or should enlist in the United States service and be credited to the town, on any quota, under calls of the President made since Jan. 7, 1864, the sum of $ 100, the bonds to bear 7 per cent. interest, and to be payable in one, two, and three years. Another special meeting, held at Mr. Leonard's, Aug. 6, 1864, extended the same provisions to drafted men, or those who furnished substitutes, subsequent to Feb. 4, 1864.
Previous to June 10, 1865, the sum of $5425 had been contributed to clear the town of its liability under the call for 500,000 men, and a meeting was held on that day to take some action regarding the refunding of such contributions by raising a suffi- cient sum by tax, and also to pay drafted men in 1863, '64, and '65, who served or furnished substi- tutes, the sum of $100 each. A motion to raise the tax, and also one to pay the bounty, was nega- tived by a vote of 91 to 44.
The population of Deerfield in 1850 was 822. In 1860 it had increased to 1015. In 1870 it was 1128, of whom 988 were natives, and 140 were of foreign birth. In 1874, for some unex- plained reason, the population showed a falling
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off, as it was then reported at 1043. This number was divided as follows: Males, under five years, 78 ; from five to ten years, 60 ; from ten to twenty- one years, 153 ; from twenty-one to forty-five years, 177 ; from forty-five to seventy-five years, 96; from seventy-five to ninety years, 9; total, 573. Females, under five years, 64; from five to ten years, 63 ; from ten to eighteen years, 96; from eighteen to forty years, 145 ; from forty to seventy-five years, 98; over seventy-five years, 4; total, 470. Their condition in life was reported as follows: Males, from ten to twenty-one, all single, 153 ; over twenty- one, single, 67; married, 199; widowers and di- vorced, 16: Females, from ten to eighteen years, single, 95 ; married, I : over eighteen, single, 38; married, 184; widows and divorced, 25. Total, married, 384; single, 618; widowed and divorced, 41.
From the census of 1874 we also glean some interesting statistics regarding the town, its re- sources, and productions, which are given in as concise a form as possible. Deerfield then pos- sessed an area of taxable lands of 21,659* acres, of which 12,078 acres were improved and 49 acres were exempt. Three acres were devoted to places of burial for the dead, and 21/2 acres to church- and parsonage-sites. There were then in the town 184 farms, averaging an area of 117.71 acres each, the average being a little higher than is that of most towns. In 1873, 3021 acres of wheat were har- vested, yielding an average of 14.47 bushels to the acre, giving the town fourth rank in the county; and 1022 acres of corn produced an average of 27.55 bushels per acre, giving the town the twelfth for corn. In the quantity produced it holds rank among the towns of the county as follows: it is third for wheat and all other grains, except corn, and for pork, fourth for cheese, fifth for potatoes, ninth for wool, eleventh for corn, thirteenth for butter, and fifteenth for hay. In a general. average it stands as the seventh town of Livingston County. The following table shows the quantity of its prod- ucts for 1873:
Bushels of wheat .. 43,725
Pounds of pork ...... 81,060
cheese. 245
66 butter ....... 35,525
dried fruit ... 3,430
Tons of hay. Pounds of wool. 24,704
1,326
Barrels of cider ... 324
There was then 424 acres of orcharding, and the yield of apples for that and the previous year was reported at 14,394 bushels in 1872, and 9634 bush- els in 1873.
The amount of stock kept was for that year: horses, 517; mules, 5 ; working oxen, 52; milch cows, 417; other neat cattle, 677; swine, 731 ; sheep, 5498.
As will be seen from this, the towns-people are pursuing a diversified system of farming,-paying, perhaps, as great attention to dairying and sheep- husbandry as to any particular branch, and are bringing their town to rank well with the other towns of the county. That the soil is fertile, and yields a liberal return for the toil of the husband- man, and that the people are possessed of thrift and public spirit, is evidenced by the many pleas- ant dwellings and commodious barns that are scat- tered about the town.
From its organization down to the present time the town has been uniformly Democratic in its political bias, though from 1845 to 1850 the Whig party made strenuous efforts to overcome their opponents, and came so near accomplishing their object that it put their opponents upon their mettle to retain their supremacy. The Democratic ma- jority at the general election has ranged from 30 to 60 since that time. The political hosts on the Whig and Republican side have been marshaled under the leadership of Darius Lewis, Samuel Leonard, Calvin T. Burnett, Joseph Chamberlin, Calvin W. Leonard, and others, while the leaders of the Democracy have been Hon. Charles D. Topping, Hon. John How, Sidney M. Hawley, Ira O. and Enoch M. Marble, Robert Chambers, John Sellers, E. H. Stiles, and others. Never but once have the Democrats failed to elect their candidate for supervisor (though often being defeated for some of the minor offices), and that memorable event occurred in 1847, when Darius Lewis was elected by the Whigs. Neither the Know-Noth- ings or the Greenbackers have ever had an exist- ence as a party in the town.
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