History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 102

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882

USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan > Part 102

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" No, my son," said Mr. Wilkinson, " I want von to shoot the doe first."

" Father, why not take the buck? He is much the largest."

" Do as I say and then you will find out what I mean, and I will teach you something, my son, about hunting. Take good aim, don't get excited, and shoot the doe right back of the shoulder."

John fired, and as the bullet struck the doe she bleated, the buck still standing waiting for his mate to start with him. John then loaded and fired again ; the buck dropped. As John and his father walked out and stood beside their prize, John was perfectly delighted.

"Now, my son." said his father, " I want you to remember there is nothing to be made by breaking the Sabbath. God never rewards people for disobeying his requirements, but always rewards obedience to his will. Now you have two deer for one by keeping the Sabbath; the doe not being disturbed yesterday returned to-day with her mate, and the scarcity of meat of which you complained has been abundantly supplied, and you have the pleasure of knowing you have kept the Sabbath and have obliged your parents. And now, John, what do you think to-day of your father's re- ligion and his Methodism ?"

John hesitated; " Well, to be honest, I like it much better than I did yesterday."

A society known as the Erie Vigilance Soci- ety, whose object was to try and put a stop to horse stealing, which at the time was a source of much annoyance and loss to the inhabitants, was organized in Erie in April, 1840. The first meeting of citizens for this purpose was in response to a numerously signed call.

Looking at the map we find Monroe county and Erie township in the extreme southeast corner of the State of Michigan, the Buckeye State bounding it on the south, Bedford and LaSalle on the west and north, and the waters of Lake Erie circumscribing its eastern limits. Until reorganized by act of legislature, it comprised the present townships of LaSalle, Bedford and Whiteford, and that portion of the present State of Ohio which belonged to the Territory of Michigan prior to its organization as a State in 1837.

The first township meeting was at the house of Francois Cousineau, at the Bay Settlement, on Monday, May 28, 1827. For

590

HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Erie township officers the reader is referred to page 272.

In October, 1829, Hon. Salmon Keeney was by Governor Cass appointed justice of the peace.

The first meeting of the inspectors of schools for the township of Erie, of which there is any record, was held at the house of J. T. Gilbert, April 10, 1837, at which time John P. Rowe was chosen chairman of the board, and on May 27th they met and divided the township into eight school districts, to which an- other was added the next month. October 10, 1838, the annual report was made to the county clerk, by which ninety-five pupils ap- pear to have attended. The enrollment shown is as follows : In 1845, 321 scholars, apportion- ment, $89.88; 1846, $106.95; 1847, $122.88; 1851, $168.64; 1855, $242.88; 1857, $249.10 ; 1858, $257.00; 1859, $226.51.

In 1834 the first school house was erected by private subscription. The building was a frame placed on district No. 1, and John T. Gilbert was the first teacher. Following him we have a Miss Gunn from Waterville, Ohio, and in the winter of 1835-6, by John P. Rowe. The next school house was built as a saloon and grocery in the village about 1840, and pur- chased for school purposes a short time after. In 1850 the third, of brick, was built in the village. The fourth was a frame building erected on District No. 5, in 1852; the fifth in 1853, a frame building on District No. 3.

In 1826 a post office, known as Bay Settle- ment, was opened with Benoni Newkirk as postmaster. He was followed by Salmon Kee- ney, 1833 to 1847, and in 1834 he had the name of the office changed to Eric, to correspond with the name of the township.

In 1847 Ira Smith handled the mail bags for two years. From 1848 to 1863, Horace Hertz- ler delivered the letters, and in 1863 James Cousino took his place, to be succeeded in 1868 by B. Y. Darling, and shortly after, George B. Smith. Then came John Weeman, who for nearly twenty years officiated, until in 1886 E. W. Hilton was appointed.

In 1836 the village of Vienna was platted by Christian Hertzler, and by act of legislature was changed to Erie in 1850.

The first white settlers in the township were Hycinthe Bernard and Louis Momenee, about 1800.

The first cemetery was the old Roman Cath- olie cemetery near the church, which was opened about 1816. The second by the Prot- estants on section 8, about 1835.

Railroad communication was opened in 1858 by the advent of the Lake Shore, and ten years later by the Michigan Central.

The principal hotel in the village, the Erie House, was built in 1853, and after being sold to several parties passed to the possession of the present proprietor, John Weeman, in 1865, who came here in 1845 from Canton, St. Law- rence county, New York, with his wife and two boys (twins), Hannibal and Hamilton, and who has held several offices of trust.

JAMES MULHOLLEN,

A prosperous farmer on section eight of Erie township, was born in Erie March 24, 1836, the son of James and Sarah (Agnew) Mulhol- len, and on December 29, 1861, was married to Anna, daughter of Elihu and Maria (Wilson) Hall, who is the mother of three children, two girls, Estella and Carrie, both living at home, and one boy, Henry, who was married Febru- ary 14, 1890, to May Hall. The farm of one hundred acres is pleasantly located on the old Government road, about seven miles south of Monroe, and was purchased by his father, and on which he was living at the time of his death. In politics Mr. Mulhollen has always been a Democrat, but has always refused to accept any offices at the hands of his political party.

His father, James, was for twelve or fifteen years township supervisor, and deputy county sheriff for several years. In 1839 while hold- ing the latter office he attempted to recapture a counterfeiter, who had made his escape from the county jail, and pursuing him as far as the Waterloo farm, after a severe fight, during which the criminal cut off all the buttons on his vest, was compelled to kill the fugitive in defense of his own life.

JOHN G. PEABODY

Was a native of Nashua, New Hampshire, where he was born December 26, 1791, and with but few advantages in his early life to

THEDEV FUEL CLE

ASTOR. LEVOY AND TILGEN FOJ: DATA 4

591

TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.

acquire an education, yet by observation and push worked his way up from the humble ap- prentice of a village blacksmith to that of a prosperous manufacturer and farmer at the time of hisdeath, which occurred in Erie town- ship August 16, 1859. When in his nineteenth year his master moved to Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and Mr. Peabody went with him, and a short time afterward bought his time of him and opened quite a large establishment for the manufacture of axes, which he supplied to the wholesale trade. Three years later, February 23, 1814, he was married by the Rev. James Monroe, to Harriet Sophia Irish, who died May 20, 1843, at the age of forty three. Of a large family of children but four are now living, viz .: Francis William, born December 6, 1830 ; and Harriet Hill, born September 12, 1824, both living in Escondido, San Diego county, California ; Caroline Sophia, born July 20, 1827, and living in Texas ; and Adelaide, born Octo- ber 6, 1835, and living in Pagetown, Morrow county, Ohio. In 1836 he left Nova Scotia and moved to Buffalo, coming on his own ves- sel to Providence, Rhode Island. After living in Buffalo for about three years engaged in business, during which he lost the accumula-

tions of a lifetime to the amount of nearly forty thousand dollars. He moved to Toledo in 1839, and there opened a general store and be- gan life anew, but everything looked dark and gloomy, the swamp fever attacking the entire family to such an extent that Adelaide, then but five years of age, was the only one able to be up and about the house. In 1841 he settled in Erie township, and going to his native place September 10, 1843, was married to Lucy Ann Cogswell, who was born in Concord. New Hampshire, January 23, 1810, and whose only child, Almira Elizabeth, was born June 8, 1846, and September 11, 1870, was married to John A. McDonald, a well-to-do farmer in Eric. His second wife died at Erie January 2, 1888, and with the remains of Mr. Peabody and his first wife are resting in Woodlawn Cemetery at Toledo, Ohio. All through his life Mr. Pea- body endeavored to so live as to gain the esteem of his fellow-citizens as an honest, up- right man, a good husband and kind father. On his death, August 16, 1859, he was buried with Masonic honors by the members of Mon- roe Lodge, No. 27, F. and A. M., of which he was one of the oldest members.

EXETER TOWNSHIP.

This township was organized in 1836 out of London, to which it had been set off from Raisinville in 1833. From 1838 to 1842 there were no supervisors, their duties being per- formed by county commissioners. The first election was held in April, 1836, at which Gil- bert Palmer was elected supervisor; Patrick Corrigan in 1837, Moses Bowlsby in 1838, Pat- rick Corrigan in 1839, John Murphy in 1842 and 1843, Inke Dunnin in 1844, Lewis Welch in 1845, John Murphy in 1846 and 1847, Luke Dunn in 1848, Lewis Welch in 1849, and Ber- nard Raleigh in 1850. The records of super- visors from 1850 to 1873 were consumed when the court house was burned. For supervisors and town officers from 1873 to 1888 inclusive, the reader is referred to page 273.

The village of Maybee, within this town- ship, is a direct outgrowth of the building of the Canada Southern Railway. The large amount of timber adjacent to the site first devel-

oped the manufacture of charcoal, and a small village sprang up around the kilns and side- track. Its original site was on the farm of Abram Maybee, Esq., and from this the place took its name. From the small beginning of charcoal burning an active and enterprising village, with industrial and mercantile at- tachments, has followed. Messrs. Maybee & Hasley have a finely equipped roller flouring mill; three general stores, kept by Burgess & Young, Charles Happy and Joseph Klotz : blacksmith shops, with market, wagon shops, a fine hotel kept by Charles Jeloch, and a num- ber of excellent houses. Dr. Lawrence Bald- win has an office there. There is a fine school and two churches, a Congregationalist and St. Joseph's Catholic Church which has been re- cently completed, under the energetic adminis- tration of Rev. James Ronayne, with which is connected an excellent parochial school, under the charge of Miss Beddoes, of Wyandotte.

592

HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

FRENCHTOWN TOWNSHIP.

This was one of the townships reorganized in 1827. The old boundaries were retained, including Ash and Berlin. The first election, in the spring of 1827, was held at the house of Francis LaSalle, within the limits of the pres- ent fourth ward of the city of Monroe. Edmund Littlefield was elected supervisor that year, and re-elected in 1828, John B. Cicott in 1829, 1830 and 1831, James J. Godfrey in 1832, Laurent Durocher in 1833 and 1834, Medard Couture 1835, and Warner Wing in 1836. The history of this township is so identified with the early settlement of the county and city of Monroe

that further notice is not necessary. The town- ship included so much of the present city as lies north of the River Raisin, until 1848, when an act of the legislature separated that portion of the city from the township. Laurent Du- rocher was elected supervisor in 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846 and 1847; Alfred G. Bates in 1848 and 1849, and Gouverneur Morris in 1850. The records of suvervisors and town officers were consumed when the court house was burned, and for supervisors from 1873 to 1888 reference is made to page 267.

IDA TOWNSHIP.

Ida township was organized from Raisinville in 1837. Hiram Cooney was elected the first supervisor at an election held at the house of Thomas S. Clark. Among the first settlers were George Willard, Chauncy Owen, John W. Talbot, Matthew Fredenberg, John Campbell, Josiah Kellogg, William Richardson, David Brainard, Alonzo Durrin, Joseph Gregory and Anthony Briggs. The supervisors elected after 1837 were as follows : Richmond Cheadle

in 1842, Peter K. Zacharias in 1843, 1844 and 1845, Wesley Conant in 1846, William L. Riggs in 1847, P. K. Zacharias in 1848, Nathaniel Langdon in 1849 and 1850. For supervisors from 1842 to 1872 reference is made to page 267, and for township officers from 1874 to 1888 inclusive reference is made to page 273. Quite an enterprising little village (though not in- corporated) has sprung up at the station of the Lake Shore Railway in this town.

LASALLE TOWNSHIP.

LaSalle township was settled about the year 1790, there being at Otter Creek in 1794 twenty- two families, but as a township by itself was organized in 1830 out of the township of Erie, and the first election was held July 31, 1830, at the house of Antoine Lafontain, there being thirty-five votes cast. Francis Charter was elected supervisor, and again in 1831, 1832,

1833, 1834 and 1835. Charles Villette was township clerk in 1836, and almost constantly thereafter until his death in 1874. Samuel M. Bartlett was elected supervisor in 1842. For supervisors from 1842 to 1872 reference is made to page 267, and for town officers from 1872 to 1888 reference is made to page 273.

LONDON TOWNSHIP

Was organized out of Raisinville and Sum- merfield in 1833, its boundaries composed of what is now Exeter, London and Milan. The part now constituting Milan before that be- longed to Summerfield.

The first township meeting was held April 1, 1833, at the house of Abraham Hayck, Cyrus

Everett was elected supervisor ; Henry Chitten- den, clerk ; William E. Marvin, John C. Sterl- ing and Samuel Nichols, jr., assessors. Cyrus Everett was re-elected supervisor in 1834, 1835, 1836 and 1837. For supervisors from 1842 to 1888 inclusive, see page 267 ; and for township officers from 1873 to 1888, see page 274.

593

TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.

MILAN TOWNSHIP.

Milan township lies in the extreme north- west corner of Monroe county. The Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan Railway passes through the eastern portion of the township with Azalia (formerly East Milan, P. O. Reeves Settlement) and Milan as its depots, and the Detroit Division of the Wabash railroad, also with two stations; Cones (formerly known as West Milan) and Milan within the township limits. The township is watered by Saline river, Macon and Bear creeks, and Centre Ditch.

The first officers of Milan township were : Supervisor, Warren Mead; township clerk, David A. Woodward; justices of the peace, John Spaulding, Warren Mead, Alva Marsh and David A. Woodward ; assessors, James Whaley, Luther N. Sanford, Noah Chittenden.

For supervisors from 1873-1888, see page 267. For township officers from 1873-1889, see page 275.

In 1833 a post office was opened with Bethuel Hack as postmaster. It was known as Farmers or Tolanville. In 1834 David A. Woodward was appointed, and in 1836 the name was changed to Milan, although up to 1859 it was called Tolanville, Woodward's Mills and Milan, at which time the name was officially changed to Milan by order of the Postmaster General. The first school house was built in the spring of 1837 by William and George M. Hanson, and was a frame building on the site of Charles M. Blackmer's residence. The Milan Leader was started in March, 1882, by A. B. Smith and A. E. Putnam, the former purchas- ing the entire interest in 1884. It is indepen- dent in politics, and has a circulation of 700.

Up to 1866 the various denominations held services from time to time in the school houses or private buildings. In 1888 the corner stone of the new memorial Methodist Episcopal church was laid by the Rev. M. H. Bartram, the present pastor. The Free Methodist church hasa membership dating from the win- ter of 1865-6.

West Milan was opened as a post office in 1859 with John C. Cone postmaster. In 1880 the Wabash Western Railroad was opened through, and the station called Cone, and the

following year the name of the post office was changed to correspond. In 1885 the present incumbent, W. Curry, succeeded Mr. Cone as postmaster.

At this point as early as 1846 the Roman Catholic church was organized by Rev. Pierre Smothers, of Detroit, and attached to the Ypsilanti parish. The church was started in 1848 and an addition built in 1855.

In 1866 Rev. Thomas Lupton organized a class in the Methodist Episcopal church, with a large number of members. Services were held in the old school house until they could build a church, which was done in the summer of 1867, and dedicated in February, 1868, by Elder L. H. Dean.

East Milan, or Reeves Station, where Reeves and son had established themselves as the Star Bending Company, was opened as a post office in 1866, with Stephen Frink as post- master, mainly through the exertions of Daniel T. Hazen, who, with a few others, deemed the business done there to be of sufficient amount to obviate the necessity of going to West Milan for their mail. Mr. Hazen took the office in 1867, and was followed in 1872 by Joseph Meadows. John M. Lewis succeeded in 1877, and in 1884 the office was turned over to A. C. Reynolds. On September 1, 1887, the post- master-general issued an official order changing the name of the post office from East Milan to Azalia (to correspond with the name of the R. R. station) and appointed Joseph Meadows postmaster.

A class of the Methodist Episcopal church was formed here in 1856, with Shubel Lewis leader. In 1870 they built and dedicated a brick church, which is supplied every other week by Rev. J. G. Morgan, of Dundee.

The Toledo, Ann Arbor and Grand Trunk Railroad (now the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan) was opened June 8, 1878, and the Detroit, Butler and St. Louis Railroad (now the Detroit Divison of the Wabash Rail- road) in the summer of 1880. The dividing line of Washtenaw and Monroe counties passes through the village, which is mostly in the former county, and we find was incorporated in March, 1885.

594

HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

MONROE TOWNSHIP

Was one of the five townships reorganized in 1827. The boundaries were not changed, and included so much of the city of Monroe as lies south of the River Raisin till 1848, when the city was set off by itself.

The first election in 1827 was held at the court house in the village of Monroe. On the 28th day of May, 1827, Samuel Choate was elected supervisor ; Edward D. Ellis, clerk ; Jeremiah Lawrence, Joseph G. Navarre and Samuel Stone, sr., were elected assessors; Hi- ram Brown, Dan. Mulhollen and Samuel H. Gale, commissioners; George Alford and Wil- liam P. Gale, overseers of the poor. Of the

votes cast in 1827 whose names are on the poll list, none are now living. Samuel Choate was re-elected supervisor in 1828; Walter Colton in 1829 and 1830; Daniel S. Bacon in 1831; Luther Harvey in 1832 and 1833; Edward D. Ellis in 1834; Peter P. Ferry in 1836; Nathan Hubble in 1842. For supervisors from 1842- 1872, reference is made to page 267, and for township officers from 1872 to 1888 inclusive, reference is made to page 275. The early set- tlement of this town is largely identified with the early settlement heretofore detailed with that of the city of Monroe.

RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP.

The township of Raisinville was one of the five townships reorganized in 1827, and ex- tended over the present townships of Ida, Dun- dee, London, Milan and Summerfield. The town meetings were generally held at Giles' Tavern, about ten miles below the present site of Petersburgh.

The first land in this region was entered by John Anderson, generally known as Col. An- derson, March 1, 1822. On the 23d of the fol- lowing October, W. Comstock entered land. Anderson did not settle or improve this tract, but sold it to a man by the name of Blanchard in October, 1823, who built a house thereon, and began to improve the land. This property is now owned by N. C. Dunham, son of Dr. Nelson Dunham, who was an early settler. Blanchard was an extraordinary man, possess- ing courage and fortitude sufficient to make a hero of him, had it been exercised in the right direction. He was unfortunate in the loss of a leg, amputated at Monroe only a year or two after he had settled on his land. As an in- stance of his fortitude and endurance, it is stated that when the usnal preparations were made for amputation, he stepped composedly up to the table and deliberately laid his leg thereon and submitted to the operation with- out exhibiting any signs of nervousness except a slight twitching of the muscles at the time the surgeon reached the bone. From that time to the day of his death he exercised all the faculties of an energetic pioneer, and woe to

the Indian who crossed his path after he had but one leg to use. During this period he went one day to Monroe to mill, and on his re- turn was beset by Indians. Having a jug of whisky with him, he was annoyed by one in particular, who scemed determined to possess himself of the jug, or at least part of its con- tents. Blanchard leaped to the ground, seized an axe that he had with him and struck the Indian in the breast, burying the axe therein. The victim was buried on a spot of ground now owned by M. G. Tyler, about three quar- ters of a mile above Petersburgh.

At the time the events we have just related (1823), several families came in, and the wil- derness began to assume the appearance of civilization. Those who located claims near Blanchard were Walter Comstock, sr., Horace Hart, John Preston and James Smith. During the same year Gideon Wells settled on the op- posite side of the river from Blanchard, and his sons, Morris, Seth and Louis soon after settled near him-Morris on the farm recently owned by John Page; Seth on the Spencer place, then owned by Col. Levi S. Humphrey, of Monroe, and Louis Blanchard on a point of land near the lower bridge at Petersburgh, now or lately owned by Earl Tremain.

In 1824 several more families moved in, among them Richard Peters, deceased, the father of John, George and Charles Peters, all of whom are now living in the immediate neighborhood of Petersburgh, highly respected

595

TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.

and esteemed substantial farmers. J. N. Wadsworth and George Wilcox, of Dundee, were among the pioneers of this township. The widow of Mr. Wadsworth still occupies the first frame house framed and enclosed in the two towns, situated on the south side of the river, between Dundee and Petersburgh. The first school house, built of logs, was not far from the residence of Mr. Wadsworth.

About this time Messrs. Peters, Wells and Hart went a considerable distance up the river and cut a large whitewood tree and made a dug-out or canoe, with which Mr. Peters fer- ried travelers across the river at or near the present site of the Petersburgh flouring mills. This craft was cighteen feet long, and with it wagons as well as people were carried over the Raisin in safety. This was the mode of cross- ing until the year 1828, when a bridge was built.

Originally a belt of heavy timber, consisting mostly of oak, ash, hickory, maple and elm, from three to ten miles in width stretched along the northern bank of the river, with oak openings on the south side. Now much of that unbroken wilderness consists of fine farms, mostly under a high state of cultivation, with fine residences, commodious barns, while here and there, at irregular intervals, churches and substantial school honses stand out as beacon- lights, all denoting general prosperity and progress, financially, morally and mentally.

Previous to and for several years after the first settlement of these points by the whites, the Indians occupied them as their camping grounds and burying grounds, and many indi- cations of their occupancy have existed up to a very recent date, but now the onward march of civilization has obliterated all traces of their existence. These Indians belonged principally to the Pottawatomie and Wyandotte tribes, and formed a part of the noted confederacy under the leadership of the celebrated chief Tecumseh, who, with his brother, the Prophet, were the principal instigators of the masshere that took place on the River Raisin. Thus, until the close of the War of 1812, a spirit of hostility pervaded the original occupants, that rendered settlement among them extremely hazardous, . therefore this locality was then visited by white men only for the purpose of trade and traffic.

In attempting to record the early history of this part of the State, it will be necessary to

refer to the preliminaries attending so im- portant an undertaking as the survey and settlement proved to be. In the winter of 1808 Congress passed an act to establish the private land claims of the settlers who had for a certain length of time resided on these claims, and to provide for this survey.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Monroe County, Michigan, Part 102

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: New York, Munsell & company Number of Pages: 882

Author: Wing, Talcott Enoch, 1819-1890, ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: New York, Munsell & company
Number of Pages: 882