USA > Michigan > Montcalm County > History of Montcalm County, Michigan its people, industries and institutions...with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families Volume I > Part 3
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
..... .
39
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
THE GROWING SEASON.
As a rule, destructive frosts do not occur after May 15 in the spring, nor earlier than September 30 in the fall. Over a large part of the south- ern peninsula killing frosts do not occur until October I. This gives an average of one hundred and forty-five days, or nearly five months, when, under average conditions, there will be no destructive frosts. Except for a small part of the extreme western part of Montcalm county and a tip in the extreme northeastern part, the average date of the last killing frost in the spring is May 5. The average date of the first killing frost in the fall varies from October 5, in the extreme southwestern part of Montcalm county, to September 30, in the extreme northeastern part. The average length of the crop-growing season in Montcalm county varies from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty days.
The prevailing winds for the greater part of the year are from the west and the average hourly velocity ranges from twelve and one-half miles per hour in March and April to a minimum of about nine miles per hour in August and September. The wind is mostly from the west and southwest during the first three months of the year and from June to December; while the prevailing direction is mostly southwesterly during the months of April and May, quite a large period, but less than a majority of the time, the surface movement of the air is from the east and north- east. Maximum velocities of short duration ranging from twenty-five to forty miles an hour occur during most months of the year and velocities from forty to sixty miles an hour are not uncommon but rather infrequent. Extreme velocities of sixty miles an hour and over are of comparatively rare occurrence; at Grand Rapids the wind velocity has exceeded sixty miles but twice in the last nine years.
Winds are more variable during the cooler half of the year. At all seasons the southerly winds are usually warm and moist, the northerly winds cold and dry. The easterly winds usually herald unsettled weather, the westerly winds fair and settled conditions. Owing to the fact that the prevailing summer winds are southwesterly, the shore of Lake Michigan from the southern limits of the state northward is rapidly becoming one continuous summer resort, where much relief can be found during the hot months; the water breezes are refreshing, especially at night, and insure greater comfort than can be obtained at any point inland.
40
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
RAINFALL OF MONTCALM COUNTY.
Agriculture, as adapted to most any part of the United States, requires from twenty to twenty-four inches of annual precipitation properly dis- tributed as a minimum amount to grow successful crops without irrigation. A well distributed annual amount varying from twenty-six to thirty inches is ample for successful agriculture, while amounts exceeding thirty inches, if well distributed, are not injurious to the class of crops grown in Michi- gan, unless more than forty inches a year.
The average annual precipitation, which includes melted snow, hail, sleet and rain, is greatest in the extreme southern part of the state and least in the northern part. The general average for the entire peninsula is approximately thirty inches. The average annual precipitation for Mont- calm county, based on observations made from 1886 to 1911, is from thirty to thirty-five inches. The average monthly precipitation in Mont- calm county in no month is less than two inches and varies from two inches in January and February to nearly three and one-half inches in May and June. It is slightly less than three inches for July, about two and one-half inches for August, two and three-fourths inches for September, two and one-half inches for October, two and three-fourths inches for November and two and one-third inches for December. Since the long and intense general drought of 1894-95, there has been no serious droughts in the state. Previous to 1894 moderately severe droughts had occurred in Michigan in 1881 and 1887.
The sunshine will average somewhat over fifty per cent. of the possible amount, the percentage being much higher during the period extending from May to the middle of October, than during the winter months. Dur- ing December, January and February it sometimes falls as low as twenty per cent. of the possible amount, while during June, July, August and September it exceeds sixty and sometimes seventy per cent. of the possible amount. As a rule, July is the sunniest month and December the cloudiest.
COAL DEPOSITS.
Observations of the state geologist show that coal measures underlie the surface deposits in Montcalm county. No wells penetrate formations deeper than the coal measures in the group of counties southwest and west of Saginaw bay, including Montcalm county, and there is therefore no direct knowledge of the character and thickness of the deeper lying forma-
41
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tions. Records of deep wells at Grand Rapids, Mt. Pleasant, Alma, St. Johns, Delta and Charlotte, however, indicate the general geologic condi- tions obtaining in Montcalm county.
It is very probable that gypsum and coal deposits exist in Montcalm county. Marl or bog lime is known to exist in a number of places, but under present conditions marl deposits do not have any considerable economic value. It is quite possible that in the near future marl deposits will be developed for agricultural purposes.
TYPES OF SOIL.
The classifications of soil for Montcalm county, herewith presented, merely sets forth the general classes of glacial deposits such as are evident to anyone without the pains necessary for a close analysis. Observations have seemed sufficiently complete, however, to form a basis for the estimates for the relative amounts of sandy and gravelly land given in the tables. The gravelly loam appears in river terraces and has been reworked by streams. The sand is found in both glacial areas and alluvial tracts. The sandy loam is in some cases glacial and in other cases alluvial, but in Michi- gan it is ordinarily glacial and more or less pebbly. The fine sandy and silty loam is widely represented in the ordinary till plain, the silty phase being classed as clayey till.
The following table shows in detail the surface formations in Mont- calm county :
Sections.
Swamp Clayey Sandy Area and lake till till Sandy sections. sections. sections. sections. sections. sections.
T. 12, R. 5 W
36
3
3
22
8
T. 12, R. 6 W
36
3
9
21
3
T. 12, R. 7 W
36
6
13
17
--
T. 12, R. 8 W
36
3
8
21
4
--
T. 12, R. 9 W
36
I
8
18
9
--
T. 12, R. 10 W
36
I
I
32
2
T. II, R. 10 W
36
4
15
7
6
4
T. II, R. 9 W
36
12
16
8
12
T. II, R. 7 W
36
2
4
22
8
T. IT, R. 6 .W
36
18
15
3
T. II, R. 5 W
36
I
13
18
4
--
T. II, R. 8 W
36
4
20
Gravelly loam
.
42
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Sections.
Swamp Clayey Sandy Area and lake till till Gravelly Sandy loam sections. sections. sections. sections. sections. sections.
T. 10, R. 5 W
36
4
12
14
6
--
T. 10, R. 6 W
36
2
8
20
6
-
T. 10, R. 7 W
36
2
18
14
2
--
T. 10, R. 8 W
36
3
3
20
IO
T. 9 R. 8 W
36
2
6
22
6
T. 9, R. 7 W
36
2
IO
20
4
--
T. 9, R. 6 W 1
36
2
24
4
6
--
1
1
1
1
36
2
28
- -
6
--
Total
720
:42
217
312
II3
36
1
1
1
T. 9, R. 5 W
1
The total area of Montcalm county, including lakes and embracing 720 sections, is 710 square miles, while the whole number of farms in the county is 4,678. The average value of the land per acre, which is devoted to agriculture, is $26.44. Altogether. there are 613.9 square miles in farms, or 84.8 per cent. The total farm land improved amounts to 67.8 per cent., while the per cent. of all land improved amounts to 57.5 per cent. The principal crops of Montcalm county, as given by the state geologist, are hay, potatoes, corn, oats, rye, wheat and beans, named in the order of their importance. These figures, however, are taken from the 1910 census and are not dependable at this time. The undeveloped land in Montcalm county is chiefly in sandy plains, the more productive land being under profitable cultivation.
CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION OF MONTCALM COUNTY.
The people of Michigan adopted their first Constitution in 1835, pre- paratory to the admission of the territory into the Union as a state, but this first Constitution was rejected by Congress and in December, 1836, a sec- ond Constitution was adopted and this was accepted. The territory of Michigan was formally admitted to the Union by act of January 26, 1837, with the capital at Detroit and the boundaries reduced to approximately the present limits of the state. A small strip of land, covering about six hundred square miles, and embracing the present city of Toledo, Ohio, was claimed by both Michigan and Ohio. By the terms of a compromise which subsequently settled the dispute, Michigan received the upper peninsula in exchange for the territory in dispute. In 1847 the seat of the state govern- ment was moved to Lansing, then a dense wilderness. Three years later a third Constitution was adopted.
Michigan derives its name from an Indian word meaning "great lake." The first settlement was probably made on the Detroit river in 1650 by the French, a temporary mission having been previously established at Sault Ste. Marie in 1641 by the French priests, Joques and Raymbault. The territory was subsequently colonized by the French and ceded to the Brit- ish, together with Canada, by the treaty of Paris in 1763. By the treaty of 1783, Michigan became a part of the United States, but it was not fully surrendered until 1796. On August 6, 1796, a proclamation was issued by General St. Clair, governor of the Northwest territory, by which he organ- ized the county of Wayne, a county which included the northwest part of Ohio, the northeast part of Indiana and the whole of Michigan-which then included a part of Wisconsin.
When the territory of Indiana was organized, on May 7, 1800, out of the Northwest territory, the eastern boundary line of Indiana territory was extended northward through the middle of the lower peninsula to the straits of Mackinaw, while the eastern part of Michigan continued a part of the Northwest territory. On January 11, 1805, the territory of Indiana was divided and the territory of Michigan created. The first meeting held to organize the government of the new territory assembled at Detroit on
-
44
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
July 4, 1805, the twenty-ninth anniversary of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Until after the close of the War of 1812 no further action was taken with regard to the organization of counties. On November 21, 1815, Governor Cass reorganized Wayne county by an executive act and made the boundaries to include all the lands within the territory of Michigan to which the Indian title had been extinguished.
By an act of the Legislative Council of the territory of Michigan, approved March 2, 1831, Montcalm and several other counties were given definite limits. Section 7 of this act provided : "That the country included within the following limits, to wit: West of the line between ranges 4 and 5, east of the line between ranges 8 and 9 west, south of the line between townships 12 and 13, and north of the line between townships 8 and 9 north, containing sixteen townships, be, and the same is hereby set off into a separate county by the name of Montcalm."
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
At that time no township lines had as yet been surveyed, nor had the government, by treaty with the Indians, acquired title to all the lands so described. After an interval of about nine years, during which Montcalm county was attached to St. Joseph, Kalamazoo and Kent counties, it was finally, by an act of the state Legislature approved on April 1, 1840, for- mally attached to Ionia county. Settlers came into the new territory very fast, and the population grew from year to year. Among these first settlers were John Green, Josiah Russell, Thomas H. Myers, Stephen H. Warren, Rosecrans K. Divine, Westbrook Divine, Luther Lincoln, George Gibson, Anson Ensign, Ethan Satterlee, Frederick W. Worden, Ananias Worden, Elihu Fortner, Samuel D. Barr, Edward Petty, Lyman H. Pratt, H. N. Stinson, Josiah Bradish and Volney Belding. These sturdy pioneers found it extremely difficult to make the journey to the then distant seat of Ionia county, to which it was necessary to go for transaction of any official business, and soon became very insistent for the organization of a separate township.
On March 19, 1845, Montcalm township was formed by act of the state Legislature and was defined to embrace all territory designated by the United States survey as Montcalm county except townships 9 and 10, north of range 5 west, which had been previously attached to North Plains town- ship, in Ionia county. By this act Montcalm township was attached to Ionia county for election. judicial and taxation purposes. The act fixed
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN. . 45
the first official meeting place of the township at the house of Anson Ensign. It was here that the electors of the township met on April 7, 1845. The board of elections consisted of Stephen H. Warren, moderator ; George Gibson, Josiah Russell, Ethan Satterlee and Rosecrans K. Divine, inspectors, and Josiah Russell and Rosecrans K. Divine, clerks. Thirty- six electors who appeared at this meeting chose the following officials: Frederick W. Worden, supervisor : Josiah Russell, township clerk; Rose- crans K. Divine, treasurer ; George Gibson, Stephen F. Warren, John Green and Elihu Fortner, justices of the peace; Samuel B. Barr and Ethan Sat- terlee, assessors; Westbrook Divine, Edward Petty, Lyman H. Pratt, com- missioners of highways; H. N. Stinson, Josiah Bradish, Ananias Worden, school inspectors; Volney Belding, Josiah Bradish, directors of the poor, and Henry S. Halford, Jonathan Gould, Lorenzo Whitney and Lyman H. Pratt, constables. It is rather remarkable that of the thirty-six present at the first township election, nineteen of this number were elected to office and two of the nineteen were chosen to fill two offices each.
FIRST ASSESSMENT FOR TAXATION.
In 1846 the real estate of Montcalm township was valued at $29,945.28, and this property paid a county tax of $209.62 and a state tax of $74.86. Ananias Worden succeeded Frederick W. Worden as super- visor in 1846 and he was succeeded by Josiah Russell in 1847. Russell was succeeded by Rosecrans K. Divine in 1849. In this connection, the basis of the assessment of property for taxation in 1850, the first levy made by the board of supervisors after the organization of Montcalm county, is interesting. At this meeting, held at Greenville, on April 9, 1850, the following rates of assessment were agreed upon: "Wild land, ten shillings per acre; improvement, ten shillings per acre; good house, like A. French's, $125; ditto, like Becker's, $75; ditto, like Green's, $50; good barn, $25; good span of horses, $25; good yoke of oxen, $10; good wagon, $10; good cow, $4; good two-year-old steer, $2; good two-year-old colt, $4; good sheep, 25c .; good double saw-mill, $400; good single saw-mill, $300."
By an act of the Michigan Legislature, approved on March 20, 1850, Montcalm county began an independent career as one of the political units of this commonwealth. By this act, however, Montcalm county was made a part of Ionia county for judicial purposes and it was also left attached to Ionia county for the purpose of electing a representative in the state
46
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Legislature. A temporary county seat was fixed within the present limits of Eureka township at what came to be the city of Greenville, but the act specifically provided for the permanent location of the seat of justice by the supervisors elected ten years later, in- 1860.
Montcalm county, no doubt, was named for Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint Veran, a distinguished French officer who was born near Nimes, February 28, 1712, and was killed in the defense of Quebec, September 14, 1759.
THE ENABLING ACT.
A complete copy of the enabling act by which Montcalm county was formally organized is presented herewith :
"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the state of Michigan, That the county of Montcalm shall be organized, and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other organized counties of this state are entitled.
"Sec. 2. That all suits, prosecutions and other matters now pending before any court of record in Ionia county, or before any justice of the peace in said county, or that shall be pending at the time of the taking effect of this act, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution; and all taxes heretofore levied and now due shall be collected in the same man- ner as though the county of Montcalm had not been organized.
"Sec. 3. There shall be elected in the said county of Montcalm on the first Monday of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty, all the several county officers to which by law the said county is entitled; and said election shall in all respects be conducted and held in the manner prescribed by law for holding elections for county and state offi- cers: Provided, That until such county officers are elected and qualified the proper county officers of the county of Tonia shall perform all the duties appertaining to said county of Montcalm, in the same manner as though this act had not been passed: And, Provided further, That the county officers so to be elected shall be qualified and enter upon the duties of their respective offices on or before the fifteenth day of April, one thou- sand eight hundred and fifty.
"Sec. 4. The board of canvassers in said county, under this act, shall consist of the presiding inspectors of elections from each township therein, and said inspectors shall meet at the county seat of said county at the time appointed by law for the county canvass, and immediately after the election
47
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
authorized in the third section of this act, and organize by appointing one of their number chairman and another secretary of said board, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county can- vassers as in ordinary cases of election for county and state officers.
"Sec. 5. That the county of Montcalm, when so organized, and the county of lonia shall constitute one representative district, and the election returns of said district shall be made at the county seat of the county of Ionia.
"Sec. 6. The circuit court for the county of Ionia shall have the same jurisdiction over the said county of Montcalm that it would have had this act not been passed, until otherwise provided by law.
"Sec. 7. That it shall be the duty of the sheriff of said county of Montcalm to provide some suitable place for holding courts in said county, at the county seat thereof, until public buildings shall be erected.
"Sec. 8. That the county seat of the said county of Montcalm shall be, and the same is hereby, fixed and established on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section sixteen, in township number nine north, range number cight west, until the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and until the same shall be permanently located as hereinafter pro- vided ; and the supervisors elected for the year eighteen hundred and sixty in said county shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to perma- nently locate the county seat of said county : Provided, That the inhabitants of the county shall not be taxed for the erection of county buildings until the permanent location of the county seat is made, as provided in section eight of this act.
"Sec. 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
"Approved. March 20. 1850."
THE FIRST ELECTION.
According to the provisions of this act, the voters of four townships, Bushnell, Eureka, Fairplain and Montcalm, met at the polls on Monday, April 1, 1850, and elected county officials. The returns from Fairplain township, consisting of 53 votes, were thrown out because of irregularities and in the three remaining townships a total of 133 votes were cast. Of these votes, Josiah Russell received 129 for county judge and Ethan Sat- terlee 120 for second judge. Stephen H. Warren was elected probate judge over I. Fifield, receiving 122 votes to Fifield's 4. Enos T. Peck was
48
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
chosen county clerk. Gibson S. Fargo was elected the first sheriff, receiv- ing 125 out of 126 votes cast for this office. For county clerk, Henry M. Moore was elected, receiving 87 votes to 35 cast for Ananias Worden, and 4 for Henry W. Moore. John Porter was the only candidate for county treasurer. Newcomb J. Ireland was elected register of deeds over Hiram H. Slawson, receiving 85 votes to Slawson's 36. For county surveyor, Josiah Bradish received 122 votes and Josiah Russell I. For county coro- ners, Chauncey Olnisted received 119 and John Green 126. Rosecrans K. Divine, of Eureka township, Volney Belding, of Montcalm township, and Rufus K. Moore, of Fairplain township, were elected members of the board of supervisors.
COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
At the first meeting of the Montcalm county board of supervisors, held at Greenville, April 9, 1850, all the members of the board were pres- ent. The board appointed the "public house of Morton Shearer at Green- ville as a place for holding the county courts of Montcalm county, and a bargain was accordingly made by the sheriff with Mr. Shearer for the use of his house for said purpose at one dollar per day." At this meeting the first certificate of the killing of a wolf in Montcalm county was presented by Hiram Rossman, of Eureka township, and a bounty of $8 allowed Rossman. Between 1850 and the close of 1860, a total of $1,320 was paid in bounties for the killing of 231 wolves. Many of these bounties were paid to Indians.
The second meeting of the board of supervisors was held on April 17, 1850, attended by R. K. Divine, of Eureka, Volney Belding, of Montcalm, R. K. Moore, of Fairplain, and C. W. Olmsted, of Bushnell. After the reading of the minutes of the first meeting, the chairman and clerk of the board were authorized to issue county orders, bearing interest from date, "to the amount necessary to pay the expenses of the county up to the mid- dle of October next." It seems that Daniel Munger having declined to furnish the necessary books for the county, the clerk of the board was directed to order books from A. S. Bagg, of Detroit. The board of supervisors also authorized the chairman and clerk to procure a county seal.
At the third meeting of the board, held on October 14, 1850, the fol- lowing claims were allowed: E. R. Powell, for printing county orders, $9; A. Monroe, for going to Ionia for books, $2; I. Russell, freight on county books, $7.50; A. Roosa, serving notices on supervisors, $2. On the
49
MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
next day other accounts were audited and allowed as follows: G. S. Fargo, $5.50; Morton Shearer, $8; S. H. Warren, $1.75; A. S. Bagg, $130.25; John Porter, treasurer, $7; E. B. Burrington, $3.54; R. K. Divine, $12.25; C. W. Olmsted, $10.74 ;; R. K. Moore, $9.12, and J. Russell, service as judge, $1. The county clerk of Ionia county was allowed $20 for his services for acting also as clerk of Montcalm county. The journal of the board of supervisors shows that there was raised by taxation in Montcalm county in 1850 for state purposes, $80.44, and for county pur- poses, $350.
Another entry in the journal of the board of supervisors shows the valuation of taxable property in the several townships of Montcalm county for 1850, together with the apportionment of state and county taxes to the different townships for 1850:
Townships.
As assessed. As equalized. Personal.
Total.
State.
County.
Bushnell
$ 6,952.50
$ 6,952.50
$ 893.00
$ 7,845.50
$ 9.46
$41.273
Eureka
24,600.98
24,600.98
1,504.62
26,105.60
31.45
136.70
Fairplain
18,127.39
18,127.39
1,031.50
19,158.89
23.08
100.43}
Montcalm
12,542.24
12,542.24
1,114.00
13,656.24
16.45
71.59
Total
$62,223.11
$62,223.11
$4,543.12
$66,766.23
$80.44
$350.00
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY VALUATIONS.
Before the levy of 1852 was made Bloomer township had been organ- ized and the total real and personal property, as equalized, had increased to $98.430, with a county tax of $500 and a state tax of $387.71. The statement of valuations for real and personal property for 1853 shows that total values had risen to $291,645 and that 1,847 out of 90,933 acres of land in the county was improved. The total valuation of all property in 1854 was $501,882 ; in 1855 it was $795,612, and in 1856 it was $893,581. There was a reduction in valuations for real and personal property for 1857, but the valuations rose again to $908,900 in 1858. By this time Pierson, Cato, Evergreen, Sidney, Feris and Crystal townships had been organized.
In 1859 the total valuation for real and personal property in Mont- calm county for the first time exceeded a million dollars, the aggregate valuations for all property being returned by the board of supervisors at $1,027,517.
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.