History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 115

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co.
Number of Pages: 716


USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 115
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 115


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).


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thrashing-floor,-he got the assistance of his team, to no good purpose, however, since he emerged from his troublous position only when a third pair of cattle came upon the seene and were pressed into service. Reports go as far even as to say that teams used in some cases to be mired a whole day, and that, unable to extricate themselves or to be ex- tricated, they were left there to perish.


Orange Ferguson, of whom mention has been made, built Olive's pioneer saw-mill,-and indeed the only mill of any kind the town has ever had,-near Muskrat Lake, about 1843. It was composed of hewn logs, and for its irons Ben Merrihew made a journey to Detroit.


On the south line of the town Alexander Calder made a settlement early in the year 1837 upon section 31. He came to the town in the fall of 1835, and bought his land of Capt. Scott. In May, 1836, he brought his family to De Witt, and worked a year for Capt. Scott. In May, 1837. he occupied his Olive place. He was the first to settle in that portion of the town. The next year he was joined by Harvey Alexander, who made also a settlement on the town-line. From that neighborhood the settlers in Olive in the early days attended church and enjoyed school privileges in either De Witt or Riley. North of the south town-line Atwell Simmons, a resident mn Riley, made an improvement in Olive upon section 30, and in the winter of 1837 and 1838 put in there three and a half aeres of wheat, from which he gathered the next summer one hun- dred and twenty-six bushels, or an average of thirty-six bushels per acre. Wheat-thrashers at that time were oxen, and although they were slow in the performance of the duty, and the method itself not of the most satisfactory kind, it had to answer, and did answer very decently until something better came to hand.


Peter Ennest, son-in-law to Peter Merrihew, who had come with the latter to Olive in the fall of 1836, then se- leeted some land on section 10, and in 1838 came with his brother-in-law, James Ennest, to make a permanent location, James settling upon section 5. In 1839, Daniel Ferguson -brother to Orange Ferguson-located on section 17. During his residence in Olive he served one term as county treasurer.


In 1839, Nathan Smith eame from New York and located upon a place on the De Witt and Colony road, one and a half miles south of Orange Ferguson's. This thoroughfare, known now as the Lansing and St. Johns road, was then simply an underbrushed highway. On that road in Olive there was then no settler between Smith and George Kin- ney, ou the south townl-ine. Half a mile north of Smith was Henry Leuts, just north of him his brother Hopkins Leuts, and just north of the last was the father, Peter. Next north was Daniel Ferguson, then Orange Ferguson, and so northward to Ransom Reed, Benjamin Merrihew, and Ephraim Merrihew.


The De Witt road became after awhile a much-traveled thoroughfare, and about 1853 was opened as a mail- and stage-route between Lansing and St. Johns via De Witt. The volume of travel called, of course, for taverns, and the first to respond was Myron Wolcott, who kept in a shanty what he was pleased to call "The Half-Way House," in


493


OLIVE TOWNSHIP.


recognition of the fact that it was midway between De Witt and St. Johns. Later Wolcott's shanty was supplanted by a more pretentious edifice, which still does duty as a way- side inn on section 17. About the time Wolcott opened his tavern Orange Ferguson followed suit with a second hostelry at Muskrat Lake. Two miles south of Wolcott's a Frenchman named J. P. Russell set up a tavern-stand, and hard by John Inits had what he was pleased to call a brewery. Russell called his place " The Traveler's Home," and the presumption is fair that the travelers who sojourned beneath Russell's hospitable roof were fortunate in being within such easy reach of soothing beer wherewith to mois- ten their clay. Of the taverns mentioned none are left to cheer and refresh the weary wayfarer save the one occupy- ing the site of Wolcott's old stand. As before remarked, a mail- and stage-route was established upon the road, and daily a four-horse coach bowled merrily over its smooth surface, while general travel of considerable consequence animated and enlivened to no small degree the stretch of country that bordered the highway. When a post-office was established John Norris was appointed postmaster. When the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad was pushed as far westward as St. Johns, the mail-route over the De Witt road was abolished, and the post-office in Olive discontinued. Some time afterwards it was revived and the office given to Nancy Rouns. Her successor was Alonzo Huntoon, the tavern-keeper, who retained the place until IS75, when the government decided again to cut Olive from the list of post- offices, and since that day the town has had no mail con- veniences within its borders.


Inquiries touching the first birth and first death in Olive have failed, although diligently pursued, in pro- ducing satisfactory couclusions. The first marriage in the town may, however, be noted as having been that of Hor- ace S. Green to Mary Ann, daughter to Peter Merrihew. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Lewis Coburn, a Methodist Episcopal preacher, in the year 1839, at the house of the bride's father. The occasion was naturally a notable one, and the signal for the gathering of a goodly company and the prevalence of a season of merry enjoy- ment.


Early log cabins were built with what were called single roofs. The first cabin that boasted a double roof was the one built by Peter Merrihew. Guy Wilcox built the first framed house, which Peter Merrihew bought and moved to his own place. Wilcox had also an ashery, and between pioneering and making potash kept himself busily em- ployed.


Bear-hunts were common pastimes, and bear-hunters of more than ordinary skill won much local fame. A noted bear-hunting party was composed of Adam, Ephraim, and John Merrihew and Linus Gillett. They hunted a bear which had the night before raided and carried off a settler's hog. The hunt was determined and protracted, but it terminated in Bruin's capture and a general rejoicing all around. Capturing bears by means of dead-falls was, how- ever, the favorite and most successful method, and at this Horace Green was exceedingly adept and lucky. John W. Merrihew tells of taking part in a bear-hunt in which the


bear was shot dead in a tree, and there remained stuck fast until the tree was felled to dislodge him. He was a large animal, and yielded five pailfuls of fat.


The early history of' Olive was somewhat painfully im- pressed with the lawless exploits of' one Fletcher, and his subsequent expulsion from the town. Ile pretended to be a blacksmith, but devoted himself' chiefly to laying unlaw- ful hands upon the property of his neighbors, and working grievances in manifold ways. Tiring of his ordinary methods of deviltry he took to poisoning the cattle of his fellow-citizens, and at this latest and sharpest demonstration of sin the community rose en masse and vowed that he must be made to feel the sharp sting of public vengeance. Previous punishments had been inflicted upon him and warnings of greater wrath to come had reached him, but at this time general opinion inclined to the belief that pa- tience had ceased to be a virtue, and desperate measures were accordingly resolved on. An indignation meeting was held, and after a brief and hurried discussion of the situa- tion it was proposed to lynch the sinful Fletcher, and further proposed to draw lots to see who should have the distinguished honor of leading the expedition and striking the first blow. One of the members of the party was indi- vidually so anxious to be chief in Fletcher's taking off that he suggested the postponement of drawing ents, since he himself would take the job of killing the wicked Fletcher, and would further guarantee that the killing should be done promptly and effectually. Unfortunately for his ambition, word was soon brought that Fletcher had been captured by officers of the law and conveyed to the county jail. There- upon the company resolved not to lose all chance for satis- fying their vengeance, disguised themselves as a party of Indians, and moving rapidly upon Fletcher's house, utterly destroyed it. His family fled for their lives and sought shelter in De Witt, but they were in such bad odor that no one would take them in, and so they pressed on, nobody knows whither. There was some talk of moving upon the jail, dragging Fletcher forth, and lynching him anyway, but discussion proved the plan impolitic and it was abandoned. Its abandonment was probably afterwards regretted when, having been in jail but a short time, Fletcher made good his escape therefrom and fled to other scenes. Nothing muore was heard of him after that for some years, when it was toll that in the Far West he had been run over and killed by a railway-train.


Among the pioneers of Olive came David G. Wilsey, in 1839, to section 26, where he lived until 1844, and then removed to a place on sectiou 35 he had bought of David Scott, who had improved forty acres of the tract. When Wilsey located upon section 26 his nearest neighbor was more than a mile distant, and in 1814 his neighbor on the town-line was Charles Lent, who lived west of him. Wilsey used to go to Owosso to mill, and although it was a trip of fifty miles, he was not so badly off in that respect as some of his fellow-settlers farther west. Cash for grain was not to be had short of Detroit, and to that point he had to go when he wanted money for wheat. La- boring for others frequently, he could always get pay in grain and provisions but no money. Having accumulated


494


HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


at the De Witt mill as many as a hundred barrels of flour, he hauled the lot a hundred miles to the Detroit market, and got only three dollars a barrel for it after all,-not much more than it cost him to get it there. As an illustration of how she bore her share of pioneer burdens, Mrs. Wilsey relates that when, shortly after their coming to the town, Mr. Wilsey was taken down sick, she used to go twice a day for drinking-water a mile distant from her cabin, did her cooking at a stump out-of-doors, had nothing better than a blanket for a door and sheet for a window, and lay many a night trembling all night long at the doleful howls of wolves, who made the darkness hideous with their music.


Linus Gillett, who was a settler in Olive in 1840, settled in the State in 1829, and claimed that his was the first family to occupy the present site of the city of Jackson. His settlement in Olive was made upon section 3, where now lives J. W. Outcalt, whose father occupied the place in 1854. Into the Merrihew neighborhood Edward Ennest was a comer iu 1838, as were the Norris families in 1840. John Parks (who settled in the State in 1838), Addison Cook, William Van Dyke, M. D. Tabor, Thomas Reed (a comer to the State in 1834), and William Sperry, were among the moderately early settlers in Olive. William Dills, who entered the State in 1842, made a location in 1852 upon the south town-line iu Olive in section 32, the place being the one originally settled by George Kin- ney. West of Dills, on the town-line iu Olive, were then Harvey Alexander, Alonzo Calder, and Thomas Reed ; but east of him there was nobody nearer than Wilsey's, on sec- tion 35. Later came L. W. Sibley and H. G. Dills, on section 33, and Warren Ives in 1854 to a place on section 36, where Amasa Bugbee had been an earlier settler.


R. W. Holly made his home on section 26 in 1852, and made it, too, in the midst of a forest. His nearest neigh- bor was the widow Rathburn, forty rods south. William Van Looven was one and a half miles south and east, and in the southeast quarter of the town in 1852, Wilsey being in California, Van Looven and Holly were the ouly voters. In 1855, William Blizzard settled upon section 19, on the west town-line, and at that time section 19 had but two other settlers,-B. F. Ware and Samuel Knapp. Oliver and Thomas Knapp came to section 20 in 1854. North- ward Blizzard had no neighbors on the east side of the line. Southward were Samuel Knapp, George Simmons, Jonathan Mosher, and Joseph Thomas. Off in the eastern portion of the town Eunice Carpenter came with her sons, George, Benjamin, and Jackson, in 1856 to section 24. The surrounding country was a forest, and to get to their place they had to cut out a road. Even then they could not get through because of the swamps, and had to go back to R. W. Holly's, where they stopped until, after some con- siderable delay, a roadway was constructed to their new abode. In the Carpenter neighborhood William Rheubot- tanı settled upon section 23 in 1859, when the best public highway in the vicinity was an underbrushed road through the woods. Jolin Jones and Abram Middleton were in the vicinity, as were M. Black and L. D. Chadwick. F. F. Francisco and Alonzo Hamilton came later. Ou section 1, Marshall Hand was a settler iu 1854; west of him came


A. G. Foote at a later date; still farther west Ira Gage made a location on section 4 in 1854,-his residence in Michigan dating from 1826; and west of him still, Wil- liam Sperry aud M. Picktril located about the same time.


RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS OF OLIVE IN 1841.


Acres.


Hiram Burgess, section I.


110


Linus Gillette, section 3


120


Peter Ennest, section 10. SO


John M. Merrihew, sections 9, 10 .. 160


Peter Merrihew, sections 4, 5. 270


George A. Merrihew, section S. 120


E. S. Merrihew, section S ..


120


Benjamin Merrihew, section "


Isaac L. Austin, section 5 50


Ransom Rees, section 7 232


Orange Ferguson, sections 7, 8, 18. 238


Daniel Ferguson, sections 18, 17. 120


H. S. Green, sections 5, 17, S ..


260


James Ennest, section 17. 60


Harvey Alexander, section 31


160


Nathaniel Moon, section 32. SO


George Kinney, section 32


80


Nathan Smith, section 20.


120


Alexander Calder, sections 31, 32. 120


Henry Leuts, section 20.


40


. Hopkins Leuts, section 20. 50


David G. Wilsey, section 26. 120


Peter Leuts, section 20. 30


THE TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1841.


March 22, 1842, the town treasurer presented his annual report for 1841, in which he set fortb that he had received from the county treasurer $252.80 ; that he had paid out for highway work 8202.09; and that there were in the treasury $50.71. Further, that he had received from the town collector $79.89 for town expenses, and that of that amount $22.49 still remained in the treasury.


VOTERS IN THE TOWNSHIP IN 1844.


The oldest recorded list of voters in Olive bears date 1844. Those who voted at the election held that year numbered forty, and were named Adam Merrilcw, Boyce Penden, Peter Merrihew, Philip Coon, Peter Ennest, Orange Eddy, Perry Armstrong, David Groom, James En - nest, Benjamin Merrihew, Daniel Ferguson, M. W. Pike, Alonzo Groom, Richard Ferguson, Isaac Parks, John Groom, Jr., Arvin Groom, Edward Ennest, Harvey Alex- ander, George Henry, IIorace S. Green, Addison W. Cook, John W. Merrihew, Alexander Calder, N. S. Merrihew, D. G. Wilsey, Nathan Smith, Linus Gillett, Daniel Fergu- son, Jr., Orange Ferguson, Guy N. Wilcox, Smith Penden, Ransom Reed, E. S. Merrihew, Sidney Leuts, William In- galls, Peter Nelson, Moses Tabor, George H. Cook, George Kinney.


JURORS IN 1849.


The jurors in 1849 included Harvey Alexander, Alexan- der Calder, Orange Ferguson, Linus Gillett, E. S. Merri- hew, and J. W. Merrihew as grand jurors, and H. S. Green, A. W. Cook, L. D. Rathburn, Adam Merrihew, O. S. Stod- dard, and Perry Armstrong as petit jurors.


TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.


Town 6 north, range 2 west, was, by act of Legislature approved March 20, 1841, detached from De Witt, and organized as a separate township, under the name of Olive. The uame was given it by the Merrihews at a meeting held


495


OLIVE TOWNSHIP.


at Orange Ferguson's for the purpose of christening the proposed new organization. Orange Ferguson wanted to name it after his daughter, but the Merrihews inclined to the name of the place in New York whence they had come to Michigan, and being in the majority they carried the day, wherefore " Olive" was sent in to the Legislature along with the petition for organization.


According to public notice the first towu-meeting was held at the house of Ransom Reed, April 5, 1841. Daniel Ferguson, John W. Merrihew, Orange Ferguson, Hiram Burgess, and Harvey Alexander were inspectors of election. Eighteen votes were cast, and the following persons ehosen to the various offices : Supervisor, Daniel Ferguson, Sr. ; Clerk, John W. Merrihew ; Treasurer, George A. Merri- hew; School Inspectors, John W. Merrihew, Hiram Bur- gess, Alexander Calder ; Assessors, Hiram Burgess, Horace S. Green, Alexander Calder ; Justices of the Peace, Hiratu Burgess, Orange Ferguson, Alexander Calder ; Highway Commissioners, John W. Merrihew, David G. Wilsey ; Constables, Isaae L. Austin, Ephraim S. Merrihew, Na- thaniel Moore; Overseers of Highways, Peter Ennest, Ephraim Merrihew, Ransom Reed, Henry Leuts, George Kinney.


CIVIL LIST OF OLIVE.


Herewithf is presented a list of persons chosen to the chief township offices annually from 1842 to 1880:


SUPERVISORS.


1842-46. D. Ferguson, Jr. 1861. B. F. Ware.


1847-49. J. W. Merrihew.


IS65-66. S. M. Alexander.


1850. H. Alexander. 1867. R. Reed.


1851-52. J. W. Merrihew.


1869. R. Young.


IS53-55. A. Calder.


1868-71. A. Story.


1856. R. S. Coshun.


1872. R. Young.


1857-61. B. F. Warc.


1873-79. M. Hand.


1862. R. S. Coshun.


ISSO. T. W. Baldwin.


1863. S. M. Alexander ..


CLERKS.


1842. F. R. Reed.


1860-62. P. Ilowe.


1843. J. W. Merrihow.


1863. E. D. Clark.


1844. G. N. Wileox.


1864-65. W. II. II. Knapp.


1815-46. J. W. Merrihew.


1866-72. M. Iland.


18.17-53. O. Ferguson.


1873-76. W. L. Brown.


1854-55. R. S. Coshun.


1877-78. T. W. Baldwin.


1856. Ira Gage.


1879. E. Locher.


1857. O. Ferguson.


1880. G. R. Simmons.


1858-59. G. B. Wixon.


TREASURERS.


1842. J. W. Merrihew. 1865. G. A. Merrihew.


1843. J. G. Cagwin.


1866. R. Young.


1844. P. Armstrong. 1867. A. C. Preston.


1845-50. E. S. Merrihew.


1868-70. M. L. Alexander.


1851-53. R. Reed.


1871-78. G. R. Simmous.


1854-56. William Dills.


1879-80. A. L. MeWethey.


1857-64. R. Reed.


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.


1842. F. R. Reed. 1851. N. Baker.


1813. O. Ferguson.


1852. F. Preston.


1844. R. Reed. 1853. U. R. Owen.


1845. D. Ferguson, Jr. 1854. A. Calder.


IS16. A. Calder.


1855. R. W. Holly.


1847. J. Sumner.


1856. P. llowe.


1818. F. R. Reed.


1857. A. Gillet.


1849. M. Iluston.


1858. Ira Gage.


1850. A. Calder.


1859. R. W. Holly.


1860. P. Ilowe. IST1. E. Case.


1861. A. Calder. 1872. P. Howe.


1862. L. Howe. 1873. Lewis Isbell.


1863. F. Preston. 1874, P. Kyes.


1864. William Dills.


1875. P. Howe.


1865. N. Lemm.


1876. A. Gillet.


1866. James Tubbs.


1877. P. Howc.


1867. F. Preston. 1878. L. S. Rue.


1868. U. Rowen.


1879. W. C. Lankton.


1869. E. Brink.


1SS0. Z. Sexton.


1870. J. M. Do Witt.


HIGHWAYS.


The first road laid in town 6 (now Olive) was recorded March 23, 1838, in the highway records of the town of De Witt as having been laid by O. Ferguson and William A. Hewitt, commissioners of highways. The road com- meneed at the northeast corner of section 18 and extended thenee east on seetion-line to the northwest corner of see- tion 16, and thence sonth and east to the quarter post on the east line of section 24.


Road No. 2, recorded June 28, 1839, was laid by John Gould and Harvey Alexander. It commenced at the south- west corner of section 32 and ran north to the northwest corner of section 29. No. 3, recorded Feb. 19, 1839, ex- tended from the northeast corner of section 9 westward to the north line of section 7. No. 4, recorded the same date, commeneed ten chains north of the southwest corner of section 8 and extended north to the northwest corner of said section. No. 5 commenced twenty chains west of the southeast corner of section 34 and ran north twenty chains. No. 6 commeneed at the northeast corner of section 31 and extended thenee south one mile to the southeast corner of said seetion. No. 7 began at the quarter post on the south line of section 4 and passed thence north two and one-half degrees west to the quarter post on the north line of said seetion. No. S extended from the northwest corner of sec- tion 34 to the southwest corner of said section. No. 9 was laid by the commissioners of De Witt and Bingham, and commenced at the southwest corner of section 32, town 7, extending thence eastward to the east line of the town. The roads above mentioned were laid while town 6 was attached to De Witt.


The town was divided into road districts in 1842 as fol- lows: No. 1 to comprise sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12. No. 3 to contain the south halves of sections 7, 8, 9, the whole of sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, the west hall' and the northeast quarter of section 23, and the whole of 24. No. 2 had sections 4, 5, 6 and the north halves of 7, 8, 9. No. 4 had sections 20, 21, 28, 29 and the northeast quar- ter and east half of the northwest quarter of 32. No. 5 had sections 19, 30, 31, the south and west halves of the northwest quarter of 32, and the southwest and the north- west quarters of 33. No. 6 had sections 25, 26, 27, the east hall' of section 33, the southeast quarter of section 23, and the whole of sections 34, 35, and 36.


Appended is a list of the persons subject to work on the highways in 1842 :


District No. 1 .- Linus Gillet, Peter Ennest, William D. Davis, Hiram Burgess.


No. 2 .- J. W. Merrihew, Peter Merrihew, N. S. Merri- hew, E. S. Merrihew, James Ennest, I. L. Austin, G. A. Merrihew.


496


HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.


No. 3 .- Ransom Reed, Orange Ferguson, Daniel Fer- guson, Jr., Daniel Ferguson, Sr., Richard Ferguson, lfor- ace S. Green.


No. 4 .- Peter Lutes, Henry Lutes, Hopkins Lutes, Sid- ney Lutes, Nathan Smith.


No. 5 .- Alexander Calder, Harvey Alexander, Nathaniel Moore, George Kinney, Richard Kinney, M. W. Pike.


No. 6 .- David G. Wilsey, F. R. Read.


SCHOOLS.


The first school taught in Olive was doubtless the one of which Harvey Alexander's daughter was the teacher. The school-house was put up in the Merrihew settlement, about one mile west of John Merrihew's. Nathan Smith's daughter, Mary, taught in 1840 a subseription-school, just north of the Ferguson settlement, in a log cabin built by Ranson Reed for a dwelling-house. Miss Smith's school lasted three months, and gave instruction to fifteen scholars. It is held by some that hers was the pioneer sehool. If not the first, it was surely the second.


The township board of school inspectors organized May 15, 1841, by choosing Hiram Burgess chairman. Their first business was to organize with the inspeetors of Bing- ham, Ossowa, and Ovid fractional district No. 2 of Ovid, which comprised sections 1, 2, and 12 in Olive and por- tions of the other towns named.


At a meeting, October 12, 1841, district No. 2, in Olive, was formed, to include sections 3, 4, 5, and 6, the north halves of 7, 8, 9, and 10. On the same date the south halves of scetions 7, 8, 9, and 10, and the whole of see- tions 19, 20, 21, 16, 17, and 18, were set apart as district No. 3. The annual report of the director of fractional dis- triet No. 1 of Ovid to the inspectors of Olive, rendered Oct. 15, 1842, set forth that in that fractional district Olive had four school children. The annual report of district No. 2, iu Olive, for 1842, gave the number of children at twenty-four, the average attendance eighteen, and thirteen dollars as paid to teacher for five months' service.


The town school records fail to note the appointment of any teachers prior to 1850. Subsequent to that date and to 1860 the appointments included the following : April 13, 1850 .- Alice Marvin. June 14, 1851 .- Seraphina Alexander. Dec. 3, 1851 .- Emeline Moss. Dec. 20, 1851 .- Mary A. Moore.


Jan. 5, 1852 .- Achsah Blood.


May 1, 1852 .- Minah Moore.


May 8, 1852 .- Sarah Ann Avery.


May 22, 1852 .- Miss Irish. Dec. 1, 1852 .- N. M. Gunsally. April 7, 1853 .- Stella Ferguson. April 11, 1853 .- Sarah Chapin. April 8, 1854 .- Laura Bates, Sarah A. Marsh. May 1, 1854 .- Laura Stowell. June 26, 1854 .- Lovina Young.


Dec. 30, 1854 .- Samuel B. Owen, Emily Southworth. Nov. 7, 1857 .- Harvey Bartram, Joseph Coryell. April 10, 1858 .- Esther A. Lemm. May 5, 1858 .- Maria Wood, Rachel Dunham.


March 6, 1858 .- Rebecca Buck.


Nov. 5, 1858 .- James Du Bois, Ira Wightman. March 12, 1859 .- Martha Van Dyke.


May 25, 1859 .- Sarah Smith, Miss Delano.


The annual report for 1879 touching the condition of the public schools of Olive presents the following details :


Number of districts .6 children of school age .. 400


6


Average attendance 353


Value of school property .. $2775 $1003


Teachers' wages ..


The school directors for 1879 were Andrew Scott, A. G. Foote, George Smith, William C. Lankton, A. T. Sturges, and Alonzo Hamilton.


RELIGIOUS HISTORY.


The pioneer preaching in Olive was heard in the year 1840 at Daniel Ferguson's house, on which occasion ser- vices were conducted by a Methodist Episcopal missionary named Lapham, who organized at Ferguson's house in 1840 a Methodist Episcopal class, of which the constituent mem- bers were Daniel Ferguson, Orange Ferguson, and Horace S. Green, and their wives; Ephraim Merrihew's wife, Adam Merrihew and wife, and J. W. Merrihew and wife.




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