USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 53
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 53
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 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125
1850-51. Pliny S. Lyman. 1867. Theodore W. Ferry.
1855. E. F. Wade. 1868. J. 11. Anderson.
1856. J. B. Wheeler. 1869-70. Burt Saddleson.
1857. E. C. Moore.
1871-72. H. I. Newell.
1858. Cortes Pond. 1873-78. J. B. Eveleth.
1859. W. Goodell. 1879-80. William Parker.
TREASURERS.
1840. A. M. Jennings.
1860-62. John M. Fitch.
1841. Stephen Hawkins.
1863. Robert C. Kyle.
1842. S. Z. Kinyon.
1864-65. L. W. Gaffney.
1843. Henry Jennings.
1866. John M. Fitch.
1844. S. Z. Kinyon.
1867. John L. Wild.
1845-46. llenry Jennings. 1868. Morris Ormshy.
1847-48. Thomas S. Morton.
1869-72. William West.
William H. Jewett.
T. R. Young.
1842. A. Blain. 1859. R. MeLaughlin.
W. H. Jewett. J. R. Thompson.
Oliver Fraser.
1860. J. A. Thompson.
1843. A. Blain.
1861. J. R. Thompson.
C. S. Johnson. 1862. Milo Stewart.
John Pope.
1863. Charles Rhodes.
1844. W. H. Jewett.
1864. 11. B. Young.
Stephen Hawking. Robert Lyon.
A. Blain.
1865. Joseph Kelly.
1845. B. M. Waterman.
1866. Samuel West.
C. S. Johnson.
1867. Robert McBride.
John Davids.
Enos Merrill.
1846. William Lemon.
C. R. Gilbert.
E. C. Kimberley.
1847. C. S. Johnson. W. Il. Jewett.
1871. John Kelly.
C. R. Gilbert.
1872. George T. Sanders.
1848. C. R. Gilbert.
1873. C. H. Powell.
1849. E. M. Bacon.
1874. John Kelly.
1850. C. S. Johnson.
C. B. Pelton.
1851. D. Mortou.
1875. P. S. Ackerson.
1852. B. M. Waterman.
1876. W. J. Hinman.
Philo Rockwell.
1877. N. L. Jennings.
1853. G. W. Ilaines.
1878. William Packer.
1854. Philo Rockwell.
1879. Daniel Manger.
1855. E. C. Kimberley.
1880. Joel C. Potter.
DIRECTORS OF THE POOR.
1840-41. S. N. Warren.
1849-50 S. W. Cooper.
Alexander McArthur. 1851. Harlow Beach.
1842. Stephen Hawkins. C. S. Johnson.
Robert Lyon.
1852. S. W. Cooper.
1843. Ilarlow Beach. Harlow Beach.
J. B. Howard.
1853. Hiram Smith.
1844. S. W. Cooper.
G. W. Wait.
J. B. Howard.
1854-55. E. MeLaughlio. James Cummin.
Seth Beach.
1856. James Cummin.
1846. L. B. Gilbert. A. II. Beach.
Seth Beach. 1857. C. S. Johnson.
1847. H. Beach. R. P. Clark.
S. Perkins. 1858. James Cummin.
1848. J. M. Fraser.
A. Il. Beach.
George W. Ilaines.
1859. Cranston Belden. S. W. Cooper.
1849-50. J. M. Fraser.
ASSESSORS.
1840. W. R. Seymour.
1841. W. R. Thompson.
G. J. Van Buren.
R. R. Thompson.
1849. Eli Stewart.
1862. E. F. Wade.
1863. C. J. Gale.
Alexander MeArthur.
1864. Alexander McArthur. 1872. P. S. Aekerson.
1865. HI. J. Newell. 1873. J. B. Eveleth.
1866. J. N. Ingersoll. Schuyler Ferris.
G. W. Harris. 1874. Duane Cooper.
1867. C. J. Gale. I. O. Derr.
1868. G. N. Roberts. 1875. C. Mead.
1869. W. A. Maynard. C. Il. Powell.
B. R. Parsons. 1876. N. B. Aiken.
Il. J. Newell.
1877. J. A. Thompson.
1870. W. A. Maynard.
1878. A. B. Stedman.
A. A. Barry.
1879. Hugh Parker.
1871. Calvin Flint. James McBride.
1872. D. B. Reed.
1880. J. B. Eveleth.
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS.
1840. William Il. Jewett.
1856. H. J. Newell.
John Davids. 11. B. Flint.
Henry Jennings. 1857. T. R. Young.
1841. A. Blain.
H. J. Nowell.
Abram Garrabraut.
1858. J. M. Thayer.
1849-52. Alfred Bartlett.
1873. Isaac O. Derr.
1853-54. 1. M. Thayer.
1874-76. Charles Wren.
1855. Thomas S. Morton.
1877-79. E. G. Hawkins.
1856-58. Morris Jackson.
1880. N. B. Aiken.
1859. Thomas Lyons.
SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
1840. A. H. Beach.
1859. L. C. York.
S. H. Petteys.
Robert Duncan.
William HI. Jewett.
1860. Robert Dunean.
1841. R. R. Thompson.
S. N. Warren.
1861. T. C. Garner.
S. H. Petteys.
J. W. Turner.
1842. 1 .. 11. Parsons.
W. 11. Beach.
1863. J. M. Goodell.
S. N. Warren.
T. C. Garner.
1843. L. H. Parsons.
1864. E. P. Gregory.
1865. L. D. Phelps.
1844. John Gilbert.
1866. Joseph W. Manning.
1845. Joseph Purdy. L. H. Parsons. 1867. T. C. Garner. W. D. Ilolt.
1846. Joseph Purdy.
1847. M. P. Willson.
1868. E. C. Moore.
1848. J. M. Luther.
1869. W. A. Maynard. B. R. Parsons.
1849. L. H. Parsons.
1850. O. T. B. Williams.
1870. W. A. Maynard.
1851. J. P. Richardson. 1871. George B. Fitch.
1852. G. O. Bachman.
1872. John Brandt.
L. 11. Parsons.
1873. John Kelly.
1853. James Cummin. 1874. William Ilinman.
1854. L. H. Parsons.
1875. John Brands.
1855. S. T. Parsons.
1876-77. C. B. Pelton.
1856. E. A. Morley.
1878-79. Lyman Brandt.
1857. O. T. B. Williams.
1880. J. A. Thompson.
1858. R. B. Wyles.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1840. S. II. Petteys.
1852. S. Z. Kinyon.
Alexander MeArthur.
1853. R. N. Thompson.
184]. William 11. Jewett.
Eli Stewart.
1842. R. R. Thompson.
1854. Alexander MeArthur.
L. H. Parsons.
1855. Richard I Clark.
1843. R. R. Thompson. B. M. Waterman.
1856. B. Stewart. E. F. Wade.
1844. Ilarlow Beach.
1857. T. C. Carr.
1845. B. M. Waterman.
1858. A. MeArthur.
1846. L. H. Parsons. Joseph Purdy.
1859. C. J. Gale.
1847. C. C. Beatty.
1860. John Corland.
1848. Isaae Castle.
1861. 11. J. Newell.
1850. A. MeArthur.
1851. William Il. Beach.
Il. J. Newell.
Philo Rockwell. 1842. B. M. Waterman. C. S. Johnson.
1841. S. N. Warren.
1868. Horace Peacock. 1869. Isaac Sutton. John Kelly.
1870. Enos Merrill.
S. Il. Petteys.
F. W. Warren.
1862. J. W. Turner.
T. C. Garner.
1845. R. R. Thompson.
217
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP.
COLLECTORS.
1839. Ninion Clark. 1840-41. S. Z. Kinyon.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
1875-80. Duane C. Cooper.
DRAIN COMMISSIONERS.
1872. John Kelly. 1876. Theron Stevens. 1873. Jonas Ioenshell. 1877-78. C. H. Raymond. 1879. Orvill Grant.
1874. Charles Doane.
1875. C. B. Pelton. 1880. Darwin Sbavalier.
CONSTABLES.
1840. S. Z. Kinyen.
1858. J. A. Fowler. Lyman Newell.
1841. S. Z. Kinyon.
1859. J. L. Smith.
G. R. Seymour. Jobn Aekley.
J. C. Preston.
18.12. S. Z. Kinyon.
II. B. Young.
Ilenry Jennings. Abram Garrabrant.
1860. J. L. Smith.
1843. J. R. Corwin.
W. R. Witherell.
C. II. Brown.
M. Miller.
1844. Ilenry Jennings. S. Z. Kinyon.
J. L. Smitb.
O. Doty.
L. W. Gaffney. M. Miller.
1845. S. Z. Kinyon. Ilenry Jennings. O. Doty.
1862. L. W. Gaffeey. W. R. Witherell.
1846. John Redson.
M. Miller.
Samuel Stickney.
0. Dety. S. Z. Kinyon.
1863. J. R. Corwin.
1847. T. S. Morton. J. E. Chaffee.
II. A. Iluntington. Edwin Hawkins.
0. Doty. John Nedson.
1864. David Beatty.
J. B. Armstrong.
1848. T. S. Morton. J. R. Cummin. G. W. Wait.
E. M. Bailey. Joshua Morten.
G. Tuttle. 1849. L. C. Eddy.
1865. L. W. Gaffney. HI. Hl. Bartlett.
Brooklyn Stewart.
A. C. Kimberley.
1850. John Redson.
1866. George Badgen.
L. C. Eldy. B. Stewart. D. Martin.
J. L. Smith.
1851. William Lemon.
1867. S. G. Blake.
L. C. Edily. G. Tuttle. E. W. Stickney.
C. D. Smith. W. H. Ream.
1852. L. C. Eddy.
1868. M. Miller.
John Redson.
Calvin Smith.
Nelson Ilickey.
George Badgen. Clark Smith.
1853. David W. Palmer.
John Redson. L. C. Eddy. John Dwight.
John Vedder. William Stewart. Jackson Shore.
1854. James R. Cummin.
D. W. Palmer. Lewis Lyon. L. C. Eddy.
Frederick Young. James Barry. J. W. Curtis.
1855. T. S. Morton. D. Morton.
J. L. Smitb.
James McBride.
D. W. Palmer.
William Derr. Charles Lamonion.
1872. E. Il. Vail.
D. R. Corwin. W. D. Ingersoll.
Albert Young. J. Hoenshell. J. A. Fitch.
1873. Edward Lamoreaux.
C. C. Kelly.
1873. Frederick Young. Albert Young.
1877. G. W. Mcclellan. E. Conoly.
1874. Richard Goward. F. Young. Frederick Young. 1878. E. Conely.
Charles II. Raymond. A. Il. Innes.
1875. S. Mead.
II. Ilumphrey. Theron Stevens.
Frederick Young.
1879. John Jenkins. William Boyd. Isaae O. Derr. Theron Stevens.
1876. E. Conoly. Frank Kingsbury.
1880. G. W. Kelley.
A. II. Innes. F. Young.
John Brands.
George W. MeClellan.
1877. F. Kingsbury.
EARLY ROADS.
At a meeting of the highway commissioners of the town- ship of Caledonia, held the 16th day of May, 1839, Niuion Clark, John Davids, and Stephen Hawkins, forming the board of commissioners above mentioned, divided the town- ship into the following road distriets :
District No. 1, embracing sections Nos. 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.
District No. 2, embracing sections Nos. 13, 23, 24, 25, 26,36.
District No. 3, containing sections Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
The first recorded road is known as a road from Corunna to Warren's and Capt. Davids', and is described as a high- way " commencing at the south line of township No. 7 north, of range 3 east, at the corners of sections 35 and 36, and running thence north un section line one hundred and sixteen chains and twenty-five links to the south bank of the Shiawassee River; thence west northwest along the bank of said river and fifty links therefrom, sixteen chains and forty links to the quarter line of section 26; thence west on said quarter line one hundred and fifty-two chains and thirty-three links to the centre of the highway running from the village of Corunna to Shiawasseetown."
The following road, surveyed at the same date, began on the south line of township No. 7 north, of range 3 east, sixty links west of the corners of sections 31 and 32, and ran thence north thirty degrees, east sixty-three chains and fifty links ; thence north sixty-five degrees, east seventy-two chains and sixty-five links ; thence north thirty-seven chains and eighty-one links to or near the south line of the plat of the village of Corunna, in said town. These highways were surveyed by Daniel Gould, May 28 and 29, 1839.
The road from Capt. Davids' to Shiawasseetown was surveyed Jan. 8, 1840. Beginning at the corners of sec- tions 25 and 36, in township 7 north, of range 3 cast, on the east line of said township, and running thence west on said section line eighteen chains and ninety links ; thence north fifty-five degrees, west fifty-nine chains and twenty- five links; thence east twenty-four chains and fifty links to a stake standing on the west bank of the Shiawassee River, on the line of a road running east from Corunna, on the quarter line to said stake. In June of the same year a road was surveyed by Nelson Ferry, running north of Corunna, and the following August a highway was opened on the south line of the township of Caledonia, which was recorded on the 15th day of the same month.
1856. C. McArthur. J. L. Smith.
1857. R. M. Ford.
1858. R. M. Ford. D. W. Palmer. 28
Jonah Fuller.
Ilenry Jennings. Orsamus Doty.
1861. H. M. Rowefer.
Isaac Derr.
J. L. Smith. J. E. Bush.
Jonab Fuller. Solomon Blake.
Calvin Smith.
1869. C. D. Smith.
1870. A. G. Young.
1871. John Miller.
F. Kingsbury. E. J. Almendinger. Charles Edwards.
218
HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
SCHOOLS.
No very definite information is obtainable regarding the early schools of the township. A school was opened in Corunna some time before the erection of a school building in the township, and those settlers who removed to Caledonia then enjoyed the advantages of education afforded in the village. The earliest school-house was erected in the year 1842, and a school opened in it by Miss Drusilla Cook, who for a number of terms instrueted the youth of the township. Her successor is not remembered. The present school ter- ritory of Caledonia is divided into four whole and two frac- tional districts. The following-named gentlemen compose the board of directors : Walter Smalley, Albert Youngs, Jonas Hornshell, Erwin Eveleth, John Brands, Samuel Kirby. The number of scholars in attendance is two hun- dred and seventy-three, of whom seventeen are non-residents. They are under charge of two male and eleven female teach- ers, who receive in salaries a sum total of nine hundred and fifty-seven dollars. The value of school property in the township is six thousand four hundred dollars, which em- braces one brick and five frame buildings.
COAL-MINING.
In 1837 a geological survey of the State was authorized, and Dr. Douglas Iloughton was placed in charge of it. During the progress of the survey Corunna was visited, at that time consisting of one log house occupied by John Davids. The examination made by the corps along the Shi- awassee River satisfied themu that the character and dip of the rock indicated the presence of coal ; but none was dis- covered at that time. Two years later, in 1839, Alexander McArthur discovered coal on his land on the bank of Coal Creek, in the southeast quarter of section 22, about half a mile west of where the present coal-beds are being worked. It was at first taken out in small quantities, and as it became known that coal could be obtained, purchasers ( mostly black- smiths) came from long distances, and trade increased to quite an extent. It was delivered on the wagons of pur- chasers for ten cents per bushel.
It was not, however, till many years after that any organ- ized effort was made to mine coal to any extent. About 1864, B. Brisco, master mechanie of the Detroit and Mil- waukee Railroad, assisted Mr. McArthur in making exami- nations of the coal deposits. Parties in New York City be- came interested in the discoveries and it was decided to organ- ize a company for the purpose of mining coal, to be known as the McArthur Mining Company, with a capital of one hun- dred thousand dollars. On the 22d day of April, 1865, Mr. McArthur sold to the company one hundred and twenty acres of land on the east half of the northwest quarter and the west half of the west part of the northeast quarter of seetion 22. The parties interested were Alexander McAr- thur, of Corunna ; Dr. G. M. Peck, Samuel Daskham, and Edward W. Lockwood, of New York City. Dr. Peck was chosen president, A. McArthur local agent. A large amount of money was expended in the erection of engine-rooms, coal- houses, offices, and tramways. In addition to machinery and buildings at the mines, an extensive wharf was built on the Detroit River, sheds and other buildings were erected, and
an agency established in the city of Detroit. The cost of transportation was great from the coal-beds to the depot, and in the latter part of 1866, labor was suspended and the com- pany dissolved.
The Briar Hill Iron and Coal Company of Ohio, in 1869 and 1870, sent out to this county Charles Gilbert, a practi- cal geologist, to examine the coal region. Ile began at once the labor of testing for eoal. Fifty-six test-holes were drilled and deposits of coal were found in forty-six of them. On the 1st day of April, 1871, Henry P. Gilbert purchased of Chauncey Hurlburt the land on which these tests were made, 62,88 acres on the west part of the southwest fractional quarter of section 23. In the December following he sold an interest to George F. Perkins, John Stambaugh, of Akron, Ohio, and George Todd, of Youngstown, Ohio. In the following year (1872) they opened a slope and began the work of mining, and operated for about a year, but not being suceessful the work was abandoned, the company hav- ing expended ninety thousand dollars in various efforts.
On the 26th of February, 1873, the Corunna Coal Com- pany was organized for mining coal, fire-clay, and other ores or minerals, with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, forty thousand dollars paid in. The corporators were George F. Perkins, of Akron, Ohio; George Todd, Youngstown, Ohio; Henry P. Gilbert and Harry R. Gilbert, of Corunna, with an office at Youngs- town and Corunna. On the 5th of December, 1874, the lands previously worked on section 23 were purchased by the Corunna Coal Company, who have since leased lands adjoining. In 1877 the company were induced (after a thorough investigation, which assured them that large fields of coal yet existed on their purchase) to open a new shaft seventy-five feet in length. They were rewarded in discovering a rich vein of the mineral from two feet three inches to three feet nine inches in thickness. The neces- sary works for mining and shipping were completed in June, 1877, and the company at onee began their labors. This branch of industry having been unfamiliar to the workmen of the neighborhood, much difficulty was at first experienced in obtaining miners who were skilled in their occupation. This obstacle was finally obviated by employing nearly one hundred laborers from Ohio, who are constantly engaged in various departments of the work. Of this number seventy-five are skilled miners.
From seventy-five to one hundred tons are mined daily, though the maximum quantity is rarely reached during the summer season. The coal was originally hauled from the mines to the depot of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, a distance of two and a half miles. This difficulty was obviated by the construction, in 1872, of a branch road from Corunna to the present base of operations, which ma- terially decreases the labor and expense. The stockholders of the Corunna Coal Company are George Todd, George F. Perkins, Thomas Struthers, John Stambaugh, H. P. Gilbert. The officers are George Todd, President ; Todd Kineaid, Secretary and Treasurer.
RESIDENCE. & FARM OF THOMAS R. YOUNG, CALEDONIA, MICH.
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP.
219
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
THOMAS R. YOUNG.
MRS. THOMAS R. YOUNG.
THOMAS R. YOUNG.
Mr. Youug is descended from New England stock, his father, who early acquired the sturdy calling of a black- smith, having been a native of Connecticut, as was also his mother, formerly Miss Nancy Crane. Thomas R., the seventh of an interesting family of eight children, was born in Hampton, Windham Co., Conn., Sept. 26, 1815, and became a resident of the Empire State at the age of eigh- teen years. Ten years later found the family pioneers to Michigan, where they chose a location in Lapeer County. In 1846 the family eirele was afflicted by the irreparable loss of the wife and mother, whom the father survived but six years, having during the interval improved a tract of land in Lapeer County and followed farming pursuits.
Thomas R., on taking leave of his home, at the age of eighteen, found ready employment in New York State, a portion of the time being engaged on the Erie Canal. When twenty years of age he was influenced by the charms of a seafaring life to become a sailor, and joined the crew of the ship " Rambler," which sailed from Nantucket on a three years' cruise. Mr. Young's share of the proceeds of the return cargo was three hundred dollars, with which he made a pleasure trip, and then repaired to his father's home in Michigan. In the spring of 1839 he entered the farm upon which he at present resides, together with other land embracing two hundred and eighty acres. After becoming weary of the solitary life of a bachelor he married, Feb. 21, 1841, Miss Naney M. Hart, whose birth occurred in New York State, Aug. 17, 1823, and whose father brought
her when an infant from Monroe Co., N. Y., to the wilds of New Haven township. Mr. Hart died in 1867, having survived his wife nearly forty years. Mrs. Young is now the only living representative of a family of eight children.
To Mr. and Mrs. Young, a sketch of whose home ap- pears ou an adjoining page, were born seven children in the following order : William, boru Dec. 20, 1841, died April 21, 1843; Albert, born Feb. 13, 1843; Lucinda, born Dec. 2, 1845 ; Melinda, born Aug. 28, 1847; Sarah M., born Aug. 20, 1849, died Oct. 15, 1872; Mary I., born July 8, 1851 ; Delia A., born Sept. 13, 1853, died March 19, 1866. All the surviving children are married and es- tablished in comfortable homes adjacent to the family resi- dence.
Mr. Young's present farm includes two hundred and sixty aeres, which, in the high degree of cultivation it has at- tained, well attests the industry and enterprise of its owner.
The political preferences of Mr. Young have led him to associate with the Democratic party. He has held minor township offices, though not an aspirant for political honors. He has been since his residence in Caledonia actively inter- ested in educational matters, and assisted in the erection of the earliest school building of the district. He is inclined to liberalism in his religious views, though not dogmatic in the assertion of his opinions.
As a striking example of the self-made man, Mr. Thomas R. Young is one of the finest types that Shiawassee County affords.
220
HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP .*
Location, Natural and Artificial Features-Settlement of Fairfield- Tax-payers of 1854-55-Township Organization and Civil List- Voters of 1859-Highways-Schools-Religious-Fairfield in the Rebellion-Fatal Accidents.
THIS township (the youngest in the county), lying upon the meridian line and occupying the northwestern corner of Shiawassee County, is but a fractional town, containing twenty-four full sections and six fractional sections, equal in the aggregate to twenty-five full sections. The township boundaries are the Saginaw County line on the north, Mid- dlebury township on the south, Rush township on the east, and the Clinton County line on the west.
When Fairfield received its first settlers it was heavily and densely timbered in every portion. except along the northern border, where there was a strip of pine woods. There was, moreover, considerable swamp land, and of this there is yet an abundance, although much has been reclaimed and more will be, rapidly, according to present indications. There is a swamp traet of perhaps a thousand acres in the north, that touches sections 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11, and one reach- ing from seetion 13 towards the southwest, as far as the eentre of seetion 22, and containing something like seven hundred acres. There are other pieces of swamp, but they amount in the aggregate to nothing important. Extended town-ditehes have latterly worked most excellent results in elearing up these waste lands, which must ultimately, and speedily, too, become valuable to the husbandman. A singular topographical feature of the country may be further remarked in the presence of a ridge, or " divide," which, extending north and south through the town, from section 2 to seetion 35, causes the water-courses of the town to flow both eastward and westward.
Fairfield is distinguished as a town that has never con- tained either church building, post-office, store, mill, or mechanical industry, or yet permitted the sale of alcoholie liquors within its borders. It is now and has ever been a purely agricultural region, and is esteemed among the most productive in the county. The surface is quite level and is dotted in numerous localities with cold-water springs, wherefore it was sought, upon the organization of the town, to bestow upon it the name of Cold Spring.
Fairfield enjoyed in 1869 the anticipation of railway transportation convenienees at home, for in that year the town voted bonds to the amount of six thousand five hun- dred dollars in aid of the Owosso and Big Rapids Railway. The line was graded partially through the town, but the en- terprise failed, and to-day remains ju the unfinished condi- tion in which it was then left. As the bonds were to be donated only upon the completion of the road, the town was, of course, not called upon to make the payment.
SETTLEMENT OF FAIRFIELD.
Previous to 1850 the town now known as Fairfield was untenanted by settlers, although settlements south and west of it were made as early as 1836. Why immigrants held
aloof so long cannot be explained, except upon the general supposition that as it was one of the extreme northern towus in the county it was compelled to await the settle- ment of towus in more southerly localities. Even when the tide of pioneering did set in towards the town it rolled sluggishly at first, and failed to show much volume until 1854. A majority of Fairfield's early settlers came from Ohio, and indeed a large proportion of the later ones came from that State.
The place now occupied by S. G. G. Main on seetion 35 is the locality of the first white settlement effected in Fair- field. Lewis Lockwood was the settler, and the spring of 1850 the date of his coming. At that date there were, of course, white settlements close at hand in neighboring town- ships, yet it was no slight task to penetrate single-handed into the then dense forest that covered town 8. Loek- wood was, however, a sturdy pioneer, and bravely held his way through all obstacles, although he and his family ex- perienced in no small degree the hardships of an almost isolated existence in the woods. Lockwood was the solitary settler until the fall of that year, when Aaron S. Braley entered the town and moved to the northeastern corner upon section 2, far from the locations of other white men and deep into a lonely stretch of wilderness. Braley ex- perienced with his family a sharper taste of hardships and privations than fell to the lot of Lockwood, sinee he was farther removed from neighbors, and in times of emergency had to go farther and pass over more difficulties in the journeys to localities of civilization for supplies or assist- anee. His and Lockwood's were for some little time the only resident families in the town, and upon one occasion Lockwood said to him, " Braley, you and I own the whole of this town : you are the only one north of the swamp and I the only one south of it." Of the Lockwoods none are now in Fairfield ; of the Braleys the widow and her son Alonzo still remain. Mrs. Lockwood's daughter, Henrietta, born 1851, was the first white child born in the town, and Mrs. Lockwood, who died in 1854, the first white person who died in Fairfield. Her husband died in 1858.
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.