History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 59

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 59
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 59

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).

BURIAL-PLACES.

On the 24th of May, 1840, the town accepted from Moses Clark, Jr., one acre of land on the southeast corner of his farm, to be devoted to the uses of a burying-ground, but on the 24th of August following reconsidered that determination, and decided to have two burying-grounds,- No. 1, to contain one acre and to be on Elijah Potter's land; No. 2, to be on section 21, to contain one acre, and to be located on Obed Hathaway's land. The chopping, clearing, and fencing of both grounds were to be let at auction, but for some reason neither burial-place was ever laid out. Indeed, no public grave-yard was laid out until in 1849, when William Tubbs, while visiting Elder Clark one day and deploring the lack of school as well as burying- ground, declared there ought to be some effort looking to the securing of both for the town. The result was that Tubbs and Clark moved actively in the matter and obtained both school and cemetery. The latter was laid out in sec- tion 27, and included a spot in which there lay already buried a child of Osier George and a daughter of John McCarty. That burial-place is the only one the town has ever had.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP.

Among the early preachers in Middlebury the pioneer was, doubtless, Rev. Mr. Whiting, of the Rochester colony, who, in the summer of 1839, undertook to break twenty acres of ground for William Palmer, and during his stay in Middlebury preached Methodist sermons in the houses of George Slocum and William Palmer. Elder Allen, a Free- Will Baptist minister of Duplain, was one of the carly preachers in Middlebury, and organized a church of that denomination in the town. Elder Clark, father of Moses Clark, Jr., preached occasional Baptist sermons, as did also his son Moses. Residents in the southern portion of the town generally went into Sciota to attend public religious worship.

Occasional and irregular Methodist preaching only was held in Middlebury until about 1860, when Rev. Mr. . Wright came on and organized the Warren Methodist Episcopal class in a log school-house on scetion 34. The organizing members of the elass numbered eight, viz., Geo. II. Warren, David L. Warren, Balcom, and De Haven, with their wives, D. L. Warren being -

chosen class-leader. From that time on regular services were held onee every two weeks.

In 1872 the Warren class and Seiota class joined in the erection of a handsome church edifice upon section 34, and in it both classes have since then worshiped together. D. L. Warren has been leader of the Warren class continuously since 1860. John C. Putnam is the leader of the Sciota class. Both classes have a membership of upwards of sixty and meet for worship every Sunday, the pastor being Rev. Mr. MeIntosh, in charge of the Laingsburg Circuit. The church trustees are George H. Warren, D. L. Warren, George W. Slocum, James Van Dyne, and Willard Ryan. The class-stewards are Willard Ryan, James Van Dyne, and John Sherman. The recording steward is William E. Warren. The Sunday-school is in charge of A. D. Sher- man, and has an average attendance of sixty scholars.

PROTESTANT METHODISTS.

A Methodist Episcopal class was organized in the Mc- Carty school-house about 1860, by the preacher in charge of the Owosso Circuit. It struggled feebly for existence during the ensuing ten years, and met in various places for worship. About 1870 the class became Protestant Methodist, and since then has met pretty regularly at the Mead school-house. It is now on the Owosso Cirenit, in charge of the Rev. Mr. Mills. It has a small membership and has preaching once in two weeks, Nelson Ackerman being class-leader.

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST,

which worships now in the school-house on section 24, was organized in 1872 by John A. Maverty and Elias Silas, evangelists. Among the members were L. F. Kingsley, Samuel A. Merrill, M. Wooden, and Barney Banghart, with their wives. L. F. Kingsley and S. A. Merrill werc chosen elders, B. Banghart and M. Wooden deacons. Mr. Maverty preached once a month for a year, and then came J. La Grange, W. A. Streator, G. J. Massey, and Judson Brown. The church is now without a pastor, but is in ex-

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HISTORY OF SIHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

peetation of being supplied soon. The membership, which was at first about thirty, is now somewhat less. L. F. Kingsley and William A. Merrill are the elders, B. Vos- burg and John De Witt the deacons,

SCHOOLS.

Although the township was organized in 1839, there was no organized school district until 1845, for the very good reason, doubtless, that there was no occasion therefor, since there were in the town at that time scarcely any chil- dren of school age. Distriet No. 1 was organized May 28, 1845, and included the south half of section 3, the south half of section 4, the whole of sections 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, and 22, and the north halves of sections 27 and 28.

Before the organization of District No. 1, Curtis Staf- ford taught a subscription school in 1843, in an abandoned log cabin upon William Palmer's place, and in that school- house Mary Donne taught a short time after Stafford left. Although a district was organized in 1845, there is no evi- dence to show that a school house was built or district school taught until 1849. The school-house was built by William Rideout on section 28, and in it the first school was taught by Mary Sherman, whose term of service was three months.

District No. 1 seems from the records to have been re- organized in 1849, and it is likely that the district had no operative existence until then. The reorganization gave to the district sections 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, the south halves of sections 20, 21, and 22. the southwest quarter of section 23, the northwest quarter of section 26, and the west half of section 34.

School reports dated June 10, 1852, set forth that the number of scholars in district No. 1 between the ages of four and eighteen was twenty-four, and that Esther Doane had taught the school three months at the wages of one dollar and seventy-five cents per week. In district No. 2 there were likewise twenty-four scholars, whose teacher, Achsah Blood, received one dollar and fifty cents per week. In 1853, Sarah E. Sykes taught twenty-four scholars in distriet No. 2, and for thirteen weeks received one dollar and fifty cents per week.

Dee. 5, 1853, Ann Brooks and Sarah Salisbury were ap- pointed to teach school at two dollars per week. During the year 1853 the children attending school in district No. 1 numbered twenty-three, and belonged to families as fol- lows: William Rideont, 1; William Tubbs, 1; G. Me- Carty, 3; Alanson Seely, 4; Truman White, 1; William White, 1; Obed Hathaway, 3; P. L. Clark, 3; Sarah C. Sykes, 1 ; Nathan Herrick, 3; Stephen Taylor, 2.

For the year 1854 the amount of school money appor- tioned to the two school districts was thirty-four dollars. The annual report from district No. 1 for 1854 gave the number of school-children as thirty-four; the number that attended school, forty-three; the teachers as Ann Brooks and llarriet J. Fitch ; and the list of school-books as Saun- ders' Series of Readers, Birkan's Grammar, Smith's Geog- raphy, Mitchell's, Adams', and Thompson's Arithmeties, Elementary and Saunders' Speller.

The annual school report for 1879 presented the follow- ing statisties of the several districts of the township :

Number of school districts (whole, 3; fractional, 3) ... Number of scholars of school ago.

Value of school property. $3050

'Teachers' wages. $765

The school directors for 1879 were James Baldwin, Wil- liam T. Vaughn, D. Snyder, Luther Ryan, W. R. Hubbell, and G. W. Davidson.

MIDDLEBURY CHEESE-FACTORY.

Middlebury has had since June, 1879, a cheese-factory that appears to be a flourishing institution. lon MeCon- nell, the owner, built it at the time named, and during the first season made ten thousand pounds of cheese. The yield was one pound of cheese for nine and three-quarters pounds of milk, and according to Mr. MeConnell's estimate patrons of the factory gained from thirty dollars to thirty- five dollars per cow during that season.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

GEORGE W. SLOCUM.

Around the name and memory of the first settlers of a town, county, or State there will always eling a peculiar in- terest, an interest felt for no other class of men. Who was the first settler of the town ? why did he come in here alone ? what must have been his feelings when he knew that for miles around there was no other white man ? will be the queries in after-years, Such a man was George W. Sloeum, who was born in Manlius, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Dec. 11, 1810. Ilis father was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., from whence he emigrated, after his marriage, to Manlius, where he became the owner of a small farm, and where George grew to manhood, receiving only a common- school education. In early life he worked out by the month, working most of the time for a Mr. Ives, who in 1834 took a job on the ship-canal from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain. He sent Mr. Slocum to take charge of a gang of men, which kept him about six months. Hle then returned to New York, and in the spring of 1836 he started West to look for a home in a new country. . Ile came to Detroit, and from there went on foot to Pontiac. Arrived there, he was informed that desirable land could be had in Lapeer Co., Mich. In company with others he at once went to that county, where they made selections. He then went on foot to Detroit to enter his land, but found that some one had got ahead of him. He next selected some land in Shiawassee and again went to Detroit, again to be disap- pointed,-it was just taken. Nowise daunted, he again made a selection,-this time in Owosso township, now Mid- dlebury, in Shiawassee Co.,-this time successfully. There had then been no land entered in Middlebury township, and there was no white man living within its boundaries, and Mr. Sloeum and his father's family were its first per- manent settlers. His nearest neighbor east was twenty- two miles away. Ile made his entry June 12, 1836, it being the southeast quarter of section 35, township 7 north, of range 1 east. After entering his land he returned to Oakland County, where for a time he worked by the month. In the summer of 1837 he took a piece of land to clear

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MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP.

GEORGE W. SLOCUM.

and crop, getting five dollars per acre and the first crop for clearing. In the fall and carly winter he worked on the Pontiac and Detroit Railroad. In January, 1838, he was joined by his parents, and they at once came to the land selected by Mr. Slocum. A log shanty was built, its roof being of bark and its floor of split plank, with but one window, which they had brought from Pontiac, and for weeks with only a blanket for a door, around which the wolves made night hideous by their howlings. Their means by this time were all expended, and they saw very hard times. But by dint of hard work and the most rigid economy hunger was avoided until the wheat he had sown in Oakland County was harvested, when a team, wagon, and cow were bought, and more prosperous days began to dawn. With the energy and perseverance for which the American pioneer is noted, Mr. Slocum applied himself to clearing up and improving his land, which is now a well-arranged and productive farm of two hundred acres, while he has given his son eighty acres. A fine house, surrounded by large and commodious outbuildings, has taken the place of the log shanty first built, while everything indicates the luxurious home of the well- to-do American farmer.

On the 2d day of May, 1849, Mr. Slocum was joined in marriage to Miss Emily A. Holdridge, daughter of Darius and Rebecca (Bishop) Holdridge. She was born in Niagara Co., N. Y., Sept. 14, 1824. Their children are as follows: Cass II., born April 28, 1851 ; Mary A., Oct. 5, 1852; Ella, April 3, 1854; and George L., Oct. 18, 1857. In politics Mr. Slocum is a Democrat of the old school, and has been elected to nearly all the offices in the gift of his fellow-townsmen. At the first town-meeting he was elected justice of the peace and highway commissioner; the next year supervisor, which office he has many times

held. He has also been treasurer and clerk, and has been postmaster many years, and has been one term an associate judge of Shiawassee County, -all of which offices were filled with ability and credit, making for Mr. Slocum a record of which his descendants may well be proud.

GEORGE H. WARREN.

The family of Warrens is of English descent, and their ancestry is identical with that of Gen. Joseph Warren of Revolutionary fame. The great-grandfather of the subject of this biography was an early emigrant from the shores of Great Britain, though the date of his arrival is not a mat- ter of record. His son Samuel, the grandfather of George H., was born in New Jersey, Sept. 18, 1753, and was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Rainier, who was born Dec. 1, 1757. This marriage occurred about the year 1775, and soon after New Jersey hecame their home, during which time Mr. Warren served in the war of the Revolution, and sur- vived until his seventy-ninth year. His wife lived to be ninety years of age. Their children were John, born July 4th, during the year American independence was declared ; William, whose birth occurred Aug. 9, 1778; Susanna, born Sept. 3, 1780; Samuel, Ang. 20, 1782; Achsah, April 24, 1789 ; Ann, Dec. 31, 1792; Job, May 12, 1796; Gamaliel, March 14, 1799; Thomas, Feb. 12, 1802 ; and two whose record is not preserved.

The father of the subject of this biography was William, whose birth has been already stated, and who was married in 1810 to Miss Mary Horn, who was born in Haddonfield, Camden Co., N. J. Her father was a native of Germany, and her mother of Wales. They first located in Newtown,

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HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

Gloucester Co., and from thence removed to a homo ad- jacent to Egg Harbor, from which place they repaired in the fall of ISIG to New York State, and settled in Onta- rio County, their worldly possessions at this time embracing the contents of a one-horse wagon, so moderate were their circumstances. Their son, George 11., was born Dec. 1, 1827, and emigrated with his parents to Michigan when but three years of age, locating three miles from Pontiac, Oakland Co., on a new farm of eighty acres. At the age of five years he was afflicted by the death of his father, who left a wife and family of six children in indigent cir- cumstances. Mrs. Warren sought employment in the vil- lage of Pontiac as a means of support, and was a second time married to Joseph Hathaway, with whom the lad George resided. They soon after removed to Salem, Wash- tenaw Co., where George remained until his sixteenth year, when he found employment as a farm-hand, working for seven dollars per month. Iti March, 1817, when twenty years of age, he settled upon eighty acres of land in the township of Middlebury, his brother David locating upon an adjacent farm of equal size, and with whom George made his home for two years, his brother having married Miss Mary Ingersoll in 1847. At that time Mr. Warren's nearest neighbor resided a mile and a half from his farm. No permanent roads had yet been laid out, and in order to attend church Mr. Warren traveled with an ox-team from three to five miles. The first twenty bushels of wheat sold from the farm were conveyed by Mr. Warren to Owosso, performing a portion of the journey with three yoke of oxen. Arrived at his destination, the wheat was disposed of at the rate of forty-five cents per bushel, making the total receipts nine dollars, which amount Mr. Warren upon his return divided equally with his brother David. Upon the occasion of this trip to Owosso, Mr. Warren carried his lunch with him as well as hay for the use of his oxen. The difficulties and privations of these carly pioneers may well teach a lesson of contentment to those who at the pres- ent day are raising the cry of " hard times."

March 17, 1851, he married Miss Almira Thayer, who was born March 9, 1831, in Oakland Co., Mich. They have four children living,-Albert H., born in 1856, and married April 17, 1879, to Miss Jennie Welch, of Steuben Co., N. Y. The birth of Elmer E. occurred in 1861. Emery D. was born in 1869, and George F. in 1874. They are also the parents of two daughters, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Warren is a Republican in politics, and has served the township in various official positions, includ- ing those of justice of the peace, highway commissioner, and school inspector.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Warren are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have been for a period of thirty years actively engaged in church labor.

LEONARD F. KINGSLEY.

Among the leading men of Middlebury township we find the name of Leonard F. Kingsley, who was born in the town of Seipio, Cayuga Co., N. Y., June 2, 1811. When he was six years old his father moved into the town of i

Gates, in what was then the county of Genesee, now Mon- roe. He bought a large farm, which for that timo was well improved. On this farm the family resided until three years after the death of the elder Mr. Kingsley, which oc- curred in 1818. The family then moved on to a farm near Rochester, then but a small village. This was the home of Leonard until he reached manhood, although he was there

LEONARD F. KINGSLEY.

but little, as he was obliged to work out by the month and earn his own living. On the 26th day of December, 1833, he was married to Miss Candace Bartlett, daughter of Elli- ott and Waity (Lewis) Bartlett. She was born Dec. 9, 1810, in New Hampshire. After his marriage Mr. Kings- ley worked a farm one year. Then, in October, 1835, they came to Pontiac, Mich., where they had eighty acres of wild land, on which he made a small improvement ; then traded it for one hundred and sixty aeres in Bennington, which he soon sold, and then bought a farm near what is now the village of Owosso. After a couple of years they again sold out, and returned to Rochester, where they resided sixteen years. During this time Mr. Kingsley was coustable, deputy sheriff, and collector. In 1856 they again returned to Shiawassee County and settled in Middlebury, where they bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, part of which they have improved, and on which they still reside. In politics Mr. Kingsley is a stalwart Republican, and was a delegate to the convention which organized the Republican party in New York. When Mr. Kingsley came to Middle- bury the town was and had ever been Democratic, but the following year gave, as it has since done, a Republican ma- jority, and to Mr. Kingsley a large share of credit was given for bringing it about. He has for ten years or more been township clerk, also for some time treasurer. He has been a notary public twenty years, and has done a great deal of conveyancing and real estate business. He has also been school inspector, and has many times been requested to take the supervisor's office, but refused. For forty-five years he has been a member of the Church of the Disciples. Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley have had but one child, viz., Louisa Almeda, born Oct. 14, 1834; died May 26, 1859.

MRS. JAMES KENNEY.

JAMES KENNEY.

To record and preserve for the coming generations the names and deeds of the hardy first settlers of Michigan is indeed a pleasure. Coming as they did from the old and long-settled Eastern States, and plunging at once into the almost unbroken wilderness, with no guides but Indian trails and the moss on the trees, erecting and living for years in rude sbanties, clear- ing and improving the lands that have since become the beau- tiful homes and farms of the State of Michigan, they are deserving of monuments which shall last longer than those of marble or granite. Among these we record the name of James Kenney, who was born in the town of Northampton, Mont- gomery Co., N. Y., April 21, 1806. He is of Scotch deseent, his grandfather on his mother's side having been born in the Highlands of Scotland, from whence he emigrated to New York and settled in Montgomery County. His grandfather, Theodore Kenney, was a native of Connecticut, and was a soldier in the patriot army during the war for Independence, in which he was wounded. Elijah, the father of James, was born in Montgomery County, where he grew to manhood and was married.

When James was ten years old his father's family moved to the town of Sparta, in Livingston County, where his boyhood days were passed, and where he obtained a limited education. He remained with his father until he was twenty-six years old, when he started out in life on his own account. He first worked a year for a Mr. Purchase, receiving the then large salary of two hundred dollars per year. Becoming satisfied that in an old country a poor man stood but a slight chance of obtaining a position in life, he in 1835 started for Michigan, coming to Detroit by steamer, and from there on foot to Sagi- naw, stopping in Flint long enough to help raise the first framed building erected there. At that time the only struet- ure marking the present site of Saginaw was a hotel kept in the old fort, and the Williams Brother's Indian trading-post. On his arrival Mr. Kenney found himself the possessor of twenty-two dollars, and with health, strength, and a will- ingness to work, which have ever been the foundation of prosperity and wealth. His first work was clearing the land where the city of Saginaw now stands. During the first two years he worked at chopping, clearing land, and run-

ning a scow on the Saginaw River, and whatever he could get to do.

On the 16th day of June, 1840, Mr. Kenney married Miss Rosella Bruno, daughter of John and Mary (Blanchard) Bruno. She was born in Canada, sixty miles north of Mon- treal, Aug. 3, 1817. Her parents were French, and Mrs. Kenney could only speak that language up to her tenth year, when her parents moved to Vermont, from whence they went to Saginaw in 1836. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kenney the following children, viz. : Lester J., born May 23, 1842; Susan, Dec. 20, 1843; Martha, May 23, 1852; and Lucy Ann, July 18, 1853. After his marriage Mr. Kenney bought a farm on Cass River, but being unfortunate in having his house burned was compelled to allow the land to revert to its former owner. In the fall of 1841 he was elected sheriff of Saginaw County on the Whig ticket, although that party was largely in the minority, he having been the second to adopt its principles. In 1843 he was again elected, filling the office so satisfactorily that when, after the expiration of his second term, he came to Middlebury, men of both parties asked him to stay and again take the office as soon as the statute of limitation would permit. In April, 1846, having met with financial losses through the failure of others, he moved to the town of Middlebury, where he had previously purchased and run in debt for three lots of wild land on seetion 22. There were then but few inhabitants in the town, and but two houses between his farm and Owosso. In two weeks' time a log house was built, into which the family immediately moved. The old house has been torn awny, and in its stead has been erected one of the fine homes of Middlebury, while the wilderness has given place to a large and well-improved farm of two hundred acres. Mr. Kenney did much towards changing the politics of his town, which is now Republican by a large ma- jority, of which party he is one of the most earnest supporters. He has held nearly all of the town and school offices, including those of supervisor, treasurer, and clerk; he has also been notary public several years; and now in the seventy-fourth year of his age, respected and esteemed by all, he is passing the even-time of life in the enjoyment of more than a com- peteney.

RESIDENCE OF HORACE C. MAIN, MIDDLEBURY, MICH.

MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP.

247

WILLIAM TUBBS.

The Tubbs family is of English origin, two brothers, Seth and Samuel, having emigrated from England to the New World, and settled in Massachusetts prior to the Revolutionary war. At that time and for many years they were the only ones of the name known to be in this country. They were young unmarried meu, and eame to America to make for themselves a home. When the war broke out they were married and had families, but both enlisted and served during the war, Samuel coming home a eolonel. Seth had previously served in the French war, and was with Gen. Wolfe, at Quebec, when that general was killed. After the war, Seth, of whose family-we shall write, returned to his home in Massachusetts, where he resided until his death. His son, also named Seth, was born in Massachu- setts, from whence he emigrated in January, 1800, to Western New York, locating in the town of' Pitts, now Richmond, Ontario Co., where he bought fifty acres of wild land. The country was new and there were then but few families in the town, and they were seattered over a large scope of country. Wild animals were very numerous, making it almost impossible for Mr. Tubbs to keep sheep and stock. He was very poor, but was industrious, and soon made for himself and family a comfortable home. He added to his farm until at his death he was the owner of a large and valuable property. Mr. Tubbs was in Shays' Re- bellion, acting with Shays in liberating prisoners who had been for many years in prison at Northampton for debt. He was a man respected by his neighbors, and ultimately became a leading citizen of his town. He lived to a ripe old age, and passed away in 1858. Ilis sou William, the third of nine children, and the subject of this sketch, was born June 28, 1800, on the new farm in Ontario County,

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History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 59

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

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