USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 73
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 73
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Peter Randolph removed from Tioga County, N. Y., in 1855, and purchased of William Hammond eighty aeres on seetion 7, the latter having erected a log house and partially improved the land. Some years later he removed one mile east on the same section, where he at present resides. His son, H. W. Randolph, has been a resident of Vernon vil- lage since 1864. Many other residents of Vernon have been active in advancing its interests and added greatly to its development, but the time of their settlement does not place them among its pioneers.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST.
The township of Vernon was originally embraced in the township of Shiawassee, and was erected a separate town- ship by an aet of the Legislature (approved March 11, 1837), which provided and declared " That all that portion of the county of Shiawassee designated in the United States survey as township 6 north, of range + east, be and the same is hereby sct off and organized as a township by the name of Vernon, and the first township-meeting shall be held at the house of William H. Reed."
Afterwards Vernon included township 7 north, of range 4 east, which became a part of Vernon March 21, 1839, by legislative enaetment of that date. In 1843 it was de- tached and became the township of Venice, redueing Ver- non to its present limits.
The first township-meeting of Vernon was held, in ac- cordance with the provisions of the organizing act, at the house of William H. Reed, on the third day of April, 1837. R. W. Holley was chosen moderator and James Ru- tan clerk, and the following-named officers were elected for the year 1837 : Supervisor, Ransom W. IJolley ; Township Clerk, James Rutan ; Justices, R. W. Holley, James Van Auken ; Highway Commissioners, John Smedley, R. W. Holley, C. W. Miller; Assessors, Noah Power, Marvin Wilcox, Joseph Parmenter; Collector, S. N. Whitcomb; School Inspectors, James Rutan, R. W. Holley, James Van Auken ; Constables, Noah Bovier, S. N. Whitcomb.
During succeeding years, from 1838 to 1880 inelusive,
the following-named township officers have been elected in Vernon, viz. :
SUPERVISORS.
1838. James Rutan. 1857-59. R. Reed.
1839-40. John Il. Smith. 1860. L. D. Jones.
1841. George Ilerrington. 1861. R. Recd.
1842. R. W. Holley. 1862-68. L. D. Jones.
1843. John F. Swain. 1869. G. W. Allison.
1844-45. R. W. Ilolley. 1870. Chandler B. Chalker.
1846-48. Joel B. Goss. 1871. Perry B. Swain.
1849-53. R. W. Ifolley. 1872-77. C. B. Chalker.
1854-55. J. S. Bentley. 1878. R. Reed.
1856. R. W. Holley.
1879-80. John Patchell.
TOWNSHIP CLERKS.
1838. C. B. Chalker. 1861. Horace F. Miner.
1839-40. James Rutan.
1862-63. A. F. Westcott.
1841. R. W. Holley. 1864. W. L. Tilden.
1842. Nelson Ferry.
1865. A. McCnreher.
1843. William Lovejoy.
1866. W. S. Pinney.
1844. Samnel Lovejoy. 1867. A. McKercher.
1845. George B. Runyan.
1868. Milo Herrington.
1846. Sylvanns Easell.
1869. Charles llerriman.
18447-48. William Lovejoy.
1870-71. Milo Herrington.
1849. L. D. Jones.
1872. Henry Clark.
1850. Monroe Holley.
1873. William R. Campbell.
1851. Milo Herrington.
1874. William Livermore.
1852-54. R. Reed.
1875. Amos B. Bliss.
1855. M. S. Angel.
1876. Richard Holinan.
1856. L. D. Jones. 1877-78. W. H. Putnam.
1857-59. James Garrison.
1879-80. I. J. Kellogg.
1860. Michael Bennett.
TREASURERS.
1838-40. R. W. ITolley. 1853-54. Milo IIerrington.
1841. F. G. Eggleston. 1855. Chester Iferrington.
1842-43. William Garrison. 1856. George W. Goss.
1844. John Young. 1857-60. Jlenry T. Weeden.
1845. John F. Swain.
1861-63. William L. Tilden.
1846. William Lovejoy.
1864-65. Charles S. Clark.
1847. Milo Herrington.
1866-69. T. J. Winans.
1848. William Garrison. 1870. Peter Patchell.
1849-50. Milo Herrington.
1871-78. Charles P. Weeden.
1851-52. William Garrison.
1879-80. M. II. Reed.
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS.
1838. E. Brown. 1847. James Baird.
John Smedley. John Smedley.
Samuel W. Harding. Benjamin Brown.
1848. Marvin Wilcox.
1839. John Youngs. William K. Reed. 1849. George Herrington.
C. B. Chalker.
1850. James Scougale.
1840. Noah Bovier. 1851. George Herrington.
1852. Jacob Wilkinson.
JI. Herrington. Nelson Ferry. 1853. James Scougale.
1841. Ileman llerrington. 1854. George Herrington.
Marvin Wilcox. 1855. C. B. Chalker.
Nelson Ferry.
1856. James Scongale.
1842. Marvin Wilcox.
1857. Marvin Wilcox.
Daniel I. Lipe.
1859. Monroe Ilolley.
1843. W. B. Barker.
1860. Ephraim Andrews.
II. llerrington.
1861. Charles S. Clark.
Marvin Wilcox. William D. Garrison.
1844. C. B. Chalker. 1862. James M. McLean.
Marvin Wilcox.
1863. Ephraim Andrews.
Nicholas Huff.
1864. William W. Livermore.
1865. James McLean.
William B. Barker.
1866-67. John Reed.
Jacob Wilkinson.
1868. A. W. Angel.
1846. G. B. Runyan. William Lovejoy.
1869. Henry T. Weeden.
Charles Herriman.
Benjamin Brown.
1870. C. C. Chalker.
J845. Nicholas Iluff.
1858, John Reed.
Heman Herrington.
G
Read
WILLIAM K. REED, father of the subject of our sketch, was born in Trenton, N. J., in 1794, and lived several years be- yond the allotted existence of man, experiencing all the hard- ships and fascinations of a Michigan pioneer life ; and in his declining years, having escaped mentally the withering influ- ence of age, he brightened his fireside by many pleasing reminiscenees from his own life. Among the early memories was the soldier life of 1812, to which he always reverted with a degree of pleasure only excelled by that of recalling the day when he was married to Miss Minerva Woolcot, with whom he spent fifty years of his life.
In 1822 or 1823 he removed to Dryden, Tompkins Co., N. Y., where he resided about fourteen years. In 1836 we find him and his family en route for Michigan, traveling by Cayuga Lake from Ithaca, thence by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, where they took a boat for Detroit. July 25, 1836, he came to Shiawassee County, and settled in Vernon township, his early home marking the place where the first meeting was held to organize the township, and also where the first election occurred, in April, 1837. His death occurred in 1868, his wife surviving him but one year.
They were the parents of nine children, of whom Rasselas was the sixth, and was born in Tompkins County, Oct. 18, 1826. He was a mere lad when he accompanied his father to the wilds of Michigan, but old enough to be of great service to him on the farm which he occupied.
The public schools which are now so plentiful in the State at that time were unknown, and the children of the pioneers, if they received any instruction, obtained it at their own homes. As the population of the country in- ercased a school was established, which Mr. Reed attended
during the winter months. Nov. 27, 1854, he married Eliza, daughter of George Harrington, Esq., of Plymouth, Wayne Co., Mich., who came to Shiawassee County in 1838. Miss Eliza not only possessed the domestic virtues which make home happy, but the other qualities and per- sonal attractions which ornament society and have rendered Mr. Reed such assistance in his success in life. They have been the parents of three children,-Cassius S., born Dee. 16, 1857 ; Gordon S., born June 12, 1862; and Nora L., born Sept. 18, 1865,-all of whom are now living with their parents.
Mr. Reed is an enthusiastic Republican, and has served bis party with indefatigable energy. He has held the office of clerk in his township, and served repeatedly as supervisor. In 1877 he was elected to the House of Rep- resentatives of the State Legislature from the first district of Shiawassee County, and re-elected in 1879. During his career as a legislator he was a member of several very im- portant committees; in his first term serving on the con- mittees on State Public School, Federal Relations, and Roads and Bridges. In 1879 he was a member of the committee on Internal Improvements, and was chairman of the committee on the State Public School. His efficient work in this insti- tution, we have been told by gentlemen connected therewith, was very valuable, and his earnest labor in behalf of the dependent children of Michigan will always be remembered.
Mr. Reed is not a member of any religious denomination, but an advocate of the principles of the Christian religion and a supporter and contributor towards its promulgation, having contributed of his means towards the building of three churches in his own town.
307
VERNON TOWNSHIP.
1871. M. V. Russell.
1876. W. D. Jewell.
1872. William Jf. Easten.
1877-78. JI. O. Jewell.
1873. James Sickles.
1879. Charles Hluff.
1874. M. V. Russell.
1880. Luke Bentley.
1875 .. J. D. Jewell.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1838. R. W. Hfolley.
1857. JI. E. Smith.
Eli Shattuck.
1858. J. W. Payne.
F. G. Eggleston.
1859. IJ. T. Wherden.
1839. Eli Shattuck. J860. Chauncey Button.
1840. J. B. Clark. Nelson Ferry.
1861. Henry Conant.
1841. JI. G. Eggleston.
1863. JI. T. Weeden.
1842. 11. G. Eggleston.
1864. Lewis Sayre.
William Lovejoy.
1865. G. W. Pennell.
1843. John N. Iluff.
1866. No record.
William Lovejoy. 1867. Il. T. Weeden.
1844. S. Evell. 1868. JI. Sherman.
1845. R. W. Hfolley. 1869. C. B Chalker.
1816. C. B. Chalker.
1870. A. McKercher.
1847. Beebe Truesdell.
1871. If. T. Weeden.
1848. Joel B. Goss.
1872. A. F. Westcott.
1849. Ebenezer Brown.
1873. Norman Bentley.
1850. W. B. Barker.
1874. C. P. Wecden.
1851. Lewis Sayre. James Baird.
1876. Charles Herriman.
1852. I. W. Lasure.
1877. W. D. Jewell.
1853. C. B. Chalker.
IS7S. A. F. Westcott.
1851. William Garrison.
1879. S. A. Post.
1855. Lewis Sayre.
1880. Charles Jferriman.
SCHOOL INSPECTORS.
1838. C. Curtis.
J. B. Clark.
1852. William Lovejoy. David Smith.
Joseph Parmenter.
1853. Major King.
1839. Jlampton Bentley. 1854. J. S. Bentley.
R. W. Holley. 1855. Monroe Ifolley.
Jacob Wilkinson. 1856. M. S. Angel.
1840. Uriah Dubois. 1857. Major King.
C. B. Chalker. 1858. R. Reed.
Nelson Ferry.
1859. J. D. Jewell.
1841. Nelson Ferry.
1860. James Garrison.
R. W. Holley.
1861. C. IT. Smith.
Uriah Dubois.
1862-63. Desmond Martin.
1842. James Rutan.
1861. John Patchell.
Nelson Ferry.
1865. Orland B. Cull.
William Lovejoy.
1867. John Patchell.
1843. L. B. Gilbert.
R. W. HTolley.
1869. John Patchiell.
William Lovejoy.
1870. Benson Chalker.
1844. J. F. Swain. R. W. Ilolley.
1872. A. G. Holmes.
1845. William Lovejoy.
1873. J. J. Patchell.
1846. E. Brown.
1874. William Putnam.
1847. Benjamin Winans.
1875. John McLean.
1848. Monroe Holley.
1876. Peter Patchell.
1849. William Lovejoy.
1877. Albert Andrews.
1850. Major King.
1878. G. W. Sickles.
1851. Monroe Ilolley.
1879-80. C. S. Reed.
DRAIN COMMISSIONERS.
1872. James Beard.
1876. John Powlison.
1873. William Jewell.
1878. A. E. Andrews.
1874. William D. Jewell.
1879-80. George Leetch.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS.
1875-76. A. G. Cowles.
1878-80. S. C. Watson.
1877. Peter Patchell.
EARLY HIGHWAYS.
The earliest highway surveyed in Vernon was known as the Baldwin road, projected in the summer of 1834, while Vernon was still a part of the township of Shiawassee. It followed the south line of the township, running cast and west, and was located one mile north of the above line. The improvement of this road did not immediately follow its survey. The subjoined transcript from the records of the highway commissioners for the year 1837 indicates the courses of the highways of that date :
" At a meeting of the commissioners of highways of the town of Vernon, at the house of James Rutan, in said town, on the 3d day of July, 1837, all of the said com- missioners having been duly notified to attend the said meeting for the purpose of deliberating on the subject, it is ordered by the said commissioners that the highways be laid out and established in the said town of Vernon in the following places, their courses and distances having been asecrtained by actual survey."
The following is a description of the several high ways so laid out and established :
" Commencing at the quarter stake on the west side of seetion 27, thence south forty chains and fourteen links to the corner of sections 27, 28, 33, 34. One other highway altered, commencing at the corners of sections 28, 29, 32, 33, running on section-line seventy-nine and ninety one-hun- dredths chains west. One other highway commencing at the corner of sections 28, 29, 32, 33, running two hundred and forty-one chains and forty-five links to the section cor- ners of 8, 9, 10, 17.
" One other highway commencing at the quarter stake between sections 6 and 7, running thence east on section- line one hundred and nineteen and seventy-five one-hun- dredths chains to the section corners of sections 4, 5, 8, 9. " One other highway commeneing at the section corners of seetions 4, 5, 8, 9, running thence north on section-line to the line of said town on the north, being eighty-nine chains.
" One other highway commencing at the town-line be- tween sections 18 and 19, running thence east on seetion- line two hundred and seventy-four and ten one-hundredths chains.
"One other highway commencing at section corners of sections 19, 20, 29, 30, running thence north on section- line three hundred and thirty-four and eighty-four one-hun- dredths chains to the line of said town.
" One other highway commencing fifty-six links cast of quarter stake between sections 6 and 7, south seventy-one degrees, west twenty-nine chains and ninety links to inter- seet the town-line, eleven chains south of the seetion cor- ners of sections 6 and 7.
" One other highway commeneing at the seetion corners of seetions 4, 5, 8, 9, running east on section-line three hundred and twenty chains and ninety links to intersect the town-line on the east side of said town of Vernon.
" One other highway commencing at the section corners of sections 9, 10, 3, 4, running north eighty-eight chains to the town-line of' said town of Vernon.
" One other highway commencing on the town-line be- tween sections 18 and 7, running thence east on section-
1875. George W. Reed, Jr.
1871. William Jones.
1868. J. Wixon.
1875. 11. A. Sayre.
1856. I. D. Thacher.
1862. C. B. Chalker.
308
HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
line one hundred and fifty-one chains and ten links to seetion corner of section 16.
" R. W. HOLLEY, " C. W. MILLER, " JOHN SMEDLEY, " Highway Commissioners.
" JAMES RUTAN,
" Town Clerk. " Recorded Aug. 1, 1837."
EARLY SCHOOLS.
The board of school inspectors of the township of Ver- non, consisting of J. B. Clark, Caleb Curtis, and Joseph Parmenter, met April 4, 1844, for the purpose of dividing the territory into school districts. After consultation the following division was made :
Distriet No. 1 to embrace sections 1, 2, and the north half of sections 11 and 12.
District No. 2, sections 3, 4, and the north half of sec- tions 9 and 10.
District No. 3, sections 5 and 6 and the north half of sections 7 and S.
District No. 4, sections 17 and 18 and the south half of seetions 7 and 8.
District No. 5, sections 15 and 16, the south half of sections 9 and 10, and the north half of seetions 21 and 22.
Distriet No. 6, sections 13, 14, the north half of sections 23 and 24, and the south half of sections 11 and 12.
District No. 7, sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36, and the south half of sections 22, 23, and 24.
District No. S, sections 28, 34, 33, and the south half of sections 20 and 21.
District No. 9, section 19 and the north half of sec- tion 30.
It is probable that the earliest school was opened in dis- triet No. 3, but information regarding the building of the first school-house or the teacher who early presided in the district is not obtainable.
The present school territory of Vernon is divided into six whole and three fractional districts, over which preside, as a board of directors, the following gentlemen: George H. Cooper, George W. Reed, W. H. Easton, Henry Alchin, Peter Patchell, James Scott, A. G. Cowles, William Gilmore, and John Roper. Five hundred and eighty-one scholars receive instruction, of whom thirty-five are non-residents. They are under charge of eight male and eleven female teachers. There are nine frame school buildings in the various districts, some of which are large, commodious, and admirably adapted for the purpose.
VILLAGE OF DURAND.
A portion of the land on which the village of Duraud was located was originally entered by Mary Miller in 1836, and subsequently owned by James and John Kenyon. Another portion was entered by William Young the same year. Still auother tract was owned by Dr. L. D. Jones, and by him soll to J. Delos Jewell, who laid a portion of the ground into lots but did not plat it. The land entered by Mr. Young lay upon seetion 15, and after passing through successive hauds became the property of William
H. Putnam, who had a portion of it platted, a previous płat having been made by James C. Brand. A church and school building had already been erected, and some enter- prise was being manifested. Mr. Brand built a saw-mill which was furnished with steam-power, Mr. Putnam having been his foreman, and did an extensive business in the manufacture of staves and heading. In 1876 a post-office was established, with Mr. Putnam as postmaster, who named the place after Hon. George H. Durand, of the city of Flint. The earliest store in the place was built by Messrs. Putnam & Delano, and occupied by Ira D. Kellogg in 1876, after which the firm became Kellogg & Delano. A hardware-store was built by Mr. Putnam, of which he was . proprietor, after which Kellogg & Delano erected a building for mercantile uses. A. D. Bruce soon after ereeted a store which was rented by W. HI. Bielby, the present postmaster, and two blacksmith-shops and one wagon-shop were also opened. The pioneers in the drug and medieine business were the Shaw Brothers, who arrived in 1878 and estab- lished themselves in business. Messrs. Davis & Herrington soon after erected a building which is now occupied by W. H. Bielby. The firm of Sayre Brothers erected, at nearly the same date, a capacious store, which was afterwards pur- chased by Messrs. Putnam & Delano, who removed to the site of their present extensive business. In 1878 an elevator was constructed by the same firm.
The capacity of the extensive steam saw mill of J. C. Brand is twelve thousand feet of lumber and six thousand staves per day. The mill is propelled by an engine of forty- horse power, and the lumber eut is obtained in adjacent portions of the county. The market for the staves and heading is found in New York and the city of Pough- keepsie. Detroit furnishes a demand for the lumber.
Extensive chareoai kilos were constructed in the suburbs of the hamlet by Hiram Smith, of Flint, in 1879, and are managed by his son, Ely Smith. The capacity of each kiln is fifty cords, ten kilns having been constructed on the ground of the proprietor. The product is shipped to various. points in the State.
The Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad was completed late in 1876, and an agent appointed to the depot at Durand. F. M. Pomeroy first acted in that capacity, and has been suc- ceeded by L. S. Westrich, the present incumbent.
A flourishing school is under the direction of Miss Carrie Biller. Two physicians-Drs. J. N. Shaw and A. G. Cole -reside here, and practice through a wide extent of coun- try. The growth of Durand has been not only rapid but healthy, and its citizens predict for it a future fully com- mensurate with its brief but progressive history.
VERNON VILLAGE.
The original plat of the village of Veruon was surveyed and laid out in the autumn of 1856, embracing the south part of the southeast fractional quarter of section 6, and the north half of the northeast quarter of section 7, township 6 north, of range 4 east, the main street of the village run- ning on the section-line. This plat was, however, not re- corded until Dec. 2, 1866. Van Auken's addition, de- scribed as uorth of State Street and west of Duane Street, was surveyed by Ezra Mason in August, 1865. Yerkes'
309
VERNON TOWNSHIP.
addition south of Vernon proper, lying east of Walnut Street and west of Chestnut Street, was platted Angust, 1865. Van Auken's second addition, lying west of Van Anken's addition, was surveyed in the spring of 1870. Rogers' addition, lying east of Yerkes' addition, was plat- ted in the spring of 1870.
Greenwood Cemetery was platted in 1862 by the Green- wood Cemetery Association.
The original plat of the village of Vernon having been lost or destroyed, a new plat embracing the various addi- tions was ordered by act of the State Legislature, and is now on record at the office of the register of Shiawassee County.
As the land within the boundaries of the present village of Vernon was the scene of the earliest pioneer labor in the township, a review of its earliest settlement would be little else than a recapitulation of the early history of the town- ship. During the summer of 1833 Henry Leach emigrated from Detroit to the attractive but unbroken forest of Shia- wassee County. He found no bit of land so inviting as the spot on section 6 now covered by the village of Vernon, and there made his location and remained three years, but ultimately removed to Clinton County. He was followed by a squatter named Lathrop, and soon after by Jacob Wil- kinson,-now familiarly known as Deaeon Wilkinson .- who the same year entered forty aeres on section 6, and has for a period of nearly half a century remained a resident of the soil he first broke in 1833. Mr. Wilkinson has witnessed the advent and departure of many settlers, the building of school-houses, the erection of churches, and the growth of an enterprising village where before was a dense forest.
Joseph Parmenter entered land on section 6, in 1835, and Samuel N. Whitcomb removed from Oakland County to land on section 5 in the same year. The latter gentleman sold, a few years later, to Cyrus W. Angel, who after sev- eral years' residence upon the farm removed in 1847 within the village limits on the site now occupied by the brick store of J. W. Yerkes, where he died in 1857.
In the year 1836 James Van Auken (now spelled Van Akin) arrived from Wayne Co., N. Y., and purchased the land entered by Henry Leach three years previous, where he erected in 1846 the first briek dwelling in the county, and occupied it as a farm residence until his death in 1848. Ilis son, Henry Jennings Van Akin, now occupies the homestead, having been prominent in the platting and im- provement of the village.
R. W. Holley removed from Ovid, N. Y., to this State in 1831, and in 1831 settled in the present village, where he purchased a considerable tract of land. Ile was a man of much energy and actively engaged in all enterprises in- volving the welfare of the village. At his house was or- ganized the earliest Sabbath-school in the township and also the Presbyterian Church in Vernon. Mr. Holley died in 1860. Ilis son, Dr. D. C. Holley, is engaged in the practice of medicine in Vernon.
For a period of years no indication of the future village was apparent. Commercial enterprise first made itself felt in the hamlet with the advent of Milo Harrington in 1857. The Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad was completed the previous year and had established a station at Vernon, which
encouraged Mr. Harrington to embark in business pursuits at this point. IJe erected the first store, and in connection with William D. Garrison engaged in trade. Mr. Ifarring- ton afterwards removed to St. Louis, Mich., where he died. William D. Garrison was by occupation a carpenter, as was also his brother Arthur. They built the first frame dwell- ing in Vernon, which was also occupied as a shoe-shop. They assisted in the erection of the depot of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, Arthur having subscribed fifty dollars, which was paid iu labor.
In the year 1858 Messrs. Bostwick & Co. established a general store and remained in business a year, when their interest was purchased by the Garrison brothers. George Vincent came at nearly the same time from Byron and opened the first blacksmith-shop in a log building, remaining in business about one year, after which he abandoned bis trade, but continued a resident of the village until his death.
Hiram Harrington was also among the early merchants, Joseph W. Yerkes having been associated with him in 1864. The same year A. F. Westcott arrived and opened the first hardware-store in the place, and in the following year was appointed postmaster by Abraham Lincoln, which office he still holds. IFis predecessors were Milo Harring- ton, the earliest incumbent of the office, and his successor, IIenry Conant.
Thomas Winans was among the first to embark in the grocery business, and Dr. D. C. Holley was the pioneer in the drug and medicine business. Others followed in vari- ous branches of trade, many of whom departed at a later period. The Messrs. Garrison located on the north side of Main Street, where they remained until 1866, when a frame building twenty-two by sixty fect in dimensions and two stories in height was constructed on their present site, to which they then removed.
In the spring of 1872 a calamity befell the little village, which had been incorporated the previous year, in a disas- trous conflagration, which in its course swept the chief portion of Main Street and destroyed twenty-two buildings, chiefly places of business importance. Among the heaviest losers were W. D. & A. Garrison, Bell & Ives, John Long, W. M. Campbell, C. P. Weeden, Holmes & Livermore, II. Trask, C. Harrington, and T. J. Winans. None doubted that this was the work of an incendiary, a fact which was afterwards proved by the arrest of the culprit and his sub- sequent confession, implieating parties who had employed him. While awaiting trial the prisoner escaped from jail, and was never after heard from.
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