USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 84
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 84
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Mary A. Young.
Lyman Swagart.
Willard King.
William Van Dyke.
Martin L. Corbin.
Sarah J. Van Dyke.
Martha J. Corbin.
Moses D. Tabor.
Charles E. Hollister.
Lewis Smith. A. Weller.
Nathaniel I. Daniels.
Mrs. A. Weller.
George W. Freeman.
Charles E. Lamb.
Pauline M. Freeman.
Israel M. Bray. John Brown.
David Hollister.
Ambrose T. Bates.
A. J. Bement.
Isaac Hewitt.
At the annual meeting held June 10, 1880, the following officers were elected :
Cortland Hill, President.
Mrs. R. Strickland, Vice-President. Miner R. Frink, Treasurer. William Brunson, Secretary.
James E. Hiscock.
Ainsworth Reed. Dorr K. Stowell.
James A. Forman.
Dollie S. Forman.
Mary J. Smith.
H. B. Bliss.
Caroline M. Bennett. Sally Williams.
David P. Wilcox.
A. J. Moss.
Hannah C. Loomis.
Stephen Pearl.
Norman R. Allen.
William H. Watts.
Edwin D. Webster.
M. S. Moss.
Isaac N. Tanager.
Matilda Rogers.
J. L. Button.
Edward Jones. Calvin Green.
Russell Whitney. Mary II. Green.
Arvilla T. Whitney.
George A. Holden.
Luman Wilcox.
355
COUNTY SOCIETIES.
CLINTON COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.
A County Bible Society was organized at De Witt in the year 1848. The record of the first meeting is lost, but the minutes of the society were kept from 1849 to 1854 inclusive, from which are taken the following items :
" The Clinton County Bible Society held its first annual meeting at De Witt on Tuesday evening, the 6th day of February, 1849. The Rev. Lewis Coburn, President of the Society, having taken the chair, Robert G. McKee was appointed secretary pro tem. The Rev. Johu Baugh- man addressed the Society and audience upon the subject of the distribution of the Bible, after which a collection was taken under the direction of the President of the Society." The following persons were appointed officers for the ensuing year: President, Lewis Coburn ; Vice- President, Daniel Ferguson ; Secretary, Robert G. McKee ; Treasurer, George T. Clark ; Executive Committee, J. F. Turner, Cortland Hill, James Sturgis, Seth P. Marvin, Joseph H. Adams, Levi Townson, and David Sturgis.
At the meeting in 1850 a collection was taken, and on motion the amount was to be returned in books, and the various clergymen were appointed a distributing committee. At the annual meeting iu 1851 it was resolved that the ministers are requested to preach to their several congrega- tions in favor of the spread of the Bible and take up col- lections for the purchase of the same, also to employ others to act as agents. The treasurer was authorized to order . Bibles when needed, so far as the funds would permit. At a meeting held in September, 1853, the Revs. Lewis Coburn, John Seotford, and John Gunderman were chosen a committee to draft a constitution, which was adopted October 2d of the same year. At this meeting the treasurer reported five dollars and eighty-seven cents collected. The annual meeting of 1854 was held in the Baptist church of De Witt on the 1st of October. An address was delivered by the Rev. J. Anderson, agent of the American Bible Society, and a collection was taken up, the amount of which was paid to J. Anderson.
The following is a report of the condition of the society at that time: " The affairs of the Clinton County Bible Society at this date, Nov. 29, 1854, are as follows :
"there is now due the society from J. Sturgis, old treasurer, ostensibly . $10.94 from various persons as per bill in treasurer's hands 9.08 I. D. Edwards, present treasurer .. 4.08
Received this day from W. R. Sturgis, late treasurer, as follows :
In Bibles. 8.78
In cash
7.9["
The officers of the society from 1849 to 1854 inclusive were as follows :
1850 .- Rev. Lewis A. Coburn, President ; Rev. Caleb A. Lamb, Vice-President ; F. R. Read, Secretary ; James Sturgis, Treasurer; W. W. Webb, J. F. Turner, D. B. Johnson, W. R. Sturgis, David Sturgis, J. M. Estes, Daniel Ferguson, Executive Committee.
1851 .- Rev. Lewis Coburn, President ; J. Boynton, Vice-President ; J. Sturgis, Treasurer ; F. R. Read, Secre- tary.
1852 .- Rev. Lewis Coburn, President ; Jolin Gunder- man, Vice-President ; R. Strickland, Secretary ; J. Il. Adams, Treasurer.
1853 .- Rev. John Scotford, President; Rev. Lewis Coburn, Vice-President ; R. Strickland, Secretary ; W. R. Sturgis, Treasurer.
1854 .- Henry Post, President; Rev. John Gunder- man, Vice-President ; Joseph H. Adams, Secretary ; J. D. Edwards, Treasurer.
The constitution adopted in 1853 names the society and explains its objects, thus :
" Article 1st. This Society shall be called the Clinton County Bible Society, auxiliary to the American Bible Society. Article 2d. The object of this Society shall be to disseminate the Holy Seriptures without note or comment throughout the County." The names of persons attached to the constitution are as follows : J. M. Estes, Lewis Coburn, Mrs. Coburn, F. R. Read, John Scotsford, John Gunderman, R. Strickland, George Allen, J. D. Edwards, M. Moote, J. H. Adams, W. R. Sturgis, Ellen Sturgis, Mrs. Goodrich, Mrs. Scotford, A. Dunton, Alsa Cushman, A. Goodrich, M. A. Child.
Since 1854 no records of the society have been preserved, and nothing further is known of its history. On the 14th of February of that year several Christian organizations convened at the Methodist Episcopal church in the village of St. Johns for the purpose of reorganizing a county Bible Society. A constitution was presented and adopted. The drug-store of George Hunt & Brother was selected as the depository of the society. It remained there till March, 1876, when it was removed to the drug-store of Dr. M. L. Bagg, where it is at present The transactions of the society since 1865, as shown by the treasurer's books, have been as follows : Paid for Bibles purchased in 1865, $245.28 ; 1866, $466.72; 1867, $79.75; 1869, $219.89; 1870, $173.44; 1872, 8126.82; 1873, 8128.99 ; 1875, $142.69 ; 1876, $63.84; 1877, 873.44 ; 1878, $49.97 ; 1879, $41.56. Auxiliary societies were formed some years ago at Ovid, De Witt, and Maple Rapids, but have now declined. The officers of the society since its reorganization are as follows : Presidents, A. II. Walker, 1864 to 1875 inclusive ; Rev. D. D. Gillett, 1876 ; F. H. Cary, 1877 ; J. E. Richards, 1878-79 ; S. L. Ilamilton, 1880. Secretaries, R. Apthorp, 1864; William Sickles, 1865; L. G. N. Randolph, 1866 to 1868 inclusive; M. V. Brown, 1869 to 1880. Treas- urers, H. C. Hodge, 1864; A. O. Hunt, 1865 to 1875 in- clusive ; M. V. Brown, 1876; Dr. M. L. Bagg, 1877 to 1880.
Following is a list of names of persons who became life members in 1865 and 1866:
1865 .- Burtis II. Beer, P. C. Perrin, William Brunson, W. J. Bancroft, A. II. Walker, Mrs. McFarlan, Mrs. Sarah A. Baker, Mrs. Fanny Brown.
1866 .- S. S. Walker, Milo A. Fowler, Joseph Wood, W. W. Brainerd, Louise F. Apthorp, Elizabeth Kipp, Hanual Plumstead, Isabel B. Siekles, Mary E. Strickland, Mary E. Burgess.
No names appear on the record since 1866.
FARMERS' MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
"This company was formed for the purpose of protection against loss by fire or lightning on all buildings and farm-
356
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
property subject to such risk. It has been in existenee seventeen years, and has proved so successful that it is regarded with much satisfaction by its members. On the 16th of March, 1863, a meeting was held at the village of St. Johns pursuant to call; articles of association were agreed upon and signed by Jonathan R. Pearsall, Dewitt C. Chapin, Asahel R. Marvin, Henry Moon, George W. Cook, Lewis Coburn, and Jeremiah Emery. The articles of association were published three weeks in the Clinton Republican.
On the 19th of June, the same year, articles of associa- tion were published differing in some respects from the first, and signed by the following-named corporators : Ainsworth Reed, Henry Moon, William R. Allen, Lewis Coburn, George Allen, Asahel R. Marvin, Jonathan R. Pearsall, Jeremiah Emery, and George W. Cook. In the paper of the same date a call was issued for the first meet- ing of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Clinton County on the 7th of July, 1863, for the purpose of electing officers and transacting other business.
The records of the society were burned a few years ago. J. II. Osborne, secretary and financial agent of the com- pany, opened an office in the drug-store of G. R. IIunt & Brother.
The business of the company extends over the counties of Clinton and Gratiot. The number of policies in force, June 1, 1880, was two thousand three hundred, covering property to the amount of $2,625,371. The losses from September, 1877, to September, 1878, were $1933.05 ; from September, 1878, to September, 1879, $3268.13. The salaries, fees, and expenses for the year ending Dec. 31, 1879, amounted to $1822.47. Total expenses for the year, $5205.97.
The officers for 1880 are as follows :
Josiah Upton, President; R. Du Bois, Secretary.
Directors .- Clinton County : Orange Whitlock, Green- bush ; Lewis Bentley, Essex ; William Collins, De Witt; W. W. Dunham, Duplain. Gratiot County : Charles Web- ster, Fultoo.
CLINTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND HORTI- CULTURAL SOCIETY.
On the 12th of January, 1853, a preliminary meeting was held at the " Clinton House," in the village of De Witt, for the purpose of organizing a county agricultural society. A committee appointed on constitution and per- manent officers reported, at a meeting held in the same place, on the 19th of the same month. A constitution and by-laws were presented and adopted. The following is a list of the names of the original members :
Harvey Hunter. O. B. Ingersoll.
Horatio Hunter.
Eliel Ingersoll.
J. H. Adams.
Charles Scott.
F. R. Read. Russell Churchman.
Jason Nichols. A. C. Lee.
David I. Daniels. David P. Dryer.
Samuel Forman. Charles R. McKee.
A. R. Marvin. D. S. Coats.
W. Lee. John Collister.
D. S. Ingersoll.
II. Alexander.
Richard Walton.
U. R. Owen.
Stephen IFill. Gardner Conn.
W. Dills.
Peter Merrihew.
Wm. Tanager. Benjamin Silsbee.
A. U. Cook.
J. W. Merrihew.
Linus Gillett.
Henry Jones.
George Fuller.
B. H. Beers.
A. Gillett.
A. Lounsbury.
George A. Merrihew.
L. Hungerford. William H. Webb.
H. S. Green.
Ransom Reed.
A. Goodrich.
D. Ferguson.
C. Caywood.
H. C. Butler.
John Voorhees.
A. Calder.
David Clark.
John Hicks.
Philo Doty.
Iloratio Lyon.
J. H. Gardner.
C. A. Lamb.
H. Stowell.
C. Ilill.
John Skinner.
David Seott.
Thomas J. Allen.
Parker Webber.
James G. Pike.
J. C. Brunson.
Iliram Scott.
N. N. Thompson.
Moulton Sprague.
W. Utley.
James Smith.
Daniel H. Blood.
Henry Smith.
Lewis Coburn.
James W. MeMillan.
E. S. Ingersoll.
Joseph Hollister.
Thomas Lester.
Henry Jipson.
W. R. Sturgis.
Mary E. Silsbee.
D. Olio.
George Allen.
A. W. Partridge.
Ira S. Thornton.
I. F. Hollister.
Mrs. D. G. Wilsey.
J. R. Pearsall.
A. Simmons.
W. Brunson.
S. Sherman.
H. Post.
W. T. Plowman.
I. B. Smith.
T. Dunlap.
The Committee on Permanent Officers reported the names of the following persons, who were elected for 1853 : President, Harvey Hunter.
Vice-Presidents, J. F. Hollister, B. II. Beers, D. Fergu- son, H. Benedict, L. Hungerford, J. Sever, S. B. Smith. Recording Secretary, F. R. Read.
Corresponding Secretary, I. H. Adams.
Treasurer, W. W. Webb.
Dircetors, O. Ferguson, C. A. Lamb, C. Hill, M. S. Allen, Henry Post.
The following-named gentlemen were appointed a com- mittee of three from each township to secure members to the society :
Bath .- E. L. Phelps, R. Collister, S. Batchelor.
Vietor .- J. C. Brunson, H. Hagerty, D. H. Blood.
Ovid .- J. V. Swarthout, E. Willis, E. Fiteh.
Duplain .- HI. Faxon, J. D. Sickels, Dr. Watson. Greenbush .- H. Avery, D. Sever, O. Whitlock.
Bingham .- G. W. Estes, C. A. Lamb, R. S. Norris.
Olive .- A. Calder, J. W. Merrihew, H. S. Green.
De Witt .- D. B. Johnson, E. Gunnison, N. N. Thomp- son.
Orange Ferguson.
Moses Tabor.
David Knight. Constant Shaw.
357
COUNTY SOCIETIES.
Watertown .- S. Frary, A. R. Marvin, W. Lee. Riley .- C. Shaw, H. Jones, L. Hungerford.
Bengal .- C. Ilill, B. F. Kneeland, J. IIamer. Essex .- II. Benedict, T. H. Petit, F. Parr. Lebanon .- P. Corey, J. Vance, A. G. Russell. Dallas .- G. F. Dutton, M. Van Gerison, Z. Rice. Westphalia .- W. F. Plowman, M. P. MeVey, J. Platt. Eagle .- J. W. Hill, W. T. Jennison, J. W. MeMillan.
The meeting adjourned to meet in the same place on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 1873, at one o'clock P.M. At the adjourned meeting in February it was decided to hold a fair in the village of De Witt on the 5th and 6th of October of that year. A premium-list was made out and judges selected for the different departments, whose names are given below :
On Cattle .- N. N. Thompson, Robert Darrow, and John Collister.
On Horses .- E. P. Daniels, II. B. Green, and John Voorhees.
On Sheep .- W. P. Esler, S. W. Downer, and Parris Corey.
On Swine .- M. Van Gieson, J. R. Pearsall, D. II. Blood.
On Fowls .- T. II. Petit, David Clark, Alexander Calder. On Grain .- Philo Doty, W. Bronson, John Vance.
On Fruits .- E L. Phelps, M. Greenwood, W. T. Plow- man.
On Vegetables .- David Sturgis, A. Goodrich, M. Bar- tow.
On Ladies' Department .- Mary Sturgis, M. II. Adams, Amanda flunter.
On Cabinet-work .- M. S. Allen, J. H. Adams, R. S. Van Sevy.
On Boots and Shoes .- Harvey IFunter, HI. Benedict, C. A. Lamb.
On Blacksmithing .- N. N. Thompson, T. H. Petit, W. W. Webb.
On Miscellaneous .- A. R. Marvin, Moses Tober, D. Fer- guson.
On Plowing .- H. Benedict, H. Post, David Clark.
The annual fair for that year was held on the public square at the time specified. Premiums were awarded to the amount of one hundred and thirty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents. The entire amount of receipts from all sources was one hundred dollars and seventy-eight cents. Incidental expenses reduced this amount to eighty-one dol- lars and forty cents, from which to pay the premiums, it being fifty-nine per cent. of the amount awarded.
Premiums were received on cattle by Charles A. Lamb, Samuel Sherman, N. N. Thompson, Eliel Ingersoll, C. Shaw, David Seott, E. S. Ingersoll, A. R. Marvin, Stephen Hill, A. W. Partridge, George Allen, William Dills, and B. HI. Beers; on sheep by Harvey Hunter, A. C. Lee, Lewis Co- burn, and Charles Scott; on horses by Gardner Conn, Charles Scott, A. Goodrich, A. Lounsbury, I. W. Gardner, Peter Merrihew, E. S. Ingersoll, and Ransom Reed; and for the best five aeres of wheat by David Seott; second best, Harvey Hunter ; best one aere of corn, I. Caywood ; best acre of oats, David Seott.
The annual fairs for 1854-55-56 were held at De Witt.
At the annual meeting of the society, on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of March, 1857, it was resolved that the fair of that year on the 8th and 9th of October be held either at De Witt or St. Johns, the choice to be decided as follows : " The one of the two villages that subscribes the most money by the 15th of August, 1857, to be paid to the Society on or before the fair, is to have the fair at said vil- lage ; sealed proposals to be received until August 15th."
The executive committee met on the 9th of September to consider proposals. A proposition was received from the inhabitants of St. Johns stating that one hundred and six dollars had been subscribed, and as none was received from De Witt it was decided to hold the fair for 1857 at the village of St. Johns, on the 8th and 9th of October. The society advertised for proposals in 1858. No propositions were received, and the fair was held at St. Johns, October 13th and 14th of that year. Nothing further is known of the history of the society until its reorganization in 1863. A preliminary meeting was held at the clerk's office in De Witt, on the 15th of August of that year, and adjourned to the 29th of August, at which meeting a committee was appointed to draft a new constitution and by-laws. Officers were elected, and the Sth of October was the day fixed for the fair. The constitution was adopted on the 9th of Oeto- ber of that year.
At a meeting of the society at Clinton Hall in the vil- lage of St. Johus, in 1865, it was resolved to purchase ten or fifteen aeres of land near the village, for fair-grounds.
Messrs. Isaac T. Hollister, W. T. Baneroft, and Sidney U. Alexander were appointed to select the same and nego- tiate for the purchase. The committee reported Jan. 27, 1866, that two tracts had been offered, and recommended the purchase of thirty acres of Joseph Cardinal, sitnated one mile south of the village. On the 7th of April the secretary of the society reported that he had made the con- tract for the grounds at seventeen hundred dollars. Ten aeres were sold from the south part of the grounds for four hundred dollars. In the May following a contract was made with A. Hathaway for grading a trotting-course. The grounds were also inclosed and prepared for the fall exhi- bition.
During this year articles of association were drawn up, having for a purpose " the reorganization and perfecting of a society to be known as the Clinton County Agricul- tural and Horticultural Society, that was attempted to be made on or about the 19th day of August, 1866." The following-named persons are mentioned in the articles for officers : Dr. I. T. Hollister, President ; William H. Moore, Vice-President ; B. H. Beers, Treasurer ; Robert Smith, Secretary. These articles were not signed.
In 1869 a floral hall was erected at a cost of three hun- dred dollars. Its form was that of a Greek eross, about eighty feet in length each way, with the central portion twenty feet square. The agricultural hall, twenty-four by fifty feet, was erected in 1874, at a cost of two hundred and fifty dollars. The grand stand and dining-hall were erected in 1877. The former is twenty-four by sixty feet, and cost three hundred dollars ; the latter, twenty by forty, cost one hundred and twenty-five dollars. A commercial hall was built in the season of' 1878, twenty-eight by eighty feet in
358
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
dimensions, at an expense of four hundred dollars. In 1879 the judges' stand was built in a neat and ornamental style, octagonal in form, sixteen feet square and two stories in height, at a cost of three hundred and twenty- five dollars. The society have about eighty rods of stabling for horses an c attle.
The twentieth annual fair of the society was held at the fair-grounds in October, 1879. Nearly twelve hundred en- tries were made; the receipts from all sources were three thousand three hundred and ninety-three dollars. Eleven linndred dollars was awarded in premiums for the stock and articles on exhibition, and one thousand dollars for speed in horses.
A new constitution and by-laws were adopted in the spring of 1880.
The officers of the society, as far as ean be ascertained, have been as follows :
Presidents .- Harvey Hunter, 1853; Henry Post, 1854; Isaae T. Hollister, 1855 ; no records 1856 ; Seth P. Marvin, 1857 ; William J. Bancroft, 1858 ; Isaac T. Hollister, 1859; Asahel R. Marvin, 1863; John Gilbert, 1864-65 ; B. F. Kneeland, 1866; John C. Dayton, 18GG (reorganization); Isaac T. Hollister, 1867 ; Charles Kipp, 1868-70; John C. Dayton, 1871-72; D. P. Wilcox, 1873; A. Stout, 1874-75; Joshua Brown, 1876-77 ; R. M. Steel, 1878-80.
Sceretaries .- F. R. Read, 1853-55 ; Nobles S. ITam- mond, 1857; John C. Brunson, 1858; Rev. Caleb A. Lamb, 1859; Hiram C. Hlodge, 1863; Henry S. Hilton, 1864-65; T. B. Cutter, 186G (reorganization) ; Robert Smith, 1866-67 ; T. Baker, 1868; J. B. Nixon, 1869-70; T. B. Cutler, 1871-75 ; II. S. Hilton, 1876 ; Alvin Shaver, 1877; Richard Du Bois, 1878-79; Charles W. Lyon, 1880.
Treasurers .- W. W. Webb, 1853-55 ; Charles Scott, 1857; Caleb A. Lamb, 1858; Hiram C. Hodge, 1859; Ilarvey Alexander, 1863; S. U. Alexander, 1864-65; B. HI. Beers, 1866; Samuel S. Walker, 18GG (reorganization) ; B. H. Beers, 1867 ; Samuel S. Walker, 1868-72 ; George R. Hunt, 1873; O. B. Swain, 1874; David P. Wilcox, 1875; R. B. Caruss, 1876-77 ; Alvin Shaver, 1878-79; Josiah Upton, 1880.
.
The fair-grounds of the Ionia, Montcalm, Gratiot, and Clinton Agricultural Society are situated in the village of Hubbardston, in the township of Lebanon, and contain about thirty acres of land, on which are built substantial and com- modious buiklings. The grounds are well fenced and a good track is laid out and graded.
POMONA COUNTY GRANGE, No. 25.
Delegates from the subordinate granges of the several townships convened at De Witt and St. Johns in the fall of 1879, for the purpose of forming a county grange; but nothing was effected until December 31st of that year, when a permanent organization was effected by the election of the following officers: Thomas W. Baldwin, Olive, Master; Warren Halsey, Bengal, Overseer ; O. G. Peunell, De Witt, Lecturer ; John J. Keyser, Keystone, Steward ; Avander Dickinson, Riley, Assistant Steward ; Anson MeWithey, Olive, Chaplain ; James Sowle, Essex, Treasurer ; Frank Conn, Bingham, Secretary ; Daniel Dutton, Dallas, Gate- Keeper; Mary J. Drake, Dallas, Ceres; Elizabeth M. Voor-
hees, Keystone, Pomona; Antoinette Emmet, Olive, Flora ; Lydia A. Rice, Bengal, Lady Assistant Steward. Meetings are held once a month at the halls of the different granges throughout the county.
AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY.
The greater part of the pioneer farmers who settled in Clinton County were emigrants from the State of New York ; men who either came here directly from that State, or who had previously emigrated from there to the older counties of Michigan, and had removed thence to Clinton. This being the ease, it was to be expected that they should, as they did, plant and sow the same crops, cultivate their lands in the same manner, and in general pursue the same methods of agriculture as those to which they had been aeenstomed in the country from which they came.
Emigrants from the old wheat-raising seetions of New York always judged of the new countries to which they went by comparison with that which they had left, and to them the chief proof of the excellence of any soil was its capability for the production of wheat,-as much wheat in quantity and as good wheat in quality as could be raised on lands similarly situated in that garden spot of the world (as it seemed to them), the western part of the State of New York, and particularly the renowned Genesee Valley. And in their application of this test to the county of Clinton they found and acknowledged that in this essential particu- lar the new country to which they came was equal, if not superior, to the old country which they had left.
Their agriculture was, of course, small at first, and was devoted to those crops which were indispensable to their immediate necessities for the support of their families. The first few erops of wheat, bounteous as they were, re- moved all fear of want, but as the very abundance lowered the price, and as the isolated location of the settlers of this connty enhanced the expense of transporting their produce to a market, the net profit resulting from their crops was so small as to hardly repay the cost and labor of produe- tion. This disadvantage, however, was only temporary. In succeeding years prices became more remunerative, the farmers steadily inereased their tilled acres, and, what was of more importance still, the improvement of roads and the opening of railroads, by affording means of transportation to markets, greatly enhanced the profits of agrienlture. But so gradually was all this accomplished that it would be difficult to say just when the struggling pioneers of the early days of Clinton County became transformed into the prosperous and wealthy farmers who now own and till its soil.
The breeding of cattle has been pursued by the farmers of Clinton County quite extensively, but not sufficiently so to give it a chief place among the agricultural industries. The same is true of sheep-breeding. The first settlers who came to locate in the county brought with them a rather unusually large number of cattle, for the reason that the fact had become known that stock could be kept here and win- tered even before erops of fodder had been raised for their subsistence. On the numerous marshes of this region there grew spontaneously a heavy burden of tall, coarse grasses,
359
AGRICULTURE.
which, in the absence of timothy, clover, or other cultivated fodder, furnished very good food for cattle. Plain-grass was also found in abundance in the openings (probably brought in by the annual fires kindled there by the Indians during many previous years), and this was equally good and nutritions. The existence of these resources enabled the settlers (who were nearly all men of sufficient means to purchase stock) to bring cattle with them at the time of their settlement without fear that the animals would die for lack of subsistence during the first or succeeding winters, and it was for this reason that the number of cattle brought into this eounty by the pioneer farmers was rather unusually large, though probably not greater than was brought in by an equal number of settlers in the other counties of this region where the same favorable conditions existed.
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