History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 34

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan > Part 34

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President, D. B. Harrington; Vice Presidents, W. B. Barron, of St. Clair; A. P. Stew- art, of Algonac; Solomon Kingsley, of Clyde; Secretary and Treasurer, B. C. Farrand.

Mr. Stewart said that he believed active men ought to fill all the positions of the society, and on account of ill health asked to be excused from serving, and that Mr. Samuel Russell, his townsman, be substituted in his place. With this amendment the report of the committee was adopted.

Mr. Harrington then assumed the chair, making a few appropriate remarks, thanking the society for the compliment, and pledging himself to do all he could to aid in building up a strong and prosperous organization.

Mr. W. B. Barron, of St. Clair, moved that besides the other Vice Presidents at large, al- ready elected, a Vice President be chosen for each township, who should be charged with the duty of enlisting the interest of his locality in the association. The motion passed, and the following gentlemen were nominated and elected as such Vice Presidents for their respective towns:

Berlin, Elihu Granger; Brockway, John Grinnell; Burtchville, Jonathan Burtch; Casco, Orange Fenton; China, Samuel Carleton; Columbus, George S. Granger; Cottrellville, James D. Brown; East China, John Clarke; Fort Gratiot, Lucius Beach; Grant, Nelson Potter; Kenockee, David Bryce; Kimball, John S. Kimball; Mussey, D. C. Walker; Port Huron, Z. W. Bunce; Riley, Oel Rix; St. Clair, Alex. St. Barnard; Wales, Joshua Tompkins.

No nominations were made for the other towns, but the vacancies were to be filled at the next meeting. It was expected that all these Vice Presidents would attend the next meeting of the society, and a failure of any one of the number to do so, was to be considered as a refusal to act, and warrant a notification that some other person must be selected to represent the soci- ety in that locality.

Mr. Truesdail moved the appointment of a committee of three to prepare a constitution and by-laws of the association to be reported at the next meeting. The motion prevailed and the chair appointed as such committee, Col. W. Truesdail and William B. Barron, of St. Clair, and Samuel Russell, of Algonac.

The committee was also intrusted with the work of preparing a programme of exercise for the next meeting of the association. The meeting then adjourned to meet at the City Hall in St. Clair, Tuesday, November 16, at 11 o'clock A. M.

Though the attendance was not large, the meeting was far from being a failure. The in- terest in the enterprise was evidently very great, and a good start was made.

At the meeting there were present quite a number who have been residents of this county for over half a century. The following is a list of some of the earliest settlers who were in at- tendance:

Aura P. Stewart, of Algonac, born in Canandaigua, N. Y., May 20, 1804, settled in this county with his father in 1815. He is one of the oldest emigrant residents of the county.

Barzilla Wheeler, of Kimball, came to Detroit as a soldier in 1815; was discharged in May, 1817, and came to St. Clair County with Fulton & Brooks in 1819, and helped them to lay out St. Clair.

Alex. St. Barnard, of St. Clair Township, was born in 1809, on the Canada side of St. Clair River, his father moving across to about the spot where Mr. St. Barnard now lives, when the latter was a mere child.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

D. B. Harrington, of Port Huron, came with his father, Jeremiah Harrington, to this county in 1819, stopping here while on a journey to the Saginaw region.

George Morttenger, of East China, born in Columbiana County, Ohio, came as a mem- ber of the militia to Fort Gratiot in June, 1814; helped to build that fort but did not remain here then; settled here about thirty years previous to 1875.

Jonathan Burtch, of Burtchville, came to Detroit July 20, 1828, and settled in this county the same year.

A. J. Palmer, of St. Clair, came to St. Clair County in 1829.

Lucius Beach, of Fort Gratiot, came from Connecticut, and settled in 1830.

Solomon Kingsley, of Clyde, born in Vermont, came to this county from that State in 1831.

William B. Barron, of St. Clair, born in New Hampshire, and settled in St. Clair County in 1836.

Samuel Russell, of Algonac, came from Ohio in 1836. ·

W. Truesdail, of St. Clair, came from New York in 1836 as cashier of the old bank of St. Clair, the only bank in Michigan that did not suspend in 1837.

Timothy Barron, of Port Huron, came in 1831.

B. C. Farrand, of Port Huron, came to Detroit in 1825, and to this county in 1843.

Joseph Cox, of St. Clair, settled here in 1830.

Elihu Granger, of Berlin, came here in 1835.

Mr. Morttenger gave some interesting facts about his visit to this region in 1814. He had enlisted in the militia in Fairfield, Columbiana Co., Ohio, and in the last year of the war came to where Fort Gratiot now stands. Here was stationed a small force of regulars under com- mand of Col. Codgrave. Maj. Rowland was another of the officers; the captain of Mr. Mort- tenger's company being Israel Warren of Fairfield. There was no fort there when this com- pany of militia arrived on the 1st day of June, 1814, and they were set to work constructing one. Within six weeks or two months, a very good embankment was thrown up on the west, north and south sides. The fortifications on the east or river front were stronger, logs entering into the construction His company was ordered on to Mackinac before the fort was fully com- pleted.

November 16, 1875, was the day appointed for the adjourned meeting of the County Pioneer Society, at St. Clair, to perfect the organization begun at Port Huron October 14, 1875. The inclemency of the weather for the previous week had rendered the roads well nigh impassa- ble, and the bleak wind and storm of Tuesday morning made the occasion an unpropitious one for the old settlers, many of whom doubtless remained at home on that account. Notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, however, the meeting was held, was quite fairly attended, and all in all, was an interesting and profitable gathering. The organization of the society was fully completed and preparations made for beginning systematic and earnest work. The meeting convened in the city hall, at 11 o'clock. about forty pioneer settlers of the county being present, as well as a few St. Clair citizens who dropped in as spectators. President Harrington called the meeting to order, and in the absence of Mr. Farrand (unavoidably prevented from attend- ing) Mr. James H. Stone was called upon to act informally in his stead. The President called for the report of the Committee on Permanent Organization as the first business in order, and William B. Barron, from that committee, in the absence of Col. Truesdail, the chairman (from whom he had just received a telegram that he was detained at Detroit by serious illness in his family), reported that the committee had prepared, with considerable care, a constitution and by- laws for the government of the society, which they submitted. These instruments were read by the Secretary, but their consideration was not fully completed before a recess was taken. Re-assembling after dinner the consideration of the constitution and by-laws was pro- ceeded with and after immaterial amendments were made, the same were adopted.

According to the programme of exercises agreed upon at the morning session, the signing of the constitution and by-laws was the next business in order, and the following persons, among others, gave in their names and the additional information required by Article II of the by-laws, the date of their immigration to the State alone being given here:

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

Daniel B. Harrington.

1819

Amos James.

.1828 | John McMichael. 1836

Samuel Carleton. .

1830

John E. Kitton. 1841

Charles L. Poole. 1840

John Clarke.

1830

Chester Kimball. 1830

Robert H. Jenks. 1849

George Morttenger.

.1814

Edmund E. Carleton. 1830

George L. Cornell. 1834

John Russell. .

1832

Joseph C. Cox. 1830

Bela W. Jenks. 1848

Alexander St. Bernard .. .1809

William A. Parsons 1834

Allen R. Aiken. 1835

Z. W. Bunce (by Judge Mitch-

Simeon B. Brown.

1834

William T. Mitchell.

1839

ell)

1816

David Bryce.

.1837

John M. Hart.

1838

James D. Brown.

1814

W. B. Barron

1836

Lucian Howe.

1836

David Hart.

1836

Moses F. Carleton 1831

Henry Whiting.

1846

Chester Carleton.

1831

Edwin T. Solis. 1842

The society proceeded to the election of a Treasurer, Moses F. Carleton being chosen. The Chairman then introduced Hon. William T. Mitchell, who delivered the following address:

It is one of the usages and no doubt the right and prerogative of old age to be garrulous-we are inclined to be over talkative. The earliest history of the world is that given and recited by the old to the young-the old and young alike indulging the proclivity of garrulousness. Written history is of comparatively recent date, not exceeding 4,000 years, except that given by the Bible. With that exception all knowledge of what had transpired before was and is a mere legend, a transcript of the stories told by the old to the young and thus transmitted from generation to generation, until the arts of writing and printing gave the means of perpetu- ating what before depended alone upon the uncertainties of memory. The greater part of the accredited his- tories of Rome and Greece are derived from legendary recitations, and have come to be regarded to a great extent as mythical. Even in these later days when pen and type are in the control of all, men are disposed to let passing events go into memory only without note or record. The history of large districts of our country full of incident and interest has been permitted to pass out of mind and memory because no one had the interest or would take the pains to preserve them in written form.

Even the Assyrians and Egyptians, whose early records were supposed to be lost, have excelled us by en- graving on tablets of stone in characters, until recently unknown, the events worth memory, and the skilled now read in those eternal records confirmation of some, if not all, of the sacred writings. God himself directed such a history of His chosen people, without which and the tablets of stone the greater part of the history of the world would have been lost. Even with these the story of the struggles and wondrous works of the greater part of mankind have been lost in the ages. All we can know of them is that there were people, that men and women lived, had their loves and hates; were born and died through numberless centuries, and left no evidence of their existence, except in the ruins of temples and cities, which they must have erected, worshiped and dwelt in.

In these, our days, it has become a pleasant and agreeable pastime for the old to associate together, to ex- change memories and thoughts, and by associations to perpetuate the legends of their several localities, and so transcribe them into history.

Events apparently unimportant are called to mind and written, and afterward prove to be the true elements of the history of our country. Hence the formation of such associations as this, and it is to be hoped this will be conspicuous as having so many things worthy of perpetuity.

I can hardly claim to be one of the early pioneers of St. Clair County. I see around me many, and know of many others, who justly look upon my years in your midst as not entitling me to be one of their number; but Mr. Truesdail, one of your committee, having favored me with a flattering invitation to address you, I could not decline the honor.

I suppose your greatest interest will not be in an address of generalities, but in calling your attention to such of the early history and the men of this county as will most readily occur and may form for others the nucleus of more extended history.

.My earliest visit to this State was in 1839. Detroit then had a population of 9,000 and St. Clair County not over 3,000. In 1845, the census of this county, then embracing Sanilac and Huron, showed a population of 7,640. In September, 1847, when I moved to Port Huron, the entire population of the county of St. Clair (the present counties of St. Clair, Sanilac and Huron) could not have exceeded 9,000.

The body of the population was confined to Clay, Cottrelville, China, St. Clair and Port Huron. All west and north of the river towns was a comparative wilderness. Supplies for the lumber woods and even those of the villages were imported from Detroit or the older portions of the State. Every barrel of flour and bushel of corn had to be brought from abroad to supply the wants of the entire people except the more favored resi- dents of the southern part of the county lying south of St. Clair.

Lumber was the ruling interest, and wherever that interest prevails, the people are poor. So long as there is a pine tree on a settler's land capable of making a thousand of shingles, he will not raise corn nor wheat, though he could earn twice the money with half the labor. At that time there were so many pine trees that there was no agriculture, and while a few reaped large profits from labor .expended in the pine woods, the great mass of the people remained poor. A few like the Cottrells, Carletons, Barrons, Clarks, Robertsons, Recors, Browns, Westbrooks and Smiths, who happened to own lands not cursed with pine or hemlock, were the only exceptions. They knew enough to reap abundant harvests, by tillage and ready markets, while the others were content to be "hewers of wood and drawers of water" to those who were stripping the forests of their evergreens and hoarding riches to be expended in more fortunate communities. It was a fortunate day for us when pine and lumbermen ceased to predominate, and when farmers commenced to till instead of rob- bing their lands.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

In 1847 St. Clair Township, including the city, had a population of 1,150, and Port Huron Township in- cluding Gratiot and the city, about the same, and not exceeding that number.

The lawyers in the county were L. M. Mason, True P. Tucker, M. E. Ames, B. C. Farrand and John McNeil, of whom B. C. Farrand and John McNeil are the sole survivors. John J. Falkenbury was admitted soon afterward and is since dead, and Mr. Grace and myself came into the county that year. The Hon. O. D. Conger, afterward a lawyer of worthy note and renown, and now your honored Representative in Congress, though he had been admitted, was ruralizing in a water saw mill at the then city of New Milwaukee, now the flourishing town of Lakeport, and being both head and tail sawyer in the old flutter-wheel mill, had hard work to make both ends meet; a fair example of the ill condition of laboring lumbermen. But his better genius found him, lifted him worthily upon the legal rostrum and introduced him to that honorable career that none but political opponents can ever wish to see checked. But peace to his ashes as a lawyer! His future life is elsewhere.

A passing word to the memory of the dead of that little band of lawyers.

True P. Tucker, a man of queer as well as brilliant parts, then held a foremost position. and by his friends was esteemed as a successful advocate. His memory is cherished by numbers of the old pioneers.

M. E. Ames soon left the county, and it is said after taking a prominent political position in Minnesota, died and was buried among strangers. It is proper and right to mourn the dead, but I have never known of any one that regretted his removal from this county.

Of L. M. Mason, there is not one of the old pioneers who was not stricken with grief at the announcement of his death. A man of iron frame, and heart, head and hand to match, full of generous and kindly im- pulses. The friend of the poor and helper of the needy, we may all arise and call his memory blessed.

Of those who were practicing law in this county in 1848, Mr. Conger, Mr. Grace, Mr. Farrand, Mr. Mc- Neil and myself are the only survivors so far as I know.

There were then actively engaged in business in this county but a few who are still living. I can call to mind of the then business men not a full list, but a mournful one, when we see how busy death has been in thinning their number. J. K. Smith, of Algonac, long since gone to an honored grave and better home, leav ing among us his worthy sons Abram and S. S. Smith. Drs. John Chamberlain and Harmon Chamberlain, whose memories we all respect. John Wells, a man of worth and a time-honored citizen. N. W. Brooks, the partner of William M. St. Clair, left our midst and died, honored and respected in Detroit. It would be im- possible in this brief sketch to name all the Carletons, Browns, Saint Bernards and Barrons who have left us for a better land.

Nor can I call back to memory all the Wards, Browns, Robertsons and Gallaghers and others who were the business and active men of Newport, now Marine City, some alive, mostly dead; and who, some of them, were such men of enterprise that their wills and estates are still the subject of litigation and world-wide comment.

M. S. Gillett, James W. Sanborn, Alvah Sweetser, V. S. Horton, E. B. Clark, Col. Davis, Esq. Hamil- ton and a long list of others of Port Huron should not pass without comment. They left honored and honor- able memories, and none of us let them pass to the tomb without tears and sorrow.

I cannot pass without calling some of them and perhaps others to your especial memory on this occa- sion. Who of the old pioneers cannot recall some pleasant memory of Dr. Harmon Chamberlain, the good physician and true friend, of Dr. John, the witty and sarcastic, who joked friends and enemies alike? Who will not gratefully remember J. K. Smith, one of, if not the earliest, settlers of Algonac, whose common sense and upright conduct made him the adviser and helper of all in distress and need.

Of M. S. Gillet, the strong and sturdy, who believed in and lived up to the doctrine of total depravity, who is there, among his old associates, but has a kindly memory?

E. B. Clark, the frank and free, and always well dressed; Col. W. Davis, the bold and ready and ever brave; Elijah Burtch, the outspoken and enduring, whose ripe years defied the ordinary rules and habits of life as now accepted. The "Old Count," Reuben Hamilton, whose eccentricities and queer decisiveness during a long life has been a fund of humor for half a century.

Judge B. F. Cox, the mixture of the civic and the military, well reputed as General and Probate Judge. Cummings Sanborn, commanding in stature and form, and amiable in all polite circles.

James W. Sanborn, a remarkable contrast to Cummings, but whose life, though short, was successful.

Col. Andrew Mack, the true gentleman of the old school, of whom his friend and equal in all the amenities of life, Judge Zephaniah Bunce, still survives to remind the young of what his youth must have been, and of the beautiful graces of old age that succeed to a well-spent and honorable life.

Of all these, what can we say except that the most laudatory tombs erected over their earthly remains do not bespeak all their worth and virtues. And in speaking of them, we can only regret that time (especi- ally the time of such an occasion) will not give us space to mention others equally worthy, and whose memories should not be overlooked.

Of the living early pioneers of St. Clair County, I shall want the aid of all present to even name them, much more to give them the worthy mention to which they are entitled. I do not expect to name a tithe, and will only speak of the few that readily occur to my mind.

The venerable Judge Zephaniah Bunce, whom I have mentioned as a compatriot with Col. Mack, by his nearly ninety years, whom I hoped to see in our midst, still stays with us, the type of an honorable life, and a worthy example to the young who look for long life.

Old Uncle Jonathan Burtch, who has passed his fourscore, one of our earliest settlers, whose long life proves the hardy stock from which he sprang, and the struggles and hardships that such a nature outlives.

Ralph Wadhams, the good-natured and genial, as well as successful, whose delight is now in his famous stock and herds, after nearly eighty years, still shows us that a life of single blessedness is not incompatible with old age. and makes us all regret that, while introducing such fine herds and stock in animals, he had

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.

not thought and acted on the thought that his own superior qualities should have been perpetuated in children, who sixty years hence could with pride have recited the incidents in the life of such a sturdy ancestor.

John Howard, of Port Huron, whose long life has seen so many of the incidents of our early history, first visiting this county in 1822, and still a man of vigor and active enterprise, should he not come forward with his fund of knowledge and experience? Ira. B. Kendrick, whose eighty years are carried with the apparent vigor of youth. Eliha Granger, of Berlin, with more than threescore and ten, is vigorous in tillage, and interested in all the proper movements of the day. William M. St. Clair, who, though not an octogena- rian, has known the county from an early day, and in worthy ways helped to develop its resources. Gen. S. B. Brown, an early settler, but not too old to gain an honorable renown by active campaigns and daring deeds in the struggle for the Union. W. B. Barron, the active and successful merchant and business man. Capt. John Clark, of China, long since passed his threescore and ten, but whose life must have left to him many pleasant memories, and has been crowned with more than the usual honors allotted to citizens. May he long continue in health and vigor !

Daniel B. Harrington, your honored President, whose early memories must be full of incidents of inter- est, and whose pen or voice could not fail to relate a wondrous history.

Samuel Russell, of Algonac, whose experiences must have been varied and large.

John E. Kitton, the enterprising citizen of St. Clair, whose hopes and wishes have excited him to such extraordinary efforts for his adopted city, could tell us some of the marvels of his long residence.

"Judge" F. Saunders, who don't know how he acquired, but who has always worthily worn, the title. Amos James, whose ancestors in this county are proudly sustained by their sons.

W. L. Bancroft, so early connected with the press of this county, and whose experiences he can relate better than any one else.

Daniel Follansbee, who asks no honors, but has been the worthy recipient of county offices.

Wesley Truesdail, associated from an early day with our earliest and most venerated pioneers, who has ever been active in promoting the welfare of his beloved St. Clair, and whose years, though not as ripe as some I have mentioned, have brought to him many wise experiences and happy memories, and with whom I must close, for if I should call to mind all your worthy members, time would not permit the recital of their names, much less an enumeration of their good deeds.

And, more than all, I am compelled to omit the names of the true women, mothers and wives, who have borne their full share of the burdens and cares of their husbands, sons and brothers, in their early pioneer life. But why should a retiring and modest man like myself be expected to name or call to your minds these loved and worthy companions? They are known by their goodness and true bearing, and while like soldiers in the battle of life they live and die without record, fighting the worst part of life's conflicts, all must recog- nize the fact that their husbands without them could not any more than Generals without soldiers have won the victories or crowned their brows with the symbols of success.

I have purposely so far omitted to mention the much-esteemed old pioneer, Aura P. Stewart, because he has already commenced the good work so much desired from others. His early reminiscences will be read by all with interest, and prove a fund of valuable information.

Will not others follow his good example and furnish to this society their individual histories, experi- ences and adventures? This has been my object in calling to mind so many as I have, and with the hope that they and all others will so help to fill and adorn the archives of this association. They should not be mere mention of names as I have done, but such as will leave for the future useful memorials. If not ready writers, or if fearful of the rules of grammar or syntax, make such memorandums that some one more skilled will be anxious and glad to put them in a readable form.

Each meeting of this association, after it is fully organized, should be favored with such biographies and tales of early adventures. The early settlement and the growth of the county, its improvements and changes, are themes that should not be forgotten.

Some of the old pioneers have seen the county grow from the time when there were no highways or roads, and when canoes were the only vessels navigating the beautiful and glorious St. Clair. Why not, gentlemen, tell us the story?

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History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 34

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818