USA > Michigan > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph county, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 14
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Within sight, almost, of its fast disappearing outlines, stands the commo- dious Union school building of Centreville, where the sons and daughters of the pioneer boys and girls, who thumbed their dog-eared "elementaries," and " Dilworth's," and worried over their "Colburn's," and glibly analyzed -but never declined-the verb "to love," and blushingly said, "I love, you love, he loves," and in after-years practically added the plural " we love," are now learning to take the places of these same pioneers, whom they are fast pushing out of the way. May they fill the places vacated, not only as well, but better than they were filled of yore!
In 1831 the White Pigeon Academy Association was incorporated-Don Cathcart, Dr. Isaac Adams, Hart L. Stewart and Neal McGaffey being lead- ing incorporators of the same. A building was erected in 1832, and a school taught for several years. The old building is now doing service as Louis Rhoade's stable. "To what base uses has it come at last."
In 1836-7 the State educational authorities established a branch of the University of Michigan at White Pigeon, as was the plan of the State at that time. This school was for several years partially sustained by appro- priations from the State, but the plan having changed to one main institu- tion at Ann Arbor, the appropriations ceased in 1845, after which it was conducted for a time as a private institution, but was finally abandoned, and was taken down a few years ago, and is at the present writing used as a barn, on a farm near the village of White Pigeon.
The first teacher employed in the Branch was Rev. Charles Newberry, assisted by Wilson Gray, a graduate of Dublin University. Mr. Gray was a finished classical scholar. He was the brother, and afterwards, associate, of the editor of the Dublin Freeman. In later years he was appointed to a position on the Queen's bench, and went to New Zealand as a member of the supreme bench of that province, and died in 1875. The Branch, under the management of such men as Newberry and Gray, achieved an excellent rep- utation, and for some years maintained it successfully ; and its true successor, which gathers to itself all the honors its predecessor gained, is the Union school of White Pigeon, under the able supervision and management of Pro- fessor Ploughman.
The school facilities, and what they cost the people to maintain them in 1876, are shown from the following summary taken from the official returns of the township school superintendents, on file in the county clerk's office at Centreville. There are one hundred and twenty-three school-houses, eighty- eight being of wood, thirty-four of brick, and one of stone, valued at $280,690. The houses have a seating capacity of nine thousand five hun- dred and twenty-eight. There were in the county eight thousand seven hundred and six children between the school ages of five and twenty years, of whom seven thousand six hundred and sixty-six attended school during the year. There were seventy-six male teachers employed, who were paid $19,857 for their services, and two hundred and thirteen females, who
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
received $24,873 for their services. The schools were in session eight months, on an average, except the Union schools-of which there were eight -which had their terms for ten months. The total income of the schools for the year ending September 4, 1876, from all sources, amounted to $96,582.88, and the total expenditures, including $20,000 paid on indebted- ness and buildings, amounted to $89,032.86. The cost of the graded schools, exclusive of payments on indebtedness and tuition fees received from non- resident scholars (which last amounted to $1,529), aggregated the sum of $27,615. The indebtedness of the Union school districts amounts to $42,000. There are three thousand six hundred and forty-five volumes in the school libraries.
The first public school money received from the State was in the year 1839, and amounted to six hundred and ninety-four dollars, which was dis- tributed among the several townships according to law.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS-THE BAR OF ST. JOSEPH, PAST AND PRESENT -THE MEDICAL STAFF, THEN AND NOW-LOBELIA AS A REMEDIAL AGENT FOR CORNS.
The whole universe is under law, and from the beginning all nature has moved forward in obedience thereto, and in the very constitution of things must continue to do so indefinitely. Society is not exempt from the all-per- vading principle, but progresses obedient to the unaltered and unalterable decree of Omnipotence, pronounced in the very outset of time; consequently, courts of justice organized under law, schools of medicine founded in law, and. educational institutions fostered by the law, have arisen, which testify in the strongest terms to the wisdom of the axiom, " Lex suprema est." En- thusiasts and visionaries look forward to a time when the race of man shall have attained to perfection, morally, physically and mentally, but long ages have rolled by since order began to emerge from chaos, and society was begun, and longer ages may perhaps intervene before such a much to be de- sired state shall come; and until that Utopia shall become a reality, the learned professions must continue to be what they ever have been in the past, not only honorable, but most useful components of the body politic.
In St. Joseph county these professions have and are ably represented, the bench and bar standing in high repute in the State, the medical staff being second to none in point of knowledge, skill and experience, and the county is noted for its admirable corps of teachers and instructors.
THE BAR.
The first resident attorney to be admitted to the practice of his profession in the courts of St. Joseph county, was Neal McGaffey, Esq., of White Pigeon, whose name was entered upon the roll of the bar on the 17th day of August, 1830, the same being the first day of the first term of the circuit court of St. Joseph county, held in the county at White Pigeon, in Savery's tavern. He was admitted on motion of E. B. Sherman, prosecuting attorney of the circuit, and sworn to duly and justly perform the duties required of an honorable attorney at law and solicitor in chancery by Hon. William Woodbridge, the presiding judge of the circuit and court.
On the 7th day June, 1831, Columbia Lancaster was admitted to practice in the courts of the county on motion of Mr. McGaffey, made before judges Meek and Sturgis of the county court, the same being the first day of the second term of that court held in the county, in the White Pigeon academy. Lancaster appeared at the August term of the circuit court in 1832 as dis- trict attorney.
Both of these attorneys remained in the practice in the county for more than a quarter of a century, when McGaffey went to Texas, and Lancaster to Oregon. The latter attained to a high eminence in the west, being at one time attorney-general, of the State.
At the August term of 1832 of the circuit court, Judges Sibley and Morell presiding, Cyrus Lovell, John S. Barry, Cogswell K. Green and Alexander H. Redfield were examined, touching their knowledge of law, by W. H. Welch, L. J. Daniels and E. B. Sherman, and on the committee's recom- mendation were admitted to the bar. At the April term of the circuit court of 1837, Judge Ransom presiding, J. Eastman Johnson was added to the roll of attorneys, and is still practicing in the courts, a venerable white- haired old gentleman, but still vigorous, and in his capacity of magistrate is a terror to evil-doers. At the September term, 1838, of the same court, W. C. Montrose was admitted to the bar, and at the March term following Chester Gurney received his first circuit-court fee in the county. In Septem-
ber of the same year Nathan Osborn, who was a practicing lawyer in Steuben county, N. Y., before his removal to St. Joseph, was admitted. Judge Osborn now resides in Marcellus, Cass county. At the March term, 1840, Horace Mower and Nathaniel A. Balch were admitted, on the recommenda- tion of Abner Pratt, John S. Chipman and Columbia Lancaster, and in Sep- tember following, Aaron E. Wait. Mr. Balch is an eminent attorney of the Kalamazoo bar, and Mr. Wait is in Oregon. In 1814 William C. Pease and Edward Flint were admitted as attornies. Hiram Draper and James C. Wood received permission to plead for others in the courts of the county, in March, 1844, and Elisha Stevens in 1845. Perrin M. Smith, afterwards judge of the circuit, was admitted in 1849, and George W. Hadden and William L. Stoughton in 1850.
Mr. Stoughton became famous in the annals of the nation as the colonel of the 11th Michigan infantry and general of a brigade, losing a leg : before Atlanta, and after his discharge was elected to Congress for two terms from the St. Joseph district.
In November, 1851, Orange Jacobs, John C. Bishop and J. W. Flanders were admitted. Mr. Jacobs afterwards went to Washington territory as chief justice of the United States court, and has served the territory two terms as delegate in Congress. Mr. Flanders is a prominent member of the bar in Sturgis.
John B. Shipman, Edward P. Wait, James H. Lyon, John H. Baker and William Sadler were admitted during the year 1856. Mr. Shipman is a member of the Coldwater bar, and is prominently named as a candidate for the vacant judgeship. Mr. Lyon and Mr. Sadler are members of the St. Joseph county bar at present. A. E. Hewit and Gilbert R. Shays were ad- mitted in 1857, and also Hiram S. Taylor. Charles R. Millington and Asher Bonham were admitted in the year 1845. In 1858 Paul J. Eaton, William Allison and Samuel Chadwick were admitted, and Alson Bailey, Oscar Waters and Germain H. Mason in 1859. Henry F. Severens was the only one added to the list of barristers in 1857, but the year following, Geron Brown, Talcott C. Carpenter, and a Mr. Dennis were added.
1862 seems to have passed without adding any new candidates for forensic honors, and 1863 gave but a solitary one, Comfort T. Chaffee. 1864 added two, J. J. Crandall and Alfred A. Key, and 1865 increased the list with the addition of Gersham P. Doan. 1866 gave three new competitors for legal fees and practice, two of whom afterwards became judges in the circuit court, to wit. : Edwin W. Keightley and R. W. Melendy ; Frank H. Guion making up the trio. Judge Keightley was elected to Congress in November, 1866, and Judge Melendy had the same favor extended to him as county clerk. -
R. R. Pealer was admitted in 1867, and was the prosecuting attorney in 1875 and '76. In 1868 Philip Pudgham and W. H. H. Wilcox ; 1869; Walter Littlefield and Oscar L. Cowles ; 1870, Alfred D. Duming, Benton S. Hewe and D. Clayton Page were admitted. . Charles W. W. Clarke and William H. Howe in 1873; G. W. Lyster and Bishop E. Andrews in 1874; Stillman L. Taylor in 1865, and James W. Welch and Seymour McG. Sad- ler in 1876, complete the roll as admitted by the circuit court.
Besides these, have been others eminent in the profession who have resided in the county, or still reside there. Hon. John S. Chipman, familiarly known as " Black Chip," was a leading attorney and a member of Congress. He flourished as early as 1838, and' later, Hon. Charles Upson, who began his life in St. Joseph county as a school-teacher in Constantine in 1845-6, read law with Chester Gurney, and practiced in Centreville, was after- wards elected judge of the circuit; still later he served three terms in Con- gress. He now resides in Coldwater, and is a leading member of the Branch county bar. Hon. H. H. Riley, of Constantine, has been for at least thirty-five years a member of the bar, and an ornament to the profession, ranking very high for legal ability. Judge S. C. Coffinberry, also of Constantine, began to practice in the St. Joseph courts before 1844, being an old practitioner before he came to the county. He is a fine, fluent speaker, eloquent and forcible.
William Savier began his practice in the county about 1845, at White Pigeon, and for many years was the only attorney of the place. He died just before or during the war of the rebellion. A Mr. Ames and E. V. Mitchell preceded him. E. B. Turner located at Centreville in 1847, or thereabouts, and was the first prosecuting attorney elected in the county- the election being under the constitution of 1850. He subsequently went to Texas, and was elected to the position of attorney-general of that State. Hon. John S. Barry attained to a high rank in the councils of the State, being elected three times to the office of governor, 1841, 1843 and 1847. He had previously held the position of State senator, and was in that sta- tion when first called to the higher and more important trust of governor. He came to the gubernatorial office when the State was suffering severely in
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the loss of her credit, and by his able and economical administration of the public affairs, raised the credit of the Commonwealth to the first rank, which has ever since been maintained. He was the only man in the State who has held the position of governor three terms. He lived in Constantine since 1835, where he died January 14, 1870. He never followed the profession of the law, however, but engaged in mercantile pursuits.
Charles Henry Stewart was also a very prominent lawyer, residing at Centreville, in 1834 and later. He was celebrated in the chancery practice, and removed to Detroit, where he became one of the leading members of the bar of that city. George H. Palmer was an attorney in Constantine in 1835.
The present bar of the county includes the following attorneys :
Hon. H. H. Riley, Judge S. C. Coffinberry, Hon. E. W. Keightley, L. B. French, Constantine; J. W. Flanders, D. E. Thomas, T. C. Carpenter, A. B. Dunning and C. W. W. Clarke, Sturgis ; James H. Lyon, O. F. Bean, David Knox, Jr., R. R. Pealer, Bishop E. Andrews, Henry McClory and N. H. Barnard, Three Rivers ; Judge J. Eastman Johnson, William Sadler, S. M. Sadler, Alfred Akey, P. J. Eaton, Hon. R. W. Melendy, Stillman L. Taylor and Charles J. Beerstecher, Centreville; D. Clayton Page, White Pigeon ; O. J. Fast and G. P. Doan, Mendon; W. W. Howe and O. L. Cowles, Burr Oak.
PHYSICIANS.
The first man who came to the county of St. Joseph to minister profes- sionally to the ills that flesh is heir to, was Dr. Page, a youth of some twen- ty-five summers, who rode on to White Pigeon prairie late in the fall of 1827. He was fresh from his matriculation, and thought his eastern Alma Mater had given him a theoretical knowledge of pharmacy and the human anatomy ; nature, and contact with her alone, could fit him for the work he was destined to perform in the West. His knowledge of the practical reali- ties of life was all to be gained by actual experience, but it is said he be- came a skillful physician and surgeon in after years. It is told of him that on his way to White Pigeon, he stopped one night at a cabin and asked for accommodations for himself and horse, and being assured of the same, asked where he could find water for his steed, and was directed to a spring a short distance from the house, which he was advised he could easily find by the " blazed" trees around it. He started off, and after being gone for nearly half an hour came back and reported he could not see any tree blazing in the woods, and could find no spring. He was laughed at heartily, and the term explained to him. He was well posted in the border vernacular before he left St. Joseph county. He performed, probably, the first surgical operation in the county on a white person, in the summer of 1828, for Peter Klinger, who was injured in falling down a well he was digging for Judge Sturgis, on his first location on Sturgis prairie.
In 1828 Dr. Hubbel Loomis came to White Pigeon and located at New- ville for a time, but subsequently went to White Pigeon, and was appointed the first judge of probate of the county. His official duties did not inter- fere much with his professional calls, as there were but four days of court from March 26 to September 6, 1830.
Dr. Henry came to Sturgis prairie in 1829, and Dr. Alexander McMillan to Nottawa the same year. The latter gave more attention to the elucida- tion of philosophical and chemical problems, than he did to the practice of medicine, and seemed, in his own mind, to be very near the realization of his hopes, but, like an ignis fatuus, the solution of his problems ever eluded his mental grasp, and he died still pursuing them; but, nevertheless, he was a kind neighbor and the very soul of honor.
Dr. W. N. Elliott located in White Pigeon in 1832, and is still hale and hearty, and the leading member of the profession in the county. He is a very skillful surgeon, and was appointed to that position in the 11th Michi- gan Infantry, and served therein during the whole term of service of the regiment with great credit.
Dr. Rowley came to White Pigeon in 1835, and to his professional duties added those of boniface, and kept the "Old Diggins" for several years.
Dr. Watson Sumner came to Constantine in 1834, and was a noted physi- cian for several years, but his own health failed and he left the county. The doctor was prominent in politics also, being a delegate to the convention that rejected the terms imposed by Congress on the admission of Michigan into the Union.
Dr. Mottram came to Nottawa prairie in 1834, and had for years a most extensive ride throughout the country. He declined to locate in Centre- ville because he was poor, and could not get so good an outfit as Dr. John- son had, but he did not long have that for an excuse, as his practice grew rapidly, and he accumulated a handsome property. He is now a prominent
physician in Kalamazoo, whither he went after 1850, and before the close of that decade.
Dr. Cyrus Ingerson, Dr. Johnson and Dr. S. W. Truesdell practiced in Centreville from and after 1834, Dr. Ingerson dying in 1844, while holding the position of judge of. probate. He was a skillful physician, and a very genial gentleman.
Dr. Ira F. Packard has been one of the ablest physicians in the county, and successfully followed his profession from 1839 till 1850, when his health failed, and he surrendered his extensive practice to his son, Nelson I. Pack- ard, who still continues it in Sturgis. The old doctor went to California for a year, but on his return did not resume his profession, and never has done so. He resides in Sturgis, in his old homestead.
Dr. Nelson I. Packard went out with the 11th regiment as assistant sur- geon, and served with ability during the war.
Dr. Edwin Stewart, of Mendon, Dr. Isaac Sides, Dr. A. J. Kinne and Dr. Mitchell, of Colon, all belong to the early list of physicians, though forming a part of the medical staff of the present. Dr. Mitchell had, in an early day, an extensive ride.
Dr. Hyatt, of Mendon, was formerly a partner of Dr. Mottram, in Not- tawa, and removed to Mendon in 1859.
Dr. Parker came to White Pigeon in 1830, and Dr. Marshall to Constan- tine in 1837.
Dr. Baldy was a partner of Dr. Sumner, in the latter place, in 1836, and afterwards. Dr. Eagery came to Three Rivers in 1836, and Dr. Hurd about the same time.
Elias Boulton Smith, M. D., located at Sturgis in 1834-5, and was well known thoughout that section of country ; but he subsequently abandoned the practice of medicine, and entered the legal profession at Lima, Indiana.
The names of the present physicians of the county will be found in the respective township histories.
Dr. Elliott once performed a surgical operation upon a lady for a drop- sical affection, by which, at one operation, he drew one hundred and thirty pounds of water from her body.
Amariah Bennett was a botanic physician, who located on the Indian reservation at an early day. He attended a council of physicians at School- craft at one time, at which some of the regular-school doctors, thinking to quiz the old man, asked him what he would prescribe for a severe case of corns. The old man gravely replied: "I would give the patient, first, a dose of lobelia, and repeat it at the end of an hour. At the end of the second hour, I would give him-lobelia; and at the end of the third hour, I would administer a very large dose of-lobelia, when, doubtless, the corns would be cast off!"
Dr. VanBuren was probably the first homeopathic physician who prac- ticed in the county-settling in Centreville in 1836. Dr. A. T. Wood- ward died in the latter place after a practice of a few years.
CLERGYMEN.
The prominent ministers of the Gospel, past and present, are named in connection with the church-history in the several townships; and so, also, are the leading teachers and professors of the early days and the present, in the school-history of the townships.
CHAPTER XV.
ASSOCIATIONS-AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-FIRST FAIR AND ADDRESS-TOTAL PREMIUMS PAID IN TWENTY-SIX YEARS-INSURANCE AGAINST THIEVES AND FIRE-PIONEER SOCIETY-TEMPERANCE SOCIETY OF 1835-MEDI- CAL SOCIETY-TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION-MASONIC-ODD FELLOWS-THE GRANGE.
Recognizing the fact that in association there is strength to execute what there should be wisdom to contrive, the people of St. Joseph county have not been backward to avail themselves of the joint and mutual efforts of each other in the various departments of life, social, professional, religious and re- formatory, as well as in point of the various business callings they follow, and insurance against fire and depredators. The association now in existence, which dates its organization the earliest in the county, and in which all the people are interested, is
THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,
which was organized November 27, 1849, by several citizens of the county, who met in the court-house hall in Centerville, and elected Mark H. Wake-
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
man, chairman, Henry K. Farrand and J. Eastman Johnson, secretaries. The meeting adopted a constitution, and elected the following board of offi- cers, to hold their positions until the next spring : Mark H. Wakeman, president; Nathan Osborn, vice-president ; Samuel Chipman, treasurer; J. Eastman Johnson, recording secretary ; Levi Patchen, H. K. Farrand, J. A. Thompson, Moses Taft and H. M. Vesey, managers. These gentlemen and twelve others signed the constitution, and were the first members of the association.
On April 9, 1850, the same officers were re-elected, and also George Talbot, corresponding secretary, and on the 29th day of June following, the society adopted a code of by-laws for the government of the exhibitions of the association. On the 20th of September, 1851, the executive committee called the first fair or exhibition, and offered ninety-three dollars in premiums on live stock, on farms and farm products. The fair was held October 22 following, at which George Boyes received the first premium, five dollars, for the best stal- lion, W. D. Oviatt the first on matched horses, M. H. Wakeman for the best work-horses, William Armitage for the best breeding mare, and F. Wallace for the best roadster. C. L. Wheeler had the best bull, H. K. Farrand the best working oxen, and Mark H. Wakeman the best cow. Joseph Horton took the blue ribbon for the best buck sheep, Norman Harvey for the best ewes, Peter F. Putnam for the best boar, and George Carman's breeding sow was similarly decorated. Moses Taft, L. H. Bishop, Asher Bonham and J. M. Leland carried off the first prizes on cheese, butter, apples and wheat, respec- tively. The ladies received eight first prizes for patchwork, all of which were discretionary and meritorious. Fellows & Townsend had the best plows, and W. D. Pettit the best carriages.
Hon. Joseph R. Williams, of Constantine, a member of the society, de- livered the first address, in which he discussed the problems that are still oc- cupying the attention of the people, of how to farm lands properly and to the best advantage, and urged the people to give their careful attention to the improvement of stock and intelligent culture of the soil. On these points he said: "There are times in the progress of every art and science when one man is right, and all the world besides is wrong. The world tests him and his projects by the experience of the past. The inspired genius himself is guided by a beacon light far in advance of his generation. If conservatism is right anywhere, it is wrong in agricultural inquiry. The first man who took the first wild plants and roots, and began to mature them into rice and wheat and potatoes, was a visionary. The first man who took the wild crab- apple and the bitter almond, to mature them into delicious fruit, was doubt- less a laughing stock. The first man who put salt upon his provisions, in order to save his family from starvation, was regarded as throwing away positive labor for possible good. The first fence was doubtless viewed with indignation, as an encroachment on the the common rights of mankind. The first man who had the audacity to shut up a pig, under the silly idea that he would fatten faster and cheaper, was as big a fool as a member of a modern agricultural society.
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