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 18
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The area of the surface of the county contains about 329,619 acres, of which 319,895 acres are land, and 9,724 acres are water surface. The prairie surface in the early days included about12,535 acres, the balance of the land area being oak openings and heavy timber. The latter feature of the surface was confined principally to the towns of Mendon and Leonidas, although there was more or less heavy timber on all of the river and creek bottoms.
The heavy timber consists of oak, beech, maple, hickory, whitewood, ash, black walnut, butternut, cherry, sycamore and elm, principally. The white- wood is nearly extinct, it being used largely in the manufacture of "arks " in the ante-railroad days, for transporting flour to the lake down the St. Joseph.
The woods harbored deer in countless herds when the settlers first came in, and for several years afterwards it was no difficult matter to bring in a saddle of venison any day in a few minutes. Black, grey and prairie wolves, and bears were plentiful at first, but the larger of those animals early gave way before the advancing tide of civilization, which poured into the county in 1835-6.
Feathered game was abundant, of all descriptions common to the west. Wild turkey, geese, duck and grouse of several varieties, and quail, made most excellent sport for the hunter, and even at the present time these fowl may all be met with, sparingly, in the county. Woodcock, plover and snipe are, in certain localities, yet plentiful.
The lakes and rivers were literally filled with fish, and do not appear to have suffered much diminution at the present time. Sturgeon, pike, bass, red-horse, perch, suckers, sun-fish and a variety of smaller fry were the nat- ural stock of the lakes, but later efforts at pisiculture have introduced white- fish, trout, graylings and other varieties into some of the lakes, but sufficient time has not yet elapsed to show how successful the attempt will be.
The present geographical situation of St. Joseph county is defined thus : It is bounded on the north by Kalamazoo county, on the east by Branch, on the south by the counties of Lagrange and Elkhart, in the State of In- diana, and west by Cass county, Michigan-the south line of the county being also the boundary line between Indiana and Michigan. The county- seat, Centreville, is very nearly the geographical centre of the county, and
is distant from Detroit about one hundred and fifty-eight miles, and from Chicago one hundred and twenty-six miles. The climate is mild and not usually subject to sudden changes, though violent extremes have occurred in a short period of time very noticeable. The Michigan Statesman, published at White Pigeon, 1834-36, records the summer of 1834 as very hot-the range of the mercury for two months being between ninety and one hundred degrees above zero. The wheat and corn crop that year in the county was short, no surplus being left for mar- keting, outside the wants of the people themselves, and much sickness was experienced throughout the county. This was the second season of the cholera-the first season (1832) the plague passing over without attacking any one in the county. Several victims were carried off by it in 1834, and the people were very much frightened and disturbed by its visitation, as they well might be, when it exhibited such virulence in the pure atmosphere of the new country, so far away from city and town. George Keech, Sr., of Centreville, kept a diary of the atmospheric changes for twenty-four years, from which we cull a few of the more extreme registers of the weather : January 8, 1856, was a very cold day, the mercury standing at twenty-eight degrees below zero at nine A. M. January 1, 1864, the fluid fell fifty-eight degrees in sixteen hours, standing twenty-four degrees below in the morning, and twenty degrees below on the morning of the 2d. February 3, 1868, the mercury stood twenty-five degrees below, and on March 4 of the same year it marked ten degrees below. The following summer was extremely hot, the thermometer marking on June 14 ninety-two degrees, below which it did not fall for four days-till the 18th-when it rose to one hundred degrees. On the 30th it was at ninety-six degrees. July 1 the fluid stood at ninety- four degrees ; 3d, ninety-five degrees ; 4th, ninety-nine degrees ; 11th, ninety- eight degrees: 12th, one hundred degrees; from the 13th to the 15th, both in- clusive, one hundred and three degrees ; 16th, ninety-eight degrees; 17th and 18th, one hundred and two degrees, and 19th, one hundred and one degrees ; while the average from the 20th to the 28th inclusive was ninety-four degrees. On the 17th of January, 1870, a terrible gale of wind arose about one o'clock A. M. in Centreville, whereby buildings were blown down and one man, Charles Boyer, killed, and Mrs. Newark fatally injured by the falling build- ings. In March of that year, on the 15th day of the month, the mercury fell seventeen degrees between twelve and two o'clock P. M., standing thirty- three degrees above at noon and only three degrees at six o'clock ; and on the morning of the 16th was at zero. From May 19 to June 3, in 1871, the weather was very severe-the mercury ranging from eighty-eight to ninety- three degrees. In May, 1874, there were some remarkable elevations of the mercury, showing as high as ninety-six degrees on the 28th, ninety-four degrees 27th, ninety-two degrees 29th, and ninety-three degrees the 30th. July 6 it registered at ninety-eight degrees, and on the 27th at one hundred degrees.
In 1875 a severe ice-storm passed over the county, by which fruit and forest trees were severely broken up and injured. The winter of 1876-77 was re- markable for the excellent sleighing, which commenced in the early part of December and lasted for more than six weeks, and which was followed by about the same length of time in which the sun was visible the whole day long. The weather was bracing, but not severe, during the time the snow re- mained on the ground, and the fine weather which followed was simply superb. The temperature was so mild the ground was not frozen, except in exposed situations, the whole winter. The month of March was ushered in by a famous snow-storm, which continued more or less severely for some days, the snow remaining on the ground, and the sleighing being excellent until after the 22d of the month.
The soil of the county is, for the most part, a rich, sandy loam, light and warm, changing on White Pigeon and Sturgis prairies to a heavier loam, but none the less fertile. On Nottawa prairie the soil in some parts- notably so in Mendon-is a black, sandy loam of remarkable depth and richness, and in this peculiarity differs from the other prairie-soil. Wheat is the staple product of the county, though large amounts of corn are success- fully raised. All cereals thrive well in the soil, the openings being better adapted to the mint-culture than the prairie. The St. Joseph country seems to be a natural habitat of the apple, which produces enormous quantities of most delicious fruit.
Peaches have, in former years, thriven generously, but after 1850 a serise of severe winters killed the trees, since which time the culture of the peach has not revived to but a limited extent. Cherries are productive, and a cer- tain crop; but plums, once abundant, not only as natives in the woods, but also cultivated, have disappeared by reason of the ravages of the curculio.
The geological features of the county are not striking to the ordinary eye, untrained to look for "sermons in stones, in brooks and in trees," but the soil is, nevertheless, eloquent of past ages and early forms of life. There are
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
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no stones in situ, no quarries showing the gradations of their deposition, but such as lie buried hundreds of feet beneath the debris of the glacial action, which is most abundantly testified to by the coralline deposits in the soil, and the presence of innumerable bowlders and drift-stone all over certain parts of the county. No stone are found on the prairies, and in but a por- tion of the openings. On the west side of the township of Constantine there are large quantities of bowlder-stone, as also in Nottawa, Leonidas and Fawn River townships, but they are less heavily scattered in other parts. These stone are valuable for cellar and foundation walls, and so used almost exclusively. Occasionally a building is constructed of them, but it is not often such use is made of them. The Union school-house, at Centreville, is so built, and presents an appearance of solidity that would defy the frosts and storms of ages. When selected with taste, and wrought with care, the appearance of a foundation has a pleasing effect as the variegated surface sparkles in the sunlight. They are composed of the usual varieties of the bowlder-drift-flint, granite, gneiss, trap, lime, pudding-stones, quartz, etc. Some very fine garnets are found imbedded in the bowlders at times, upon breaking them up for use.
An amateur but enthusiastic geologist gives us the following list of fossils he has found in the soil of Fawn River, which are identical with those found in other parts of the county, the soil of which is very rich in fossiliferous deposits :
" Fossils of the Lower Silurian age, Trenton period : RADIATES-polyp cor- als, the petraia corniculum, columnaria alveolata, taeniasta spinoza ; MOL- LUSKS-chaeteles lycoperdon or costalis leptaena plicifera, ptilodictya fenes- trata, retepora incepta, a trilobite, calymene senaria.
" Hudson period : RADIATES-favisstella stellata.
"Upper Silurian, Niagara period : RADIATES-chaeteles-corals, chonophyl- lum Niagarense, favosites Niag. ; MOLLUSKS-fenestella; RADIATES-several crinoids, caryocrinus ornatus; BRACHIOPODS-atrypa nodostriata ; spirifer sul- catus occidentalis ; O. testudintaria.
"Carboniferous: trigonocarpum, tricuspidatum and lepidodendron. Some very perfectly preserved crinoid stems, showing the star-shaped joint most distinctly.
"Devonian, carniferous period: RADIATES-zaphrentis gigantes, Z. Rafines- quii, Phillipsastrea verneuill; cyathophyllum rugosum; favosites Goldfussi; syringopora Maclurii; aulopora corunta."
The bottoms of many of the lakes and marshes are marl-beds formed of crinoids and shells, the marl being used, in the days before transportation became as easily effected as now, as lime, large quantities having been burned in the county. It is not as strong as limestone, but makes a very white wall.
The county is well watered and drained by the St. Joseph river and its tributaries, the Portage, Rocky, Fawn and Pigeon rivers, and Nottawa, Hog and Swan creeks, and the several lakes included . in its borders.
The St. Joseph, as before stated, enters the county in the northeast, and runs diagonally through it to the southwest. The Portage and Rocky enter the St. Joseph at Three Rivers, from the north; the Fawn enters the county from Indiana, and runs northerly, and enters the St. Joseph above Constan- tine; the Pigeon rises in Indiana and the southern lakes of the county, and enters the St. Joseph below Mottville, running through the townships of White Pigeon and Mottville in a westerly direction; Nottawa creek enters the St. Joseph near southwest corner of Leonidas, entering the same town- ship on section one, from Branch county ; Hog creek rises in Branch county, and runs through Burr Oak and Nottawa townships, and enters the St. Joseph on section thirty of Lockport; Swan creek empties into Sturgeon lake near the entrance of the St. Joseph, rising in Branch county, and enters the township of Burr Oak on section twelve, and thence through Colon to its outlet. The principal lake surface is confined to Colon and Fabius in the aggregate. The larger ones are Sturgeon and Palmer, in Colon; Pickerel and Klinger's, in White Pigeon; Fisher's, in Lockport and Park ; Fish in Sherman, and Sand in Nottawa. The lakes in Fabius are noted more for their number than their area.
The early settlers experienced many hardships, but none were so se- vere as those endured by reason of the malarial diseases that were preva- lent until after the land had become generally broken up. As long as the fires ran through the woods and over the prairies, there was but little or no sickness, as there was no vegetation left to decay and taint the air with its miasm. But as soon as the fires were kept out, and the grass and leaves left to decay, although the soil was enriched thereby, a miasmatic ex- halation arose from the mass, that poisoned the air, and fever and ague, bil- ious and typhoid fevers were prevalent. Every person coming into the county in the earlier days of its settlement, before getting acclimated had to pass through what they called a "seasoning," the fall after locating.
One of the early physicians, who was an extensive practitioner, says that the fatality of the diseases, which in 1837-38 was fearful, was the result, largely, of want of proper care and medicines. Calomel was considered a specific by many, but it killed more than it cured, according to his testimony, and he was a regular-school physician, notwithstanding.
Since those early days the mortality has been no greater than ordinary, and is much lower than in many other localities, equally situated, in the west. Clear, pure water can be obtained by digging from twenty to fifty feet, in almost any part of the county, and the air is fresh and pure except in certain localities where stagnant mill-ponds or marshes gather decaying vegetation.
CHAPTER XIX.
PATRIOTISM OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY-AN ELOQUENT AND WELL MERITED TRIBUTE-THE FIRST VOLUNTEERS OF MICHIGAN-BLACK HAWK WAR- MEXICAN WAR-REBELLION RECORD-HISTORY OF REGIMENTS.
In tracing the history of the patriotism of the people of St. Joseph county, no more fitting prelude to the brilliant record can be made than the eloquent tribute paid to them by Hon. Isaac D. Toll in his exhaustive and able address delivered before the St. Joseph pioneer society at its an- nual meeting, June 9, 1876, at Centreville. After alluding to the marvel- ous development and progress of the State of Michigan, in agriculture, min- ing, manufacture and education, he classes its patriotism as the grandest record of all, and claims the same as a just reason for congratulation-and the more, that the people of St. Joseph county had done their full share in ac- complishing the grand results. He then adds : " From the Black Hawk war, of which there are survivors here present, to the present time,-in the war with Mexico, when this county sent out its representatives, to the great war which closed in 1865, have we ever been wanting in our full duty ? Your national colors were upheld at Contreras and Churubusco by sinews har- dened for the work on your own soil. Also at Molino del Rey and Chepulte- pec,
" There fought the Greek of old,- How well he fought again ; Shall not the self-same mould, Produce the self-same men ?"
"There your braves sleep in unknown graves, the cloud-capped Popocata- petl, the pedregal of Contreras, the mute witnesses of their valor, as of their rest. The cypresses of Montezuma
" Wave above them their green leaves, Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves, O'er the unreturning braves."
" From Bull Run, ' beside their cannon, conquered not, though slain,' to Malvern ; at Shiloh ; in the march to the sea, at Chantilly, Gettysburg, to the surrender at Appomattox, everywhere, where the stars and stripes were unfurled-the emblems of unity-there were your sons.
" Upon your Bennett, Oakes, Hazzard, Stevens, Newberry, Starr, Bishop, Wilcox, Washburn, Thurston, and alas! too many others, your eyes may not again rest here ; soldiers for the unity, for the nation, for the State, neither for centralization, nor sovereignties independent of the aggregate, but for country from shore to shore ; 'a republic, where beneath the sway of mild and equal laws, framed by themselves, one people dwell, and own no lord save God'!"
" By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung ;- There honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; And Freedom shall a while repair To dwell, a weeping hermit, there."
The first evidence of Michigan patriotism was given to the world when the gallant Major Antoine De Quindre, and his company of French volun- teers from Detroit, joined the American forces at the battle of Monguagon, or Brownston, August 9, 1812.
The Indian allies of the British forces began the attack, whereupon the French riflemen delivered so effectual a fire the savages were thrown into confusion ; the riflemen then charged bayonets and routed the Indians, throwing them back upon the British lines, which in turn were broken and thrown into confusion, and the advantage thus gained being pressed by the commander of the American troops, the enemy were routed, the Indians scattering through the woods, and the British compelled to take refuge in their ships in the Detroit river.
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
This Detroit company were the first volunteers of Michigan.
In May, 1832, the news of the advance of Black Hawk at the head of his painted warriors on the settlements in Illinois, of his avowed intention to march to Detroit and slay every pale-face who was trespassing on the red man's land, startled the sparse settlements in St. Joseph county, and filled the hearts of the settlers, with fear and uncertainty. Two military companies were mustered, Captain Stewart's of White Pigeon, and Captain Henry Powers' of Nottawa Prairie, and drafts of fifty men from each com- pany ordered and made.
Captain Powers' men were to act as a corps of observation on the borders of the Nottawa-seepe reservation, which was occupied by a large band of Pottawatomies, and Captain Stewart's men were to advance to the relief of Chicago and the frontier ; but the day after the draft for the fifty men was made, (one for forty having been made previously and revoked), and before the soldiers had left White Pigeon, the news was brought that Black Hawk had been captured, his warriors defeated, and the war over; then the men returned home to their wives and little ones, and took up the works of peace again. The drafted men, however, drew a month's pay (eight dollars) from the United States, and forty acres of land, for their services. A company of men from Coldwater and vicinity, went as far as Niles, and a portion of them, with some volunteers from Sturgis prairie, as far as Door prairie, but met no enemy. However they made a charge on the commissary depart- ment and succeeded in capturing sufficient supplies to get at least one good supper, while they were on the way back. The excitement lasted about two weeks and passed away, and quietness again reigned throughout the settle- ments ; but its effect was felt for nearly a year in the falling off of emigration, which almost entirely ceased till the next season.
When the United States declared war against Mexico, St. Joseph county was not behind in responding to the call for volunteers. Hon. Isaac D. Toll, then a member of the State senate, received a commission from the government, as captain in the 15th United States infantry, in March, 1847, and at once came to Fawn River and began to recruit a company. With the assistance of Lieutenants Goodman, Titus and Freelon, the ranks were filled in April, and the company (E) left Detroit for its destination, Vera Cruz, the same month. The company was engaged at Riconada Pass, June 24; Contreras and Churubusco, August 19 and 20; Molino del Rey, Sep- tember 8, and Chepultepec, September 13, Captain Toll commanding in every engagement, except Chepultepec, which latter he reached from the hospital at Mexcoac, in ambulance, towards its close. The greatest loss by far was at Churubusco, and this, too, on the St. Joseph county men, Captain Toll having command of the colors. The regiment, under command of Colonel Morgan, was thrown into disorder by the overwhelming fire of the foe, (eight to one), Colonel Morgan severely wounded, First Lieutenant Goodman of Company E killed, and Orderly Sergeant Cunningham despe- rately wounded. The Captain rallied the men on the colors, preparing for a charge, when the flanking companies of the regiment fell back, leaving Company E unsupported, but in good order. This left the company the apex of an inverted V (thus A), and made the severest loss in the regiment fall on that company. They would not desert their leader, who himself rallied the regiment with the aid of Adjutant Brodhead, (who was killed at Chantilly in the war of the rebellion), and pressed and overcame the enemy, who, besides their great number, were protected by a wide, deep ditch, and a fence of large magney.
The company was enlisted in the counties of St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Kent, Cass and Jackson.
The St. Joseph county men were as follows :
Isaac D. Toll, captain.
John Cunningham, first sergeant, mortally wounded at Churubusco.
Francis Flanders, Jr., sergeant, afterwards drum major of the regiment.
William S. Smith, sergeant, a most brave man, participating in every engagement, died of chronic diarrhoea on the way home.
Daniel P. Hanks, corporal, mortally wounded at Churubusco.
Fitch Cornell, a half brother of Hanks, shot through the head, the ball entering left eye, now alive and well. Surgeon Slade said he would die and Hanks would recover, but the reverse was the case.
Horace Bartholomew, corporal, Theron Bartholomew, Levi Bartholomew, (three brothers, of Fawn River), Abraham Berss, Ludlow Cox, Richard W. Corbus. The last named died of wounds received at Churubusco. Samuel B. Corbus, Nathaniel Crofoot, wounded at Churubusco; James H. Davis, Solomon Gilman, Wesley Gordon, wounded in same battle; Daniel W. Hamblin, Sylvester Holiday, John Ladd, Clark Munson, died from wounds in same battle; William J. Norton, Isaac A. Smith, wounded in same battle.
THE REBELLION RECORD.
The Michigan "Contingent " in the war of the rebellion was largely made up of men who enlisted for three years, and were mainly from the more respect- able and industrious classes. Leaving the peaceful avocations of civil life, these men were disciplined into soldiers and converted into heroes, sometimes even during the operations and emergencies of a single campaign. Patient and obedient under the most rigid discipline, persistent and enduring on the long and tedious march, cheerful and untiring in the trenches, apt in experi- ment, and most ingenious in construction, they added to all these qualifica- tions and merits, true courage in the field, while almost every important ac- tion has illustrated their heroism, and almost every battle-field is consecrated with their blood.
Of these heroic men St. Joseph county sent to the field twenty-six hun- dred and ninety-two, and they were not only prompt and prominent at the outset of the rebellion, but were also in at its death. They were among those who, under Wilcox, first crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, and partici- pated in the capture of Alexandria. They were in the command of the brave and lamented Richardson, who first opened fire upon the rebels at Blackburn's Ford, on July 18, 1861, in the vicinity of Bull Run. They were with Gen- eral Mcclellan in West Virginia in the first year of the war, and were in South Carolina and Georgia in 1862, and during that year served with the army of the Potomac on the peninsula and in Maryland, with General Banks in the Shenandoah valley, in Virginia with Burnside, in Louisiana with But -. ler, and in Missouri with General Pope and Colonel Mulligan ..
In 1863 they bore a gallant and conspicuous part in the ever memorable campaigns under General Hooker in Virginia, and General Meade in Penn- sylvania; at the defence of Knoxville by General Burnside, at the capture of Vicksburg by General Grant, and on the celebrated Kilpatrick raid against Richmond. They were also engaged in the campaign of General Rosecrans against Chattanooga.
In 1864-5 they were with General Grant on his great march against Rich- mond, and bravely participated in most of the hard-fought battles of the event- ful campaign. They were also with General Sherman when he "marched down to the sea," and were prominently engaged in most of his memorable and successful battles, and with General Sheridan in his matchless encounters with the enemy in the valley of the Shenandoah, where, in command of the gallant and intrepid-and now lamented-Custer, their sabres flashed in every battle. They took part in the gallant defense of Nashville by Gen- eral Thomas, and were with Generals Stoneman and Wilson on their raids into North Carolina and Georgia ; and St. Joseph veterans were at the cap- ture of Jefferson Davis in his inglorious flight to escape deserved punish- ment for his infamous treason and rebellion.
Not only were the men of the county heroic, but so too were the women. As the places filled by their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, at the plow and in the harvest, in the shop and at the counter, were vacated, the wives, daughters and sisters stepped into the empty places, and took up the im- plements of toil their loved ones had laid down for the musket and sabre, and all through the bloody struggle performed the tasks intended for stronger arms, many of them, alas! never more to return. The sanitary commission never issued an appeal in vain to the women of St. Joseph county, who vied with their sisters all through the North in their deeds of love and mercy for the soldiers of the Union. This discipline, though a stern one, was not with- out its benefits, for it taught the women self-reliance, and gave them new ideas of power and new fields of usefulness.
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