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 66
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Between 1840 and 1850 a continuous influx of Germans came into the township, and settled mostly on uncleared farms. They set to work in their steady, industrious way, and by hard work, coupled with thrifty manage- ment, soon became quite well-to-do. Prominent among these was the Wein- berg family, which now represents an influential and wealthy element in the · population of the township.
THE FIRST FARM
opened in Flowerfield was by Mishael Beadle in 1830. He planted the first crop in the spring of 1831, and raised the first crop the same year.
THE FIRST ORCHARD
was set out by Daniel Wheeler in the spring of 1835, on a piece of land located on the east quarter of the south half of section eleven, purchased of M. John Nichols, and now owned by William E. Wheeler, of Three Rivers.
THE FIRST HOUSE
erected in the township was a log structure, built by Mishael Beadle in 1830. It stood on the present site of the dwelling of Joseph Johnson, on section one.
FRAME HOUSE.
The first frame house was also built by Mishael Beadle in 1831.
FIRST BRICK HOUSE.
The first brick house in the township was erected by Aaron Harland on the present site of the residence of Samuel Weinberg, in 1847.
BURYING-GROUND.
The first burying-ground (excepting the one in the village) was laid out on an acre of ground, on section twenty-six, donated by James Brown in 1838. The first burial was that of some member of the Arnold family, but no tomb-stones existing, we cannot give the precise name or date. There is another cemetery near the village of Flowerfield, first used in 1832, but not regularly surveyed until 1876. The first interment therein was Mrs. Gragg, wife of William E. Gragg, an early settler.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE
of white persons in the township was that consummated between Justin Clark and Matilda Beadle, a daughter of Mishael Beadle, which happy event came off in 1830. The second marriage was that of John M. Fellows and Olive Nichols, daughter of George Nichols, Esq., January 9, 1834, the Rev. Ben- jamin Taylor performing the ceremony.
THE FIRST WHITE CHILD
born in the township was a son of William Wheeler, which died in infancy. The second one was Francis E., son of M. John Nichols, born November 19, 1833, and who is now a resident of the State of Missouri.
THE FIRST DEATH
of a white per-on that occurred in the township was that of the wife of
William E. Gragg, who died in 1833, and was interred in the Flowerfield village burying-ground.
THE FIRST PHYSICIAN
to take up his residence in the township was Dr. C. L. Clewes, who com- menced the practice of medicine in 1832 at the village of Flowerfield, and had an extensive ride and a large list of patients.
EDUCATIONAL.
The first school taught within the present limits of Flowerfield township was in 183-, by Malvina Nichols, in part of the residence of S. C. Wheeler. Among the first pupils were Oscar and John Smith, Hannah Wheeler, Lucinda Mead and sister, and others, in all about ten children.
THE FIRST REGULARLY ORGANIZED SCHOOL-DISTRICT
was district number one, which was organized on the 6th of November, 1837, and included sections one, two, three, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen,-just one-fourth of the entire township. We copy the annexed data from the records of the first meeting :
" Records of school-district number one of Flowerfield township, accord- ing to the division made by the inspector of primary schools.
" A meeting was held in pursuance of an order from the inspector of primary schools for the township of Flowerfield, directed to Henry Whited, Esq.
"Said notice directed the inhabitants of said district to meet at Asa Hicks', on Monday, the 6th day of November, 1837, at six o'clock P. M., in the vil- lage of Flowerfield, to organize said district.
" In pursuance of the aforesaid notice, the inhabitants of said district met at the place above designated and organized said school-district number one, by choosing its board of officers, viz. :
" Asa Hicks, moderator; William Wheeler, assessor ; William Woodruff, director.
" On motion it was resolved that there be a school taught four months the ensuing season in said district."
The first regular teacher was Miss Ann Huckell, who taught two terms. She subsequently married Reuben Hepler ; both of them are now deceased.
THE FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE
in the southeastern part of the township was built of logs, and stood on an acre of ground donated by James Brown, in 1839, in the centre of section twenty-six. It was used until 1849, when a frame school-house was built, and, after being used for about ten days of the winter term, it was destroyed by fire. Nothing is known as to who first taught in it.
The school statistics of 1876 are as follows : There are nine districts, each having a school-house, one of which is built of brick, the others being of wood, and which will afford five hundred and eighty-five sittings, and are valued at eight thousand dollars. Six hundred and four children between five and twenty years of age were returned by the school officials, five hun- dred and thirty of whom attended the schools, which were in session an aver- age of eight months during the year ending September 1. Nine male teachers were employed, and paid one thousand three hundred and seven dollars for their services, and eleven females, who received five hundred and thirteen dollars and fifty cents. The total expenditures, including seven hundred and twenty-four dollars paid on indebtedness, amounted to two thousand nine hundred and nine dollars and thirteen cents.
CIVIL ORGANIZATION.
In the original constitution of townships in the county, made November 5, 1829, the four townships numbered five south of ranges nine, ten, eleven. and twelve west, were constituted into one township, called Flowerfield. In 1833 the township numbered five south, range nine, now known as Leonidas, was set off, and, with Colon, constituted a new township, and Mendon, township five, range ten, was attached to Nottawa. In 1838 the township numbered five of range eleven was erected into a separate township, leaving Flower- field with its original name but shorn of all its territory, except what its present area includes-one government township of six miles square.
FIRST TOWNSHIP MEETING.
At a meeting of the voters of the township of Flowerfield, in the county of St. Joseph, held at the house of Joshua Barnum on the first day of April, A.D. 1833, A. H. Foot was nominated for chairman ; C. L. Clewes, secretary. After they had been duly sworn, the meeting was called to order and pro- ceeded to business, and on counting the ballots, they were found to stand as follows :
٠
.
JANE J BEAM.
12 Beam
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE
JACOB Z. BEAM, FLOWERFIELD TP, ST JOSEPH COUNTY, MICA.
195
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
"C. S. Wheeler, supervisor; Joshua Barnum, town-clerk; Samuel Valen- tine, George Nichols, Abraham Vandemark, assessors; Ira Stowel and Henry Whited, overseers of the poor; William E. Gragg, collector; Wm. Wheeler, M. John Nichols, C. L. Clewes, commissioners of highways; William E. Gragg, constable; Henry Garver, fence-viewer.
" After which the meeting was adjourned until the first Monday in April, 1834, to be held at the house of Joshua Barnum.
" William E. Gragg gave bail as constable, George Nichols and M. John Nichols becoming his sureties.
"Voted, That the town raise a tax of five dollars to pay for wolf-scalps. caught in said township.
"Voted, That the town pay one dollar each for wolf-scalps caught within the limits of the township.
"Voted, That five dollars be raised for the support of the poor.
"Voted, That all hogs must weight forty pounds before they will be con- sidered as trespassers.
"Voted, That the town raise two dollars and fifty cents to defray the con- tingent expenses of the term for the year 1835.
" Voted, That any boar (male pig?) running at large, weighing over twenty pounds, be liable to be castigated (castrated) by any person.
" April 18, 1837 .- License granted to David L. Burson to be married to M. F. Arnold."
Clerks-Joshua Barnum, 1833-35; Aaron H. Foot, C. L. Clewes, Abner Moore, William Woodruff, Josiah Russell, John N. Wheeler, four years ; George S. Bristol, five years ; Abel Townsend, Nathaniel D. Thomas, three years; Stephen Whited, Milo Fellows, two years ; F. A. Thurston, two years; Delos Breese, Henry Bowe, three years; Liberty N. Straw, Charles Williams, Jr., three years; Samuel Drumhiller, George Whited, Franklin W. Carlton, two years ; C. L. Seekell, three years, and Hiram Weinberg, the present incumbent.
Supervisors-C. S. Wheeler, 1833, seven years ; M. John Nichols, two years; William Wheeler, five years; Franklin Howard, Moses Stocking, John Kirby, six years ; George G. Bristol, Aaron H. Foot, Wm. L. Worthing- ton, six years ; Daniel Bowe, two years ; Joseph M. Kirby, two years ; Wil- liam Gill, two years ; William D. Kirby, Grenville Knevels, J. C. Munn, five years; Ira Starkweather, the present incumbent.
Justices of the peace-Isaac F. Ulrich, two years (1838, first record of regular election ; prior to this, justices of the peace were appointed by the governor) ; Stephen P. Choat, Aaron H. Foot, Henry R. Moore, Henry Whited, Samuel Corry, sixteen years; James Brown, A. C. Parsons, T. P. Fellows, L. D. Wicks, Theodore Worthington, William L. Worthington, twelve years ; John N. Angle, eleven years ; Vivian Beck, R. P. Straw, Thomas J. Edwards, Delos T. Breese, Joseph Johnson, F. J. Chamberlain, John Q. Beam, R. T. Andrews (to fill vacancy), Ira Starkweather, eleven years, 1877 ; J. C. Johnson, H. M. Crout, James F. Atkinson, John Free- man, present incumbent.
The first person who acted in the capacity of a justice of the peace was George Nichols, who was appointed to the office by Governor Porter, in 1832, under the territorial laws.
THE FIRST ROAD.
The first record of a regularly-surveyed road in Flowerfield township is dated April 17, 1834. It was the main road running east and west through the centre of sections thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five and thirty-six.
The surveyor was a Mr. Briggs, who was assisted by M. John Nichols. The road commissioners were Henry Garver, George Nichols and Robert Gill. Prior to this the old settlers used to drive everywhere through clear- ings and over farms, making their courses lie between streams, generally fol- lowing the Indian trails, which invariably led to the easiest fording-places. One of these trails started at an Indian rendezvous that formerly existed on Rocky run, on section twenty-three, on land now owned by George Foust, which meandered along the valleys towards Three Rivers. From constant and long use it became like a much worn-path, and was on an average about fifteen inches in depth. It avoided the hills, always either going to the east or west of them. In places this trail is still visible, notably on the farm of Mr. Spaulding, on section twenty-six.
THE FIRST LAND-ENTRIES
at the land-office of the government were made in 1830, and were as fol- lows: The southwest quarter of section one, by Henry Whited, June 23, 1830 ; the north half of the northeast quarter, and the northwest quarter of section one, by Mishael Beadle, September 14; the south half of the northwest quarter of section one, by David Beadle, October 30. There
were about the same number of entries in 1831, and also in 1832. There were assessed in 1876, twenty-two thousand four hundred and sixty acres, valued by Ira Starkweather, the supervisor of the township, at two hundred and sixty thousand one hundred and four dollars,-about one-third of its real value.
THE CROPS.
In 1873 there were harvested four thousand and sixty acres of wheat, which produced fifty-five thousand three hundred and seventy-four bushels, and one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine acres of corn, which yielded thirty-four thousand four hundred and thirty-two bushels. There were also produced the same year, six thousand two hundred and seventy-one bushels of other grain, four thousand four hundred and seventy-nine bushels pota- toes, one thousand five hundred and eighty-nine tons hay, nine thousand eight hundred and thirty-two pounds wool, one hundred and twenty-four thousand and six pounds pork, fifty-five thousand and sixty-three pounds but- ter, six thousand four hundred and eighty-four pounds dried fruit, five hun- dred and forty-four barrels cider, eighteen gallons wine, and one hundred pounds maple-sugar. Four hundred and seventy-three acres in orchards produced nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-two bushels of apples, and two hundred and ninety-seven bushels of other fruit, valued at three thou- sand five hundred and sixty dollars. Two flour-mills and two saw-mills em- ployed nine men and a capital of twenty-six thousand seven hundred dollars, and manufactured nine thousand barrels of flour and three hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber, valued at forty thousand dollars. There were owned in 1874, in the township, five hundred and fifty-five horses, six mules, twenty oxen, five hundred and seventy-eight cows, six hundred and thirty-two other cattle, one thousand five hundred and nineteen hogs, two thousand four hun- dred and forty-nine sheep ; two thousand and nineteen of the latter produ- cing the clip of 1873.
ASSESSMENTS AND TAXES.
In 1834 the first assessment was reported at six thousand one hundred and seventy-seven dollars, on which the tax-levy was fifty-one dollars-twenty-six dollars for the county, and twenty-five for the township. In 1838 the assess- ment was returned at seventy-three thousand eight hundred and forty-two dollars, and the taxes were two hundred and eighty-eight dollars. In 1852 the assessment was fixed at forty-seven thousand five hundred and seventy- nine dollars, and the taxes amounted to one thousand two hundred and thirty- seven dollars and four cents, for all purposes. In 1860 the assessment was returned at two hundred and twenty-seven thousand seven hundred and fif- teen dollars, and the taxes footed up one thousand eight hundred and forty- five dollars and five cents. In 1870 the assessment was fixed at four hun- dred and eighty thousand nine hundred and seventeen dollars, and the tax- levy at four thousand and twenty-three dollars and forty-three cents. In 1876 the assessment, as equalized by the board of supervisors, aggregated two hundred and fifty-seven thousand two hundred and forty-seven dollars on real estate, and forty thousand seven hundred and thirty dollars on personal property-a total of two hundred and ninety-seven thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars, on which taxes were levied as follows : State and county purposes, one-half to each, one thousand five hundred and twenty- two dollars and twenty cents ; for the township, including schools, five thou- sand five hundred and sixty-four dollars and eighty-six cents-making the total tax seven thousand and eighty-seven dollars and six cents.
POPULATION.
In 1838 there was in the township a population of four hundred and six souls. In 1850 there were five hundred and sixty-four inhabitants, and in 1860 there were one thousand and ninety-seven returned. In 1870 the people were again numbered, and there were one thousand five hundred and thirty- eight of them-the males, who numbered eight hundred and nineteen, being one hundred in excess of the females. In 1874 the State census put one thousand four hundred and nineteen people in the township, of whom seven hundred and thirty-one were males, and six hundred and eighty-eight females. Of the males, two hundred and fourteen were between twenty-one and forty- five years ; one hundred and twenty-five between forty-five and seventy-five, and one over seventy-five and under ninety. Two hundred and seventeen of the females were between eighteen and forty years ; one hundred and fifteen between that age and seventy-five, and eight over the last age. Three hun- dred and ninety-one boys had not attained their majority, and three hundred and forty-eight girls were in the same category. The married females ex- ceeded that class among the males by one individual, and there were two hundred and sixty-seven of them ; while the single men were in a majority of fifteen, numbering fifty-seven-the ladies counting but forty two. The widowed were seventeen males and thirty-two females.
196
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
POLITICAL PARTIES
have cast their votes at the presidential elections as follows: In 1840 the Whig party polled twenty-six, and the Democratic party forty-four votes. In 1844 the Whigs cast thirty-four votes, the Democrats twenty-three, and the Liberty men twenty-two. In 1848 the Whigs cast twenty-four, and the Democrats eleven votes, and the Free Soilers gathered the balance, seventy- five. In 1852 the Democrats went back to their old love, and polled forty- four votes, the Whigs rallied a little and cast thirty-seven, but there were still forty-five genuine Abolitionists. In 1856 the Republicans polled one hundred and forty-nine votes, and the Democrats thirty-nine; and in 1860 the same parties polled one hundred and seventy-two and fifty-seven, respect- ively. In 1864 they polled one hundred and sixty-two and fifty-nine, and in 1868 two hundred and eight and ninety-seven, respectively. In 1872 the Republicans polled one hundred and eighty-three votes, the Democrats seventy-eight, and O'Conor received two. In 1876 Mr. Hayes received one hundred and forty-five votes, Mr. Tilden sixty, and Mr. Cooper, the " Green- back " candidate, seventy-eight votes. This last vote indicates a population of one thousand four hundred and fifteen in the township.
INCIDENTS.
Ramsey Wheeler was killed by the explosion of a small cannon, at a Fourth of July celebration, about 1850, and two other young men by the names of Oscar Pershing and John Bouton, were somewhat severely injured by the same accident. The cannon was cast at a foundry that used to exist in the village ; some defect, doubtless, being in the metal casting.
Three children of Robert Hicks, a former resident of the township, while left at home alone by their parents, wandered out to a pond adjacent to their home, to skate. The ice broke, and the three children were drowned. This accident occurred about the winter of 1850.
John Young was killed by being accidentally struck with a base-ball club, November 3, 1874. He survived the accident just a week, dying on the 10th of the same month.
FLOWERFIELD VILLAGE.
The village of Flowerfield was surveyed and laid out in 1833, by Dr. David E. Brown, assisted by M. J. Nichols. The site was then owned by Challenge S. Wheeler, and was originally entered by James Valentine in 1830, and lies on section one, township five, range twelve.
The first saw-mill erected in Flowerfield township, was built by Mishael Beadle, in 1830. The mill ran successfully until the spring of 1832, when it was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt the same year, and was operated steadily afterwards for more than thirty years, when it was abandoned.
In 1872 Messrs. Beam & Wheeler erected a vinegar manufactory and cider-mill on the site of the old mill. The business of this establishment for 1876 was two thousand dollars.
A GRIST-MILL
was erected in 1831, also by Mishael Beadle. It had one run of stones, which was made out of a natural boulder, almost two and a half feet in diameter. In the spring of 1832 the mill passed into the hands of C. S. Wheeler, who overhauled and repaired it, and put in a new set of burrs. The mechanical part of the work was done by Elisha Kirk. The mill ran steadily until 1851, when it was burned down; the fire was supposed to have been the work of an incendiary. At this time the mill was owned by Pershing & Bristol. It was rebuilt in 1855 by Lewis and Joseph Tubbs, with three run of stones. The present owners are the Heck brothers. It contains three run of stones, and did a business in 1876 as follows: Mer- chant, five thousand barrels ; custom, twenty thousand bushels.
THE FIRST DISTILLERY
was erected in the village, in 1830, by Abram Vandemark, Henry Kinney and David Hamilton, three unmarried youths, by whom it was con- tinued for a few years. It was soon after abandoned.
THE FIRST STORE
was erected by C. S. Wheeler, and kept by him in 1832. It was a general store, similar to those now in existence, only on a very modest scale.
THE FIRST TAVERN
was opened by Joshua Barnum in the early part of 1833, and in it was held the first township-meeting. It stood near Wheeler's store, on the present site of Starkweather's store. The present tavern was built in 1839, by a Mr. Gillman.
THE FIRST SMITHY.
The first blacksmith's shop in the village was kept by Samuel E. Foley, who came to the village in 1833, from Boston, the shop standing near the mill.
GRAIN-CRADLE FACTORY.
This establishment was started on a small scale by Ami Palmer in 1843. At first it was devoted to the cooper business, and so mainly continued until bought out by Milo and Alvin Ingraham, in 1844. They began the manu- facture of cradles on an extensive basis in 1847. Alvin only remained in partnership about a year, and since his retirement Milo has conducted it alone. In 1876 the factory turned out five hundred and thirty cradles, which, with repairing, made an aggregate business of about two thousand five hundred dollars.
A FOUNDRY
was built in the village in 1837-8, and for a time a good business was done therein, and about the same time there was a carding-machine and cloth- dressing factory established there also.
THE PRESENT BUSINESS
of the village is conducted as follows: The only general store is that of Ira Starkweather, an old settler of the neighborhood. There are also a drug- store and a hardware-store, which, with all other business enterprises, exclu- sive of the grist-mill, do a trade aggregating about twenty thousand dollars annually.
THE POST-OFFICE,
which was established early, Challenge S. Wheeler being the first postmaster, has been presided over since his incumbency by the following persons : J. N. Wheeler, E. H. Keables, G. S. Bristol, William L. Worthington, J. M. Fel- lows, and Ira Starkweather, the present incumbent.
RAILROAD.
The Kalamazoo branch of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern rail- road was constructed in 1863. In 1865, in accordance with a vote of the township, bonds to the amount of ten thousand dollars were issued in aid of the undertaking. Litigation ensued, and it was decided by the supreme court (Judge Christiancy presiding) that the vote of the township was illegal. In the interval between the issue of the bonds and the decision of the court, the railroad authorities had disposed of the bonds to third parties, and a subsequent decision of the court ordered the bonds to be paid. The people of the township are still paying them (with interest), although the road did not touch the township, -- the nearest point being the Flowerfield depot, in the northwest corner of Park township, which refused any aid whatever to the enterprise. Opinion as to the benefits to Flowerfield town- ship, derived from the road, are divided,-the contrary predominating.
RELIGIOUS.
The first sermon preached in Flowerfield township was in the bar-room of the tavern kept by Joshua Barnum, in Flowerfield village, in 1831. It was preached by Rev. Benjamin Taylor, a very eloquent and earnest preacher of the Baptist persuasion. He was much respected and revered by the early settlers of all denominations. He subsequently removed to Boston, where he began a long and eminently useful career as the "sailors' preacher." A tender and interesting notice of this venerable divine is con- tained in "Fern Leaves," written by Fanny Fern, and published in 1854. The families of all the old pioneers attended the discourse, and were highly edified by its earnestness and truth.
THE FIRST CHURCH-EDIFICE
was erected in 1853. It was intended for a school-house, but was purchased by the Baptist society of Flowerfield village, and converted into a church. Rev. John Kirby was the first pastor installed in 1858. He was followed successively by Revs. C. B. Macumber, in 1860; A. Buck, in 1862. John Kirby again served the church from 1862 to his removal to Cass county in 1867. Since that time there have been no regular services held. Among the original members were John, William, and Joseph Kirby and their wives, William Horr, Henry Ousterhout and wife, and F. Shutes and his wife.
THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION.
The Flowerfield class of this denomination was organized under the labors of Rev. George Doll, in 1849, with the following members: Leander Wein- berg and wife, Peter Bloom and wife, Lourana Weinberg, and John Mohney.
The church, which is called " Zion's Evangelical Church," was built, in 1866, on the farm of Leander Weinberg, four miles northwest of Three
RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH JOHNSON, FLOWERFIELD, ST JOSEPH Co., MICH.
197
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Rivers, and was dedicated November 25, 1866, by Rev. Bishop Joseph Long. It is a frame building, thirty-two by forty-eight feet on the ground, cost two thousand dollars, and will seat two hundred and fifty persons com- fortably. The building-committee consisted of Leander Weinberg, Samuel Drumpeller, and Isaac Null. The present officers of the church are J. H. Null, Jacob Barnhardt, John Reimer, and J. W. Kline. Present member- ship, twenty-six. Besides the Rev. G. Doll, the following ministers have preached to this church since 1866: Reverends C. S. Brown, E. B. Miller, T. A. Davis, P. Wiest, S. Copley, J. W. Loose, Alonzo Russell, P. Swille, B. F. Wade, and J. H. Keeler (the present pastor of the circuit).
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