USA > Michigan > Lenawee County > Illustrated history and biographical record of Lenawee County, Mich. > Part 41
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COONROD L. LOWE, of Ridgeway township, owns a fine tract of land within its limits, comprising 300 acres on Sections 5, 7 and 8. The residence is located on Section 7, and is a substantial and commodious building, flanked by a good barn and all other structures required for the shelter of stock and the storing of grain. The land is finely located, lying partly on the Ridge road, and was purchased from the government by John Palmer. Mr. Lowe pur- chased the property in 1870, and removed here from Ridgeway town- ship, where he had settled on Section 36 soon after his marriage. Mr. Lowe has spent his whole life in Michigan, having been born June 25, 1838, in Raisin township, a little over a year after the Ter- ritory had become a State. He received a better education than most boys of that day, being the pupil of Prof. Esterbrook, at Ypsilanti, for some time. His tastes, however, confined him to farming pur- suits, and upon returning home from school, he settled down con- tentedly, and prepared to follow in the footsteps of his honored father. While a student at Ypsilanti young Lowe had made the ac- quaintance of Miss Emma Smith, to whom he was married October 29, 1859, at that city, Prof. Esterbrook officiating at the ceremony. Mrs. Lowe is a native of England, having been born near the city of Leeds, February 26, 1839. Her parents, Charles H. and Mary (Clayton) Smith, were also of English birth and parentage, the father a tailor by trade, who followed his occupation in his native town until com- ing to the United States, in 1842. Soon after his arrival upon American soil, he sought the western country, and located at the little town of Ridgeway, in this county, where he followed his trade a few years. Farming, however, at that day, was probably more lucrative than tailoring, and Mr. Smith finally purchased a tract of timber land on Section 4, Ridgeway township, of which he took pos-
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session, felled the trees and cultivated a portion of the soil, and there, with his excellent wife, spent the remainder of his days. His death occurred about 1872, and the mother surviving about one year and a half, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Lowe. The wife of our subject was the eldest of five children comprising the household of her parents, four daughters and one son. One daugh-
Mrs. Emma Lowe.
Coonrod L. Lowe.
ter died at the age of two years. The other children are all married and settled in comfortable homes of their own. They all received a fair education in the district school, and remained mostly under the home roof until taking life partners. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe became the parents of two children: Jessie, the wife of William Birdsell, a well-to-do farmer, who is at present residing on his homestead of 120 acres in Saline township, Washtenaw County, and Charles C., who remains on and manages the old homestead in Ridgeway. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are Free Methodists religiously. Mr. Lowe has represented Ridgeway township on the Board of Supervisors for a period of nineteen years, has served as Justice of the Peace sixteen years, and Road Commissioner nine years. Politically he is a Dem- ocrat. He has represented his district for eight years on the Board of Directors of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Lenawee County. As a public spirited citizen he has been active in every way for the upbuilding of his township and county. Mr. Lowe has traveled quite extensively, is a good conversationalist, en- joys life, and although past sixty-five years of age, seems in the
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
prime of life, with a love for kindness and hospitality, and no worthy person goes from his door hungry or in need. Justus Lowe, father of Coonrod L. Lowe of the above sketch, was a very early
Hon. Justus Lowe.
Mrs. Justus Lowe.
settler of Ridgeway, and became one of the most prominent men of his township. With much force of character and grace of mind and heart he was highly honored and respected. He died in Ridgeway, January 5, 1895. To show his standing among his religious friends, we use the following certificate :
EXHORTER'S LICENSE. TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
This certifies that Justus Lowe, having been examined by us concerning his gifts, grace and usefulness, we judge that he is a suitable person to be licensed as an Exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and we accordingly authorize him to officiate as such, subject to the requirements of the Discipline of said church.
Signed, by order of the Quarterly Conference of Ridgeway Circuit, in the Adrian District, this 30th day of July, 1861.
JONATHAN BLANCHARD, Presiding Elder.
[For a complete sketch of Justus Lowe's life see Whitney & Bonner's History and Biographical Record of Lenawee County, Vol. 1, page 210.]
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
EYE,
PHYSICIAN
EAR. KOSE #THROAT
SURGEON
The Abel Whitney Homestead, No. 42 East Maumee Street, Adrian, now owned and occupied by Drs. M. R. and Esli T. Morden.
The engraving shown above is a photographic view of the old Abel Whitney homestead, No. 40 East Maumee street, Adrian. The house was erected by A. W. Budlong previous to 1840, and was one of the largest and most imposing homes in the then Village of Adrian. Mr. Budlong purchased the lot 5x15 rods of Addison J. Comstock May 7, 1834, it being a part of the original plat of the Village of Logan, afterwards named Adrian, laid out by Mr. Comstock in March, 1828, consisting of forty-nine lots. February 16, 1843, the property was purchased by Abel Whitney, the price being $1,300. Mr. Whitney occupied it as a home from that time until his death, which occurred October 18, 1899, a period of fifty-six years. At the death of Mr. Whitney Frank W. Clay was appointed administrator of the estate, and December 28, 1903, he sold the old landmark to the Adrian Times Printing Company, which is erecting a modern print- ing office on the west half of the lot. March 22, 1904, Drs. M. R.
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and Esli T. Morden purchased the east half of the lot upon which stands the residence, and they now occupy the lower floor, which has been fitted up for offices.
ALMOND W. BLISS was born in Deerfield, Lenawee County, Mich., July 17, 1845. His father, Hiram W. Bliss, was born in Raisinville, Monroe County, Mich., June 1, 1822, and came to Lena- wee County with his parents and settled in Blissfield in 1824. He lived in Blissfield, was educated in the primitive schools of that new
Mrs. Julia A. Bliss, Deerfield.
Almond W. Bliss, Deerfield.
settlement, and was reared on a farm. October 27, 1842, Hiram W. Bliss married Miss Lovica Carey, of Blissfield, now Deerfield, and they had six children, Almond W. being the second. In 1845 Hiram W. Bliss purchased a farm on Section 2, in the present town of Deer- field, where he resided until his death, which occurred September 24, 1898. His wife, Lovica Bliss, was a native of the State of New York, was born August 7, 1822, and died in Deerfield, March 28, 1902. Almond W. Bliss, subject of this sketch, now lives on the farm where he was born and brought up. This farm he has always called home, notwithstanding he has passed some years in other employ- ment. In 1880 he went to Adrian, and for eight years was in the employ of the Lake Shore Railway Company. In 1887 he went to
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Toledo, where he resided nearly eleven years. In 1898 he returned to his farm in Deerfield, where he now resides. [For a complete history of the Bliss family and the first settlement of Blissfield and Deerfield, see A. L. Bliss' rec- ord on page 207 in this vol- ume.] October 12, 1865, ' Al- mond W. Bliss married Miss Julia A. Armitage, daughter of William and Philinda ( Vin- cent) Armitage, of Deerfield, and they have two children, as follows: Daniel W., born in Deerfield, December 18, 1869, married, October 12, 1892, Miss Myrtle M. Chase, and resides in Toledo; May El- nora, born in Deerfield, March 14, 1874. Mrs. Julia A. (Ar- mitage) Bliss was born in Spring Creek, Warren County, Pa., June 10, 1848, and came to Michigan with her parents in 1865. Her father was a na- tive of New York, was always Miss May Elnora Bliss. a farmer, and died in Deer- field, this county, November 28, 1897. Her mother was also a native of New York, and died in Deerfield, November 10, 1898.
JOHN D. CURTIS was born in Hudson township, this county, October 26, 1874. His father, Stephen W. Curtis, was born in Ira, Cayuga County, N. Y., March 17, 1831. For the history of the Curtis family see the record of Stephen W. Curtis in this vol- ume. John D. Curtis, the subject of this sketch, has always lived in Hudson township, on the home farm, which he operates on Sec- tions 10 and 13, in Hudson. General farming is carried on, together with a fine herd of cows for dairy purposes. A special effort is also made to handle good horses, and the choicest hogs obtainable, and considerable stock is fed for market. April 12, 1899, John D. Curtis married Miss Viola Seams, daughter of Andrew and Alice Adell (Stockwell) Seams, of Rome, this county, and they have two chil- dren, as follows: Mildred Ellen, born August 22, 1900; Harland J., born October 5, 1903. Mrs. Viola (Seams) Curtis was born in Rome,
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
this county, October 22, 1878. Her father was born in Adrian, Mich., December 12, 1857. March 16, 1877, he married Miss Alice A. Stockwell, who was born in Rome, this county, May 2, 1857.
John D. Curtis and Family.
They had two children, Mrs. Curtis and Minnie Louise, born Jan- uary 18, 1888. Mr. Seams' ancestors came from England, and his wife's father came from Vermont.
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
The above engraving shows one of the Pioneer Giants of Lenawee County forests. It stands in a timber tract in Seneca, owned by the Hon. Geo. B. Horton.
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
FORESTRY AND ITS IMPORTANCE.
The accompanying engraving is made from a photograph taken in August, 1902, by Frank P. Ford of Adrian, of a timber tract in Sen- eca township, owned by the Hon. Geo. B. Horton. The giant white oak tree in the foreground, it is more than likely is the largest of its species in the county. It is twenty-three feet in circumference at the point where a tree is usually cut for falling, and is apparently as healthy and thrifty as any tree in its neighborhood. It stands as a survivor of the sacrifice of its fellows, that has been going on in Lenawee County during the past seventy-five years. If it could tell the story of its life, how it has stood there and watched the destruc- tion of the magnificent forest that covered the county over, and seen its genus go in heat, and smoke and waste until it now stands alone, a majestic sample of nature's original handiwork, it would be almost thrilling in its details. The old comrades gone, the elements, the storm king, the floods and tempests of each succeeding season are borne bravely and alone. As we mortals measure time, this tree's life must run back for hundreds of years, into the misty past. If it could tell us of all it has witnessed; the splendors of the glorious sun- rise, the beautiful halos of the evening sunset, of the lightning's flash and the awful mutterings of the coming tempest that threat- ened to destroy! What a story of perhaps a thousand years of such experiences. To endure such an existence baffles human power to realize.
Mr. Horton is very proud of this forest giant, and while he lives it will be protected from vandalism. Mr. Horton has at least one hundred acres of timber that he is protecting from all in- trusion, and is allowing it to assume as far as possibble, nature's ways. He is a strong advocate of forest culture, and fully realizes the calamity that will befall the American people when the timber is gone.
Dr. Ferrow, one of the best experts in forestry in the world, says :
"The extensive and absolute destruction of forest cover in West- ern Asia and portions of Eastern and Southern Europe has desola ted vast regions and transformed them into lifeless deserts. Such rapine has sterilized almost beyond recovery the once highly productive re- gions of Sicily and Algeria ; and in our own country we can point to similar results already apparent, as in Wisconsin, where over
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4,000,000 acres have practically been turned into deserts, in Missis- sippi and other portions of our domain, where erosion carries the fertile soil into rivers, occasioning, in addition to its loss, disturb- ance of favorable water stages and expenditures in river and harbor bills."
This means not alone the loss of a great source of wealth, but it carries with it changes in our climate. Every year this country consumes two and a quarter billion cubic feet of lumber in construc- tion ; it consumes fifteen billion cubic feet of wood for fuel; it uses twenty-seven million cubic feet of railroad ties, thirty million cubic feet of fences and a billion cubic feet for other purposes, making a draft on the forests every twelve months of the stupendous total of eighteen billion cubic feet!
This means, in cash, a value of over a billion dollars a year, and, in addition, there is an annual loss by fire of over twenty mill- ions of dollars.
Behold some of the results which have already come! Most of the white pine forests have been cut down. In the Northern and Eastern States the oak and hickory have been nearly exhausted. There is a scramble all over the country for trees and this applies to the new regions of Canada.
What will happen in the course of a few generations is a case of simple mathematics-unless something is done in intelligent forestry.
Following is a most excellent discussion of Farm Forestry, by the Hon. George B. Horton, of Fruit Ridge, Master of the Michi- gan State Grange, before the Michigan Forestry Commission in 1902 :
"Ina country in which the people are still living, who have passed through the pioneer process of timber destruction, it is difficult to arouse interest in a scheme of timber preservation. If we consider the perpetual public and individual needs subserved by timber, and the influence of tree and forest growth upon humidity and tempera- ture ; and if we further consider the value of such natural conditions as cause trees to spring forth from the ground and flourish to beau- tify and benefit the home, farm, and the general landscape of our State, it cannot be otherwise than that our people will gradually be brought to see the importance of the forest as an accompaniment of the farm.
"Those who can see no value in trees except the money which may be secured from their destruction are lacking in elementary farm education. People who cannot look beyond the almighty dol- lar may continue for a time to say that mere sentiment protects and provides for tree and forest growth, but this leads to the query : What of a person or a people untempered or unswerved by senti- ment? Sentiment is one of the marked discriminating differences between the higher and lower grades of civilization. Without senti- ment man degenerates into the condition of the savage. D. Stew-
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
art, a noted Scotch mental and moral philosopher, of over a century ago said, "The word sentiment agreeably to the use made of the word by our best English writers, expresses in my own opinion, very happily, those. complex determinations of the mind which result from the co-operation of our entire rational powers, and of our moral feelings." Those who stand for tree and forest production and pro- tection can feel that their position is made stronger by being forti- tified by sentiment. We may further ask of the "business is busi- ness" man, what acts of ours can really stand the test of time if not tempered by sentiment? There is, however, a purely business side to the forestry question, and if our acts are guided by wisdom, the benefits need not all go to future generations, as laudable as such preparation and foresight for the benefit of our children would seem to be. Fuel, fencing, building and repairs, wind brakes to crops, and store houses of moisture are of sufficient pecuniary value to re- ceive sober consideration.
"Nature so provided Michigan as to make it a favorable founda- tion for a state of model homes, provided with many of the best gifts to man. If, at the beginning through some general plan under our system of sectional division of land, there could have been saved in the center of each section, in compact form from the rear ends of the surrounding farms eighty to one hundred acres of the virgin for- ests as a permanent preserve, who would now fail to sing praises to the wisdom of the fathers? If such wise forethought had governed and should henceforth be perpetuated, our children, our children's children, and all people would continue the praise giving. Such early provision under permanent protection would have solved for- ever the whole forestry question, except on the part of the general government, where large mountain tracts are desirable for preser- vation.
"Forestry as applied to such large tracts may be all right in a way, but as a general policy, the benefits to be derived are too remote from the great mass of people. The question must touch the farm and must contemplate supplying in part or in whole the present and natural needs of woods for various farm purposes. Any system en- couraging reforestation or planting and protection of forest which the State may adopt should consider what may be termed "Farm Forestry" of first and greatest importance. While all our people have lost forever what they might have enjoyed through some gen- eral and perpetuated plan, established when Michigan was a terri- tory, it is not too late to save something from the wreck. A large majority of the farms of the State possess some portions of land which have not been entirely cleared of trees, and which would, if now given a chance, soon lay the foundation for a valuable wood lot. "The one thing above all others which prevents a natural replac- ing of trees and a continuation of dense forest conditions is the prac- tice of allowing farm live stock to run at large over the wood lots. As large trees come to maturity and are removed the process of cut-
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ting, drawing out logs and clearing up the tops for fuel, results in considerable openings in the woods if the tree taken out had a broad and sweeping top such as most large trees possess. This opening lets in the sun and a new life begins at once. Various kinds of trees will spring forth from the ground and during the first year will make quite a start. Now, if the farm stock is allowed to enter the forest domain the little tender seedlings soon disappear to satisfy the appe- tite of the cattle. The natural regrowth of forest trees thus being prevented the ground soon becomes grassed over and reforestation is made more difficult. On the other hand if all farm stock could be excluded and nature allowed to work out her own methods of recu- peration, each successive year's growth assisted and mulched by an undisturbed annual and perennial surface growth would soon form a thicket of such trees as are most natural to the conditions and soil. It is understood that where wood lands have been so handled as to prevent the effort of nature in reforestation, and to encourage grass to take possession of the ground the woods have become open and nothing is growing from the ground to take the place of the large trees as they are from time to time removed. This open condition may also occur because the low thicket having grown up to trees of considerable size and the ground being so shaded that underbrush is killed out. Whatever the conditions it is disastrous to forest growth and perpetuation on the farm to allow cattle and other farm stock to run at large among the trees. We may as well expect to perpetuate the human race in the presence of some policy or condition which results in the destruction of all the children.
"The situation fully stated is this: First. The growth, protec- tion and perpetuity of a proportionate acreage of the farms of Mich- igan to forest cover is for the highest benefit to the individual and the State. Second. To subserve these conditions such lands pre- served in forest cover must be so fenced as to exclude all farm live stock. Third. In all processes of removing the mature trees care must be taken to destroy and injure as little as possible the under- growth of young trees even to the smallest seedlings. Fourth. Pro- tecting and encouraging laws enacted in behalf of increasing forest areas should be along these lines of farm forestry.
"In many cases in which farm stock has been allowed to com- pletely destroy all undergrowth, and in which the lands fenced off for a future farm forest preserve are considerably cleared and grassed over, a system of planting will be necessary to fill some especially barren places.
"To exempt from taxation a proper proportion of farm acreage under conditions of strict exclusion of all farm stock for forest devel- ment, will be an undoubted encouragement, and in support of this plan some system of bounties under strict requirements will not only assist in checking the common disregard of tree preservation but will also tend to establish a more general sentiment among the people favorable to planting trees and perpetuation of forests."
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RECORD OF LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
PIONEER INCIDENTS.
It is almost impossible for the present generation to realize that within the lifetime and memory of many who are still residents, Len- awee County, which now boasts of so much wealth and refinement, so many beautiful homes, with at least fifty thousand intelligent, industrious people, was covered with an almost impenetrable forest, and inhabited by wild animals and predatory tribes; that wolves howled and made night hideous in their ferocious attacks upon the isolated settlers, where today elegant farm homes, and beautiful villages and hamlets beautify and enliven the landscape.
It is hard for our younger people to believe it, but the boy or girl who came here seventy years ago, needs no stretch of imagina- tion to recall all the realities of life in the virgin forest. So deter- mined, so resolute and so thrifty were those brave pioneers who came to Michigan to make homes and fortunes, and advance civiliza- tion, that, nothing daunted, they persisted and won the great battle. Their struggles for victory, for betterment and for independence typified their love of liberty, and was emblematic of their ancestry.
They suffered, many sickened, some died, but their work was marked out, Puritan faith buoyed them up, their isolation intensi- fied a resolute purpose, and we of today are unconsciously enjoying the fruits of their heroic sacrifices. Who can do the pioneers justice? Who can say too much regarding their great victory?
Many incidents could be related to remind the present genera- tion of how the fathers and mothers and the youth of those days were employed and amused. And they had enjoyment and "fun," but not of the present day sort. No; they could chop down the tree, pile the brush, burn the log heap, heap up the brands. They could chase the wild deer, fight the hungry bear, tree the coon, enjoy the odorous skunk, listen to the dolorous howls of the timber wolf, the drumming of the grouse, the hooting of the owl, and the wailing of the wind through the forest. It was robust, if not exhilerating "fun" for the boys and girls, and a serious and strenuous problem for the parents.
Many incidents happened that seemed momentous then, which to us of today seem quite ludicrous. Mr. John I. Knapp, who came with his parents, John and Mamre Knapp, in 1834, at the age of nine years, remembers many incidents that were indelibly impressed upon his mind. In 1834 his father cut a road through from the
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHICAL
"Warren Settlement" in Dover, to where the village of Medina now is, a distance of nine miles, and built the first log house, 24x26, in the present township of Medina, and two men and a boy, assisted by a yoke of oxen, put up the structure.
One night, in 1834, the household was awakened by the loud squealing of a pig enclosed in a log pen. At once surmising the cause of the commotion, Mr. Knapp, with his gun and dog, went to the relief of the animal, and found it in the close embrace of a bear, who was taking a meal from the back and shoulder of his victim. The gun and the dog scared away the bear, and the pig returned, got well, and prepared himself, as all hogs should, for the pork barrel.
There were many reptiles, some harmless but repulsive, and some venomous and dangerous. The one most dreaded and avoided was the Massasauga, or black rattle snake. This repulsive snake was a constant menace and danger to all, particularly the children, and much suffering and many deaths resulted from the bite, during many years after the settlement began. One night Mrs. Knapp heard one shake his rattles as he came in the "cat-hole" in the door. A tallow candle was lighted by Mr. Knapp, and the snake, which proved to be a large one, was dispatched. These snakes often exuded a sickening odor, and the pioneer dog, as well as the pioneer himself, soon became familiar with it, which caused the death of thousands of snakes. No Massasauga was allowed to escape, as he was a common and dangerous enemy. Mr. Knapp remembers his father killing a large "Sauger" one day, when twelve youngsters ran out of the dead snake's mouth, each with one rattle on the tail. It was found to be the habit of the mother snake to swallow her brood in time of danger. The young snakes, which were killed, were about nine inches long.
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