USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Kalamazoo County, Michigan city directory 1869-70 > Part 3
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" To his Excellency Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan :
"SIR :- The Commissioners appointed by your Excellency, to
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locate the seat of justice for the county of Kalamazoo, beg leave respectfully to report :
"That, after taking the oath prescribed by law, and within thirty days after being notified of their appointment, they pro- ceeded to the county, and entered upon the duty assigned them, with a firm determination to discharge it fearlessly, and without reference to any object other than the public good. Many diffi- culties stood in the way of a speedy determination of the most suitable site for the county seat, which led to a much more thorough examination of the county, than was at first contem- plated.
"That your Excellency may be aware of the reasons that influ- enced the minds of the commissioners, in the location they have made, a short description of the county is considered proper. It is interspersed with many prairies, some of which are large and fertile. Settlements have already commenced on most of them, and so rapid do they progress, that in a short time, this county will claim a standing with the most populous in the Territory.
" Prairie Round is the largest, supposed to contain twenty thousand acres of land ; situated near the southwest corner of the county. Two hundred families reside on the borders of this lake of land; where they have heavy timbered land on the one side of their houses, and an immense open Prairie on the other.
" Gull Prairie is next in importance, and is situated in the north east corner of the county. It is one-half or three-fifths as large as Prairie Round. The settlement of this has only com- menced, but from the character of its present inbabitants, and the local and other advantages it possesses, a heavy population may be reasonably anticipated.
" Grand Prairie is nearly or quite as large as Gull Prairie. It is situated four miles northwest of the Geographical center of the county, nearly in a direct line between the two above men- tioned, and about equi-distant from both.
" These three places, with the rich timbered land which bor- ders them on one side or the other, will necessarily contain the largest share of the population of the county.
" The small Prairies (except Toland's and Aldrich's) are gene-
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rally in the vicinity of those described, forming openings of from 20 to 500 acres, which give the county a picturesque appearance.
[Here follows a description of the face of the country, its timber, water courses, etc., which is omitted.]
" The geographical centre of the county is three miles and a half south of the Kalamazoo River, and about the same distance from the great Territorial Road, laid out from Sheldon's, on the Chicago Road, to the mouth of the St. Josephs River, on Lake Michigan.
"Much anxiety was felt and manifested by the large and respectable population of Prairie Round, for the location of the county seat on the Portage stream, near the geographical centre of the county, and four miles from the Kalamazoo River. Much labor and time was spent in examining the claims of this place, which, although of some magnitude, were not considered to take the site from the benefits to be derived from the naviga- tion of the River.
" Two places upon the river, about the same distance from the centre of the county, presented their claims for the site. These were examined with care and not without anxiety.
" A spot was at length selected on an eminence near the cen- tre of the south-west quarter of section fifteen, town two, south of range eleven, west, owned by Titus Bronson, Esq. Mr. Bronson has agreed to lay out a village, and place upon the proper records a plan or map thereof, duly acknowledged, with the following pieces of land, properly marked and set apart in said map or plan for public use : One square of sixteen rods for the Court House; one square of sixteen rods for a Jail; one square of sixteen rods for an Academy; one square of eight rods for Common Schools; one square of two acres for a public burial ground; four squares, of eight rods each, for the four first religions denominations that become incorporated in said vil- lage, agreeably to the statute of the Territory.
"This place is situated at the great bend of the Kalamazoo River, on its south-western bank, immediately below the Port- age stream. The reasons which influenced the location of the county seat at this place, are : 1st. It is on the bank of the river,
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which at that place is navigable, most of the year, for keel boats of several tons burthen. 2d. It is in the direct line between the two largest prairies in the county, viz .: Prairie Round and Gull Prairie; about nine miles from the latter, and ten from the for- mer place, and Grand Prairie two miles on its west. 3d. Good roads may with facility be made from it into any part of the county. Four or five large trails set out from this place, leading to as many different places of importance on the St. Joseph and Grand Rivers. 4th. The great Territorial road passes through it,
" Your Excellency is therefore respectfully recommended to establish, permanently, the county seat at the place above men -. tioned. JOHN ALLEN, CALVIN SMITH."
"Ann Arbor, Jan. 15th, 1831.
"Approved, April 2d, 1851.
LEW. CASS."
On the twelfth of May, 1831, John T. Mason, "Secretary of the Territory, and at present acting Governor thereof," issued the proclamation, in due form, "establishing the seat of justice of the said county of Kalamazoo, upon the said spot of land, described as aforesaid," referring to the place designated in the above report.
After Bronson, came, in the spring and summer of 1831, Dr. Abbott, David S. Dillie (cooper), Elias and John Mead, Hosea B. Huston, Rodney Seymour. Dillie settled on forty acres run- ning south and west from the west corner of College and West streets, and built him a log house there. Huston was a member of the firm of Smith, Huston & Co., of Schoolcraft, and built the store, which until recently stood on the north-east corner of Main and Rose streets, as a branch establishment. Bronson's house was a place of refuge for all comers until they could pro- vide themselves with houses or shanties to live in. When Hus- ton's store was finished, Dr. Abbott and family occupied the up- per story. Besides these pioneers, there were settlers about this time that passed by the "village," and located on Genesee Prairie; of such were John Hascall, Anthony Cooley, Erastus Smith, and a Mr. Wild, with their families. Enoch Harris had preceeded them, and was comfortably provided for, on his nice little farm. Others, again, preferred Gull and Toland's Prairies. :
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On the 31st of April, of this year, in accordance with an act of the Territorial Legislature, organizing the township of Arcadia, -the name first given this township-approved, July 30th, the first election was held, at the house of Titus Bronson, though the act provided the election should be held at the house of Titus Brown. The township then embraced all of the north half of the county, but there were less than a dozen votes polled. The next legislature legalized the action of the meeting.
The county had been organized two years before ( July 29th, 1829 ), under the name of Kalamazoo, derived from the Indian name of the river, Ke- Kenamazoo (the boiling pot) ; the townhsip was next organized, the village 'was surveyed and christened with the name of Bronson, and it was established as the county seat; a pretty fair start, at least on paper. The unorganized counties of Calhoun, Eaton and Barry, and all the country north of these, were attached to Kalamazoo for judicial purposes. Ba- zel Harrison and Stephen Hoyt were appointed Justices of the County Court. The first record of the Court bears date Oct. 17th, 1831, and Cyrus Lovell appears with a petition from the proprietors and citizens of the village of Bronson, requesting an alteration, in part, of the plat of said village.
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In the fall of this year a few others came, among whom were, our first lawyer, Cyrus Lovell-he had first settled on Toland's Prairie-and E. Lakin Brown, who had then purchased an inter- est in the Dry and Miscellaneous Goods establishment of Smith, Huston & Co, headquarters at Schoolcraft-which village, at that time, was the seat of commerce and the market-place for Bronson, Paw Paw, Battle Creek, St. Joseph, and the surround- ing country. Mr. Brown resided at Schoolcraft, but was here often during '31 and '32, sometimes for weeks together. Cyrus, the lawgiver, was a peculiar man, and not the least marked of his peculiarities was an inherent disinclination to toil; he was also a good story teller, a well informed, interesting man, but an un- compromising enemy of flies-in fact, the antipodes of Sterne's " Uncle Toby" on the fly question, and, woe to the unwary insect that came within the reach of uncle " Cy.'s" dextrous hand, his lightning stroke ! It was during this fall that Lovell began
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his house, on the corner of what is now Rose and Water streets, and being unable to obtain any one to dig his cellar, was forced himself to ply the pick and spade. The consequence was, that the proportions of the cellar as originally designed were mate- rially curtailed. It was while Lovell was digging this cellar that Brown, who was in the habit of going over to watch the pro- gress of the work, and listen to Cyrus' stories, one day proposed to examine the mound (now in the park enclosure), to which Lovell assented, and an excavation was made, from the summit to the base. Some human bones were found, in the last stages of decay, some pieces of charred wood, and other mouldering debris. The hole was again filled up, and the investigation was quite satisfactory to the participants.
Among those who came to Bronson in the fall of this year, was Gen. Justus Burdick. Some years previous, Elon Farns- worth, after having completed his studies, in Vermont, was advised by his friend, Gen. Burdick, to go to the West, then just beginning to attract the attention of the enterprising and far-seeing men of the East, and try his fortunes there. Farns- worth came to Detroit and never had reason to regret it. Gen. Burdick removed, soon after, from Woodstock to Burlington, went into trade there, and became somewhat involved, though not bankrupt. It was then that Farnsworth wrote and endeav- ored to induce Burdick to come West, and was successful. Gen. Burdick came to Detroit, made the acquaintance, among others, of Lucius Lyon, who had already an ambition respecting the vil- lage of Kalamazoo, and Burdick was persuaded to come here. He was entirely satisfied with what he saw, and soon after pur- chased of Bronson the east half of the southwest quarter of sec- tion 15, (except four lots which Bronson had sold to Smith and Huston, and Channcey Merwin,) the sum paid for the land being 8850. The deed was executed in Detroit, October 24th, 1831, in Farnsworth's office, Bronson's wife, not being present. subse- quently in due form perfecting the conveyance. Burdick then returned to Burlington. Late in the fall of 1831, his brother, Cyren, was sent here, and he commenced the erection of a hotel, the Kalamazoo House, making a contract with a Mr. Fos-
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ter, (now Dr. Foster, of Otsego,) for the building of it. But we are anticipating the progress of events.
Rodney Seymour built a shanty on a piece of ground west of the present terminus of Kalamazoo Avenue, in the summer and fall of 1831, and made brick; Dillie did coopering for the multi- tude, and Elisha Hall began to show his hand as a carpenter, by making the cabins more house-like and comfortable. By the close of the year, the little village could boast of one store (beside the trading post), a doctor, three or four mechanics, and a population not exceeding fifteen souls, exclusive of Indians. The entries of land in this township, which had been made up to the close of this year, were: the w. h. of the s. w. qr, of sec. 15, to Stephen H. Richardson, Nov. 1, 1830, and the e. h. of s. e. qr. of the same section, at the same time, to Titus Bronson; the n. h. of the s. w. qr., of sec. 9, was taken by Nathan Harrison, and Sally Bronson took up the s. h. of the s. w. qr. of sec. 9; Horace Starkweather, of Otsego county, N. Y., entered the n. frac. of sec. 10, and John A. Clark, of Monroe, Mich., the s. w. frac. and the south part of the e. fraction.
The first event of importance we find in the year 1832, is the town election meeting, held at Titus Bronson's. Isaac Barns, Justice of the Peace, called the meeting to order; Caleb El- dred was chosen Moderator, and Lovell Moore, Clerk, pro. tem. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year : Caleb Eldred, Supervisor; Leland Lane, Clerk; Anthony Cooley, Sam- uel Brown and A. E. Mathews, Commissioners of Highways; Horace Holmes, Leland Lane and Simeon Mills, Assessors; Seth Taft, Collector; Seth Taft and Wm. P. Giddings, Constables ; John Barns and Titus Bronson, Overseers of the Poor; Isaac Briggs, Erastus Ransom and Erastus Smith, were elected Fence Viewers by acclamation, as were also Titus Bronson and Wil- lard Mills, Pound Masters; Ralph Tuttle, Simeon Mills, Steph- en Eldred, Laban Keys, Eleazer Hunt, Wm. Logan and Nathan Harrison Overseers of Highways; and Erastus Ransom, Orville Barnes, Jonathan Abbott, John Hascall and W. P. Giddings, School Commissioners. It was voted at this meeting that the Supervisor and Clerk be requested to draft a petition and for-
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ward it to the Legislative Council, for a division of the township, to take effect one year from date (April 3d, 1832.) The meet- ing adjourned to meet in Comstock village, at the house of Caleb Eldred, on the day for holding the next annual meeting.
The first work of the township authorities was in laying out roads. The Commissioners divided the town into road districts, and Stephen Vickery, and, after him, Pierce Barber, surveyed all the roads that for several years led to and from Bronson. In the month of November, a special township meeting was held at the house of Titus Bronson, Stephen Vickery, Moderator. Wm. P. Giddings was chosen Collector, and $100 voted to be raised to defray the expenses of the township for the year. Mr. Gid- dings did not accept, and subsequently Nathan Harrison was appointed in his place. The first recorded roads are : Bronson to Genesee Prairie, Oct. 24, 1832; Bronson to Gull Prairie, Oct. 25, '32; Gull Prairie to Gull Creek, and thence to the arm of the lake, Oct. 26 and 27, '32; Toland's Prairie to Indian Fields, Jan. 28th, 1833. Gull Prairie to Grand River, January 29th and 31st, 1833.
The suit of Geo. Shaw, appellee, vs. Abraham J. Shaver and Eph. Harrison, appellants, the first litigated case on our records, took place at Bronson's house, at the October session of the Court, Judge Bazel Harrison on the bench. Jury returned & verdict of $61 20, damages and costs. The attorneys in this suit were McGaffey and Humphreys, for the plaintiff; and Cyrus Lovell and John Hascall, for defendants. This is the scene of Anthony Cooley's picture of " The First Court in Kalamazoo."
This Court, at the same session, in the matter of the petition presented by Cyrus Lovell, adjudged and ordered, that so much of the plat of the village of Bronson, in the county of Kalamazoo, as is laid out on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 15, in town 2, south of range 11 west, be vacated, and that the plat as recently surveyed by Lucius Lyon be adopted and record- ed. Provided, That the proprietors of the above lot shall con- vey by a good and sufficient [deed] to the Supervisors of the township of Arcadia, and their successors in office, three acres of land for a public burying-ground, situate in the N. w. cor. of the
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wi of the s. w. { of section 22, in town 2, south of range 11 west. The burying-ground was subsequently deeded to the town by Messrs. Richardson & Bronson, and is the same that is now, at this writing, in such neglected condition, on south West street.
Bronson, during the winter of 1831-2 had erected a saw mill on the Portage creek, and it was in running order in the spring. Rodney Seymour was employed by Bronson to tend the mill, but it was, within a few weeks, sold to Cyren Burdick, and Sey- mour continued with the new proprietor for a year or more, a large share of the lumber made being used in building the Kalamazoo House, though the mill at Comstock contributed the first supplies of lumber. The Bronson mill was put up by M. B. Hounsom, but it was not very effective until the machinery was overhauled and remodeled by Smith L. Wood, who came this spring. Dr. Foster, Elisha Hall, and Wood, did most of the work on the Kalamazoo House. It is related that, on a Sat- urday, when the timbers were all framed, and everything ready for the "raising," it was found there were not men enough to. lift the timbers into place. The task was successfully accom- plished the next day, the whole country for miles around barely furnishing men enough for the purpose. The work on the new "tavern" was so far completed by the middle of summer as to shelter Cyren Burdick and his family, and to be opened for. the public early in September, though it was not finished for many months afterwards. It was 40 feet long by 30 feet deep, and, when the front was completed with its upper and lower piazzas, was, for those day, a fine looking building. As it was in the fall of 1832, it may be seen now, with some slight changes, on Por- tage street, No. 40. Cyren Burdick was its landlord until the fall of 1834. It became a place of meeting for many public and festive occasions and had an important influence in the growth of the colony.
Dr. Abbott was appointed postmaster in July, 1832, and the first office was in Huston's store. The mail was carried from. Jackson to Prairie Ronde in '31, by a man named Darling, who made the trip sometimes on a pony, sometimes afoot-the mail matter being stowed away in the carrier's hat. When our office
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was established here, Lucius Barns obtained the contract and carried the mail, weekly, in a covered wagon, this being the first stage line. The first framed dwelling house was built by Smith L. Wood (on the site of T. P. Sheldon's residence) this year, and Dr. Abbott commenced a like edifice on the ground where his brick building stands. Anthony Cooley removed here, into a house built for him on Edwards street; James Parker and fami- ily, from Cassopolis, located on Water street; Henry Mower, Na- thanial Foster, Stephen Vickery, - Edginton, and a few others, were among the accessions to our village, while, within a few miles, there were many other settlers who had come to make this county their homes, and whose names will appear in the his- tory of their towns. A man, name not ascertained, died at the Kalamazoo House soon after it was opened, and was buried on the lot where Charles Gibbs, Esq., now lives. The man came Detroit, was taken ill, and died very suddenly, of cholera, it was said. A child was also buried, about the same time on the lot referred to. The inhabitants, too, had a taste of war, or at least, a bit of the " pomp and circumstance" thereof. Our colo- ny, and, in fact all the settlements, were terribly excited in the month of May with the story of a wild rider who rushed, like another Paul Revere, through the towns, crying "the Indians are coming !" and summoning the "minute men" to meet without delay, at Niles, the grand rendezvous, and prepare to hurl back the savage and advancing cohorts of the merciless and butcher- ing Blackhawk ! Col. Huston and Capt. Harrison immediately raised all the men they could get, and marched to Schoolcraft, organized and drilled for upwards of a week, and then set out for Niles, with a troop 200 strong (?), compared with which in dis- cipline, morale and effectiveness, the conic section of the Macke- rel Brigade were mere pretenders, and the bummers in Sherman's army but idle foragers. Our veterans, after a toilsome march, in which there was some straggling, went into camp at a point within a mile of Niles Here they remained two days, being unable to go into Niles, that unfortunate town being so full of other brave defenders, that it might be called one vast camp, while famine began to threaten a fate worse than death by the
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scalp-shaving savages. On the evening of the second day's en- campment "general orders" were issued announcing that the threatened danger had passed, and the regiment would take up the line of march next morning, at a given hour, for Schoolcraft. Strict discipline and soldierly conduct was enjoined by the or- ders, and guard having been properly mounted, darkness finally enveloped the camp, Morpheus proved mightier than Mars, and, long before midnight, only the sentry was astir, treading his lone- ly rounds. Suddenly his ear catches a sound like the crackling of twigs; he listens, looks-but he sees nothing; the noise is not repeated, and he goes on, smiling at his fears, But in a few moments the silence is terrifically broken, for-
" At once there rose so wild a yell, It seemed the fiends from Heaven that fell Had peeled the banner-cry of Hell !"
and the appalled sentinel, unable to speak or move, saw the yel- ling savages breaking for the camp. The scene there was alto- gether indescribable. Fear overcame the martial host-that aw- ful Indian whoop curdled the listener's blood with horror-some fled, others prayed, and some were paralyzed and seemed as if rooted to the earth. Within five minutes the "army" had sur- rendered unconditionally ; but the victors, where were they ? where were the savage hordes that had surprised the camp and committed such unheard-of atrocities ? On examination, no one was found to be seriously hurt, and, before morning, the full ex- tent of the huge joke was realized. The "regimental headquar- ters" seemed to enjoy the affair greatly. On the homeward march the " boys" took to the woods whenever an opportunity occurred, and all that returned to the Schoolcraft barracks did not amount to a corporal's guard.
Rev. Mr. Robe (Methodist missionary) preached the first sermon at Bronson's house in the fall of this year.
The following tracts of land in this township (2 south 11 west ) were taken up this year, viz. : The et of n. w2 and nh of n. e}; and the s. e. frac. of s. e. }, of sec. 15, by Justus Burdick, of Burlington, Vt .; Sept. 1; the s} of n. e { of 15, by Elisha Hall; the n. e frac., and the wa n. w} of 15, by Lucius Lyon, of Wayne Co., Sept. 1; the e. frac. of 15, about 2} acres. by E. S. Swan,
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of St. Jo. Co .; the n. w. frac., and s. w. frac. of s. e. } of 15 (87} acres), by Nathan Harrison ; we of n. w2 of sec. 14, by H. L. Ellsworth, Hartford, Conn .; and the n. frac. same section by L. Lyon in August ; the s} of n. wa of sec. 9, by Nathan Harrison. The ng of n. wą of sec. 9, was taken by Lyman J. Daniels, Sept. Section 16 was school land, and not subject to.entry. Theodore P. Sheldon entered a portion of the land he now owns south of the river and east of the Portage. The balance of the tract was purchased of H. H. Comstock, by T. C. & T. P. Sheldon, in '34, and subsequently T. P. Sheldon acquired sole title. The popu- lation of the village, at the close of 1832, was about forty.
The year 1833 opened auspiciously with the first marriage in Bronson, the parties to which were Ethan French and Matilda Hounsom; on the 9th of February, James M. Parker and Tamar Walters, and on the 17th John Smith and Jemima Edginton, were also matrimonially united. The licenses in these and many other cases which followed, were granted by Stephen Vickery, the clerk, and the "silken tie" was gracefully performed by Squire Lovell. Mr. Lovell was also elected Supervisor that spring ; H. B. Huston, town clerk, Phineas Hunt, Huston and A. Cooley, Highway Commissioners; Rodney Seymour, constable; Bronson, Lovell, and Cyren Burdick, school committee. Under the auspices of this committee a school house was built (of slabs) on South street-then in the woods-and Miss Pamela Coleman (name changed to Mrs R. Seymour in May) kept the first school Mrs. Seymour, continued as teacher several months, and remem- bers dismissing her school several days during the term to allow the use of the room for a session of Court.
George Patterson first came here in the spring of'33, and dur- ing the summer built a house on the northeast corner of the lot now occupied by the handsome residence of Wm. B. Clark, Esq. He then brought his family here from Cassopolis. Main street had only been staked out, and was only a street on paper. Mr. John Hays, senior, with his family came in the spring, from Prairie Ronde, where they had lived since the previous fall. Mr. H. came from about the same section of Ohio that the Harrisons and other first settlers of Prairie Ronde did. This emigration induced by the story told by a soldier named Sumner, who, hav-
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