USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Kalamazoo County, Michigan city directory 1869-70 > Part 8
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In May, 1855, a company was formed under the name of the Schoolcraft and Three Rivers Railroad Company, for the purpose of constructing a railroad between those places. Three Rivers was already connected with the Michigan Southern Railroad by the St. Joseph Valley Railroad from Three Rivers to Constan- tine, and a branch of the Michigan Southern from that place to White Pigeon, all owned by the M. S. &. N. I. R. R. Co. A proposition was obtained from the latter Company to transfer as a free gift the entire line from White Pigeon to; Three Rivers to the new company, upon their completing the road to School- craft. About $40,000 of stock was immediately subscribed, and $30,000 expended in grading and ties, when, from various causes. the work was suspended, and was not completed till the latter part of the year 1865; the first passenger car coming into Schoolcraft, January 1st, 1866. A contract had previously been
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made with Mr. Ransom Gardner, transferring to him the road- bed, stock, and all franchises, together with a bonus of $60,000, upon condition of his completing and operating the road.
On the completion of this road, Kalamazoo, touched by the unfailing magnet of commercial necessity, at once made arrange- . ments to extend it to that place, giving Mr. Gardner a like bonus of $60.000; and, in May, 1867, the line was complete to Kalamazoo. It has since been continued to Allegan, and in a few months will be completed to Grand Rapids.
The opening of this road has given a new impulse to the busi- ness and growth of Schoolcraft. Its population has already more than doubled; numbers of beautiful stores, a large and costly grain elevator, a planing mill, and a very expensive and perfect steam flouring mill have been built; a furnace is in process of erection, and everything indicates that, at length, the progress of Schoolcraft in material prosperity will be in a degree commensurate with the wealth of the unrivalled coun- try by which it is surrounded.
A considerable addition was made to the village on the south-east some years since, called "Hatch's Addition; " and recently a still more extensive one directly east of the last, called "Dyckman's Addition." All of the original village plat north of Vienna street, and all that part south of Eliza street and west of Center street, was vacated by order of the Circuit Court several years ago.
During the last year the " Peninsular Railway," leading from Port Huron to Chicago, has been surveyed through Schoolcraft, and is now being graded along the whole line. The opening of this road will give Schoolcraft railroad facilities second to no town in the State, and cannot fail to be felt in a rapid advance- ment in all its interests.
I cannot close this sketch withont mention of the noble record of these prairie townships in the war of the rebellion. No sooner was the call of their country heard than their citizens sprung to arms. The few who sympathized with the rebellion were awed into silence by the patriotic bearing of the loyal many ; and the " prairie boys" were always favorites with the
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officers of the various regiments to which they belonged. Seve- ral of them fell in battle, many received honorable wounds which shall be to their fellow-citizens life-long mementoes of their noble sacrifices for their imperilled country ; and others have been relieved by death, or still linger the suffering victims of the prisons of Richmond and Andersonville.
Throughout the war the women of Schoolcraft and Prairie Ronde devoted time and energy to providing sanitary stores and comforts for the soldiers of the Republic, and in either town- ship no proposition for raising bounties for volunteers was ever negatived. Mr. George C. Munger, of Prairie Ronde, Corporal in Company I, of the 4th Regiment Michigan Cavalry, was the captor of the arch traitor of all-Jefferson Davis.
Abiel Fellows, of Prairie Ronde, was appointed post-master of the first post office established in the county, in 1830. Bazel Harrison, Titus Bronson, and Stephen Hoyt were commissioned Judges for the County of Kalamazoo by Gov. Cass in 1830. William Duncan's commission as County Clerk bears date August 17th, 1830. The first Court held in the County was opened at the house of Abner Calhoon on Prairie Ronde, on the third Tuesday of October, 1831, present Bazel Harrison and Stephen Hoyt, Judges, and was adjourned "to the school house near John Insley's, in Brady township." Stephen Vickery was appointed foreman of the Grand Jury. The first case entered on the docket was an appealed case, George Shaw vs. A. I. Shaver and Ephraim Harrison. At this term four indictments were found. L. I. Daniels appeared as attorney, and challenged the array of the Grand Jury. "The motion made by L. I. Daniels to challenge the array of the Grand Jury is decided by the Court to be out of order and improper."
The first white child born in the county is, it has always been conceded, Eliza J. Wilmarth, who was born at Prairie Ronde, December 16th, 1829, her parents having come into that town in March 10th of the same year. The parents of Miss Calista Shaver, however, claim a priority of nativity for their daughter, furnishing documents showing that Calista was born July 29th, 1829. The first white child born in Schoolcraft, was Helen A.
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Smith, daughter of Thaddeus and Eliza Smith, now wife of I. W. Pursel, Esq., born Oct. 3d, 1831. Schoolcraft became an incor- porated village in April, 1866.
WA-WE-OS-CO-TANG.
The following poem, descriptive of Prairie Ronde in its state of nature and also of the varied and picturesque scenes of its harvest fields, at a later date, written many years ago by the author of the foregoing history, is inserted by consent of the author, at the special request of the publisher of this work :
Ye who in mad ambition's vain career Seek for that good ye might have found so near; Ye, who so idly thirst and inly pine For glittering spoils of Sacramento's mine :- Come to the prairies : Come where nature's hand Has showered all blessings on this fruitful land ; And, while the glorious scene aright ye view, Learn what delusive visions ye pursue.
I knew thee well, fair Wa we-os-co-tang. When the shrill whoop along thy borders rang ; When thy proud sons thy broad area trod, And owned no better title than from God ! By nature taught, they knew no human law Save the mild rule of gray-haired Sagamaw. I saw thee decked in nature's chiefest pride, In gayer colors than an eastern bride ; And oft, as if some newer charm to try, In gayer colors still allure the eye. I, too, beheld-what well might awe inspire- Pass o'er thy face the annual scourge of fire ! In early spring, when the returning sun To dry the storm-drenched earth had now begun, And the light winds had lifted, dry and sere, The faded produce of the former year, Some roving hunter's hand the torch applies, And quick around the darting flames arise :
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Before the wind they leap and flash on high, And rise in lurid columns to the sky ! Wide and more wide the flaming wave extends, Till on each distant wood the fiery billow ends; Then rushing on, as if with maddened ire, Laps the whole plain in one broad sheet of fire! The plover, screaming, seeks some distant fen ; The flying deer scarce reach the wooded glen. By slow degrees, at length, the flames decay, Flashing now here, now there, and die away. Lo! now, the scene! the whole vast plain outspread, Black as the pall that shrouds the coffined dead ! No tree, no shrub, no living thing is seen; No blade of russet grass or springing green : Black desolation broods o'er all the plain, That seems as blasted ne'er to bloom again ! And yet not all :- for lo ! the wondering eye Beholds a forest pointing to the sky .- Full in the midst of all the dreary waste Some magic art a sacred grove has placed : A thousand times the circling flames have swathed The enchanted grove, yet left the grove unscathed. Full, round and fair its swelling curves appear, No tree is blasted, and no limb is sere. Is it the elves-the sylvan deities- Keep watch and ward around these sacred trees, Protecting them by some mysterious power That e'en the scathing flames may not devour ? I say not, I; although hard by I've seen Strange circling foot-prints on the dewy green .- Perchance the red man truly may avow The kind, protecting care of Manitou. Howe'er it be, yet this, at least, is true ;- The grove in beauty looms upon the view, Seeming " an island in an inland sea," O'er which some demon power in wicked glee Or wrathful spite his powerful charm had cast, And changed the circling flood into the blackened waste !
Oh, who can tell from any present hour What future suns may rise, what storms may lower!
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Or, from the color of his present state Predict the changing hues of the mixed web of fate! How oft we pass along life's pleasant way And call the fairest flowers from day to day ; And little deem how soon the bursting storm May change the prospect, and the scene deform ! So, too, when all around seems dark and drear, And the lone wanderer sinks in grief and fear, The parting clouds, dissolving, melt away, All nature smiles and balmy breezes play. And this vast plain that wasting fires have charred. All life evanished and all beauty marred- A few returning suns and vernal showers, And lo! one broad expanse of opening flowers ! First the blue violets ope their dreamy eyes, And bathed in purple the whole prairie lies ;- Alternate colors bloom and disappear In quick succession through the varying year. All earthly glories pass away at last :- Faded and rustling in the Autumn blast, Summer's bright children shrink and pass away ;- Oh, sad monition to the young and gay ! And where but late their sweet perfume was shed The tall rank spike-grass waves its bristly head.
Such, O, most beauteous prairie, such wert thou Before the white man marred thee with his plow; And to appropriating instinct true Long lines of barriers on thy bosom drew. Now the pleased eye o'er all thy vast domain Sees grazing herds and fields of waving grain ; And thy gay tessalated face adorn The blooming clover and the tasseled corn.
And still the eye in wandering o'er the scene Delighted turns to that round, swelling green- That grove preserved so many rolling years ;- And when the day-god in the east appears, As if rejoiced, imparts his kindling glow, Tinging with ruddy light each lofty bough ; This salutation o'er, declines his rays,
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And bright with glittering light the village steeples blaze: And hark ! a voice the green-wood bowers among Pours forth this rustic, dithyrambic song :-
PRAIRIE RONDE AT HARVEST-TIME.
"Ye in crowded cities pent, With dust and toil and turmoil spent, In a way Heaven never meant I am fearful ; Would ye see a pleasant sight That will give more heart-delight Than the gayest gala-night And more cheerful ?
Know ye aught of Prairie Ronde ? What it is and where 'tis found ? 'Tis the very biggest prairie 'Twixt St. Jo. and Sault St. Marie ;- 'Tis a broad and fertile plain Where the farmer raises grain ; By gay greenwood surrounded; By leafy rim adorned and bounded ;-- Yet so distant is the fringe That it wears a purple tinge; And when the setting sun With its softened light is shining; Its mellow, yellow beams With the purple haze entwining, Ye well may gaze admiring, At the magic scene before ye, For the prairie seems encircled By a diadem of glory !
How it came to be so big Without tree, or bush, or twig, -Saving only In the very middle of it, As designed for show or profit, Stands "the Island," grand and lonely, -- Every scientific prig can resolve it :- How by wonderful upheaval,
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In the ages medieval, Or some far-away time now incog., By gradual slow gradation To its present elevation It was raised from a lake or bog. By your leave, most learned sages, The wonder-working ages
Have performed no such marvelous luctation ; The matter in a fog ye more involve it :- The land was fashioned,-never doubt it,- Just like all the land about it-
A grand old forest waved its branches proudly o'er it : How the forest passed away, Never to burgeon here again,
Leaving open to the day This broad and level plain,
Need we seek for causes higher
Than the whirlwind and the fire?
But see ! o'er all the extended plain,
See the yellow, waving grain :
And the sturdy, hardy yeomen, Like inexorable foemen, How they sweep it! How they reap it ! How, with every kind of engine That the busy brain has fashioned, They attack it in their fury Like a host of foes impassioned!
Here, a band of strong cradlers, with regular sweep;
See how, like a cadence, the motion they keep :
The long swath grows behind them, the grain sinks before, Ob, the band of strong cradlers ! what art can do more? And here come the busy binders ; How they toil and struggle after : No time for merry song, No time for idle laughter :
With ready rake and nimble fingers They tie the stately sheaf; Ill luck to him that lingers, Little hope of near relief.
But Hark ! the rattling "Reaper;"
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Here it comes with noisy din, And the grain sinks before it Like good intentions before sin ! One rides upon the Reaper Waving oft the Reaper's wand, And every pass he makes Lays a sheaf upon the land. Now, now, O busy binders ! Now bind with might and main, For the ground must all be cleared Ere the Reaper comes again. Thus in ever lessening circles Round and round the field they go, Nor must the weary, panting horses Yield a jot to failing forces Nor slacken to a pace more alow. 0, band of strong cradlers, with regular sweep; Your vocation is gone; - 'tis the Reaper must reap. Now ever as the fields are shorn, And studded thick with shocks of corn, Comes and goes the laboring wain, Groaning 'neath the loaded grain; While with heedful care, alone, The stacker builds the lofty cone; Until complete, the tapering stack Defies the tempest and the rack.
But yonder, lo ! what huge machine ? Drawn by steeds at least sixteen : Two by two in lengthened line With even step their strength combine : Four mounted drivers guide their course And win from each an equal force.
Now they turn the hither corner, And from the Island near How the echoes of its music Strikes shrill upon the ear ! What does the noisy monster Among the waving grain ? Here, step upon the platform Where you can see it plain :
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A sack hangs at the hopper And a steady stream runs in; And the tyer must tie nimbly To be in time again. See you what the mighty "Harvester" Does among the grain ? How, with wide, majestic tread, Ever feeding, never fed, It moves along the plain ; A¡waving field before it And stubble all behind; The wheat given to the sack, The chaff given to the wind!
0, Prairie Ronde at Harvest time; Is it not a merry place ? And less so may it never be Through right and Heaven's grace! May its peaceful fields and happy homes Remain forever, far From the proud oppressor's step And the iron hoof of war : But yearly be the strife renewed O'er all the outstretched plain, With all the various enginery Upon the yellow grain."
Such is the song that greets the harvest morn Where smiling Plenty fills her golden horn : o may we see, throughout this pleasant land, The rich, ripe fruits of Freedom's toiling hand.
ERRATTA .- On page 78, read 27.000 acres in Prairie Ronde, instead of "2,700 acres " as printed. On page 81, speaking of the removal of the Indians, read 1840, instead of 1842.
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CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
On the 28th, of April, 1844, a Congregational Church was organized by Rev. John S. Kidder, who had commenced his labors here Oct. 21st, 1843. The Church consisted of 10 mem- bers. Solomon Grant and Albert Dwelley were chosen Dea- cons. Before the year closed the church numbered 25 members. For a time they held their services in the school house; and then obtained the use of the hall in the public house, where they remained till it burned down.
Rev. Mr. Kidder left in the Fall of 1846. For some time the Church seems to have been without a minister; but finally, Rev. Mr. Hollis Russell was secured.
On the 21st of April, 1849, the Church changed its form of government to Presbyterian. It then consisted of 30 members, but soon after received an accession of about 25 more. Daniel C. Briggs and Anthony Styles were chosen Elders, and soon after J. F. Murray and John Gault, and James Bates, Deacon. In 1850, they built a very comfortable house of worship.
Rev. Mr. Russel died in August, 1850. His successors have been-
Rev. Albert L. Payson, from Jan., 1851, to Jan., 1856.
Rev. Seth Smalley, from April, 1856, to Nov., 1857.
Rev. Preston Taylor, from Jan., 1858, to June, 1831. Rev. Martin Post, from Sept., 1861, to Sept., 1865.
Rev. E. J. Stewart, from Jan., 1866, to Aug., 1866. Rev. Wm. G. Hubbard, since March, 1867.
The present officers are: Elders, Alexander McColl, Enos Miller, and Franklin Dentler. Deacon, James Bates. Trustees
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of the Society, Wm. H. Patton, Daniel Struble and David Woodruff. The last annual report presents the following : Present membership, 29; Sunday School, 75. Benevolent contributions, $87.00. Congregational expenses, $1,643.00.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first organization of the Church was on what is called Gourd Neck Prairie, in the year, 1840 by a local preacher living there by the name of A. J. Eldred, and early in the Spring of 1841; a class was formed in the village of Schoolcraft by a brother Shaw ( given name not known ) who was, at that time, preacher in charge. The class consisted of nine members. In 1851, the Rev. S. Clements, who was the pastor then, built the Church which now stands here. At present the Society is in quite a flourishing condition. Present membership. 83. Num- ber in Sunday School, 100; number of teachers, 12; Superinten- dent of S. School, Thomas Griffiths.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
The First Baptist Church of Prairie Ronde, Michigan, was organized May 4th, 1839. A house of worship was erected in 1851. Present number of communicants, 38; present number of Sunday School pupils, 50. Its pastors-in the order below giv- en-have been: William Taylor, A. A. Ellis, H. S. Fish, R. R. Prentice, H. M . Jones, J. L. McCloud, A. M. Buck, E G. Wood. John Booth, and A. L. Vail.
ODD FELLOWS.
Prairie Ronde Lodge No. 15, was instituted July 6th, 1846. by D. G. M., A. J. Clark, assisted by P. G. Goodman, Selkrig, Kendall, D. S. Walbridge and Joseph Miller.
CHARTER MEMBERS .- A. H. Scott, E. L. Brown, Jonas Allen, D. L. Kimberly, S. S. Cobb, Wm. Stokes, Oliver Eldred, F. W. Hatch, Charles Henry, R. Russell, George Rowley, Charles Sellick.
FIRST OFFICERS .- E. L. Brown, N. G .; D. L. Kimberly, V. G .; A. H. Scott, Secy .; Jonas Allen, Treas .; S. S. Cobb, P. S.
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PRESENT OFFICERS .- C. C. Gingles, N. G .; G. R, James, V. G .; T. Tweedy, Secy .; Peter Oman, Treas .; William Reaser, P. S. Present membership, 75. Meetings are held every Saturday evening, in Odd Fellows' Hall, on Grand Street.
GOOD TEMPLARS.
Schoolcraft Lodge, No. 388, was instituted May 29th, 1866, with 45 Charter Members, and the following Officers :-
Rev. J. D. Bornham, W. C. T .; S. Fisher, W. V. T .; Wm. Fisher, W. F. S .; Wm. H. Fox, W. S .; Rev. A. A. Dunton, W. C .; J. H. Justus, W. M .; G. H. Justus, W. A. M .; Elizah Vickery, W. T .; S. B. Fox, W. A. S .; Mattie Allen, R. H. S .; Jen- nie Dyckman, L. H. S.
PRESENT OFFICERS .- Wm. B. Tyler, W. C. T .; Hattie Myers, W. V. T .; P. R. Baldy, W. S .; Helen Underwood, W. T .; Frank Dentler, W. M .; Emma Purdy, W. I. G .; Juliett Purdy, W. R. H. S .; Lillie Nichols, W. L. H. S .; Rev. William Rice, W. C .; Rebecca Bogardis, W. A. S .; Horton Langdon, W. F. S .; Carrie Hatch, W. D. M .; David Stuart, W. O. G .; Thomas Griffiths, Lodge Dept .; Hatty Myers, Organist. Present number of mem- bers 151. Meet every Tuesday evening, in Odd Fellows' Hall, on Grand Street.
MASONIC.
There is one Lodge in Schoolcraft. It is called "Schoolcraft Lodge No. 118." The Charter Members were: R. A. Rays, W. M .; W. H. Fox, S. W .; C. Ousterhout, J. W .; J. Earl, Sec .; E. K. Purdy, Treas .; J. W. Baker, S. D .; B. Burden, J. D .; Wm. Dickinson (deceased), Tyler. O. R. Hatch was the first person initiated.
Since the formation of the Lodge, the following named per- sons have been elected and presided as W. M .: R. A. Rays, J. W. Baker, J. Struble, D. Duncan Jr., and C. F. Wheeler. On the 17th of December, 1866, 14 members were demitted for the purpose of forming Brady Lodge.
The Chapter is now in a flourishing condition, and there is much interest now manifested in the prosperity of the Lodge, and its condition is as prosperous as can be desired.
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COMSTOCK.
The township of Comstock, one of the richest and most productive provinces of the County was, also, one of the first to attract the attention of the carliest pioneers. It lies on both sides of the Kalamazoo river which meanders through nearly the centre of the township, with here and there a bend to the southward. One of the handsomest prairies in the County lies just west of the pretty village of Galesburg and north of the river, embracing about 1,000 acres. North of the village and prairie is a range of hills composed of opening lands, extending east and west across the township and north to the Richland line. In fact, this bluff begins to show itself boldly at Augus- ta, at the distance of about half a mile from the river, and ends at the edge of the river in the village of Kalamazoo, or rather, we should say, takes an abrupt turn to the northward and fol- lows the fortunes of that beautiful stream. A similar elevation commences near the east part of the township on the south side of the river. These hills are the steps to the splendid table lands that rise from the narrow river bottoms and are a charac- teristic feature of the surface of the county, most of the land be- ing high and arable. This prairie, that lies upon the margin of the river, is almost perfectly level, and is divided among a num- ber of farmers, who justly rank among the best, most thorough and intelligent in the county. There is scarcely any poor land within the township, and a large proportion of the soil is under cultivation.
The township of Comstock was first surveyed in January, 1827, by Robert M. Clark, Jr., and designated as township num- ber 2 south, of range 10 west. About the same time all the towns within this and adjoining counties were surveyed and numbered, Schoolcraft and other southern towns being surveyed
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in the summer of 1826 by John Mullet, one of the co-laborers of Lucius Lyon in this early field of public service. The first set- tler in the town was William Tolland, who came to the prairie in the fall of 1829; but, while that beautiful and fertile spot has ever since been called his prairie, it does not appear that he ever acquired title to a rod of it, though he lived there several years. Early in the following year, Nathaniel Mathews, Ralph Tuttle, Sherman Cummings, George Townsend, Caleb Eldred, Samuel Percival, Lovell and Hiram Moore, Leland Lane, Linus Ellison and William Harris arrived. Land was taken up in 1830 by Mr. Harris and by a Major G. Van Dwyer, the latter entering the west half of the south-west quarter of section 13, and the for- mer taking up the same description upon section 17. In 1831, entries of land were made by H. H. Comstock ( very exten- sively ), Caleb Eldred, T. W. Merrill, Mumford Eldred, Stephen Eldred, Leland Lane, and others. Mr. Lane first settled on what is now known as the Dillenbeck farm; Nathaniel Math. ews, on the south-east quarter of the south-east quarter of sec- tion 13; Ralph Tuttle, on the east half of the south-west quar- ter of section 13; Sherman Cummings, on the east half of the south-east quarter, and George Townsend on the west half of the south-east quarter of section 14; Nathan Cothren, on the south half of the south east quarter of section 13. H. H. Com- stock, Caleb Eldred, Samuel Percival and others settled where the village of Comstock stands. Roswell Ransom and Cyrus Lovell were among those who came in 1831. William Earl came in 1832. In 1833, Seaman, Bristol, Charles Galligan, Ly- man Tubbs, George Wheeler, Joseph Flanders, Jesse Spring- stead, Hugh Shafter, Ezra Rice Solomon Cuykendall, James Burnett, and, I think, Harvey Keith, Martin Turner, and a few others, arrived.
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