USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > Past and present of Shiawassee County, Michigan, historically; with biographical sketches > Part 22
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The village of Durand was organized by an act of the legislature, approved on the 7th day of February, 1887, and the popula- tion at that time was about two hundred; the village limits were about the same as now, a square mile, with the center of the village as a center. The first village election was held February 7, 1887, at which sixty- four votes were cast.
But little growth was made between that time and 1895, when the division of the Ann Arbor Railroad was removed here from Owosso and the town enjoyed a "boom" and
was built up rapidly. To-day it shows a population of about three thousand. The Ann Arbor division was returned to Owosso in December, 1904, but Durand shows to-day no decrease in population or business com- pared with the year 1904, when the division was here. The town's chief feeder of busi- ness is the Grand Trunk Railroad, with its main line and branches and the interests of that road materially add to local property and prosperity.
Durand has a municipal electric light and water-works plant; good sewerage system; fine cement sidewalks, covering almost the en- tire town; Congregational, Catholic, Metho- dist, Free Methodist, and Baptist churches ; high school and a ward school; Masonic Tem- ple ; two banks, with ample capital; a cream- ery and other industries; and it should be mentioned that the Grand Trunk Railroad has erected here one of the finest union de- pots in the state. The town supports a paid fire department, with a metropolitan ap- paratus ; employs a day marshal and a night- watchman, and also gives a contract yearly for the scavenger work, which tends to keep the town healthy. The business houses are substantial, while an elevator and flouring mill help draw the farming trade. The Na- tional Grocery Company has located here one of its largest houses, on account of the un- excelled shipping facilities.
The usual number of fraternal societies are to be found here, among them being a Ma- sonic lodge and chapter and Eastern Star chapter, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, Knights of Pythias and Rath- burn Sisters, Maccabees, post of the Grand Army of the Republic and Woman's Relief Corps and other orders, besides literary clubs.
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The Durand Express, edited by M. L. Izor & Son, is one of the best weekly news- papers in the county. The Express has a complete equipment for newspaper and job work.
The average citizen of this village "points with pride" to its rapid development from a lumber camp to the place it now occupies in county affairs. The growth was not of the mushroom nature, to easily decay, but is well established and on a firm basis and it is be- lieved will not only be permanent but that a greater degree of prosperity is in store for this community.
Following are the officers of the village: President, C. G. Bates ; clerk, Fred. L. Eld- ridge; treasurer, F. M. Hutchinson ; assessor, F. H. Potter ; trustees, R. A. McNamee, J. L. Van Alstine, William McCurdie, P. Hogan, O. A. Oliver, William H. Putnam.
WOODHULL TOWNSHIP
The township of Woodhull at the time of its organization embraced, in addition to its present territory, the township of Sciota, which was set off from it in February, 1842. It presents broken and upright ridges, and originally had some low and swampy land. When first settled there were heavily wooded tracts surrounding more open spaces. The Looking Glass river flows through the north- ern part and Vermilion creek crosses the southern portion, the two furnishing excellent draining facilities for the township.
The township was named in honor of Joseph Woodhull and family, who were its earliest settlers. On the first day of Novem- ber, 1836, Joseph Woodhull's two sons, John and Josephus, reached the little log cabin known as Laing's Tavern, on the Grand
River road. It was a mere shanty of logs, without floor other than the ground, with no chimney save a hole in the roof, while stones set up in one corner served as a fire- place. Here they met a professional "land- looker" named Johnson, whom they employed as a guide. With him they visited the north- ern part of the township of Woodhull and selected certain portions of sections 4 and 9, of which they took descriptions. Hastening to Detroit, they learned that they had been preceded by a gentleman who had purchased from their guide the minutes of the same land. They were finally able to buy him off for twenty dollars, and thus secured the land- they desired. These "land-sharks," it ap- pears, followed close on the heels of the gov- ernment surveyors, and, in that new land of hardships, dangers, and privations, preyed on whatever victims came in their way.
John Woodhull entered the northeast quar- ter of section 9. Josephus entered two hun- dred and forty acres of section 4. They then returned to the frontier with two teams and a supply of provisions, implements and tools for building a house. They were accom- panied by William Hildreth, a young man in the employ of .Josephus Woodhull. These two built the first house in the township, while John Woodhull returned to Wayne county for the rest of the family. The house was built entirely of logs, except the door, which was made of lumber from a dry-goods box brought from the state of New York. The house stood on the north part of the east half of section 4. Between Christmas and New Year's John Woodhull returned, bringing his parents and sister, his wife and three children. The settlement at this time, therefore, consisted of ten persons.
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The winter of 1836-7 was long and severe, and prices of provisions and feed for the stock were very high. In the spring Josephus Woodhull bought a load of potatoes, which he had to bring from Brighton, in Livingston county. He also procured wheat, at the same place, in the fall of 1837, and sowed the first field sown in the township. Joseph Woodhull, the father, died in 1840, his wife surviving until 1859. John Woodhull died in 1855. Josephus Woodhull, who was a bachelor when he came to Michigan, mar- ried Phoebe Ann Laing, whose parents were among the founders of Laingsburg.
In the early spring of 1837 Benjamin Le- witt and Abram Schermerhorn, with their families, came to Woodhull. Together they purchased nearly all of section 5. In 1840 Mr. Lewitt's mother, his three brothers and two sisters came to the township. The mother died soon afterwards and the others moved away, part of the family returning to their former home in England. Some time in the same year Philander T. Maine, a surveyor, came into the neighborhood, and he later married Miss Viana Woodhull. In the fall several families located across the line in Sciota, on section 32, Henry Buell and Oliver B. Westcott being among the num- ber.
Francis F. Mann came to the township in October, 1837. In the following December, having business at Ypsilanti, he started for that place with a yoke of oxen and a grist of buckwheat. On the way he left his grain at a mill in Hamburg, Livingston county, expecting it to be ready for him on his re- turn. In the meantime the mill became blocked with ice, and he proceeded to the mills at Shiawasseetown, where he waited
two nights and one day for his grist, arriv- ing home after eight days of absence. Jo- sephus Woodhull had a similar experience when' he and his sister, with two yoke of oxen and a wagon-load of provisions, were nine days in coming from Wayne county to Woodhull.
John Graham came to Woodhull in Feb- ruary, 1838, and located four hundred and eighty acres, half of which was for his brother, Samuel Graham, who soon followed him. This land was on sections 10 and 15, near the lakes which were afterward known by their name, Graham lakes. Samuel Gra- ham was a carpenter, and built for Josephus Woodhull the first frame building in the township. Perry Parshall was another set- tler of 1838, having located on section 4. He died in 1868. His son Harrison after- ward lived on the homestead until his death.
In the fall of 1838 Patrick Corcoran ar- rived in Woodhull, having come from Ire- land with his wife and their seven children. He located a large tract of land, on sections 32 and 33, living there the remainder of his life. A number of his descendants are still among the well known residents of the town- ship. Among the settlers of 1840 were Wil- liam Hammond, who located on section 12; Reuben Place, who was a woodmaker of some skill, and suppled the early settlers with chairs; E. Tooker, who settled on sec- tion 29; and S. Moon, on section 21.
A large portion of the land in Woodhull was held by speculators for a number of years, and this retarded the settlement of the township considerably. The most serious inconvenience known to the earlier settlers was the distance they were compelled to travel for provisions and repairs. When the
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iron implements so necessary in clearing new land became broken they would have to be carried eight or ten miles to a blacksmith shop. In the spring of 1839 Josephus Wood- hull purchased a bellows and a kit of tools and opened a shop in a little cabin on his farm, by which a most serious want was supplied. A market for produce, after the home demand had been supplied, was almost out of the question, trading of any amount having to be done at Ann Arbor or Detroit,- a trip with an ox team occupying from ten to fifteen days, according to the condition of the roads.
The summer of 1840 was known for many years as the "sickly season." During the month of August a majority of the people in the settlement were sick with bilious fever. Only one man was able to go from house to house, and he acted as nurse for the whole neighborhood. This was Ralph Williams, who lived north of the Sciota line.
Several roads were established in the summer of 1838. The first passed along the northern line of sections 15 and 16; one led to Laingsburg, and another ran south through the western part of the township.
In the fall of 1838 the inhabitants of the northwestern corner of the township joined with their neighbors in Sciota and the town- ships of Bath and Victor, in Clinton county, in establishing a school. They made a bee and built a school house near the west boun- dary line of section 5, in Woodhull. The first teacher was Oliver B. Westcott, who re- ceived ten dollars a month and boarded him-
self, and his pupils were from the four town- ships. The money was paid by the parents of the pupils, no "school money" yet having been collected by taxation. The first frame school house was built in 1842. Among the earliest teachers were Martha Spicer, Eliza- beth Woodhull and Mary J. Hill.
A number of church societies were formed at early dates, but not until 1879 was a church building erected. This was built by the Methodist society, at a cost of ten hun- dred and fifty dollars. At the site of this church F. F. Mann and Samuel Carpenter donated one and one-half acres of land for a cemetery.
Woodhull was erected a separate township April 2, 1838. The first town meeting was held at the house of Peter Laing, Scotia being then a part of the township. The Woodhull brothers were each chosen super- visor a number of times. It is probable, however, that J. G. Marsh, a venerable resi- dent of Shaftsburg, has held that office oftener than any other citizen, he having been elected from six to eleven times in suc- cession.
Among those who settled in Woodhull in the '40s was John P. Shaft, who came about 1846, having previously lived several years in Perry, and who founded the village of Shaftsburg. Andrew J. Van Riper, with his family, located here in 1848, having pur- chased four hundred and eighty acres of government land. In this township he lived to a ripe old age and made a valuable record as a citizen.
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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY
CITY OF CORUNNA
The city of Corunna owes its location to the judgment of three men who probably never were residents of Shiawassee county. They were John Greenfield and Colonel Garry Spencer, of Detroit, and Samuel Ax- ford, of Macomb county; and their responsi- bility in the matter was due to their appoint- ment, by Governor Mason, as commissioners to locate a county site for the county of Shia- wassee, the one previously established at Byron having been vacated by act of the legislature.
While examining different locations the commissioners made their headquarters at the Williams trading post, since known as the Exchange. After three days spent in visiting points proposed for the new seat of justice, the commissioners decided upon the present site, and on April 1, 1836, filed their report locating the county site on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 28, in township 7 north, of range 3 east. Proc- lamation was issued by the Governor con- firming the location, July 1, 1836.
The land in section 28 had previously been entered. Most of it was held by parties liv- ing in Detroit, who, finding themselves pro- prietors of the newly established county site, formed an association which they called the Shiawassee County Seat Company, its pur- pose being "to secure the permanent estab- lishment of the county seat at Corunna and to promote the growth and settlement of a village at that place." The company was or- ganized in August, 1836, and was composed of six men. Prominent among its members was Alexander McArthur, who represented
the company on the scene of its proposed activities. The first thing accomplished was the building of a log house to be occupied as a residence by the company's agents. This was the first building in Corunna and stood on the site of a brick house which is now owned by Mrs. Margaret Cross, but which was for many years the home of Andrew Huggins, once known throughout the county as a skilful engineer and surveyor.
The first agent sent here by the company was Captain John Davids. He remained in its employ only a year and then purchased a farm on section 25, Caledonia township, where he made his home until his death, in 1869.
Captain David's successor was Joel L. Ancrim, a civil engineer, whose official career was likewise brief. Mr. McArthur, being unfortunate in securing agents to take charge of the company's affairs, determined himself to remain in that capacity. In 1838 he be- came permanently identified with the locality as a resident. In that year he built a saw mill, which was one of the essentials to the building industry of the new community and which cut most of the timber used in the vicinity. A number of houses were erected the following year and settlers began to come in attracted by the advertisements of the County Seat Company.
Stephen Hawkins was a settler of that year. He was a carpenter by trade and found plenty of employment in the new settlement and the neighboring village of Owosso. He lived several years in Corunna, but ultimately removed to a farm on section 26, in Cale-
DOPUNNA JOURNAL
SHIAWASSEE AVENUE, LOOKING NORTH, CORUNNA
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donia, which he had entered in 1838 and on which he lived until his death, in 1885. S. Z. Kinyon was among those who settled in the village in 1839. He was married in 1841 to Miss Cynthia M. Day, theirs being the first wedding celebrated in the village.
The village of Corunna was first platted June 2, 1837, by three trustees of the County Seat Company. The plat was described as the west part of the northeast fractional quarter of section 28. A block of land three hundred feet square, designated on the re- corded plat as the "Public Square," was offered by the company as a donation to the county of Shiawassee, and this was unan- imously accepted by the board of commis- sioners, October 7, 1839. A contract was made by the board with Stephen Hawkins for the erection of a building for county offices. The sum to be paid was three hundred and eighty two dollars and fifty cents. The build- ing was about twenty by thirty feet in size, was built of wood and situated near the northwest corner of the square.
Although the county seat had been located at Corunna since April, 1836, no public buildings had previously been erected and no others were built until several years after- ward. A legislative act, approved March 25, 1840, designated Shiawasseetown as the place in which the circuit court should be held until suitable buildings at the county seat were provided for the accommodation of the courts. Thereafter buildings at Corunna were rented for this purpose, but the county commissioners continued to hold their meet- ings at the hotel of Lucius W. Beach, at Shiawasseetown, until 1842. The board of supervisors then met and resumed the func-
tions which for three years had been vested in the board of commissioners.
The history of Corunna from that time is inseparably connected with the history of the county government and of the different court houses erected. The first small frame building, when replaced by a more substan- tial one, was sold to the Baptist church, be- ing used first as a house of worship and later as a parsonage. It was moved to a point south of the present church building, where it is still standing.
In 1851 a contract was let to George O. Bachman for the building of a brick court house forty by sixty feet in dimensions, two stories high. This was finished two years later and occupied by the county officials. In 1865 a smaller, fire-proof building was erected in the court-house square to be used as offices by the county treasurer and register of deeds. These buildings in time became dilapidated and inadequate to the require- . ments of the county's growing business, and after several years' agitation of the subject the county, in 1903, voted to erect a new court house. The antiquated buildings were torn down and on their site was erected a beautiful structure of Bedford stone, one hundred and eighteen feet long by eighty- six feet wide, and three stories in height. The corner stone was laid May 4, 1904, by the grand officers of the Masonic grand lodge of Michigan, in the presence of thousands of people who had gathered to witness the im- pressive ceremonies. The building was com- pleted and occupied by the county officials in January, 1906.
By the erection of a court house costing one hundred and forty thousand dollars and designed to last a hundred years, was set-
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CORUNNA JOURNAL
MCCURDY PARK, ENTRANCE TO LAGOON
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tled definitely the long existing feud between Corunna and Owosso over the ultimate loca- tion of the county seat. The larger city had sought for many years to have it finally es- tablished within its own boundaries, and Corunna had stoutly maintained its rights through the long controversy. In 1882 Co- runna had practically cemented its claim upon the site chosen in the wilderness by having constructed in the court-house square a handsome building, of brick and stone, which it presented to the county to be used as a jail and sheriff's residence. It is a pleasure to record that the old "public square" is now adorned with structures which are a credit to the county and an ornament to the city with whose fortunes they will be identified for years to come. The primary purpose of the County Seat Company-"to secure the permanent establishment of the county seat at Corunna"-was at last ful- filled, though just seventy years had been re- quired for its accomplishment.
The year following that in which the county made its initial attempt at building a court house, 1840, a brick store was erected by Alexander McArthur on the site of the one recently occupied by G. H. Bilhimer & Company. Harlow Beach, who came from Pontiac, was Mr. McArthur's partner in various mercantile enterprises. In later years the store was occupied by Joseph Hulick. Among the settlers who came about this time were Isaac and Lemuel Castle, the latter of whom shortly removed to Bennington, where he became prominent in township affairs.
In many of the township records of lands "entered from the government" or purchased from the state of Michigan, appears repeat- edly the following name and address :
"Trumbull Cary, Genesee county, New York." This land-owner's extensive hold- ings were in charge of an agent, E. C. Kim- berly, who located in Corunna in 1840 and whose name became inseparably linked with land speculations throughout the county. Robert Mclaughlin also came from western New York about this time and actively en- gaged in business, remaining here until his death, at an advanced age.
Andrew and Luke H. Parsons were among the early residents of the village. The date of their arrival is not known, though it was probably 1837, as Andrew was one of the partners who in that year bought the Ex- change of the Williams brothers upon the latter's abandonment of the trading post at that point. Both Andrew Parsons and his brother were engaged in the practice of law. Andrew was Shiawassee's first county clerk. He was later elected lieutenant governor of the state, and served as acting governor the two years preceding his death, in 1855, the governor having been appointed to a place in the cabinet of President Pierce. Luke H. Parsons also held many important county offices. He died in 1862.
Among the settlers of the year 1841 were Clement Johnson, Gerry Tuttle, and Dorus Morton, the last named being the mason who constructed the earliest brick buildings in the village. Joseph Clement arrived in 1842 and opened a blacksmith shop. S. W. Cooper, a millwright, came the same year, and super- intended the construction of a saw mill for McArthur & Thompson, and of a flour mill, in 1843, for McArthur & Castle.
By the year 1845 Corunna had a popula- tion of several hundred. Its prestige as the county seat had greatly enhanced its im-
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CORUNNA JOURNAL
MCCURDY PARK-RESIDENCE OF HON. HUGH MCCURDY-CASINO IN DISTANCE
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portance among the villages of the county. Several mills in full operation and two hotels gave the place a decided appearance of busi- ness activity. Religious services were con- ducted by a resident clergyman of the Bap- tist faith, Rev. Mr. Gilbert, a gentleman of much culture. A school house had been erected in 1842. A foundry had been built about the same time and was operated by Pettibone Brothers. In 1844 Pliny Lyman established a woolen mill, in which cloths of common grade were manufactured.
John M. Fraser came to the village about this time, and also John Derr, who made Corunna his home until his death, about thirty years later. G. O. Bachman engaged in the practice of law, but afterward studied theology and became rector of the Episcopal church. Dr. Pierce, a Philadelphian, was the first physician to settle herc. Dr. E., M. Bacon came in 1846 and was actively en- gaged in the practice of his profession until liis death, in 1869. Dr. Harder, an early settler of Newberg, was elected county treas- urer in 1846 and practiced in the village while serving in that office.
Morris Jackson, the father of Charles Jack- son, of Owosso, came to Shiawassee in 1835 and, in 1849, moved to Corunna, where he opened a wagon shop. He was well known among the early musicians of the county.
Curtis J. Gale came from Ingham county in 1846, having previously emigrated from New York city to Michigan. He remained a resident until his death and few men were more prominently connected with the public life of the city. He was postmaster six years and filled many other offices. In 1859 he was elected justice of the peace, which office
he held almost continuously until his death, in June, 1900.
Hiram Smith, of Mexico, New York, lo- cated in the village in 1849. He was en- gaged in different business enterprises in the city until his death, in 1879. For a number of years he kept a hotel, and the business has been continued by his son, Clark D. Smith, who is one of the most popular land- lords in central Michigan. Mr. Smith is also prominent in county affairs and, as the oldest living ex-sheriff, had the honor of convening court at the opening of the first term held in the new court house, in January, 1906.
James B. Wheeler, a son of one of the earliest settlers in the township of New Haven, came to Corunna in 1850 and, with the exception of a few years spent in Cali- fornia, was a resident of the city until about 1890, when he removed to Oklahoma terri- tory, where he is still living.
Hugh McCurdy removed from Oakland county to Corunna in 1855 and engaged in the practice of law, of which profession he was one of the leading representatives in the county until his retirement, in recent years. He has served in many public offices and yet found leisure to devote to the interests of the city of his adoption. He has been the lead- ing spirit in the organization of the various Masonic bodies in the city and has been hon- ored with the highest offices in the gift of the national grand lodge of the fraternity. One of his latest acts in the interest of the city was the presentation of the beautiful grounds surrounding his home to be used as a park, which is now one of Corunna's chief attractions.
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