USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 103
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"One Sabbath as the family were about to get themselves in readiness for church, by some 111- fortunate move one of their fat hogs was run off the bridge leading from the upper floor of the barn to the bank, and in the fall the hog's back was broken. This casualty necessitated the im- mediate butchering of the porker 'to save his bacon.' That day after church the minister (Mr. Tucker ) accompanied the family home. On their arrival the suspended butchered hog caught the eye of Mr. Tucker, who remarked: 'That is a fine hog, Mr. Sears.' 'Yes,' said Uncle Peter, `you probably noticed we were late at church, and there you see the reason of the delay.' 'Why, Brother Sears, you don't butcher on the Sabbath, do you?' 'You know but little about it.' 'Well, how was it?' 'You know but little about it.' 'Will you not then tell us about it?' .You know but little about it.' And so the minister could get but little or no informa- tion upon the subject from that source, and was obliged to interview some of the other members of the family to get the facts. As a husband and father his devotion and attachment to his family were not excelled, so far as I know, by any of his fellow pioneers. As a citizen his sympathies were given to such measures as in his judgment tended to promote the greatest public good. One very noticeable feature in his intercourse with the pub- lic was his abhorrence of clannishness and that class of society which would fain set itself up as exclusive and pretentious.
"And what shall be said of Mrs. Sears? for it
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does seem that if ever there was any woman in all the township of whom honorable mention should be made, Mrs. Sears was one of them. The thought has often come to mind that among the highest encomiums ever produced on any one of our race was that of our Savior's, respecting one of the Marys, when He said of her. 'She hath done what she could.' And when I saw this sentence. as it is inscribed on the tombstone of Mrs. C. G. Clark, my heart went out in quick sympathy and responded in emphatic approval of the propriety of employing this sentiment in giving expression to the higher emotions of our nature as we pay the tribute of respect to the memory of those we love, and can with so much truthfulness use these words in remembrance of the steadfast devotion and quiet, unostentatious Christian lives of such women as Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Boyden and Mrs. Sears. In the summer of 1827 and '28 and before there were regular religious meetings in the township. it was the practice of Mrs. Sears and Mrs. Boyden to meet weekly at a place in the hazel brush, about midway between their respec- tive houses, to pray. What constituted their first desires may well be imagined when we remember that their husbands were at that time irreligious men. And these wives and mothers, with large families of children and unchristian husbands, in a new and sparsely settled country, and without a pastor, had courage to call into activity their best religious faculties ; and well and faithfully did they do their work.
"Sterns Kimberly came in the year 1827. He was a young man and unmarried at the time of his coming to the township. Whilst making for himself a good farm and home, surrounded by all the desirable features and appliances of a farmer's home. he built up for himself also a character and reputation for probity and truth- fulness attained to by few. As early as the year 1834. which was the second year of the organiza- tion of the township, and while Mr. Kimberley was yet quite a young man, he was elected super- visor by twenty-eight majority over Thomas Barber, the whole number of votes cast in the township being only forty-eight. Mr. Kimberley was elected not only to the office of supervisor a number of times subsequently, but also filled
many other offices and positions of trust in so- ciety, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his fellow citizens. He was a man of deeds more than a man of words. His judgment respecting the affairs and relations of life was relied upon most implicitly. Mr. M. Kenny once told the writer that whenever he had Mr. Kimberley as- sociated with him in the settlement of any matter he felt sure that there was not much danger of going wrong.
"Ezra Fish also came to Webster in the year 1827, and for a few years took a somewhat prom- inent part in society. He taught school in the old log schoolhouse on the plain one winter. After a few years he left for some place west.
"Ira Seymour came with his family in the year 1827, and located the farm afterward owned by Alvah and Foster Litchfield. Mr. Seymour's family consisted mostly of daughters, most of them grown to womanhood ; and so very natu- rally here occurred the first wedding in the town- ship. The parties most interested in this wedding were Samuel W. Foster and Ruth Seymour. Mr. Foster built the first mills in the village of Scio. He subsequently built the first building for a mill at Cornwells, which old building is still in exist- ence. He was a man of good ability, great en- ergy, quite an inventive genius, but lacking con- centration and thoroughness. Mr. Seymour had two sons, Joseph and Laclaudius. Joseph died quite early in life. Laclaudius now lives in Penn- sylvania, and has been somewhat successful in the oil business. The daughters are much scat- tered.
"John Williams arrived in Ann Arbor April 8. 1828, having left Sempronius, Cayuga county, New York, on the 29th of March previous. The Erie canal not being open as yet that spring, he was obliged to travel to Buffalo with his own horses and wagons, bringing a load of such tools as he thought would be most useful on his ar- rival in the wilderness of Michigan. He brought with him his three oldest boys, viz .: Spencer. Charles and Jeremiah. He was also accompanied by John Chandler. Jeremiah Fuller and Henry Scadin, the first two of whom were old neigh- bors of his, and the latter his nephew. Consid- erable anxiety was entertained while on their way
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to Buffalo lest the lake navigation would not be open. On nearing Buffalo, however, the intelli- gence was received that the William Penn, one of the four steamboats then plying between Buffalo and Detroit and intermediate ports, was prepar- ing to make her first trip. Mr. W. and his party reached Buffalo just in time to take passage on her. So no time was lost, the party going aboard the night of their arrival in Buffalo. The boat was to start the next morning, and so she did. The engine was a high pressure, and such a ter- rific snorting noise as were made by the escape of the steam was anything but pleasant to those unaccustomed to steamboating. After getting fairly out into the lake a pretty strong headwind was encountered, and the boat being a rather short, clumsy concern, was tossed about at a rate fearful to those not used to the water. Stops were made at Dunkirk, Erie, Cleveland and San- dusky, and about night of the fourth day after leaving Buffalo. Detroit was reached and debark- ation effected before dark. The horses, on being landed on terra firma, found it difficult to accom- modate themselves to the solid ground. But spend- ing one night on land was sufficient to restore them to their equilibrium. Those who saw De- troit forty-eight years ago know what an insig- nificant town it was at that time. The popula- tion was largely French, and the habitations were mere huts. The next morning the party set out for Washtenaw county. The road from Detroit westward has so often been described that an - other account of it would be superfluous; so I shall only say that I fully agree with and ac- cept, with a little modification, what Schuyler Colfax said of it in his Fourth of July oration at Ypsilanti, 1874. viz .: That when he passed over the road from Detroit to Ypsilanti in the year 1824, there was only one mudhole and that was the whole way. The modification is this: There was in the spring of 1828 an alteration of mud- holes and causeways, the mud. however, greatly predominating in extent and plasticity. Two days' travel brought the party to Ann Arbor. A short distance from Ann Arbor Mr. Williams had two eighty-acre lots which were taken of Dor Kellogg in part payment for the half interest in a grist mill sold Mr. Kellogg in New York. These
lots Mr. Williams had never seen, so he made it his first business to see them, it being his in- tention in case they suited him and he could pur- chase more land adjoining, to do so and make farms for his boys. His property in New York consisted of a small farm and a half interest in a grist mill, built by himself and Hon. Charles Kellogg in 1824. This little property did very well so far as it went, but Mr. Williams had five boys, and he could not see how he could divide it among them, so he concluded ( as he often ex- pressed it), to pull up stakes and push out into a new country where there was more room, and where he hoped to co-operate with others in mak- ing the wilderness 'bud and blossom like the rose.' The first night spent in Washtenaw was spent in the house of Dr. Lord. The next day the land purchased of Mr. Kellogg was looked up and looked over and found to be unsuited to the object of Mr. Williams had in view. And then commenced the land-looking and prospecting for a tract that should in a measure at least fill the bill. The townships of Ann Arbor, Lodi, Scio. Lima, a portion of Dexter and the south part of Webster. were more or less looked over, and all this looking came to a consummation on section 27 in the township of Webster.
"Webster had one doctor, as early as 1827- Dr. Nichols-who lived on the south bank of the Huron, in what is now the village of Dexter. Dr. Nichols practiced medicine throughout the region about Dexter, and with fair success. He was, as I remember him, a genial man, quite lo- quacious, full of anecdote, and very much in- clined to stay and talk after making his prescrip- tions and giving the necessary directions respect- ing his patients. He was, too, a good deer hun- ter, and loved the sport dearly, and spent so much time hunting during the fall season that consider- able complaint was sometimes made of hs tradi- ness in reaching his patients when called. But when he did come, all were glad to see him. The doctor long since passed, we trust, into that ‘bet- ter land,' where the inhabitants are never heard to say, 'I am sick.'
"Of lawyers we had two. But neither of them ever practiced his profession in Webster. Hon. S. W. Dexter engaged in milling and agricul-
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ture. Hon. Munnis Kenny gave his undivided attention to agriculture on his settlement in this state. The names and character of these men are well known in this county. These three men, Dr. Cyril Nichols, S. W. Dexter and M. Kenny, are the only men of the learned professions we ever had in Dexter, except the clergy.
"Rev. Charles G. Clark was the first and only resident minister in town for a period of nearly nineteen years. Mr. Clark came to Webster on November 27, 1829, and preached his first ser- mon in the town on the following Sabbath, which was on the 29th. But this was not the first min- isterial work in Webster. The first sermon ever preached was by Rev. William Page and at the house of Salmon H. Matthews, about midsum- mer. in the year 1827. Mr. Page was at the time ministering to the Presbyterian church in Ann Arbor, which church was constituted August 21. 1826. and was the first Christian church in Ann Arbor, and consisted of seventeen members. An Episcopal clergyman preached a few times at the house of Thomas Alexander, during the latter part of the year 1827. The settlers in the town in 1827, consisted of the families of Charles B. Taylor and S. W. Dexter, in the southwest cor- ner, and Thomas Alexander. Luther Boyden, Charles Starks, Israel Arms, l'eter Sears, Sal- mon H. Matthews, and Ira Seymour, in the southeast corner. The first minister of the Methi- odist Episcopal denomination was the Rev. Ben- jamin Cooper, who preached occasionally at the house of Charles Starks, during the fall of 1828. Mr. Cooper was appointed that year on Ann .\r- bor circuit. His successor, in the year 1829, was Rev. Leonard B. Gurley, who also held meetings occasionally at Mr. Starks'. In the year 1830. Revs. Henry Colclazer and Elijah H. Pilcher were stationed on the Ann Arbor circuit, and in the year 1831 Elder Pilcher had associated with him Ezekiel S. Gavitt. These all preached more or less regularly in Webster during the years 1830 and '31. And it is believed that it was in the year 1830 that the first Methodist class was formed.
"Those of us whose parents came to Michigan while we were yet quite young, severely felt, and shall continue to feel till the close of life, the
want of the early intellectual culture, now so easily obtained in this country, and so accessible in the east, from whence we came. But the early settlers made provision for the education of their children at as early a day as their circumstances and the sparsement of the settlement would per- mit. And it was quite a long time before schools became so general that all who were in great need of the advantages of them could be accommo- dated. The first schoolhouse was erected in the year 1830, on the south side of Boyden's plain. The first teacher who taught in this first school- house was Miss Mary Ann Sears (afterward Mrs. Abram Moe). Some of the subsequent teachers were Miss Nancy Parsons (afterward Mrs. Eman, and still later the wife of Prof. Nut- ting, who was principal of an academy in Lodi). Ezra Fish and Lewis D. Stowell. This school- house being for a long time the only one in the vicinity, accommodated a large district, some of the pupils living four miles away. The building served the double purpose of schoolhouse and meetinghouse for a number of years.
"The early ministers have already been no- ticed. The first church organization in the vicinity of Dexter, and which had its central point at Dexter, was constituted January 17, 1830. The meeting was held at the house of George Roberts who at that time lived on the town line road be- tween Webster and Scio. . This church was or- ganized under the direction of Rev. C. G. Clark, of whom mention has already been made. Mr. Clark was a missionary under appointment of the Home Missionary Society, and for several years received his support in part from said society. Being a Presbyterian, it was very natural that he should organize a church of that faith. This church, however, although Presbyterian, had an accommodative feature (somewhat common in new countries, I think), of allowing Congrega- tionalists their preference in the matter of disci- pline. The church consisted of the following members: Rufus Crossman, Lucy Crossman. Ann Epley, Aneath Lee. Lydia Williams, Mary Goodnoe. Temperance Roberts, Lucy Sears, Theodocia Boyden and Sarah Dwight.
"The first trustees were S. W. Dexter, John Williams, and Ira Seymour. And here allow me
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to relate a fact showing the strong prejudice in the minds of some men at that day, against the order of Freemasons. John Williams was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church of Moravia, New York ; and when he, with his wife, left their east- ern home, they took letters of admission and rec- ommendation. But Mr. Williams declined con- necting himself with the newly organized church, on account of the Freemason element in Mr. Crossman. Mr. Williams was a decided anti-Ma- son. He called Freemasonry 'the unfruitful works of darkness,' and grounded himself on the Scrip- ture injunction, 'have no fellowship therewith.'
"The next summer Mr. Clark went east, and was absent about four months ; during which time Bible reading ( with exposition of same to some extent ) was held alternately at the residences of John Williams and Munnis Kenny. These meet- ings were composed mainly of the families men- tioned( although open to others. The sparseness of the population limited the number that could attend. The manner of conducting these reading meetings was to arrange the attendants, parents and children, in chairs around the room, each be- ing provided with a testament. The reading com- menced with the parents, and continued around and around the circle for an hour and a half. Then an intermission, when the reading was re- sumed, and continued for another hour and a half-sometimes more, and sometimes less. Oc- casionally some of the older persons would make some comment or explanation. We children and youth depended on the older heads, and especially on Mr. Kenny, who was a collegian, to assist us in the pronunciation of the more difficult words and names. So these reading meetings, in addi- tion to their religious character, were an excel- lent school in which to learn to read the new test- ament, and compensated in some measure for the deprivation of the common school.
"In later days the thought of these early times has often come to mind, and how, when it was announced in our family one Sunday morning that we were to go to Mr. Kenny's to spend the Sabbath, we children washed up with unwonted vigor and care, made our toilet as best we could. and appointed one of our hired men (Cyrus Pierce), who was a good woodsman, a committee
of one to start off two or three hours in advance. to look out the best route across through the woods, and blaze the trees as a guide for the fam- ily group, who were in due time to follow. These meetings were kept up through the summer, and during their progress the new testament was read through several times.
"Upon the return of Rev. Mr. Clark, these meetings were discontinued. Mr. Clark held serv- ices each alternate Sabbath at Dexter ( generally at the house of Joseph Arnold), and at the log schoolhouse on Boyden's plain. The intervening Sabbaths in Webster were occupied by those early and devoted Methodist circuit preachers, Revs. E. H. Pilcher and Henry Colclazer. Dur- ing the winter 1832-3 a protracted or four days' meeting was held at the house of John Williams, his house being the only building in the vicinity of sufficient capacity for such a meeting. This extra religious effort resulted in the conversion of quite a number of persons ( the number is for- gotten ), who connected themselves with the church, and making quite an addition to the little band, and giving such strength to the Webster branch that a petition was soon presented to the church at Dexter for dismission, in order to form a new church. Said petition was granted, and on the 27th of January, 1834, the petitioners met at the house of Conrad Epley and organized what was the Presbyterian church of Webster, Mr. Clark officiating in the organization. This church continued to be Presbyterian until about the year 1858, when a change was made to Congrega- tional. December 1, 1834, a resolution was passed giving Rev. C. G. Clark a call to the pastorate. Mr. Clark accepting, invitations were given to the Presbyterian churches in Ann Arbor, Ypsi- lanti and Lodi to participate in the installation which took place April 30, 1835. Mr. Clark's pastoral relation continued until February 7. 1848.
"In bringing forward the facts and incidents connected with the erection of the Webster Con- gregational church edifice, I beg leave to intro- duce an extract from a letter written me by my brother-in-law, Moses Kingsley, of Kalamazoo. I do this because I think Mr. Kingsley's reminis- cences are better than any I could give. He says :
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'It is unnecessary to speak of the poverty of the few who constituted the pioneers of the township -- poverty only as the term is applicable to the ab- sence of ready money. Sturdy, rugged, earnest. young and middle aged men and women, with their fortunes and reputations to make-with but little beside what God and nature had furnished them --- with a determined will they leveled the forest, upturned the soil, and cast in the seed ; then watched and waited for its fruitage. But while providing for the wants of the outer man. they felt the necessity for the moral and spiritual culture which their migration to their new homes had in a great measure deprived them of. They cheerfully traveled on foot, or if fortunate to have a team and cart or sled, would place these conveniences in requisition, and all the families would go miles to meeting, taking a lunch and spending the Sabbath in the rude log school- house, sitting upon the hard slab seats, quite in contrast with the fashionable modern church with its luxurious, upholstered pews. The peo- ple were willing to labor for better conveniences, for of money they had comparatively little. Pledges were made to the extent of some five hundred dollars toward the building of the meet- ing house. Much of it of necessity must be in labor or material. Whitewood logs were bought and drawn from the timbered land of Salem to Foster's mill at Scio, and manufactured into lum- ber, sufficient to enclose and floor the structure. Timber for the frame was more easily obtained from the adjacent forest ; and in the spring of 1834 there was money enough left, after paying for the whitewood logs and their sawing, to hire a master carpenter to superintend the frame. And when the frame was upon its foundation the fi- mances were exhausted, and the frame remained uncovered during the following winter. In the spring of 1835 I proposed to the friends of the enterprise to go east and make an effort to ob- tain funds for completing the house. The propo- sition was approved and carried into effect. Vis- iting Dr. Cleaveland, then in Detroit, I procured letters of introduction to his friends in eastern Massachusetts, and after presenting the case in New York, went to Boston, Salem, Northhamp- ton, and other places of my former acquaintance,
and returned with over one hundred and sixty dollars ; and while in Boston I called on Daniel Webster, from whom I received one of my best donations, accompanying it with his antograph signature to the subscription paper, which I have yet in my possession. This gave a new impetus to the enterprise, and during the season the build- ing was enclosed and painted, and occupied with temporary seats, on a loose floor. until cold weather, and with no conveniences for warming. The meetings were held during the winter in the second story of my house. The year following the house was plastered, and better seats were provided by those who had the means to procure them.
"The Baptists organized a small church in the northeast corner of the town sometime about the year 1841. Rev. Mr. Tupper was the prime mover in this organization, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Keyes. Several Methodist families living in the vicinity attended and took part in a special reli- gious effort conducted by the ministers named, and not a little success attended these efforts. The meetings were well attended and. for a time, har- monious. Good will and true Christian fellow- ship prevailed. But fallibility has been a perad- ing element in our fallen humanity since the pro- genitors of our race, beguiled by the tempter. fell into disobedience. And so here in Webster this element of fallibility was not wanting. After a while demoninational dogmas were placed in the foreground, and so much stress put upon immer- sion, that a chill seemed to be creeping over the Methodist portion of the congregation, who, you know. always enjoy good warm times. And when the close communion view had been expa- tiated upon at, as some thought, at undue length. Brother Snyder could remain passive no longer under so much talk about water, and the pent-up emotions of his soul found relief, and burst forth with semi-volcanic power in the exclamation : 'Lord, baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire sent down from Heaven" Notwithstanding the outcropping of these demoninational proclivi- ties, their love of the work in which they were en- gaged was such that they would attend all the meetings, and would give and receive for the most part their good exhortations. Reference is
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here had to lay members. But if at any time the exhortation came from an exceptional source, and anyone objected to listening to it, such a one would retire from the room. This was an occa- sional occurrence, and, perhaps, not to be won- dered at, for the Gospel, it is said, is like a net cast into the sea, catching of every kind. So these fishers of men, Tupper and Keyes, caught 'Old Nick,' Nicholas Schoonhoven. And if any of my fellow pioneers desire to know more about Mr. N. Schoonhoven, you may find a somewhat extended account of his trials and shortcomings in the Washtenaw county circuit court records, for with the mention of just one incident, he will be dropped out of this history. Mr. Tupper lived in one of Mr. Schoonhoven's houses, and as Mr. T.'s salary was not liberal, he could not meet all the calls upon his purse, and when a settlement was made with Mr. S., he could not quite square up for the rent. 'Old Nick' was not to be put off. He told Mr. Tupper that he would take his coat, and when Mrs. Tupper heard this de- mand, and saw the transfer of the coat, she said 'Take my cloak also,' and the old skinflint took both.
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