USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 97
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"But although we have no other account of any elk having set foot in Northfield, many sportsmen found deer which were very abundant. The swails and willow swamps afforded good hiding places during the day. It was the habit of the deer to remain hidden until about one hour before sunset, when hunger would drive them out from their beds to feed. Then was the time for the wily huntsman to make ready for the sports of the evening. He proceeded to the hunting ground with the clear opening on one side and a thicket on the other, and either sat down to wait for the approach of deer, or walked cautiously over the ground without making the least noise, that he might approach the animal near enough for a shot before his approach was suspected. The morning practice of hunting was like the evening, but generally attended with better success. The
sportsman walked against the wind, as the deer was very sensitive to hearing and smelling, and many a fine carcass of venison he secured.
"Prairie chickens, partridges, quail, ducks and wild turkeys were abundant.
"It seemed as though the woods were full of wild honey. The first settler had plenty of honey the year round. A bee tree was cut one fall which contained more than one hundred pounds of honey. This tree was on the farm now owned by Anthony Burk.
"The lakes abounded with choice varieties of fish. There were no angle worms to be had in those days, the fisherman used for bait minnows cut in long strips and put on the fish hook. For pickerel, pike and black bass different bait was required, such as red flannel and deer's hair at- tached on the hook and tied to a trolling line. The sportsman when ready for a voyage around the lake had to look up a boat which was usually a dugout or a birch bark canoe which required a great deal of care in rowing.
"In the times of the early settlement, it was necessary for the settlers to start early so as to reach home before dark, as there were no roads excepting Indian trails and marked trees for their guide.
"Among the thousand of marshes seen spread over the country, not one could be found where the beavers had not at some remote time made a (lam at the outlet. This fact, that dams are so numerous, shows that great numbers of them once lived there. The last otter that was seen in Northfield was found on the banks of Horseshoe lake near the cove. in a hollow tree with a brood of little ones. Martens were scarce but minks were plenty, and there are a few left yet. For- merly musk rats were in great abundance, but the drainage of the marshes has broken up their har- boring places. The last resort of the sportsman was rabbits and woodcocks, but these, too, have disappeared."
The first drove of cattle brought into the town- ship was purchased by Benjamin Sutton in Ohio in 1831, and the following year he brought in the second drove from Illinois. In June, 1830, Na- than Sutton arrived, accompanied by his wife, his sons George, Isaac, Isaac's wife, his daughter
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Mrs. Nixon, her husband Mr. Nixon, and two grandchildren, the children of his daughters. The Suttons have always occupied a prominent place in the history of Northfield township. George W. Sutton was supervisor as early as 1838, and for a number of years afterwards. He was a member of the Michigan legislature in 1875. His son. Nathan E. Sutton, was also supervisor for a num- ber of years and he was a member of the legis- lature in 1885. George Sutton died in 1880. Mi chael P. Stubbs, who settled in the township in 1830. was a member of the convention which met in Detroit May 11. 1835. to adopt the first con- stitution of the proposed new state of Michigan. He was also a delegate to the first convention of assent. held in Ann Arbor. Sept. 20, 1836, which rejected the act of Congress admitting Michigan into the Union because of the cutting off of To- ledo and vicinity from Michigan territory. Rufus Matthews, who came into Northfield in 1831, rep- resented the township on the board of supervisors for some years and was one of the commissioners who located the county poor farm and superin - tended the location of the county house. He built the first frame bridge over the Huron river at Ann Arbor in 1832. He died in 1869. John Keenan came from the east in 1830 and he is de- scribed by his neighbors as a man of fine stature. a nobleman by nature, a man of integrity and a lover of justice. Christian Zook settled on the banks of Whitmore lake before 1830. He came from Pennsylvania, and in 1834 undertook to start the manufacture of silk in Washtenaw and set out a number of mulberry trees for the pur- pose of feeding silk worms. Harris Seymour lo- cated near Whitmore lake in 1831 on land within the present village. He was employed as man- ager of Brown Brothers at Ann Arbor, when that was the largest mercantile establishment west of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert A. Gardner came in 1831 and Mr. Gardner died in 1836. his wife returning east. In 1836 she married Nathan Sal- ver and with him returned to Northfield in 1839. Mr. Salyer was one of the state legislators in 1849. after having been supervisor of the town- ship. Hon. Joshua G. Leland arrived in North- field from Madison county, New York. in 1831 and was a justice of the peace as early as 1833. He was also a member of the state legislature in
1844 and 1846 and took a conspicuous part during the passage of the act selling the Michigan Cen- tral Railroad. Ifis son. Judge Emory Leland, has been supervisor of Northfield and is at present the probate judge of Washtenaw county. Aaron B. Van Etta came from New York to Northfield in 1832 and died in 1877, leaving six children. Thomas Earle came in 1833, and later moved to Ann Arbor, where he died in 1882. Michael Prin- dle. of Scotch descent, arrived in 1830. George Sessions, whose father was one of the Boston Tea Party, whose acts were one of the exciting causes of the Revolution, came in 1833. He died about a year after reaching Northfield, leaving a wife and eight children, the youngest of whom was J. Q. A. Sessions. now of Ann Arbor. Robert Shaw came to Northfield from England in 1833. Mi- chael Quigley also arrived in 1833.
Thomas MeKernan came from Ireland by way of Orange county, New York, and settled here in 1830, and brought up a family of ten children. Martin O'Connor came from Ireland to Con- necticut and from there to Northfield in 1832. where he died in 1878 leaving nine children. Pat- rick Gibney, a native of Ireland, settled in North- field in 1833. Thomas Haran came in 1834. Ed- mund Clancy came in 1835, and Edmund Comis- key in the same year. Thomas Ryan and Patrick Wall came in 1836. Patrick Will was supervisor of Northfield for some years and was a political power in the township. Patrick Sheehy came in 1839 from Ireland, at the age of 13 years. John Shannahan came in 1840; and so did Richard Roach. Michael Partel came in 18441. Calvin Holmes, who came from Monroe county, New York, arrived in Northfield on May 17. 1832. Ile had located his land here the year previous, and when two miles south of his land was compelled to send the teams which brought his goods back to Detroit as there was no road the rest of the way. With oxen borrowed from Philander Mur- ray, he moved the goods the rest of the way into his log house which he had built the year before. The goods that he prized as of the most valne to him which he brought consisted of a barrel of flour and a barrel of pork. Robert Flintoff came from England in 1839. John Brokaw came in 1838. Christian F. Kapp came before 1840.
While the Sutton schoolhouse, built in 1838.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
was the first schoolhouse in the county according to most of the early settlers, Nelson Brundige was of the opinion that the first schoolhouse in the township was built in 1826 and that the first school was taught by Sally Ann Green. The Sut- ton schoolhouse in 1830 has been described as built of logs with a small window beside the door and a four-pane sash on the other side of the house, giving only a small amount of light. The hearth was made of mortar cement and the chimn- ney was laid with undressed stone for about four feet, the rest of the chimney being made of mortar and of sticks.
Previous to 1830 a Fourth of July picnic party was held at Independence lake and the lake was named on that date. Jack lake is the lake to which "Jack," a horse owned by Benjamin Sut- ton, strayed and to which he was tracked by friendly Indians and found on a small island in the middle of the lake, and a rough barge had to be constructed before he could get ashore.
The first Catholic families came into Northfield about 1829 and in 1830 Rev. Father Kelly said mass in their houses. By 1831 there were about fifteen Catholic families in the township and in the spring of 1831 a log church was erected on section 29. Those who contributed to its erection were John Keenan, William Prindle, William Stubbs. John McKernan, Philip McKernan, John Sulli- van, Michael Purtell, John McIntyre, Michael Bennett, Peter Smith, Michael Neligan, Patrick Walsh, Michael Walsh, Patrick Donovan and Bryan Galligan. Rev. Father Kelly continued to minister to the needs of his parish until 1835, when Rev. Father Morrissey was appointed par- ish priest. In 1837 a frame church 30 x 40 feet in size was built. Father Morrissey was succeeded in 1840 by Rev. Father Cullen, who lived at Ann Arbor and attended both the parishes of Ann Ar- bor and Northfield until 1864. In 1850 a 30 x 60 addition was made to the church. This church was dedicated by Bishop Lefevre under the name of St. Bridget. In 1864 Rev. Peter Wallace became the parish priest and a church rectory was built in 1865. He was succeeded in 1873 by Rev. Father Lux, who died in June, 1874. Rev. A. Carolan had charge of the parish for a couple of months and was succeeded by the Rev. J. V. Waterschoot.
During the latter's administration the cornerstone of a new church was laid and on October 20, 1878, the church was dedicated by Bishop Bor- gers. Rev. Father Goldrick has been in charge of the parish for some years and is one of the most popular priests who have ever been in the county. During his administration a fine parish house has been erected adjoining the church on the corner of Whitmore Lake avenue and Sepulchral Lane, as his letterheads denote.
In 1832 Rev. Alvin Billings, a Methodist min- ister, preached at the Murray schoolhouse and in 1833 organized a class consisting of Isaac Bur- hans, Calvin Holmes, Mr. and Mrs Sidney Smith, Joel Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Orrin Jeffords, Mr. and Mrs. Pattee, Mr. and Mrs. Orison Leland, and Mrs. Leet. Isaac Burhans was chosen class leader. Soon afterwards another class was formed at the Matthews schoolhouse. In 1847 a Metho- dist church was built at Leland's Corners and the two classes united in forming the First Methodist church of Northfield. As early as 1838 the Methodists assembled at Whitmore Lake at the house of Christian Zook and later a Methodist church was erected at Whitmore Lake.
The German Lutheran church was built in 1875 under the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Stein. Its original members were Mr. and Mrs. Christian F. Kapp, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Steffin, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Rosenberger, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Swerget, Mr. and Mrs. Ludwick, Mr. and Mrs. George Kempf, Mr. and Mrs. John Kapp, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Procknow, Mr. and Mrs. Ber- nard Bauer, Mr. and Mrs. John Gehrlock. Dr. and Mrs. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Frey, Mr. and Mrs. Waggoner, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wes- sel, Mr. and Mrs. Gottlieb Bissinger and Enos Geiger.
The first temperance society was organized in Northfield in 1839 with twenty-nine members and was continued for some years. In 1878 St. Pat- rick's Temperance Benevolent Society was organ- ized and it did excellent work.
The first hotel at Whitmore Lake was kept by A. Burt. He ran it but a short time when he sold out to Mr. William N. Stevens, some time be- tween 1831 and 1833. This hotel has remained in the hands of the Stevens family and is now run
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
by . \l Stevens, and is a favorite resort. On May 2. 1877, the Stevens House, or Lake House as it is called, was struck by lightning. the lightning tearing out the southwest corner of the building. and the whole building appeared as if wrecked. The loss amounted to over a thousand dollars. Miss Lena Schlemmer, a domestic, was thrown into convulsions which lasted several days, but she finally recovered. A baby which was within six feet of a window that was torn out by lightning was uninjured.
The Clifton House was built at Whitmore Lake many years ago and has been for many years run by the Smith family, and has generally enjoyed a high prestige.
On the evening of August 28, 1877, John G. Miller and Rudolph Green were standing under a tree a mile east of the St. Patrick's church when the tree was struck by lightning, the lightning passing down Mr. Miller's back, left hip and left leg. killing him instantly. The lightning also passed across Green's chest and down his right leg, marking him and leaving him unconscious.
On September 26, 1800, Ted Sopp, aged 20 years, was sitting on a fence while on a hunting trip, when his gun slipped and the charge went through his breast, killing him instantly.
Besides Whitmore Lake, Emory with several stores has grown up to be quite a little village within the township of Northfield.
In 1837. when Michigan was admitted as a state, Northfield had a population of 793.
On August 26, 1868. Mrs. Catherine Keenan, who with her husband. John Keenan, had settled in the township in 1832. fell down stairs, from the effects of which fall she died three days later.
T. C. Wilson, while making his first trip as fire- man on the Ann Arbor road. was killed at Emory April 16, 1893. Within less than a week Clarence Swinefurth, who was also making his first trip. was also killed at Emory.
J. R. C. May was drowned in a mud lake on John McHugh's farm south of Whitmore Lake. He was fishing with a nephew when the boat sank. The nephew swam ashore but May sank.
Lewis F. Brown, a university student, was drowned at Whitmore Lake April 30. 1809, while swimming from a boat.
Within the past ten years Whitmore Lake has sprung into prominence as a village and trading point, and has had a rapid growth in population. It is as popular as ever as a summer resort and in addition to its hotels a large number of summer cottages have been erected. But its main growth has been in the line of permanent residents. New streets have been laid out, houses erected, side- walks built, an elevator established and the village is about to attain the dignity of possessing a bank. Large ice houses have been established at this point, largely for the purpose of supplying To- ledo, Ohio, with ice and the ice industry in winter has assumed large proportions.
The supervisors of the township have been :
John Renwick 1833-4
Rufus Matthews 1835-6
John Renwick 1837
George Sutton 1838-9
John Renwick 1840
Lucien B. Barker 1841
Rufus Matthews 1842-3
John Renwick 1844
Rufus Matthews 1845
Nathan Salyer 1846-7
George Sutton 1848
John Renwick .1849
Rufus Matthews 1850-2
Nathan Salver
1853
Ira Harker 1854
James Clancy 1855
Philip Winegar
1856-8
Joseph Pray 1850
Patrick McKernan 1860-01
Philip Winegar 1862
Patrick McKernan
1863-4
Joseph Pray
1865
John Ryan 1866
Patrick Wall
1867-71
George Renwick
1872-74
Emory E. Leland 1875
N. E. Sutton 1876-7
Patrick Purtell 1878-80
William Walsh 1881-2
Patrick S. Purtell
1883-7
Frank Duncan 1888-90
Philip Duffy 1891-2
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Frank Duncan 1893-4
Emory E. Leland 1805-6
William Donnegan 1807-8
Theodore 1. Prochnow 1899
Jay G. Pray 1900-02
T. Frank Taylor 1903-4
Jay G. Pray
1905-
PITTSFIELD.
Pittsfield was one of the earliest townships of Washtenaw to be organized and the first town- ship meeting was held in April, 1834. Previous to this a meeting had been held at the MeCracken schoolhouse to select a name for the town, at which thirteen persons were present, each of whom wanted the township named for the place from which they came. For sometime they were unable to agree and the dispute finally settled into two factions, one of which wanted a long name and the other a short name. The short faction won out and selected the name of Pitt after the great English prime minister, and the township was known by this name until 1840, when the long-name faction got in their innings and added "field" to the name, thus making it Pittsfield. Ezra Carpenter was the man who made the mo- tion that the name of the township be Pitt, and his motion was seconded by Roderick Rowley. Previous to 1834 a diagonal road had been laid from Ann Arbor to Saline, passing through Pitts- field. Pittsfield has always been an agricultural township and has never had a village within its borders. The first supervisor of the township was John Allison, who came from Pennsylvania to Michigan in 1831 and who died in the township in 1874. Samuel D. McDowell, a native of New York who had come to Michigan in 1824, suc- ceeded him, serving from 1835 to 1841. Alanson Doty, who had come from New York to Pitts- field in 1832, was supervisor in 1836. Heman Ticknor was supervisor in 1837-8 and 1842-4 and he was a native of Connecticut. Elijah W. Whit- more served from 1844 to 1847; Horace Car- penter. 1848 to 1849: Nathan Webb in 1850: Allen Crittenden from 1851 to 1857, and also from 1860-1869: Nathan Webb from 1857 to 1859: David Woolsey from 1869 to 1875 ; David
Depew in 1875: Morton F. Case from 1876 to 1890.
In 1837 Pittsfield was an exceedingly prosper- ous township. It had a population even larger than it has today. This was due, however, in great part to the large size of the families of the early settlers in the township. Its population in 1837 was 1,208 and there were within the borders of the township 270 horses, 800 sheep, 2,002 hogs and 4.368 head of neat stock ; and the inhabitants had raised during the preceding year 19,337 bushels of wheat. 239 bushels of rye, 15.710 bushels of corn, 33.295 bushels of oats. 937 bushels of buckwheat and 319 pounds of flax.
The wife of Talmon Brown, of Pitt, as the town was then called, was found dead Sunday morning. June 5. 1836, in a small pool of water near her house.
Anna, the six-year-old daughter of John Schleh, was accidentally shot August 31, 1890, by an old musket. She and a little playmate thought it was not loaded. She died on Sep- tember 4.
John Fiegel, treasurer of the township, was killed on the evening of September 10, 1891. Zion church of Ann Arbor had been holding a social at his house. He had loaded twenty-one ladies and two children on a hay rack to take them back to the city, when one line dropped. He reached forward to get it, when the cushion slipped and he was thrown forward on the horses. He struck his head on the pole and broke his neck. The horses ran away and threw the ladies ont, but none of them were seriously injured.
Pittsfield has had but thirteen supervisors as follows :
John Allison 1834
Samuel D. McDowell . 1835
Alanson Doty 1836
Heman Ticknor 1837-40
Samuel D. McDowell. 1841
Heman Ticknor 1842-4
Ezra W. Whitmore 1845-7
Horace Carpenter 1848-9
Nathan Webb 1850
Allen Crittenden 1851-6
Nathan Webb 1857-9
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
Allen Crittenden 1860-8
David Wilsey 1860-74
David Depue 1875
Morton F. Case 1870-82
Henry Paul
1883
Morton F. Case
1884-00
W. Alfred Hutzel
1001
SALEM.
Salem was a part of the township of Panama until March, 1833. when George Renwick, who represented Washtenaw in the territorial legisla- ture, introduced an act setting it apart as a town- ship by the name of Salem. The first township meeting was held in April, 1833. at the school- house at Bullock's Corners, near the house of Jacob B. Bullock. George Renwick called this meeting to order. Samuel Mapes presided, and Joseph Jackson acted as clerk. The first officers to be elected were as follows: Supervisor- George Renwick: Clerk-Alexis Packard: As- sessors-John Dickenson, Calvin Wheeler and Welcome J. Partello ; School Inspectors-Charles Dean. Joseph Jackson, Royal Wheelock, Leonard C. Goodale and Lucius Peet : Trustees of School Lands-John Bennett, P. C. Murray and Isaac Hamilton : Highway Commissioners-George King, Royal Wheelock and Michael Thompson ; Treasurer-Joseph Lapham : Director of the Poor -Orange Green : Treasurer of the Poor Fund- John Dickenson: and Constables-Joseph Lap- ham and Peres Walker.
Salem was surveyed as early as 1816 by Sur- veyor Wampum, and it was not long after the settlement of the township in 1825 before the pio- neers discovered that there was something wrong about the lines laid down in the Wampum survey. Great difficulty was experienced in properly locat- ing their lands and many disputes arose over the ownership of land, due to the defective surveys made by the original surveyor, so that in 1842 the people of Salem petitioned Congress for a re- survey of the township, which request was granted and a re-survey was made by Harvey Parke in 1844. This re-survey disclosed that of the sixty miles of subdivision lines as run in the original survey 24 1-2 miles had never been run
at all and that many other lines had been errone- ously run. It was also discovered that the town- ship was 631 acres short of having its full quota of land. To make matters worse it was further found that 147 purchasers of land had received 382 acres more than they had paid for, while 128 purchasers had received 1,013 acres less than they paid for. Surveyor Parke's instructions were to re-establish the old lines wherever they had been surveyed and to make new lines only where no lines at all existed, so that however erroneous or defective the original survey had been it was re- established in 1844 and in some cases purchasers lost a third of the land that they had paid for. Congress was again prayed for relief and Sur- veyor-General Lucius Lyons was ordered to make a personal inspection of deficient tracts of land in Salem and to ascertain the amount of damages. This he did and Congress was applied to far com- pensation. At several succeeding sessions of Con- gress the claims of the inhabitants of Salem were pressed but no relief was ever obtained.
George Renwick was the first settler of Salem to receive civic honors. As has been seen he was a member of the territorial legislature in 1833. He was also a member of the territorial legis- lature the following year and of the state legis- lature in 1830. 1840. 1841 and 1847. Mr. Ren- wick was an Englishman by birth who had moved to Panama township in 1828, and besides his leg- islative services he was for many years supervisor of Salem township. In politics he was a strong whig. Royal Wheelock was the first justice of the peace and had been appointed as such as early as 1829 by Lewis Cass : and Capt. Ira Rider was the first postmaster of Salem, an office having been established in 1832 at what has since come to be called Lapham's Corners. This office was aft- erwards moved to Salem Station. In the early history of the township a tavern was established in the southeast part of the town.
Although Washtenaw was originally included among the lands designed for the soldiers of the War of 1812, but comparatively few of them set- tled in the township of Salem. The first one of these veterans of the war who settled in the town- ship was James Sober who served all through the war, and who came to Salem from New York in
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.
1831 and lived to a very old age. He often spoke in his later years of how numerous the wild ani- mals were on his arrival in the county and of his frequently having shot deer and wild turkey from his cabin door. The second soldier of the war to settle in Salem was Edward Drake who died within a few years after his settlement. John W. Sickle, who died in Salem September 24. 1881, was also a veteran of the War of 1812 who had resided in Salem township since 1831 and was 94 years of age at the time of his death. Robert Shankland, who was likewise a veteran of the War of 1812, reached a still greater age. He lived in Ann Arbor township, after coming to Michigan, until 1831, when he removed to Salem.
Salem has furnished a number of state legis- lators. Besides George Renwick, who has already been mentioned. Robert Purdy was in the state legislatures of 1837 and 1843, and was also a member of the constitutional convention which framed the first constitution of Michigan. In 1842 and 1845 Henry T. Walker, of Salem, was a member of the state legislature. Ira Rider served in the legislature of 1853. Calvin Wheeler in that of 1851, and Thomas D. Lane in that of 1850. Mr. Lane was also a state senator in 1861 and 1862. George S. Wheeler was in the legis- lature of 1800.
A dispute among the old pioneers as to where the first schoolhouse in the township of Salem was located has never been definitely settled. The schoolhouse at Bullock's Corners was built in 1829 and was first taught by Charles Dean. This schoolhouse was located on section 27.
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