Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 99

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan > Part 99

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On Thursday, May 4. . .. .. . De Forest Phelps was killed by a bullet in his side while seeking to protect the dam of J. Millard & Son, who was engaged in a law suit with a Mr. Reeves, whose land had been overflowed by their mill (lam. They believed that an effort had been made to weaken their dam several weeks before Phelps was killed, so that the heavy rain which seemed to be approaching might remove the dam. On the night before the murder another attempt to weaken the dam was anticipated and the dam was watched. The watch was repeated on Thurs- day night, about twenty people taking part in watching the dam. Sometime after dark a num- ber of men seemed to be digging around the dam, and the company of watchers rushed for- ward, Phelps being amongst the foremost. He received the contents of a gun in the right side. Five arrests were made on account of the murder. but these persons do not seem to have ever been tried.

On Sunday, January 20, 1878. Thomas O'Grady was murdered by W. H. Morand, a colored man, who had been living on a little piece of land he had leased in Cullinane's woods,

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

near Dexter. Morand had built a hut of saplings, covered with earth and brush, near the Michigan Central Railroad track, and the Dexter boys used to go out to see him. On this Sunday eight of them attempted to make sport of him, and he came out with an ax and struck at their number. the blow missing. O'Grady drew a revolver and fired in the air for the purpose of scaring Morand. but it simply enraged him and his next blow struck O'Grady to the ground, the other seven running away. Morand struck three more blows, crushing O'Grady's skull and mutilating the body, which he carried some fifteen feet and threw over his fence. The alarm having been given immediately by O'Grady's companions, a number of people soon assembled on the spot and found the colored man burying his victim. He gave himself up to the officers, and upon being taken to Ann Arbor it was found that he believed himself to be the Savior, with intimate knowledge of the past, present and future. He was adjudged insane and sent to the Kalamazoo Insane Asylum.

On the night of August 10, 1875. Ludwick Miller, a Scio farmer, was murdered by Lyman Burkhardt, a fifteen-year-old lad, who was work- ing for Miller. He confessed the crime, claiming that it was on account of a whipping which Miller had given him. Burkhardt entered the room where Miller was sleeping and, placing a gun at his head, fired, killing him instantly. Burkhardt was sentenced to state's prison for life. He was pardoned by the governor in 1892.

In the fall of 1876 Mr. Rumsey had a dispute with a laborer in his employ, named George Hen- ning. over the settlement of Henning's claim, when Henning kicked Rumsey in the groin, from which Rumsey died a few days later. Henning pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sen- tenced to state's prison for four years.

On March 20, 1877, Mrs. Dennis Warner, a pioneer of the county, who had been the first school teacher in the township of Sylvan, was struck by a train while crossing the railroad track to her home in Dexter and killed.

The first schoolhouse in Scio township was constructed of logs and erected in 1829. It was located on Hiram Arnold's farm, a mile and a

half north of Delhi, and was known as the Arnold schoolhouse. The seats of this primitive and un- pretentions looking structure, like the walls, were made of thick, heavy slabs or planks, with a hole at each end and a stick put through for support. Owing to roughness of the benches (the soft side having not yet been invented) we may be ex- cused from inferring that our forefathers cer- tainly did "gain an education under difficulties."

With increasing population came the demand for more commodious and comfortable school- houses. Districts were arranged, and more modern structures erected. The village of Dex- ter and vicinity was settled by a class of people who appreciated the value of an education and educational advantages, and hardly was the vil- lage named before a suitable school building was erected and the wielding of the birch commenced. This first schoolhouse was a small frame build- ing on B street, near the site now occupied by the Baptist church, and was erected in 1830. For some years it was also used as a place of worship and for holding public meetings. In 1843 it gave place to a larger and more substantial look- ing edifice of brick, which is still in existence. and is the first dwelling house north of the Baptist church. This, in turn, became too small to ac- commodate the pupils in the then thriving little town, and in 1856, at a meeting of the tax-payers of the district, it was decided that a larger and better building must be built, and with this end in view a building committee was appointed, con- sisting of Dr. Ewing. Judge Dexter, B. W. Waite and A. D. Crane. This committee went to Detroit, and at a cost of $75 secured the plan of the building, but half of which was ever carried out. The contract was taken by a Mr. Terry, of Ypsilanti, and John B. Dow, of Ann Arbor, Terry doing the wood work and Dow the brick work. The lumber was made in Ypsilanti and the fixtures constructed after it was shipped here. The brick were made at a kiln about a mile west of Dexter. The ground for the new building was broken in June, 1856, and in October the structure known as the Union schoolhouse was completed.

The first principal was Professor Lawton, who took charge of the institution in November, 1856.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

He was succeeded by Duane Doty, who after- wards became prominent as a superintendent of the Chicago schools. Next in order came Thomas, Brown and Kimball. Professor Brown was noted for his great strength; the following story illustrates it : "A drayman went to the professor's residence with a barrel of flour and was about to roll it off on the ground when the professor came out, lifted it on his shoulder and walked quietly into the house." It is supposed that he kept good order. A lady, Miss Ada Alvord, next took the reigns of government in hand and under her efficient management it first became a graded school. A pamphlet was issued stating the num- ber of grades and the names of the studies in each. It was during her administration that a peculiar feeling of class distinction arose, and led to the passage of the following resolution by the board: "Resolved, That colored children attend- ing the school shall be compelled to sit alone and also recite in a class by themselves." Since that time the school has been under the management of the following principals: George W. Crouch, A. F. Hamilton, J. L. Lane, E. C. Thompson, H. L. Davis, H. E. Kratz, C. F. Field, W. Carey Hill, C. A. Cook, Professor Bobbs, O. L. Waller, Professor J. McInnis, A. E. DeWitt and others.

A new union schoolhouse was finished in Dexter early in 1888, and is a beautiful building, of which the inhabitants of Dexter are justly proud. At the time it was built is was thought to be the finest schoolhouse of its size in the state. It contains six large school rooms with broad, airy halls and large and convenient hat and cloak rooms connected with each school room. These hat and cloak rooms are so arranged that they may be entered only through the school rooms, which prevents the theft or loss of cloth- ing which so often happens in the high school building, where the hat and cloak rooms are en- tered only from the halls. The building is sup- plied with the Smead-Ruttan heating and ventil- ating system, which is a great success. Perfect ventilation is secured. The entire volume of air in each room is changed every five minutes, a result that can be secured by no other system. The basement of the building, high, light and airy, contains the three furnaces by which the

building is warmed, and closets for boys, girls and teachers. The closets are so constructed with brick walls and iron tops that the excreta can be burnt out without being removed. All the foul air of the rooms above passes over this matter in the closets, rendering it as dry and odorless as Buffalo chips, which are used as fuel on our western plains. This section of the Smead-Ruttan system, to say nothing of the perfect ventilation which is secured, is invaluable. The building oc- cupies a fine location, overlooking the village, and the grounds have been graded at an expense of $500, and grassed over so that the surroundings are as beautiful as the building itself. The com- mittee having the building in charge and super- intending the work was Charles S. Gregory, B. W. Warner and R. P. Copeland. The entire building, including heating and ventilating ap- paratus and closets, cost the district about $13,- 000. The actual cost of the building was much more. The contractors sub-let the different parts of the building and every sole contractor lost money, except one.

The Baptist church was the first organized in the district. Elder Carpenter, who had been preaching there for over a year, organized a church August 16, 1831. The original members were Elder and Mrs. Ebor Carpenter, David Lay- ton, Joshua Secord, William Youmans, David Case, John Hancock, William Lennon, Mrs. Put- nam, Lydia Secord, Catherine Case, Hannah Han- cock, Esther Quackenbush, Amanda Hurd, Anna Force and Catherine Clements. For several years they worshiped in the schoolhouse or in private houses. Their first church was dedicated in June. 1840, and this structure was replaced by a brick church, which was dedicated in May, 1866, the building costing $5,000. The earlier pastors of this church were Rev. Ebor Carpenter, Rev. Wil- liam A. Bronson. Rev. George Walker, Rev. James Piper, Rev. Stephen Yocum, Rev. Edward Tenney, Rev. Charles Peterson, Rev. J. L. Smith, Rev. Nelson Eastwood and Rev. H. A. Brown.

The Methodist Episcopal church was organized by the Rev. E. H. Pilcher, who was then sta- tioned at Tecumseh. He preached in Judge Dex- ter's house in November, 1831, and a class of two men and eight women was organized. Wil-

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

liam H. Brockway was appointed leader, and in 1833 he was licensed as a local preacher. Rev. Henry Colchazer, Rev. E. H. Pilcher, Rev. E. C. Gavitt, Rev. A. Billings, Rev. A. B. Elliott and Rev. H. Gearing ministered to this congregation up to 1835.

The Congregational church was organized on January 5. 1836, by Rev. C. G. Clark, as the First Presbyterian Church of Dexter. The original members were Charles P. Cowden, who was elected elder : David Dutton, Vashti Dutton, Charles M. Smith, Mehitabel F. Cowden, Rox- anna Whitcomb, A. Spaulding, Timothy Dutton, Catherine Conkling, Richard and Elizabeth Peter- son, Julia Amm Tuttle, Anne Northem, Dennis and Harriet N. Warner, Jerusha T. Baker. A frame church was built in 1845 at a cost of $2,000. This building was sold in 1873, and in 1874 the church disbanded. During its organization a total of 339 members were on the rolls of the church.

The Episcopal church probably held the first services in the township of Scio, Sylvanus Noble having, as early as 1825, secured a missionary station for the township, and the first minister to preach in the township was the Rev. Mr. Cadle, who was in the township but one Sunday, how- ever. Rev. Mr. Freeman bought a farm a few miles from Dexter and occasionally preached in the log schoolhouse one mile west of Dexter. In 1835 Rev. Samuel Marks preached in the Dexter schoolhouse every two weeks, being assisted by the Rev. David J. Burger, under whom the St. James parish, Dexter, was organized, the first vestrymen consisted of Barnabas K. Dibble, Pierpont L. Smith, Nathaniel Noble, William A. Jones, Alexander D. Crane, Dr. Amos Gray and James Cunningham. Mr. Burger was followed by the Rev. Darius Barker, Rev. Marmaduke Hirst and the Rev. A. S. Hollister. The first building was erected in 1854, under Rev, Caleb A. Bruce and his father, Rev. Nathaniel Bruce. and was dedicated on June 24, 1855.

The first Catholic church near Dexter was built about five miles northwest of the village in 1840. under Rev. Father Cullen, and a small frame building was erected. This building being shortly afterwards destroyed by fire, a new church was

erected in Dexter village at a cost of $4,000, and Rev. Father Hennessy greatly assisted the con- gregation in its construction. The first resident priest was Rev. Father J. Pulsers, who was suc- ceeded by the Rev. J. Van Jennip, and during the latter's pastorate of fifteen years a fine brick church was erected, which was dedicated June 3. 1875, by Bishop Borgess. The church cost $27,000, and at the time of the dedication Rev. T. F. Slattery was the priest in charge of the parish.

Washington lodge No. 65. F. & .A. M., was organized June 30, 1854. with the following offi- cers : Frederick Carlisle, W. M .: John Cross- man, S. W .: George W. Hayes, J. W .: Osborne Aldrick, secretary ; Thomas Peatt, treasurer ; H. H. Noble, S. D. ; O. M. Smith, J. D., and Mar- quis Peatt, tyler.

Washtenaw chapter, O. E. S., was organized later. A Masonic temple was erected in the later part of 1905 at a cost of $2,500. It is 26x60 in size, two stories high, with banquet and dancing hall, lodge room and spacious ante-room.

Besides Dexter, the township contains the un- incorporated villages of Scio and Delhi. Scio, as has been seen, was platted by Samuel W. Foster in 1835, upon the building of his mill. It was at one time quite a prosperous village, but the continued growth of Dexter and the establish- ment of Delhi operated as a bar to its growth. A postoffice was established here about 1870, and was kept up until discontinued on account of rural free delivery. The first posmaster was George A. Peters, who is still living in the township, although now over eighty years of age. Mr. Peters was a leading member of the greenback party, and afterwards constituted the populist party of the county and was its candi- date for congress.

Delhi village was platted July 25, 1836, by Jacob Doremus. The plat was recorded as Michi- gan village, but the name was soon afterwards changed to Delhi. In 1842 all the unsold lots in the village plat were purchased by N. C. Good- ale, who has been regarded as the real founder of Delhi mills. He was born in Amherst, Massa- chussetts, in 1813, and came to this county in 1835, purchasing the sawmill on the site of the

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

Delhi mills for $50, which was the entire amount of money that he had. He soon built the Delhi flouring mills, and by the time of his death, in 1877, had accumulated a large fortune. The vil- lage lots in Delhi were all sold with the express condition that no intoxicating drinks should ever be sold upon the premises, under pain of forfeit- ure and the loss of all improvements made there- on. While the Delhi mills were run to their full capacity they gave employment to a large number of men, and the village was prosperous. After a number of vicissitudes the mills passed into the hands of the Michigan Milling Company, of Ann Arbor, by whom they are now owned and run. A postoffice was established at Delhi in 1868. Among the noted characters who made their home in Scio was Captain Hays, who had commanded a privateer during the War of 1812, during which he had captured many prizes and on two occasions had been taken prisoner. After the war he en- tered the merchant service, and in 1832 settled in Scio. He was a kind hearted man and his language was always that of the sea. His in- structions to Clark Sill, who built his house, in 1832, were as follows: "She is to be after the most approved model. Her bulwarks are to be large trees, and she is to be seven feet lower deck and five feet upper deck, with port holes on the upper and lower decks, with scuppers on the up- per deck. She is to be altogether seaworthy." On one occasion he attended church services in the house of George W. Peters, where a pro- tracted meeting was in progress with consider- able excitement, one person in particular praying loud and long with many exhortations to re- pentance. As the captain sat during the whole service with his eyes on the floor, the excitable exhorter placed his hand upon his shoulder, say- ing: "Well, captain, what do you think?" Rais- ing his eyes for the first time, the captain said : "Think? Why, I think a steady helm is best in a storm!"

Among the settlers of Scio who are yet ( 1905) living is J. W. Wing, who settled in Scio in 1832 at the age of twelve years, following his father from Madison county, New York, where he was born.

In 1838 Scio township had a population of

1,442, and contained two grist mills, three saw mills and six merchants.

Drownings have been numerous in Scio. Among them may be mentioned: Willie Kay, aged nine, who fell into the water while playing about the dam at Delhi mills, March 12, 1887; the six-year-old son of Mr. Bullock was drowned at Delhi mills July 18. 1890. He was playing in an old boat which started down stream. The little boy jumped for a stone, missed it and fell into the water. The seven-year-old son of Orville Todd, while wading near the bridge at Dexter, June 15, 1892, slipped and fell into deep water and his body was not recovered for three-quarters of an hour. John Schulte was drowned in the Huron, June 18. 1893. He jumped from a boat for the shore, fell into six feet of water and, be- ing unable to swim, was drowned.

The Dexter postoffice was robbed February 13. 1888, of $400 in stamps but the robbers were never detected. Charles P. Stark, of Shar- on, who was working near Dexter, started to re- turn from Ann Arbor to Dexter June 15, 1882, on a train which did not stop at Dexter. He jumped off the moving train and was killed.

On May 25. 1903, the body of an unknown man was found in the unoccupied house of Frank Phelps in Scio with his throat cut from ear to ear. It was finally determined to be the body of W. H. Woodward, a traveling salesman for a portrait company, who had committed suicide on May 3.

William Benz was found dead on his farm August 21, 1903, with his throat cut and marks of hammer blows on his head, but not sufficient to fracture the skull. His wife was absent and he was alone. She discovered the tragedy. The coroner's jury found that his throat had been cut by an unknown person or persons.

The early records of the township of Scio have been destroyed by fire. Since 1843 the supervisors have been :

Benjamin W. Waite 1843

Norman A. Phelps 1844

Benjamin W. Waite 1845-46

Nelson Mosher 1847

Benjamin W. Waite 1848

Jacob A. Polhemus 1849

---- I 1

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

Benjamin W. Waite 1850

Jacob A. Polhemtis 1851

Samuel P. Foster 1852

Abraham Vandermark

.1853

William Burnett 1854

Charles S. Gregory 1855

William Burnett 1856

Charles S. Gregory 1857

David M. Finley

1858

Charles S. Gregory

1859

Stephen G. Johnson 1860

Luther Palmer 1861

Stephen G. Johnson

1862

Luther Palmer

1863

Patrick Tuomy 1864 .65

John L. Smith

1866

Patrick Tuomy

1867

John L. Smith 1868

Henry E. Peters 1869-70

Patrick Tuomy 1871-73

Samuel W. Holmes 1874

Stephen G. Johnson

1875 70

Patrick McGuinness 1877-78

Jacob Jedele Jr 1879

John L. Smith 1880-8:

Benjamin Waite. Jr

1882

Jacob Jedele, Jr.

1883

Charles S. Gregory 1884

Andrew T. Hughes

1885-92

Fred Jedele . 1893

Byron T. Whittaker 1894-02

Jacob Jedele 1903

SHARON.

Sharon township was organized by an act of the legislature approved March 7, 1834. and the first town meeting was held at the house of Oliver Kellogg. April 7. 1834. The following town ticket was elected: Supervisor. Lewis Al- len : clerk. Benjamin F. Burnett ; commissioners of highways. Conrad Rowe, aniel Porter and Francis A. Gillett: commissioners of common schools. Allen De Lamater, Henry Rowe and Benjamin F. Burnett : overseers of the poor. Con- rad Rowe, Abijah Marvin: assessors, Gilbert Rowe, Oliver Kellogg and Micah Porter; con- stable and collectors, Luke Gilbert : fence viewers,

Micah Porter and Henry Rowe; poundmaster. John Sloat. The inspectors of this first election were Ebenezer H. Conklin, Benjamin F. Burnett and Micah Porter.

The first sawmill in Sharon was built on sec- tion 29 by Amasa Gillett and Benjamin F. Bur- nett on the extreme northerly bend of the River Raisin. The running car was placed above the saw so that the mill made a terrible racket when running. This mill was the beginning of Sharon Hollow. Ashley Parks arrived and opened his blacksmith shop in 1834 and continued to live in the county until he died at a ripe old age. The first store in the township was opened by Richard- son & Temple, and afterwards passed into the ownership of Nathaniel Ambrose, who ran a gro- cery and tavern combined. The first wedding was that of Lorin Keefe to a Miss Palmer, Jus- tice Smith Lapham, of Lodi, officiating. This wedding took place in the evening and but one tallow candle furnished the light for the oc- casion. The candle was in the hands of a younger member of the family, who, just as soon as the ceremony was concluded, blew out the light leaving the company in total darkness. The first white child born in the township was Minerva Bullard, born September 3. 1833. Her father. Amos Bullard, planted the first orchard in Sharon township. He had located his farm in 1831. The first male child born in the township was Virgil Peck, born in 1834. He was the son of Waite Peck, who came into the township in 1833. The first death in the township was in 1833. when David J. Sloat, who erected the first house built in the township, passed away. The first frame house was built by Luke Gilbert in 1833 on the farm which was afterwards owned by the Hon. John J. Robinson ; and the first frame barn was erected by Amasa Gillett. Mr. Gillett was super- visor of the township and in 1849 represented the county in the state legislature. His house was a station of the "Underground Railroad" during the exciting times preceding the Civil war. He had moved into the county in 1833 from Litch- field. Connecticut, and two of his sons became presiding elders of the Methodist church.

The first case of drowning in the township was that of the six-year-old son of Joseph Gillett,

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PAST AND PRESENT OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

who was drowned in the mill race. In 1878 the little child of James Corwin was drowned, and on March 10, 1887, the body of Francis M. Baker, of Sharon Hollow, was found in the river a half mile from his home, from which he had disap- peared some two weeks before. He is supposed to have wandered away while temporarily insane. The first suicide was that of a settler named Tagne, in 1835, and this was the last suicide until November, 1867, when the body of an un- known German, who had hung himself, was found. There have been two cases of homicide in Sharon, both of which were deemed by the authorities to have been justifiable homicide. On February 3. 1871. George Wood and George Coleman, both in the employ of John W. Cowan, quarreled, and Wood struck Coleman two blows upon the head with a club, killing him instantly. Wood claimed that Coleman had assaulted him with an ax and that he was acting in self-defense. Wood was acquitted ten days later by a jury in the circuit court. About the first of June, 1887, Gabriel Hanck died after being struck over the head by a gun barrel in Justice Henry Reno's hands. The two men had quarreled over Reno's crossing Hanck's land. Hanck came out, where Reno was cutting a tree, with a gun in his hand. Reno grabbed at the gun which broke in two, each man using the part of the gun he possessed as a weapon. Mr. Reno having always borne a good character as a peaceable man, no arrest was made.

The first school in Sharon was taught by Miss Myra Winchester in the Rowe schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was a frame building, but no laths nor plaster were present. Samuel H. Rowe in a speech at a farmers' picnic in 1878, tells how a new schoolhouse was secured :

"The old schoolhouse was in a tottering and dilapidated condition. For over a quarter of a century its desks and benches had been cut and hacked by the jackknives of its graduates and un- dergraduates. As one after another succeeded to the possesion of a favorite seat-which he was on hand to pre-empt very early in the morning of a new term-the new and bigger initials of his name had to be cut over those of his predecessors, and during leisure hours from study the grooves

for shooting out paper wads had to be cut out afresh. The walls had been patched and patched with all sorts of different colored mortar-some of it stuck and some of it came down on de- voted heads as the first class tramped along to "toe the crack" to spell. Some of the nails in the floor had the bad trick of working their heads up high enough to bite unlucky bare feet that came too near them as they trudged over the un- even surface to find out, at the schoolmaster's desk, how to pronounce that word. The shingles that remained on the roof had got their backs up at being retained long after they were of age. On the outside the clapboards were off in many places ; in others still, great square holes had been cut for the convenience of favorite ball clubs. The old door that faced the south was aged and trembling, and had no hall or entry way to bother it, or hide the boy from the teacher's eyes when he was cramming down the last bit of his apple before he came in so innocently. The old windows, through which we peeped at passers-by, or looked for the old sleigh that came about 4 o'clock to carry scholars who accepted the cheery invitation to 'pile on all that are going this way' -these windows kept up an awful clatter, some- times when the master had just said, 'Now, let tis have it so still that you can hear a pin drop.' It was high time that a new house should be built. The matter had been thoroughly canvassed. At last the decisive night came when the vote was taken. Considerable opposition was manifested and I think it was led by Burr Gould.

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Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Part 99

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 886

Author: Beakes, Samuel W. (Samuel Willard), 1861-; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 886