St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; a narrative account of its historical progress and its principal interests, Vol. I, Part 30

Author: Jenks, William Lee, 1856-; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 536


USA > Michigan > St Clair County > St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; a narrative account of its historical progress and its principal interests, Vol. I > Part 30


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57


There are twelve private claims in this township, all fronting on St. Clair river, and upon one of these settled George Cottrell, the first permanent white resident of the county, and as a small settlement began about 1819 at the mouth of Belle river, and in addition but little of the publie land was swamp, the entire township, with the exception of less than 600 aeres, was taken up by 1836. On the tax roll of 1840 the fol- lowing resident land owners appear :


See. 1 Amasa Hemenger, Michael and Oliver Yax, Amasa Rust, Reuben Warner.


See. 3 Otis Rankin, Aloney Rust, Elijah Fish, George Preston, John Rector, D. F. Hart.


Sec. 4 Ann Richards.


See. 5 William B. Rank.


See. 10 Milo Brown, William Gardner, Job Smith, H. H. Smith, Reuben and Newland Smith.


Sec. 12 J. D. Brown, Etienne Russell.


See. 15 Daniel F. Haley, J. L. Broadbridge.


See. 21 James Dudley.


See. 22 Orson and Silas Campbell.


238


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


In the private claims: Henry and David Cottrell, George and George H. Cottrell, Michael Lequelle, Samuel Hayward, Merlin Camp- bell, Edward Kean, Joseph and J. P. Mini, C. Lenox, James Fulton, Wm. Brown. Thomas Robertson, Nicholas Huffmaster.


There were also several assessed for personal property alone.


The village of Newport was within the township. and as it was not incorporated until 1865, it was assessed upon the same roll with the rest of the township, and upon the roll of 1840 the following appear as resident owners of village lots in Newport : Louis Bousely, C. Bel- lows, J. C. Brigham, H. A. Caswell (tavern keeper), Louis Chortie, John D. Millard. Peter Demoise, L. P. Fitch. Charles Gardner, Solomon Gardner, Barrow & Gardner, George Howard, C. A. Jones, Ruth Lamb, Edward Locke, Isaac Lester (saw mill). M. H. Miles. R. R. McNiff, Wm. Miller, P. McNulty, J. P. Phillips, O. B. Reed. John Robertson, P. R. Robertson, James Robertson, S. Russell. Lydia Thorn, Eber B. Ward, Samuel Ward, Zael Ward, Clauson Warner, Daniel Wilkins, J. L. Wolverton. The following were assessed for personal tax only : S. A. Jones, Hyde and Smith.


This township is traversed by the Rapid Railway and its Cut Off branch, and contains practically all the city of Marine City. Origin- ally the "Big Swamp," as it was called. extended the entire length of the township from north to south, parallel with St. Clair river, and about a mile distant. but the excavating through it of a good sized canal transformed it into the most fertile land.


Population statistics: 1830. 226: 1837, 520; 1840. 602; 1850, 913; 1860, 1,527; 1870, 2,371; 1880, 2,904; 1890. 1,054; 1900, 1,130; 1910, 1.070. Since and including 1890 the foregoing figures do not embrace the population of Marine City.


Supervisors : 1827, John S. Fish; 1828, Amasa Hemenger; 1829- 30, George Cottrell; 1831. Amasa Hemenger; 1832-3, Samuel Ward; 1834-7, David Cottrell : 1838-41, county commissioners; 1842-5. David Cottrell; 1846, Zael Ward; 1847, Solomon Gardner; 1848-54, David Cottrell; 1855, Aloney Rust; 1856, David Cottrell; 1857-60, William F. Chipman; 1861, Samuel Roberts; 1862, William F. Chipman ; 1863, Samuel Roberts; 1864-5, William F. Chipman; 1866, Valentine A. Saph; 1867. Nathan S. Boynton; 1868, David Cottrell; 1869, Samuel Roberts : 1870-1. Benjamin S. Horton; 1872-3, Valentine A. Saph; 1874-5, Patrick J. Kean; 1876-82. Calvin A. Blood; 1883-4, Robert B. Baird; 1885-6, Calvin A. Blood : 1887. James D. Hill; 1888-9, Michael Cook; 1890-11, Patrick Shea.


EAST CHINA


This township was created by act of February 12, 1859. It was detached from China township and was composed of all that part of the township of China lying in fractional township No. 4, north, in- cluding private claims extending into range 16 east. Its northern boundary has been changed several times, by the change in the bound- aries of St. Clair City. An interesting discussion of this boundary was given in an opinion by the supreme court in a case arising between


239


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


Osborne, a citizen and taxpayer of China township, and Frederick Lindow, the supervisor. (78 Mich. Rep., 606.)


It contained six private claims and all of the land within the town- ship had been taken up before the end of 1834. Upon the tax roll of 1840 the following appear as resident land owners: Section 7, Daniel Stewart, Elisha Smith and Arch P. Phillips; section 17, George Pal- mer; section 18, Reed Jerome, Moses Hopkins and John Clark; sec- tion 19, George Clark; and in the private claims, J. H. and Ebenezer Westbrook, James Young, John, Henry and James Baird; Benjamin Bissell & Company, Alfred Comstock, Oliver Ricard and Lemuel Par- melce.


Belle river runs several miles through this township, and it is tra- versed from north to south by the Rapid Railway.


Population statistics: 1860, 318; 1870, 297; 1880, 337; 1890, 294; 1900, 257; 1910, 327.


Supervisors : 1859, Henry Baird; 1860-72, Lawrence T. Remer ; 1873-80, William D. Hart; 1881-2, Lawrence T. Remer; 1883-5, Charles W. Recor; 1886-8, John W. Donaldson; 1889-90, Henry N. Hammond ; 1891-4, John W. Donaldson ; 1895, H. Will Hammond; 1896, John W. Donaldson ; 1897-02, Charles D. Holland; 1903-11, Lambert Recor.


EMMET


There is no record of a legislative act setting off the township of Emmet, but an act of the legislature of February 19, 1850, legalized the organization of township 7 north, range 14 east, which had been a part of Clyde township, as a township with that name, which was ap- propriately taken from Robert Emmet, the Irish patriot, as a very large proportion of its early settlers were of Irish descent.


Nearly one-half of this township was reserved as Salt Spring land in accordance with the act of congress admitting Michigan as a state, and for this reason as well as the fact that a considerable part was shown upon the government maps as swamp, there was but a very small part of the township taken up by the year 1840, and no resident property owners appear upon the tax roll for that year.


The Grand Trunk Western Railroad traverses the southern part of this township, which contains the incorporated village of Emmet.


Population statistics: 1860, 646; 1870, 1,000; 1880, 1,848; 1890, 1,251; 1900, 1,155; 1910, 1,005.


Supervisors : 1856, Patrick Kennedy; 1857-8, Patrick Fitzgerald; 1859, John Cavelry ; 1860, Patrick Fitzgerald; 1861, Patrick Kennedy ; 1862, Thomas Kennedy; 1863, Dennis Carney; 1864-5, Thomas Ken- nedy ; 1866-7, John Cavenaugh; 1868-72, Dennis Carney; 1873-4, Wil- liam H. Butler; 1875-8, William Power; 1879-80, William H. Butler; 1881-3. William Power; 1884-5, Dennis Gleason; 1886, William Power ; 1887-97, John Dunnigan; 1898, Patrick L. Gleason; 1899-00, Daniel Foley ; 1901, Patrick L. Gleason ; 1902-4, Daniel Foley ; 1905-11, Daniel O'Connell.


240


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


FORT GRATIOT


This township was organized by the board of supervisors at a meet- ing held June 13, 1866. It was taken from the township of Port Huron, and was created for the purpose of giving the north end of the county a larger representation on the board of supervisors, and to assist in the removal of the county seat from St. Clair. It was composed of town- ship 7 north. range 17 east, and took its name from the fort then existing.


With the exception of a part of section 6, all the land in the town- ship was taken up prior to 1840. It was not surveyed until 1824, and the land began to be taken up the following year.


In 1840 the following resident land owners were on the assessment roll :


See. 26 R. T. Holland.


Sec. 27 Elijah Burtch, John Kennelly Estate.


See. 29 A. S. Pratt, Sarah Lamb.


Sec. 29-30 Jeremiah Harrington.


See. 30 Eben Bacheller, Willard Carpenter, John Miller.


See. 31-32 Jacob Miller, Lucius Beach.


See. 32 Gilbert Elliott. Wm. Austin. R. Matteson. Win. Moore.


See. 33 Jeremiah Scoville. A. Humphrey.


This township is traversed by the Port Austin branch of the Pere Marquette Railway, and contains several summer resorts on its eastern shore.


Population statisties: 1870, 1,032: 1880, 1.902: 1890, 774; 1900, 774; 1910, 597. Since and including 1890, the foregoing statistics have excluded the population of Fort Gratiot village.


Supervisors : 1866. Henry Stephens: 1867. Sylvester P. Mason ; 1868-9, Stephen Moore: 1870-3. Julius MeMartin; 1874-6, Townsend Lymburner; 1877, Julius McMartin; 1878-84, Townsend Lymburner; 1885, William D. Brown; 1886. Townsend Lymburner; 1887-8, Robert E. French; 1889-92. Townsend Lymburner; 1893, David H. Bryce; 1894-01, Townsend Lymburner; 1902, Stephen Moore: 1903-5. William E. Hitchings; 1907. George S. Quail; 1908, Arza W. Lymburner; 1909- 11, George S. Quail.


GRANT


This was another township created by the board of supervisors, chiefly for the purpose of obtaining another supervisor from the north part of the county to aid in the county seat removal. The township is composed of surveyed township 8 north, range 16 east, except the east tier of sections (1, 12, 13. 24, 25, 36), was organized October 9, 1866, and was named after the Union general, later president. It was taken from the township of Burtchville.


The earliest purchase of land in this township was in section 8 by Thomas S. Knapp of Detroit, in April. 1828. Mr. Knapp was inter- ested with John Thorn in the Thorn plat property in Port Huron,


241


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


and was also, for some years, sheriff of Wayne county. During his term of office a murderer by the name of Simmons was sentenced to be hanged, and Knapp resigned his office rather than perform that duty. He located a mill upon this land which Judge Z. W. Bunce operated for a while.


About one-half the township was purchased by the end of 1836, and the tax roll of 1840 shows the following residents :


Sec. 2 Lewis Chadwick.


Sec. 3 Nelson Chase.


Sec. 10 Horace Caddee, Nelson and A. S. Potter, Eber Lewis.


Sec. 11 William Babcock.


Sec. 13 Thomas Hall, William Brown, William Western, Sheldon Thorp.


Sec. 14 James Merchant, Joseph Pettys.


Sec. 20 A. W. Comstock.


Sec. 22


Chauncey and Elisha Doud.


Sec. 23 Charlotte and Calvin Doud.


Sec. 29 L. Thibault.


Black river and the Port Austin branch of the Pere Marquette Railway traverse this township from north to south, and it contains the unincorporated villages of Grant Center and Jeddo.


Population statistics: 1870, 1,144; 1880, 1,357; 1890, 1,142; 1900, 923; 1910, 810.


Supervisors : 1867-9, Thomas Dawson; 1870-2, John McGill; 1873- 4, Denton G. Finlayson ; 1875-80, John McGill; 1881-2, Clark Strevel; 1883-93, Thomas Myron; 1894-8, Henry Streeter; 1899-00, William Myron ; 1901-04, Arthur Biggar; 1905-11, John M. Strevel.


GREENWOOD


This township, town 8 north, range 15 east, was created by act of the legislature February 12, 1855, and taken from the township of Brockway. Its name is a descriptive one. Owing to its distance from the lake or river, and there being no navigable stream in it, settlement in this township began comparatively late, and in 1840 there were no residents, and less than 1,000 acres were bought before or during the speculative year, 1836.


The Saginaw branch of the Pere Marquette Railway runs through the southwestern part of this township, and it contains the unincor- porated village of Fargo, which was located upon land belonging to Mr. Farr, and was named in consequence.


Population statistics: 1860, 583; 1870, 940; 1880, 1,568; 1890, 1,457; 1900, 1,236; 1910, 987.


Supervisors : 1855-8, Lincoln Small; 1859-60, Samuel Jamieson ; 1861-79, Patrick Fox; 1880, Jotham A. Vincent; 1881-96, Patrick Fox; 1897-9, George Oatman; 1900-1, Albert Lutz; 1902-4, George Oatman; 1905-11, Joseph Vincent.


Vol. 1-16


242


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


IRA


This township was created by act of legislature March 11, 1837, and is said to have derived its name from Ira Marks, one of its promi- nent early settlers. Its limits as originally fixed commenced at the southwest corner of section 28 of the township of Clay, thence north to the south line of town 4 north; thence west to the east line of Ma- comb county, thence south to Lake St. Clair; thence along the border of the lake eastward to the south line of section 25; thence east to the place of beginning. In 1840 the township of Cottrellville was increased to take in sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20 from the eastern part of Ira. In 1849 that part of the township east of the Indian reserve line was taken off and added to the township of Clay, but this act was repealed March 28, 1850, leaving the township limits as at present.


A large part of this township was included within the Indian reser- vation, made under the Indian treaty of 1807, and surveyed in 1810. This reservation extended from Lake St. Clair into the lower tier of sections in Casco township, and included 5,760 acres. By the treaty made in 1836 with the Swan Creek and Black River bands of Chippewa Indians, this reservation was surrendered to the United States, and in 1838 surveyed and subdivided into sections and placed on sale in 1839. There were two private claims, partly in this township, and nearly all the land outside the reservation was taken up at an carly date.


A large part of the population of this township is of French de- scent, and it has within its limits two small unincorporated villages, An- chorville and Fair Haven. The latter was for some years the site of a thriving industry in the manufacture of hardwood lumber and of staves and hoops. Swan creek or Riviere des Cygnes, as the early French called it, runs through the township and empties into Anchor bay.


A considerable number of settlers came to this township at an early date, and on the assessment roll of 1840 the following residents appear : Section 8, Joseph Rose, Peter and Antoine Lafonsa; section 9, Stephen and Peter Rose, Medaid and James Beauvais; sections 9-16, Francis Furtain and Charles Paquet; section 10, Constant and Joseph Loui- selle; section 14, Charles Chartrand; section 15, O. Fousha, T. Boyer, Francis and Stephen Chortier; section 16, John Dalloz; section 17, Antoine Bethuy and Francois Ebert; section 18, Joseph Basney; sec- tion 23, Michael Peatt; section 30, Charles and Chester Kimball; and in the private claims, Gilbert Yax, Abraham Destraw, Michael Lalone, Antoine L'Esperance, Antoine Ebert, Francis Deguire and Joseph Paquet.


The spelling of the French names upon the assessment roll is often a complete disguise of the real name, but the most of the above are readily identified.


The main line of the Rapid Railway runs along the shore line of this township, and the cut-off to Marine City branches off at Anchorville. The township contains a small part of the incorporated village of New Baltimore, which was originally called Ashley, from the owner of the property on which it was located, and which was prior to 1859, changed to New Baltimore. There are also within the township the two unin-


243


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


corporated villages of Anchorville, so-called because it is located on Anchor Bay, and Fair Haven, a descriptive name given by Mr. Hath- way, the original proprietor. In early days the name of Swan creek was given to the settlement at its mouth. The name is the English translation of the French name Riviere des Cygnes.


Population statistics: 1837, 202; 1840, 204; 1850, 596; 1860, 1,130; 1870, 1,581; 1880, 1,645; 1890, 1,495; 1900, 1,304; 1910, 1,040.


Supervisors : 1837, Chester Kimball; 1838-41, County Commis- sioners ; 1842-4, Charles Kimball; 1845-7, Job T. Gorham; 1848, Antoine Bethuy ; 1849, John Dalloz; 1850-1, George King; 1852, Larkin Hatch; 1853-4, John Dalloz; 1855, Ira Marks; 1856, John Dalloz; 1857, Abram Yale; 1858-9, Crockett McElroy; 1860, Elbridge G. Marks; 1861, God- frey Derodie ; 1862, Louis A. Allor; 1863, Stephen Rose; 1864-71, Henry Neddermeyer; 1872-9, Henry Meyer; 1880-8, Benjamin Latour; 1889- 93, Henry Blom; 1894-7, Benjamin Latour; 1898-00, Louis Bourlier ; 1901-2, Henry Rossow; 1903-5, Eugene David; 1907-9, John Nedder- meyer ; 1910-11, Charles J. Beauvais.


KENOCKEE


This township composed of surveyed township 7 north, range 15 east, was set off from the township of Clyde by act of February 9, 1855. Its name is taken from Chippeway Indian words meaning long-legged.


Settlement was slow in beginning in this township. In 1840 there were no resident property owners, although about half the township had been purchased from the government. Pine river and Mill creek run through this township from west to east, and the Saginaw branch of the Pere Marquette Railway traverses it. It contains the unincor- porated village of Avoca, which was so named by Mr. O'B. J. Atkinson, from the Vale of Avoca in Ireland, celebrated in one of Moore's poems. Population statisties: 1860, 778; 1870, 1,239; 1880, 1,591; 1890, 1,202; 1900, 1,264; 1910, 1,171.


Supervisors : 1855-6, Abel Stockwell; 1857-64, Patrick Doheny ; 1865, Sylvester Cody; 1866-69, Daniel Smith; 1870, George Strevel ; 1871-78, Sylvester Cody; 1879-80, Martin Stapleton; 1881, Sylvester Cody ; 1882-90, Martin Stapleton ; 1891, Angus Atkinson ; 1892-97, James Mackay ; 1898-01, William Mason ; 1902-08, Jefferson G. Brown ; 1909-11, Martin Stapleton.


KIMBALL


This township, being surveyed township 6 north, range 16, was or- ganized by act of February 12. 1855, being detached from Clyde town- ship and was named for John S. Kimball, a prominent early resident.


This township contained originally a large amount of pine timber, and two streams of considerable size ran through it, Black river in its northeastern part, and Pine river entirely through it, north and south. As early as 1825 land in seetions 2 and 3 were purchased from the government, and in the former section a dam was built aeross Black river and a mill erected by Detroit parties, the chief one being Robert


244


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


Smart, or Bobby Smart, as he was generally known, a canny Scot, who had large interests in Detroit, and who not long after sold out to Ralph Wadhams, who continued the business at the same place-Clyde Mills, as Smart had named it-for many years.


The settlers in 1840, according to the assessment roll for that year, were : Section 1, Alex Atkins; Section 2, Ralph Wadhams; Sections 3-10, Amos G. Throop; Sections 22-27, Sanborn, Smith, Hall & Bartlett ; Section 28, C. Bartlett; Section 36, Newell Smith and Samuel Carlisle.


This township is traversed by the Grand Trunk, Grand Trunk West- ern, and the Saginaw and Almont branches of the Pere Marquette Rail- way. It contains the unincorporated village of Smith's Creek, so-called from the stream named after Elisha Smith, a large land owner upon it. Clyde Mills, as it was called for many years, or Wadhams, as it came to be known, is situated in the northeastern part of the township.


Population statistics: 1860, 839; 1870, 1,091; 1880, 1,429; 1890, 1,356; 1900, 1,437; 1910, 1,151.


Supervisors : 1855. William B. Verity ; 1856, John S. Kimball ; 1857, William B. Verity ; 1858-9, John S. Kimball ; 1860-2, William B. Verity ; 1863-5, William Jenkinson ; 1866-8, John S. Kimball; 1869-74, Marshall D. Frink; 1875-8. Parker M. Brown; 1879-80, Sylvester Caswell; 1881, Parker M. Brown; 1882, George Fish; 1883-6, William W. Allen; 1887- 93, John Terney; 1894-6, George McCormick; 1897-9, Enoch Saunders; 1900, William W. Allen; 1901, Enoch Saunders; 1902-5, William H. Dudd; 1907-11, George G. Fish.


LYNN


This township-surveyed township 8 north, range 16 east-was es- tablished by Act of March 28, 1850, being detached from the Town- ship of Berlin.


At that time Mr. Alfred A. Dwight was an extensive timber owner in the township and was engaged in lumbering. It was at his suggestion that the township was set off, and when the question of name came up, it was proposed by several that the new township be named Dwight after him. To this however he demurred strongly, and in turn proposed the name of his foreman, Edward J. Lynn, later of Port Huron, which was accepted and used.


Originally a considerable part of this township, in the western and southern parts, was swamp land, through which ran the north and south branches of Mill Creek. In early days a large amount of pine timber from Lapeer county was run down these branches, and into Black river. In 1840 the only resident tax payer in this township was Daniel Alver- son, who had a saw mill in section 23.


Population statistics : 1850, 55; 1860, 225; 1870, 539 ; 1880, 788; 1890, 857; 1900, 859 ; 1910, 818.


Supervisors : 1850, Alfred A. Dwight; 1851-3, Daniel Alverson; 1854-9, William Allison; 1860-3, William H. Munson; 1864-70, John Houghton; 1871-2. George Bullock; 1873, Robert Leach; 1874, George Bullock ; 1875-7, John Houghton ; 1878-80, Robert Leach; 1881-2, Eugene


245


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


E. Murphy; 1883, Robert Leach; 1884-97, Elston Huffman; 1898-00, John G. Dudley ; 1901-11, Elston Huffman.


MUSSEY


This township was organized by act of February 10, 1855, was de- tached from the township of Berlin, and is composed of surveyed town- ship 7 north, range 13 east. It was named for HIon. Dexter Mussey, a member of the state house of representatives from Macomb county for several years.


Several sections of this township were originally swamp, and con- sequently were late in being taken up from the government. In 1840, there were no residents.


This township contains the incorporated village of Capac, which was first settled in 1857.


The Grand Trunk Western Railroad traverses the township.


Population statistics: 1870, 1,117; 1880, 1,746; 1890, 1,683; 1900, 1,817; 1910, 1,743. Since 1890 (and including that census), the fore- going statistics include the population of the village of Capac.


Supervisors : 1855, William P. Preston ; 1856, Orrin J. Burroughs; 1857, Dewitt C. Walker; 1858, George A. Funston ; 1859, Richard Shutt; 1860-4, George A. Funston; 1865, William Chapman; 1866, George A. Funston ; 1867, Warren D. Churchill; 1868, George A. Funston ; 1869- 70, Richard Shutt; 1871, Graham Alder; 1872, George W. Curtis; 1873- 7, Richard Shutt; 1878, Sidney S. Brooker; 1879, William Chapman; 1900, Julius A. Jonas ; 1901-10, David D. Martin ; 1911, John Kingott.


PORT HURON


This township, with the name of Desmond, was laid out by act of 1880-2, Richard Shutt; 1883-4, Charles S. Warn; 1885, David Bottom- Wade; 1891-4, Albert Tosch ; 1895-8, John Kingott; 1899, Martin Wenst ; legislative council, April 12, 1827, and consisted of surveyed townships 6, 7, 8, 9 in ranges 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 east. In 1836 it was greatly reduced by the creation of the township of Clyde, and in 1837 by the township of Lexington, which left only surveyed townships 6 and 7 north, range 17 east. By the same act creating the township of Lexing- ton, the name of Desmond township was changed to Port Huron. By act of March 31, 1838, the south line of the township was changed so as to conform to the north line of private claim 255, and by act of April 12, 1839, the original line was restored. In 1866, the township of Fort Gratiot was created from the township of Port IIuron. By act of April 3, 1891, the action of the board of supervisors in establishing a boundary line between the township of Port Huron and the township of St. Clair was confirmed, and the board of supervisors at a session on the 16th day of October, 1891, made the following change in the line between the townships of Port Huron and Fort Gratiot: Commencing at a point where the present boundary line between said townships intersects the center of Black river; thence up stream along the center of said river to a point where the quarter section line running east and west through


246


HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY


sections 31 and 32 intersects said river; thence west along said quarter section line to a point where said line intersects the Beach road; thence south along said road to a point where said road is intersected by the River road; thence northwesterly along said road to a point where said road intersects the quarter section line running east and west through ley ; 1886-7, Robert D. Shutt; 1888-9, Albert Tosch; 1890, Barton J. the quarter section line running east and west through section 31; thence west along said quarter section line to the western boundary of said township of Fort Gratiot; thence south along said western boundary between the townships of Fort Gratiot and Clyde to the southwest corner of said township of Fort Gratiot, so that all territory lying southerly of the aforesaid lines shall be detached from the township of Fort Gratiot, and attached to and made a part of the township of Port Huron.


Subsequently, Black river was made the dividing line between the townships of Port Huron and Fort Gratiot. The line between the town- ship and the city has been frequently changed.


This township contains the unincorporated village of Marysville, formerly Vicksburg. The latter name is said to be derived from E. P. Vickery, who had a saw-mill there, and the present name is formed from the given name of the wife of Nelson Mills. The name was required to be changed because there was another and older Vicksburg in the state. It also includes the plat of Elmwood, the Campau tract, so-called, and other plats.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.