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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1943

HISTORY

OF

CASS COUNTY,

From 1825 to 1875.

By HOWARD .S. ROGERS.

CASSOPOLIS, MICH,
W, H. SIANSFIEIJ), VIGILANT BOOK AND JOB PRINT.
1875:

PREFACE.
In offering this little volume to the pioneers of Cass
Count)- and their descendants, the author is spared
man}' fears as to its reception, by the kno-wledge that
it vv^ill be read for the facts and incidents it contains,
rather than fbr criticism of the style of their presen
tation. It is not all he •wished to make it, but is as com
plete and accurate as he could make it in the time
alloted, and ¦will at least serve as a starting point for
future historians.
The work was undertaken last season upon the
urgent and repeated requests of many old settlers
and those who were interested in establishine the
Cass County Pioneer Association and Museum, and
his exclusive time and attention has been given to its
preparation since that time.
All the early settlers and publications that could
be reached, have been consulted, and the aggregate iii

IV PREFACE.
of their recollections and information is before j'ou
in a condensed form and with some attempt at chro
nological connection.
His earnest thanks are due and tendered to the
gentlemen of the local press, the Countj^ and Town
ship officers and man}' other friends too numerous to
specify, to whom he is under great obligation for
advice, information and substantial aid.
He is not a professional writer or speculative book
maker, and has constructed this work rather as a
conservator}' of facts and incidents that are in peril
of being lost upon the death of the actors therein,
than as a bid for literary fame by THE AUTHOR.

MICHIGAN.
Michigan derives its name from the two words in
the Chippewa language, Mitchaiv and Sagiegan^
meaning great, and lake. These words were ap-
j^lied by the members of that tribe to lakes Michigan
ifind Huron, which at the time of the first explora
tions were supposed to be one. The land which
these lakes so nearly surrounded, was called Mich-
satvgyeg-an, meaning a lake country, hence the
name, Michigan.
Of the earlist explorations by the French, little is
definitel}' known, as the records are very limited and
vague. In 1610 a partial exploration was made, but no
record of its details or extent have been preserved.
In 1632 Father Sagard visited the country along
the shores of Lake Huron, and in 1634 a party of
Indians, belonging to the Huron tribe, visited Que
bec, and on their return were accompanied by the
Jesuits, Brebceuf and Daniel, who located up on the

6 HISTORY OF
shore of Lake Huron, and instructed the natives in
religious matters.
In 1 64 1, a number of French Jesuits came up the
St. Lawrence river in bark canoes, thence up the
Ottawa, crossing over to Lake Nipising, thence
down the French river to Georgian Bay, and passing
the islands of Lake Huron, reached the Falls of St.
Mary, where they established a mission.
Rene Mesnard made an exploration of the country
around Green Bay and Lake Superior in 1660.,
reaching in October of that year a bay on the south
shore of Lake Superior, which he named St. Ther-
essa. After remaining there about eight months,
he was lost in the forest. His cloak and breviary
were afterwards found among the Sioux Indians, by
whom he was probably murdered;
In 1666, a mission was established at the Falls of
St. Mary, now called Sault Ste. Maria, by Father
Allouez, and in 1668 he was joined by Fathers Dab-
Ian and Marquette. During the next three years they
made an exploration of the country along the shores
of Lake Michigan, making the entire circuit of that
lake. In 1 67 1, Marquette built a Fort and Chapel at
Mackinaw, (formerly spelled Michilmackinac) and
from this time Michigan properly dates her settle
ment, although for many years the only white inhab
itants, resided in solitary Forts at wide spread dis
tances from each Other, gt points where the Indians
were in the habk of resorting from the fatigues of
the ctiase, and which aflbrded the most ready com
munication by cimdes, trith the inland streams of

CASS COUNTY. 7
the country, and served as shipping points to the
headquarters of the fur trade, at Quebec and Mon
treal. From the peculiar location of Mackinaw, situated
on the natural highway, between the St. Lawrence
and the Mississippi, its importance has ever been
highly estimated. Its founder, Peere Marquette, in
duced a party of Huron Indians to make a settlement
there in the ¦year of its location, intending it as a
nucleus for a future colony. It soon became an im
portant rendezvous for the traders, merchants, sold
iers, couriers de bois,, missionaries, and Indians of the
Northwest. As early as 1688, the Ottawas and Hurons had
villages in the vicinity of the chapel and fort, and
the former had commenced to build a fortification
on rising ground near by.
Near the village of the Hurons, the Jusuits had a
college adjoining the chapel, enclosed with pickets,
in which they exercised their infiuence for the con
version of the Indians. Their efforts fbr that object
were, however, in the main unsuccessful, according
to their own acknowledgments; and to be per
mitted to administer the sacrament to their dying
children and aged Indians, was the utmost limit to
which they could bring the minds of the savages.
The English and French being rivals in the fur
trade, it became an important object with the former
nation to secure a monopoly of the traffic in this
important article of commerce. A trading expedi
tion of the English, with the aid of the Otagamies
or Fox Indians, who then inhabited the banks of the

8 history of
Detroit river, arrived at Mackinaw in 1686. This
tribe was unfriendly to the French, and the English
as a matter of policy strengthened their relationship
by presents and promises to them. At this time no
permanent settlement had been made at Detroit, the
French having a safer and more direct route from
Montreal to the upper 'lakes through the Ottawa
and Grand rivers. The present location of Detroit
had long been looked upon as a valuable point for a
settlement and a base for the fur trades, as it com
manded a broad tract of country across the peninsula
and was the key to the upper lakes.
While the English were looking with eager eyes to
the acquisition of this point, they were anticipatd by
the French, who called a grand council at Montreal
for the purpose of negotiating a treaty to that
effect. This council was one of great pomp and
ceremony, and was composed of the principal chiefs
of the different tribes from the St. Lawrence to the
Mississippi, the Governor General of Canada and the
most prominent men of the country. It is said to
have been one of the most imposing assemblies that
was ever collected together in the wilderness.
At this meeting the rights of the two claimants
were fully discussed. The Iroquois claimed that
the country belonged to them, and as they had for
bidden the English to make a settlement there, they
wished the French also to respect their rights. To
this the Governor General of Canada replied that
the country neither belonged to the English nor the
Indians, but to the King of France, and that already
there was an expedition on the way to establish a

CASS COUNTY. 9
colony on the banks of the Detroit. In accordance
with this determination a settlement was made on
the present site of Detroit in July, 1701, by Antoine
de la Motte Cadillac, acting under a commission
from Louis XIV, upon a grant of fifteen acres
square. He was accompanied by a Jesuit mission
ary and all the necessary means to establish a
colony. Before that period Detroit had not been unknown.
As early as 1620 it was the resort of French mis
sionaries, and when first visited by the French the
present site was occupied by an Indian village called
Teuchsa Gronde.
Cadillac erected a fbrt surrounded with pickets,
enclosing a few houses occupied by the French
traders and soldiers attached to the post. The es
tablishment was a rude, frail affair, equipped with
small cannon, which were better adapted to overawe
the Indians than for effective defense.
While the French were extending their settlements
along the frontier of Michigan, they were surround
ed and assisted by the powerful Ottawa, Huron,
Potawotamie and Menominee tribes of Indians;
while the Foxes of Iroquois descent adhered to the
English, and soon made their power felt against the
French settlements. These Indian confederations
have always been of a capricious character, the sav
ages having an eye to the main chance — that of help
ing themselves — rather using the whites to farther
their own designs than for any real benefit they gave
them as allies.
Three years after the founding of Detroit, the

IO HISTORY OF
Indians were invited to Albany by the English, with
a view of negotiating with them for the country.
A number of Ottawa chiefs visited the place, and
came back with altered feelings. During this visit
they were persuaded by the English who still wished
to obtain possession of the post, that the French set
tlements on the lakes were intending to wrest the
country from their hands, and acting upon this con
viction, they set fire to the town. The fire was dis
covered before any serious damage was done, and
extinguished. About the same time, another party of Ottawas
returning from a successful expedition against the
Iroquois, flushed with victory, paraded themselves
in front of the fort and endeavored to induce the
other Indians to join in its demolition. M. deTonti,
then the French commandant, dispatched an officer
foir the purpose of dispersing this hostile band, in
which he succeeded, putting them to fiight. In the
hurry of their departvire they abandoned the Iroquois
prisoners whom they had captured; these were sent
back by the French to their tribe.
From this time until 171 2, the infant settlements
of Michigan, rested in comparative quietude. The
Iroquois occasionally sent out marauding parties
against the French and Indians, and several of the
Jesuits had been murdered with the most wanton
cruelty by these bands of savages. In May, 171 2,
the Ottogamies, then comparatively an obscure tribe,
but who it appears were in secret alliance with the
Iroquois, perfected a plan to demolish the town of
Detroit. They were doubtless induced to do this by

CASS COUNTY. 1 1
the Five Nations, backed by the English, who wished
to destroy the post and erect one of their own on its
ruins. Accordingly on the 13th of May, the siege was
commenced, but the plans which had been carefully
and secretly made, were divulged by a convert to
the Catholic faith before they were fully matured;
and the commandant of the fbrt dispatched cour
iers to the wilderness to notify the friendly Indians,
who were absent on a hunting expedition, but readily
came to the summons painted and equipped fbr war.
After a siege of nineteen days, the aggressive party
were so badly beaten as to retreat some distance
from the fbrt, closely followed by the French and
friendly Indians, and after another four days fighting
and killing about a thousand of their warriors they
were fully conquered; the women and children,
whose lives were spared, were divided as slaves
among the victorious party.
The most prominent individuals at the trading
post besides the coinmandants, were the French mer
chants who generally had their houses near the forts.
The old French merchant was the head man of his
settlement. Careful, frugal, without much enter
prise, judgment, or rigid virtue. He was employed
in procuring skins from the Indians and traders in
exchange for manufactured goods. The policy of
these traders was to e-xercise their influence with
paternal mildness, so as to prevent rebellion, to keep
on good terms with the Indians in order to secure
their trade; and they frequently fostered a large
number of half breed children, who were the off-

12 HISTORY OF
spring of their licentiousness. The Couriers des
Bois, or rangers of the woods, were either French
or half breeds; a hardy race, accustomed to labor
and privation, and conversant with the character
and habits of the Indians, from whom they procured
their cargoes of furs. They were equally skilled in
propelling a canoe, fishing, hunting, and trapping.
If of mixed blood, they generally spoke both the
languages of their parents, and knew just enough of
their religions to be regardless of both. Employed
by the aristocratic French companies as voyageurs
or guides, their forms were developed to the fullest
vigor by propelling the canoe through the lakes and
streams, and by carrying heavy packs of goods
across the portages of the interior, by straps sus
pended froi'n their foreheads or shoulders. These
voyagetirs knew every rock, island, bay and shoal of
the western waters.
The ordinary dress of the white portion of the
French traders, was a cloth passed about the middle,
a loose shirt, a blanket coat, (called a molton), and
a red worsted cap. The half breeds were demi-sav-
age in their dress as well as in their character and
appearance. They sometimes wore a surtout of
coarse blue cloth reaching down to the knees, elk-
skin trowsers, the seams adorned with fringes, a scar
let woolen sash tied around the waist, in which they
carried a broad knife, used in dissecting the carcas
ses of animals taken in the chase, buckskin mocca
sins, and a cap made of the same material with the
surtout. Affable, gay, and licentious, these men
were employed by the French merchants, as guides,

CASS COUNTY. 1 3
canoe men, steersmen, or rangers, to go in their
canoes, into the remotest wilderness, to barter their
European goods fbr peltries, depositing them at the
several French depots on the lakes, whence they
were transported to Quebec and Montreal.
In 1 75 1, the fort at Detroit as well as those on the
upper lakes, was in a weak condition. About thirty
farms, owned by the French, were scattered along
the banks of the river, and the colony contained a
population of about five hundred souls beside the
Indians of the three villages, who could command
four hundred warriors. Detroit at this time was the
most important depot of the French on the north
western lakes. Its progress under the French was
very slow, from the fact that it was controlled by
explusive companies, whose only purpose was to en
rich themselves; preferring to keep the people in
ignorance that they might have the better control of
their labor rather than to let them become free-holders
in the soil. At the same time keeping the true state
of affairs from the French crown, that they might
further their own selfish purposes.
The fur trade of the great lake region afforded
them the largest opportunities for gain. Large ca
noes, laden with packs of European merchandise,
were sent periodically through these lakes for the
purpose of trading for peltries with the Indians, and
these made their principal depots at Detroit and Mack
inaw. In order to protect the interests of traders,
licenses were granted by the French King, and unli
censed persons were prohibited from dealing with the
Indians, in their own country under the penalty of

14 HISTORY OF
death. The ordinary price of these licenses was six
hundred crowns each, and they were mostly pur
chased of the Governor General by the merchants,
and by them sold to the traders and Coureurs des
Bois, The privilege granted in a single license was
the loading of two large canoes, each of which was
manned by six men, and freighted with merchandise
valued at a thousand crowns. This was furnished
to the traders at an advance of about fifteen per cent.
above the price it would bring in cash at the colonies.
The actual profit on these voyages was about one
hundred per cent., most of which accrued to the
merchant, while the trader endured all the fatigue.
On the return of the expedition, the merchant took
from the gross proceeds six hundred crowns for his
license, one thousand crowns for the prime cost of
his goods, and from the remainder forty per cent, as
bottomry, while the balance was divided equally be
tween the six Courieurs des Bois,, whose share for
all the trials and privations undergone while on the
voyage, often proved a mere pittance.
At the capitulation of Quebec, September i8th,
1760, Detroit, Mackinaw and all the present terri
tory of Michigan was ceded by the French to the
English. Before the conquest of the country, Michigan pre
served no distinct and independent character and was
far removed from the seat of war. The eastern line
of the State was a ranging ground for Jesuit Mis
sionaries and traders in their religious and mercan
tile operations through the wilderness. The -few
deasantry scattered around the military posts, culti-

CASS COUNTY. 1 5
rating their small patches of ground in quietude and
happiness. The interior had been but little explored
save by the wood ranger or Jesuit, who traveled
through the Indian trails, which wound along pleas
ant landscapes, here stretching on a sunny hillside,
and there overshadowed by silent primeval forests.
Drafls indeed had been made by the French govern
ment to forward their campaigns, and a number of
soldiers, drawn from the lake country, were present
at Braddock's defeat. Hostile bands of warriors
were also sent on in emergencies, from the lake
shores, to devastate the English settlements, but peace
in the main as yet, smiled on its dominions.
Immediately after the capitulation at Quebec, a
detachment of troops under Major Rogers, was sent
to take possession of Michigan. When nearing
the Detroit river, they were met by the celebrated
Indian Chief, Pontiac, who was for the first time
then brought to the public notice, but afterwards
became celebrated for his bravery, far-seeing, deep
planned, and well executed expeditions. He was the
chief of the Algonquin Confederacy ; the autocrat of
the savages along the lakes, distinguished for his
noble form, commanding address and proud demeanor.
He seems to have allied to himself the respect and
confidence of all the Indians in this region, and was
a marked example of the grandeur which is some
times found among the savages of the American
forest, with as it afterwards proved, a vein of treach
ery running through his organization. He was the
avowed friend of the French and enemy of the Eng
lish, and combined all those traits of character which

1 6 HISTORY OF
distinguish men among civilized states, whether in
the forum or . in the field. He was grasping in his
projects, his courage was unconquerable. His pride
was the pride of the proudest chief- of the proudest
nation on earth. As an orator, he was more remark
able for pointedness and vigor, than for burning elo
quence. He had watched with jealousy the progress
of the English arms, and had imbibed a hatred for
the English, which had been handed down in his
race. He had seen them pushing their conquests
through the country, destroying his people, driving
the game from the hunting grounds, which had been
bequeathed them from their forefathers, and crimson
ing the land with the blood of his companions and
friends — the French. About eight miles above
Detroit, on an island, he made his summer residence,
and in winter had his lodging place at an Ottawa
village opposite, on the Canada shore. When he
was informed of the advahce of Major Rogers, who
commanded the first English detachment that ever
advanced into his quarters, he was aroused like a
lion in his den.
On the 7th of November, when Rogers arrived at
the mouth of the Chogage river, he was met by a
party of Ottawa messengers who requested him to
halt his forces until Pontiac came up, which was
done. Pontiac's first salutation was to ask "how
he dared to enter his country without his permis
sion." He was informed by Rogers that there was
no design against the Indians, but their object was
to remove the French, who had been an obstacle in
the way of peace between the English and Indians.

CASS COUNTY. I 7
With this information friendly messages were
exchanged, also several belts of wampum.
On the next morning Pontiac appeared at the
English camp and informed Rogers that he had
made peace with the English, and, as a pledge, both
smoked the calumet.
Pontiac immediately sent messengers ahead in
structing the Indians to let the Enghsh pass, and
accompanied Rogers to the Detroit river, furnishing
him with venison, turkeys, and parched corn, and in
return received wampum and ammunition.
On the arrival of the English in the vicinity of
Detroit, a dispatch was sent to the French com
mandant, and after some parley the post was turned
over to the English, the citizens taking the oath of
allegiance to that government and the French sold
iers being sent to Philadelphia.
Major Rogers having made a treaty with the In
dians of the countr}^ advanced toward Lake Huron,
leaving Captain Cempbell in command at Detroit.
It was his intention to take, possession of Mack
inaw also, but the ice prevented him from going by-
water, and not being prepared with snow shoes to
cross the country, he returned to Detriot, and on
the 2 1st of December, 1760, started for Pittsburg,
leaving Captain Campbell in charge of the station.
Thus the French power in Michigan was forever
overthrown. The social condition of the settlers was not much
improved by the transfer from the French to the
EngHsh. Schools were unknown and the instruc-

1 8 HISTORY OF
tion of the children continued to be derived from the
Catholic priests.
Coin as a circulating medium, was introduced by
the English in lieu of peltries, which had been used
by the French.
Although the English government had succeeded
to the dominion of the northwestern lakes, it did not
inherit the friendship of the Algonquin tribes in that
quarter. These tribes from the first regarded the
whites as intruders, and the smile which played upon
the countenance of Pontiac when he first met the de
tachment of Rogers, onl}" tended to conceal a settled
hatred. His professions of friendship to the English
were doubtless a matter of policy until he should
plot their destruction.
The French had been friends to his race. They
had lodged in the same wigwam; drank at the same
stream; they had hunted and fought side by side,
and were mixed in blood. No sooner, therefore,
were the English established on the lakes, than he
projected the design of undermining them in this
quarter by destroying their forts.
His plan was to attack all the English posts at
the same time by stratagem, to massacre the garri
sons, take possession of the points, and oppose the
advance of the British upon the northwestern waters.
He presumed, on good ground, that the success of
the Indians in this enterprise, would establish their
confidence and combine them in one general confed
eracy against the English govemment. His distaste
for the English had been greatly augumented by the
cold indifterence of the traders and soldiers, which

CASS COUNTY, 19
contra'sted unfavorable with the sociability and kind
ness of the French. Some of his own tribe, the
Ottawas, had been disgraced by blows from tlic
English intruders. As soon as the plan of his polic}-
had been matured, Pontiac called a grand council of
warriors at the river Aux Gorce, and there addressed
them with great vigor and eloquence. Taking ad
vantage of the superstition which is natural to the
Indian character, he related dreams as having
occurred to himself and others, to the effect that
" they were to drive these dogs in red clothing from
the land." The speech of Pontiac had its full effect;
for the motives urged, appealed to the pride, interest,
superstition and nationality of the savages. Belts
and messengers were soon after sent to the Indians
along the whole frontier, stretching a thousand miles
along the lakes, in order to secure their co-operation.
He was joined by six other tribes, and on the 8th of
May, 1763, the attack was simultaneously cominenced
on the forts LeBceuf, Venango, Detroit, Mackinaw,
St. Joseph on the St. Joseph river, Pittsburg and
Niagara, all of which fell except Pittsburg, Niagara
and Detroit. The plan had been so carefull}' laid as
to create no suspicion in the minds of the English,
It broke like lightning from a midnight cloud.
Detroit, from its location, was deemed the most
important post, as it commanded an extensive region
of navigation and trade upon the upper lakes, and
stood as a gate to the northwestern waters. The
possession of this post would break the allegiance of
the French inhabitants on the river, and form a chain
of operation for the savages from Lake Michigan to

20 HISTORY OF
Buffalo and Pittsburg. Pontiac determined to super
intend its capture in person. At that time it was
garrisoned by one hundred and twenty-two men and
eight officers, of whom Major Gladwin was com
mander. Anchored in front of the fort were two
armed vessels, and the fort was protected by three
mortars, two six pounders and one three pounder.
These were badly mounted and better calculated to
terrify the Indians than for substantial defense.
Within the limits of the town were also about forty
persons connected with the fur trade who were sup
plied with provisions and arms.
Pontiac's plan for the destruction of the fort exhib
ited remarkable cunning as well as strategy. He
instructed his warriors to cut off their rifles so as to
conceal them under their blankets, gain admission
to the fort, and at a preconcerted signal, rush upon
the troops and open the gate for their companions on
the outside, who would stand ready to co-operate
with those within. In order to carry his plan into
execution he encamped near Detroit and sent word
to Major Gladwin that he and his warriors wished to
hold a council the next day for the purpose of
"brightening the chain of peace."
The council was granted for the Sth of May, 1763.
On the evening of the 7 th an Indian woman who
had been employed by the officers of the post, on
coming to return some work she had been doino-.
lingered around creating the impression that all was
not right, and upon being questioned told them they
had always been kind and she wished them no harm.
After assuring her that any information she might

CASS COUNTY. 21
give would not turn to her disadvantage, she gave
them the details of the plot. The officers consider
ing it more for the purpose of fright than anything
else, put but little confidence in the story ; but that
night everything was put in readiness in case her
prediction should prove true. The next day Pontiac
and his warriors were received in the usual manner,
and when it came to the point where he was to make
the signal, the officers unsheathed their swords and
demanded to know why they had come thus armed,
at the same time opening one of their blankets, dis
playing a shot gun. The Indians were taken wholly
by surprise. Major Gladwin opened the gate telling
them to leave before his young men fell upon and
slaughtered them, but as he had promised them pro
tection he would fulfill his word. As soon as the
savages were beyond the gate, they gave a yell and
fired on the garrison. They then proceeded to the
common where an English woman and her two sons
lived, whom they fell upon and massacred. The
cannibalism of the savages at that time is exhibited
in the fact that a respectable Frenchman was reques
ted to repair to their camp and partake of some
soup. He complied with the invitation, and after he
had eaten, was informed that he had feasted on a
part of the English woman. A Frenchman and his
family, living three miles up the river, were also
butchered with the exception of one. For some
time a desultory warfare was kept up by the Indians,
firing from behind the buildings in the vicinity of the
fort. These were demolished or burned by the order
of the commandant of the post, when they retired

2 2 HISTORY OF
behind a ridge, sallying out when the opportunity
seemed favorable. Major Campbell was much
respected by the French and Indians for his kindness,
and it became an important object with Pontiac to
get this officer into his posession to secure the down
fall of the fort, and for this purpose he induced some
French residents to seek an interview with the Major,
informing him that Pontiac wished him to come
to his camp that they might terminate the war
and smoke the pipe of peace, and at the same time
Pontiac gave the most solemn assurance of his safety.
Under this promise, he, in company with a Lieuten
ant repaired to the camp, where at first they were
well received. The crafty chief however did not
comply with his promise and the English officers
were detained. The Lieutenant shortly after made
his escape and returned to the fort in safety. The
Major was offered his liberty for the surrender of
the fort, but Pontiac's previous treachery had weak
ened all confidence in his word, and the proposition
was spurned with indignation. The captivity of
Major Campbell had an unfortunate termination.
An Ottawa chief of note had been killed at Mack
inaw, and his nephew hastened to Detroit for reveno-e,
where he found Major Campbell and immediately
dispatched him with his tomahawk, and fled to Sao--
inaw to escape the vengeance of Pontiac.
The siege of Detroit was uninterruptedly kept up
for eleven months with varying success on the part
of the besiegers, when it was relieved by General
Bradstreet v.ith three thousand men,,- Twice the
effort to relieve them had been made previously.

CASS COUNTY. 23
Once the whole detachment were either killed or
taken prisoners by the Indians ; the second time they
arrived in safety after successfully repulsing the Indi
ans from boarding their vessel, but the reinforcements
were so few in number as to prove of no material
benefit. Pontiac's abilities were fully demonstrated during
the protracted struggle. Pie issued bills of credit,
made of bark, with a beaver, the to tem of his tribe
drawn upon them, in exchange for the products of
the French. These bills were faithfully redeemed.
The neutrality of the French was a drawback to his
success, and he did everything in his power to bring
them to his side. Councils were called at which he
made speeches, relating in glowing style how he and
his young men had helped them to defend their
country against the English, and accused them of
carrying his plans to the enei'ny. And as a last resort,
throwing down a belt and saying to them, "if you
are French and with us, take that belt ; if not, we
declare war against you." But all to no avail; the
French stood fast to their oath of allegiance. The
armed vessels in the river were another source of
annoyance to him, and he determined to burn them.
For this purpose the barns of many of the inhabi
tants were thrown down and made into a raft, and
filled with pitch and other combustibles that would
burn readily. The whole mass was towed up the
river and fired, under the supposition that the stream
would carry it down into contact with, and set fire
to the vessels. The English, however, were aware
of the plan, and had anchored boats above the ves-

24 HISTORY OF
sels connected with chains so as to ward off the
blazing mass. The plan was successful and the
burning rafts floated harmlessly down the river.
Upon the arrival of General Bradstreet, it became
evident to the Indians that they could not succeed
against so heavy a force; they therefore laid down
their arms and concluded a treaty of peace. Pontiac,
however, stood aloof and took no part in the negotia
tions, and soon after retired to the Illinois, where he
was as.sassinated by an Indian of the Peoria tribe,
about the year 1767, thus ending the career of a
most remarkable man.
The Ottawas, Potawotomies and Chippewas made
a common cause in avenging his death by waging
war with and nearly "exterminating the tribe of his
murderer. While these events were passing at Detroit, others
of no less importance or destructive in their charac
ter were occurring at Mackinaw. They were set
in motion by the master mind of Pontiac, who had
plotted the overthrow of the other posts on the lakes.
At that time the fort at Mackinaw was in the middle
of a two acre lot enclosed with cedar pickets. On
the bastions were planted two small brass cannon, ta
ken some years before by a party of Canadians in an
expedition against the trading post of the Hudson
Bay company. The stockade contained about thirty
houses, also a chapel, in which mass was regularly
held by the priest missionary. The inhabitants de
rived the principal part of their support from the
traders who congregated here on their voyages to
and from Montreal. The furs were collected here

CASS COUNTY. 25
for transportation from the upper lakes, and outfits
prepared for Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, the
Mississippi, and the remote Northwest. It contained
in 1763 about thirty families. The garrison at that
time was composed of ninety-three officers and sol
diers ; there were also four English merchants at the
post. On the 3d of June a large collection of Indians had
gathered in the vicinity of the fort, under various
pretexts. As a ruse a game called baggatitvay was
proposed between the Chippewas and Sacs for a
high wager. It was played with a bat and ball.
Two posts were planted in the ground some distance
apart, each party having its post. The game con
sisted in propelling the ball, which was placed in the
center, toward the post of the adversary. The de
sign of the Indians was to throw the ball over the
pickets and in a natural manner all rush for it in the
heat of the game, thus securing an entrance to the
fbrt. This stratagem was successful. Major Eth-
ington, the commandant, was present at the game,
and laid a wager on the side of the Chippewas,
while all the garrison who could be induced were
drawn outside the pickets for the purpose of weak
ening the defenses of the fort. In the midst of the
game there was an Indian war yell, and the crowd
of Indians who had rushed fbr the ball within the
pickets were seen cutting down and scalping those
within the fbrt. The massacre of the garrison, and
the destruction of the fort by burning, completed
their project. A number of canoes, filled with Eng
lish traders, arrived about the same time. These

2D HISTORY OF
were dragged through the water, beaten, and
marched by the Indians to the prison lodge. After
the fall of the fort, the savages fearing the English
and Indians who had not joined in the plot, divided
their forces, a part going to the Island of Mackinaw,
the remainder to assist Pontiac in the siege of De
troit. During the whole period of the American Revolution
Michigan was in a state of quietude, being composed
of a part of the Canadian Territory and far removed
from the active scenes of war her people rested in
comparative peace. Although serving as a maga
zine of arms for the savages, and a mart where the
price of scalps was paid, it exhibited no prominent
events which gave interest and coloring to the page
of history, from the fact that it was not the theatre
of action. The war which was waged in the East
ern part of the country was, however, brought to
a termination by Washington, and the treaty of
1783 included Michigan within the American bound
aries. The important ordinance fbr the organization
of the Northwestern Territory was passed in July,
1787. This ordinance has been the basis for all
Territorial Governments since that time. It was
drawn by Nathan Dane, of Beverly,' Massachusetts.
The Territory was made into one District, subject to
a division at the will of Congress. It was provided
that until the free white male inhabitants, should
amount to five thousand, the government should be
vested in a Governor and three Judges, who, as well
as Secretary, should be appointed by Cono-ress.
The Governor and Judges were Empowered to adopt

CASS COUNTY. 27
and put in force such laws of the orginal States as
might be suited to the circumstances of the District,
these laws to be in force until superseded by acts of
Congress. The Governor was also vested with the
power of dividing the Districts into Counties and
Townships, and of appointing civil officers for the
same. It was provided that when the free male in
habitants reached five thousand in number, a legisla
tive council should be established. This council was
to be composed of five members, who were to hold
their office for two years, unless removed by Con
gress, and were appointed in the following manner:
the Plouse of Representatives was authorized to
nominate ten persons, each possessed of a freehold of
fi^'e hundred acres of land, and out of this number
Congress was permitted to appoint five as members
of the legislative council. The council had power to
enact laws, in connection with the General Assem
bly, and to elect delegates to Congress. In 1798,
the Northwestern Territory assumed the second
grade of territorial government, and the Territory
of Michigan, as afterwards established, comprised
one County, that of Wayne. It then sent one Rep
resentative to the General Assembly of the North
western Territory, then held at Chilicothe, Ohio,
and for this purpose the first election was held in
Michigran under the American Government. A
Court of Common Pleas was established, and the
General Court was periodically held at Detroit. In
1802 the peninsular portion of Michigan was at
tached to Indiana, by an act of Congress which au
thorized the erection into a State of that portion of

28 HISTORY OF
the Northwestern Territory which constitutes the
State of Ohio. Up to this time the people had paid
but little attention to agriculture, but had devoted
themselves to the procuring of furs and trading with
the Indians; and when we contrast the difference
between that time and this, and the improvements
that have been made, the change seems almost mir
aculous. On January nth, 1805, by an act of Congress,
Michigan was erected into a separate Territory,
the Government to be established on the plan which
had been prescribed by the ordinance of 1787.
William Hull was appointed Governor, Augustus
B. Woodward and Frederick Bates Judges of the
Territory. On the second Tuesday in July, 1805,
the oaths of office were administered to the several
officers, and Michigan commenced its governmental
operations. This was done, however, under very
unfavorable circumstances. On the nth of June
the town of Detroit had been consumed by fire. It.
at that time covered about two acres of ground, and
was very compactly built, with streets but fourteen
feet wide, and as a matter of defense the village was
environed with strong and solid pickets. The
houses being so closely built, and composed of com
bustible materials, were soon swept away by the
conflagration, and when the officers arrived they
found the body of the people encamped on the pub
lic grounds, while some had taken refuge in the
country on the banks of the river.
Judge Woodward drew up a code of laws for the
government of the territory, known as the " Wood-

CASS COUNTY. 29
ward code." The administration of justice in the
early days of the territory had to conform to the
character of the people and appears somewhat amus
ing at this day of greenback currency. In one case,
the defendant was to perform a certain number of
day's work, in another, the plaintiff was to deliver a
certain number of cords of wood on the bank of the
river, as penalties for nonfulfillment of contracts.
In 1804, a land office was established at Detroit,
more for the purpose of adjusting titles that had
been granted by previous administrations, than fbr
sales; for as yet the Indian title had not yet been
sufficiently extinguished to warrant the opening of
lands to market.
From the time that the Americans took posses
sion of Michigan until the close of the war of 181 2,
their possessions were anything but peaceful, sur
rounded on all sides by Indians acting under the im
pression that their lands were to be taken from them
in case of their success, and urged on by British
emissaries, whose object was to repossess the
country they had ceded by the treaty of peace at
the termination of the Revolution. It was the object
of the British government to combine all the savage
tribes in one grand confederacy for the extermina
tion of the Americans. Even before war was
declared, their agents were busy among them dis
tributing presents and giving council. Tecumseh
believing the British to be their true friends greatly
aided in bringing the Indians to their wishes. Te
cumseh is described as a man much after the style of
Pontiac, five feet ten inches high, well proportioned.

30 HISTORY OF
and commanding in his address. He combined the
qualities of the statesman and the warrior. His
counsels were listened to with respect, both by the
Indians and the British. He held under the English
government a commission as Brigadier General. He
was in no way inflated by the tawdry tinsel that per
vades military circles, but confined himself to the
dress of his tribe. At one time when he had given
important information, he was presented by General
Brock with a sash from his own person as a token of
honor. Tecumseh handed it to another saying, that
he was an older and better warrior than himself.
His purposes were unselfish, devoting himself to the
benefit of his people, and in no way aggrandizing or
turning anything to his own personal benefit. He
fell at the memorable battle of the Thames. The
war of 1 812, fell with great force upon the people of
Michigan. Situated on the confines of civilization,
and in the immediate vicinity of the strongholds of
the enemy, they suffered all the hardships and hor
rors of border warfare. General Hull, at this time
acting Governor of the territory, was clothed with
full discretionary power to act as he thought proper,
either offensively or defensively. This power was
granted because he was supposed to know the char
acter of the country and the nature and strength of
the enemy better than any other person, and had
served with credit under Washinsfton.
Some blame should be attached to the general
government for not notifying the outposts of the dec
laration of war against Great Brittain at an earlier
da}-, as the enemy was in possession of and acting

CASS COUNTY. 3 I
upon the information sometime before it was known
to our officers on the frontier.
For the purpose of defending Michigan and inva
ding Canada, an arm}- of twelve hundred men was
drafted in Ohio by order of the President and, collec
ted at Dayton, and this force was considerably augu
mented by volunteers. This army was divided into
three regiments under Colonel's Mc Arthur, Cass and
Finelly. To these was added a fourth regiment
composed of militia and regulars numbering about
three hundred men, under the command of Colonel
Miller; the whole force was placed under General
Hull. This army was ordered to immediately repair to
Detroit, and started about the middle of June. They
had to cut their way through the trackless wilder
ness and swamps, and after many hardships arrived
at the point of destination, on the third of the same
month. General Hull had been to Washington for
the purpose of removing some of the embarassments
in his way, and on his return had dispatched his bag
gage, documents and disabled soldiers in a vessel via,
the Maiden channel. On her appearance at that
point the vessel was captured, and news of the dec
laration of war first broke upon the astonished crew
from the lips of the British as they boarded the
American vessel.
For some time after the arrival of the army at
Detroit, the time was employed in cleaning up the
arms that had become rusted and dirty in their march
through the wilderness, and recruiting the men.
The army under General Hull was very anxious to

32 HISTORY OF
attack Maiden immediately, as it was known at that
time to be in a weak condition but daily expecting
reinforcements. This would have been in accordance
with the policy of the war department, and the pos
session of Maiden would have been of immense
advantage in future campaigns.
Having made arrangements for the expedition.
General Hull with his army, crossed over to Sand
wich on the 1 2th of July, and established a fortified
camp. Here he issued a proclamation which was
from the pen of Colonel Cass, and was of an ener
getic and impressive character, and backed by the
bayonets of his army had the effect of keeping the
Canadians and Indians, who were opposed to the
American cause, on neutral ground. He also issued
an invitation to them to come over to the American
side, stating the advantages that would accrue to
them under a republican form of government, and
many of them availed themselves of the privilege.
On the 1 7th of July, while Hull was lying at Sand
wich in a state of torpidity, a detachment of the
enemy was sent to Mackinaw, and the first intima
tion that Lieutenant Hanks, the commander of the
post, received of the declaration of war was the sum
mons to surrender, with the British under the walls
of his fort; and as the force under his command
numbered but fifty, while the British and Indians
numbered over one thousand, his only course was to
surrender it.
General Hull delayed making an attack upon
Maiden until it was reinforced and became inexpedi
ent, and on the 9th of August recrossed the river to

CASS COUNTY. 33
Detroit. His pretext for not making the attack was
the want of heavy artillery which he was daily ex
pecting from Detroit, but, as subsequent events
show, it was from a want of pluck.
On the 14th of August General Brock, one of the
most able and energetic of the British commanders
in Canada, arrived at Maiden, and on the 15th
marched up to Sandwich, and immediately upon his
arrival at that point summoned General Hull to sur
render. Hull with some spirit refused, and on the
1 6th Brock crossed over the river under cover of
his armed vessels, landing near Springwell, and im
mediately marched upon the fort. Hull in the
meantime called in the troops that had been sent out
to harass the eneiny in their approach, and soon
after hoisted a white flag, in token of surrender.
Negotiations immediately commenced. The regular
troops were surrendered as prisoners of war, the
public property given up, and the militia ordered to
return home and not to serve again during the war,
unless regularly exchanged.
Thus ended the inglorious campaign of General
Hull on the frontier. He was afterward tried be
fore a court martial for- treason and cowardice.
The court gave a verdict of acquittal on the first
count, but condemned and sentenced him to death
on the second, at the same time recommending him
to the mercy of the President of the United States.
His life was spared by the Executive, but he was
dishonorably dismissed from the service.
After the capitulation of Detroit, the English es
tablished a provisional government over Michigan
—3

34 RiStory of
and left a small force in charge of the post at
Detroit. The Indians who had assisted them claimed
large rewards for their services, and were permitted
to ravage the houses of the defenseless inhabitants,
who were compelled to submit to the atrocities of
the savages or exile themselves, in self defense, to re
mote regions.
From the time of Hull's surrender until the de-
cisi^¦e victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie,
Michigan was in a state of unrest. Surrounded on
all sides by British troops and their allies, the savages,
all communication by water cut off by the British
squadron, their condition was anything but enviable.
Among the fruits of that brilliant victory, came the
opening of communication with the army in Ohio
and the dawn of better days for the pioneers.
On the 23d of September General Harrison with
his army set out for Maiden. On his arrival at Am-
burstburg, instead of finding British arms to oppose
him, he met the Canadians with their wives and
daughters, bearing in their hands emblems of peace,
who had assembled to solicit his protection. Gen
eral Proctor had evacuated Maiden after having
burned the fort and store houses, and retired to
the Thames, about eighty miles from Detroit. The
American forces took possession of Detroit and im
mediately marched in pursuit of Proctor, and the
battle of the Thames, in which Proctor was defeated,
concluded the brilliant campaign of General Harri
son on the Northwestern frontier. This wa§ the
most directly effective battle fought during the
whole war, so far as Michigan was concerned.

CASS COUNTY. 35
General Proctor had been advised by Tecumseh to
make a stand at Maiden, but this advice was disre
garded and he proceeded to the point above de
scribed. The British troops and Indians numbered about
twenty-four hundred, while the American arm}'
comprised twenty-seven hundred, of whom one hun
dred and twenty were regulars, thirty were Indians,
and the remainder were militia, infantry and
mounted volunteers, armed with rifles and muskets.
The victory was decisive. Tecumseh, the grand
instigator of the Indians to the assistance of the
British, fell in the engagement. Six brass field
pieces were recaptured, which had been surrendered
by Hull at Detroit, and on two of these were en
graved the following inscription: '¦'¦Surrendered by
Burgoyne at Saratoga,''''
General Harrison, having effected the object of
his compaign, left General Cass in command at
Detroit and moved down toward the Niagara fron
tier. The only part of Michigan Territory then re
maining in the possession of the British was the Island
of Mackinaw. This island is about three miles in
diameter, and was then covered with a dense forest,
occasionally broken by a small patch of cleared land.
On one side was the fort adjoining the village, and
on the other a wilderness.
Colonel Grogan and Commodore Sinclair, the
former* commander of the land forces and the latter
in charge of the fleet, set sail in July, 1814, for the
purpose of reducing this post; but failed in the at
tempt, owing to the strength of the defenses and the

36 HISTORY OF
unfavorable character of the ground over which they
had to pass. This post remained in possession of
the British until the treaty of peace, February 17th,
1815. In October, 181 3, General Lewis Cass was ap
pointed Governor over the Territory of Michigan.
He had served with distinction through the war and
seemed in every way well qualified for the position ;
nor was this confidence misplaced, for to no other
one man do the people of Michigan owe so great a
debt of gratitude as to Governor Cass. Clear-
headed, bold and energetic, he found the country in
a state of dilapidation, with morals corrupted by
long contact with warfare and its attendant evils,
the people demoralized by the devastations of the
British and their savage allies — in fact a worse state
of affairs could hardly be imagined than existed
when he assumed the reins of government. He
brought order out of chaos, and immediately began
a system of improvements, and prosecuted them with
an energy worthy the cause he had undertaken.
The onl}- access to the Territory at that time was
through the black swamp, then an almost impass
able morass, and the military road along the Detroit
river, and this was made almost impassible by the
refuse of war strewn along it during the occupation
by the British. The interior ¦vras one dense wilder
ness, only inhabited by the Indians and an occasional
French trader on the streams. Frenchtown and
Detroit were the two principal settlements on the
lower peninsula, and these had been nearly destroyed
during the war. Governor Cass immediately set

CASS COUNTY. 37
about reorganizing the Territory, building up its in
terests, and forming amicable relations with the
Indian tribes.
On the 1 6th of February, 18 19, Congress passed
an act for the election of a delegate to Congress
from the Territory. As yet no land had been
brought into market, from the fact that the Indian
titles had not been fully extinguished, consequently
there was no inducement for settlers to come in.
But in 1 8 19, a treaty at Saginaw \'i'as effected, by
which a considerable part of the eastern portion of
the Territory was ceded and brought into market.
This produced a new era in its progress, inciting
immigration and settlement by the low price and
easy iterms of payment, it soon brought into the
country a large increase of population, and in 1820
this population had increased to eight thousand eight
hundred and ninety-six. A serious drawback had
been imposed on the settlement by a report of the
commissioners who had been sent out by Congress
for the purpose of locating two million acres of
land for the soldiers of the v/ar of 181 2. They
returned without locating, and reported the country
to be low, sterile, and filled with swamps.
In 1820 Detroit contained a population of fourteen
hundred and fifteen inhabitants, and was then a point
of considerable activity and business. The Island
of Mackinaw, which was at that time the principal
mart of the fur trade, had a population of four hun
dred and fifty, which was augmented to two thou
sand at certain intervals, by the accession of z>oy-
ageurs, Indians^ and traders, on their return from

38 HISTORY OF
their hunting and trading expeditions to the forests
of the upper lakes. Walk-in-the-water was the only
steamboat that plied on the lakes, and this was
deemed sufficient to transact all the commercial
business of the Territory. This boat made her first
trip to Mackinaw in 1819.
On the 24th of May, 1820, Governor Cass started
on an exploring expedition to the upper country,
which he had determined upon and made prepara
tions for, during the preceding year. The objects
were to examine the soil, the number and condition
of the Indian tribes, and their character, to investi
gate the mineralogical resources of the country, espec
ially the copper mines of Lake Superior, to collect
the material for a map, to select the site for a garri
son at the foot of Lake Superior; and also to perfect
treaties with the Indian tribes in that quarter. For
that object a memorial had been forwarded to Mr.
Calhoun, then Secretary of War, which was favora
bly received, and the expedition encouraged. An
escort of soldiers was furnished, the commanders of
the garrisons along the route instructed to facihtate
its progress, and a mineralogist, topographical en
gineer and ph}'sician were appointed to assist in ear
iy ing out the work.
The expedition was pi'ovided with bark canoes
manned by Canadian voyageurs and Indians. They
coursed along the track which, although yet an
unbroken wilderness, had nevertheless been made
memorable ground by the wars of the savages and
the hardships and adventures of the early traders,
soldiers and missionaries of the French government.

CASS COUNTY. 39
The disaffection of the Indians on the upper lakes
toward the United States, continued to exist in a
great degree, and their attachment to the English
was fully exhibited during this expedition.
By the treaty of 1795, the United States were
entitled to all the land in the Nortwestern Territory
which had been granted by the Indians to the French
and English governments, and on that ground the
American government claimed the concession whicl^
had formerly been made to the French at the Sault
de St. Marie, through which it had been occupied
as a military post.
A council was accordingly held for the purpose of
estabhshing this grant, and the object distinctly stated
to the Indians through an interpreter. They were
opposed to the proposition of Governor Cass, and
endeavored to evade it by denying their knowledge
of the original grant; and when the fact was pressed
upon their conviction, they exhibited great dissatis
faction and gave a qualified refusal. Some of the
chiefs were in favor of allowing the grant, provided
it should not be used as a garrison, alleging as a rea
son, that their young men might prove unruly and
kill the cattle, if any should stray away from the
post. This was intended and received as a threat,
and Governor Cass in answer told them that so far
as the establishment of a garrison at the Sault, he
would spare them all trouble, for so sure as the sun
rose and set, there would be an American garrison
at that point, be their decision what it might.
The council on the part of the Indians, was com
posed of chiefs dressed in costly broadcloths, epau-

40 HISTORY OF
lets, medals, silver ornaments, and feathers of British
manufacture, by which it was understood that Eng
lish diplomacy was controlling their deliberations.
The council was employed several hours in ani
mated discussion, and the last chief who spoke, a
Brigadier in the British service, drew his war lance
and struck it furiously into the ground, and, pulling
it out, kicked away the presents that had been laid
before him, and the council broke up in confusion.
In a few minutes the British flag was seen flying over
the Indian encampment.
Governor Cass immediately ordered his men under
arms, and proceeding to the camp with an interpreter,
took down the insulting flag, telling thefn at the
same time that that was an indignity they should not
be permitted to offer on American soil; that the flag
was an emblem of national power; that two stand
ards could not float over the same land, and they
were forbidden to raise any but our ow^n, and if they
should presume again to attempt it, " the United
States would set a strong foot upon their necks and
crush thei-n to the earth."
The firmness of the Governor produced the
desired effect. In a few minutes the Indian encamp
ment was broken up, they taking to their canoes on
the river. The Americans numbered sixty-six men,
of whom thirty were regulars, and the savages could
muster sevent}- or eighty well armed warriors. Sorae
time having elapsed and no demonstration on the
part of the Indians being made, the soldiers were
dismissed to their tents. An overture was soon
made by a few of the older chiefs who had not been

CASS COUNTY. 4 1
present at the former council, and in the evening a
treaty was concluded, in which they ceded to the
United States four miles square on the Sault, reserv
ing to themselves the right to fish in the river and
camp on its banks. The calumet having been smoked
and the shaking of hands concluded, the signatures
of the Indians were obtained to the treaty, for which
they were paid on the spot, in blankets, knives, broad
cloths and silverware.
In 1818, upon the erection of Illinois into a State,
the limits of Michigan were extended by the annex
ation of all the territory lying north of that State
and the State of Indiana.
In 1823, the Territory of Michigan was vested
with a more compact form of government by an act
of Congress, providing for the establishment of a
Legislative Council, which was to consist of nine
members. These members were to be appointed by
the President of the United States with the consent
of the Senate, out of eighteen candidates elected by
the people of the territory, and, with the Governor,
were vested with the saine powers which had been
granted by the ordinance of 1787.
On the 7th of June, 1824, the first Legislative
Council of Michigan, was held at the Council Plouse,
in Detroit. Governor Cass, at that time, delivered
his message, in which he briefly reviewed the history
of the Territory and ,its progress, and marked out
what he considered a proper line of policy in its
existing condition.
With the opening of the Erie canal of New York,
in 1825, Michigan received an impetus of immigra-

42 HISTORY OF
tion, such as she had not known before. This ave
nue opening up the way to her fertile soil from the
remote Atlantic seaboard, emigrants from the sterile
and mountainous New England, as well as from the
sections intervening, came pouring in, and from this
time Michigan properly dated her prosperity.
In 1827, Congress granted the right of electing
members of the Legislative Council to the people,
and the representation was ordered to be apportioned
among the several counties and districts according to
their population.
Governor Cass in 1820, at Chicago, effected a
treaty with the Indians for the lands south of Grand
river, and also another at Carey Mission in 1828, for
the remainder of the lands in Michigan, except cer
tain reservations. ,
In 1830, the population of Michigan had increased
to thirty-one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine.
In 1 83 1, Governor Cass resigned his office for the
purpose of accepting a seat as Secretary of War in
President Jackson's Cabinet, after occupying the im
portant position of Governor of the Territor}- for
eighteen years. During this time his entire ener
gies had been devoted to strengthening the founda
tions of the prosperity of Michigan and increasing
the wealth of the United States by perfecting treat
ies with the Indians, developing the resources and
defining and establishing the legislation of the Ter
ritory. He found the country weak from the devas
tations of war; he left it strong. He had given gen
eral satisfaction to the people, in effecting substantial
improvements for the benefit of the State. Although

CASS COUNTY. 43
endowed with few of the brilliant qualifications of
an orator, he possessed the solid and discriminating
judgment of a statesman; discreet, sagacious, pru
dent, politic, he sought only the best good of the
Territory. Governor Cass was succeeded the same year by
George B. Porter, a lawyear of Lancaster, Pennsyl
vania. Pie was appointed by President Jackson;
although not possessing talent, he was acknowledged
to be an active and thorough business man. The
administration of Governor Porter was marked by
no extraordinary measures effecting the condition of
Michigan, with the exception of the erection of Wis
consin, which had formerly been attached to it, and
the Black Hawk (or Sac) war.
In April, 1834, a census was taken, when it was
found that Michigan contained a population of eighty
seven thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
During this year, the gubernatorial chair was again
left vacant by the death of Governor Porter, and
Stephen T. Mason, then Secretary of State, suc
ceeded him as Governor, in which capacity he re
mained until elected by the people in 1836, with the
exception of a part of 1835, when the chair was
occupied by John S. Horner.
On the nth of May, 1835, Michigan acting under
the ordinance of 1787, which empowered the terri
tories when their population reached sixty thousand,
to organize into a State, called a convention at De
troit, framed a constitution and elected State officers.
This constitution was rejected by Congress. But a
conditional act passed, which in effect was for Mich-

44 HISTORY OF
igan to give up the disputed fifteen mile strip, as
claimed by Ohio, in accordance with her boundary
lines as established on her admission into the Union.
Michigan indignantly refused to comply with the
provisions of this act, assuming that Congress had no
right to dictate terms other than those laid down in
the original compact.
In September, 1836, another convention was called
at Ann Arbor, fbr the purpose of considering this
act, when it was rejected. Local prejudices sprang
up and public feeling was aroused. Sorae were in
favor of coraing in on any terms, while others fav»
ored staying out until their rights were fully recog
nized. On the ground of expediency another con
vention was called on the 17th of December of the
same year, when the condition was recognized. The
basis of this accession was to secure the benefits of
the Union and share in the division of the surplus
revenues. The question then arose as to whether
this convention was empowered to accede to the
terms as imposed by the act of Congress for the
admission of Michigan. The President did not deem
himself authorized to issue his proclamation on the
action of this convention, but determined to lay the
whole matter before Congress. This body after a
protracted discussion, admitted Michigan as a State,
on the 26th of January, 1837. ^^ ^i^" of the dispu
ted territory, Michigan was granted the Upper
Peninsula, which, at that time, was considered of but
little value, except fbr its fisheries and fur trade.
The details of the dispute between Ohio and Mich
igan, in regard to the territory claimed by each, are

CASS COUNTY. 45
given at some length in a separate chapter, under the
head of the "Toledo War."
The limited space we have to devote to this part
of our subject, prevents carrying it farther, although
it by no means loses interest at this point, but is well
worthy the attention and study of both the student
and general reader.

THE TOLEDO WAR.
By the ordinance of 1787 it was laid down that a
line running due east and west, touching the most
extrerae southern point of Lake Michigan, should be
the dividing line between the two tiers of States that
were to be erected out of the Northwestern Ter
ritory. In accordance with this, in 1802 Ohio, by
an act of Congress, was admitted as a Territory, but
put in her constitution the proviso that if the Hne
drawn due east and west should extend so far south
as not to touch Lake Erie, or if it should touch
Lake Erie south of the mouth of the Maumee river,
then in that case, -with the assent qf Congress,, the
northern boundary of the State should be the line
running from the most extreme southern point of
Lake Michigan to the raost northernly cape of Mau-
raee bay, and under this provision she was admitted ;
although by an act of Congress in 1805 admitting
Michigan under the original boundaries, it can not
be said that Congress assented to the conditions as
laid down by Ohio, and in 1807 Ohio instructed her
Representatives in Congress to use their influence to

CASS COUNTY. 47
obtain the passage of a law defining their northern
boundary in accordance with the proviso in their
constitution. In 1 81 2 two lines were run by order of the Sur
veyor General, one in accordance with the original
plan, called the Harris line, and the other to corres
pond with the Ohio proviso, called the Fulton line.
The point with Ohio was to secure the mouth of
the Maumee river, then, as has since proved correct,
deemed important on account of its commercial loca
tion, being at the starting point of the Wabash
canal and one of the principal shipping points on
Lake Erie.
Michigan continued to exercise jurisdiction over
the disputed territory without serious opposition un
til 1834, although Wood County, soon after its
organization in 1820, attempted to control the ter
ritory in dispute.
In 1834 Ohio sent a meraorial to Congress, set
ting forth her grievances, and in 1835 passed an act
defining the northern limits of William, Henry, and
Wood Counties, according to their proviso, all going
to show that Michigan up to this time had jurisdic
tion over the disputed territory. By the same act
the Governor was empowered to appoint Coramis
sioners to survey the northern boundary in accord
ance with the proviso.
The Comraissioners undertook the work, but were
prevented by the people of Michigan. This brought
Ohio to her feet. An extra session of the Legisla
ture was called by the Governor on the 8th of June,
1835, at which the County of Lucas was organized.

48 HISTORY OF
a considerable portion of which was raade up of the
disputed territory. This, however, did not quiet
the difficulty. In the spring of 1836 two sets of
officers were elected, one acting under the laws of
Michigan, the other under the laws of Ohio. The
Sheriff of Monroe County, at the head of a posse of
men, marched in and arrested and carried to Monroe
the local officers elected and acting for Ohio.
Thereupon Governor Lucas levied troops and en
camped at fort Miami, above Toledo. At the same
tirae acting Governor Mason called out the railitia
of Michigan, and, placing himself at their head,
marched to the front. Not finding the enemy, he
pushed on and took possession of Toledo.
The Ohio Legislature on the 19th of June, 1835,
passed an act raising the sum of three hundred
thousand dollars for the purpose of defraying the
expense of establishing her northern boundary.
About this time two Commissioners, Richard Rush
and Colonel Howard, were appointed at Washing
ton for the purpose of settling the difficulties between
the belligerents, in which they were successful, giv
ing to Ohio the territory in dispute, and to Michigan,
in lieu thereof, the Upper Peninsula, thus ending the
controversy of many years standing.

ANCIENT EARTHWORKS.
With the early settlement of this country the dis
covery was raade of a previous settlement by a peo
ple long since extinct. The only records remaining
of this ancient people, or their habits, are the mounds,
earthworks, and relics they have left behind them.
That they were an agricultural people seems evident
from the fact that these relics are always found on
or near the most fertile land the country affords.
That they were unlettered, also seems evident, for
araong all the relics that have been discovered
nothing appears to show that they had any written
language. And how, when, or for what purpose
these mounds were built, will perhaps remain in the
future as it has in the past, a mystery beyond the
explanation of our most learned, yet a fertile source
of speculation for all who may have a taste for delv
ing in the pre-historic age of the country.
Many theories have been advanced by the various
authors who have written on the subject, but we
find after a careful perusal that they all come to one
conclusion, and leave the reader just where he began;
and the same mystery enshrouds this ancient people
and their works that to the early settlers was inex
plicable. Perhaps science in her rapid strides may
in the future throw light on this iraportant subject
—4

50 ' HISTORY OF
that will give us an idea of their character and
habits. The earthworks of this county are of two kinds ;
one the common mounds to be found in nearly every
township in the county, and considered the raost
priraitive in their character of any of the earthworks
in existance, and a few of what seem to have been
pleasure grounds or flower gardens. One of this
latter kind was discovered by Squire Edwards . on
Pokagon prairie, when he came there in 1826. It
is described ar> a low mound of considerable size,
with well defirvj I v/alks radiating from the center in
all directions, and in several other parts of the county
we have been informed that formations of like char
acter existed in an early day, but, owing to their
being located on the most fertile soil, they have been
obliterated by the hand of the practical agriculturist.
These seem to be entirely different from the work
of the Indians, although deemed by some to be one
and the same, but with the Indians, everything was
planted in parallel rows, each year planting in the
same row and raising the ridge with each successive
cultivation, following this system until the land be
came so exhausted that it would no longer produce
remunerative crops, when a new piece was taken
alongside and the system repeated, thus giving no
correct impression of the extent of their agricultural
operations, for by their manner of planting, it may
have been carried on for many years, and when it
became sodded over with the natural grasses of the
country, it looked as though it all might have been
imder cultivation at one time.

CASS COUNTY. 5 I
The mounds of this county, in common with nearly
all that are found north of the 41st degree of latitude,
are of the most primitive character and in no wise
compare with those found farther south. Their com
position is universally of the surface soil without any
admixture of foreign ingredients whatever, and
apparently taken frora the adjacent locality in such
sraall quantities as to make no appreciable depression,
thus creating with some investigators, the impres
sion that it had been brought long distances for the
purpose of building these mysterious inonuments.
Who the people were that built these works or
what was their purpose, is beyond the province of the
author of the present day to divine. A nuraber have
been opened in different parts of the county, in
nearly all of which soraething has been found: in
some bones and rude implements, in others, a coarse
kind of crockery ware with traces of charcoal and
ashes in the bottom, but nothing in any of them that
leads to any satisfactory conclusion.
The Indians have a theor}^ that these mounds were
used by their forefathers for two purposes; those
having bones in them were monuments of important
battles and covered the bones of the braves that fell,
while those not having these relics, were used for
abode, similar to the dug-outs in use in some parts of
the west at the present tirae. But this does not seem
at all likely, for those used for habitation would nec
essarily have to be hollow on the inside and would
not have preserved their round, comely appearance,
after the long space of time that has elapsed since
their construction.

MICHIGAN INDIANS,
When father Alloues and Dablou first visited
Green Bay, in 1670, for the purpose of establishing
a mission, they found the country in the possession
of a tribe of Pottawatomie Indians, The extent of
their possessions or the number of their tribe is not
given, but frora the iraportant position they after
wards occupied, it is safe to presume that their
possessions were wide spread, and their tribe numer
ous. This is the first record we have of the
existence ofthis people or their whereabouts.
In 1675 Marquette made the voyage in open
boats up the west shore of Lake Michigan, for the
purpose of establishing missions among the Indians.
He first landed where Chicago now stands, and it
being late in the fall, went into winter quarters.
On this voyage he was acccrapanied by Illinois and
Pottawatomie Indians. This is the first trace of
the Pottawatomies coraing as far south as the ex
freraity of Lake Michigan. How soon after this
they left their home on Green Bay to inhabit a more
genial clime, or whether the change was raade
gradually or at once, history does not state. But a
portion of them settled on Saginaw bay, others on
the banks of the Detroit, and still another portion

CASS COUNTY. 53
located on the east shore of Lake Michigan, in the
vicinity of the St. Joseph river, while still another
portion settled in northern Illinois. The precise
dates of these migrations can not be given, but that
they were in the vicinity of Detroit and on the St.
Joseph river about the middle of the last century,
and have not been known at Green Bay in the last
hundred years, is recorded. It was a powerful tribe
and constituted about one-fourth of the Algonquin
confederacy, and was araong the last to give up its
place to the encroaching white man.
The Algonquin confederacy was one of the most
powerful combinations that was ever formed among
the Indians of the West, and made its power felt in
their alliance with the French against the English
under the leadership of Pontiac. The Ottawas,
Pottawatomies, and Chippewas were closely related
in all their operations, and raade coraraon cause in
avenging the death of Pontiac, to the exterraination
of the Illinois, once the most powerful race that in
habited the prairie country. The extermination of
the Illinois gave them alraost unlimited sway, and
their possessions were extended far into Wisconsin
on the north, south to the Wabash and east to Lake
Erie. The Sac and Fox Indians west of the Missis
sippi river were their constant enemies and an
almost continual warfare was kept up between the
two contending parties fbr the possession of disputed
territory. To what extent the Pottawatomies assisted the Brit
ish in the war of 1812, is' not definitely known, but

54 HISTORY OF
that some of their young braves did take part against
the Americans is a well established fact.
During the Black Hawk war of 1832, as a tribe,
they reraained loyal to the United States, but it was
with great difficulty that the young men could be
restrained from participating with the Sacs and
Foxes. When the settlers first came to this county, they
found it occupied by three bands of this tribe pf
Indians, comprising in all, about four hundred. In
the western part was the Pokagon family of about
two hundred and fifty, occupying the prairie that
still bears the chief's name. In the northeast was
Weesaw's band, of about one hundred, occupying Lit
tle Prairie Ronde, and in the southeast, the Shave-
head family of about fifty, with their sumraer quarters
on Baldwin's prairie.
These people were doraestic in their habits, fol
lowing the pursuit of agriculture as well as the chase
in obtaining a livelihood. Their farras (or more
properly gardens,) were usually in the timber border
ing on the prairies. These were fenced against their
ponies (the only stock they kept,) by felling the
small timber into a windrow on three sides, and on the
fourth side, next to the prairie, poles laid in crotches,
formed the protection to their crops. The timber
within the enclosure was girdled sufficiently to kill
it, and the tops cut off" thirty or forty feet above the
ground. Their mode of cultivation was of the most
primitive character, and performed almost wholly by
the hoe, from the breaking up of the sod to the cul
tivation after planting. And each succeeding year'

CASS COUNTY. 55
the grain was planted on the same spot as the pre
ceding year, and the cultivation continued until it
would no longer produce, when another place was
selected and the process repeated.
Of their productions, corn was the staple; while
pumpkins, potatoes and melons, all of small varieties,
were raised in limited, quantites. The manner of
securing their corn was to thoroughly dry it at har
vest tirae, and store it away in holes in the ground.
For this purpose a quantity of bark was peeled each
year and kept for ready use, and when it came time
for securing the crop, a place was selected in a con
venient thicket of brush, the sod carefully removed
and placed handy by, while the soil was carried in
baskets and thrown in the nearest stream, for the
purpose of leaving no trace of their concealed treas
ures. When the hole was finished, it was filled with
dry combustible material and burned out, after which
it was lined with bark, the corn put in and covered
with the same material, when the sod taken off, would
be replaced, raaking a secure compartraent against
the elements, as well as against any light-fingered
gentry that might be passing that way. How long
grain could be kept in this manner, is a matter of
conjecture, as with the Indians it seldom rested be
yond one winter. But that the period might be and
was farther protracted is illustrated by the fact that
-in the spring of 1827, a squaw and her son came to
the house of Baldwin Jenkins, from the north, and
opened one of these bins within a few rods of the
house, and took out the contents, which was in good

56 HISTORY OF
condition, the family not having once suspected that
the treasure was so near their door.
After securing their crops, the band would start
on a hunting expedition, which would occupy the
entire winter. The hunting grounds were some dis
tance from the sumraer quarters, and periodically
changed, for the purpose of letting the game accu
mulate, showing a providence that is rarely accred
ited to the Indian. In the spring they would repair
to their sugar-making ground and occupy the season
in making and storing a supply of sweets for the
year, after which they would return to their sum
raer residence. The corn was reserved until this
time, unless the chase had been unsuccessful, or other
untoward circumstances drove them to break in upon
their stores.
Of their habits and customs but little new can be
said. Their language was expressive and composed
of but few words, each of which had numerous
ineanings, and in talking, was accompanied with ges
tures as expressive as the language itself Their
marriages were contracted by the parents, without
ceremony, the friends came together bringing such
presents as were suitable to the standing of the couple.
If after living together for a time, they found their
temperaments were not compatible, or if fi-om any
other cause, they wished to separate, they were free
to do so and could be married again to their liking.
Their manner of burial has been commented upon
by many writers, and much speculation indulged in
upon the subject. The peculiar manner of disposing
of the dead, some hung on trees, others in a sitting

CASS COUNTY. 57
posture, others in pens, while a few were entombed
in troughs hollowed out from the trunks of trees,
some with- all their worldly goods surrounding them
and a supply of provisions kept by them for a long
time, has given rise to many theories on the subject.
But with the Indians, these all had a special raean-
ing, and any one of the tribe passing through a
strange land could tell the rank, or if the subject had
coraraitted any serious crime, or was a noted brave,
it was as plain to them as the raarble tablet is to us.
This is illustrated by the fact that in sorae of their
earlier journeyings around the south end of Lake
Michigan, a woman whom they all respected, named
Me-mis-no-qua, (brave lady), was taken sick and
died, and the last words she said were " here let my
people eat." A tight pen was built over her grave,
in which was deposited a quantity of dried venison,
berries, etc., that any of the tribe coming that way
hungry, could stop and eat. This was kept up as
long as the tribe continued to travel on that trail.
Many of the early settlers will reraeraber how the
Indian babies were strapped to a board — a seemingly-
inhuman practice — but by them deemed necessary,
as they reasoned that to keep the child straight would
make straight men, which was the pride of the
nation. Any one who has seen their, children thus
treated, and noted the srailes of the little fellows
when the bells tinkled on shaking the board, and the
convenience of disposing of them against the wall,
or any out of the way place, does not wonder at the
mode as practiced by these simple people.
Their manner of disposing of old or decrepit per-

58' HISTORY OF
sons, was as summary as effective. Whenever they
became useless or could not take care of themselves,
they were put out of the way. A case of this kind
occurred in the spring of 1830, near the northeast
corner of Young's Prairie, where a band had win
tered, when the party were ready to move, one old
squaw was unable to go along. A committee took
her in charge, cut a hole in the ice and deposited her
therein, when the band proceeded on its way.
In July, 1829, John Baldwin (for whom Baldwin's
prairie was named) had some difficulty with the In
dians in regard to a yoke of cattle, which he had
bought of them and paid for in whisky. It is
clairaed by sorae that a yoke of oxen was bought of
the Indians, by others that the Indians shot an ox
for Baldwin, crippling him, when Baldwin compelled
them to buy the ox, and afterward bought it back
and paid for it in whisky as stated. The Indians'
ground for complaint was that the whisky was
watered so much that it would not make them
drunk. One night, in harvest time, they came after he
had gone to bed, armed with clubs, gained admit
tance and deraanded that the raatter be made right.
Baldwin denied the charges, jumped out of bed and
toward the fire-place where he had a stick of timber
drying for a scythe snath, which he hoped to get to
defend himself with. The Indians anticipated his
raoveraent, and were ahead in tirae to fell him with
a club. He called to his son, Joel, a young man
sleeping in an adjoining room, for help, who, coming
to the outside door, found it guarded by Indians.

CASS COUNTY. 59
•He then went in and jumped through a small
window between the two rooms, but was caught by
the Indians, who pulled his shirt over his head, at
the same time assuring him that if he was quiet no
harm would befall him. The Indians continued to
beat Baldwin until they supposed him dead, after
which they drew him into the doorway, and on leav
ing each one juraped upon his bod}', at the sarae tirae
uttering an unearthly yell.
After the Indians left, the young man, with the
assistance of the children, got his father onto the
bed and found that he still breathed. Leaving him
in charge of the children, Joel raounted a horse and
aroused the neighbors, little thinking that he would
be alive on getting back. But when the neighbors
came in, it was found that he still lived. Dr.
Loomis, of White Pigeon, was sent for, who dressed
his wounds, which were mostly on the head, one
side of which was half skinned and the balance
badly beaten up.
Baldwin recovered from his injuries, put in a bill
against the Indians for damages to the agent and
was allowed nearly three thousand dollars, which
was taken out of their annuities.
Topennebee was the acknowledged leader or
Grand Sachem, and held sway over the various
tribes of Pottawatomies of the Northwest. In 1795,
as head chief, he signed the treaty which ceded all
of Southern Ohio to the United States. His name
also appears on various other treaties at different
times, in which the cession of lands was made, in
Northern Ohio, nearly all of Indiana and Michigan,

6o HISTORY OF
and parts of Illinois and Wisconsin. His name in
the Indian language signifies peacemaker, and from
the characteristics of the man it would seem that he
merited the appellation.
At the time of the threatened invasion by Black
Plawk the Indians were in council near Niles, when
Topennebee advised his people to keep on neutral
ground, assigning as a reason that they would soon
have to remove beyond the Mississippi, and it would
be better for them not to take sides with either party.
When he was through Op-to-go-me — Half Day —
arose and said the reason for such advice as this was
that Topennebee was a coward. At this the old
chief threw over to hira a butcher knife, at the same
time bidding him to defend hiraself. At the first
thrust Topennebee drove the knife nearly through
his body, and for years a white flag was kept flying
over the dead Indian's grave. He, in comraon with
the other raerabers of his tribe, was removed to the
West in 1838.
Pokagon was next in command to Topennebee,
and by many was considered the ideal red man of
the forest, but by the Indians, in early tiraes, he was
held in derision and received his name (signifying
rib) from the fact that at the massacre of Chicago
he killed a pregnant white woman and cut her under
the ribs, extracting the child. His original name
was Saqoquinick. He married a daughter of To-
pennebee's brother,, which, with being a good talker,
placed him in the position of chief of his band and
second in command of the Pottawatomies. His home
was on the west side of the prairie that bears his

CASS COUNTY. 6 1
name. He early became a convert to the Catholic
faith and adhered to it through life, and set a good
example for his band by abstaining from spirituous
liquors. By the treaty at Chicago, in 1833, Pokagon and
his band were exempted from being removed beyond
the Mississippi in common with the other Indians.
His objection to being removed was the fear that
they would lose the faith and civilization they had
attained, and refused to sign the treaty unless the
privilege of reraaining was guaranteed him.
When the other Indians were taken away Poka
gon purchased a large tract of land in Silver Creek
Township, where he remained until his death, in
1841. He gave largely of his possessions to the
Church of his faith.
In 1839 Pokagon was taken very sick and thought
he was going to die, whereupon he sent for a priest,
who on coraing, refused to confer absolution unless
forty acres of land were deeded to hira. This Poka
gon acceded to, the priest raaking out the papers;
but upon the recovery of the chief, a short time
after, the deed proved not to be fbr forty acres, but
about seven hundred, and a lengthy litigation was
ncQessary to recover it back.
Weesaw, the third in command of the Pottawato
mies, occupied the Northeastern portion of the
county, making his home in the suraraer season on
the farra now owned by B. G. Buell, Esq., on Little
Prairie Ronde. His winter quarters were on the
Dowagiac creek, on the farm of Hon. George New
ton, where he had wigwams for the twenty families

62 HISTORY OF
constituting his band. He made sugar in the
northwestern , portion of the township of Volinia,
near the farm of the late Daniel C. Squiers.
Weesaw is described as a man fully six feet high,
finely formed. His carriage was proud and erect,
and when dressed in his suit of blue broad cloth, of
which he was very proud, he made a fine appear
ance. His favorite mode of dressing, however, was
in the true Indian style, and as described by those
that saw him, with a large silver ring in his nose,
one in each ear, a breast-plate of the sarae material
as large as a pie tin, his leggins adorned with a row
of bells, that tinkled at every step, a blue sash, tied
around his body, and a turban on his head of the
same gay color, all corabined to give irapression
of true Indian grandeur. He had three wives, of
whora one was the daughter of Topennebee, and
was the favorite, and on marches and important oc
casions was allowed to take the station nearest
hira. Weesaw was a friend of the whites, and always
evinced a desire to cultivate their acquaintance and
friendship. In 1827, while the surveying party were
working north of the big swarap, their packer got
lost and could not find them for several days, in
which tirae provisions ran very low and it became
necessary to send out two men to procure supplies.
Mr. Orlean Putnara and another man were detailed
for this purpose, and went to Weesaw's encampraent
on Little Prairie Ronde to procure the necessary
supplies, arriving just at night. On raaking their
wants known, the utmost hospitality was shown

CASS COUNTY. 63
thera, and iraraediately the squaws set about pre
paring food to be taken to the party. They were
given a separate tent to lodge in, and at the sarae
tirae asked to guard the fire arm% that were brought
to their place, as there was a general drunk araong
the braves of the band, and a nuraber of tiraes dur
ing the night the squaws came and peeped in to see
if all was safe. In the morning Weesaw and his
favorite wife accompanied the party some distance
on their way, assisting thera in carrying the provis
ions. At this tirae- there was no white inhabitant
nearer than Pokagon prairie.
In the spring of 1830 or 1831 Weesaw wished to
move from his winter quarters to the sugar raaking
ground, but owing to the indisposition of one of his
wives, who had been badly hurt in a drunken brawl
by an Indian who had with a sharp stick prodded
nearly all the joints in her body, making it impossi
ble to move her with their means of conveyancfe, he
carae to Jonathan Gard for assistance, and wished
hira to take his ox teara and move her. Mr. Gard
fearing that in her critical condition something
might happen and blame be attached tp hira, evaded
the chief, by telling him that the oxen were in the
woods and he did not know where to find them.
To this Weesaw replied, " me find them," and im
mediately set out in pursuit of the oxen, and on the
next morning drove them up. A long sled was
prepared, with litter, and the squaw carefully loaded
on; but in going through the woods they came to a
large log that it was impossible to get around. Mr.
Gard improvised a bridge of such small poles as

64 HISTORY OF
they could pick up, and instructed Weesaw as the
sled came to a balance to ease it down, so as not to
jar or hurt her. The idea struck him so forcibly
that he clapped bis hands for joy at its success.
The trip was made in safety, but the poor woman,
owing to the serious nature of her wounds, lived but
a few days after her removal.
Weesaw held, or assumed to hold, for a number
of years a grant of three miles square on the south
side of Little Prairie Ronde, taking in a portion of
Card's prairie and the creek intervening, but no at
tention was paid to his claim by the settlers, and
about 1832 he removed his band to the western part
of Berrien County.
Shavehead and his band of nine families occupied
the southeastern part of the county, and a portion of
the time wintered east of Young's prairie. This
chief received his narae frora the peculiar raanner in
which he wore his hair, it being nearly all shaved
off, leaving only a lock on top and a small portion
on the back of his head, which was trained down
behind, giving him a very peculiar as well as savage
appearance. He was of a sullen, morose disposition,
and always seemed to feel that the settlement of the
country by the whites was an intrusion upon the
Indian's rightful domain, and treated them accord
ingly. This was carried so far on several occasions
that it came near costing him his life for his im
pudence and indiscretion. At one time he carae to
the house of Reuben Pegg, on Young's Prairie,
while that gentleman was from home, and demand
ed of Mrs. P. some tallow to use on his gun, which

CASS COUNTY. 65
she told him she did not have. This so enraged him
that he threatened her until she was frightened nearly
to death. Mr. P. coming home soon after and being
informed of what had transpired, cut an o.x gad and
followed after and overtook the Indian near old Mr.
Green's, when he gave him a severe castigation with
an admonition to keep scarce in the future. On
another occasion as Mr. Savory, of White Pigeon
Prairie, was returning home from Carpenter's Mill,
where he had been to get a grist ground, his team
was stopped in the woods by this Indian, who stepped
from behind a tree and took hold of the leaders, at
the same time demanding a bag of meal for the priv
ilege of passing through his country. Mr. S. told
him to let go of the horses and come and take what
meal he wanted, which Shavehead proceeded to do,
but hardly got his head over the side of the wagon-
box, when it was struck with the butt of the heavy
laden whip in the hands of the driver, knocking him
senseless to the ground and falling between the for
ward and back wheels of the wagon, from whence
he was dragged by Mr. S. and left lying beside the
trail more dead than alive. Many incidents of like
nature could be related going to show the character
of the man, but these will be sufficient. He never
signed any of the treaties releasing the Indian title
to the lands, consequently was cut off from their
annuities, which perhaps may account for his manner
of treating the whites. He died in 1837 or 1838,
near Paw Paw, this State. A lake on section 19,
of Porter township, commemorates his name.
—5 '

CAREY MISSION.
The following sketch of the first white settlement
in the St. Joseph Valley, (except by the French), is
taken from the historical address delivered by the
late Judge Bacon, before the Old Settlers' Society, at
Niles, in 1869:
" This event so important in the history of the
country, and which was in fact the pioneer step in
the way of settlement, deserves particular notice.
It was barely ten years since the raassacre at Chi
cago', and about the sarae time after the meraorable
battle of Tippecanoe, and the disastrous defeat of
our array at Brownstown, when this Mission was
established. Emigration had in a great measure
stopped. Very few dared to venture be}'ond the
older settlements, until he, (McCoy), whose name
we have just mentioned, boldly entered into the heart
of the Indian country, and began his mission school
araong the Pottawotomies, who dwelt on the river
St. Joseph. The fact was soon raade known through
out Indiana and Ohio, and at once adventurers began
to prepare to follow the example of the missionary,
who had led the way. If McCoy had not founded
Carey Mission, Thompson and Kirk might never
have crossed the Elkhart.

CASS COUNTY. 67
"The Rev. Isaac McCoy was born June 13th,
1788, near Uniontown, in the State of Pennsylvania.'
When six years of age, his parents moved to Jeffer
son county, Kentucky. In October, 1803, he mar
ried Miss Christiana Polk, daughter of Captain
Charles Polk, of the last named State, and in March,
1804, after having been licensed to preach, he and his
wife emigrated to the town of Vincennes, in the
State of Indiana, where he began his labors as a
inissionary among thg Indians,, and accordingl}-
removed into the neighborhood of their village on
Raccoon creek, and there erected a double log cabin
and opened his school. His devoted wife was a
faithful helper, and she with their seven children fol
lowed and shared with him his privations and toils.
In 1820 he removed his school to Fort Wayne, and
there, for two years, devoted himself to his chosen
¦work, and from thence removed to Carey on the St,
Joseph river, as has been stated.
" Perrait rae now to call your attention for a few
moments, to Mrs. McCoy, and to a few incidents in
her eventful hfe. She was born in Shelby count}',
Kentucky. She was one of four children, who with
their mother were captured by the Indians and car
ried by them to Detroit, and they with other captives
were ransomed by British officers and kept for three
years. " At the time. Captain Polk was from home in a
scouting party against the Indians. On his return
he found his house in ashes and his wife and children
gone. He made immediate pursuit, but in vain; the
savages made their escape, and he returned not to a

68 HISTORY OF
home, but to the place where his dwelling had once
•stood, to mourn their loss.
" At the end of three years, he found his wife and
children at Detroit all well. He paid their ransom
and brought them back in safety to Kentucky. I
cannot speak at this time of the sufferings and
terror which attended their capture and captivity by
the savages. It can never be fully told, or even imag
ined. They were seized, hurried off, and compelled
to keep up with their captors in their flight.
"After their reraoval to Fort Wayne, and while
their school was in successful operation, Mrs. McCoy
knowing that she could not receive such attention
as her situation would soon require, deeraed it best
to return to Fort Harrison, and there remain for a
tirae among her friends.
"Accordingly in June, 182 1, she, together with
her three youngest children, set out in a canoe to
descend the Wabash, to the place last named. The
distance was between three and four hundred miles.
Mrs. McCoy sat up the first night, and by. the light
of a fire built on shore, watched her three sleeping
children and protected them from the mosquitoes.
"In the month of September following, she re
turned to Fort Wayne on horseback, carrying in her
arms her infant child, not yet two months old. The
distance she traveled was about one hundred and
eighty miles, and the road lay across and through a
new country, much of it was a wilderness and inhab
ited by savages only. Most of the time she slept in
the woods with no shelter but a tent.
"On the 14th of May, 1822, McCoy visited the

CASS COUNTY. 69
Indian villages upon the river St. Joseph. He held
a consultation with the chiefs and a site for the mis
sion buildings was selected. He returned to Fort
Wayne on the 23d of May, and carried with him
three Indian children for the school. On the 9th of
October, 1822, Mr. McCoy, with Mr. Jackson and
his family, four hired raen and some of the oldest In
dian boys, in all twenty persons, left Fort Wayne
for the purpose of erecting buildings at the Mission
Station. " They brought with them two wagons drawn by
oxen, one four horse wagon, and five railch cows.
They'arrived on the 19th of October, wet with rain,
and worn down with fatigue. They imraediately
began their work, cutting down trees and hauling
thera onto the ground and fitting thera to be laid up
into the four walls of a house. McCoy, though not
fully recovered from an attack of fever, labored with
the men and directed the work.
"On the nth of Noveraber, the buildings were
in such a state of forwardness, that McCoy left the
party to go on with the work and he set out on his
return to Fort Wayne. It was November weather,
stormy and cold. He was wet every day with rain,
and riding through the wet bushes, and at night slept
on the ground, or in a deserted wigwam. The mis
sionary, famishing with hunger and shivering with
cold, reached home after a ride of three days,
" Preparations having been made fbr the final re
moval, McCoy with his wife and five children, Mr.
Dusenbury, an assistant missionary, six laboring
men, and eighteen pupils and Indians, making in all

70 HISTORY OF
thirty-two persons, moved off from Ft. Wayne on the
9th of December, 1822. They were stowed away in
three wagons drawn by oxen, and one wagon drawn
by four horses. They drove with them fifty fat
hogs, and five cows. Beds, bedding, clothing, and
provisions were packed in the wagons. Some of
the raen and boys rode on horse-back, the balance
were obliged to plod along on foot. A large tent
was carried along, which at night and on very
stormy days afforded shelter for the whole party.
The weather was cold, and there was three inches
of snow on the ground, and ice had already formed
in the swamps and on the streams. For many miles
the road was through a low level country, having a
clay soil, and covered with heavy tiinber.
" Frora the very start they could look for nothing
but a tedious, comfortless, and wearisome journey;
most of the party, too, had been sick with chills and
fever, from which they had not as }'et fully recovered.
Three large rivers had to be crossed. There was
neither ferry nor bridge; nor was there a cabin or
house on the whole route. Winter had set in.
Snow was falling daily, and the mercury was below
the freezing point when they bade farewell to Fort
Wayne and attempted to ford the St. Marys. The
water was deep and the ice was running swiftly, but
after hours of struggle and toil, the whole party,
with the cattle, got safely over. They made but
three miles advance the first day. The snow was
carefully removed, a fire built, the tent pitched, beds
made on the ground, and the party encamped for
the night. They retired early to rest, and arose at

CASS COUNTY. 71
four o'clock in the morning and ate breakfast b}'
candle light. This was their custora during the
entire journey. Delays and hinderances happened
daily. Wagons were broken, which must be re
paired, cattle strayed away at night and a whole
day was spent in* search of them.
"On the night of the 14th they encamped on the
bank of the Elkhart. After cutting away the ice
they got safely over the river, but not until after a
day of hard labor and great exposure.
"Early on the morning of the 17th, McCoy,
though very unwell, took two men with him and
went ahead of the party ten miles to the St. Joseph
and built large fires on each bank, by which they
could warm themselves from time to time as the
slow and tedious work of crossing was going on.
Although the water was deep and the ice running
fast, which made the crossing dangerous, yet the
party with their effects got safely over, and en
camped for the night. They were now eighteen
miles from the French trading house at Pare aux
vaches. "On the morning of the i8th of December they
made a desperate effort, and at night found shelter
under the roof of the kind and hospitable Mr. Ber-
trand. They now were within six miles of the mis
sion house. On the 19th they came to this place
(Niles) and forded the river near the foot of Main
street, crossing it diagonally, and landing near the
rear of the garden of Mr. Colby. In an hour there
after they reached their home in the woods.
There is a large stream of water which empties

72 HISTORY OF
into the St. Joseph, near the present. site of Elkhart,
which is known as the Christiana creek. It was so
named by the missionary in honor of his wife, as
they crossed it the i8th of December. If no other
monuraent shall bear her narae, this placid stream
will in all future time remind the teholder of its
namesake, the gentle Christiana McCoy.
When the missionaries arrived at Carey, their
stock of flour was almost exhausted. Two wagons
drawn by oxen were immediately sent to Ohio, by
way of Fort Wayne, to procure a supply. It was
hoped that they would return in a month. It was
not, however, until the 13th of February that they
arrived. The family had been on short allowance for
more than four weeks. They had been able to buy
frora the Indians and French traders only a few
bushels of com, which was boiled and served as
bread. It often happened during their six weeks of
serai-starvation, that they were reduced to a single
bushel of grain, and knew not where to go for raore.
It, however, did happen, or rather was ordered, that
a supply, though a scanty one, should come. They
procured a little com from the traders and natives,
and kind old Mr. Bertrand most generously divided
his last barrel of flour with the famishing mis
sionaries. " The following extracts from the journal give a
vivid picture of the condition of the family:
" ' February ist. Having eaten up our corn, and
having only flour enough for one meal, we sent five
of our strongest Indian boys five miles to an Indian

CASS COUNTY. 73
trader and borrowed a barrel of flour and a bushel
of corn. Our teams were absent and the boys car
ried it home on their backs. The flour was dam
aged, nevertheless it was very acceptable to us.'
"'February 7th. Ate our last meal of bread for
breakfast, which was so scarce that we had to divide
it carefully that every one might have a little. We
had saved a few pounds for the small children. We
were without railk and they were suffering. An Indian
was sent out to try to buy corn. He returned with
six quarts, which was all he could procure.'
" ' February 8th. Breakfasted upon corn, which
we had procured yesterday. Blessed be God, we
have not yet suffered fbr want of food, because our
corn is an excellent substitute for bread. But now
having eaten our last corn, we can not avoid feeling
some uneasiness about the next meal.'
" In this extreraity McCoy set out on horse-back,
acccrapanied by an Indian, who was on foot acting
as guide, in search of food. He was yet weak frora
sickness, the snow was deep, and it was extreraely
cold. He had hardly left the house when an old Pot
tawatomie widow, who lived near by,' having heard
of their destitute condition, kindly sent Mrs. McCoy
sweet corn enough for a full meal fbr the whole
family. McCoy in the meantime was slowly work
ing his way through the trackless snow, when he
accidentally met Mr. Bertrand and made known to
him his business. The kind-hearted Frenchman,
touched with pity for the starving missionaries,
generously divided his own stock of flour and corn,

74 HISTORY OF ,
giving them one-half, (Bertrand's own supply was
by no means large) and he accompanied the gift
with a few words of broken English : 'I got some
corn, some flour; I give you half Suppose you die,
I die, too.'
"On the loth-of February, two Indians brought a
supply of corn, and a few days afterward, two trad
ers named Rosseau, having heard of their wants,
brought them a little flour. In this way they sub
sisted until the 13th, when the wagons arrived with
supplies. They not only brought flour, but brought
in addition, two bo.xes of clothing, which had been
sent frora Massachusetts. This tiraely donation was
alraost as acceptable as food itself to thera, who were
pinched with cold as well as hunger.
"On the 2ist of February, Mr. Johnston Lykins,
after an absence of several months, arrived, to the
great joy of all. He had at first been employed as
a teacher, when the school was established in the
Wabash country. He came with the missionaries
to Fort Wayne, and was an associate with McCoy.
His ability, integrity and christian devotion, emi
nently fitted him for the work in which he was en
gaged. He had the entire confidence of McCoy, and
was equally with him a principal.
"He remained at Carey until the establishment
was broken up, and the success of the Mission was
in a great degree attributable to his wise counsel and
administrative talent.
"In February, 1828, he married Miss McCoy, the
eldest daughter of the missionary. Dr. Lykins is

CASS COUNTY. 75
yet living, and now resides at Kansas City, Missouri.
"The winter and spring of 1823 were tiraes of
great suffering with the Mission faraily. Many of
thera were sick frora over-labor, and frora exposure
and privation. McCoy himself was confined to the
house by fever, and Mrs. McCoy was unwell, not
having fully recovered from the sickness of the pre
ceding suraraer.
" There was great activity araong all the eraploy es
at the Mission in the spring of 1823. The school
was in full operation. The daily cares of the house
hold and faraily were large. It was no trifling mat
ter to look after the never-ending routine of labor in
the kitchen, where food was prepared for sixty peo
ple. A new farm was to be cleared, fenced, plowed
and planted. Various as -were the departments of
labor, there was order and regularity in all of them>
"In the raonth of May, 1823, Major Long of the
United States array, while on his way to explore the
sources of the St. Peters, called with his party at
the Mission.' In the report which was made of
this well-known tour, he mentioned this visit. The
following extract is taken frora it:
" ' The report which we had received of the flat
tering success which had attended the efforts of the
Baptist raissionaries on the St. Joseph, induced us to
deviate a little frora our route, to visit this interest
ing establishraent.
" ' The Carey Mission House, so designated in
honor of the late Wm. Carey, the indefatigable apos
tle of Hindostan, is situated about one mile frpm

76 HISTORY OF
the river St. Joseph. The establishment was erec
ted by the Baptist Missionary Society in Washing
ton, and is under the superintendence of the Rev.
Mr. McCoy; a man whom from all the reports we
have heard of him, we should consider as eminently
qualified for the important trust committed to him.
We regretted that during the tirae we passed at the
Carey Mission House, this gentleraan was absent on
business connected with the establishraent of another
raissionary settleraent, on the Grand river of Michi
gan, but we saw his wife, who received us in a very
hospitable manner, and gave us every opportunity of
becoming acquainted with the circumstances of the
school. " 'The spot was covered with a very dense forest
seven months before the time we visited it, but by
the great activity of the Superintendent, he has suc
ceeded in the course of this short time, in building
six good log houses, four of which afford comforta
ble residences for the inmates * of the establishraent;
the fifth is used as a school roora, and the sixth forms
a comraodious blacksraith shop. In addition to this,
they have cleared about fifty acres of land, which is
nearly all enclosed by a substantial fence. Forty
acres have already been plowed and planted with
raaize, and every step has been taken to place the
establishraent upon an independent footing.
" ' The school consists of frora forty to si.xty chil
dren, and it is contemplated that it will soon be
increased to one hundred. The plan adopted appears
to be a very judicious one; it is to unite a practical
and intellectual education. The boys are instructed

CASS COUNTY. 77
in the English language — reading, writing and arith
metic. They are raade to attend to the usual occu
pations of a farra, and perform every operation con
nected with it, such as plowing, planting, harrowing,
&c. In these pursuits, they appear to take great
delight. The system being well regulated, they find
time for everything.
"'The girls receive the same instruction as the
boys, and in addition are taught spinning, knitting,
weaving and sewing, both plain and ornaraental.
They are also made to attend to the pursuits of the
dairy, such as milking cows, making butter, etc.
All appear to be very happy, and to make as rapid
progress as white children of the same age would
make. Their principal excellence rests in works of
imitation. They write astonishingly well, and many
display great natural taste for drawing.
" ' The institution receives the countenance of the
most respectable among the Indians. There are in
the school two of the great grand-children of To-
pen-ne-bee, the great hereditary chief of the Potta
watomies. The Indians visit the establishment
occasionally and appear well pleased with it. They
have a flock of one hundred sheep, and are daily
expecting two hundred head of cattle, collected in
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.'
'^On the 15th of June, a drove of one hundred and
twenty-one cattle arrived at Carey. They were a
part of the drove of over two hundred spoken of by
Major Long, a part of them having been left at Fort
Wayne to recruit. The stock was now increased to
about one hundred and fifty head. They very soon

78 HISTORY OF
had sixty cows for their dairy, and large quantities
of butter and cheese were made. They had a large
stock of all the domestic aniraals, which are kept on
a well conducted and well raanaged farm. It was
comraonly reported they had about two hundred
head of cattle, about three hundred sheep and an
iraraense herd of swine. The latter subsisted most
of the time on nuts and roots, which they found in
the woods, and were in fine condition.
" The Mission was now in full operation but had
not attained its full growth. New scholars were
received, additions made of new missionaries, new
teachers and new laborers.
" In November, Miss Fannie Goodridge, of Lex
ington, Kentucky, arrived, and became a teacher.
She was followed, but at a later day, by Miss Wright
and Miss Purchase, of Ohio, and by Mr. and Mrs,
Polk, of Indiana. The late Major Britton, who died in
1862 at St. Joseph, honored and respected by all that
knew hira, was araong the teachers.
"In October, 1823, Charles Noble, Esq., of Mon
roe was coraraissioned by General Lewis Cass, who
was then Governor of the Territory of Michigan
and also Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to visit the
Carey Mission and raake a report of its condition.
In pursuance of this coraraission, Mr. Noble came to
the mission house and there spent three days in mak
ing his examination. The result of this visit and
the opinion of that gentleraan, are spoken of by Gen
eral Cass in a letter tp McCoy, dated December ist,
in which he said;
"'Your report,, and that of Mr. Noble, are en-

CASS COUNTY. 79
tirely satisfactory. The affairs of your agency appear
to be in the best condition, and if the experiraent is
ever successful, I am satisfied you will make it so.'
"Although this year was one of prosperity, and
the products of the farra had been as large as could
reasonably be expected, still there was a lack of
breadstuff at the Mission. It is true they had gath
ered nine hundred bushels of corn and a large quan
tity of vegetables, but they had not as yet raised an}-
wheat, and flour was transported in wagons frora
Ohio. They were in need of clothing and there was
a debt of several hundred dollars incurred in the sup
port of the Mission.
" To procure supplies Mr. McCoy left Carey on the
2oth of December, and proceeded to Washington,
and from thence in February he went to Philadel
phia, New York, Boston, and other places, where he
made a representation of the condition and wants of
the mission. Wherever he went there was a gen
erous response to his appeals. He received large
donations of clothing, books, goods, and more than
two thousand dollars in money.
"On the 25th of May he embarked at Buffalo, on
a schooner bound for Detroit, and the mouth of the
river St. Joseph. He had on board, besides boxes
of clothing and goods, one hundred barrels of flour,
twenty-four barrels of salt, and thirty bushels of
wheat for seed. He left the vessel at Detroit and
came across the country on horse-back, arriving at
Carey on the nth of June. He found all well and
the work going on prosperously. In his long ab
sence of five months. Dr. Lykins and Mrs. McCoy

So HISTORY OF
had managed with ability the affairs of the mission.
Their stock of flour was again almost exhausted, ahd
none could be obtained until the arrival of the vessel
at the mouth of the river. What occurred at this
tirae is thus stated in the journal:
" ' In my absence the labors of the missionaries have
been greater than they were able to sustain. Laud
ably ambitious to keep all matters moving forward,
and to prevent retrogression in any department, they
have toiled beyond their strength. Mrs. McCoy's
health was very poor, and her spirits were more de
pressed than I ever knew them.
" ' I found them on a short allowance of bread.
On the 1 6th we had exhausted all our flour and
meal, excepting a few pounds reserved for the
sraall children and the sick. All except rayself
were in good spirits in regard to food,, hourly ex
pecting the arrival of the vessel. I feared that
contrary winds or other hinderances raight cause us
to suffer, but concealed ray anxiety. On the i8th
we had only corn enough for one day, but our mer
ciful God was still near us.
" ' The harbor at which the vessel would stop was
without inhabitant, and we had sent two of our In
dian pupils to build and keep up a fire at the place,
in order that the smoke by being seen from the
vessel might point out the place of landing. The
boys were directed to open a barrel of flour immedi
ately on the landing of the vessel, and hasten to us,
a distance of twenty-five miles, with what they
could bring. On the evening of the iSth, to our

CASS COUNTY. 8 1
great joy, and mine in particular, one of the young
raen arrived with a mule packed with flour. We
brought our property from the lake to the station
upon the river in pirogues. From that time for
ward the mission did not suffer for bread, nor did
our pecuniary wants ever again become so great as
they had been.'
" The Mission was prosperous during the next two
years. The nuraber of scholars increased. The
farm was greatly enlarged. More than two hundred
acres were enclosed with substantial fences. About
three hundred bushels of wheat were harvested in
1824. and in 1825, a flouring mill was erected which
was worked by horse power. This was the first
inill built west of Tecumseh or Ann Arbor. It was
most necessary for the comfort and convenience of
the Mission. Prior to this they ground corn on a
hand mill, w^hich required the constant labor of one
man to make sufficient meal for daily consumption.
" The condition of the Mission and its influence
upon the natives of the surrounding country is clearly
stated by the late John L. Lieb, Esq., of Detroit, the
government agent, whose duty it was, among other
things, to visit annually the Indian schools within the
bounds of the Michigan superintendency. He visited
the Carey Mission in August, 1826, and made his
report to General Cass, frora which the following
extracts are made:
" ' On the 1 5th of August, I proceeded to the
Carey establishment on the St. Joseph, where I
arrived on the 21st, and was much gratified with the
—6

82 HISTORY OF
improvement in all its departments. It is a world in
miniature, and presents the most cheerful and con
soling appearance. It has become a familiar resort
of the natives, and from the benefits derived frora it
in various shapes, they begin to feel a dependence on,
and resource in it at all tiraes, and especially in diffi
cult and trying occasions. There is not a day, I
raay say hardly an hour, in which new faces were
not to be seen.
" ' The smithery affords them incalculable facilities
and is constantly filled with applicants for some essen
tial service. It is a touching spectacle to see them,
at the time of prayer, fall in with the members of
the institution, which they do spontaneously and
cheerfully, and with a certain animation depicted on
their countenances, exhibiting their internal satisfac
tion. " ' There are at present seventy scholars, forty-two
males and twenty-eight females, in various stages of
improvemnt. Eight of the alumni of this institu
tion who have completed the first rudiments of edu
cation, have been transferred to academies in New
Jersey and New York. Two of the boys are leaming
the trades of blacksmithing and shoemaking. The
remainder of sufficient size are employed occasionally
on the farm. The girls are engaged in spinning,
knitting, and weaving. The loom has produced one
hundred and eighty-five yards of cloth this year.
Two hundred and three acres are now enclosed by
fences, of which fifteen are in wheat, fifty in Indian
com, eight in potatoes and other vegetable products.
The residue is appropriated to pasture.

CASS COUNTY. 83
" ' There have been added to the buildings since my
last visit, a house and a -most excellent grist raill,
worked by horse power. The usefulness of this
raill can scarcely be appreciated, as there is no other
of any kind within one hundred railes at least of the
establishraent, and here as benevolence is the pre
ponderating principle, all the surrounding population
is benefited." ' Nuraerous Indian families have since my last visit
settled themselves around, and have from the en
couragement, countenance, and assistance of the
missionary family, raade considerable progress in
agriculture; indeed a whole village has been formed
within six miles of it, under its benevolent auspices
•and fostering care. I visited it to witness myself
the change in their condition. To good fences, with
which many of their grounds are enclosed, succeed
domestic animals. You now see oxen, cows, and
swine grazing around their dwellings without danger
of destroying their crops. Here are the strongest
evidences of their improvement, and not the least of
the benefits arising from the neighborhood of this
blessed abode of the virtuous inmates of Carey. It
is not alone in the immediate neighborhood that the
efforts of the missionary exertions are felt. In dis
tant places, near the mouth of the St. Joseph, and at
Grand River, the most surprising changes have
taken place. Strong and effective enclosures are
made and making, and stock acquired; and at the
latter place the missionary family have erected
spacious buildings, including a school-house, and
improved some land.

84 HISTORY OF
" ' I was visited by numerous chiefs of known and
approved influence over their tribes, who came to
express their satisfaction at the establishraent and
inviting rae to a conference with them.'
."In September, 1827, a treaty with the Indians
was held at Carey. The commissioners on the part
of the United States were Governor Cass and Gen
eral Tipton, and Judge Leib of Detroit was
Secretary of the coraraission. The Mission had
now attained its full growth and blazed forth in all
its splendor. While negotiations for the treaty were
pending, the coramissioners examined carefully into
the management of the institution, and most cor
dially approved it.
" It was known from the very beginning that the ¦
Carey Mission must fall' before the white raen who
would immigrate to the country. The Indian title
to the land would soon be extinguished and then it
would be purchased by actual settlers. The white
raan and the Indian could not live side by side until
the latter should be civilized and raade equal to the
former. Accordingly preparations were being raade
at the Mission for bringing it to a close, and its re
raoval beyond the western boundary of the Territory
of Missouri. It was not fully wound up until the
year 1830.
" The founder of Carey was. a man of great energy
and untiring perseverence ; affable, generous, and a
sincere Christian, he made friends wherever he was
known. He died at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1846.
Mrs. McCoy, his most amiable and devoted wife,
died in Jackson County, Missouri, at the house of
her son, J. C. McCoy."

PIONEER LIFE.
CABIN BUILDING.
The first thing to which the early settler gave his
attention, on arriving at his destination in the new
country, was a habitation for himself and faraily.
In sorae instances the man would come on the
season before and prepare the necessary shelter, but
in raost cases the faraily all raoved together, using
the large covered wagon which had conveyed thera
on their journey, for a place of abode until a cabin
of logs could be erected. A location was usually
selected behind a belt of timber, and near a spring,
or running stream, thus securing protection from
the elements and a supply of that very iraportant
article, water, at one and the sarae tirae. First in
order came the clearing of a suitable plat of ground
for the cabin. This done, logs of a proper size and
length were cut fbr the body of the building and
hauled together. Thus far the man could get along
alone, or with such assistance as his sons or hired
man could render, but in order to raise the building
the assistance of the neighbors for j>erhaps a half
dozen miles around -wSas solicited. If the day was
generally known . on which the raising was to be

86 HISTORY OF
done, no invitation was necessary, as the friendhness
and generosity of the early settlers was of such a
spontaneous nature that all that was needed was to
have it known that a new comer was in want of
help and it was speedily forthcoming. Many in
stances are reported of strife between parties as to
who should be the first on the ground — some coming
long before daylight, perhaps only to find several of
their neighbors there before them — and at earliest
dawn the business of putting up the habitation com
raenced. First, the two side logs were placed on suitable
blocks — or if the proprietor was particular to have it
substantial, stones were used instead — notches were
cut along for the sleepers to rest in, which were round
poles faced on one side with an. ax, and the four best
" corner men " took their places.
The post of " corner man " was one of no minor
distinction, and to be successful he must not only be
skilled in the use of ari ax, but have a mechanical
eye as" well, and be able to make a joint every time,
as it was of the utraost importance to avoid rolling
the log back and forth.
The men were then divided into two parties, each
choosing a captain, and took their respective stations
at either end of the log to be put in place. As soon
as the building had risen to a height to make it nec
essary, the skid and crotch were brought into requi
sition, the former formed by placing long straight
poles from which the bark had been peeled, with one
end resting on the building, the other on the ground,
and on these the logs were rolled up to the "corner

CASS COUNTY. 87
men." The crotch was cut from a sapling three or
four inches through, having a natural fork at a suit
able distance to make it the right length to reach the
top of the building. The fork was secured by wind
ing with hickory withes, which had first been run
through the fire to toughen them. A two-inch auger-
hole was bored at right angles with the fork near
the butt end, in this was placed a pin three or four
feet long, to push up by, forming an implement that
was very effective in raising the logs to their places.
Many times the excitement would rise to the high
est pitch, especially if there was a supply of whisky
on hand — which was quite common on these occa
sions — each party striving to push their end of the
log up first. In some instances, so much force
was used as to throw the corner men froin their
positions when the log came against the building.
The hickory withe can hardly be appreciated in
this day of ropes, tools and machinery, but then it
was of the utmost importance. The pioneer on
starting to the woods, or on a journey, always car
ried an ax, and with this he would cut roads, build
a bridge or mend his wagon, as the case might be
or circuinstances require. A broken axle-tree was
of no uncommon occurrence, and with the ax alone,
he would mend his vehicle by cutting a pole and
tying it fast to the axle-tree with withes, and proceed
on his journey. The tools required in building a
house were an a.x, saw, and auger, and with these the
pioneer would do the whole job; in fact, he seem
ingly needed no others.
' The cabin being built up to the height considered

88 HISTORY OF
necessary — which was usually that of the tallest
member of the family — ^notches were cut along in
the two side logs, to admit poles laid in crosswise for
joists. When up to the square, the two end logs
were extended over about a foot each way, for the
purpose of receiving a log to rest the first tier of
shakes against ; and the building of the gable ends
commenced, a system of architecture much easier to
take in with the eye than describe on paper.
The lack of lumber and the absence of machinery
for manufacturing it, made it necessary to do ever}'-
thing with such material as was at hand ; hence the
system of "cobbing" as it was termed, by which it
was meant the forraing of the gable ends with logs,
which were cut of suitable lengths, each pair being
shorter as the work progressed upward, and sloped
off" to forra the pitch of the roof. With each pair
of end logs, a pole ran lengthwise of the building,
for the shakes to rest upon, taking the place or an
swering the purpose of rafters in raore raodern archi
tecture. When the ends had been brought to a peak the
roofing coraraenced. While one party was engaged
in putting up the building, another would be busy
preparing material for the roof, which consisted
wholly of shakes and poles; the former were made
from some rifty, free-.sphtting timber — ^usuall}- white
or red oak — cut three feet long and split from four
to eight inches wide and one inch thick. These were
laid in double courses, the first course resting on the
logs spoken of above, as forming the top of the
square, and which sometimes were hewn out in the

CASS COUNTY. 89
form of troughs, thus answering the double purpose
of supports for the shakes and conductor g for the
rain water.
After the first course of shakes had been laid, two
or three short blocks were placed on the roof, one
end resting against the trough or log that held the
lower end of the shakes, the " weight-pole " against
the other; the "weight-pole" answering the double
purpose of holding one tier of shakes down and raak
ing a base for the next tier above. This process was
continued until the roof was complete, the last tier
of shakes projecting over at the comb six or eight
inches in the opposite direction to that frora which
the prevailing winds came, to prevent storms from
beating under; and, so far as rain was concerned, no
shingle or slate roof could have afforded better pro
tection — the only drawback being that in the winter
season fine snow would find its way through tbe
cracks, and not unfrequently would the pioneer fam-
il}- find, on rising in the raorning, an inch or more of
snow on their beds; not a very pleasant state of
affairs to contemplate in this day of air-tight houses,
but one which was then looked upon as a matter of
necessity and the situation accepted accordingly.
When the cabin was up and covered, the assist
ance of the neighbors was no longer needed, and
the pioneer proceeded to finish off the building
without the aid of architect or joiner.
The first thing now to be considered was an
entrance way, for as yet the building stood entire,
without an opening in it — if we except the numerous
cracks between the logs: In putting up the building.

90 HISTORY OF
two notches large enough to admit the point of a
saw, had been made where the door was designed
to be. From these he sawed down in two parallel
lines sufficiently far apart for the width of the door.
Half way down it would frequently be of double
width, to adrait of a window being placed beside the
door. When the logs were cut out of the way,
'.'cheek pieces" were prepared by splitting out tim
bers the suitable length and width and hewing them
to a uniform thickness, and if an extra nice job was
wanted, a drawing- knife would be used to finish up
with. These were pinned to the ends of the logs,
forming a casing and support.
The place for the window was cased up in the
same manner, and if the proprietor possessed glass
enough to fill a si.x light sash, he was considered
very fortunate; if not, oiled or greased paper was
used as a substitute. The light coming through
this semi-transparent material could hardly be said
to equal that fransraitted by the best French plate
glass, yet it answered its day and purpose.
Upon the door the pride and ingenuity of the
proprietor was fully displayed, as the finish of this,
so far as looks went, was considered of inore im
portance than any other part of the house. Planks,
or boards, were split from some soft-wood tree, the
preference being always given to the basswood, as
the second growth of this timber splits very straight
and even, requiring less work to bring it to the
required thickness than any other. Battens or
cross-pieces were prepared in the same way, then
the whole was pinned together in a manner that

CASS COUNTY. 9 1
looked as though they were preparing a habitation
for their great-grand-children instead of a teraporary
abode. The hinges for hanging were formed by making
two eyes of wood, six or eight inches lopg, with one
end large enough to adrait of an auger hole through
it, the other brought down into the forra of a pin
and driven into a hole bored into the logs of the
house. Two cleats were then pinned to the door,
projecting over at one end with holes through thera
to correspond with those in the eyes, a round stick
whittled out with a knot on one end to keep it from
dropping too far through, the whole being put to
gether, the hanging was complete, a structure not to
be wafted by every gentle breeze, or damaged by the
undue slamraing of any unruly member of the
family. The latch was made of a thin piece of board, an
inch and a half wide and hung at the back end on a
pin, working through a slot in another piece fastened
to the door and into a catch fastened to the door-
cheek, and if any nails were to be had they were
used in these finer parts, to hold the small pieces,
catch, etc., but if they were not to be had the whole
was put together with pins. The latch was worked
from the outside by a string, one end of which was
fastened to the latch inside and passed through a hole
above ; and all that had to be done at night to make
everything secure, was to pull the string through on
the inside. The favorite material for the string was
well tanned deer or woodchuck skin, but if these were
not at hand, from a bunch of tow — of which there

92 HISTORY OF
was an ample supply in every thrifty household — the
lady of the house would readily twist a cord for this
or any like purpose.
" The latch-string always out," is a time-honored
synonym for hospitality, which originated from the
habit, as the country developed, of some keeping the
string on the inside and attending to the callers at
the door, instead of allowing the visitor to come in
at his pleasure.
The next thing to claim attention was the fire
place, and the character of the raan would be ag
rauch exhibited in this as in any other part. If he
was frora the South, or his associations had been with
Southern people, his chimney would be fashioned
after the manner of that section. That is, a large
opening perhaps eight feet long, would be cut out in
the end of the building, and the fire-place and chim
ney built wholly on the outside. This doubtless
originated from the fact that in the genial climate in
which he was raised or educated, the warmth of the
building was not taken into consideration, but rather
an avoidance of it, while people from the East who
were accustoraed to the rigors of a Northern cliraate,
would take the opposite view, and build the chiraney
on the inside, thus securing all the warrath possible.
If the chiraney was to be built on the outside, after
cutting away sufficient space in the wall, saplings six
or eight inches through were taken and split in two,
and of these a three-sided crib was built up to the
height of a man's head, the fourth side being the
inside of the house, and upon the crib rested the
stick chimney.

CASS COUNTY. 93
Many different compounds were used in making
the jambs and hearths; nearly every one having a
receipt which they considered the very best. The
great difficulty to overcorae being the tendency of
the jarabs to crurable, and the hearths to sweep out
into basin-like cavities, and finally to entirely disap
pear under the vigorous use of the splint broora
wielded by the good mothers and daughters of that
day. It must be borne in raind that there were no brick
to be had in the country and soraething must be used
as a substitute, and this brought the ingenuity and
experience of the settlers into requisition. One of
the methods was to mix the clay with sweet ¦ railk,
another to put in a quantity of unleached ashes, cut
straw, etc., but sooner or later they would all need
repairs. When the compound was determined upon and the
raortar raixed, an excavation would be made a foot
or eighteen inches deep and this filled with the pre
pared mortar and pounded down solid with a
heavy wooden maul made for the purpose. The
jambs were raade of the sarae material. Soraetiraes
a forra was raade by building a crib on the inside of
the outer one, leaving a space the thickness of the
jamb to be built, this was filled with raortar and
pounded in. When it becarae dry a fire was built
and the inside frarae burned out, but the raore usual
plan was to build the jarabs up with stiff mortar,
forming them by the eye, and extending thera up to
where the chimney comraenced.
The chimney was built of sticks and mud. The

94 HISTORY OF
sticks were split about an inch and a half wide and
half an inch think, and laid up house fashion. The
plaster, which consisted of a raortar raade of clay and
fine cut straw, was put on as the work advanced
upward. It would seera reraarkable that the whole
mass did not burn up the first time a fire was built,
but fires were of no raore frequent occurrence then
than now. This raay be accoifnted for, in a raeasure,
by the constant vigilance in the care of the fire, the
last duty of the housewife before going to bed was
to look up the chiraney to see that all was safe.
The cabin up, covered, and chiraney built, next in
order was the floor, which also raust be raade from
the material at hand. No lumber-yard tp order
from, nor planing and raatching raachines to make
the flooring ready for the joiner, but the nearest free-
splitting tree was selected and cut into lengths from
six to eight feet long, then split as wide as the tree
would make, and from two to four inches thick, and
the degree of precision with which a good ax-man
would split a plank to the required thickness would
surprise a novice.
To face one side of these planks, or puncheons, it
was almost absolutely necessary to have the use of
a broad-ax; a tool not to be found in the kit of
every pioneer, and the loan of one frora a neighbor
forty railes distant, was of no uncoraraon occurrence.
It is related that during the first season of the set
tleraent of Little Prairie Ronde (1829), while the
neighbors were together putting up a cabin for one
of their nuraber, another hovel which had been built
temporarily of rails and poles, to protect the owner's

CASS COUNTY. 95
household goods from the elements, took fire from
the smouldering embers of a burnt brush-heap near
by, and consumed or spoiled the only saw and auger
in the settlementj a calaraity that was almost irre
parable. The puncheons, as the floor slabs were termed,
were hewed on one side as smoothly a^ possible, and
the underside sized at the ends, and laid on the
sleepers, forming a floor that for strength and dura
bility would hardly be excelled. Upon the manner
in which the floor was kept rested each housewife's
reputation, and the " floor clean enough to eat a ^
dinner off frora " was the height of woman's ambi
tion in that line. The floor usually extended only
about two-thirds the distance from the back end of
the building, the remainder being mother earth.
Chinking or filling up the crack between the logs,
carae next. Chinks were usually made from the
hearts of the bolts left in making the shakes for the
roof These were placed in the cracks, thin edge
out, and held in place by pins, thus making an even
surface on the inside, while the outside was daubed
from the nearest clay-bank, and the habitation was
complete, and for comfort it is not to be looked upon ,
with disdain, or an unfavorable coraparison made
with the better class of buildings in use by our citi
zens now.
From this sketch of cabin building it might be
inferred that it was always carried along in regular
order until completion, but in point of fact it fre
quently took the whole season at different intervals
to complete the structure, as other important duties

96 HISTORY OF
came along in succession interfering with the contin
uous work on the building, and it was more than
likely that the last job in the fall viould be to make
the cabin comfortable for winter.
FURNITURE AND FIXTURES.
The furniture was made from the same general
material as the house, and the same hands were em
ployed in its manufacture. A broom was one of the
first requisites. This was made from a sraall hick
ory sapling, by coraraencing at the butt end of the
stick and running the splints, which were started
with a knife, upward, until they were long enough
for the brush of the broora. This was continued as
long as the stick would run, when the sraall heart was
sawed off, the splints turned back and the upper end
run in the sarae raanner, coraraencing far enough up
to raake the length of splint required, and when down
to the proper size for a handle, the balance of the
stick was finished up to correspond, and with a tow
string to hold the splints together, the irapleraent
was coraplete, and as effective as it was siraple in
construction. Siraple as the operation is of making
a broom of this kind would seera, it was attended
with sorae risk, and a man (J. S. Shaw) in the north
part of the county lost the sight of an eye in the
manufacture of one, by a younger brother running
against his elbow just at the time of raising a splint.
A " lug pole " was placed across the chimney' on
which to hang the hooks to hold the pots for cook
ing purposes. The hooks were made of small crotches
cut from saplings, with a pin in one end to hang the

CASS COUNTY. 97
pot on, the crotch hanging on the lug pole. • A nuin-
ber of these hooks of different lengths, to suit the
several sized pots, or the fire used under thera, were
necessary. When not in use they were pushed to
one side to be out of the way of the fire.
The wooden hooks were superseded by tramraels,
as soon as the country was supplied with black-
sraiths. These consisted of a bar of iron with a
hook on one end, which hung on the lug pole, and
numerous holes in the face in which was fitted an
adjustable hook running through an eye at the
bottom of the bar, making a very convenient
arrangement,' and considered at the time one of
the greatest improvements of the age. This again
was superseded by the crane, when the country
became sufficiently populated to warrant the making
of brick, as before these came into use, there was no
way of holding the crane in position. This was an
improveraent that was considered to leave nothing
more to be desired in that line. As yet the cook-
stove had not entered the fertile brains of Yankee
inventors, and when they were brought into use,
they were looked upon by raany with prejudice, as
few housewives could be raade to believe that any
thing could equal the Dutch oven for cooking
purposes. The dresser (cup-board) was raade by boring two
parallel rows of holes in the logs, up and down, and
inserting wooden pins, whereon the shelves, raade
frora split puncheons and sraoothed down to a
uniforra thickness, were laid, and if any newspapers
had been brought frora the old horae, or could be
—7

98 HISTORY OF
procured,' they were held sacred to add the finishing
touches to the dresser; being cut into notched strips
and pasted on the edges of the shelves, and finally
the whole was covered with a calico curtain, making
a neat and not uncomely affair.
The one-posted bedstead has long been noted as
one of the requirements of early housekeeping; but
how it was constructed is a mystery to the younger
portion of our present citizens, as cabinet-makers
followed close in the wake of the early settlers, and
soon furnished a more light and elegant, if not a
more coraraodious article of furniture.
In the priraitive, or one-posted bedstead, the post
was first raade of the required size, shape, etc., and
two holes bored through it at right angles at the
proper height for the base, and two raore in the walls
of the house to correspond with these, one in the side
log and one in the end log; and in each of these a
pole was inserted reaching to the hole in the post,
forraing the side and foot rails to the bedstead. A
row of holes was now made in the side logs of the
house at the same distance from the floor as the
others, in each of which was inserted the end of a
short pole, the opposite end resting on the side rail
and serving the purpose of cords or slats. The
great drawback to this style of furniture was, that
being made in the comer of the house, it was not
movable; but when the whole was completed and
had received the finishing touches of the housewife,
in curtains of snowy white linen or cotton of home
manufacture — sometimes reaching from ceiling to
floor — with white counterpane and pillow-slips of

CASS COUNTY. 99
the same material and manufacture, just peeping
forth, showing a glimpse of the comforts within, it
formed a sleeping place by no means to be despised.
The bed curtains, or drapery, performed quite an
important part in raore ways than one. The house
having no partitions, the one roora necessarily serv
ing as kitchen, parlor, dining-room, sleeping-room,
closet, etc., to a person of delicate nerves it raight
seera rather embarrassing to retire in the same room
in which many others, perhaps of different sexes,
were to abide for the night, especially if such person
chanced to be a "school ma'am," on her weekly tour of
"boarding round." This unpleasantness, however, '
was greatly abridged by the aforenamed curtains or
screens; and the dexterity and neatness with which
the lady raerabers of the faraily there perforraed
their daily changes of attire, without the aid of
dressing-case or rairror, would be quite astonishing
to a raodern belle.
The storage, too, that the raysterious corner
" under the bed " furnished, was one of the arts of
priraitive housekeeping, as nearly everything frora a
farraing irapleraent to a jar of sweetraeats, or a
feather bed, could be produced frora this comrao
dious receptacle.
Seats were also raade of puncheons, sorae in the
forra of stools, with three legs, others in the forra of
benches, from four to eight feet long, having two
legs at each end. Holes were made in the lower
side of the slabs in a slanting direction, so that,
when in an upright position, the legs would project
out farther than the body, thus giving them a firm

lOO HISTORY OF
foundation. The legs were raade frora poles of the
right size, cut off" and driven into the auger-holes;
and when drawn around the fire of hickory logs of
an evening, the grand-raother having the post of
honor in the warraest corner and the less iraportant
raerabers of the faraily arranged according to dis
tinction, ending, perhaps, with a baby, in a sap
trough for a cradle, in the opposite corner, forraed a
picture of doraestic happiness pleasant to con-
teraplate. Hung frora the ceiling in front of the fire was the
faraily larap, formed at the nearest blacksmith shop
fi-om a piece of iron in the form of a dish, with a
pitcher nose on one side, in "which a cotton wick was
laid. The raaterial burned was usually hog's lard,
though a frequent substitute was coon's or wood-
chuck's fat. In sorae seasons when shack (acorns
and beechnuts) was plenty, these animals becarae
very fat and furnished an abundance of this useful
article. For a light to run around with, a candle or
"slut " was used, raade from bee's wax, of which an
ample supply was furnished by the forest as well as
that sweetest of luxuries, honey. For a mould in
which to run the candles, an elder was sometimes
hollowed out, but the more comraon way was to
raake thera into "sluts." This was done by cora
raencing with the wick, which was raade large and
long, then after heating the bee's wax by the fire
until it was soft, it was scraped off with a knife and
put on in layers until of the required size. This
made a light, not very stylish in appearance, but,
like many other things of those times, answering its
purpose.

CASS COUNTY. lOI
COOKING UTENSILS.
To prepare the staple food, bread, for the faraily,
required the talent and ingenuity of the housewife
in an erainent degree. One of the necessary accom-
paniraents of pioneer housekeeping was the bake
kettle, or Dutch oven, holding half a bushel and
standing on legs three inches high, (raade of cast
iron, with a tight fitting cover of the same raaterial.)
This forraed an irapleraent of no raean pretensions,
and in this was not only the bread, biscuit, and john
ny-cake baked, but the roast of venison and beef, or
the spare-rib of pork made ready for the table, and
to use it successfully required a skill of no common
order. The favorite plan of using it was to have a large
fire of hard wood logs' pretty well burned down, so
as to furnish an ample supply of live coals. A heap
of these was formed on the hearth, in which the
oven was partially embedded with its contents, and
on the top was piled another quantity of coals to
furnish heat to the upper side, and when the slow,
measured tick of the wall sweep clock indicated that
the precise time during which the contents should
remain in its repository had expired — the housewife
in the meat|tirae busying herself about the cares of
the morning — out would be rolled the golden loaf,
as tempting and appetizing as the heart could wish.
This may seem a little primitive, but still more so
was the ash cake, prepared when the bake kettle
was not at hand. It was prepared in the same
manner as the short cake of modern tiraes ; a place
was swept clean on the hearth, the cake laid dov/n

I02 HISTORY OF
and covered lightly with cold ashes and then with
hot ashes and live coals, the whole patted down
sraoothly with a wooden shovel, and when it
cracked once it was patted down again — the rule
for its being done was when it cracked a second
tirae — and for a palatable piece of bread, especially
if the youthful appetite was whetted up to the
proper pitch by a long fast, perhaps occasioned by
being late from mill, nothing made in after years ap
proaches it.
Another favorite kind of bread, more especially
prepared for hunters and those going on long jour
neys, was raade by raixing corn meal and water
with fat pork cut in sraall squares and distributed
through the raass,and baked in a large "pone," as it
was called, sometiraes six or eight inches through;
when used it was cut in slices and toasted before the
fire, which brought out the qualities of the pork,
answering the purpose of shortening and flavoring.
After the bake kettle came the reflector, raade of
tin, in which a great raany kinds of cooking were
accoraplised by placing it before the fire, and cook
ing by radiation of heat. This was succeeded by
the out oven, which has been iraproved and reraains
in vogue to the present day. In early tiraes it was
constructed of clay raixed in mortar, in which was
put a quantity of cut straw. It was built on a plat
form of poles laid on crotches driven into the
ground. A form of sand was them made around it,
on which the mort.ir was spread. When it was
sufficiently dried the sand was taken out and thor
oughly burned, forming almost as good and

CASS COUNTY. I03
perraanent a structure as though made of brick.
The material for bread making had also to be
manufactured at home in a great measure, as, for a
number of years after the first settlement of the
County, no mills were within reach of the settlers,
except small hand raills and the horse raill at the
raission. And even after raills were built, the bad
state of the roads, especially in the winter season,
raade the hand raethod of raanufacturing a necessity.
For this purpose a hard wood log, three feet long
and eighteen or twenty inches through, was selected,
set on end and burned out in the forra of a mortar,
an iron wedge driven into a sapling forraed a pestle;
and in these priraitive irapleraents the breadstuff was
manufactured. ' A quantity of shelled corn was
thrown in at a time and pounded until it became fine
enough to use, when it was sifted, the finer portions
being used for making bread, aud the coarser for
making hominy. This work was usually perforraed
during evenings and storray days by the male por
tion of the family.
DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES.
Clothing, bedding, and raany other household
articles were also manufactured at home frora
materials grown on the farm. Of these, ffax and
wool formed the principal bases, while cotton was
used to some extent. Flax was grown, rotted,
broken, scutched, hetcheled, spun, and in sorae
cases woven at horae, as well as manufactured into
garments, towels, sheets, pillow cases, &c., for the
family. Wool, also, after being carded, was spun,

I04 HISTORY OF
dyed and woven by our foremothers of precious
raeraory. In the raanufacture of flax, after being grown and
pulled, it was rotted by covering it with water, or
spreading on the ground, when it was broken with a
hea-vy hand machine made for the purpose, then
scutched with a broad wooden knife, taking off the
woody portion from the fiber; it was then ready for
the hetchel. This was an irapleraent made of a
piece of board in which were driven a quantity of
sharp steel teeth, four inches long, and through these
the flax was drawn, separating the coarser tow from
the flax.
The tow by being carded into bats could be spun
on the large wheel, and was manufactured into tow
linen and used chiefly for men's summer wear. The
flax, from its finer texture, had to be spun on a little
wheel, and required a good degree of skill to mani
pulate it properly. The little wheel, with its
distaff and flyers, is among the things of the past.
The flyers were the especial terror of the little folks,
looking so fascinating as they swiftly thundered
around, but woe unto the fingers that came within
their magic circle. The flax, after being spun, was
woven into linen and used for towels, table-cloths,
grain bags, and many other household articles.
For the winter season woolen goods were made,
from wool or wool and cotton corabined. If of all
wool, it was spun and colored at home, and in man}'
instances, woven also. The portion designed for
women's wear was woven into flannel, and if an
extra finish was desired, it was taken to the woolen

CASS COUNTY. I05
mill and pressed, and in this case it was also colored
at the mill. Full cloth was raade of all wool, and
after being woven was taken to the raill, colored,
fulled, and finished. This was used for the raen's
wear. But by far the greater portion of the goods used
was raanufactured at home, of cotton and wool com
bined in different proportions, according to the use
it was designed for. Linsey was raade of cotton
warp and woolen filling, in equal proportions, and
used for dresses, skirts, and soraetiraes aprons.
Jean was raade by using a fine cotton warp, and in
such raanner that the filling nearly covered it, raak
ing a thick, firm cloth, strong and durable, which
was used in coraraon every-day wear by both raen
and boys.
Shoe raaking was raostly done by itinerant rae-
chanics, traveling frora house to house with a kit of
tools on their backs, which was terraed "whipping
the cat." Their shop would be in the common
living room of the faraily, and their offices cora
raenced usually with the older raerabers of the
faraily and continued down until all were shod. If
a raiss fit was raade for the one designed, it was
passed on to the next in order and another trial
made. Shoes were almost universally worn by both
sexes, boots being considered too extravagant for
coramon people. In some cases the farraer or some
one of his sons learned enough of the trade to make
their own ware, thus saving the expense of hiring
the itinerant. Leather was manufactured at the
country tan-yards, and the universal custom was to

Io6 HISTORY OF
have it tanned on shares, the tanner cutting the
hides in two and tanning one half for the other.
Wash basins were alraost unknown, and the ablu
tions were perforraed by raerabers of the faraily
taking turns in pwDuring on water from a cup or
basin for each other, or if the family had a guest,
sorae one of the nuraber was detailed for this
purpose. A gentleraan living in the northern part
of the county and carrying a high railitary title,
ignored all assistance and waited upon himself, by
holding the cup between his teeth while he washed
his hands, and then passing it from one hand to the
other while he washed his face.
The lack of cultivated fruit was one of the most
severe privations that the pioneers had to undergo,
coraing as they did frora lands of plenty, and raany
substitutes were made use of. Among these were
the blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, cranberry,
and wild crabapple, all natives of the country, and
growing spontaneous in large quantities. The ber
ries were dried, or preserved in sugar, while the
apples were buried in holes through the winter —
which had the effect of extracting rauch of the
extrerae tartness that they had when first picked —
and then raade into sauce.
Pumpkins also entered largely into common use
in various ways; large quantities were dried for pie-
making, and about the first thing that would attract
the stranger's attention on entering a cabin would
be the poles hung near the ceiling covered with
rings of pumpkin in the process of drying. Pump
kin butter was also a staple article the year round.

CASS COUNTY. 107
This was made from the juice which was extracted
from a portion of the crop that had been allowed to
freeze and thaw, then boiled down and thickened
with the better portion that had been preserved
from frost. Another process was to boil that part
intended for cider instead of freezing it, and use it in
the same way as by the previous process.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
The first implement needed in tilling the soil was
a plow, the irons for which were either brought with
the pioneer from his old horae, or raanufactured at
the country blacksraith's shop, consisting of an iron
land side and share corabined; the balance of the
plow was made of wood, fashioned by the farraer,
and called a "bull plow." With this he would break
the new ground or turn the stubble as the case raight
be, and it was considered an effective and coraplete
irapleraent. In fact, for a nuraber of years after the
introduction of cast iron plows they were looked
upon with distrust by raany, who thought they were
conducive to the growth of June grass, which at
that time was considered the bane of the farmer.
That they were not equal to the best polished
steel or chilled iron of the present time, no one will
question, but at the sarae tirae they formed a basis
for something better, and raany iraproveraents were
raade even in these, and the Baker pattern — the first
successful cast plow raanufactured in this county —
was devised from a wooden plow that William Jones
carried on horseback from Barron Lake, in Howard
township, to Young's Prairie.

Io8 HISTORY OF
The shovel plow was the only implement of the
cultivator kind, and for many years was used almost
exclusively in the cultivation of corn and other simi
lar crops. It consisted of an iron shovel and wooden
stock similar to those in use at the present time.
The wooden harrow was used to bring the ground
into proper tilth for seeding, and was coraposed of a
wooden frarae, wooden teeth, and a wooden hitching
bar, and might be strictly called a wooden imple
ment. For harvesting wheat and other small grains, the
hand sickle was used and continued in use until 1835
as a regular irapleraent, and for a nuraber of years
after in very heavy or lodged grain. It was super
seded by the grain cradle. The cutting of grain
with a hand sickle was a slow, tedious operation,
requiring a good hand to cut an acre a day.
In 1845 the grain cradle had a corapetitor in the
raarket, in the forra of a Hussey reaper. It was
brought in by B. Hathaway, of Little Prairie
Ronde, in that year, and has continued in active ser
vice nearly every harvest since that tirae, and will
do creditable work yet. As it carae frora the man^
ufactory it was a heavy, cumbrous affair with
wooden wheels and a pair of thills similar to those
used on drays at the present time, in which the
horses were driven tandem fashion. But it was
remodeled by the owner and adapted to practical
use. After harvesting, the grain was stacked, and
threshed on the ground. In threshing, either a flail
was used to pound it out by hand, or it was trodden

CASS COUNTY. , 1 09
out by horses and cattle. The stacks were placed
in the forra of a circle with sufficient space left in
the middle for a threshing ground. When threshed
it was winnowed with a sheet, two men taking hold
of either end and giving it a waving raotion, while a
third threw up the grain and chaff frora a basket ;
the air put in motion by the sheet blew away the
chaff, while the grain fell in a pile.

CASS COUNTY.
Cass County was named in honor of Governor
Lewis Cass, who served the people of Michigan so
long and faithfully in her Territorial career. It is
bounded on the south by the State of Indiana, on
the west by Berrien County, on the north by-
Van Buren County, and on the east by St. Joseph
County. Its soil is coraposed of three distinct varieties, and
nuraerous sub-varieties. The prairie soil is of a
black, sticky, tenacious character, underlaid with a
sub-soil of sand and gravel. Its productiveness is
universally accredited, and the test of fifty years of
constant cultivation verifies the prediction of the
early settlers that it was of the best.
The heavy tiraber soil is of a gravelly nature,
interraixed with sand and clay in proportions vary
ing with different localities. That it is a good soil,
is evidenced by the heavy growth of tiraber it
forraerly produced, which had to be removed before
it could be cultivated.
The soil of the openings is of several varieties,
from heavy clay to light soil. In the earlier days of

CASS COUNTY. 1 1 1
the settlement of the County, much prejudice ex
isted in the minds of the settlers against this portion
of the soil, as it was considered too light for
agricultural purposes. But time, the great leveler
of all human errors, has deraonstrated that it is
equal, if not superior, to rauch land that was con
sidered of better quality.
The prairie portion of the County was settled
first, requiring less labor to bring it under subjection
than that covered with heavy timber. All that was
necessary was to have a good strong team and plow,
to coraraence operations with alraost the sarae facil
ity that could be had in an older settled country.
Corn was planted the first season between the
furrows, and needed no further attention until har
vesting, frequently yielding frora forty to sixty
bushels of grain per acre. When preparing for
wheat, the sod was broken before harvest, and let
lie until seeding tirae, when the seed grain was
harrowed in.
The original sod on the prairies was of a very
tough nature, the wild grass roots, although pene
trating to the depth of but a few inches, required a
strong teara and plow to break thera up. The first
plowing was not usually over four inches deep, or
just deep enough to get below the grass roots, and
the furrows were thrown up into kinks to give the
eleraents a chance to hasten the decay of the sod.
The labor of clearing up the tirabered land was
immense, the primeval forests requiring to be
chopped off, cut up, logged and burned, a job much
easier said than done; but after clearing off the cul-

112 HISTORY OF
tivation was very easy, if we except the many roots
that were in the way.
Logging was usually done by "bees," or by
exchanging work. If by a " bee," the neighbors for
several miles around were invited, and it partook
raore of the nature of a frolic than the actual hard
vv'ork that it was. If by exchange, it was raade a
raatter of business, and the day's work punctually
returned. In the earlier settleraent the logs were
rolled by hand, especially by the iraraigrants from
Ohio and the South, the heavier ones turned to
gether, and the smaller carried on hand-spikes and
laid on top; but with the advent of Eastern people
came the use of cattle in drawing the logs together,
where they could be rolled up by hand.
The openings, although presenting the appearance
of an imraense plain, where a coach and four could
be driven without interruption, were, nevertheless,
not without their drawbacks. The practice of the
Indians was to burn the land over every fall, which
had the effect of keeping not only the annual vegeta
tion burned off, but the grubs also. The grubs
thus treated were forraed into iraraense "stools," as
they were terraed, although the tops were hardly
perceptible, and when the land was to be broken
up for cultivation, it required a teara of frora four to
nine yoke of cattle, and a plow of corresponding
strength. The breaking was done by raen who
followed it for a business. After breaking, it was
coraparatively a light raatter to bring the land
under cultivation.
The County is watered by the St. Joseph River,

CASS COUNTY. II 3
the Christianna Creek, both branches of the Dowag
iac, and numerous other smaller creeks, lakes, &c.
The St. Joseph touches on the south east corner of
the County, and cuts off about two and one-half sec
tions of land.
The Christianna Creek, which was named by the
Rev. Isaac McCoy in honor of his wife, rises in Penn
Township, and flows south through Calvin, Jefferson
and Ontwa, emptying into the St. Joseph near Elk
hart, Ind. It is a rapid stream and affords a good
water power, which has been improved at Vandalia,
Wright's Mills, Redfield's Mills and Adamsville.
The north branch of the Dowagiac rises in Van
Buren County, and flows to the southwest, entering
this county in Wayne Township, through which it
runs into Silver Creek, thence into Pokagon, where
it is joined by the south branch, and empties into the
St. Joseph River, in Berrien County, near Niles. It
is a slow running, sluggish stream, and affords no
water power.
The south branch of the Dowagiac rises in Mar-
cellus Township, and runs through Volinia and
La Grange, and enters the north branch on the line
between the Townships of Silver Creek and Poka
gon. It is a rapid running stream and affords ample
power for driving machinery, which has been im
proved nearly its entire length. The name Dowa
giac is of Indian origin, and signifies fishing- water.
The first settlement in the county was made on
Pokagon prairie, in the fall of 1825, by U. Putnam,
Baldwin Jenkins, Squire Thompson, Abram Town-
send, and Israel Markam and son.
—8

114 HISTORY OF
In 1826 this settleraent was augraented by Ira
Putnara and faraily and Lewis Edwards,, Sr., who
came on and raised a crop, but did not move until
the succeeding year. There was also a settlement
made by Ezra Beardsley, on the prairie that still
bears his name, and in 1827 this was increased by
the two Meachams, George Crawford, and 
Sage. By an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved
April 1 2th, 1827, all the Territory lying west of
Lenawee County, to which the Indian titles had
been extinguished by the treaty of Chicago, was
organized into one Township, under the narae of
St. Joseph, and attached to Lenawee County for
judicial purposes. An election was also ordered to
be held at the house of Tiraothy Sraith. Where
this Smith lived is not given, but probably on White
Pigeon prairie. We have no means of knowing
what was done under this organization, as the
records of Lenawee County were burned a number
of years a:go.
In 1828 settlements were made on McKenney's,
La Grange, Young's, and Baldwin's prairies. Ford's
raill, the first in Southwestern Michigan, was started
in the spring ofthis year. Although in what is now
Berrien County,, it was of great imp^rt;atice to the
settlers of this county, as there was npt( another
mill for grinding grain by water power within one
hundred miles.
In 1829 a settlement was made on Little Prairie
Ronde, and in November 5th, of the same year, by
an act of the Territorial Legislature, Cass County ,

CASS COUNTY. 1 1 5
was organized and divided into four Townhips,
Pokagon, La Grange, Penn, and Ontwa, composed
as follows : Pokagon to consist of what is now Silver
Creek, Pokagon, and the north half of Howard
Townships, and an election was ordered to be held
at the house of Baldwin Jenkins. Wayne, LaGrange,
and the north half of Jefferson Townships were or
ganized under the name of La Grange, with an
election to be held at the house of Isaac Shurte.
The Townships of Penn, Vohnia, Marcellus, New-
berg, the north half of North Porter, and the north
half of Calvin were organized under the name of
Penn Township, and an election appointed at the
house of Martin Shields.
The Townships of Milton, Ontwa, Mason, South
Porter, and the south half of North Porter, Calvin,
Jefferson, and Howard were organized under the
name of Ont-wa Township, and an election ordered
at the house of Ezra Beardsley.
Also, by the same act. Van Buren County was
organized intP one Township, under the name of
La Fayette, and attached to Penn Township, of this
County, and some of the first officers of that Town
ship were residents of Van Buren County.
Berrien County was also organized into one
Township, that of Niles, and attached to Pokagon
for judicial purposes. Although it would seem that
the local government was ready to run, there is no
record of any election being held in the spring of
1830. The most important events of this year, — 1829—
aside from the organization" of the County, were the

i:6 HISTORT OF
land sales, which at that time were held at Monroe.
The United States law required that every piece of
land should be put up at public auction, after which,
if not bid off, it was subject to private entry at one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. To avoid
competition and running the risk of losing what
improvements the settlers had made, each one
quietly kept his own counsel, and after the land had
been offered, made application and received his
certificate. In after years, when land speculation became rife,
it was a great game with " land sharks " to lie in
wait around the land offices and if by hook or crook
they could get the description of a desirable location,
it was nabbed before the settler could get in. This
game, however, had its drawbacks, and there are a
number of pieces of land in the county still in the
name of the original owner, entirely worthless.
This was brought about by the settlers becoming
aware of their sharp practices and being prepared
for them by having the description of some worthless
tract to which they gave them a clue.
In this year entries of land were made in Penn,
Pokagon, La Grange, Howard, Ontwa, Milton,
North and South Porter, and Calvin Townships.
The Carpenter mill, on the Christianna Creek, just
below where Vandalia now stands, was built that
year, and although a crude structure,, it was of great
importance to the settlers and the first mill in the
county. A hollow log served the purpose of a
forebay. Mr. Carpenter sold out in a few years,
and said, on leaving, that he was "determined to

CASS COUNTY. 1 1 7
build a good mill if it cost him a hundred dollars."
In 1830 .settlements were made at Geneva and
Whitmanville, and entries of land made in Jefferson,
Mason, and Volinia Townships.
On the 4th day of October, 1831, the first Board
of Supervisors for Cass County met at the house of
Ezra Beardsley (now Edwardsburg) but, owing to
the absence of one member, they adjourned to the
17th of the same month, when the following raera
bers were present: John Agard of Penn, Othui
Beardsley of Ontwa, James Kavanaugh of LaGrange,
and Squire Thompson of Pokagon. An organiza
tion was effected by electing John Agard Chairman
and A. H. Redfield Clerk, The assessed valuation
of the different Townships as equalized by the Board
was as follows: Pokagon, $23,364; araount of tax
levied, $113.52. LaGrange, $23,321; amount of tax
levied, $1 16.60.' Penn, $37,643; amount of tax levied,
$188.21. Ontwa, $33,634; amount of tax levied,
$188.21. The Board at this meeting passed a reso
lution offering a bounty of two dollars for the scalps
of large wolves and one dollar for prairie wolves
and pups. In this year Edwardsburg and Cassopo-
lis were laid out, and entries of land made in Wayne
Township. On the third Monday in January, 1832, the Board
met at the same place, but for the want of a quorum
no business was done, except to adjourn to the 5th of
March, when Kavanaugh and Thompson met and or
dered the clerk to notify the other Supervisors to
meet at the house of Abram Tietsort, on the 31st of
March, to settle with the Treasurer.

II 8 HISTORY OF
At this meeting. Squire Thompson was elected
Chairman, when they adjourned to the house of Ira
B. Henderson in Cassopolis. A resolutipn was pass
ed to build a jail, the diraensions of which were to be
1 5 by 30 feet, one story high, with a partition through
the raiddle, to be built of hewn logs one loot square,
to have two windows and two doors, and costing not
to e.xceed three hundred and -fifty dollars. But it
would seera that the building was not put up in ac
cordance with this resolution, for again we find in '33
another entry to the sarae effect.
By the numerous resolutions passed, instructing
their agent to proceed against a number of residents
of Cassopolis for non-payment of subscriptions, it
seems that the building was not put up entirely at
the expense of the county. This building still stands
on a lot now owned by Charles Kingsbury.
In the latter part of April, 1832, the startling news
carae that Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi,
and had coraraenced a hostile invasion of the United
States. His ravages araong the frontier settleraents
of Wisconsin, and the defeat of a party of over two
hundred and fifty Araericans, spread the greatest
alarra throughout the country, and rolled back the
tide of iraraigration then raoving Westward.
The report that reached this county was that the
Sacs and Foxes were marching upon Chicago, and
that all the western settlements were in irarainent dan
ger. To this general report were added individual
accounts of the most exaggerated character, in some
instances that they were joined by the Pottawatomies
and had already burned Chicago »nd were marching

CASS COUNTY. II9
eastward with the torch and tomahawk, devastating
thecountry, and slaughtering the inhabitants. Many
settlers, especially in the south' part of the count}',
left at the first report, taking whatever availables
they could, arid leaving the balance.
The presence of several thousand Pottawatomies
on the reserve near Niles tended to increase the un
easiness of the people of the surrounding country.
Couriers were sent to all the settleraents to call out
the Mihtia, and e.x;citement reigned supreme. Many
rumors were circulated of the slaughter and batcher}'
going on, volunteers came in rapidly, armed with
such implements of warfare as they individually pos
sessed. General Williams arrived at Niles in a few days
from Detroit and took command, and several com
panies w^ere organized in Berrien, Cass, and Kala
mazoo Counties, and marched to Niles expecting to
find the Indians in hostile array. Darius Brown was
quartermaster, with headquarters at Niles. He seized
all the flour in the warehouses at St. Joseph, Berrien,
and Niles, for the use of the army, and a lar^ oven
was built to bake it into bread.
The excitement .which prevailed seems rather
amusing at this time, since the hostile Indians did not
come within one hundred railes of Chicago. But
when we consider that the country was filled with
Indians, only kept in subjection by the fear of a Su
perior force, and that on the slightest provocation
they might have risen and exterminated the infant
settlements, the fears of the settlers do not appear to
have been wholly groundless.

I20 HISTORY OF
Not finding the enemies they looked fbr, the ex
citement soon began to subside, and the troops to
disperse. General Williams however was anxious
to go on to Chicago, but as the militia refused to go
out of the State, he called for volunteers. Twocom-
panies were made up, one each from Berrien and
Cass Counties, and these two companies formed the
brigade that marched under General Williams. Cap
tain Benjarain Finch coraraanded the Berrien Coun
ty troops, and Captain Gardner those frora Cass
County. A. Huston was Colonel, David Wilson;
Major, Dr. E. Winslow; and William B. Beeson were
Surgeon and assistant Surgeon.
The chief authority rested with the rank and file,
who, while encamped on Door prairie, superseded
Colonel Huston for his haughty, overbearing manner,
electing Colonel Edwards to the position. Major
Wilson, was also sent home for similar reasons, and
George Hoffinan elected in his place. The brigade
went as far as Chicago, and a few advanced a short
distance beyond, when they returned home thorough
ly disgusted with the whole experience.
The war ended -without serious loss of life or prop
erty, but had the effect of stopping all immigration
for that season, and comparatively few of our pioneers
date their settlement from that year. The principal
settlements of the County at that time were on
Beardsley's, Pokagon, LaGrange, McKenney's, Lit
tle Prairie Ronde, and Young's Prairies, all of which
sent their quotas to the seat of war.
In this season the first vessel built in Cass County
was constructed by Captain Barnard and his son,

CASS COUNTY. 121
Dr. Barnard, now of Berrien Springs. It was of
about fifteen tons burden, and built on La Grange
prairie. After being finished, it was drawn on a
wagon to the St. Joseph river and launched. The
first trip to Chicago and back was made in three
days, and cleared to the owners two hundred and
fifty dollars. For a number of years it was used in
the trade between St. Joseph and Chicago.
The winter of 1832-33 was remarkably mild and
pleasant. On New Year's day buds were started,
grass greened, bees and house-flies were busy, and
wild flowers bloomed in the forest.
In 1833 the Board was increased by a meraber
from each of the towns of Jefferson, Porter, and
Volinia, which had been organized since the last
meeting. In this year a room was rented of Eber
Root, at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per
day, for the use of Courts and the Board of Su
pervisors. In 1834 Howard Township was represented for
the first tirae. The Prosecuting Attorney's salary
was fixed at seventy dollars per annum. Jramuel
Marrs inforraed the Board that, as Justice of the
Peace, he had collected from three persons two dol
lars each, for Sabbath breaking, and was ready to
pay over the money to their order.
The year 1835 is one long to be remembered, on
account of the frost which occurred on the 21st of
June of that year, which blighted nearly every green
thing. Corn was up, and in some instances worked
over once, when the frost came and cut it closely to
the ground, but, where let alone, it came on again

122 HISTORY OF
and made a partial crop. Wheat was just coming
into blossom and was almost wholly killed. Not
enough was left for seed, and farmers had to go as

o

far as Big Prairie and La Porte to procure seed
wheat, and frequently were obliged to work and pay
for it after they got there. What wheat was left by
the frost was made " sick," and could not be eaten,
and corn and buckwheat were used largely as a sub
stitute for bread-making raaterial.'^'
In this year Calvin was represented on the Board
of Supervisors fbr the first tirae. At the October
session it vv'as resolved to build a building, for county
purposes,,' twenty-four by thirty-four feet square, and
ten feet high, to be divided into three rooras, at a
cost not exceeding four hundred and fifty dollars,
and the contract was awarded to Joseph Harper.
In 1836 ari addition to the Board of Supervisors
was raade by raerabers frora Wayne and Mason
Townships, which had been organized since the last
meeting. At the October session a bill was allowed
in fav^ of George Fosdick for thirty dollars, for a
lock to the jail; also an order made to procure a
nine-plate stove for the Court House. In September
of this year, James Newton and Jaraes O'Dell were
elected to attend the Constitutional Convention at
Ann Arbor.
On November 7th and Sth, of the same year, an
election for county officers was held, with the fol
lowing result:
•There is some variety of recollection as to ¦whether tliis frost occur
red on the 20th or 21st of June. I have fixed the date from a diary kept
by Altexander Copley during that year.

CASS COUNTY. I 23
James O'Dell and William Burk, Representatives.
John T. Adaras, Judge of Probate.
Jaraes Kavanaugh and R. V. Crane, Associate
Judges. M. V. Hunter, Sheriff:
William Arrison, Register of Deeds.
Henley C. Lybrook, County Clerk.
Eber Root, Treasurer.
John Woolman, Surveyor.
S. P. Kingsley and John Shaw, Coroners.
On Deceraber 8th, of the sarae year, Edwin A.
Bridges, Jacob Silver, Joseph Sraith, and Abiel
Silver were elected to attend the Constitutional Con
vention at Ann Arbor.
This was the first election for county officers,
previous Co which they were appointed by the
Governor, as also were the Justices of the Peace.
Of the county officers previous to this election, or
their doings, we have to depend upon raen's raem-
ories for inforraation, as the records are very raeager
and vague. The result of the best research we
have been able to raake is as follows:
Joseph L. Jacks was the first County Clerk,
appointed July 31st, 1830, and was sworn into office
by Baldwin Jenkins, then an Associate Justice, on
the 4th day of Septeraber. Mr. Jacks ser'ved about
two years and was succeeded by Martin C. Whit
man, and he by Henley C. Lybrook.
George Meacham was the first Sheriff, appointed
probably in 1830, who served about two years and
was succeeded by Henry Fowler, and he by Eber
Root, who served until the time of the election.

124 HISTORY OF
The first Register of Probate was Thomas Mc-
Kenney, who was succeeded by Thomas H. Edwards,
and Edwards was succeeded by E. B. Sherraan, who
served with the title of Judge until after the election.
The first Register of Deeds was T. H. Edwards,
who acted in the double capacity of Register of Deeds
and Probate. He was succeeded by Alex. H. Red-
field who served until the election.
E. B. Sherraan was the first Prosecuting Attor
ney, and Circuit Court Commissioner, also District
Surveyor, which offices he held all, or nearly all, of the
time frora the organization of the county until the
election in 1836.
Andrew Grubb was the first Treasurer, appointed
in 1 83 1, and was succeeded by Jacob Silver, who
served until the election — H. C. Lybrook acting as
Deputy- In 1837 Silver Creek, having been organized, was
represented on the Board of Supervisors. The
County officers elected this year were as follows:
Joel Brown, Associate Judge.
H. B. Dunning, Probate Judge.
„ Joseph Harper, County Treasurer.
David Crane, Coronor.
In 1838 Newberg was represented on the Board
of Supervisors, but, owing to a change frorfi the Su
pervisor system to that of County Comraissioners, no
business was done by the Board this year. At the
election in Noveraber, David Hopkins, Henry Jones,
and Jaraes W. Griffin were elected County Corarais
sicners. Myron Strong, Associate Judge.

CASS COUNTY. 1 25
Joseph Harper, Register of Deeds.
H. C. Lybrook, County Clerk.
M. V. Hunter, Sheriff.
Isaac Sears, County Treasurer,
J, C, Saxton, Surveyor,
J, G, Beeson and L, Chapin, Coroners.
In 1839, William Burk was elected County Com
missioner in place of David Hopkins. James New
ton and Henry Coleman were elected representatives,
and Alexander Copley, Coroner. In August of this
year, the County Commissioners entered into a con
tract with Jacob Silver, A. H. Redfield, Joseph Har
per, A. Kingsbury and Darius Shaw, to build the
present Court House. The terms were six thousand
dollars, two thousand of which was to be paid in cash
in one and two years, the remainder in village lots,
which had been donated by the proprietors in con
sideration of the location of the county seat at Cass
opolis, In 1840, Myron Strong and V, C, Smith were
elected Representatives,
Thomas T. Glenn and John Barney, Associate
Judges. C. Shanahan, Probate Judge.
James O'Dell, County Commissioner,
H. B. Dunning, County Clerk.
Joseph Harper, Register of Deeds.
Amos Fulton, County Treasurer,
W. G. Beckwith, Sheriff.
Henry Walton, Surveyor.
John Shaw and Marcus Peck, Coroners,

126 HISTORY OF
In 184 1 William H. Bacon was elected County
Comraissioner. S. F. Anderson and F. C. Arnold, Representatives
for Cass and VanBuren Counties.
In 1842, S. F. Anderson and John Andrews were
elected Representatives for Cass and VanBuren
Counties. ,
Jaraes L. Glenn, Sheriff".
H. C. Lybrook, Clerk.
D. M. Howell, Register of Deeds.
Asa Kingsbury, Treasurer.
David P. Ward, Surveyor.
P. Horton and M. Rudd, Coroners.
In July of this year, the systera of County Com
raissioners was discontinued, and the Supervisor sys
tera reinstated. Milton had been organized arid was
represented this year.
By an act of the Legislature' approved in April,
1 84 1, it was required "that the several battalions of
State Militia should rendezvous for inspection, drill
service, and raartial exercise, in each county, between
the first days of May and Novertiber of each year."
Pursuant to this, in the latter part of October,
1842, all the able bodied white raale citizens of Cass
County, between the ages of eighteen and forty -five,
were notified to rendezvous at Cassopolis for the
purposes set forth in the act.
The day proved exceedingly unfavorable, being
cold and incleraent with a. raingled fall of rain and
snow. Still nearly one thousand sturdy yeomen
assembled on the public square to receive their first
lessons in the art of national defense.

CASS COUNTY. I<: 7
They were as motley a crew as ever perplexed a
drill sergeant, with shoes and without, with coats
and hats, and without either. Sorae of thera Armed
with rifles, and shot-guns, but the majority with
clubs, broom-sticks, and cornstalks. There was
nothing uniform about thera — excepting variety.
They hardly realized Falstaff 's description of his
tarterderaalions, with "a shirt and a half to the whole
company"; but their appearance was nearer to that
than soldierly.
The only names of officers which have been pre
served, are, Colonel, James L. Glenn; Lieutenant
Colonel, Asa Kingsbury, and Major, Joseph Smith ;
and to these were added a rabble of Captains,
Lieutenants, Sergeants, and Corporals, fromnearl}-
every township in the county.
As far as we have been able to learn. Major
Sraith was' the only officer who had ever been
exposed to the innoculation of railitary tactics and
discipline, he having previously served in the Ohio
railitia; but no one raan could avert the confusion
worse confounded, which was created by the accu
raulated ignorance of his confreres, and although he
strove with Napoleonic energy to stem the tide and
evolve order out of chaos, he was at last compelled
to retire vanquished from the field.
The "martial exercise" developed into the broadest
burlesque on the art of war, and its glaring absurdity
was evident to officers and raen alike.
The instructors proving totally unqualified to
teach, and the pupils soon being in no mood to
receive instruction, resort was had to an exercise in

128 HISTORY OF
which honors were easy and responsibilities equal.
Informal but effective requisitions being made
upon the officers, whisky in barrels was rolled out
on the public square and each Captain required to
provide a pail and tin cups for the use of his com
pany. The fun soon grew fast and furious. Friendly
wrestling gave place to bellicose fisticuffs, Pohtical
and neighborhood quarrels were put in a way for
adjustment, "bloody noses and cracked crowns"
became the order of the day, and the first and only
military training( ,'') in the history of Cass County
terminated in a general debauch.
In 1843 James W. Griffin and Philotus Hayden
were elected Representatives for Cass and Van Bu
ren Counties, R, J, Huyck and James Taylor,
Coroners. In 1844 James Shaw and John Andrews were
elected Representatives for Cass and Van Buren
Counties, W, G. Beckwith, Sheriff,
George Sherwood, Clerk,
D, M, Howell, Register of Deeds.
Asa Kingsbury, Treasurer.
Clifford Shanahan, Judge of Probate,
S, F, Anderson and William H, Bacon, Associate
Judges. David P. V/ard, County Surveyor.
Charles P. Drew and Caleb Calkins, Coroners.
In 1845 James L. Glenn and Josiah Andrews
were elected Representatives for Cass and Berrien
Counties,

CASS COUNTY. I 29
In 1846 James L. Glenn and James Shaw were
elected Representatives for Cass County.
James N. Chipman, County Judge.
Mitchell Robinson, Second County Judge.
Barak Mead, Sheriff.
George Sherwood, County Clerk.
D. M. Howell, Register of Deeds.
Joshua C. Lofland, Treasurer.
David P. Ward, County Surveyor.
Peter Shafter and Isaac Hull, Coroners.
In 1847 G. B. Turner and Milo Powell were
elected Representatives. [ _,t\\ beA^^§t.,--. [^
During this year occurred, perhaps, the raost ex
citing episode in the history of the county, viz. : the
seizure and successful rescue of nine fugitive slaves,
owned in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
These slaves belonged to personal friends of
Henry Clay, and the pressure brought to bear by
their owners had great influence in shaping his
course and action on the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850,
which, in turn, was among the chief exciting causes
of our civil war. The " Michigan riots " were cited
by hira in detail in Congress, and proved of great
service in securing the passage of the bill.
Under these circurastances it has seeraed advis
able to allow sufficient space in this work for a
detailed statement of this celebrated raid, and a
separate chapter has been set apart for the purpose.
The facts collated have been gathered from all
available sources, and carefully sifted and arranged,
and in the main can be relied upon as correct; but
unavoidable errors in details may have been com-
—9

130 HISTORY OF
mitted, owing to the wide dissimilarity of recollection
of the few living actors in this drama, which is
largely due to their antagonistic political views.
Party politics ran high at that time and partisan
prejudices were extreme, and it is not strange
that, after a lapse of twenty-nine years, each should
remember disputed data as he then wished them to
be. There are no official records extant of this case.
The Justice's docket and Commissioner's record for
that year are not to be found. Whether they were
accidently lost, or maliciously destroyed by the
parties whose interests they would have prejudiced,
is, and will probably always remain, a mystery.
The files are complete up to and succeeding 1847,
but for that year they are wanting.
For the facts embodied in the sketches of the Un
derground Railroad, we are largely indebted to
Erastus Hussey, of Battle Creek, and Dr. Thomas,
of Schoolcraft, who were both active workers in the
cause, and for the details of the raid to George B.
Turner, Jefferson Osborn, D. M. Howell, Jordon P-
Osborn, Joseph Harper, E. B. Sherman, and many
other actors and witnesses.

THE KENTUCKY RAID,
During the decade following the election of Har
rison, in 1840, there flourished in its greatest vigor
and usefulness that "organized Christianity" known
as the Underground Railroad,
Two divrsionsof thii"road,viz,,the "Quaker line,"
starting on free soil from the Ohio river, and the
"Illinois line," from St. Louis, formed a junction in
Cass County and pursued a comraon course to
CariadaT The first of these was in effective operation as
early as 1840, but was loosely worked and frequently
failed in its object by allowirig its passengers to be
seized and retumed to slavery. It was simply a
chain of Quaker settlements extending through In
diana, at all of which fugitive slaves were harbored,
fed and directed on their way; but there was no ar
rangement fbr providing local guides, and usually
the conductor who started with the convoy from the
South accompanied theni aa far a? Cass County,
Michigan.

132 HISTORY OF
The Illinois line, established by John Cross in
1842, -was thoroughly organized and equipped, and
never raet with any accidents so far as we can learn.
Its stations were frora ten to twenty railes apart, and
each station agent was informed only as to the name
and location of the agent ahead of him, and neither
knew or sought to know aught of those behind.
Regular conductors plied between stations and
were always ready, provided with fleet horses and
covered wagons, to forward the hunted chattels tow
ard the sheltering protection of the British flag.
The password was in the forra of a question by the
conductor, " Can you furnish entertainraent for my
self and another person .'' "
There were two stations in Cass County, kept by
Stephen Bogue and Zachariah Shugert, the latter
acting also as conductor. They received fugitives
from E. Mcllvain, agent at Niles, per  Elliot,
conductor, and forwarded them either to William
Wheeler at Flowerfield, or Dr. Nathan M. Thomas
at Schoolcraft.
Wright Modlin and William Jones (who enjoyed
the sobriquet of " Nigger Bill ") lived in this county
and were actively engaged in " nigger running " from
Kentucky via the Quaker line.
Some idea of the amount of business transacted by
these two lines in six or eight years (for after the
organization of the Free Soil party in '48 they were
abandoned as unnecessary) may be obtained from
the statement of Erastus Hussey, the agent at Battle
Creek, who estimates that at least fifteen hundred
runaway slaves, representing a million and a half of

CASS COUNTY. 1 33
value, were fed and forwarded by him. Dr. Thomas
of Schoolcraft, who divided his hospitality with C.
Bird of Pavillion, assisted at least one thousand to
escape from " free America."
"The woolly head in the cellar" was no myth to
these brave zealots, who risked their property,
their liberty, and sometimes even their lives in obe
dience to their Master's injunction to " Let the
oppressed go free."
At first the slave running was done entirely by
night, and the utmost precautions taken to escape ob
servation ; but as time went on and public sentiraent
becarae largely in sympathy with the fugitives, they
were carried from station to station in broad day
light, and finally they became so emboldened by im-
raunity as to settle down to labor and residence in
the free States, but always clustering around their
friends, the Quakers, for prostection.
In 1846 it is estiraated that there were one hun
dred runaway slaves in Cass County, raostly in Penn
and Calvin Townships in what were known as the
East and Osborr^ settlements, and, unlike sorae of
their successors^ and descendants, they were honest,
industrious and sturdy pioneers who sought to create
homes of their own for theraselyes and families.
A krge proportion of the refugees were from
Bourbon County, Kentucky, which, by the continued
exertions of Modlin, Jones and others of their ilk,
was being rapidly depleted of slaves..
During the early part of the winter of 1846-7 an
association of Bourbon County planters was formed
at Covington, Kentucky, for the purpose of pursuing

134 HISTORY OF
and returning to their lawful owners the servants
that had been "stolen by the rascally Abolitionists."
This organization was sirailar in its forra and
workings to the societies for the prosecution and
punishraent of horse stealing in vogue at the present
day. A few weeks after the formation of this protection
league a young Kentuckian entered the law office of
Charles E. Stewart of Kalamazoo, ostensibly as a
student, but in reality to spy out the land and locate
the wandering property.
Under the name of Carpenter he visited the col
ored settleraents in Calhoun and Cass Counties, and,
representing himself to be an Abolitionist from
Worcester County, Massachusetts, he was warmly
received and afforded every facility for the execution
of his real raission.
The first result of this raoveraent was the attempt
ed kidnapping of the Crosswhite family at Marshall,
Calhoun County, by a party of Kentuckians under
the leadership of one Francis Troutraan, who claimed
to have inherited them as a part of the estate of his
grandfather. They were foiled by the resolute defense raade by
Adara Crosswhite and his neighbors, who turned out
sorae two hundred strong to resist the slave-hunters.
Upon their return horae they detailed their defeat
to their friends, and the utraost indignation and ex
citeraent was aroused. Mass raeetings were held,
and, as the tale of their wrongs and the outrages of
the Abolitionists lost nothing by repetition, "the
Southern heart was fired," and a raeraorial prepared

CASS COUNTY. 1 35
to the Legislature setting forth their grievances was
proraptly met by an appropriation of i-noney by the
State which was thought to be sufficient " to secure
the observance of the laws of the United States " in
fanatical Michigan.
Suit was comraenced in the United States Court
at Detroit against Charles T. Gerhara (late United
States Minister at the Hague), Dr. O. C. Corastock,
and Jarvis Hurd, to recover the value of the slaves
and exeraplary daraages. These gentleraen seera to
have been selected rather on account of their social
position and pecuniary responsibility than for any
especial prorainence during the so-called riot.
The trial began in the latter part of 1847, ^^^
lasted three weeks. The jury disagreed. The
second trial was in 1848, during the Presidential
canvass between Generals Cass and Taylor. Party-
feeling ran high, and the defendants were convicted
and required to pay one thousand nine hundred
dollars and costs.
This araount was raised by subscription, by a
Detroit raerchant, a stranger to the defendants, who
headed the list with one hundred dollars. That
merchant has been heard from since. His narae was
Zachariah Chandler. Xff • '^ s^ 'U^p-v J-^'i '
About the tirstTjf August, 1847, a party of thir
teen raen arrived at Battle Creek. They were
provided with good tearas and covered wagons, and
had evidently traveled a long distance. They put
up at the hotel, and sorae of their number repre
sented themselves to be salesraen for an iraproved
washing raachine. Under pretext of showing their

136 HISTORY OF
wares, they proceeded to visit the houses of the
negroes in and around the village; but before night,
Erastus Hussey, always on the qui vive when any
danger threatened his proteges, discovered their
true character and designs.
He went at once to the hotel, and, asserabling the
corapany in the bar-room, charged them with being
slave hunters, and notified them to leave town at
once, as the people there had firmly determined that
no fugiture should ever be returned to bondage
from that neighborhood, and he could not be an
swerable for the consequences if their presence and
purposes should become generally known.
The Kentuckians, cowed by the resolute earnest
ness ofthis "fighting Quaker," took counsel of their
fears and quietly but speedily left the village, which
knew them, or their kind, no more forever.
Iraraediately upon their departure, Mr. H. wrote
to Zachariah Shugert and Stephen Bogue, of this
county, advising thera of what had transpired and
notifying thera to warn the colored people and their
friends to be on the watch for a sirailar atterapt to
be raade here, but, owing to the irregularity of the
raail service, these letters were not received in tirae
to prevent the mischief
After leaving Battle Creek, the party proceeded
southward into Indiana, and finally rendezvoused at
Bristol. On the night of the third day they re
crossed the St. Joseph at that point, and, crossing
Porter Township, came to a halt in the woods, near
the south line of Calvin. Here they left their
wagons, as too cumbrous and liable to excite alarm,

CASS COUNTY. 1 37
and, dividing into small parties, prepared to make a
descent upon the different settlements in Penn and
Calvin, as nearly as might be, at the same tirae.
They were provided with complete maps of the
roads and descriptions of the houses where their
chattels' were to be found, furnished by Carpenter,
and designed to seize the negroes, hurry thera back
to the wagons and escape over the line into Indiana
before a general alarm could be given or a rescue
attempted. They preferred proving their property
(if they should be corapelled to do so at all) before
an Indiana Justice and under the practice of that
St.ate. The first arrests were raade at Josiah Osborn 's,
where an old raan and his two sons were seized,
handcuffed in bed, and taken out on the highway.
No resistance was offered by the negroes or their
friends, but the alarra spread like wildfire throughout
the neighborhood.
At the East settleraent four were taken, one of
thera a wench belonging to  Stevens, a Baptist
preacher, being secured by strategy. She was in a
cabin apart frora the rest, and being alarraed by the
noise incident to the capture of the others, fled, leav
ing her picanninny on the bed. The Rev. S. discov
ered the baby, and, coarsely saying, " If you want a
cow you can tole her with her calf," shouldered it
and started for the road, whereupon the raother
rushed frora her place of concealraent and was
secured. Moses Bristow, who lived in a log hut on the farra
of Stephen Bogue, oflfered the only resistence of the

138 HISTORY OF
night-^— being summoned by his master he refused to
fbllow him and was struck down with the butt of a
riding whip, cutting his ear and the side of his head
severely. The party who made the arrests at Osborn 's wait
ed some time for their friends who had been sent to
the other localities, but, as the night wore away, and
the free Negroes and Abolitionists gathered around
them with no friendly mien, they moved northward
to meet their associates, followed by some trusty
men who only waited an opportunity to strike.
In the neighborhood of O 'Dell's raill the parties
carae together and were speedily surrounded by an
excited raob of citizens arraed with rifles, shot-guns,
straw cutters, axes, clubs and whatever other weapons
chance threw in their way, who resolutely opposed
their southward progress.
A parley was had, high words and threats ex
changed, weapons drawn, and a bloody riot seemed
irarainent; but, fortunately, raore raoderate counsels
prevailed and the Kentuckians agreed to go to
Cassopolis and submit their case and proofs to the
resident Justice.
The leading spirit in this rencounter was " Nigger
Bill " Jones, who, after disarming one of the raiders
who drew a revolver on hira, and forcing the Rev.
Stevens to carry the picanniny, and another of the
party to relinquish his horse in favor of a wench,
was shackled, at his own request, with a slave, and
so reraained until after the party reached Cassopolis.
The cortege that arrived in Cassopolis, about
nine o'clock, was composed of the thirteen Kentuck-

CASS COUNTY. 1^9
ians, nine slaves, and a proraiscuous following of
about two hundred persons. Prominent in the pro
cession were the Rev. Stevens, who bestrode a black
horse with a negro baby cuddled close to his breast,
and " Nigger Bill " Jones, manacled to a negro.
Iramediately upon their arrival on the public
square, they secured the services of George B. Tur
ner, then a rising young lawyer, who advised them
that the rendition of their slaves frora Cass County
was siraply irapossible in the then excited condition
of the public raind ; and that the best they could do
would be to note the pecuniarily responsible parties,
who raight obstruct or hinder the execution of the
law, and look to thera for daraages.
The slaves were hurriedly taken to the north
roora in the second story of Baldwin's tavern, and a
guard placed at the door.
The prelirainary steps were iraraediately instituted
to prove ownership and recover property, and a writ
of restitution applied for before D. M. Howell, Jus
tice of the Peace, in accordance with the law of
1793- Messrs., E. S. Sraith and James Sullivan appeared
for the fugitives, and succeeded in obtaining an
adjournment of three days.
Only nine names of the raiding party have been
preserved, and these by oral tradition, viz.: C. B.
Rust, Jaraes Scott, G. W. Brazier, Thornton Tira-
lenlake, John L. Graves (Sheriff of Bourbon County),
Bristow, Rev. A. Stevens, Buckner, and Leinon.
They were all gentleraen of the true Southern type,
and slave-holders.

140 HISTORY OF
Immediately upon securing the adjournment, Mr.
Bristow was arrested upon a charge of assault and
battery. Four of his associates were taken for tres
pass upon the premises of Josiah Osborn, and the
whole party, excepting Graves, who was unknown
to the Abolitionists, were arrested upon a general
charge of kidnapping. Their bail was fixed by the
Justice at two thousand si.x hundred dollars. Asa
Kingsbury, Amos Dow, and Daniel Mcintosh were
^offered and accepted as securities.
At this time there were only fifty-two Abolition
voters in Cass County, but the difference in the enu
meration of the Whig and Democratic parties was
so slight that they (the Abolitionists) held the bal-
lance of power, and were respected accordingly.
Taking advantage of the absence of A. H. Red-
field, Circuit Court Coraraissioner of the county, the
friends of the fugitives sent a courier to Niles, post
haste, and secured the attendance of James Brown,
an attorney, to assist Messrs. Sullivan and Smith,
and E. Mcllvain, Circuit Comraissioner of Berrien
County. Upon the arrival of Mcllvain, a writ of habeas
Corfu's was sworn out, requiring the Kentuckians
to show cause why the fugitives should not be dis
charged from custody. This occurred on the third
day after the arrests. In the meantirae the bloody
warfare had waxed hot, and hotter, but prudent
counsels having prevailed with the Kentuckians, no
serious fracas had occurred.
The hearing upon the habeas corpus carae on
Monday, and Coraraissioner Mcllvain decided the

CASS COUNTY. I4I
case adversely to the Kentuckians, on the grourid
that there was no certified copy of the statutes of
Kentucky offered in evidence showing the legal ex
istence of slavery in that State.
Iraraediately upon the decision of Mcllvain the
Negroes were taken in charge by their friends and
hurried to the farra of Ishraael Lee, where a party
of fifty-two runaway slaves was raade up, put in
charge of Zachariah Shugert and started toward i^
Canada. This party included probably all the fugi
tives from Bourbon County.
All of the criminal proceeding against the Ken
tuckians were then dropped, their object having been
attained, and they were permitted to gather up their
remaining property and depart to their Kentucky
homes. The year following suits were coraraenced by the
owners of the slaves against D. T. Nicholson,
Stephen Bogue, Josiah Osborn, Ishraael Lee, Zach
ariah Shugert, Jefferson Osborn, Ebenezer Mcll
vain, and Williara Jones in the District Court
of the United States held in Detroit. Abner Pratt,
of Marshall, was attorney for the plaintiffs, and Jacob
M. Howard, of Detroit, for the defendants. The
first trial resulted in a disagreement of the jury.
Several adjournments were had frora tirae to tirae,
and finally, in 1851, D. T. Nicholson, one of the
most wealthy of the defendants, comproraised with
Pratt by paying him, for the Kentuckians, $2,755.
It is somewhat satisfactory to know that this money
was absorbed by Pratt, and that neither the slave-

142 . HISTORY OF
owners nor their attorney, Mr, Turner, ever received
one dollar of it.
The Quakers refused all offers of compromise from
principle, terming such payments "blood money,"
but they liberally assisted Mr. Nicholson in his pay
ment. Their individual expenses in the case were
about one thousand dollars apiece."
Innuraerable incidents and episodes occurred dur
ing this trial, but our space is too limited for their
mention.

In 1849 Cyrus Bacon and George B. Turner were
elected Representatives.
Freeman Tuttle, Sheriff.
George Sherwood, Clerk.
D. M. Howell, Register of Deeds.
Joshua Lofland, Treasurer.
C. Shanahan, Probate Judge.
Milo Powell and James W. Griffin, Associate
Judges. Charles G. Banks, Surveyor.
D, Histed and Joseph Smith, Coroners.
In this year the Michigan Central Railroad was
completed to Niles, and a grand excursion to that
place from Detroit and intermediate points took
place. This work was undertaken by the Territory in
1834, when a survey was made from Detroit to St.
Joseph, which was designed to be the terminus, and
the preliminary work was begun. It cohtinued
under the State management until 1846, when it
was completed as far west as Kalamazoo, In its
construction under the State management, the old-
fashioned strap rails were used; and as a financial
experiment, was decidedly unsuccessful, consequently

144 HISTORY OF
it was sold out to the present company on its com
pletion to Kalamazoo,
With characteristic energy the completion of the
road was undertaken by this new company, and
instead of raaking St, Joseph the western terrainus,
they veered farther to the south, raaking New
Buffalo their western terrainus, and to this change
of base is Cass County indebted for her first, and up
to a few years ago, her only railroad.
At about the sarae tirae of the building of the
Central the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana
Railroad was pushing its way westward. Although
not touching our County it was, nevertheless, of
great iraportance, as it furnished a raarket for a good
portion of the south half of the County.
The peculiar raanner in which these two roads
run — the Central cutting off the northwest corner of
the County, and the Southern running just south of
our boundery line — while they furnished us a raarket
of convenient access, they at the sarae tirae aided in
building up towns and raanufactories to which we
were tributary, and a large amount of the prosperity
of Niles, South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart and
Three Rivers, from their peculiar location, is due to
the trade of Cass County. But with the Air Line
running east and west nearly through the centre of
the County, and the Chicago & Lake Huron Rail
road, running from the southwest to the northeast,
directly across the centre of the County, nothing is
left to be desired in the way of railroads, unless it
should be a line running directly north and south.

CASS COUNTY. I45
In 1849 Pleasant Norton "and Ezekiel C. Sraith L^t
were elected Representatives. ^^^^^
In 1850 Jaraes Sullivan, ' George Redfield and
Mitchell Robinson"Were elected raerabers of the State
Constitutional Convention ; George Sherwood and
Wra. L. Clyborneto the Legislature ; Cyrus Bacon?
and John S. Brown,' Judge and second Judge.
Jaraes Sullivan, Prosecuting Attorney.
Andrew Wood, Sheriff".
Henry R. Close, Treasurer.
D. M. Howell, Register of Deeds.
Williara Sears, County Clerk.
David P. Ward, County Surveyor.
H. Linsey and J. Powell, Coroners.
In 1852 Jesse. G. Beeson was chosen Senator; E.
T. Bonine'^nd Pleasant Norton,, Representatives.
W. G. Be1:1^th, Sheriff. ^^^^
D. M. Howell, Register of Deeds.
Henry Tiesort, Treasurer.
E. B. Warner, County Clerk.
C. Shanahan, Probate Judge.
H. H. Coohdge, Prosecuting Attorney.
David P. Ward, Surveyor.
H. Linsey and Wra. Merritt, Coroners.
In 1854 James Sullivan 'was elected Senator;
Frankhn Brownell and Urial Enos,^' Representatives.
Joseph Harper, Sheriff.
E. B. Warner, County Clerk.
A. J. Smith,^Prosecuting Attorney.
A. E. Peck, Register of Deeds.
Jefferson Osborn, Treasurer.
Araos Sraith, Surveyor.
— 10

146 HISTORY OF
A. Lamb and Geo. Newton, Coroners.
In 1856 Alonzo Garwood was elected Senator; B.
W. Scherraerhorn and Edwin Sutton, Rejtresenta-
tives. Joseph N. Marshall, Sheriff.
C. Shanahan, Probate Judge.
A. E. Peck, Register of Deeds.
Jefferson Osborn, Treasurer.
Benjarain F. Rutter, County Clerk.
A. J. Sraith, Prosecuting Attorney.
Araos Sraith, Surveyor.
Ira Wilsey and John Silver, Coroners.
In 1858 George Meachara was elected Senator;
George Newton and E. W. Reynolds, Representa
tives. Joseph N. Marshall, Sheriff.
A. E. Peck, Register of Deeds.
Williara W- Peck, Treasurer.
Charles G. Lewis, County Clerk.
A. J. Sraith, Prosecuting Attorney.
Araos Sraith, Surveyor.
G. C. Jones and Jesse G. Beeson, Coroners.
In i860 Gilraan C.Jones was elected Senator; E.
H. Jones and E. Shanahan, Representatives.
B. W. Scherraerhorn, Sheriff.
C. Shanahan, Probate Judge.
Charles G. Lewis, County Clerk.
A. E. Peck, Register of Deeds.
Ira Brownell, Treasurer.
A. J. Smith, Prosecuting Attorney.
H. O. Banks, Surveyor.
R. K. Charles and E. W. Reynolds, Coroners.

CASS COUNTY. I47
In i86i came the war cry, sounding from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, and frora the Gulf of Mexico
to the Straits of Mackinac, arousing the patriotic of
the nation to its defense, and the part that Cass
County acted in this great war for the safety of the
nation is detailed in a separate chapter devoted to
that purpose. ^
In 1862 Eraraons Buell was elected Senator; H.
B. Denraan'and Levi Aldrich,'Representatives.
Williara K. Palraer, Sheriff'. ^Oa^J^^a
Ira Brownell, County Clerk.
J. K. Ritter, County Treasurer.
C. W. Clisbee, Prosecuting Attorney.
Araos SraithJ^urveyor.
J. N. Marshall and E. Shanahan, Coroners.
In 1864 Levi Aldrich^was elected Senator; Lucius
Keeler'and A. B. Copley ,'TK.epresentatives.
Williara K. Palraer, Sheriff.
M. T. Garvey, Probate Judge.
Ira Brownell, County Clerk.
Williara L. Jakways, Register of Deeds.
J. K. Ritter, Treasurer.
A. J. Sraith,I^Prosecuting Attorney.
H. O. Banks, Surveyor.
J. M. Spencer and C. W^Clisbee, Coroners.
In 1866 C. W. Clisbee "vl^as elected Senator; H.
B. Wells and L. D. Osborn, Representatives.
Z. Aldrich, Sheriff.
W. L. Jakways, Register of Deeds.
Charles L. Morton, County Clerk.
I. Z. Edwards, County Treasurer.
A. J. Smith,^Prosecuting Attorney.

148 HISTORY OF
H. O. Banks; Surveyor.
G. C. Jones and. J. G. Beeson, Coroners.
In 1868 Amos Smith Nvas elected Senator; U.
Putnam^Jr. and Jaraes AshleyvK-cpresentatives.
Williara P. Bennett, Probate^Judge.^^^
Z. Aldrich, Sherifl: "^^^'j'^
Charles L. Morton, County Clerk. "^
Joel Cowgill, Register of Deeds.
I. Z. Edwards, Treasurer.
George Miller, Prosecuting Attorney.
H. O. Banks, Surveyor.
G. C. Jones and L. Aldrich, Coroners.
In 1870 U. Putnara, Jr., was^elected Senator; A.
B. Copley 'and John F. Coulter^^epresentatives.
Levi J. Reynolds, Sheriff.
Charles L. Morton, County Clerk.
Joel Cowgill, Register of Deeds.
Anson L. Dunn, Treasurer.
Williara G. Howard, Prosecuting Attorney.
John C. Bradt, Surveyor.
G. S. Howard and C. F. Sraith, Coroners.
In 1872 A. C. Prutzraan'was elected Senator for
Cass and St. Joseph Counties; A. Robertson and
Thoraas O'Dell, Representatives.
Williara P. Bennett, Probate Judge.
Williara J. Merwin, Sheriff.
Charles L. Morton, County Clerk.
Henry L. Barney, Register of Deeds.
Spaffbrd Tryon, Prosecuting Attorney.
Anson L. Dunn, County Treasurer.
John C. Bradt, Surveyor.
John Hain, Jr., and H. H. Bidwell, Coroners.

CASS COUNTY. 1 49
In 1874 M. T. Garvey ^as elected Senates for
Cass and St. Joseph Counties; John Struble and
John B. Sweetland,'^epresentatives.
J. Boyd Thomas, Sheriff.
Charles L. Morton, County Clerk.
Henry L. Barney, Register of Deeds.
M. L. Howell, Prosecuting Attorney.
Hiram S. Hadsell, County Treasurer.
Austin A. Bramer, County Surveyor.
H. J. Webb and W. K. Palraer, Coroners.

MARCELLUS.

Marcellus was named by Judge Littlejohn, who
at the time of its organization was a member of the
Legislature. It was the design of the citizens to
call it Cambria, and this name was sent in with the
petition praying for the organization; but, owing to
there being another Township of that name in the
State, Mr, Anderson, our Representative at that
time, consented to the name as already stated.
The first entry of land made in this Township,
was in October, 1832, on section thirty-four, by
John Bair, The next was by Daniel Driskel, on
section thirty-six, in October, 1833, who also made
an entry on section thirty -five, in August, 1834.
These were the only entries made in the first three
years. In 1835 entries were made by D, Duncan, J.
Clark, Thomas Armstrong, George Poe, A. J, Poe,
F. Girton, J, Grenell, M, Rudd, S. Hutchings, W.
D. Jones, and John Orr. In 1836 entries were made
by Joseph Bair, Greer McElvain, Joel G. Goff,

CASS COUNTY. 151
Harvey Gregory, T. Mosher, M. P. Blanchard,
Josephus Gard, Joseph Haight, John Goff, John
A. Jacobs, E, T, Jacobs, John C. Beebee, John
Huyck, E. Holly, James Kilgore, and U. Williams.
The first settler in the Township was Joseph
Haight, who settled on the west side of the Town
ship, in the summer of 1836, and was probably the
only settler in that year.
In 1837 Joseph Bair and the widow Goff, with
her sons, (Comraenced to make a farms, and in
1838 Daniel G. Rouse and others settled in the
Township. The Township was organized and an election
held on the i6th of June, 1843, at the house of
Daniel G. Rouse. At this election there were
eighteen votes cast. Daniel G. Rouse was elected
Supervisor, Guerdon R. Beebee Treasurer, and
Ephraim Huyatt Clerk.
Owing to its isolated location and great distance
from markets, this Township for many years was
considered anything but a desirable location for a
home, consequently it was far behind in settlement
and improveraent, and was the last Township or
ganized in the County, previous to which it had
been attached to Volinia Township. But with the
advent of the Peninsular Railroad in the winter of
1870-71, running as it does from northeast to south
west, nearly across the center of the Township,
affairs assumed a different aspect, and it is safe to
say that no Township in the County has kept pace
in improvements with her since that date.

152 HISTORY OF
In 1845 Mr. Rouse started an ashery and sold
goods, which he continued for two years, and was
succeeded by the Carroll Brothers. Afterward
Fred Patrick traded in raerchandise. These were
the first raerchants of the Township.
In 1840 Savage, Rouse, Beebee, and the two
Huycks built the first school-house, on Rouse's land,
and Delia Huyck taught the first school in 1840-41.
In the fall of 1840 Alfred Paine was out hunting
and shot a turkey which lodged in the top of a tall
tree. He deterrained to clirab and get it; when
about forty feet frora the ground he becarae dizzy
and fell breaking one arra in two places, one leg in
two places, between the knee and hip, and two ribs.
When found, the bone of his leg was driven into the
ground frora four to six inches. The neighbors
raade a litter and carried hira horae. Dr. Chatfield,
of Little Prairie Ronde, was sent for to set the
broken lirabs, which was done, but, by ' sorae care
lessness on the part of the patient, the leg was
broken again. Dr. Thoraas, of Schoolcraft, was
sent for to repair it, and after thirteen months
in which time several pieces of bone worked out,
Mr. Paine got well.
Marcellus village, situated nearly at the geograph
ical centre of the Township, was laid out April 9th,
1870, by George W. Jones, Leander Bridge, Maria
Snyder and George R. Roach. Its growth has been
rapid. The buildings are of a substantial character,
and everything would seem to indicate it as an
important commercial point in the near future. It
has a population of about five hundred, of as intelli-

CASS COUNTY. 1 53
gent and enterprising citizens as can be found
anywhere. It has two churches, theJEvangelical and Metho-
distj the latter a fine brick building approaching
corapletion; a two story brick school house, eraploy-
ing two teachers ; a Masonic Lodge, an Odd Fellows'
Lodge, a Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, and
a Lodge of Good Teraplars.
It has three dry goods, three grocery, two drug,
one hardware, one furniture, and three railliner
stores; three blacksraith shops, two wagon shops,
one tailor shop, two harness shops, two meat
raarkets, two .tin shops, two hotels, one bakery, one
eating house, four practicing physicians, two lawyers,
two Justices of the Peace, and one printing press
which issues a weekly paper called The Messenger;
there are two stave factories, one planing mill and
a sash and blind factory combined, one cooper shop
and one steara saw raill.
There is about $21,300 invested in raerchandise,
doing an annual business of $62,500, and nearly
$46,000 invested in raanufactories, raills, &c. The
following are the principal Township officers that
have been elected since the organization of the
Township down to the present time :

DATE, 184318441845184C18471848
1849 18501851 1852

SUPEBVISORS.
Daniel G. Rouse,
Daniel G, Rouse,
E. C. Goff.
E. C. Goff.
Joseph Haight.
Daniel G, Rouse,
Daniel G. Rouse,
Daniel G, Rouse,
Henry McQuigg,
Henry McQuigg,

TBEASXJBEKS,
G, R. Beebe,
Joseph Bair,
Joseph Bair,
J, B. Lutes,
Joseph Bair,
Joseph Bair,
Joseph Bair,
E, Comstock,
E. Comstock,
Mathew Gibson,

TQ-WK CLERKS.
Ephraim Huyatt,
Ephraim Huyatt.
O, C, Lumbard.
O, C, Lumbard.
William L. Wolfe.
Henry McQuigg.
Henry McQuigg..
Henry McQuigg.
O. Blanchard,
O. Blanchard,

154

Henry McQuigg,
Henry W, Bly,
Will fam P, Bennett,
jWilliam P, Bennett,
H. Dykeman.
William P. Bennett.
M. E. Messenger.
Williani P. Bennett
William P. Bennett.
William P. Bennett.
William P. Bennett.
William P. Bennett,
John C, Bradt.
John C. Bradt.
William P. Bennett.
William P. Bennett.
John C. Bradt.
John C. Bradt.
John G. Bradt.
Thomas McKee.
John C. Bradt.
A. F. Caul.
A. F, Caul,

HISTORY OF
TKEASUKEES,
*Thadeus Oaks,
Leander Bridge,
F, Patrick.
F. P.atrick.
F. Patrick.
R. R. Beebe.
D. T. Baldwin,
D, T, Baldwin,
John Manning,
John Manning,
W. O, Mathews,
J, M, Houaington,
W. O, Mathews,
John Manning
John Manning,
John Manning,
John Manning,
John Manning,
Jonn Manning,
John Manning,
John Manning,
John Manning,
John Manning,

TOWN CLEKK,
J, B, Lute's,
J, B. Lutes,
William L, Wolfe.
J. B. Lutes.
J. B. Lutes,
W, O, Mathews,
W, O. Matliews,
H, Dykeman,
J. B. Lutes.
H. J. Ohls.
C. O. Vose.
C. O. Vose.
C. O. Vose,
Gideon Beebe.
C, O. Vose,
H, J, Ohls,
H, J, Ohls,
H, J, Ohls,
H. J, Ohls,
G, M. D. Clemment.
H. J. Ohls.
H. J. Olhs.
8. D. Perry,

*R, R, Beebe, appointed to flU vancancy.

VOLINIA.
This Township was originally called Volhynia,
after a province in Poland, and for a number of
years it was spelled with hy,, but, by coraraon con
sent, these letters were dropped and an i substituted.
To JosephUs Gard belongs the honor of naming the
Township. The first settlement in this Township was made
on the 27th of March, 1829, by Samuel Morris, who
settled on section one, (now the farm of Elias
Morris). He was accompanied by his brother,
Dolphin Morris, and Henry D. Swift, who settled in
Van Buren County. Three days later Johnathan
Gard, Samuel Rich and Elijah Goble came, the
forraer settling on what is known as Card's Prairie,
and the two latter on the west side of Little Prairie
Ronde. Both parties came under the guidance of
Squire Thompson, of Pokagon Prairie. Jacob
Mercian and Jacob Charles came the same season.
In 1830 William Tietsort, Josephus Gard, John
Curray and the two brothers, Samuel and Alexander

156 HISTORY OF
Fulton, arrived. In 1831 Obed Bunker, William
Griffis and John Shaw came, and in 1832 David
Crane, James Newton, Levi Lawrence and Amos
Huff: In 1830 the first entries of land were raade in this
Township by Johnathan Gard, Jacob Mercian,
Samuel Fulton, Samuel and John Morris, Jacob
Charles, Josephus Gard and Samuel Rich. In 1831
entries were raade by Samuel Morris, Elijah and
John B. Goble, Jacob Charles, Christanna Gantt,
Christanna Charles, John Shaw, John Curray, Alex
ander Copley, Levi Lawrence, Johnathan Gard,
David Crane, Daniel C. Squier and William Griffis.
In 1832 entries were made by Samuel Morris, John
S. Barry, William Griffis, Josephus Gard, Alexander
Fulton, Alexander Copley, Williara Tietsort and
James Newton. In 1833 Samuel and John Morris,
William Squier, Joel C. and Elijah W. Wright,
John B. Gard, Amos Huff, Henry Myers, Isaac and
Peter Huff, raade entries of land.
The first school house in the Township was known
as the Crane school house, built in the spring of
1833, and the first school was taught that season by
Michael V. V. Crane.
The first weddings in the Township were those of
David Curry and Alexander Fulton to Sarah and
Elizabeth, daughters of Josephus Gard. Both
couples were married by the same ceremony, in the
spring of 1832.
The first birth was that of John H. Rich, October
2 1st, 1829. The midwife on this occasion was Mrs.
McKenney, of McKenney's Prairie, who was brought

CASS COUNTY. 1 57
on the back of an alraost unbroken three year old
colt a distance of about fifteen railes.
The first saw raill in the. Township was built in
the suraraer of 1835, by Alexander Copley, where
Nicholsville now stands, and was started on Decem
ber 2oth of that year. The irons for this mill were
cast at Mishawaka, Indiana.
In 1833 the Township was organized and an elec
tion held, at the house of Josephus Gard, July 8th,
previous to which it belonged to Penn Township.
In 1834 the road district coraprised this Tov/nship and
Van Buren County, which was attached for judicial
purposes; and in that season raen living on Little
Prairie Ronde were obliged to work out their ta.x
on the big swarap near where Lawton now stands.
It would seera that the pathraaster was rather exact
ing, as he required the raen to be on hand in season
for a day's work, thus necessitating a start long
before daylight with a well filled haversack contain
ing the day's rations.
The first store in the Township was kept by
Jaraes Herron, a little distance north of. where
Charleston now stands. It was coraraenced in
1836. In 1837 Morris & Clifflon opened a store in
Charleston, and Huych & Daniels coraraenced sell
ing goods at Vohnia (Huycktown).
In 1836 Charleston, on Little Prairie Ronde, was
laid out by Jacob Mercian, Jacob Charles, Alexan
der and Samuel Fulton, and David Fenton, com
prising thirty-two lots.
In September of the same year Volinia was laid
out by Levi Lawrence, David Hopkins, Obed Bun-

158 HISTORY OF
ker, and John Shaw, and comprised fifty-five lots
and a public square. Charleston, for a number of
years previous to the completion of the Central
Railroad, flourished with all the splendor of a West
ern metropolis. A line of stages passed through
daily from Kalamazoo tp Niles, and everything
seeraed to indicate that it was the coraing town;
but alas for huraan foresight, she and her sister,
Volinia, only reraain in the raeraory of their citizens,
and a few scattered houses mark the places where
formerly all was hurry and bustle.
In 1837 a carpenter in the employ of David
Hopkins, by the name of Sraith, who was in the
habit of getting intoxicated, was drowned in Bunker
Lake. At the tirae of the accident he was partially
under the influence of liquor, and wished to go to
Charleston to get another supply, a distance of
three railes. He tried to get sorae of the faraily to
take hira across the lake in a boat, but they, know
ing his condition, refused to assist hira, whereupon
he deterrained to go alone. When near the opposite
shore frora the house, the carioe upset, and that was
the last that was ever seen of hira. Sorae men,
fishing on another part of the lake, saw the canoe
empty and went to look for him, and for several
days the whole neighborhood searched for the miss
ing man; but a hat lying in the bottom of the canoe
was all the indication that there ever had been a
man there. He left a wife and family in the State
of New York.
In 1849 a wagon road was built across the swamp
to the railroad, thus giving an outlet for the farm

CASS COUNTY. 1 59
products, previous to which they were tearaed to
Niles, St. Joseph, or Paw Paw.
About the year 1851 Harry George built the first
grist raill in the Township, which continues to do
good service yet. Shortly after building the raill he
sold it to the Nichols Brothers and put up a store,
which was burned in the winter of 1854, since which
tirae C. L. Wilkins, H. T. Wing, A. Goff, and
others have carried on raerchantile traffic at Nich
olsville, until the present firras, who coraraenced
about twelve years ago.
It now contains a population of about one hun
dred, two general stores, one blacksraith shop, one
cooper shop, one wagon shop, one shoe shop, one
veneer and basket factory, one tannery, one grist
raill, one' steara saw mill, one hotel, two physicians,
one lawyer, and one. carpenter and joiner.
Volinia contains a population of about fifty, has
one grist mill, one general store, blacksmith shop,
etc. These, with a sraall portion of Wakelee, are
the villages, past and present, of the Township.
The Volinia Farraers' Club was organized in
Noveraber, 1865, and has raaintained its organiza
tion ever since, holding raeetings for discussion
during the winter raonths, and sheep-shearings, ira
pleraent trials, and fairs during the suraraer and fall
raonths. Its present officers are:
President, B. G. Buell.
Vice Presidents, M. J. Gard, W. R. Kirby, John
Huff". Secretary, H. S. Rogers.
Treasurer, John Struble.

l6o HISTORY OF
The only meeting-house in the Township is that
of the colored Methodists, built in 1873.
The~Town-ffeit;'builrtlTis last summer (1875) is
an ornament and credit to the Township.
The following are the principal Township officers
elected since the organization of the Township down
to the present time:

DATE. I
18831884
1885 1836 1887
18881889
1840 18411843 1848
1844184.?1840
¦1847 18481849 18.50
18.511853 1853
185418.5518561857 185818591860 1861
1863 18631864186518661867
1868 18691870 1871
1873 1873
1874 1875

SLTERVISOKS.
[.lames Newton.
James Newton.
I James Newton.
James Newton.
David Hopkins.
Hubbell Warner.

Hubbell Warner.
Hubbell Warner.
Hubbell Warner.
Joseph Warner.
David Hopkins.
David Hopkins.
David Hopkins.
James Fulton.
.James Fulton.
George Newton.
George Newton.
Hubbell Warner.
Hubbell Warner.
Emmos Buell.
Alexander B. Copley.
Alexander B. Cople}'.
Alexander B. Copley.
Milton J. Gard.
Milton J. Gard.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Di.xon.
W. L. Dixon.
A. B. Copley.
Milton J. Gard.
Milton J. Gard.
A. B. Coplev.
John Hutr."
John Huff.
John Huff.
John Struble.
A. B. Copley.
John Struble.
John Kirby.
John Kirby.

TREASURERS.

James Huff.
James Huff.

Joseph Good speed.
Hubbell Warner.
.Joseph Goodspeed.
.Joseph Goodspeed.
Joseph Goodspeed.
Joseph Goodspeed.
Joseph Goodspeed.
Joseph Goodspeed.
Joseph Goodspeed.
Peter Sturr.
Peter Sturr.
Peter Sturr.
Peter Sturr.
Peter Sturr.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Dixon.
W. L. Goodspeed.
W. L. Goodspeed.
W. L. Goodspeed.
John Huff-.
John Huff.
John Huff.
John Huff.
L. H. Warner.
L. H. Warner.
L. H. Warner.
L. H. Warner,
L. H. Warner.
L. H. Warner.
E. C. Goodspeed.
E. C. Goodspeed.

TOWN CLERKS.
David Crane.
David Crane.
Daniel 0. Squier.
Daniel C. Squier.
jDaniel C. Squier,
Daniel C. Squier.
Daniel C. Squier,
Daniel C. Squier,
Daniel C, Squier,
Daniel C, Squier.
Daniel C. Squier.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
R. J. Huyck.
M. J. Gard.
M. J. Gard.
M. J. Gard.
Joseph Warner.
R. J. Huyck.
P. W. South-worth.
H. T. Wing.
P. W. Southworth.
P. W. Southworth.
E. 8. Parker.
P. W. Southworth.
P. W. Southworth.
R. J. Huyck.
J. M. Goodspeed.
J. M. Goodspeed.
C. E. Goodenough.
I.N. Gard. •
J. N. Root.
G. W. Gard.
J. N. Root.
S. L. George,
8. L. George,

*No record of who was elected.

WAYNE.
This Township was named by Cornelius Higgins
in honor of General Anthony Wayne.
Just when the first settlement of this Township
was made or who the first settler was I have been
unable to determine. It probably occurred in the
fall of 1831 or the spring of '32, and Jacob Ziraraer-
raan, Elijah W. and Joel C. Wright, Cornelius Hig
gins, and Jesse Green, were araong the first settlers.
In 1835 the fbllowing in addition to the above
naraed were here: Laporte, Johnstone, the two
Hurtles, Ferrell Weaver, Crane, Eck, Meranville
and Keys. In 1836 Jaraes Kirkwood carae, and in
1837 the Gage settleraent was raade.
The first entries of larid were raade in 1831 by
Josiah Johnson, Dennis Wright artd Horace Butler.
— II

1 62 HISTORY OF
In 1832 entries were made by William Griffis,
Cornelius Higgins and Jacob Ziraraerraan. In 1833
Sarauel Squires, John Lanraan, Jesse Green, David
Hufl:; A, Gunckel, J. C. Wright, John Cays and
Williara Huff", raade entries. In 1834 entries were
raade by R. V. V. Crane, A. Weaver, A. Bond, H.
Lansing, John Clark, William Huff', Levi Hall,
Susannah Griffis, J. D. Meranville, J. C. Wright, C.
Higgins, E. W. Wright, F. Hurtle, William Ferrell,
J. Hurtle, Henry Gee, S. Squiers and John Fox, and
in 1835 by J. Zimmerman, J. Tucker, S. H. Hender
son, James Thorapson, E. Boughton, G. Goodman,
S. R. Henderson, J. Green, J. Thompson, William
Ferrell, J. P. Wiley, Goodman and Cresson, H.
Barney, J, Hurtle, J. Smith, J. Hall, R. Bly, D. Run
kle, H. Barney, Jr., J. Shookman, S. H. Dobler, J.
A. Barney and S. Ball.
The Township was organized in the winter of
1834-5, ^"'i the first election held on the 5th of April
following, at the house of Elijah W. Wright.
Abraham Weaver was chosen Moderator, and R. V.
V- Crane clerk - of the election. At this election
Cornelius Higgins was chosen Supervisor; R. V. V.
Crane, Clerk; Ezekiel Wright, Collector; Elijah
W. Wright, Jacob Ziraraerraan and Abraham
Weaver, Coraraissicners of Highways; Jesse Green
and Josiah Johnson, Directors of the poor ; Elijah W.
Wright, Joel C. Wright and Abrara Weaver,
Assessors; Ezekiel Wright, Costable; David Eck
and Jacob Ziraraerraan, Overseers of Highways;
Isaac Thorapson and Jacob Hurtle, Fence-viewers;
Frederick Hurtle, Pound-master; R, V. V, Crane,

CASS COUNTY. 163
C. Higgins and William Ferrell, Trustees of the
school section.
The first school house was built in the fall of 1836,
in the eastern part of the Township, and known as
the Higgin's school house. It was built by subscrip
tion, or rather joint labor, the patrons living in the
towns of Wayne and Volinia. George Newton
taus^ht the first school in this house in the winter

•*&'

following its building.
The Methodists were the first religious denomina
tion to hold raeetings, and have held their pre-
eminencfi ever since. The first minister was Van
Order, who organized a society about the year 1840,
At first raeetings were held at private houses and
school houses, but about the year 1844, the " Old
Church" was built which stood until 1872 when the
present fine edifice took its place. This denomina
tion also have another society and church, known as
the North Wayne Methodist Church.
In 1838 the first road across the Dowagiac Swamp
was partially built," and corapleted the next year.
This crossing was of the utraost iraportance as it
was on the direct route frora all the northeastern
part of the County to St. Joseph, then the most im
portant shipping market within reach of this section.
In 1839 John and Stephen Clark built a tanner}-
near where Glenwood now stands, which was the
third tannery in the County, and was in operation
for about twenty-five years, or until the bark used in
tanning was exhausted. They also carried on raost
of the tirae shoe and glove raaking in connection
with their tannery.

164 HISTORY OF
The ancient town of Venice, situated in that part
of the Township, where Dowagiac now stands, was
a " paper town " laid out by Orlando Crane, in
August 1836, and known only by narae and record
at the County Seat. The only requirement at that
time, to start a town, was to survey a, plat and go
on the raarket and sell lots, and frequently the
expense of surveying was dispensed with, and it was
only platted — hence the narae of paper towns by
which they were generally known. The wonder is
that purchasers could be. found for such raythical
property, but when we consider that the Country was
overrun with raen on the lookout for speculation, it
is easily accounted for. The agents for these towns
were to be raet at all the principal distributing points
where the iraraigrants congregated, with finely
engraved plats and a plausible story of the superior
advantages of the various embryo cities they repre
sented. In the winter of 1874-5 Craig Sharp, an enter
prising lumberraan, purchased a large tract, near
Tiesort 's Station, on the Central Railroad, and put a
sraall array of men at work clearing up the land.
In January 1875 he recorded a plat of the village of
Glenwood, located upon his purchase, at the Regis
ter's office. The venture proved financially disastrous
to Mr. Sharp, but the village remains and contains
about one hundred inhabitants, a Disciple Church,
one general store, a saw and grist mill, blacksraith
shop, &c. It is the only village wholly within the
Township ; Dowagiac, which is situated in the corners
of four Townships, will be described hereafter. The

CASS COUNTY. 1 65
following are the principal Township officers that
have served frora the organization to the present
tirae:'

DATE.

SUPERVISORS.

TRRASURBR8.

TOWN CLERKS.

1835

Cornelius Higgins.

Elijah W. Wright.

R. V. V. Crane.

1836

Coi-nelius Higgins.

Joseph Crane.

R. V. V. Crane.

1837

Abram Weaver.

Joel C. Wright.

R. V. V. Crane.

1838

Abram Weaver.

Joel C. Wright.

R. V. V. Crane.

1839

Abram Weaver.

R. Y. V. Crane.

1840

Henry Barney, Jr.

S. B. Clark.

1841

Henry Barney, Jr.

S. B. Clark.

1843

Abram Weaver.

William G. Wiley.

R. V. V. Crane.

1843

C!yrus Gage.

8. B. Clark.

R. V. V. Crane.

1844

John S. Gage.

W. H. Atwood.

Joseph Crane.

1845

.John S. Gage.

William Ferrel.

P. B. Gage.

1846

Joel C. Wright.

William Ferrel.

J. A. Barney.

1847

Ebenezer Gage.

D. M. Heazlet.

R. V. V. Crane.

1848

Ebenezer Gatce.

Micajah Ludlow.

R. V. V. Crane.

1849

William G. ¦VViley.

D. M. Heazlet.

R. V. V. Crane.

I80O

William G. Wiley.

P. B. White.

R. V. V. Crane.

1851

.\r. V. Hunter.

James Kirkwood.

R. V. V. Crane.

1852

JI. V. Hunter.

James Kirkwood.

William H. Hall.

1853

M. V. Hunter.

.James Kirkwood.

William H. Hall.

1854

John W. Trotter.

James Kirkwood.

William G. Wiley.

1855

Ebenezer Gage.

James Kirkwood.

A. S. Haskin.

1856

Ebenezer Gage.

James Kirkwood.

Arthur Graham.

1857

Sylvanus Henderson.

*

*

1858

Sylvanus Henderson.

*

*

1859

Sylvanus Henderson.

*

*

1860

H. B. Wells.

^

*

1861

H. B. Wells.

*

*

1863

H. B. Wells.

*

*

1863

H. B. Wells.

*

*

1804

H. B. Wells.

*

*

1865

H. B. Wells.

W. Wells, Jr.

A. Huntington.

ISOO

Isi-aet Ball.

G. W. Amsden.

L. C. Howard.

181 iT

I.srael Ball.

P. B. White.

Siimuel Johnson.

1868

Israel Ball.

P. B. White.

Samuel Johnson.

186»

Israel Ball.

Robert Carr.

Samuel Johnson.

1870

William 0. VanHise.

0. H. Butrick.

Samuel Johnson.

1871

F. 0. Van Antwerp.

John Crawford.

Samuel Johnson.

1873

Samuel Johnson.

A. H. Mason.

Charles W. Bigelow.

1873

H. H. Taylor.

Wesley Ely.

Charles. W. Bigelow.

1874

H. B. Wells.

Wesley Ely.

Charles W. Bigelow.

1875

Samuel Johnson.

Wesley Ely.

Charles W. Bigelow.

*No record of who was elected.

SILVER CREEK.
This Township derived its name from a stream
which emanates from Magician Lake, a part of
which was formerly called Silver Lake, frora its
silvery color, caused by a coating of light colored
marl on the bottom.
The first settler in this Township was James
McDaniel, who settled on the land now owned by
Mr. Foster, and commenced to build the saw mill,
since known as the Barney, and now the Foster mill,
which was the first mill built in the Township. Mr.
McDaniel came in either in the season of 1834 or
1835. lu the season of 1836 Jacob A. Suits came in, and
at this time there were but three other settlers in
the Township, viz: McDaniel, John Barney and
Daniel Van Horn. Mr. Suit's cabin being the

CASS COUNTY. 1 67
fourth one built. In 1837 and '38 the Township
settled up very fast; during this time the Deweys
and Woolraan raade the first settlement in the west
ern part of the TowUship.
In 1839 William Gilbert settled on Indian Lake
(then called Woolman's lake) and in 1840 Daniel
Blish located in the southwestern part of the Town
ship. The first entry of land in the Township was raade
by Jaraes McDaniel, on sections one and two, Decem
ber 1 6th, 1834, and the only entry made in that
year. In 1835 entries were made by Jaraes" Ray-
raond and J. VanHorn on section one; A. Middle
brook, John Barney, and L. A. Spaulding on two
and three ; Williara McKay on three ; Gardner Scott,
H. Dresser, L. Guitean, Jr., and W. H. Keeler on
four; A. Dorr on five and eight; Henry Dewey on
eight; Jaraes Hall on nine and ten; J. B. Reddick
and I. S. Stone on eleven; J. McDaniel, Williara St.
Clair, and H. Harwood on twelve; John Barney and
Jaraes Allen on fifteen ; J. Ridenour, A. Middlebrook,
and Reuben Wright on twenty; J. L. Parent on
twenty-one; John Woolraan on twenty-nine and thir*
ty-one ; J. Ridenour and John Woolraan, Sr. on
thirty-two, and F. Veeder on section thirty-five
In 1836 entries were made in different parts of the
Township by W. Mendenhall, R. J. Wells, W. B.
Wade, Samuel Pletcher, D. Gardner, B. R. Wood,
S. Morton, E. Corning, R. Brant, Z. Jarvis, Charles
Glover, J. Sallee, P. B. Dunning, J. Harwood, Jaraes
Allen, William Brooks, J. A. Suits, S. Treat, B.
McConnell, E. H. Keeler, H, D, Bostwick, B,

1 68 HISTORY OF
Jenkins, G, Kennel, Joseph Wells, I, W. Duckett,
Joseph Mills, A. Jenkins, M. B. McKenney, E. Glea-
son, George Kirarael, H. Dodge, J. Bertrand, J.
Perkins, Jacob Silver, T. Husted, Jaraes Dixon and
seven hundred and fifty acres by Pokagon.
Owing to the swarap on the Dowagiac Creek
the first settlers were put to great inconvenience to
arrive at their destination from the south side, and
the only means of reaching the Township were by
the way of Jenkins' bridge, in Pokagon, and thence
through a trackless wilderness alraost irapassable for
tearas', or by the way of Paw Paw, necessitating a
travel of nearly forty railes.
In February 1838 John G. A. Barney carae, and
bought land in this Township, but, owing to the ira
passable condition of the swamp, had to remain in
Wayne until the following winter, when it was
frozen sufficiently to allow him to pass over with an ox
team, which was probably the first team that ever
crossed the big swarap between Paw Paw and Sura-
nerville,. On the arrival of Mr. Barney the raill spoken of
was pushed on to corapletion, and in 1843 John
Barney erected a furniture raanufactory on the creek
at which the various articles of furniture, for house
hold use, were raade, also spinning wheels, then an
article of every day use. John G. A. Barney also sold
goods and was the first raerchant in the Township.
The first school house was built in the season of
1838 or '39, on the land now owned by E. B. God
frey, and the first school was taught by Mr. Copley,
of Little Prairie Ronde. The first grist mill was buih

CASS COUNTY. 1 69
by Mr. Hoyt, nearly twenty years. ago. Among the
first rainisters that preached to the people of this
Township were Luther Huraphrey and Father Mc
Cool. The first postoffice was kept by Jaraes
Allen and afterwards by J. G. A. Barney.
By the stipulations of the treaty at Carey Mission,
in 1828, Pokagon and his band were exempted from
being removed beyond the Mississippi, in comraon
with the other Indians of South Western Michigan;
and in 1836 they raade an entry of a large tract of land
in this Township. Although the title was vested in
Pokagon, raany other Indians had assisted in furnish
ing funds for the purchas.e, and these were allotted
plots of from five acres upwards, in proportion to the
araount put in, and settled on thera,. but upon the
advent of Pete, Pokagon's oldest son, who succeeded
the old chief, they were indiscriminately ousted. In
the early settlement of the Township the Indians
numbered about three hundred, but by the treachery
of Pete, in driving them frora their horaes and
other causes beyond the ken of raan, they have
dwindled down to a mere handful, and what was a
prosperous faraily forty years ago is now a ragged
reranant of poor Mr. Lo.
Pokagon gave largely to the Catholic Church, of
which he was a devoted meraber. In 1840 he built
the first church in the Township. In the building he
was rauch troubled, as a good deal of prejudice
existed araong the whites against this denomination,
and they would not turn out to help him to raise his
log structure, and the Indians did not possess suffi
cient ingenuity to erect the building. In this dilemraa

170 HISTORY OF
he went to John G. A. Barney and related his
troubles, Mr. Barney, on hearing his tale of woe,
told him to get his logs together and he would come
and assist him. This pleased the old chief very
much and he went at the preparation vigorously.
When all ready Mr. Barney and his three hired men
went to assist him. They found that Pokagon had
sent to Niles and procured a jug of whiskey for their
use, while the Indians were treated to a plentiful
supply of sweetened water, Mr. Barney asked him,
on going to get a drink, if he thought they would
drink what was not fit fbr an Indian, and at the same
time turned the whiskey jijg bottora side up, spilling
the contents on the ground. The old log church
has been superseded by a coraraodious frarae struc
ture, which, from its elevated location, is a landmark
for many miles around. Attached to the church is a
frame house for the use of the priest. There is, be
sides the Indians, a large Irish population devoted to
this faith. ' "
The Methodists have a fine house of worship,
erected in 1868, on section twenty-one. There is
also a Christian house of worship on section seven
teen. The Patrons of Husbandry have an organization
in prosperous working condition in this township,
which was organized in December, 1873.
There is no village or postoffice in the Township,,
if we except a portion of Dowagiac, in the southeast
corner. The Township was organized in 1837, ^"^ ^^ the
first election but fifteen votes were cast. The foi-

CASS COUNTY.

lowing are the principal officers
elected since the organization:

DATE. SUPERVISORS.
1837 [Timothy Treat.
1838 P. B. Dunning.
1839 I
1840 i
1841 !
1843 ;john Woolman, Jr.
1843 .John Woolman, Jr.
1844 IJohn G. A. Barney.
1845 John G. A. Barney.

TREASURERS,

1846 18471848
1849 185018511853 1853

1859 1860
1861186318631864 1865186618671868186918701871
1873

Daniel Blish,
Daniel Blish,
Daniel Blish,
Daniel Blish,
Daniel Blish.
Daniel Blish.
Daniel Blish.
Daniel Blish.
1854 IB. W. Schermerhorn.
1855 |B. W. Schermerhorn.
1856 IB. W. Schermerhorn.
1857 'Gilman C. Jones.
18.58 iGilman C. Jones.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
Justus Gage.
Daniel Blish.
Daniel Blish.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
G. C. Jones.
William M. Frost.
William M. Frost.
William K. Palmer.
William M. Frost.
William K. Palmer.
William K. Palmer.
William K. Palmer.
1873 ;g. Conkling.
1874 lArthur Smith.
1875 [Arthur Smith.

P. Hamilton.
D. M. Heazlet.
D. M. Heazlet.
E. H. Poster.
J. S. Becraft.
B. F. Bell.
William Fowler.
Nathan Dewey.
L. R. Brown.
L. R. Brown.
M. Cory.
M. Cory.
R. Watson,
R, Watson,
R, Watson,
T. T. Stebbins,
H. Michael.
T. T. Stebbins.
D. Henderson.
J. D. Taylor.
H. Micnael.
Myron Stark.
Myron Stark,
D, McOmber.
Enoch Jessup,

171
that have been

TOWN CI.ERKS.
James Allen.
James Allen.
James Allen.
James Allen.
John Woolman, Jr.

j. C. Harrington.
E. M. Bird.
Eli W. Beach.
William D. McCool.
William Arbour.
A. Harwood.
A. Harwood.
N. B. Hollister.
H. Michael.
H. Michael.
H. C. Jones.
H. C. Jones.
H. C. Jones.
H. Michael,
H, Michael,
J. D. Taylor,
J. D. Taylor.
J. D. Taylor,
J. D. Taylor.
H. Michael.
B. L. Dewey.
H. Michael.
E. E. Armstrong.
E. "L. Jones.
Henry Michael,

fNo record as to who was elected.

NEWBERG.
This Township was named by Surveyor John C,
Saxton, in honor of a town in Ohio of which he cher
ished pleasant meraories.
John Bair and family, who settled on section thir
ty-four in 1 83 1, were the first white inhabitants.
Daniel Driskel settled on section thirty-five in 1833.
In 1835 George Poe settled on section twenty-two.
In 1837 John Grennell, Samuel Plutchings, William
Jones, Williara Allen and Spencer Nicholson raade
purchases and coramenced to make improvements.
Of the earliest settlers only three are now residents
of the Township, viz.: William D. Fkison, Samuel
Hutchings, and Barker F. Rudd.
The first school was taught by Anson Nicholson
in a small log cabin on section thirty -two in 1837.
The village of Newberg, situated on the south
bank of Lilly Lake, was laid out in May, 1837, by
Spencer Nicholson, and caiuprised ninety lots. Of

CASS COUNTY. I 73
this embryo city nothing remains to mark its loca
tion, excepting the record of its suVvey and platting
at the County seat. The Township was organized
in the winter of 1837 and '38 and the first election
was held in the spring of 1838.
The first rainister of the Gospel was Elder Martin,
of Penn Township, of the close communion Baptist
persuasion. The first regular Baptist Church of Newburg was
organized June 8th, 1841, they have a house of wor
ship but when it was built we could not learn. It is
the only church in the Township.
The first entry of land was made in 1832 by
John Bair, on section thirty-four, which was the
only entry made in that year. In 1833 an entry
was made on section thirty-six by Daniel Driskel,
also in 1834 he made an entry on section thirty-five.
In 1835 entries were make by John Orr, Williarn D.
Jones, Sarauel Hutchings, Felix Girton, John Grenell,
Marverick Rudd, Thoraas Arrastrong, George Poe
and A. J. Poe. In 1836 entries were raade by M.
P. Larapson, Chauncey Wood, A. Chapin, Henry
Ladd, Williara Meek, Jr., Robert Meek, Marcus
Sherrill, Alexander Allen, Williara Harailton, John
S. Barry, Thoraas Charlton, Ira Warren, George
Poe, Norman Smith, R. B. Brody, Notsil Bair,
Joseph Grenell, Roger Wilson, Hugh Brody, Abram
Hutchings, H. Whittier, John Grenell, Silas Grenell,
Spencer Nicholson, Marverick Rudd, Lewis Powell,
L. Evenhart, B. F. Rudd, Warren Patchin, Marvin
Hannah, Jeremiah Rudd, William Wilson, Hazen
Whittier, John Bair, William Jones, Daniel Driskel^

174 HISTORY OF
Otis Murdock, Abrara Mowyer, Alva Pine and
Alexander H. Weatherwax.
The first white child born in the Township was
Harriet A. Bair, now the wife of Leander Bridge of
Marcellus. In the suraraer of 1838 Horace Nicholson lost his
life under the following circurastances: He had shot
and wounded a deer, which plunged into the lake
and swara across. Young Nicholson hurried to the
bank of the lake where an old canoe was raoored.
The canoe was leaky and unsafe, but in the hurry
and exciteraent of the raoraent he allowed his zeal to
overcorae his prudence and ventured out in the rot
ten craft, intending to paddle across the lake before
it would fill and sink, but the water gained on him
so fast that it went down before half way across.
He was a good swimraer, but frora his reduced con
dition, caused by a recent attack of the fever and
ague, he was unable to raake rauch headway and
sank to be seen no raore. At the tirae of the
accident his father and raother were on the bank of
the lake and saw their son go down but were unable
to render hira any aid. Their anguish raay be
imagined, but it is beyond the power of pen to
describe. Although the lake was searched and
raked for days, by parties of men frora the neighbor
hood, his body was never found, with the exception
of the skeleton of one leg, enclosed in an old boot,
which was hooked up by sorae fisherraen a year or
two afterward.
On the night of the i8th of June, 1858, near the
the site of the present villagie of Jones' Crossings

CASS COUNTY. I 75
occurred the most terrible tragedy in the history of
the Township, if not of the County.
Wm. D. Jones, who, it will be remembered, set
tled on the north side of Bair Lake in 1835, was one
of the oldest and best citizens in the neighborhood,
proiuinent for individual enterprise and public spirit.
He had remained upon his original location, grad
ually enlarging its boundaries as his raeans of profit
ably improving it increased, had seen the wilderness
develop into fruitful farras, and its solitude replaced
by a populous coraraunity, and was preparing to re
place the rude log cabin of his earlier raanhood with
a substantial brick dwelling in which to pass his
declining years.
The building was enclosed, the exterior corapleted
and he conteraplated with satisfaction his new horae
which he was fated never to occupy.
On the night above raentioned the faraily retired
to rest as usual, Mr. J. and two carpenters, who were
eraployed on the building, sleeping in the second
story, while his wife — then an invalid — with her
daughter and grand-daughter occupied the first floor.
At about eleven o'clock a fire broke out in a frarae
kitchen which was attached to the old house, and
the dense sraoke aroused the carpenters to a sense of
their danger.
Loudly giving the alarm they hastened down
stairs, but the daughter had arisen before their de
scent and rushed through the burning kitchen out to
the well, leaving the doors wide open. This fur
nished a draft, and the flames swept through into the
main part, cutting off the escape of the men in that

176 HISTORY OF
direction. They hurried to the front door only to
find it fastened, beyond their undoing, but fortu
nately they chanced upon an ax with which they
battered it down and secured their escape from the
raost horrible of all forras of death.
They at once ran around to the window near Mrs.
J.'s bed and broke it in to atterapt her rescue, but
this only furnished the fire fiend a new weapon and
they were beaten back by the flames, and, with the
daughter and grand-child, were obliged to stand
helplessly by, impotent witnesses of the holocaust.
The old gentleman had, on the first alarra, fol
lowed thera to the bottora of the stairs, but was
there overcorae by the sraoke and perished.
The grand-daughter was asleep at the time and
never knew how she left the house — the first seen of
her she was in the road running and screaming, but
entirely frenzied by the terrible spectacle.
At the tirae of the disaster their only son, E. H.
Jones, was absent at Elkhart and was suraraoned by
telegraph only to find his horae in ruins.
The corapletion of the Air Line Railroad, which
runs through the south tier of sections in the Town
ship, gave it new vigor and the growth and iraprove-
raent since that tirae has been rapid and substantial.
Previous to this their raarkets were at Decatur,
Three Rivers and Constantine, and so far distant as
to raake it a detriraent to the settleraent. Within
the Township are the villages of Corey, on the
extrerae east side ; Jones' Crossing, on section thirty-
four, and Dyer, on section thirty-three.
Corey contains one general store, one blacksmith

CASS COUNTY.

177

shop, and ten dwelling houses, with a population of
about fifty inhabitants. The shipraent of wheat in
1874 was about fifteen thousand bushels and other
produce in proportion. The village was surveyed
and laid out on the 4th day of April, 1872, by
Araanda Weatherwax, proprietoress.
At Jones' Crossing there are two general stores,
one drug store, one steara saw raill, two blacksraith
shops, one shoe and harness shop, and two practic
ing physicians. It is clairaed that there is annually-
shipped frora this point seventy-five thousand bushels
of wheat, besides other produce, luraber, etc. E. H.
Jones is the proprietor of the village, but neither the
plat nor the date of survey have yet been recorded.
Dyer is only a stopping place for the accoraraada-
tion of passenger traffic, and has no business enter
prises as yet worthy of note.
The following are the principal Township officers
that have been elected since the organization of the
Township down to the present tirae:

DjLTE,

SUPERVISORS,

TREASDBEES.

TOWN CLERIC

1838'

James Aldrich.

«

Isaac Sprague.

1839

*

George Poe.

1840

Ira Warren.

W. D. Easton.

1841

Ira Warren.

W. D. Easton.

1843

Hiram Harwood.

Andrew Stetler.

W. D. Easton.

1843

Hiram Harwood.

Julius E. Nicholson.

W. D. Easton.

1844

Hiram Harwood.

Ira Sprague.

W. D. Easton.

1845

Hiram Harwood.

Ira Warren.

W. D. Easton.

1846

Barker F. Rudd.

George F. Jones.

Julius Nicholson.

1847

Barker F. Rudd.

A. S. Munger.

Julius Nicholson.

1848

Barker F. Rudd.

A. S. Munger.

Julius Nicholson.

1849

Barker F. Rudd.

A. S. Munger.

Julius Nicholson.

1850

Hiram Harwood.

A. S. May.

William D. Easton.

1851

Barker F. Rudd.

Ira Warren.

T. v. Bogert.

1853

J. M. Chapman.

J. Grenell.

T. V. Bogert.

1853

J. M. Chapman.

J. Grenell.

William D. Easton.

1854

J. M. Chapman.

J. Grenell.

William D. Easton.

*No record of who was elected.
— 12

178

HISTORt OF

DATE.

SUPERVISORS.

TRBABURERg,

TOWN CLERKS

1855

S. Harwood.

James Churchill.

E, H, Jones.

1856

S. Harwood.

Jamei Churchill,

E. H. Jones.

1857

Edward H. Jones.

J, Grenell,

Silas Harwood.

1858

Edward H. Jones,

J, Grenell,

Silas Harwood.

1859

James Chapman,

J, Grenell.

0. C. Gillett.

1860

Barker P. Rudd,

Sullivan Cook.

0. C. Gillett.

1861

Silas Harwood,

Hazen W. Brown,

0. C. Gillett.

1863

Silas Harwood,

Nathan Harwood.

0, 0, Gillett,

1863

James Chapman,

Silas Harwooil.

Eli Hathaway,

1864

James Chapman.

H. A. Crego,

A, L. Dunn, '

1865

J, M, Chapman.

H, A, Crego.

Eli Hathaway,

1866

J, M, Chapman.

M, F. Burney.

A, L, Dunn.

1867

J, M. diapman.

A, L, Dunn,

Horace Francis.

1868

J. M. Chapman.
Anson L. Dunn.

A, L, Dunn,

Sylvester Mlhill.

1869

H, A, Crego.

John B. Warner.

1870

Anson L. Dunn.

H. A, Crego,

John B. Warner.

1871

J. M. Chapman.

N, Harwood,

H. A, Crego.

1872

W. H. Pemberton.

N. Harwood.

P, M. Dodge.

1873

Silas Harwood.

J, 8, Thompkins,

F, M, Dodge.

1874

J. S. Tompkins.

W, H, Pemberton.

P, M, Dodge.

1875

N. Hwwood.

W. H. Pemberton.

F. M. Dodge,

PENN.
This Township was named afler William Penn,
the celebrated founder of Pennsylvania, who was also
a noted Quaker or Friend, and as there was a large
number of this denomination among the early set
tlers it was named by them.
The first settlement was made on Young's Prairie
in the season of 1828. The prairie was named by-
Nathan Youngs after himself, when the surveying
party, with which he was connected in the capacit}-
of "slyper," was running out the land in 1827.
The first settlers were one Hinkley, who settled
on the farm now owned by James E. Bonine, another
named Whitehead, and Thomas England; but as
none of them made entries of land or any improve
ment, with the exception perhaps of a log cabin
each, the details of their settlement would be unin
teresting. They were what were generally denom
inated " squatters," and sold out their improvements
at the first opportunity. The Hinkley claim was
sold for fifty dollars.

l8o HISTORY OF
In 1829 the following settlers were among those
that comraenced to make farms: George Jones and
his four sons, Charles, Henry, Nathan, and George
Jr., John Price, John Rinehart and his four sons,
Jacob, Lewis, John, and Abraham, William McClary,
Martin Shields, Stephen Bogue, Mr. Mcintosh and
his three sons, Daniel, Duncan and William, and a
number of others whose naraes we have mislaid.
According to the records Martin Shields made an
entry of land on the nth of March, 1829, and, if
correct, this was the first entry made in the County.
But this is probably a mistake, as the general land
sales for this County were not held until the i6th of
June in that year. In the same year entries were
raade by George Jones on sections seventeen, eighteen,
twenty, twenty-eight and thirty; George Jones Jr.
on eight and twenty-one; Henry White on nine;
Williani McClary on eighteen; Williara Justice on
eighteen ; John Nicholson, Charles Jones and Jacob
Miller on nineteen; Martin Shields, Isaac Coraraons,
John Nicholson and Charles Jones on twenty; John
N. Donald and Thomas England on twenty-one;
John Rinehart on twenty-seven and twenty-eight;
Samuel Boyles on twenty-eight; Daniel Mcintosh,
Boyles & Mcintosh, and Stephen Bogue on section
thirty. In 1830 entries were raade in various parts of the
Township by Williara McClary, Ezra Hinkley, John
Price, George Jones, Benjarain Bogue, Joseph Frakes,
D. Mcintosh, E. S. Sibley, A. I. McClary, Henry H.
Fowler, Jesse Gardner, and Jonathan Donnel.
In 1 83 1 David Brooks, Williara McClary, Ezra

CASS COUNTY. l8l
Hinckley, Thoraas England, Lewis Boon, Charles
Jones, Stephen Bogue, Robert Clark, H. L. and A.
C. Stewart, Alexander Anderson and William
Mcintosh made entries, and in the years of 1832-33
entries were raade raade by Thoraas Kirk, Job
Wright, John Townsend, Martin Harless, Thomas
O'Dell, and James Kelsey.
In 1828 the first gristmill in the County was built
by Mr. Carpenter on the^ Christianna Creek, just be
low where Vandalia now stands. It was a rude log
structure, with a hollow log for a forebay, and nearly
all its parts were of the same rude character, but an
swered the purpose for which it was built, and was
a great convenience to the people for raany miles
around. The burs and irons for this mill were
brought frora Ohio on wagons drawn by oxen. In
1832 the property was bought by Jaraes O'Dell and
run by hira for a nuraber of years.
In 1 83 1 or 1832 John Donnel built a distillery a
short distance east of where Vandalia now stands,
and for a nuraber of years this institution furnished
stiraulant to the inhabitants of the country around,
which was then considered as necessary as bread and
butter. The Township was organized by an act of the
Territorial Legislature, dated November 5th, 1829,
and an election ordered at the; house of Martin
Shields. The Township' at this time coraprised
what is now Marcellus, Volinia, Newberg, Penn, the
north half of North Porter, and the north half of
Calvin Townships. Although ordered to hold an
election by the Legislature, the records do not indi-

l82 HISTORY- OF
cate that such was the case until the spring of 1831.
In the spring of 1830 John Agard arrived at what
has since been known as Geneva, but was then an
alraost unbroken wilderness, with a stock of goods.
He was accompanied by Ira Nash, who acted in the
capacity of clerk. This was the second store in the
County — that of Mr. Edwards, at Edwardsburg,
having preceded it. The goods for this store were
brought out from Detroit with ox teams, by Daniel
Mcintosh and George Meacham, who each owned a
large breaking team.
In 1831 Dr. Henry H. Fowler settled at Geneva
and commenced the practice of medicine, and was
the first physician in this part of the County. He
was also interested in the prospective village, being
one of the proprietors and the principal worker in
manipulating for the location of the County seat at
that point. The village was laid out in this year by
E. S. Silsby, H. L. and A. C. Stewart, H. L. Fowler
and Abner Kelsey, but was not placed upon record
until April, 1832. It was named by Mr. Fowler
after a village of the same name in the State of New
York. The question of the location of the County seat
was agitated to a considerable extent, and it is said
that some of the Commissioners appointed by the
Governor and sent on for the purpose of locating it,
when the spot was determined upon, withheld infor
mation of their decision one day, and in the mean
time sent an agent to the Land Office and entered
the land upon which the future seat of justice should
be located. This course of procedure naturally

CASS COUNTY. 183
gave rise to dissatisfaction, and by some manipulation
another set of Commissioners were appointed, who
gave the prize to Cassopolis. But, notwithstanding
its loss of the County seat, Geneva flourished for a
number of years with true Western grandeur.
In the fall of 1830 Nathan Baker opened a black
smith shop, and in 1833 or '34 commenced the
manufacture of cast plows, which was the first fur
nace in the County. The iron used in the black
smith shop and foundry was brought in wagons
from Ohio.
Soon after Mr. Baker, his son-in-law, John White^
came, who was also a blacksmith, and worked at
the business with his father-in-law. Their business
proved a decided success, and its development kept
pace with the growth and wants of the country-.
For nearly twenty years the " Baker Plow " was th6
only one in use in the County, excepting the "Bull
Plow," which it superseded. They added, also, in
time the manufacture of cultivators^ dhovel-plows-,
and other argicultural implements.
Upon the decline of Geneva, the shbps were
moved to Cassopolis, and formed a leadiiig feature
of her prosperity. Some of these plows are in us^
torday, and still prove capable of doing good service
In 1832 Mr. Agard was succeeded by Ira Nash,
who carried on business for a number of yearsi
Daniel and Abner Kelsey also sold goods for a time
A tailor by the name of King followed his evoca
tion. Nelson Shields worked at cabinet making,
and William Williams at carpenter work.
•After the location of the County seat at Cassopo'

184 HISTORY OF
lis, the village ¦ gradually declined, until there was
nothing that the eye could detect as ever pertaining
to the once prosperous place It is now known as
Diaraond Lake station, one of the most popular
sumraer resorts in Southwestern Michigan, and
rapidly growing in public favor.
In the winter of 1832-33, Lewis Rinehart, wife
and infant son, made a visit to his father-in-law's,
Mr. Frakes, then living east of Big Prairie. When
returning home toward night they were overtaken
by a severe snow storra. Their track lay through a
wilderness, raarked only by the blazed trees. Mr.
L. urged his horses forward to their utraost strength,
knowing that if darkness overtook thera, they would
hot be able to follow the dira path. When within
three or four railes of home it became so dark and
the snow so deep they could not proceed farther
that night. Hitching his team, he cleared away the
snow from around a low, branchy tree, where he
deposited the wife with her infant child, then but
three weeks old, covering thera with all the blankets
they had with thera, while he paced the ground
during the entire night to keep hiraself warra. In
the raorning he found that he was but a few rods
frora the track, but the snow was nearly breast deep
to the horses, and this had to be broken down by
him before the team could get through. The child
that was sheltered that cold night under a forest
tree, is now an enterprising builder at Union, in this
County. On the nth of October, 1845, an Anti-Slavery
Society of Friends was forraed on Young's Prairie,

CASS COUNTY. 185
and Zachariah Shugart, Ishraael Lee, and Sarauel
Thomas were elected Trustees.
On the 3d of January, 1851, Stephen Bogue and
Charles P. Ball laid out the village of Vandaha, and
about -the same time built the grist mill that has
done service ever since. Asa Kingsbury was the
first merchant to sell goods in the place. A. J
Smith and George Wells were his salesmen. T. J
Wilcox was the first postraaster. Dr. A. L. Thorp
was the first practicing physician, in which capacit}
he still reraains. A. Sigerfoos was the fifst black
smith. The village was incorporated by the last Legisla
ture, and now contains a population of about five
hundred. It now has two dry goods stores, one
clothing and boot and shoe house, one hardware
store, three grocery and provision stores, two drug
stores, two meat raarkets, one raachine shop and
foundry, with planing raill attached, four blacksraith
shops, one wagon shop, two hotels, one railliner
store, one furniture store and cabinet shop, a handle
factory, with planing and saw raill combined, a Dis-
^ciple^^ChuEch, a public hall, one of the finest school
buildings, for a town of the size, in the State, three
physicians, a private bank, a Masonic and Odd Fel
lows' Lodge, a Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry,
one broom raanufactory, one cooper shop that era-
ploys five raen, one tin shop, and one livery barn.
Jaraestown, on the line of the Chicago & Lake
Huron Railroad, was laid out Noveraber 12th, 1869,
by Isaac Jaraes. It now contains two general stores,
a blacksraith shop, cooper and wagon shop, with a

1 86

HISTORY OF

A large amount

population of about one hundred
of grain, stock, and other products are shipped from
this point annually.
That part of Wakelee that contains the store is
also within the boundaries of this Township. This
villao-e, which is situated in the corners of Penn, New-
berg, Marcellus, and Volinia, was laid out in 1871
by Levi Garwood, and in 1873 an addition was
rnade by George W. Jones and Orson Rudd. It
now contains a population of about one hundred
and fifty, one general store, one hotel, one steam
saw mill, and the usual nuraber of mechanics' shops,
etc. A large amount of wood and lumber is shipped
from this point, also wheat and other farm products.
On the east side of Young's Prairie there is a So
ciety of Friends, who have a house of worship with
regular raeetings. The following are the principal
officers elected since the organization of the Town
ship:

DATE,

StIPERVISORS,

TREASURERS,

TOWN CLERKS.

1831

John Agard,

Hardy Langston,

Ira Nash.

1832

James Odell,

Samuel Hunter,

Ira Nash.

1833

James Odell.

Samuel Hunter,

Ira Nash.

1834

James Odell,

?Daniel Mcintosh,

Ira Nash.

1835

James Odell,

Thomas E, Odell.

Ira Nash.

1836

James Odell.

Daniel Mcintosh, Jr,

Ira Nash.

1837

Alpheus Ireland.

Daniel Mcintosh, Jr,

Ira Nash.

1838

Daniel Kelsey.

A, R, Lamb,

Ira Nash.

1839

A, R, Lamb,

Ira Nash,

1840

Samuel Alexander.

Ira Nash,

1841

John W, Odell,

Ira Nash,

1843

Ira Kelsey.

Stephen Rudd.

Allen W, Davis.

1843

Ira Kelsey.

Stephen Rudd.

Allen W. Davis.

1844

Ira Kebey.

Stephen Rudd.

Allen W. Davis.

1845

Ira Kelsey.

Stephen Rudd.

Elias Carrier.

1846

Elias Carrier.

Stephen Rudd.

Ira Kelsey,

1847

Elias Carrier.

Stephen Rudd,

Allen W, Davis,

1848

Elias Carrier.

Stephen Rudd.

Allen W, Davis.

1849

Isaac Seely.

R. 8. Pemberton,

Ellas Carrier.

1850

Alpheus Ireland.

R. S, Pemberton,

George D. Jones.

*H, H. Fowler was elected in October,

CASS COUNTY.

187

DATE.

BDPERVISORS,

TREASURERS,

TOWN CLERKS.

1851

Alpheus Ireland,

Stephen Rudd.

George D. Jones.

1853

R. Pemberton.

J. E. Nicholson,

George D. Jones.

1853

Barker F. Rudd.

Edward Talbot,

John Hurd.

1854

R. Pemberton.

Edward Talbot,

John Hurd.

1855

R. 8. Pemberton.

M, Rudd.

J. B. Mcintosh.

1856

George D. Jones,

M, Rudd,

A, L, Thorp,

18)7

George D. Jones,

John Alexander,

A, L, Thorp,

1858

Georgo D, Jones,

•Iohn Alexander,

A. L. Thorp.

1859

E. Alexander,

John Alexander,

J. E. Nicholson.

1860

Amos Smith.

J, S. East,

William H. Sullivan.

1861

R. 8. Pemberton.

G, W, Jones,

William H.Sullivan.

1863

E, C, Collins,

J, W, Odell,

N. Monroe.

1863

C. C. Nelson,

A, W. Davis,

A. J. P6ster.

1864

Nathan Jones,

A, W, Davis,

A. L. Thorp.

1865

Nathan Jones,

A, W, Davis,

A. L. Thorp.

1866

Amos Smith,

R, 8, Pemberton.

fG. Clendennen.

1867

Amos Smith,

R. 8. Pemberton,

H. C. Walker.

1868

R, 8, Pemberton,

W, H. H, Pemberton.

H. Francis.

1869

John Alexander,

W. H. H, Pemberton,

A. L. Thorp.

1870

John Alexander.

John A, Jones,

A. L. Thorp.

1871

John Alexander,

John A, Jones,

A. L. Thorp..

1873

John Alexander,

John A, Jones.

W. E. Bogue.

1873

John Alexander.

William E, Bogue,

A. L. Thorp.

1874

John Alexander,

William E. Bogue,

A. L. Thorp.

1875

J. H. Stamp,

C, F, Smith.

J. W. Bart ett.

fAnd A. L. Thorp.

LA GRANGE.
This Township, and the prairie of the sarae name,
were naraed by Abrara Townsend, after the home
of Lafayette in France. For a nuraber of years
after the first settleraent the prairie, that is now
known as La Grange, was called Townsend's
Prairie. The first settleraent of this Township was raade
in the spring of 1828 by Abrara Townsend, and his
son Garaaliel, John Lybrook, Jaraes Dickson,
Abrara Loux, Lawrence Kavanaugh and Thoraas
McKenney, for whom McKenney's Prairie was
named. In 1829 the Wrights, John Ritter, Isaac Shurte,
David Brady, John and Thomas Simpson and others
raade entries and coraraenced settleraent.
The first entries of land were raade in 1829 by
Jaraes Dickson, on section eight; Isaac Shurte, on
fifteen ; Thoraas McKenney, on seventeen ; John and
Thoraas Sirapson, on eighteen; Abrara Loux, on
twenty; Abrara Townsend and Dennis Wright, on

CASS, COUNTY. 1 89
twenty-one; John Ritter and John Lybrook, i-on
twenty-two; R. Wilson, on twenty-eight.; ¦ Squire
Thorapson, on ten, and David Brady, on twenty-
one, .
In 1830 entries were raade by Renniston and
Hart, Frederick Richhart, Y. and Z. J. Griffin, A.
Colvin,.Isaac Dewey, George Jones, Wra. McClary,
Samuel , Shurte, Jaraes Dickson, M. J. McKenney,
John Jones, Henry Dewey, Williara Garwood,
Lawrence Kavanaugh, E. Sirapson, M. C. Whitman,
John and Thoraas Sirapson, L. G. Earle, Robert
Wilson, David Brady, Shurte and Putnara, H. Ly
brook, Sally Ritter, D. McClary, George Jones,
A. V. Tietsort, Abrara Tietsort, Thoraas Vander-
hoof, Abrara Huff, James Pettigrew, John Hain,
John Lybrook, A. Tietsort, Jr., and H. L. Fowler.
In 1 83 1 entries were raade by G. Nixon, J. D.
Meranville, M. C. Whitraan, E. Simpson, Thoraas
McKenney, David Brady, Williara McClary, R. C.
Clark, Jr., O. Johnson, Charles and Henry Hass, E.
B. Sherraan, Abrara Tietsort, Thoraas Vanderhoof
J. R. Coats, A. and C. Huff, J. Pettigrew, Thoraas
Were, Margaret Pettigrew, J. M. McPherson, J. W.
Roberson, G. Townsend, D. T. Nicholson, and
Thoraas Clark.
The first raarriage in the Township was in 1829,
and the contracting parties were Jaraes Kavanaugh
and Ama Townsend.
The first school was taught by Miss Jane Brown,
. a sister of Garaaliel Townsend's first wife, in a log
cabin on the farra of Abrara Townsend.
M. C. Whitraan was the first raerchant, his store

190 HISTORY OF
was on the northwest corner of section sixteen, and
commenced in 1830. He afterwards moved over
and established himself on the land of Abram
Townsend, and in 1831 moved his stock of goods to
what has since been known as Whitmanville.
The first death that occurred in the Township
was that of David, son of William Wright, in the
spring of 1829.
The Township was organized in 1829, and at that
tirae comprised what are now Wayne, La Grange
and the north half of Jefferson.
The first election was held at the house of Isaac
Shurte, on the 5th of April, 1830 and was the only
election, of which there is any record, held in that
year. Thomas McKenney was elected Moderator,
and Martin C. Whitman, Clerk of the election. At
this election eighteen votes were cast, and Joseph S.
Barnard was elected Supervisor; Martin C. Whit
man, Clerk, and Eli P. Bonnell, Collector. It was
also voted to hold the next at a school house, on
Townsend's prairie, if one should be built at that
tirae, but for some cause the place was not changed
until 1836.
On the loth of April, in the same year, the Town
ship was divided into two school districts.
In 183 1 Eli P. Bonnell settled on La Grange
prairie, and commenced the manufacture of pottery
ware, of the various patterns in use among pioneers,
which he continued for a number of years.
In 1829 Job Davis built a saw mill where Whit
manville now stands, and in 1831 sold out to Martin
C. Whitman, who, in 1832, commenced to build a

CASS COUNTY. I9I
grist mill, which was not completed until the next
year. In August, 1834, Whitman laid out the village of
Whitmanville, comprising eighty lots and four blocks.
In September, 1836, he laid out an addition of fiv«
hundred and four lots, and in April, 1836, E. H.
Spaulding laid out another addition of two hundred
and one lots under the name of La Gransre.
Whitman sold out to Goddard and Wells, who
carried on business for ' a short time and were
succeeded by E. H. Spaulding, who replaced the
grist mill with a much larger one and greatly ex
tended the business. He became embarrassed, after
running three or four years, when the property
passed into the hands of some Boston parties who
held mortgages on it.
In 1835 there were four dry goods stores in the
place, all doing a flourishing business.
Isaac Cross and Harvey Bigelow commenced the
manufacture of furniture here in 1 836, which was
continued by Mr. Bigelow until his removal to
Dowagiac in 1850.
Perry, Root & Co. purchased the mill property of
the Boston parties. Under their administration the
buildings were burned and the water power remain
ed out of use until purchased by the Van Ripers in
1855, who rebuilt the grist mill, put up a woolen
factory and a foundry and machine shop.
About the year 1844 Wilson and Edgcomb built
a distillery and carried on a large store, their chief
qualification would seem, from the reports handed
down, to have been to contract debts with eTery-

192 HISTORY OF
body, a greater part of which they were never able
to liquidate.
-. -. Afhong the early anticipations of the proprietors
:k)f this place was that of siecuring the County seat.
The water-power, corabined with the pleasant loca
tion, gave thera hopes that they could secure the
prize, but like raany anticipations of raan, it came to
naught ; but for a number of years it was a strong
mercantile competitor with Cassopolis, and carried
away a good share of the trade.
It now has a population of about one hundred and
fifty, a grist raill, a woolen factory, a foundry and
raachine shop, a saw raill and carding raachine, a
basket factory, one grocery store, cooper shop, and
blacksmith shop. The grist raill is one of the best
in the country. The woolen raanufactory eraploys,
when running, frora fifteen to twenty hands, and
represents a capital of frora $20,000 to $25,000.
There is also a Methodist Society here, who have a
fine house of worsrap^builF^aFout eighteen years
ago. In 1830 Henry Jones and Hardy Langston built
what has ever since been known as the "Jones' Mill."
Mr. Langston sold his interest a few years after
building, to Mr. Jones, who, in about 1836, added
carding raachinery, which was run until the Van
Ripers started at Whitraanville, who bought it.
There is now at the place a saw raill and furniture
raanufactory. The village of Mechanicsburg was laid out by
John Pettigrew, March 17th, 1837, coraprising six
teen lots. Of this erabryo city there is little to be

CASS COUNTY.

193

said. It never raade any great pretensions, conse
quently had not far to fall.
In 1830 Williara Renniston built a building and
put in two carding raachines, on the Dowagiac
Creek, and in a year or two afterward, put up a
grist raill near what has since been known as the
thriving village of Dowagiac. Soon after coraplet-
ing the grist raill, he sold out to Mr. Spaulding, by
which narae it was known until it carae into the
possession of the present proprietor, Mr. Colby.
The above mentioned are all the villages, past
and present, within the Township limits, excepting
Dowagiac and Cassopolis, which will be treated of
in separate chapters. The following is a table of
•the principal officers that have been elected since
the organization of the Township:

DATE.

SUPERVISORS.

TKBASURERS.

TOWN CLERKS.

1831

James Kavanaugh.

Eli P. Bonnell.

Samuel Wilson.

1833

James Kavanaugli.

Eli P. Bonnell.

James H. C. Smith.

1833

James Kavanaugh.

Eli P. Bonnell.

M. J. McKenney.

1834

Jesse Palmer.

J. B. Wade.

William Arrison.

1835

John Flewelling.

Thomas W. Sherman.

William Arrison.

1836

Jesse G. Beeson.

*

William Arrison.

1837

John Flewelling.

*

William Arrison.

1838

John Flewelling.

*

William Arrison.

1839

*

*

Benjamin Gould

1840

*

*

T. Barnum.

1841

*

*

Benjamin Gould.

1843

Elias B. Sherman.

*

*

1843

Eli P. Bonnell.

*

*

1844

Eli P. Bonnell.

*

*

1845

Eli P. Bonnell.

*

*

1846

Eli P. Bonnell.

Levi Tietsort.

David Histed.

1847

George B. Turner.

Elias Simpson.

Daniel S. Jones.

1848

Henry Tietsort, Jr.

Elias Simpson.

Daniel S. Jones.

1849

Henry Tietsort, Jr.

Elias Simpson.

Daniel S. Jones.

1850

Simeon E. Dow.

Elias Simpson.

Daniel S. Jones.

1851

Henry Tietsort, Jr.

Elias Simpson.

D. S. Kingsbury.

1853

Henry Tietsort, Jr.

Elias Simpson.

Daniel S. Jones.

1853

Daniel S. Jones.

Elias Simpson.

F. A. Graves.

1854

Daniel S. Jones.

Elias Simpson.

Charles G. Banks.

1855

C. B. Tietsort,

Edward Graham.

Charles G. Banks.

*No record of who was elected,
—13

194

HISTORY OF

D.\TE, 1856
1857 1858
18591860186118631863186418651866186718681869 18701871
187318731874
1875

SUPERVISORS.
Henry Walton.
William G. Wiley.
Daniel S. Jones.
Daniel S. Jones.
Daniel S. Jones.
William R. Fletcher
Daniel 8. Jones.
Daniel S. Jones.
Daniel S, Jones.
Daniel S. Jones,
Daniel S. Jones.
William T, Tinney.
Daniel 8. Jones.
L. H, Glover,
Abram Fiero,
Daniel 8, Jones,
Daniel 8, Jones,
Daniel 8. Jones,
Robert Wiley,
Robert Wiley.

TREASURERS,
Elias Simpson.
Elias Simpson.
8. 8. Chapman.
8. 8. Chapman.
8. S. Chapman.
A. Tietsort.
Edward Graham.
A. Tietsort.
A. Tietsort.
Byron Bradley,
Josejih Graham,
Josejih Graham,
Joseph Graham.
Josiah Hathaway.
Isaac Wells.
Isaac Wells.
Isaac Wells,
Isaac Wells.
Isaac Wells.
A, Tietsort,

TOWN CLERKS.
Charles G. Banks.
Charles G, Banks.
Charles G. Banks.
Charles G. Banks.
Charles G. Banks,
Charles G. Banks,
Charles G, Banks,
Charles G. Banks.
Charles G. Banks.
Lowell H. Glover,
Lowell H. Glover,
Lowell H, Glover,
Lowell fl. Glover.
Eber Reynolds,
E. C. Deyo.
Eber Reynolds.
Eber Reynolds.
Eber Reynolds.
Henry J. Webb.
Charles G, Banks.

POKAGON.
This Township was naraed after the old Chief
Pokagon, who, previous to the settleraent by the
whites, raade his home on the west side of the
prairie that still bears his name.
Here occured the first settlement in the County,
in the season of 1825, by Uzziel Putnam, Sr.,
Squire Thompson and Baldwin Jenkins.
From its favored location and fertility of soil, this
Township has been recognized from the beginning
as one of the best. In the early settlements of the
different localities, this one, having the start, was
furnished a ready home raarket for all of its surplus
productions, and after the others began to be cora-
petitors in the raarket, by its nearness to the St.
Joseph river, it had a great advantage over the
remaining portions of the County.
Of the earliest settlers only the first — Mr. Put
nam — remains, who resides on the land he first
located, and, with his wife, is passing his declining
years in ease and corafort; both have long since
passed the period usually allotted to raan.

196 HISTORY OF
In 1826 Ira Putnam and family, Lewis Edwards
and sorae others settled in the Township.
in 1827 Williara Garwood, Israel Markara and
sons carae in. Mr. Markara was a blacksraith by
trade and the first one that carried on a shop in the
County. It is related that on one occasion a raan
carae frora Beardsley's prairie with a plowshare to
be sharpened, and when it was done was charged
thirty-seven and a half cents, which he objected to
as being too much, but Mr. Markara told him that
he was obliged to have money to buy seed wheat
and had to charge high on that account.
In 1828 Alexander Rogers and his five sons,
.Sarauel, Alexander, John, Thoraas and William,
with Williara, Thoraas and Andrew L. Burk made
settleraents. Frora this tirae forward the increase of settlers
was very rapid and in 1830 the prairie contained a
greater population than it does at the present tirae.
The first entries of land were raade in 1829 by-
Squire Thompson, on sections twenty, twenty-one and
twenty-eight; Sarauel Markam, on twenty-eight and
twenty-nine; Israel Markam, Sr., Israel Markam, Jr.
and Baldwin Jenkins, on twenty-nine; Alexander
Rogers, on thirty and thirty-one; Lewis Edwards,
Joseph Gardner and Jesse Toney, on thirty-one;
Putnara and Clyborne, A. C. Clyborne, I. W.
Duckett, Edwards and Gardner and Gardner and
Duckett, on thirty-two, and N. Haines, on section
thirty-three In 1830 entries were made in various parts of the
Township by John Witter, H. and I. Dewey, James

CASS COUNTY. I97
A. Wood, B. Jenkins, Willam and Thoraas Burk,
McGwin and Curran, Lane Markara, Alexander
Rogers, U. Putnara, Elizabeth Lowe and J. McPher
son. In 183 1 the following persons made entries : Joseph
Stretch, Alexander Rogers, William Taylor, H.
Dewey-, Samuel Morton and Joseph Garwood.
In 1832 entries were made by H. Salladay, A.
W. McCullum, Thoraas Burk, L. Markara, R. and
J. C. Fairries, Jesse Sink, J. Ribble, J. G. Beeson, E.
B. Sherraan, J. Garwood, John Clifton, G. Van
Vlear, Thoraas Simpson, Jesse Garwood, T. Cly
borne, D. Sink and J. B. Herbert.
The Plon. U. Putnara, Jr. was the first white child
born not only in the Township but in the County.
The first school was taught by Miss Jane Brown
and the next by Dr. Bragdon.
The first tan yard was built and run by David
Sink, and was the first in the County, but of the
exact date of its coraraenceraent I have been unable
to learn.
In coraraon with the four original Townships of
the County, Pokagon was organized by the Terri
torial Legislature, on the . 5th of Noveraber, 1829,
and an election appointed at the house of Squire
Thorapson, but as all of the early records of the
Township have been lost or raislaid, I have not been
able to learn whether the intention of the Legislature
was carried out or not, and the County records do
not show that there was any representative frora this
Township in 1830 or in fact frora any Township.
In August, 1836, the village plat of Suranerville

198 HISTORY OF
was placed upon record, but the date of its being
laid out is not given. The proprietors were J. H.
Hatch and Isaac Suraner. About the year 1835
Sumner built a saw mill at this place, and in 1837 he
he built a grist mill. About the sarae time Alexander
Davis, the first merchant, commenced to sell goods.
In 1848 Russel Cook and John R. Conine opened a
store in the building now occupied by Mr. Goldie
Peabody Cook kept the first hotel, coraraencing in
the year 1835.
The village now has one general store, one hotel,
two blacksraith shops, one wagon maker, one photo
grapher, one grist mill with three run of stone, one
woolen factory and one water power saw raill.
There are also two churches — the Freewill Baptist
and Methodist.
The village of Shakespeare was laid out on sec
tions eight, nine and seventeen, on the 17th of June,
1836, by J. Brown and E. B. Sherraan, and com
prised eighty-seven blocks. This can be truly
classed as one of the paper towns of Michigan — laid
out with numerous squares for public purposes; a
conteraplated canal reaching frora one point of the
Dowagiac river (as it is here called) to another, with
a nuraber of reserved lots on the water front for raanu
facturing purposes, and it is said that sprae of the
plats that were sent to distant points for the purpose
of selling lots represented vessels lying at the wharf
A large spring, which was named after the cele
brated Chief Topennebee, was represented as being
strong and high enough to furnish an ample supply
of water for about two-thirds of the town. The

CASS COUNTY. 1 99
spring is all that remains to mark the location of
this once-promising place. It is to be said to Mr.
Sherraan's credit that soon after the laying out he
becarae disgusted with the whole affair and disposed
of his interest in the plat. Nuraerous lots were sold
to parties in every direction, and as speculation was
rife in everything that pertained to real estate, per
haps it raight as well have been here as anywhere
else. The Village of Pokagon, on the line of the Mich
igan Central Railroad, was laid out January 15th,
1858, by Williara Baldwin. The first raerchant
here was Joel Andrews, and soon after Hoke & Stan-
sel, both opening in the year 1858. In 1856 the
present gristmill was built by the Kelley brothers.
In the year the village was laid out Garret Stansel
built the hotel building which is still used for that
purpose. The village now contains two dry goods stores,
one drug store, two shoe shops, two blacksraith shops,
one harness shop, one cooper shop, one wagon raaker,
one raeat raarket, two physicians, three grain and
stock dealers, one steara saw raill, a Masonic Lodge,
a Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry and an order
called the Free Laborers' Council, which was
organized in the fall of 1875, and the only one we
have found in the County, its object is to protect
labor against the oppression of raonopolies.
The Methodist Society of this Township own, in
addition to their fine church at Suranerville, and
parsonage at Pokagon, the carap-raeeting site, known
as the " Crystal Spring Carap Ground," and at this

200

HISTORY OF

place is located the State Fish Hatchery. The
spring is situated about twenty -five rods south of the
Dowagiac Creek, at the head of a ravine covered
with a natural growth of tiraber. This ravine has
been dararaed to give sufficient depth of water and
also to have the better control of the water for the
purposes for which they raay wish to use it. The
volume discharged by the spring is estiraated to be
six hundred barrels per hour. The State has erected
a building twenty by sixty feet, supplied with appli
ances for hatching a raillion of fish at a tirae. The
hatching house is separated into two divisions — one
being used for an office, the other a hatching room.
A large pipe, running the whole length of the build
ing, supplies the water for hatching, to which pipes,
sixteen in number, are attached ; the supply of water
is regulated by faucets and turned on as the needs of
the fish deraand. The eggs are placed upon selves
fourteen by eighteen inches square for hatching.
When two raonths old the fish are ready for
planting in the waters of the State. The principal
varieties propagated are the California salraon trout
and white fish.
The following are the principal Township offi
cers elected since the organization of the Town
ship:

DATE.

SUPERVISORS,

TREASDREES.

TOWN CLERKS.

1831

Squire Thompson,

*

*

1833

John Clark.

*

Joseph Gardner.

1833

Sarauel Marrs.

*

Joseph Gardner.

1834

Lewis Edwards.

*

Joseph Gardner.

1835

Lewis Edwards.

*

Joesph Gardner,

1836

Lewis Edwards.

Mitchell Robinson.

Eli W, Veach,

1837

Henry Howser.

Mitchell Robinson.

Eli W, Veach,

1838

Henry Howser.

William L. Clyborne.

Eli W, Veach,

*No record of who was elected.

CASS COUNTY.

20I

DATE.' 1839 !
1840 I
1841 i
1843 ¦
184318441845 1846184718481849 1850 18511853 1853
1854 1855 1856
.1857 18581859
1860186118631863186418651866 1867
1868 1869187018711873187318741875

SUPERVISORS.

Squire Thompson.
Squire Thompson.
William Burk.
Henrj' Howser.
Henry Howser.
William L. Clyborne.
M. Robinson.
!Williara L. Clyborne.
William L. Clyborne.
!M. T. Garvey.
|M. T. Garvey.
IPrank Brownell.
M. Robinson.
iLewis Clyborne.
'M. T. Gai-vcy.
William L. Clyborne.
.AI. T. Garvey.
D. H. "Wagner.
JI. Robinson.
¦M. T. Gurvcy.
Alexander Kobertson,
[Alexander Robertson,
Alexander Robertson,
Alexander Robertson,
Alexander Robertson,
Alexander Robertson,
Alexander Robertson
Alexander Robertson
David W. Clemmer.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
B. W. Scliermerhorn.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
B. W. Schermerhorn.
iB. W*. Schermerhorn.

TREASURERS.
Zimri Garwood.
Squire Thompson.
Squire Thompson.
William L. Clyborne.
Moses W. Simpson.
Moses W. Simpson.
Moses W. Simpson.
Moses W. Simpson.
John Collins.
John Collins.
John Collins.
Franklin Brownell.
Robinson J. Dickson
Amos D. McCool.
Robinson J. Dickson.
William G. Straw.
John Collins.
John Bates.
John Collins.
Gideon Gibbs.
John Bates.
Archibald Robertson
ArchibaM Robertson,
Mitchell Robinson.
Gideon Gibbs.
Augustus Allen.
Abner G. Townsend.
Stephen W. Tinkham
Albert G. Ramsey.
Elam Harter.
Elam Harter.
Daniel M. Heazlett.
Daniel M. Heazlett.
Samuel Miller.
Samuel Miller.
Moses V. Gray.
Moses V. Gray.

TOWN CLERKS.
Eli W. Veach.
Eli W. Veach.
Eli W. Veach.
Mitchell Robinson.
William L. Clyborne
William L. Clyborne
William L. Clyborne
William L. Clyborne
David Lon^.
Charles G. Moore.
Lewis Edwards.
Lewis Edwards.
Clark F. Johnson.
Clark P. Johnson.
Ira Starkweather.
Samuel R. Wheeler.
Ira Starkweather.
Rollin C. Dennison.
Joseph E. Garwood.
Strawther Bowling.
Theodore Stebbins.
Strawther Bowling.
Philo D. Beekwith.
George Miller.
Elias Pardee.
Strawther Bowling.
Strawther Bowling.
Strawther Bowling.
Strawther Bowling.
Strawther Bowling.
Rollin C. Osborne.
R. W. Schermerhorn
John Rix.
Rollin C. Osborn.
Rollin C. Osborn.
Rollin C. Osborn.
Edwin W. Beckwith

PORTER.
This township was named in honor of John B.
Porter, who was the Governor of the Territory at
at the time of its organization.
It contains about fifty-four square railes and is
usually designated as North and South Porter. On
account of the original survey and platting, which
denominated it as towns seven and eight south, mak
ing two Townships, the calling of it North and South
Porter became necessary.
The first settler in this Township was John Bald
win, for whom Baldwin's Prairie was naraed, who
coraraenced on the farra now owned by George
Meachara, Esq., in the season of 1828.
In 1829 Williara Tibbetts and Daniel Shellharamer
settled in South Porter, and in 1831 John White set-

CASS COUNTY. 203
tied in North Porter, and, so far as as I have been
able to learn, he was the first settler in this part of
the Township.
In 1829 entries of land were raade in South Por
ter by A. Davidson, A. Richhart and N. G. O'Dell,
on section one; E. Beardsley, on seven; N. C. Tib-
bitts, Chester Sage and John Baldwin, on eight;
George P. Shultz, O'Dell and Brooks, on section
thirteen. In 1830 G. P. Shultz, George Jones, C.
Calkins, Jacob Charles, Jarius Hitchcox, John Barra,
N. G. O'Dell, Jr., F. Tobey, Jaraes O'Dell, Benja
min Carr, J. Virgil arid Aaron Brooks made entries.
In North Porter the first entry of land was made
by Jaraes Montgoraery on the ist of Noveraber, 1829,
on section thirty-one In 1830 an entry was made
by A. Ferry, on section thirty-si.x. In 1831 Jacob
Charles, D. Barnham, F. Sraith, V. Shultz and John
White raade entries. In 1832 and '33 entries were
made by Jacob, Lewis and Samuel Rinehart, Sarah
Jones, Williara Hebron, J. P. Finney, Peter Cook,
F. Driskel, John Bair, John East, N. Wilharas, H.
H. Fowler, S. Davidson, Joseph Moor and S. Weed.
The Township was organized by an act of the
Territorial Legislature, approved the 29th day of
March, 1833, and an election was appointed at the
house of Othni Beardsley. This election was held
on the fourth Monday in April — following the act of
organization — at the place appointed. Caleb Cal
kins was chosen Moderator and Jarius Hitchcox,
Clerk of the election. The following were the
officers chosen for that year: Othni Beardsley,
Supervisor; Charles Calkins, Clerk; Thoraas Pratt,

204 HISTORY OF
Jacob Pells and Nathan G. O'Dell, Assessors; David
Shaffer, Jacob Charles and Thomas Burgett, Com
missioners of Highways; Elam Beardsley, Collector;
John Lough, O. Beardsley and Thomas J. Pratt,
Commissioners of Schools; Jacob Charles, Levi
Lough and Jarius Hitchcox, School Inspectors, and
Jacob Virgil, Overseer of the Poor.
In 183 1 Lewis, Samuel and Jacob Rinehart com
raenced to build a saw raill on the outlet of Shave
head lake, which was corapleted in the spring of
1832, and in the next year they sold in Chicago one
hundred and ten thousand feet of luraber, for which
they received seven dollars and fifty cents per thous
and delivered at the St. Joseph river.
Williarasville was laid out by Josiah Williaras, in
March, 1848. He was also interested in the first
store at this place.
It now contains a population of about three
hundred, one general store, one blacksraith shop,
one cabinet and paint shop, two physicians, one grist
mill and one saw raill.
The First Baptist Church of North Porter was
organized February 8th, 1857, with twelve raerabers,
and Williara Hebron, O. N. Long, G. W. Minor,
Jaraes Motley and Aaron Shellhararaer, were elected
trustees. It has at present fifty-one raerabers and a
house of worship valued at two thousand dollars.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of North Porter
was organized in 1846 with fourteen raerabers, and
in 1858 they built a church building at a cost of
eight hundred dollars. At the present tirae it has
thirty raerabers.

CASS COUNTY. 205
There is also another Methodist Church building,
erected in 1873, at a cost of five thousand dollars, and
dedicated in Deceraber of the same year, but the
denomination have no regular society at this place.
The village of Union is of comparatively modern
origin, having been coi-nmenced about the year i860,
and is an enterprising go-ahead place, and doing as
rauch business as any place of its size in the County.
It now contains one general store, one builder,
undertaker and painter, with the usual nuraber of
shops, mechanics, etc., and one physician.
In February, 1857, The Reverend Jacob Price or
ganized a Baptist Society at this place with six
raerabers. It now has a raerabership of fifty-five, a
brick house of worship erected in 1872, valued at
$5,000, and they now employa regular clergyman.
The Methodist Episcopal Society have a house of
worship that was erected in 1858, and rebuilt and
enlarged in 1874, but when the Society was organ
ized, or the present number of raerabers, I could not
learn. The Freewill Baptists also have a Society here,
and occupy the Methodist Church a portion of the
tirae. A railitary road, constructed by the general Gov
ernraent from Detroit to Chicago, ran through this
and all the southern tier of Townships, and the tide
of emigration, setting westv/ard following this road,
furnished a horae raarket for all their surplus pro
duce; and raany of the original pioneers that are
now well-to-do in their declining years, were indebted
to this source for the payment on their entries.

2o6

HISTORY OF

On the 30th of April, 1824, Congress passed an
act authorizing the President to cause to be surveyed
certain canals and roads of iraportance in a railitary
point of view, and it is generally supposed that this
iraportant avenue carae under this head. On the
2d of March, 1827, an act of Congress was approved
appropriating twenty thousand dollars for the pur
pose of opening and constructing a railitary road
frora Detroit to Chicago, and the work was com
raenced in the sarae year. The road was cut out
one hundred feet wide, and a space in the middle
eighteen feet wide was grubbed clean and graded.
The work was continued until the year 1836, when
the bridge across the St. Joseph River at Bertrand
was completed, and as a Government work it ceased.
The records of this road in an early day were en
closed in a tin box and forwarded frora Washington
to Detroit, but were lost on the way and have never
been found, consequently its exact location or bear
ings are not accurately known.
The following are the principal officers that have
been elected since the organization of the township:

DATE.

SUPERVISORS.

TREASURERS,

TOWN CLERKS

1833

Othin Beardsley.

E. Beardsley.

C. Calkins.

1834

Caleb Calkins.

A. B. Davis.

A. B. Davis.

1835

Caleb Calkins.

Joel Baldwin,

A. B. Davis,

1836

George Meacham.

Elihn Davis.

A, Dibble,

1837

Caleb Calkins.

L. Keeler.

A. Dibble,

1838

George Meacham,

R. K. Charles.

Seth Weed,

1839

0. Story.
Moses Joy.

Seth Weed,

1840

0, M, Long,

1841

R. K. Charles,

A. Dibble,

1843

Milo Powell,

0, Story,

Seth Weed,

1843

William R, Merritt,

Lewis Rinehart.

H, Shelden,

1844

Oscar N. Long,

J. Hartman,

A, Kennicott,

1845

Oscar N. Long.

L. Rinehart,

A, Kennicott,

1846

Rufus K. Charles.

J, Hartman,

8. Taylor.

1847

Rufus K. Charles.

J. Hartman.

A, Kennicott.

1848

John N. Jones,

George Hebron.

J H. Hartman.

CASS COUNTY.

20';

D.\TE, SUPERVISORS,

1849 1850
18511853 1853
18541855 1856 1857
185818591860 1861186318631864 186518661867186818691870 18711873 18731874
1875

Jana Hitchcox,
0. N. Long.
O. N Lonsr.
Rufus K. Charles.
Rutus K. Charles.
Rufus K. Charles.
Rufus K. Charles.
Milo Powell.
A. H. Long.
A. H. Long.
A. H. Long.
Lucius Keeler.
Lucius Keeler.
Lucius Keeler.
Lucius Keeler.
J. H. Hitchcox.
Thomas O'Dell.
Thomas O'Dell.
Lucius Keeler,
Thomas O'Dell,
Thomas O'Dell,
Hiram Meacham.
Hiram Meacham.
Hiram Meacham.
Hiram Meacham.
Hiram Meacham.
Nathan Skinner,

TREASURERS.
J. Hartman.
J. Hartman.
A. H. Long.
A. H. Long.
J. H. Hartman.
J. H. Hartman.
J. Motley.
J. Motley.
H. .1. Dauehy.
J. Hartman,
iG. W, Miner,
iJ. Hartman.
A. H. Long.
O. Briggs.
O. Briggs.
O. Briggs.
William Rinehart.
J. Motley.
M. McHuron.
M. McHuron.
H. Meacham.
H. Beardsley,
H. D. Long.
H. D. Long.
M. Nutting.
H. Beardsley.
H. Beardsley.

TOWN CLERKS.
8 . Taylor.
8. Taylor.
Milo Powell.
Milo Powell.
A. H. Long.
A. H. Long.
F. Teesdale.
F. Tee.sdale.
G, Hebron.
W. S. Stearns.
L. Beebe.
L. Beebe.
W. 8. Stearns.
W. 8. Stearns.
W. S. Stearns.
W. 8. Stearns.
G. Hebron.
C C Parker.
H. H. Bowen.
H. H. Bowen.
A. R. Thompson.
H. H. Bowen.
H. H. Bowen.
E. Motley.
E. Motley.
M. McHuron.
M. McHuron.

CALVIN.
This Township was naraed for Calvin Britain,
who, at the time of its organization in 1835, was a
member of the Territorial Legislature.
This Township has raany natural advantages,
among which are one of the raost fertile soils that
the country affords, adapted to the culture of all the
cereals of this latitude and the various fruits. In its
earlier settleraent the land was entered largely by
speculators who held it for high prices, and thereby
retarded settleraent in a great degree for a nuraber
of years.
The first entries of land were raade in 1829 by
Nathan Young, on section five, and John Reid, on
five and six.
In 1830 entries were raade by John R.eid and Levi
F. Arnold, on six; Giles Norton, on seven; George
Jones, on eight, and D. Mcintosh, Jr., on section
nineteen. In 1 83 1 George Nicholson, D. Bunham, F. Smith,
Jacob Charles, Andrew Grubb, M. Zane, William

CASS COUNTY. 209
F. Noel, David Shaffer, John Ireland and Peter
Shaffer raade entries.
In 1832 H. H. Fowler, Joel East, H. Richardson,
Thomas Bulla, T. Smith and Peter Shafter made
entries in various parts of the Township.
The first settlement in this Township was made
in the year 1832, by Peter Shaffer, the widow
White and her five sons, Andrew Grubb, John Reid
and three sons, Nathan Thorp, and in 1833 Williara
East and his sons, Jaraes, John, and Joel, Nathan
Williaras, and John Zeek raade settleraents and
coraraenced iraproveraents.
In 1835-6 the Osborne settleraent was raade, and
the first nursery in the County started by thera, for
the sale of fruit trees.
The earlier settlers were nearly all Quakers or
Friends, who carae from the South, leaving that
locality on account of slavery. In 1837 they organ
ized a Church, and now have an unpretending house
of worship. Samuel Bonine was the first rainister
and Joel East the next.
The Township was organized by an act of the
Territorial Legislature, approved March 17th, 1835,
and an election appointed at the house of John Reid,
Sr. At this election Pleasant Grubb was chosen
Supervisor and Williara T. Reid Clerk.
About the year 1834 or '35, Pleasant Grubb
built a grist mill on the outlet of Diamond Lake,
where Brownsville now stands, but he soon after
sold out to the Brown brothers, frora whora Browns
ville takes its name. This village has never been
platted, or if so, it has not been placed upon the
— H

2IO HISTORY OF
record, consequently the exact data of its origin is
hard to deterraine. It now contains a population of
about one hundred and fifty, a grist mill, two gen
eral stores, and numerous raechanics, shops, etc. '
The first school-house was built near the farm of
Peter Shaffer, but in what year or who taught the
first school, I have not been able to learn.
The first birth was that of Elnora Jane, daughter
of Leonard Keene, in May, 18^2.
The colored population of this Township number
about one"thousan37"and the first permanent settle
ment by them was made in 1845, by John Stewart
and Lawson Howell. The next one to locate was
Ezekiel C. Anderson, who settled on the west side
of Porter Township. Mr. Anderson served in the
Indian wars under General Jackson, and was at the
battle of the Horse Shoe, as well as several others.
He was enrolled under the name of Ezekiel Cole,
his full name being Ezekiel Cole Anderson.
The African Methpdjst Episcopal J^iurch, of Cal
vin, known as the Mount Zion Church, was or
ganized January 8th, 1853, with Hardy Wade,
Joseph Allen, Richard Wood, Williara Scott, Benja
rain Hawley, Lawson Harvey, and Lerauel Archer,
as Trustees.
The Chain Lake Baptist Church (colored) was
organized Deceraber 31st, 1854, and Green Allen,
Moses Sanders, and Elisha Byrd were elected Trus
tees. Both of these Societies have houses of
worship. In 1865 the Hoosier Woolen Mill was erected by
Samuel C. Van Mater and Isaac and Vincent Wright,

CASS COUNTY.

211

at a cost of about fifteen thousand dollars, and for a
number of years was run to its full capacity, but
owing to the depression in woolens for the past year
or two, it has remained out of use.
On the 24th of April, 1844, a raost destructive
hail storra passed over the south part of the Town
ship, destroying nearly everything in its path, killing
sheep, hogs, and birds, 'and injuring tiraber, build
ings, etc. One reraarkable feature was, that near
Mr. Osborn's was a place where the blue cranes
congregated to rear their young, and hundreds of
these large birds were killed by the hail, which in
some instances were as large as apples, and of all
shapes. There are now in the Township three post-offices,
viz; Brownsville, Calvin, and Day. The following
are the principal officers that have been elected
since the organization of the Township:

DATE. 18351836
1837' 1838183918401841 1843
1843184418451846 18471848
1849185018511853 1853
185418551856 1857

SUPERVISORS,
Pleasant Grubb,
Pleasant Grubb.
William T. Reed.
William T. Reed.

John V. Whinney,
John V. Whinney.
Peter Shaffer.
Elijah Osborn.
Jesse Hutchinson.
Jesse Hutchinson.
SylvadorT. Read.
Johnson Patrick.
Leander Osborn.
Jefi'erson Osborn.
Jefl'erson Osborn.
Jeflerson Osborn.
Jefi'erson Osborn,
Daniel W. Gray.
Johnson Patrick.
Elijah Osborn.

TREASURERS,
William T. Reed.
.\ndrew White.
Andrew Grubb.
Thomas O'Dell.
Alexander White.
Charles Dennison.
Charles Dennison.
L. D. Norton.
L. D. Norton.
L. D. Norton.
L. D. Norton.
Find ley Chess.
Pindley Chess.
Find ley Chess.
William H. Jones.
Jeft'erson Osborn,
Jesse Hutchinson,
Jesse Hutchinson,
Jesse Hutchinson,
B. F, Harrison,
B, F, Harrison,
Levi J, Reynolds,
Levi J. Reynolds.

TOWN CLERKS,
William T. Reed.
J. V, Whinery.
J. V. Whinery.
William Brown.
William Brown.
J. V. Whinery.
J. V. Whinery.
William Brown.
A. Northrup.
William Brown.
T. C. Blair.
8. T. Read.
Henry Shatter.
A. E. Peck.
A. E. Peck.
A. E. Peck.
A. E. Peck.
A. E. Peck.
A. E. Peck,
A. E. Peck,
B. A. Tharp,
B, A, Tharp,
B. A, Tharp,

212

HISTORY OF

DATE.

SUPERVISORS,

TRBA8URERS.

TOWN CLERKS.

1858

B, A. Tharp.

Levi J. Ueynolds.

James Oren.

1859

B. A. Tharp.

Moses Brown.

James Oren.

1860

James Oren.

Moses Brown.

Lewis Cowgill.

1861

James Oren.

William Clark.

Lewis Cowgill.

1803

B. A. Tharp.

William Clark.

John Lee.

1863

B. A. Tharp.

J. F, Lemon,

J. N. Osborn.

1864

B. A. Tharp.

Thomas J, Osboi-n.

J. N. Osborn.

1865

B. A. Tharp.

Thomas J, Osborn,

John Lee.

1866

B. A. Tharp.

8. S. Davis.

James Rivers.

1867

Levi J. Reynolds.

8. 8. Davis.

James Rivers.

1868

Levi J. Reynolds.

8. 8. Davis.

James Rivers.

1869

Levi J. Reynolds.

James Riyers.

*James Rivers.

1870

Levi J. Reynolds.

James H. Gregg.

Leroy Osborn.

1871

B. A. Tharp.

James H. Gregg.

S. K. G. AVight.

1873

B. A. Tharp.

James H. Gregg.

tA. K. Wright.

1873

Leroy Osborn.

James H. Gregg.

James Rivers.

1874

Leroy Osborn.

James H. Gregg.

James Rivers.

1875

Leroy Osborn.

John Allen.

James Rivers.

Api

)ointed to fill vancancj

T. *P. Gregg, f James Rivers.

JEFFERSON.
This Township derived its name from a town of
the same name in Logan County, Ohio, which was
probably named after the statesman Thomas Jeffer
son. The first settlement was made in the fall of 1832
by Moses Rearas, Nathan Norton, Abner Tharp,
William Reams and Levi Norton, all from the above
named town in Logan County, Ohio.
In 1833 and '34 the following persons made settle
ments: Aaron Reams, Samuel Collier, Pleasant
Norton. Isaac Williams, William, Maxwell and
Noah Zane, Peter and Richmond Marmon, Jonathan
Collier, Silas Reams and John Miller. These were
nearly all the voters at the first election.
The first entries of land were made in 1830 by
Stephen Marmon, Aaron Brown, Peter Marmon and

214 HISTORY OF
D. T. Nicholson, on section one; Nathan Norton
and Maxwell and William Zane, on twelve.
In 1 83 1 entries were made by Barnhart and
Smith, on section one; R. Harmon, on two; John
Petticrew and John Petticrew, Jr., on section six.
In 1832 Adam Miller, David Carraichaeh John P.
Miller and the four Painters made entries.
In 1833 R. Painter, E. Thomas, A. Loux, John
Stephenson, John P- Miller and John Vaughn raade
entries. Adam Miller, of the Baptist persuasion, was the
first minister to preach in'TKisTTownship.
Minna V. Hunter, afterwards Sheriff of the County,
taught the first school.
The Township was organized by an act of the
Territorial Legislature, approved March 29th, 1833,
and an election ordered to be held at the house of
Moses Reams. Robert Painter was the first Super
visor; WiUiara Lane, Township Clerk; Levi D.
Norton, Constable, and Enoch Lundy Assessor.
In 1833 or '34, Shaffer and Beardsley built a saw
raill on the site that has since been known as Red-
field's raills, which, in 1837, was purchased by
George Redfield, who rebuilt the raill in 1850.
In 1862 it was burned by accident and rebuilt in
connection with a flouring raill in the years 1863 and
1864. There are now, besides the raiUs, a post-office,
one general store, and the usual complement of me
chanics, shops, etc.
In 1835 Robert Painter built a grist mill a short
distance below where the Redfield mill now stands, and

CASS COUNTY. 215
about the same time the Petticrew raill was built in
the northwestern part of the Township.
The First Baptist Cf;urch of Jefferson was organ
ized December 7th, 1843, when the following men
were elected trustees: Joseph Smith, Pleasant Nor
ton, D. T. Nicholson, William Zane and Isaac Hull.
When organized, and for a number of years after, it
was the most prosperous religious society in the
Township, and built a substantial brick house of
worship which still remains, but the raerabership of
the society hasjallen off until but a reranant is left.
T'he't^Tiristian Church was organized in 1855 or
1856, under the leadership of a rainister by the narae
of Kenneston, who got up a great revival and
received many converts. Under his influence a
house of worship was built and is about all that
remains ofthis once numerous society.
The Disciple Society was organized ahd a church
built in the fall of 1854. At one tirae the raeraber
ship reached the nuraber of eighty, under the leader
ship of David Miller, who was the rainister who
organized the society. The church building at the
the present time is valued at one thousand dollars.
The society is very small and there are no regular
raeetings held at the church.
About the year 1858 the Town Hall was built on
the southwest corner of section fifteen, and in 1871
it was raoved on to the line of the Chicago and
Lake Huron Railroad, thoroughly repaired, painted
and underpinned, and at present is valued at seven
hundred dollars. It was the first building expressly
for' Township purposes built in the County.

2l6 HISTORY OF
In about the year 1842 this Township was infested
by a gang of counterfeiters, by the name of Button,
who lived on the farm now owned by John P.
Miller. The extent of their operations is not posi
tively known, but that they followed their nefarious
avocations over southwestern Michigan and north
ern Indiana is generally believed. There were four
brothers connected in the business and it is said that
they kept a horse hitched constantly at the front
door to assi.st them in a flight when necessary. To
Colonel Glenn, then Sheriff of this County, belongs
the credit of breaking up the gang or at least driv
ing them frora this locality. When he went with a
posse of raen to arrest thera one jumped on the horse
at the door and made good his escape, and while
the officers were in pursuit of him the others left in
another direction, since which nothing is positively
known, but a rumor was afterwards circulated that
they all brought up in the penitentiary. But a short
time ago a die for raaking bogus Mexican dollars
was found by Mr. Rhinehart, near their forraer place
of operations, that was undoubtedly used by them.
The Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad runs
through the Township from north to south, but has
no stopping place within its liraits.
The Air Line Railroad passes through the
northern portion of the Township and has one station
— that of Dailey — where large quantites of wheat
and other farra produce are shipped. It also has a
store, a few mechanics, etc.
The following are the principal officers that have

CASS COUNTY.
been elected since the organization

217
of the township:

DATE.

SUPERVISORS,

TREASURERS,

TOWN CLERKS.

1833

Robert Painter,

»

William Zane.

1834

Pleasant Norton,

Levi Norton,

William Zane.

1835

Pleasant Norton.

Le\i Norton,

D. T. Nicholson.

1836

Pleasant Norton.

David Reams,

William Zane.

1837

Pleasant Norton.

David Reams.

William Zane.

1838

Pleasant Norton.

David Carmichael.

Williain Zane.

1839

David Carmioliael.

William Zane.

1840

Lorenzo Painter.

William Bosley.

1841

William B. Reams.

Marcus Sherrell.

1843

Joseph Smith.

Pleasant Norton.

Williani Bo.sley.

1843

Marcus Peck.

Pleasant Norton.

Marcus Peck.

1844

Joseph Smith.

Pleasant Norton.

Marcus Slierrell.

1845

Joseph Smitli.

Pleasant Norton.

Marcus Sherrell.

1846

Barton B. Dnning.

P. F. Carmicliael.

Robert Crawford.

1847

Joseph Smith.

Henry Carmichael.

S. L. Higinbotlian.

1848

PleasiUit Norton.

Henry Carmicliael.

C'harles Amy.

1849

Pleasant Norton.

Samuel Patrick.

Charles Amy.

1850

Pleasant Norton.

Henry Carmichael.

Charles Amy.

1851

N. Aldricli.

Henry Carmichael.

A. C. Carmichael.

1853

Pleasant Norton.

Henry Carmichael.

A. C, Carmichael.

1853

Henry W. Smith.

L. Goodrich.

A. C. Carmichael.

1854

Nathaniel Monroe.

L. Goodrick,

N, C, Beach,

1855

J. N. Marshall.

L. Goodrich.

.\.. C. Carmichael.

18.56

J. N. Marshall.

L. Goodrich.

George Tichnor.

1857'

Marcus Peck.

G. W. Westfall.

George Tichnor.

1858

Marcus Peck.

8. B. Davis.

Charfes Sherrill.

1859

Joseph Hess.

Henry Carmichael.

H. C. Holden.

1860

.loseph Hess.

Henry Carmichael.

J. 0. Carmichael

1861

Hiram 11. Scluitt.

Corkin Hays.

J. C. Carmichael.

1863

Marcus Marsh.

A. W. Zane.

J. C. Carmichael.

1863

Marcus Marsh.

N. Hedger.

J. C. Carmichael.

1864

C. 8. Swan.

H. C. Shurter.

J. C. Carmichael.

1865

G. W. We.stfall.

Samuel Hess.

Nathvn Marr.

1866

G. W. Wesffali.

H. R. Scutt.

C. L. Nett'.

1867

Andrew Wood.

H. R. Scutt.

C. L. Neff.

1868

Marcus Marsh.

A. Tietsort.

C. L. Neft'.

1869

S. (!. Tharp.

A. Tietsort.

8. W. Breece.

1870

Jolin S. Jacks.

A. Tietsort.

N. B. Farnsworth.

1871

John S. Jacks.

P. F. Carmichael.

8. W. Breece.

1873

John 8. Jacks.

P. F. Carmichael.

S. W. Breece.

1873

8. W. Brtece.

N. B. Farnsworth.

Nelson Hedger

1874

Andrew Wood.

N. B. Farnsworth.

Nelson Hedger,

1875

Andrew Wood.

8. Breece.

Nelson Hedger.

*No record of who was elected.

HOWARD.
This Township derives its name from a very ro
mantic source. At the time of its organization,
March 7th, 1834, this County, in comraon with Ber
rien, was represented in the Territorial Legislature,
then held at Detroit, by one Green of Niles, and while
attending this term of the Legislature he became
very much interested in a young lady, then a resident
of the City of the Straits, by the name of Howard,
and when it came to naming the township he named
it in honor of his sweetheart. But, like many of the
daughters of Eve, she proved fickle to the honorable
gentleman and the match was broken up, but the
Township still bears her name.
The first entries of land were made in 1829 by
William Garwood, on sections five and six; Jou Ray,
on six; John Ritter on seven, and Thomas Philips
and Samuel Witter, on section seventeen.
In 1830 entries were made by I. W. Duckett, on
section five; John Kinsey, B.Jenkins and William
Garwood, on six; Solomon Landis, John Hersey,

CASS COUNTY. 219
William Morris, Jacob Kinsey and Joseph Harter
on eight ; R. C. Meek, Joseph Harter, William Kirk
and John Pool, Jr., on seventeen; Eli Ford, on nine
teen; Chester Loomis on twenty, and Orrin Green
on section twenty-nine
In 183 1 George McCoy, John Pattengill, A. Chap
man, Daniel Fisher, Sarah Stoner, Peter Barnhart
John Clark and William Garwood made entries.
In 1832 entries were raade by I. W. Duckett, C
Albright, Soloraon Blyraer, John Coulter, John Mc
Daniel, George Fosdick, Jonas Ribble, Catherine
Stewart, Williara Young, Jonathan Hussey, and Ezra
Williaras. What is usually terraed "opening soil" largely pre
dominates in this Township, with a small portion of
Pokagon Prairie on the north and a section of heavy
timber in the northwest corner.
The first settlement was raade on the prairie por
tion of the township probably previous to 1830. In
1832 " Yankee ^treet " was ^settled, and in the sarae
year George Fosdick started a blacksmith shop on
the north bank of Barron Lake — then called Lake
Alone — where on the 27th of August, 1835, he laid
out a village under the name of Howardsville, which
was composed of sixty-four lots. Mr. Fosdick, in
addition to general blacksmithing, carried on the
manufactory of plows, and made a specialty of jail
locks, and of the latter he furnished nearly all the
the prisons in Southwestern Michigan and Northern
Indiana. Of this pioneer village there is now noth
ing to mark the spot where it once existed.
The only religious society in the township is that

220

HISTORY OF

of the Methodist Episcopal, organized about the
year 1838, and in i860 they erected a house of wor
ship which is known as the Coul_ter Methodist
Church, and now has about forty members, and a
Sabbath School.
The Air Line Railroad runs through this Town
ship east and west and has a way station at Barron
Lake for the accoraraodation of passengers.
There is a hotel on the east side of Barron Lake
for the acco^nraodation of pleasure parties, of which
there are raany during the suraraer season from the
neighboring towns and Villages.
The following are the principal Township offi
cers elected since the organization of the Town
ship:
DATE. I

18341835183618371838
1839 1840
18411843
1843 18441845
18461847

SUPERVISORS.
Samuel Marrs.
George Fosdick.
Henry Heath.
Henry Heath.
Thomas Glenn.

Ezekiel C. Smith.
Ezekiel C. Smith.
James Shaw,
Oscar Jones.
James Shaw.
J. N. Chipman.
1848 iJ. N. Chipman.
1849 ; Oscar Jones,
1850 lElam Harter,
1851 lOscar Jones,
1853 :e. C. Smith,
1853 JE. C. Smith,
1854 Elam Harter,
1855 E. C. Smith,
ia56 E. C. Smith.
18.57 Benjamin Cooper, Jr,
1858 Benjamin Cooper, Jr.
laiO William Curtis.
1800 E. C. Smith.

TREASU-REES.

Joseph H. Abbott.
8. Dumbolton.
Joseph H. Abbott.
James Coulter.
James Coulter,
.lames Coulter,
James Coulter,
William H. Doane,
H, D, Gallup.
H, D. Gallup,
H. D. Gallup.
H. D. Gallup.
H. D. Gallup,
H, D, Gallup,
H, D. Gullup.
H. D. Gallup,
H. D. Gallup,
H, D. Gallup.
H, D. Gallup,
H, D, Gallup,
Perry P. Perkins,
Perry P, Perkins,
Perry 'P, Perkins,
Jauic's G. Wil'.ard,
James G, Willard,

TOWN CLERKS,
Peter Fraser,
Peter Fraser,
Peter Fraser,
Z. Smitli.
J. W. Abbott,
Zenas Smith,
A. 8. Cook,
A, S, Cook.
David M. Howell.
Richard T. Heath.
Richard T. Heath.
Richard J. Heath,
Richard T. Heath,
Richard T, Heath,
Robert N. Peebles.
.Iohn M, Peebles.
Thomas H, Huston.
.Iohn L. Schell,
John L, Schell.
John Ij. Schell.
John L. Schell,
Thomas H, Huston.
Thomas H, Huston,
Fhomas H, Huston,
Th(mias H, Hust<m,
Thomas H. Huston.
James A. Collins.

*No record of who was elected.

CASS COUNTY.

2 2 1

D.ATB SUPERVISORS,
1861 William H, Doane.
1863 William H. Doane.
1863 William 11. Doane.
1864 William H. Doane.
1865 William H. Doane,
1866 William H. Doane.
1867 William H. Doane.
1868 William H. Doane.
1869 William H. Doane.
1870 William H. Doane.
1871 Ih. 8. Hadsell.
1873 H. 8. Hadsell.
1873 H. 8. Hadsell.
1874 ,H. 8. Hadsell.
1875 , Benjamin Vary.

TREASURERS.
Ale-xander Cooper.
Alexander Cooper.
T. !C. Raridon.
T. ¦[(;. Raridan.
Samuel UUrey.
Samuel UUrey.
John Dwan.
.Iohn DM'an.
E. Blanchard.
E- Blanchard.
Walter W. Harder.
Walter W. Harder.
D. p. Garberich.
Walter H. Harder.
Elbridge T. Reed.

TOWN CLERKS.
Tames A. Collin'^.
Tames A. Collins.
.lames A. C'ullin-i.
Tames A. Collins.
.Tames A. Collins.
PciTV p. Perkins.
Perry P. Perkins.
Periy P. Perkins.
Jacob Keller.
J. G. Van Evoni.
J. G. Van Evera.
J. G. Van Evera.
John Bedford, ,]r.
John Bedford. Jr.
John Bedford, Jr.

MASON.

This Township was naraed in honor of Stephens
T. Mason, who, at the tirae of its organization, was
acting Governor of the Territory.
The first entry of land was raade by Elara Beards
ley, on section twelve, January 4th, 1830.
In 1 831 C. Fanning, Williara Jordon and Othni
Beardsley raade entries, on sections 4, 11 and 21.
In 1832 Samuel Laferty, Samuel Simonton, Ezra
Beardsley, O. F. Kingsley, Jaraes Griffith, R. Cath
cart and Betsey Curtis raade entries.
A. Dibble, S. C. Garder, S. Adams, N. D. Snow,
O. Grant, Simeon O'Dell, T. J. Curtis, John
Richards, A. R. Kingsley, B. Eddy, J. Allen, M.
Holmes and J. Curtis made entries in different parts
of the Township — in 1833.
The exact time of the first settlement I have not

CASS COUNTY. 223
been able to learn, but it probably occurred in the
season of 1833 or 1834. In 1835 the following per
sons were here: Moses Bird, WilHs Jordon, John
O'Dell, Simeon O'Dell, John Richards, Thomas J.
Curtis, Jacob Ross, John Miller, F. Walker Miller,
J. Curtis, Sr., Saxton P. Kingsley, John Worst, Levi
Grant, John Garraon, Abrara Miller, Jacob B. Pells,
Henry Arnold, George Arnold, E. Roberts, Ben
jamin Hull, Benjamin O'Dell, Orris O'Dell, James
McNeil and a Mr. Halse. These, with the excep
tion of two, were all located on the Chicago road.
The first election was held on the 5th of April,
1836. At this raeeting Jonathan Curtis was chosen
Moderator, and Saxton P. Kingsley, Clerk, when
the following officers were elected: Moses Stafibrd,
Supervisor; Saxton P. Kingsley, Clerk; Reuben
Allen, John Worst and Jacob Haight, Assessors;
John Worst, Collector; Levi Grant and Jacob Ross,
Directors Cf the Poor; Jaraes McNeil, John Garraon
and John Richards, Coramissioners of Highways;
John Worst and John Miller, Constables; Orlean
Grant, Frederick W. Miller and Edward Howe,
School Comraissioners.
The first church society, so far as I could learn,
was that of the Free WiU Baptist, who have a house
of worship and a nuraerous congregation in the
northern part of the Township.
The United Brethren have a prosperous society
in the eastern portion of the Township, arvd in 1875
erected a house of worship at a cost of about two
thousand five hundred dollars.
The Evangelical Sggiety have a membership of

!24

HISTORY OF

about twenty and a house of worship located on the
Chicago road, erected in 1874.
The village of Kessington was laid out April 12th,
1872, by Moses McKissick, but of the extent or
population I can not speak from personal observa
tion. The soil of this Township is divided into two
varieties, that of the south is what is usually termed
openings, is very level and pleasant to cnltivate, and
produces remunerative crops; while a good portion
of the north part is a heavy timbered soil and some
what broken but very productive.
The Chicago road passes through nearly on the
dividing line between the two varieties of soil.
Fruitgrowing has received considerable atten
tion from the farmers of this Township and it
probably ranks first in this production.
The following table will show who have been
elected to the principal offices since its organization:

DATE. 1836 1837 .
18381839184018411843184318441845 184(;
18471848 1849
185018511853ia53185418551856

SUPERVISORS.
Moses Stafford,
Moses Stafibrd,

,S. P. Kingsley,
iJohn 8, Bement,
IJohn 8, Bement,
Ijohn 8, Bemont,
George Arnold,
Ezra C. Hatch.
Ezra C. Hatch.
Ezra C. Hatch.
John 8. Bement.
John 8. Bement,
John 8, Bemeut.
George Arnold,
lEzra V. Hatch,
Ezra C. Hatch.
iGoorge Arnold.
IGeorga Arnold.

TKEASmtERS.
John Worst,
Orlin Grant,
C, C. Land on,
C. C. Landon.
Henry Pollett,
Henry Follett,
John Miller.
John Miller,
.Iohn Miller.
John Miller.
John Miller.
John Miller,
John Miller,
John Miller,
William B. McNeil,
William B. McNeil.
William B. McNeil.
John Jliller,
Iohn Miller,
.Iohn Miller,
John Miller.

TOWN CLERKS,
8, P, Kingsley.
J. McNeil.
J. McNeil.
Henry Follett.
A. A. Goddard.
Henry Follett.
Henry Pollett,
W, W. Bird,
W. W. Bird,
W, W. Bird.
P Sutton,
P. Sutton.
William Allen.
P. Sutton.
P. Sutton.
P. Sutton.
John 8. Bement,
John 8, Bement,
.Iohn S, Bement,
John 8. Bement;
John 8, Bement,

CASS COUNTY.

225

n.VrE, SIPERVISORS.
1857 E. W, Reynolds,
1858 E, W, Reynolds,
1850 E. W. Reynolds,
1860 E, W. Reynolds.
1861 Henry Thompson.
1863 ;Henry Thompson.
1863 Henry Thompson.
1864 Georse Arnold.
1865 W. H. Stevens.
1866 J. H. Graham.
1867 !J. H. Graham,
1868 William Allen.
1869 J. H. Graham.
18T0 Lewis H. Miller.
1871 ;Henry Thompson.
1873 Henry Thompson.
1873 J. H, Graham,
1874 iJ. H. Graham.
1875 iJ. H. Graham.
— 15

THEASntERS.
James (;. Meacham.
Jo.seph H. Burns.
O. W. Hatch.
8. B. Glines.
Henry Olds.
J. A. McNeil,
J. A. McNeil.
J. A. McNeil.
J. A. McNeil.
J. A. McNeil.
H. C McNeil,
H. F. Garmon.
H, F, Garmon,
H, F. Garmon.
H. F. Garmon.
H. F. Garmon.
H. F. Garmon.
A, Dickerhoof,
A, Dickerhoof,

TOWN CI.EKKS.
William D. Coe.
William D, Coe.
II. C. McNeil.
Anson L. Dunn.
Stephen Colby,
H, C. McNeil.
H. C. McNeil.
H. C. McNeil.
William D. Coe.
George B. Harker.
George B. Harker.
George B. Harker.
H. C. McNeil. •
H. C. McNeil.
H. C. McNeil.
H. C. McNeil,
H. C, McNeil.
H. C, McNeil,
H. C, McNeil.

ONTAA^A.
This Township was called after an Indian girl of
that name, who, for a number of years, was in the
employ of Thomas H. Edwards.
The first settleraent was raade by Ezra Beards
ley and family in the season of 1829, and in the
following year George and Sylvester Meacham,
George Crawford and Chester Sage came in.
The first entries of land were made in 1829 by
Ezra Beardsley, on sections five, six and seven;
John Hunt, on six and eight; John Silsbe, on six;
Wilson Blackmer and Catherine Schartz, on eight;
Sterling Adaras, on twelve; George and Sylvester
Meachara, on seventeen and eighteen ; George Boon,
on seventeen ; Jacob Sraith, F. Garser and G. O'Dell,
on section eighteen.
In 1830 entries were raade by H. Beardsley, on
section one; H. H. Fowler, on two; L.Johnson, on

CASS COUNTY. 227
four; John Garwood, on four, five and seven; Rogers
and Chapin, on four ; Henry Whiting, on five ; John
Silsbe, on six; Edwards, Enos and Kiraball, on
seven; Jaraes Gelispie, on six; Wilson Blackraer, on
eight; H. Beardsley, on twelve; Joseph Pool and
Dempster Beatty, on seventeen; Adam Miller,
George Crawford and Philip Shintafter, on eighteen,
and N. C. Tibbitts, Jacob Sraith and Jacob Grira-
lich, on section twenty.
Entries were raade in 1831 by J. E. Scwartz,
Wilson Blackraer, J. E. Hunt, R. W. Acres, J. V.
Natfian, Benjarain Gates, S. Adaras, C. Kennedy
and J. Criralich.
In 1832 entries were raade by Andrew Spear, P.
B. Dunning, Andrew Jackson, E. Beardsley, J. A.
Adaras and George Stevens.
In 1833 entries v.-^ere raade by Calvin Bishop, B.
Mead, John Mcintosh, N. D. Snow, George Red-
field, H. Judson and A. H. Redfield.
The Township was organized in the spring of
1829, and coraprised at that tirae nearly the half of
Cass County.
The first election was held at the house of Ezra
Beardsley in the spring of 1830. At this meeting
John Silsbe was chosen Moderator, and the following
persons were elected to the different offices: Ezra
Beardsley, Supervisor; Thomas H. Edwards, Clerk;
Sylvester Meachara, Othni Beardsley and John
Bogart, Comraissioners of Highways; John Baldwin,
Othni Beardsley and George Meachara, Assessors;
Jacob Sraith and George Boon, Overseers of the
Poor; George Meachara, Constable and Collector;

2 28 HISTORY OF
Willam Bogart, Overseer of Highways; Ezra
Beardsley and John Baldwin, Pound-masters ; John
Silsbe, John Bogart and John Baldwin, School
Trustees. The first road was laid out on the 24th of June,
1830, and run from the Chicago road to Niles.
In the winter of 1828 and 1829 Thomas II.
Edwards and Sylvester Meachara were married to a
daughter and step-daughter of Ezra Beardsley and
were the first to be married in the Township.
The first birth was that of Charles, son of Sylves
ter Meacham, and the next was that of John S.
Jacks, which occurred in August, 183 1.
In 1828 Thomas H. Edwards, fbr whom Edwards
burg was named, commenced to sell goods and was
the first merchant in the County. He continued in
business until he sold out to Jacob and Abiel Silver
in the fall of 183 1. He also had a peddhng wagon
that was run over the County selling dry goods and
groceries, which was driven by Joseph L. Jacks.
Edwardsburg was laid out by Alexander H.
Edwards, August 12th, 183 1, comprising thirty-one
blocks. In 1834 Abiel Silver made an addition and
in 1836 Silver and Sherwood still another. At this
village occurred many of the most important events
in connection with the early settlement of the
County. Here the observation was taken which
established a base for the survey of Southwestern
Michigan. Here it was that the first court was held,
when it required a travel of over two hundred miles
to secure men enough to act as jurymen; and the
first Board of Supervisors was convened at this

CASS COUNTY. 229
place. The first store was kept in a small log
shanty on Lake Street. Ezra Beardsley kept the
first hotel on the bank of the lake, near where the
residence of Dr. Sweetland now stands.
With the advent of the Silvers, who bought
Edwards' stock of goods and interest in town lots
and the Beardsley homestead, everything was
pushed forward that would tend toward making
this an iraportant comraercial center, and froiu this
time until 1848 the growth was steady and sub
stantial. At that date it had three churches, a brick
school house and a population of about three hun
dred. But with the iron, rail which reached Niles in this
year, and about the same time Elkhart, a change for
the worse came over the place, merchants began to
pack up and leave, trade diminished in all its branches
and dullness brooded over everything. This state
of affairs continued until 1871, when the screara of
the steara whistle announced the approach of the
iron horse, giving a new irapetus to business which is
increasing frora year to year.
It now contains a population of four hundred and
fifteen, three dry goods stores, two drug and grocery-
stores and one hardware store, three wagon, three
blacksraith and three shoe shops, two raillinery and
four dress-raaking establishraents, two hotels, two
preachers, six physicians, one lawyer, three school
teachers, ten carpenters and joiners, two cabinet
shops, one raeat raarket, one harness shop, four
masons, one planing mill and three luraber yards.
There are also three churches — the Baj)tist,-Metho-

230 HISTORY OF
d]st_aad._CQngr.egational, and each have a parsonage.
The Patrons gf Husbandry have a Grange, the
Odd Fellows and Masons, a lodge each. The Baptist
Society at this place was organized May 14th, 1835,
and Myron Strong, Luther Chapin and Barak Mead
were elected Trustees. At the organization there
were but four raerabers. In 1838, under the leader
ship of elder Price, the society becarae very prosper
ous and for a nuraber of years it was the raost
flourishing society of this denomination in South
western Michigan. It has at the present time but
eighteen active members, a brick house of worship,
valued at two thousand dollars, and a parsonage
worth twelve hundred dollars.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
P'ebruafy^ I3tfi7^837r^"d TTIram Rogers, Clifford
Shanahan, Leonard Hain, Henry A. Chapin and
Asa M. Sraith were elected Trustees. It now has a
raerabership of between thitry and forty, a brick
church, valued at fifteen huTidreH dollars, and a
parsonage, worth two thousand dollars : there is also
a Sabbath school having about seventy scholars with
twelve officers and teachers in connection with the
church. The Congregational Church has a brick house
of worship, valued at two thousand five hundred
dollars, a parsonage, worth one thousand dollars,
and a membership of between sixty and seventy:
they also have a Sabbath school of about fifty
scholars in regular attendance throughout the year.
The date of the organization of this church I could
not learn.

CASS COUNTY. 231
December 3, 1874, M. Milton Edminston cora
raenced the publication of a newspaper called the
Index, The first issue was printed at Mishawaka,
Indiana, before the arrival of the press and office
material. It acquired a circulation of about tour
hundred copies, but was suspended September 25,
1875; the proprietor absconding with the portable
effects. WiUiam A. Shaw started the ylr^?« October 3,
1875. It is neutral in politics and has a circulation
of three hundred and fifty copies.
Adamsport was laid out by Sterling Adams in
September, 1832, and the village of Christianna, on
the opposite side of the creek, was laid out by-
Moses Sage in 1834. Both now are known by the
name of Adamsville. The first grist mill was built
here by Sage and Snow in 1834, and has reraained
in the hands of the Sages ever since. Sage and
Snow were also the first merchants. One Halsted
built the first hotel about the year 1835 and the
same building still furnishes a home for the weary
traveler. Sterling Adams was the first Postmaster at this
place. There is now a population of one hundred and'
twenty-six, one general store, one flouring mill with
four run of stone, one saw mill and heading factory,
one wagon, one blacksmith and one cooper shop.
Both these villages were largel}^ indebted to the
Chicago road, which passed through them, for their
early prosperity.
The following officers have been elected since

232 HISTORY OF
the organization of the Township to the present
time:

D.ITE

SUTRRVLSORS.

! TREASURERS.

TOWN CLERKS.

1831

Ezra Beardsley.

iGeorge Meacham.

T. A, H, Edwards.

1833

Dempster Beatty.

Eber Root.

T. A. H, Edwards.

1833

Dempster Beatty,

Eber Root.

T. A. H. Edwards.

1834

Dempster Beatty,

.\riel Robertson.

Luther Chapin.

1835

George Meacham,
Joel Brown.

J. L. Jacks.

B. F. Silver.

1836

Silas Baldwin.

B. F. Siher.

1837

i.Toel Brown.

W. H. ^-andeventl¦r.

H. H. Coolidge.

1838

Joel Brown.

J. L. Jacks.

II. H. Coolidge.

1839

J. L. Jacks.

H. H. Coolidge.

1840

,J. L. Jacks.

H. Eastman.

1841

H. A. Chapin.

George Sherwood.

1843

WilHam Bacon.

Edwin Clark.

.Myron Strong.

184;}

Myron Strong.

E. Taylor.

T. T, Glenn.'

1844

James W. Griffin.

Abie! Silver.

Harvey Olds.

184.)

George Redfield.

.Vbiel Silver.

Harvey Olds.

1846

.Myron Strong.

X. Aldrich.

B. D. Sherwood.

1817

(!yrus Bacon.

.1. S. Brady.

15. I). Sherwood.

1848

Cyrus Bacon.

S. Van .Vntwerp.

E. M. Curtis.

1849

J. L. Jacks.

D. S. Kenson.

B. D. Sherwood.

1850

James W. Griffln.

William R. Sheldon.

B. D. Sherwood.

1851

N. Aldrich,

Kellogg Allen.

H. Van After.

1853

Cyrus Bacon.

John S. Brown.

E. Shaw.

1853

Charles Haney.

J. Silver.

8. F. Ward.

1854

Charles Haney.

J. Sliver.

Isaac Brown.

1855

A. Longstreet.

Kellogg Allen.

0. M. Dunning.

1856

Charles Haney. .

David Bement.

J. Sliver.

1857

Aaron Lisk.

F. Wilkinson.

J. Silver.

1858

Charles Haney.

A. B. Palmer.

M. H. Lee.

ia59

Charles Haney.

S. Van Antwerp.

M. H. Lee.

1860

Charles Haney.

M. B. Robbins.

L. H. Glover.

1861

Moses H. Lee.

M. B. Robbins.

(•. Kennedy.

1863

Charles Haney.

John S. Jacks.

S. H. Lee.

1863

Charles Haney.

•Iohn 8. Jacks.

S. H. Lee.

1864

Cliarles Haney.

A. S. Cook.

S. H. Lee.

1865

George F. Silver,

A. 8. Cook.

George F. Silver.

1866

Charles Hilney.

N. 8. Brady.

George F. Silver.

1867

Charles Haney.

N. 8. Brady.

J. C. Schoch.

1868

J. B. Thomas.

0. H. Sanford.

J. C. Schoch.

1869

J.B. Thomas.

George Rogers.

J. C. Schoch.

1870

J. B. Thomas.

George Rogers.

J. C. Schoch.

1871

J. B. Thomas.

George Rogers.

William K. Hopkin

1873

J. B. Thomas.

George Rogers.

William K. Hopkin

1873

Moses 11. Li'c.

J. AV. Argo.

Stephen Bacon.

1874

Moses H. Lee.

J. A. Howard.

J. A. Luckenbach.

1875

Moses H. Lee.

H. 11. Bidwell.

G. F. Bugbee.

MILTON.
This Township was naraed by Peter Truitt for a
township of the sarae narae in the State of Dela
ware, which was the previous horae of a large
nuraber of the first settlers.
The first entries of land were raade in 1829 by
Oliver Drew, on section one and two; John Hudson,
on eleven; Annon Sraith, on thirteen and fourteen;
D. Harkenrider, on fourteen ; J. Hathway and John
Medville, on section twenty-four.
In 1830 Hiram Rogers, Luther Chapin and Calvin
Taylor made entries on section one; B. F. Earned,
on si.x and seven; J. F. Lord, on eleven; John
Hudson, on twelve and thirteen; G. O'Dell, P. Shin
tafter and Adam Miller, on thirteen, and Thomas
Sullivan, on section twenty-four.
In 1831 D. Brown, O. Drew, Isaac Butler, Frederick
Smith, H. Drew, Smith and Burnham and Peter
Truitt made entries in different parts of the Town
ship, and in 1832 and '33 entries were made by
J. H. Smith, S. Toney, P- Truitt, C. Smith, H. O.

234

HISTORY OF

Heath, C. K. Green, N. Bacon, B. B. Kercheral, E.
Shanahan, H. Truesdail, Otis Jaraes, Adara Ringle,
Silas Baldwin and A. M. Sraith.
The Township was organized in 1838, previous to
which it formed a part of Ontwa. The first Treas
urer was William Manning and the first Clerk, H.
H. Huhn.
The Milton Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized July ist, 1839, when Jaraes Lowry,
Thomas Powell and Nathaniel O. Bowman were
elected Trustees, and in August, 1841, it was re
organized under the narae of Sraith's Chapel and
the following persons were elected Trustees : Spencer
Williaras, Jesse Sraith, John PI. Sraith, Thoraas
Powell, George Sraith, M. Beauchamp and Matthew
Griffith. There is now a raerabership of between
, thirty and forty, and they have a house of worship,
j/alued at about seven hundred and fifty dollars.
The Township is' devoted strictly to agriculture
and has neither village or postoffice within its limits.
The following are the officers that have been
elected since the organization of the Township;

DATE.

SUPERVISORS.

TREASURERS,

TOWN CLERKS.

1838

*

William Manning,

H, H, Ilulin,

1839

William Manning.

H, H, Hulin,

1840

James Aldrich.

James Taylor.

1841

Peter Truitt.

H, Aldrich,

1843

G. Howland,

Thomas Powell.

H, Aldrich,

1843

Job O'Dell,

Thomas Powell.

H. Aldrich.

1844

James Taylor,

Thomas Powell.

Job O'Dell.

1845

Charles P, Drew,

George Smith.

H. Aldrich,

1846

James Taylor,

Wesley Smith,

Job O'Dell.

1847

Henry Aldrich,

John Ullery,

Asa M. Smith,

1848

Henry Aldrich,

John Ullery,

Asa M. Smith,

1849

Henry Aldrich,

James B, Smith.

Win, H. Olmstead,

1850

James Taylor,

James B, Smith,

M, C. Beauchamp.

1851

Henry Aldrich,

James B, Smith,

M, C, Beauchamp.

*No record of who was elected.

CASS COUNTY.

DATE. 1853
18531854 1855
1856 18571858 1859
1860 1861186318631864 18651866186718681869 1870
1871 1873187318741875

SUPERVISORS.

N. O. Bowman.
Urial Enos.
Urial Enos.
Henry Aldrich.
N. O. Bowman.
Henry Aldrich.
R. V." Hicks.
Henry Aldrich,
Isaac Babcock.
Henry Aldrich.
jUrial Enos.
Urial Enos.
Urial Enos.
iWilliamH. Olmstead
jWiUiam H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
William H. Olmstead
R. V. Hicks.
R. V. Hicks,
R. V. Hicks.

TREASURERS.
'John Ullery ,
Samuel Ullery^
George Smith.
[George 8mith.
;George Smith.
[George Smith.
George Smith.
George Smith.
George Smith.
George Smitli.
iN. B. Dennis.
In. B. Dennis.
N. B. Dennis.
James B. Smith.
James B. Smith.
James B. Smith.
, Asa Jones.
John Barber.
|.Tohn Barber,
.'John Barber.
.ijohn Barber,
iJolin Barber.
[Charles F. Rosewarn,
Charles F. Rosewarn.

2.^5
TOWN CLERKS.
M. C. Be.auchamp.
JI. C. Beauchamp.
jil. C. Beauchamp.
Im. C. Beauchamp.
M. C. Beauchamp.
iW. H. Olmstead.
I William H.Powell.
'William H.Powell.
William H. Powell.
William H. PowelL
William H. Powell.
William H.Powell.
W. H. 01m.stead.
J. C. Genung.
J. C. Genung.
Wil'.iam H. Powell.
M. V. B. Dunning.
|M. V. B. Dunning.
|M. V. B. Dunning.
jM. V. B. Dunning.
M. V. B. Dunning.
C. 51. Dennis.
Ic. M. Dennis.
[C. M. Dennis.

CASSOPOLIS.
Sometirae in 1830 the County seat of Cass County
was located at Geneva, on the bank of Diaraond
Lake, by Martin C. Whitman, Hart L. Stewart
and Col. Sibley, Comraissioners appointed by-
Governor Porter.
This location gave rauch dissatisfaction to all
speculatively inclined settlers who had secured
clairas which they deeraed adapted for the site of
the seat of Justice — and there do not appear to
have been any other kind of locations taken up.
The Coraraissicners were openly accused of corrup
tion and the Proprietors of niggardliness. A
sirailar state of feeling existed in Branch and St.
Joseph, concerning the location of their County
seats. During this exciteraent and before any public
buildings, save a log shanty to serve as court room
and jail, had been provided, E. B. Sherraan, a young
lawyer and surveyor, believing that a change could

to

the

in

La

and

he

, on

the

C.\SS COUNTY. 237
and would: be eftectcd, cast about over the eligible
sites stil! unoccupied (and they were not few) for a
speculative investment.
In his peregrinations he one day came
southeast quarter of section twenty-six
Grange. This impressed him favorably
repaired to the cabin of Abram Tietsort, Jr.,
bank of Stone Lake, to rest and think the matter
over. While deliberating and waiting for supper ( every
house was a hotel in those days and every stranger
welcome) three men, brothers, by the name of
Jewell, came down and engaged in conversation
with Mr. Tietsort. Frora their talk he learned thai
they had been looking land and had decided to enter
the eighty he had in view. Mr. Sherman kept hi-s
own counsel, and, as soon as he could do so without
awakening suspicion, took his leave and started on
foot for Edwardsburg.
A few days previous to this he had met at the
Land Office, at Pigeon Prairie, a young legal immi
grant by the name of Alexander H. Redfield, who
was in search of a place to set his stakes and " grow
up with the country." On the representations of
Mr. Sherman he had gone on to Edwardsburg, and
as this enterprise seemed large enough for a partner
ship he (Sherman) naturally sought to offer his new
friend the first chance.
He arrived at Edwardsburg just at nightfall,
readily found Mr. Redfield and unfolded his scheme.
His friend eagerly fell in with the proposition, but
unfortunately he was possessed of only , forty

238 HISTORY OF
dollars, Mr. Sherman could show but fifty and the
land would cost one hundred; he, however,
had a friend at Pigeon, who, if flush, he thought,
would loan him the remaining ten dollars, and
armed with a requisition upon this party, McGaffey
by name, Mr. Sherman set out through the cold rain
and dismal darkness in this race for a County seat.
At " Meachams " his bedraggled limbs refused
further duty, but he fortunately procured the loan of
a horse and pushed on into Porter. Here he stopped
in a deserted cabin and, stretching his weary frame
on the puncheon floor, waited for daylight.
At the first streak of dawn he was up and on his
way and in the early morning rode into Pigeon,
found McGaffey, negotiated the loan, made his pur
chase and had ridden several miles on the back track
before he raet tt;e three Jewells who had gone
straight across the country.
The new proprietors lost no tirae in pushing their
enterprise A reraonstrance against the action of
the Coraraission was prepared and the signatures of
all, not interested in the success of Geneva, readily
obtained; and on March 4, 1831, we find an act of
the Legislative Council authorizing the appointment
of a new Commission to relocate the " seats of
Justice " of Cass, St. Joseph and Branch Counties,
approved by the Governor.
Now came the tug of war. Eligible sites were
found, by their owners, upon nearly every settler's
land and all sorts of inducements prepared to bait
the new Commission.
Sherman and Redfield, who had associated with

CASS COUNTY. 239
them the three land owners whose boundaries
cornered with theirs, Abram Tietsort, Jr., Ephraira
McLeary and Colonel Johnson, seem to have gone
at the matter with so much more system and
liberality than their neighbors that, upon the final
arrival of the Arbitrators, their claims and those of
Geneva were the only ones considered.
They prepared a plat of a village to be called
Cassapolis, containing one hundred and sixty acres of
land, and each of the four proprietors signed an
agreement to donate to* the County one-half of his
portion of the sarae, providing- the County seat
should be located thereon.
Learning in advance the names of the new Com
missioners they cunningly named three of the
principal streets in their honor, viz; O'Keefe, Row
land and Disbrow.
These, and perhaps other induceraents, then and
now unknown, prevailed; the Coraraission reported
favorably upon the change and, as soon as their fees
and expenses were paid by the proprietors, a procla
raation was issued by the Governor fixing the seat
of Justice for Cass County at Cassapolis.
The exact date of the proclaraation is not known,
but it was probably in Noveraber, 1831, as the
village plat was recorded on the 19th pf that raonth,
which would not be likely to have been done until
the receipt of the news that a final order had been
reached. Repeated attempts were afterward made by Whit
manville, Geneva and other ambitious villages to
re-open the question, but they who had secured the

240 HISTORY OF
prize proved theraselves capable of retaining it until
the araount invested in public buildings precluded
all further discussion of reraoval.
At the tirae the plat was recorded there was not
a building of any description within its liraits and,
with the exception of Mr. Tietsort and Hiram
Jewell, it had no neighbors within a mile and a half
or two miles of its public square.
Ira B. Henderson, who built a double log cabin
and opened therein a hotel, was the first to take
advantage of the opportunity afforded by the new
\-illage to indulge in the excitements^nd turmoil of
inetrppolitan life. John Parker came next and
erected an aristocratic hewn log house on lot
number three, block one south, range one east.
In the spring of 1 83 2 Jacob Silver, of the firm of
H. & B. F. Silver & Co., of Edwardsburg, and
Robert Painter, came in and comraenced selling goods ;
the forraer in part of Henderson's tavern and the
latter in a sraall building at the southeast corner of
the public square.
During this year Sherman and Redfield erected a
large frame dwelling on the northeast side of the
square; the Silvers put up what has since been
known as " old red store" and Eber Root built a
frame building on the site of the present Cassopolis
House. These were the first permanent structures
in the village.
On August 7th occurred the first death — that of
J. R. Coats who was dashed against a tree by a run
away horse and instantly killed. He was buried
from Henderson's tavern.

CASS COUNTY. 24I
The first birth took place before the village was
laid out, viz: that of Julia Ann Tietsort, on July 3,
1830. The first court was held in the fall of 1832 by
Judges Sibley and Woodbridge, under an oak tree,
just south of the public square. Messrs. Redfield
and Sherraan were the only lawyers in attendance
and no records of the business can now be found.
The second term was held in Painter's store and
those succeeding in the tavern building, until 1835.
The first wedding occurred on Januar}' ist, 1833, in
the loft over the new store. The high contracting
parties were E. B. Sherman, Esq., and, Sarah, only
daughter of Jacob Silver. Bishop Chase perforraed
the cereraony and afterward conducted the first
religious Services ever held in the village.
April 19th, 1833, by an act of the Territorial
Council, the Cass County Acaderay was duly incor
porated with a liraited capital of twenty thousand
dollars. B. Jenkins, Williara Burk, I. Shurte, Jacob
Silver, M. B. Shields, Abiel Silver, A. H. Redfield,
Derapster Beatty and E. B. Sherraan were naraed
as Trustees. This school was to have been located
at Cassapolis, but there is no record that a definite
site was ever secured or any portion of the capital
paid in.
In the same month, a division of the lots of the
plat was made by the proprietors, and the portion set
out to the County formally accepted by the Board
of Supervisors, who appointed A. H. Redfield their
agent to sell a sufficient number, at prices varying
from ten to forty dollars each, to build a jail
—16

242 HISTORY OF
— the terms of payment being one-fourth down and
the remaining three-fourths in six, twelve and eight
een months from the day of sale. The lots were
first offered at public auction on the 4th of July and
afterward at private sale
The contract for erecting and furnishing the jail
was awarded to Eber Root (the details of the
building and terms of contract have been already
stated on page 118 ofthis work). Owing to the
sickness of the contractor, the building was not
finished until nearly mid-winter and rogues were
obliged to put up with the private hospitality of the
Sheriff and his Deputies. It was located on lot
number five, in block one south, range two west,
where it still remains a relic of pioneer justice.
In the fall of this year (1833) the Silvers put up a
large distillery in the hollow, on State Street, west
of the public square. The frame was so heavy that
it required the united efforts of nearly the whole
male population for a circuit of ten miles to raise it.
Eber Root was the contractor but, he being sick at
the time, Amos Huff, of Volinia, took charge of the
raising, which lasted three days. The distillery was
a first-class one for those days and, by furnishing a
horae market for grain, materially aided the growth
and prosperity of the new village. It was run by
the Silvers about three years, then sold to John M.
Barber who in turn transferred it to Asa Kingsbury
in 1837.
A postoffice was located here in this year and was
kept by A. H. Redfield in the Silvers' store.
The first school teacher was a widow Beach who

CASS COUNTY. 243
taught in a log house situated on the lot now owned
and occupied by Joel Cowgill. The next was a
man named Harrison. Abram Tietsort, Jr., was the
first mechanic who worked in a shop. He manu
factured furniture, coffins and such other cabinet-
ware as the times demanded, in a log building north
east of his residence.
The village was now fairly launched on its career
and soon attracted a sufficient population of traders,
artisans, etc. to enable it to take a fair rank among
similar frontier centres. It drew trade from La)
Porte Prairie on the southwest ; Mottville on the
southeast ; Little Prairie Ronde on the northeast, and
to the limit of settlements on the northwest. Goods
were sold at large profits and the spring stock was
usually entirely gone before the fall goods were
received. Every one who attempted so to do made
money, and the prospective promise of Cassapolis
was as bright and hopeful as that of any town in the
new Northwest.
January 24th, 1832, Eber Root and Allen Munroe
received licenses as tavern-keepers from the Town
ship Board, as, in the language of the Ucense, " The
Board considered taverns a necessity and the appli
cants of good moral character and of sufficient
ability to keep a tavern."
The second death in the village — that of Mrs.
Eber Root — occurred in this year.
In October a contract was let to Joseph Harper
for building and furnishing a Court House, on lot
number four, block two north, range one west, as
described on page 122.

244 HISTORY OF
The County increased so rapidly in population
and consequent litigation, that within five years its
legal needs had quite outgrown the limited space
afforded by this building, and in February, 1839,
the Board of Commissioners decided upon the erec
tion of a new edifice of sufficient capacity to ac
coraraodate the blind Goddess, her rainisters and
suppliants. David Hopkins, Henry Jones, and Jaraes W.
Griffin, County Coraraissicners, entered into a con
tract on the 7th of February, of the sarae year, with
Jacob Silver, Alexander H. Redfield, Joseph Harper,
Asa Kingsbury, and Darius Shaw, fbr the construc
tion of the present Court House.
The contract called for a frarae building forty-
six feet wide, fifty-four feet long, and twenty-four
feet between the sill and plate, with a fire-proof
vault in the baseraent story for the use of the County
Officers, on which building the contractors were to
expend six thousand dollars in raaterial and labor.
In consideration thereof the Coramissioners deeded
to the Corapany " all the interest the County had in
all lots, etc., (reserving therefrora the lots the pres
ent Court House and jail now stand on) in said
village," and agreed to pay thera, in addition to this,
two thousand dollars, in two annual payraents of
one thousand each.
The building was enclosed and used in 1841, but
was not forraally accepted by the Board until March
_9th, 1842.
In the Presidential carapaign of 1840 the whole
country run raad over "log cabins," "gold spoons,"

CASS COUNTY. 245
"coon skins," "British gold," and other equally
meaningless party catch words. Real issues and
pohtical principles were entirely lost sight of and
partisan frenzy was rampant. Cassapolis shared the '
prevailing raania with her neighbors, and the most
intense political excitement, and the raost enthusias
tic raass meetings in her history, occurred during
that canvass. One advantage to the village accrued
from this agitation. Joseph Harper won from Jacob
Silver lot number eight, in block one north, range
two east, on the result of the election in Pennsyl
vania, and, two years afterward, donated it to the
District for school purposes.
A school house was erected upon this lot in the
spring of 1843, which was the first frame building
used exclusively for school purposes, and a very
creditable structure for that day. — previous to this
time the children had been taught in log cabins, and,
for a 'year or two, in the old Court House. This
answered the purpose for which it was designed un
til 1857, when the Union School House, now in use,
was built by Daniel S. Jones, at a cost of one thou
sand four hundred and ninety dollars.
In 1874 a building on the corner of Rowland and
York streets was rented for a priraary departraent.
The school now occupies five rooras and eraploys
the sarae nuraber of teachers. The whole nuraber
of scholars enrolled in the District is two hundred
and fifty-one
In 1842-7 occurred the "general training" and
"Kentucky Raid," previously described in these
pages.

246 HISTORY OF
In 1848 black bears were strangely and suddenly
numerous in this vicinity. Some twenty were killed
in the neighborhood of the village, and one was
shot within the grave-yard inclosure
About this time the completion of the Michigan
Central Railroad through the north part of the
County, and that of the Lake Shore & Michigan
Southern just beyond the southern boundary, put a
stop to the further development of the village.
Many of the more enterprising business and profes
sional men moved to the railroad and aided largely
in establishing the village of Dowagiac.
For about twenty years Cassapolis remained al
most at a stand still, drawing its support from an
agricultural trade of limited area, and the interest
on its capital previously acquired.
In 185 1 the present jail was built by Joseph Grif
fith, and in i860, the Board of Supervisors, alarmed
by the evidence of the insecurity of the public
records, shown at the time of the burning of the old
Cassapolis House, authorized the construction of a
fire proof building fbr County ofliices, which was put
up the same year by Major Smith.
In 1863 the village was incorporated by the Board
of Supervisors, under the general State Law.
The first election was held November 9th, of that
year, and the following list of officers chosen :
Joseph Smith — President.
Trustees — H. Walton, Peter Sturr, Barak Mead,
C. W. Clisbee, A. Garwood, and C. G. Banks.
C. H. Kingsbury — Treasurer.
Joseph Harper — Clerk.

CASS COUNTY. 247
J. H. Powers and J. Tietsort — Assessors.
D. Histed, S. T. Read, and I. Brown— Street
Commissioners. W. K. Palmer — Marshal.
J. Graham, L. R. Read, Murray Baldwin, H.
Shaffer, and Arthur Smith — Fire Wardens.
During the winter of 1874-5 a special charter was
procured from the Legislature, under which the
Corporation is now governed.
In 1868 the slumbering village was aroused by an
early prospect of railway facilities, and has raain
tained a healthy growth in population and business
expansion ever since.
The first iron was laid to the corporate limits by
the Michigan Air Line Railway Company, Novem
ber 28th, 1870, and through to Niles, January, 2d,
1871. The first regular passenger trains commenced
running on this road January l6th, 1871.
The Peninsular was not far behind. Iron was
laid to the village February 9th, 1871, and regular
trains, east, were started June 26th, of the same year.
Both roads have changed hands since their con
struction, the Air Line having been leased to the
Michigan Central for ninety-nine years, and the
Peninsular consolidated into the Chicago & Lake
Huron Railroad.
The first religious services ever held here were
conducted by Bishop Chase, of the Northwestern
Epis^palian Diocese, in the winter of 1832-33, in
the loft over the Silvers' new store. He was soon
followed by Methodist " Circuit Riders," who, with

248 HISTORY OF
the energy and devotion which at that time charac
terized their sect, were zealously pushing their way
along the frontier and into the wilderness, sowing
the seeds of eternal life.
A noble race of God-fearing and God-serving men
were these Pioneer Itinerants. Believing themselves
called to the work, they abandoned horae, friends,
and the ease and comforts of civilization, and, with
out hope of earthly reward or honor, taking their
lives in their hands, they went forth in obedience to
their Master's injunction, " Go ye into all the world .,
and preach the Gospel to every creature." Did
space permit, hundreds of instances of their courage
and self-sacrifice raight be given, but tradition has,
perhaps, farailiarized most of our readers with tfteir
vinrecorded heroism.
They have passed away with the state of Society
which called for their labors and abnegation, and
their places are occupied by those who preach,
according to the stateraent of one of their leading
divines, " The Christianity required by the tiraes."
The first definite result of their toil in this vicinity
was the establishraent of the Edwardsburg Circuit,
in 1838, and the organization of the first Church
Society in Cassapolis. No records can be found
anterior to 1859, and it is irapossible to give the
naraes of the officers and raerabership of the Society
at its inception.
Their raeetings were held in the School and Court
House, which they shared with the Congregation
alists, Baptists and others until the completion of
their various houses of worship.

CASS COUNTY. 249
In 1846 Jacob Silver and Joshua Lofland, the
former an Episcopalian, the latter a Methodist,
erected a ChuFcITeclifice'b^n T^bwland Street for the
joint use of their own denominations and, when not
occupied by either of them, it was open to all for
religious worship.
Mr. Silver, a short time after its completion, be
came a convert to the doctrines of Swedenborg, and
a strong but unsuccessful effort was made to
organize a Society, of that sect.
In 1854 a sale was made of the building to the
"United Brethren;" William Shanafelt becoraing
responsible to Mr. Silver for his share, and a raort-
gage being taken for the reraainder by Mr. Lofland.
No payraents having been raade on the raortgage
and the Society exhibiting no prospect of financial
success, in January, 1855, upon a proposition by
Lofland to Shanafelt, the building was turned over
to the Methodists as a free gift by thera. The last
named denomination held and occupied it until 1874
when it was moved away to raake roora for a better
and raore coraraodious edifice.
The new Church was built that year at a cost of
about six thousand dollars, and dedicated Noveraber
22nd. In 186 1 the Society purchased a house and lot on
the corner of O'Keefe and York Streets which they-
still hold as a parsonage.
The pre^sent Church nurabers fortjy-eight raera
bers and the total value of its property is about
eight thousand dollars. A Sunday School, com-

250 HISTORY OF
posed of a superintendent, eleven teachers and about
ninety scholars, is connected with it.
The following is a list of clergymen who have
ministered to thera since 1838 — those joined in couples
having served together under the circuit system:
Knox and Williams, Knox and Flarrison, Jones and
Van Order, Meek and Tooker, Colins and Worth
ington, Kellogg and Eldred, Cook and Granger,
Shaw and Erkenbrack, John Erkenbrack, Horace
Plall, J. W, Robinson, T. H. Bignal, V. G. Boynton,
Isaac Abbott, P. H. Johnson, E. L. Kellogg, G. W.
Hoag, Isaac Bennett, Edgar Beard, A. G. Graham,
J. Fowler, James Webster, J. P. Force, William
Coplin, and J. W. H. Cariisle.
March 19th, 1842, agreeable to previous notice, a
meeting of those friendly to the organization of a
Presbyterian Church was held in the Court House,
The Rev. Noah M. Wells presided and delivered
an address, at the conclusion of which it was " Re
solved, That we proceed to organize in Cassapolis
a Church, on what is termed the ' accommodation
plan,' to be known as the First Presbyterian
Church." The following persons, presenting regular letters
of dismissal from pther Churches in good standing,
were duly organized into a Church, viz : Samuel F.
Anderson, Mahala Anderson, Carlos W. Baldwin,
Amelia Fuller, Margaret Sears, Eliza Ann Beck
with, Hervey Bigelow, Wells Crumb, Lucy Ann
Crumb and Susannah Hopkins.
After the organization the fbllowing persons were
admitted uppn profession of their faith, viz : Joseph

CASS COUNTY. 25 1
Harper, Caroline Harper, William F. Huyck and
Lewis C. Curtis. Hervey Bigelow and Samuel F.
Anderson were then duly elected deacons and the
meeting adjourned.
On the following day Phebe Wheeler, Harriet
Smith, Miss L. A. Hurlbut, Amos Fuller, Mathias
Weaver and Catharine Weaver were received by
letter, and William Sears, William Mansfield and
Margaret A. Mansfield, on profession of faith.
November 6th, of the same year, the Church
employed the Rev. A. S. Kedzie (now of Dowagiac)
to labor with them for six months.
July 9th, 1843, the Rev. Alfred Bryant was
engaged to minister to their spiritual wants a por
tion of his time.
February 3rd, 1844, Joseph Harper was chosen
clerk of the Church and Society and served until
June 7th, 185 1 (in person or by proxy) when the
present clerk, E. B. Warner, was elected.
In 1845 they commenced the erection of a house
of worship, but got no farther than its enclosure that
year, from lack of funds. In 1846 a Fourth of July
dinner was had in the building, for the benefit of the
building fund, and with this, increased subscription
and the sales of pews from a schedule, they were
enabled to complete and dedicate the edifice in
November of that year.
June 13th, 1855, they purchased the house and lot
on the corner of O'Keefe and State Street which
still serves as a parsonage. The present value of
their Church property is about three thousand five
hundred dollars.

252 HISTORY OF
In 1872 the Church adopted the plan of rotary
Elderships. The present Elders are S. F. Ander
son, S. B. Hadden, Dr. Alonzo Garwood, George
Mansfield and E. B. Warner.
The total raerabership since the coramenceraent of
the Church organization is two hundred and eight-
four, the present list containing sixty-five naraes of
resident raerabers. There are one hundred and one
scholars and eight teachers, exclusive of the super
intendent, in the Sunday School at the present time.
There have been employed since 1842 the follow
ing clergymen, viz: A. S. Kedzie, Alfred Bryant,
M. Harrison, Jaraes McLauren, M. Bacon, Thoraas
Jones, George C. Overhiser, Eli W. Taylor, George
H. Miles, E. B. Sherwood, A. H. Gaston, Theodore
B. Hascall and O. H. Barnard.
A Baptist Society was organized March Sth, 1862,
by the Rev. Jacob Price, with an original raeraber
ship of thirteen.
In 1 868 they coraraenced the erection of a Church
building on the east side of the public square which
was dedicated March i6th, 1869. Its cost, exclu
sive of the lot on which it stands, was about four
thousand five hundred dollars. They have as yet no
parsonage. The present nuraber of raerabers is
jthirty-five.'"Jacob Price, B. P. Russell and T. S. Wooden
have served as pastors in charge of this Church.
Mr. Wooden's engagement terminated in the spring
of 1875, since which time the Rev. O. N. Fletcher
has acted as supply, a portion of the time. E. H.
Brooks, of the Newton Theological Seminary, has

CASS COUNTY. 253
recently accepted a call and will commence his
labors next June, Providence permitting.
The first Secret Society, of which there is any
record, was a Lodge of the " Ancient and Honor
able Order of the Eclampsus Vitus," which was
instituted in the spring of 1846, with Dr. E. J.
Bonine, Laban Harter, J. P. Osborn and Dr. -L.
Osborn as charter raerabers.
The Order was in broadest burlesque of legiti-
raate secret organizations and was afterward merged-
in the " Sons of Malta," which died frora exposure
(by Frank Leslie) in the next decade.
The candidates for adraission were bound fast,
blindfolded and dragged into the hall by halters.
They were placed in the raost ludicrous positions
and required to pledge themselves to performances
and courses of conduct which, by a cunningly
devised double entendre in the wording of the
pledges, were either impossible or eminently
ridiculous. A pecuharity of human nature, which renders the
victim of a "sell " restless and unhappy until he has
inveigled others into the same meshes, insured the
rapid growth and financial prosperity of this mons
trous hoax. Nuraerous* neophites were found to
assuage the grief and soothe the wounded pride of
the earlier victiras.
A grand ball was given by the Lodge in the win
ter of 1846-7, at the Union Hotel, at which over
two hundred badges of the "Ancient and Honorable
Order" were displayed, and that, too, by raen who

254 HISTORY OF
stood among the highest in popular esteem and re
spectability. The (dis) Order collapsed in 1847, partly from
lack of raw material and partly from a growing
satiety amounting to disgust on the part of the bet
ter portion of the members, but it was successfully
resurrected in i860, under the alias of "The Broth
ers of Charity."
The second edition, although enlarged and im
proved, was of " few days and full of trouble " to all
except the charter (.'') members.
On the i6th day of January, 1847, a Dispensation
was granted by Andrew J, Clark, Grand Master, to
A. H. Redfield, George Sherwood, George B. Tur
ner, Henry R. Close, and W. G. Beckwith, author
izing the institution of Cass County Lodge, No. 21,
I. O. of O.F.
Pursuant to this the first Lodge was instituted in
the ball-room of the Cassapolis Hotel, on February
1 8th following. The first officers were:
A. H. Redfield, N. G.
George B. Turner, V. G.
George Sherwood, Secretary.
Henry R. Close, Permanent Secretary.
W. G. Beckwith, Treasurer.
Two years afterward the Lodge purchased the
south sixty feet of lot number one, block one north,
range one east, of David Histed, and remodeled the
second story of the building thereon for their use.
In 1854 they allowed it to be sold to Henry Tietsort
at Sheriff's sale, but in 1865 Mr. T. gave them a
perpetual lease of the Lodge room and approaches.

CASS COUNTY. 255
At this time the Lodge numbers thirty-nine mem
bers, and is in a sound financial condition. The
present officers are :
E. G. Black, N. G.
H. L. Barney, V. G.
Isaac Brown, Secretary.
C. E. Voorhis, Permanent Secretary.
John Hess, Treasurer.
The regular meetings are held on Saturday even
ing of each week.
May nth, 1874, Cass Encampraent, No. 74, J. O.
pfLO. F., was organized by Fayette S. Day, G. P.,
with seven raerabers. The first officers were:
R. H. Wiley, C. P.
H. H. Bidwell, H. P.
J. W. Argo, S. W.
H. Dasher, J. W.
A. P. Gaston, Scribe.
H. Tietsort, Treasurer.
The present officers are:
H. H. Bidwell, C. P.
J. W. Argo, H. P.
H. Dasher, S. W.
Charles Morgan, Scribe.
H. Teitsort, Treasurer.
Its raerabership is twenty<)ne, and regular meet
ings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of
each month.
In 1848 a Division of the Sons of Temperance was
organized which flourished for two or three years,
but, as all records and papers were returned at its

256 HISTORY OF
disbandment, I have been unable to obtain statistics
of the extent or permanency of its work.
A Union of the Daughters' of Teraperance was
run in connection with the Division.
The first raeeting of resident Free and Accepted
Masons was held in the Union Hotel, June 12th, 1852.
A petition for a dispensation to forra a Lodge at
this place was prepared and a prelirainary organiza
tion effected.
The first officers were Jaraes M. Spencer, W. M. ;
Asa Kingsbury, S. W., and.E. B. Sherraan, J. W.
The Lodge was naraed Backus, in honor of Grand
Master Backus.
The first raeeting under a dispensation was held
in the Odd Fellows' Hall, July 9th, 1852, which
hall they occupied until, in April, i860, they raoved
into Kingsbury's Hall, where they reraained until
January ist, 1876. Their present Lodge roora is in
Chapman's building, in the center of the brick block
on the public square.
They own no real estate. The value of their
regalia and appurtenances is about two hundred and
fifty dollars.
Regular meetings are held on the Friday evening
on or before the full of the moon of each month.
The nuraber of raerabers now in good standing
is s^Vehty^five) The present officers are:
Jo^Co\^mi W. M.
Jaraes H. Farnura, S. W.
S. S. Chapraan, J. W.
I. V. Sherraan, Treasurer.
William Jones, Secretary.

CASS COUNTY. 257
W. H. Mansfield, S, D.
H. Messenger, J. D.
Robert George, Tiler.
Kingsbury Chapter, No. 78, Royal Arch Masons,
was organized March loth, 1871, and named in
honor of Asa Kingsbury. The first oflficers were :
Isaac A. Shingledecker, H. P.
Asa Kingsbury, K.
Charles W. Clisbee, S.
James H. Farnura, C. of H.
Henry Tietsort, P. S.
George T. Shaffer, R. A. C.
Samuel Stephenson, M. 3d V.
Jonas Mechling, M. of 2d V.
Amos Smith, M. ist V. and Secretary.
Williara Condon, Treasurer.
L. D. Thorapkins, Guard.
The present officers are:
Jaraes H. Farnura, H. P.
Asa Kingsbury, K.
Levi J. Reynolds, S.
Williara J. Kelsey, C. of H.
George T. Shaffer, P. S.
Samuel Stephenson, R. A. C.
William E. Bogue, M. 3d V.
A. J. Tallerday, M. 2d V.
Henry C. Westfall, M. ist V.
WiUiara Condon, Treasurer.
Joel Cowgill, Secretary.
L. D. Thompkins, Guard.
The present membership is twenty-four. Regular
—17

258 HISTORY OF
convocations are held on the Tuesday on or after
the full of the raoon, in each raonth, at one o'clock p.
M., in Masonic Hall.
A Lodge of the Independent Order of Good
Teraplars was instituted about the year 1852 and
existed several years, but no records of its transac
tions or history are now available. It was ter
rainafed by the absconding of its Treasurer with the
Society funds.
August 15th, 1865, a second Lodge of the same
Order was organized which lasted until 1869.
Septeraber 20th, 1870, a raeeting was held in the
dental office of Jaraes M. Shepard to take the pre
liminary steps in organizing a public Reading Room,
Subsequent meetings were held in C. W. Clisbee's
office and the Presbyterian Church, and October 14th
a permanent organization was effected at the latter
place, under the name of the Cassopolis Reading
Room and Library Association.
Rooms were procured over Peck & Maginnis'
store, periodicals and newspapers subscribed for, and
the nucleus of a Library formed by private contri
butions and purchase.
The Society was incorporated February nth,
1 87 1, under an act of the Legislature, by W. W.
Peck, William P. Bennett, Charles S. Wheaton,
John F. Stevens, A. Garwood, A. B. Morley, A.
Maginnis, H. Norton, O. Rudd, M. L. Howell, J.
Tietsort, Jaraes M. Shepard, L. H. Glover and J. B.
Boyd. An Open Reading Roora was maintained through
the sumraer and fall of 187 1.

CASS COUNTY. 259
March ist, 1871, the Society, secured a large hall
over Mcllvain's store, fitted it up with stage,
scenery and seats, and have occupied it ever since.
The principal revenues of the Association have
been derived frora public entertainraents, which are
deservedly well patronized, and the regular dues of its
members — no donations of money have ever, been
solicited or loans negotiated.
At present the Library contains over five hundred
voluraes carefully selected and well preserved.
The first newspaper in Cassapolis was the Cass
County Advocate,, which was started March nth,
1845, by E. A. Graves. It was Democratic in
politics. In_ October, 1846, it was sold to Abram
Townsend, but did not prove a financial success and,
in 1850, it fell into the hands of Ezekiel Smith who
removed it to Dowagiac in 1851.
In 1846 one O. V. H. McKinney published a
small paper called the Literary Ne-ws, It was, a
scurrilous sheet devoted to petty gossip and slander
ous personalities and proved to be short lived and
unremunerative The National DemQcrat was established March
17th, 1850, by a Stock Corapany, with George B.
Turner, editor, and H. C. Shurter, publisher. It
was sold to G. S. Bouton in 1854, who transferred it
to W. W. Van Antwerp, Septeraber 5th, 1854.
Daniel Blackraari edited it several years for Mr. Van
Antwerp. In 1858 it was resold to the original
Stock Corapany, who eraployed Blackraan to edit
and H. B. Shurter to publish it.
It was next sold by the Sheriff in 1861 to Messrs.

26o HISTORY OF
Norton, Howell and Smith, who transferred it to L.
D. Smith, under whose management it was issued
during the first two years of the war, but in March,
1863, it again fell into the hands of the stockholders,
and was edited by Major Smith and published by C.
C. Allison, until May 5th, when it was purchased
by the latter gentleman, who has retained it ever
.since. In politics it has always been all that its name im-
ples. Its present circulation is seven hundred and
twenty copies.
The Cassopolis Vigilant was started on the
1 6th day of May, 1872, by D. B. Harrington and
M. H. Barber, On the '28th of Febrnary, 1873, it
was sold to C. L. Morton and W. H. Mansfield,
and in July, of the sarae year, Mr. Mansfield bought
Morton's interest and has continued the publication
ever since. The paper was enlarged from twenty-
eight to thirty-two columns by Morton & Mansfield.
It has always been Republican in politics, and has
a circulation of seven hundred and sixty-eight copies.
The mechanical work of this book was executed
at this oflSce, and of its character I leave the
reader to judge
Asa Kingsbury opened a banking office in June,
1855, and in May, 1871, organized the First Na
tional Bank, with a capital stock of fifty thousand
dollars. . The connecting vowel used in compounding the
name of the village has been changed, by general
consent, from a to 0 and the uniform spelling at pres
ent is Cassopolis. This change is of comparatively

CASS COUNTY. 26 1
recent date — the National Dernocrat making the
substitution in 1865— and is without appreciable rea
son, excepting, perhaps, a fancied improvement in
euphonism. There are, within the present corporate hraits,
about one thousand inhabitants, twenty-two business
houses, handling the variety of goods, implements,
etc., usually to be found in country villages, two
printing offices, one planing mill, one foundry and
machine shop, one wooden bowl factory, two hotels,
three raeat raarkets, and one livery stable.
The professions are represented by _two^ clergy
men, eight practicing lawyers, six physicians, and
three dentists.
The amount invested in merchandise is eighty-
three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, and
the annual sales aggregate two hundred and ten
thousand dollars. 
Cassopolis is noted as a|radical temperance town,
and, during the life of the Prohibitory Law, it was
one of the very few places in the State where the
open sale of intoxicating liquors was persistently-
prevented. Since the foregoing was in print, I have learned that a Universalist
minister, by the name of George R. Brown, came to Cassapolis in the
winter of 1835-6, and remained about a year, when he abandoned th«
charge for want of support. He would, therefore, rank as the first set
tled clergyman.

DOWAGIAC.
' Dowagiac, located in the corners of Pokagon,
Silver Creek, Wayne, and La Grange Townships,
upon a sraall but industrious stream, from which it
derives its name, is essentially a village of to-day.
Born of the Michigan Central Railroad, and nour
ished by an enterprising agricultural district, rarely
surpassed for fertility or improveraent, its growth
and prosperity have been rapid and substantial.
It has had no pioneering experience to record,
and no serious reverses or stand-stills. Its history
is seen in its buildings and raanufactories, its
thronged streets, bustling traders, and busy artisans;
its araple school and Church facilities, and the en
terprise, public spirit, and that general young
Araericanisra of its people, which has set the wise
heads of its drows}' neighbors to nodding in prophesy
of financial disasters not yet realized.
In short it is a wide-awake, go-ahead, raake or
break. Western burg; an honor to the County and
an example deserving imitation by its elder sisters.

CASS COUNTY. 263
In 1847 Nicholas Cheeseborough, of the cele
brated Morgan abduction case notoriety, was em
ployed by the Michigan Central Railroad Company
to procure the right of way frora Kalamazoo to
Niles. As soon as the location of the depot sites was
determined at headquarters, he associated with hira
self Jacob Beeson, of Niles, and together they
purchased (in Mr. Beeson's narae) the northeastern
eighty acres in Pokagon Township and soon after
had it platted in village lots.
They dealt liberally with the Railroad Corapany,
donating a right of way through their purchase,
with spacious depot grounds, a portion of which was
set aside as a public park.
Soon after this Patrick Harailton and D. McOra-
ber, who owned the adjacent land in Silver Creek
and Wayne, raade additions to the plat from their
farms. The first goods kept for sale were supplies for the
railroad employees, furnished by the contractors, E.
H. Fettiplace and A. Kendall. A. C. Balch next
brought in a small stock of groceries, for the same
market, but the first assortment of general raerchan
dise was that of E. S. & Joel H. Sraith, of Cassapohs.
This firra erected a sraall frarae building on Front
street, in February, 1847, which^ with the goods
and business interest, was put in charge of M. T.
Garvey, who raay justly claim to be the pioneer
trader of Dov/agiac.
' Joel H. Smith took up his residence here in the fol
lowing November, and his brother, Ezekiel, carae a

264 HISTORY OF
year or two later. Their first building soon proving
too small for the business, they put up a larger one
on the adjoining lot. Isaac S. Bull bought the
abandoned shell and converted it into a tavern, un
der the name of the Railroad House.
The first postmaster was A. C. Balch, who served
but a short time, and was succeeded by M. T.
Garvey. The latter was also the first resident
Justice of the Peace.
The first birth in the new village was that of a
son to the Civil Engineer of the Railroad Division, a
Pplish exile, Huliniski by narae.
The proprietors of the town gave to this baby
boy a village lot, the first they deeded to any person.
The first daughter born was the present Mrs.
Greenleaf, nee Ware, who still resides here.
The first funeral was the burial of Bogue
Williams, who was buried near the present site of
the Union School building.
As was stated at the coramenceraent of this
chapter, Dowagiac had little or no pioneer history.
Frora its very inception it was apparent to all that
it was destined to become an important coraraercial
point at no distant day, and business raen and ar
tisans hastened to secure suitable locations to take
advantage of its assured prosperity.
Perhaps as concise a detailed description of the
village in 1850 as can be given, is found in the foh
lowing extracts from an historical discourse delivered
by the Rev. A. S. Kedzie, at the quarter centennial
anniversary of the organization of the Congrega
tional Church, July 9th, 1875:

CASS COUNTY. 265
" How much of a village was visible to the naked
eye twenty-five years ago.^ Beginning with the
central germ of the village, there was the depot, the
old passenger house, recently removed, half of it
was used as a residence. Near it was the freight
house, since improved. Where is the " Mineral
Spring House " was a two story hotel, kept by A.
J. Wares and called the " Dowagiac House." In
the rear of it was a blacksraith shop kept by Parker
Holmes and standing near where Mrs. Stebbins re
sides. On the corner where is J. T. Foster's shoe
store, was the " Railroad House " kept by Isaac S.
Bull; first built for a store by Joel H. Smith, who soon
after built bigger on the next lot. Gilman C, Jones
in company with Lybrook & Lofland who came here
from Cassopolis, built and occupied a brick store on
Front street near Cooper & Mosher's. This first
brick building has since been burned down. The
second brick building is where Marshal Henderson
lives. G. W. Clark kept store on Front street.
Mr. N. Bock kept hotel at his present stand. West
of him on the sarae side of the street were seven
houses, reaching up to where Horace Jones lives.
Horace Mott, well-digger, had a shanty where T.
T. Stebbins lives. Strawther Bowling had a shoe
shop on Front street. There were two houses north
of Mr. Bock's hotel. One of the earliest built
houses was what was called the " Cataract House."
It stood on the lots where Mr. Stoft" lives — is yet
standinsT, thousfh divided into house and barn. It
was built as a boarding house for railroad hands.
In it the Postoffice was first kept and in it was the

266 HISTORY OF
first (regular) preaching. The School house built
In 1850, stood where now is the Methodist Church.
It was since removed, and now stands on the lot this
side of Mr. Harwood's, occupied by Mr. Parker.
* -X- * -» * -^ -»
The business done here in those early days may be
suramed up in this: — After the depot was located at
this point, Ezekiel S. and Joel H. Sraith, who traded at
Cassopolis, established a branch store here, under
the charge of Joel H. Sraith. This was the first store
opened here for general trade; though Fettiplace &
Kendal, builders of th^ Freight House, had goods in
the house now occupied by Mrs. Brazier, kept
chiefly 'for the accoraraodation of their hands. G. C.
Jones, Lybrook & Lofland, raerchants ; G. W. Clark,
raerchant; Wells H. Atwood, raerchant, being suc
cessor of Joel H. Sraith; Balch & Fettiplace, grocers;
Nicholas Bock, A. J. Wares and I. S. Bull kept'
taverns; John Rogers, Parker Holmes and Daniel
Poor did the blacksmithing; Milton Hull sawed
luraber; Erastus H. Spaulding run the upper one of
Mr. Colby's raills, and, with Frank Spaulding, kept
store near where now is the raanufactory of H.
Bigelow & Sons; S. Bowling had a shoe shop near
where the National Bank now stands ; Israel Becraft,
Marvin Pond, John Parker and H. C. Hurlbeck
were carpenters; Sarauel Sherideri and Nicholas
Johnson raade shoes; Arad Balch, and after hira M.
T. Garvey, kept the Postoffice; Drs. Barnura, Ray
mond and Brayton looked after the sick in those sick
ly times; David Gibbs was teamster; Gideon Arnold,
laborer; Mr. Kendal kept a boarding house; Charles

CASS COUNTY. 267
Wood, and after him William Bannard, were rail
road agents."
In 1852 a virulent form of typhoid fever raged as
an epidemic, carrying off one-thirteenth of the total
population. At one time there were not well ones
enough to care for the sick, or even to prepare their
food, and it was necessary to send to adjacent towns
tor aid. Many patients were reraoved frora the
village for nursing and care, while others were too
sick to be removed, or had no place within reach to
which they could go. Of the thirteen first attacked,
all died save two — Henry Michael and Julia Bull.
Out of nearly every house some died and one entire
family, (Mr. Cone's) consisting of four persons, was
swept away.
This gave the locality an undesirable reputation
for unhealthiness, but did not seriously check its
advanceraent. In 1855-6, thanks to an active agitation of the
subject by Mrs. Lippincott, (Grace Greenwood),
many shade trees were set out on the Park and
along the principal streets, which, to-day, form the
chief . attractive feature in the village landscape.
In 1856 a large frame school house was built, but
¦ it was destroyed by fire in 1858 and replaced by the
present brick Union School building in 186 1. In
1864 a fine Ward School was added and, at present,
the estimated value of school buildings, apparatus
and fixtures is thirty thousand dollars. The nuraber
of scholars enrolled' is five hundred and twenty,
with an average attendance of four hundred and
thirty.

268 HISTORY OF
The village was incorporated by an act of the
Board of Supervisors, February 3rd, 1858.
At the first election, held at the house pf Nicholas
Bock, Justus Gage was chosen President; H. Bige
low, Azro Jones, J. H. Smith, D. Larzelere, A.
Townsend and I. Brownell, Trustees; R. C. Denni
son and E. Jewell, Assessors; H. C. Lybrook,
Treasurer, D. H. Wagner; Clerk, John Letts;
Street Comraissioners, F. G. Larzelere, J. A. Lee,
and C. B. Foster; Poundraaster, M. Amidon.
During this winter there was an epidemic of scar
let fever which proved very fatal. The same
disease exhibited itself with similar results in 1870.
At each of these times some thirty children died
from the malady.
In January, 1863, and again in January, 1864,
destructive fires swept through the business blocks
on Front and Commercial streets, leaving vacancies
which were speedily filled with substantial brick
buildings. Riverside Cemetery, beautifully located on a rise
of ground south of the corporation, was laid out in
1872, and contains twenty-two acres. It is being
rapidly improved and embellished, and compares
favorably with the burial places of other correspond
ing villages. Its present value is about two thou'
sand six hundred dollars.
In July, 1848, the Rev. Jacob Price preached tbe
flrst sermon ever delivered in Dowagiac, in the
Michigan Central Railroad freight house, which was
then inclosed but unfinished. The services were
held in the forenoon, and a goodly congregation, in

CASS COUNTY. 269
point of numbers, assembled from the village and
surrounding country.
The next religious services were conducted by
the Rev. Richard C. Meek, a Methodist Circuit
Rider, who preached at stated intervals in the ball
room of the Railroad House.
In the summer of 1848 a Met^hodist Society was
organized at this place. They afterward held their
meetings in comraon with other denominations, in
the School House. The records of their early
struggles are not to be found.
In 1859 they erected and dedicated their present
Church building, and soon after purchased a par
sonage. The value of their property is about six thousand
dollars. The present membership is one hujxdred
jmd^three A Sabbath School is connected with
the charge, but I have been unable to obtain its
statistics. July 9th, 1850, a Congregational Society was or
ganized, at the residence of Patrick Hamilton, by-
Rev. S. S. Brown, an agent of the Connecticut Do
mestic Missionary Society, with twelve members.
Milton Hull and Edward Cowles were the first
Deacons ordained in the Church. They worshiped
in the School House and Baptist Church, until, in
1855, they commenced the erection of a' Church
edifice, which was dedicated in the spring of 1856.
Since its organization there have been admitted to
membership some two hundred and fifty persons.
The present roll numbers si.xty resident members.
A flourishing Sabbath SchodlpKaving a membership

270 HISTORY OF
of over two hundred, is connected with the Church.
The following is a list of clergymen who have
ministered to this congregation since their organiza
tion: S. S. Brown, Thomas Jones, L. F. Waldp, N.
H. Barnes, T. C. Hill, T. W. Jpnes, H. Cherry, E.
H. Rice, D. W. Comstock, E. F. Strickland, H. H.
Morgan, and A. S. Kedzie.
Deacon Hull is the sole resident survivor of the
original raerabership.
A- Baptist Society was organized by the Rev. S.
H. D. Vaughn in the sumraer of 185 1. They irarae
diately set about building a house of worship, which
was corapleted and dedicated in the following year.
At present they have no settled pastor, and I have
been unable to find any records of their past trans
actions. They have a resident raerabership of about
forty. The Universalist Church Society was organized
by Rev. D. P. Liverraore, Deceraber i8th, 1858.
On January 5th, 1859, an election of Trustees was
held, at which the following raerabers were chosen:
¦ D. M. Heazlitt, G. S. Wilbur, Justus Gage, J. H.
Sraith, John Gage, and G. C. Jones. These in turn
selected as officers, D. M. Heazlitt, Chairraan; Jus
tus Gage, Clerk, and G. C. Jones, Treasurer.
Five days afterward it was resolved " to raise
three thousand dollars by subscription for the pur
pose of building a house of worship," which was
done, and the building corapleted the sarae year.
The present value of the Church property is five
thousand dollars.
In connection with the Church is a prosperous

CASS COUNTY. 27 I
Sabbath School, having seventy-five scholars iri at
tendance. P. D. Beckwith has occupied the Super
intendent's chair for ten successive years.
The following is a list of rainisters eraployed since
the organization: A. G. Hibbard, J. Straub, A. W.
Bruce, Asa Countryman, H. Hersey, G. W. Har
mon, J. S. Fall, and H. Slade.
Revs. Hargrave, Chaplin, Gage, and others have
served as supplies during temporary vacancies.
Justus Gage acted as Clerk until his death, in 1875.
The first secret society of which there is any
record, was the Dowagiac Lodge, No. 57, I. O. of
O. F., which was instituted September 12th, 185 1,
by G. B. Turner, Deputy Grand Master, assisted by
H. Tietsort, A Wood, D. A. Clews, and S. V.
Tietsort, of Cass County Lodge, No. 21. The
charter members were J. W. Maitland, W. G.
Wiley, E. Ballengee, D. H. Wagner, E. A. Allen,
C. A. Mills, K. B. Miller, and M. L. Pond. The
first officers were:
J. W. Maitland, N. G.
W. G. Wiley, V. G.
K. B. Miller, Secretary.
E. Ballengee, Treasurer.
D. H. Wagner, Warden.
M. L. Pond, Conductor.
The present officers are:
Thomas Henwood, N. G.
G. W. Denyes, V. G.
G. B. Crawford, Secretary.
R. Watson, Treasurer.
T. J. Rice, Perraanent Secretary.

272 HISTORY OF
The present number of members is sixty. The
Lodge owns the hall which it occupies, which, with
the regalia, etc., is valued at one thousand five hun
dred dollars.
Olive Wreath Encampment, No. 50, was insti
tuted April 13th, 1 87 1, by D. G. Palmer, G. P., and
F. S. Day, G. S., assisted by J. H. Hollenbeck, J.
McKinney, and others, of Monitor Encampment, of
Lawton, The charter members were H. Michael,
B. E. Coon, R. H. Wiley, J. H. Cullom, N. B.
Crawford, W. O. Van Hise, and. W. H. Debolt.
The first officers were:
H. Michael, C. P.
R. H. Wiley, H. P.
N. B. Crawford, S. W.
J. H. Cullom, Scribe.
W. O. Van Hise, Treasurer.
B. E. Coon, J. W.
W. H. Debolt, J. S.
The present officers are:
C. H. Brownell, C. P.
T. J. Rice, H. P.
A. E. Bacon, S. W.
H. Michael, Scribe.
R. Watson, Treasurer.
H. W. Snider, J. W.
W. W. Bates, J. S.
The present raerabership is twenty-two. The
meetings are held in the Subordinate Lodge room.
Dowagiac Lodge, No. 10, F. and A. M., was
organized January nth, 1855, with the following
officers :

CASS COUNTY'. 273
A. M. Worden, M.
George Shrackenhast, S. W.
E. H. Foster, J. W-
D. H. Wagner, Secretary.
S. M. Spencer, Treasurer.
 Dickson, S. D.
P. B. Holmes, J. D.
No Tiler elected.
The nuraber of raerabers at the time of organiza
tion cannot be ascertained. The officers for 1875
were :
A. H. Mason, M.
D. McOmber, S: W.
Thomas Keatley, J. W.
S. C. Doolittle, S. D.
M. S. Snyder, J. D.
Enos Chappell, Secretary.
C. B. Northrup, Tiler.
The present raerabership is between eighty and
ninety. They rent a lodge roora.
Key Stone Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M., was
organized, under a Dispensation, Noveraber 12th,
1864, with
I. A. Shingledecker, H. P.
Jaraes M. Spencer, K.
Hubbell Warner, Scribe
A. N. Alward, C. H.
Henry Tietsort, P. S.
WiUiara Houser, R. A C.
Joel Andrews, M. 3rd V.
D. C. Marsh, M. 2nd V.
H. C. Parker, M. ist V.
A. N. Alward, Sentinel.
—18

274 HISTORY OF
The first regular meeting, under a charter, was in
February, 1865. The present officers are:
D. W. Clemmer, H. P.
Arthur Smith, K.
Thomas Rix, Scribe.
A. H. Mason, Treasurer,
Charles Starrett, C. H.
O. M. Sherwood, P. S.
T. J. Edwards, R. A. C.
C. L. Sherwood, M. 3rd V.
E. O. Adams, M. 2nd V.
D. Henderson, M. ist V.
L. S. Henderson, Sentinel.
The present raerabership is fifty-six and, in com
raon -with the Peninsular Lodge, they own property
to the araount of four thousand dollars.
Peninsular Lodge, No. 214, F. and A. M., was
organized November 19th, 1866, with ten charter
members. The first officers were ;
Arthur Smith, M.
E. O. Adams, S. W.
Thomas Shidler, J. W.
Ambrose Thomas, Treasurer.
Charles Fletcher, Secretary.
D. W. Clemmer, S. D.
C. R. Miller, J. D.
A. H. Reed, Tiler.
The present officers are:
O. M. Sherwood, M.
T. J. Edwards, S. W.
S. H. Lee, J. W.
D. W. Clemraer, Treasurer.

CASS COUNTY. 275
B. L. Dewey, Secretary.
John Crawford, S. D.
E. Gale, J. D.
L. S. Henderson, Tiler.
With a raerabership of sixty-eight.
Dowagiac Council, No. 28, was organized Janu
ary 17th, 1870, with
Rev. J. Boyinton, T. I. G. M.
E. T. Avery, Deputy T. I. G. M.
D. W. Clera.raer, P. C. O. W.
R. C. Osborn, Treasurer.
C. L. Sherwood, Recorder.
George Miller, C. O. G.
Charles Starrett, C. O. W.
A. H. Reed, Sentinel.
They now have twenty-nine members.
The Ladies' Library Association was organized
in April, 1872. It is a chartered corporation of
about two hundred members, has a well furnished
room, which is open one day in each week. The
library contains about six hundred voluraes, valued
at two thousand dollars. The books are freely- used
by the members, but a rental of ten cents per week
is charged to outsiders. The raerabership fee is one
dollar, and annual tax the sarae.
The officers are appointed by a Board of Di
rectors, who, in turn, are elected by the Association
for three years. The present officers are:
Mrs. Willis Farr, President.
Mrs. F. J. Atwell, Vice President.
Mrs. C. J. Greenleaf, Secretary.
Mrs. C. L. Sherwood, Treasurer.

276 HISTORY OF
Some of the leading business enterprises of Dowa
giac are deserving of more than a passing mention.
Conspicuous among these is the Stove and Seed
Drill Manufactory of P. D. Beckwith.
In 1854 Mr. Beckwith bought out a small raachine
shop and furnace of one Davis, which he enlarged
into a general jobbing shop and operated it so suc
cessfully- that, four years afterward, he was able to
build a new one, on the bank of the creek. Here
he coramenced the raanufacture of the " Roller
Drill." To John S. Gage, of Wayne, belongs the credit of
the invention of this very popular agricultural
irapleraent. It was suggested to hira by hearing an
Englishraan explain the process, in use in some parts
of England, of dibbling in wheat by hand, which
raethod largely increased the yield.
Mr. Gage, readily coraprehending the advantage
of this raanner of planting, set his wits to work to
devise a machine that should accomplish the same
thing. The result is the Roller Drill " consisting of
a series of V shaped rollers, that make a furrow in
which the wheat is planted, followed by a series of
followers that cover the grain."
Mr. Beckwith has materially improved it in many
parts until it is as nearly perfect as any machinery
now used on the farra. One hundred have been
manufactured annually for a nuraber of years and
raay be found in every wheat growing State in the
Union. It is the only drill of like character raanufactured
in the United States and, strange to say, the patent

CASS COUNTY. 277
upon which it is based has never been infringed.
In 1867 the present comraodious establish
ment was completed, and Mr. Beckwith added
to his business the manufacture of heavy iron
heating stoves of his own invention which are
growing in popularity and rapidly coming into
general use.
The Basket Factory of Jones, Gibbs & Co. is a
mammoth institution of its kind, employing from
thirty to forty hands. They make use of fort}-
seven separate patents in the raanufacture of stave
baskets. Colby's Mills ship over twenty thousand barrels of
flour annually to non-wheat growing regions, and,
with several other business features of the village,
might be profitably described at length did space
permit. The Shoe Drill Works occupy the shop on the
creek formerly owned by Mr. Beckwith. The
works are superintended by Mr. Tuttle, the patentee
ofthis popular drill. The firra of Warner & Tuttle
also manufacture Cullom's plaster sower and do a
general jobbing business.
In 1856 PI. B. Denman opened the first banking
office in the village, and in 1865 organized the pre
sent First National Bank, with a capital stock of
fifty thousand dollars. He reraained until 1869,
when a controlling interest in the last named institu
tion was purchased by the Lyle Brothers and others,
who are its present raanagers.
C. T. Lee commenced to do a brokerage business
in 1867, and in November, 1875, opened an exchange

78

HISTORY OF

bank, in one of the raost elegant banking rooms to
be found in the State.
Below will be found a partial statement of the
raercantile business for last year. Sorae lines are
oraitted at the request of parties interested, and some
trom the lack of trustworthy statistics:

AMT. INVESTED. AMT. OP SALES.

Dry Goods and Cloth

ing, ^

575,000

$203,000

Hardware,

27,000

66,000

Drugs,

11,000

24,000

Groceries,

22,800

107,000

Boots and Shoes,

16,000
52,000
Furniture,
19,500
28,500
Photograph Gallery,
1,500
3,000
Colby's Mills,
50,000
175,000
Basket Factory,
45,000
Planing Mills,
13,000
15,000
Saw Mill and Handle
Factory,
7,000
4,800
Marble Yard,
.3>5oo
15,000
Livery Stables,
6,000
Stove and Drill Works,
Drill and Plaster Sower Works,-
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
This Society was organized in 1850 or 1851, the
exact date of which I have been unable to deter-
mine as the records of its early doings are not to be
found. The second annual raeeting, according to
the National Democrat,, was held in Cassopolis,
March 1st, 1852. At this raeeting Justus Gage was
elected President; Joseph Smith, Treasurer; G. B.
Turner, Secretary, and D. M. Howell, Correspond
ing Secretary.
For a number of years they held fairs on Sarauel
Graham's land, and in 1857 bought of Andrew
Woods ten acres of land for a fair ground where the
Air Line depot now stands. With the advent of
the Peninsular Railroad, which ran through the
grounds, a sale became necessary, the purchaser
being S. T. Read. A new ground was bought of
C. H. Kingsbury, since known as the Chicago pro
perty, but they had hardly got settled -in their new
quarters when the Air Line Railroad came through
necessitating another change, and in May, 187 1,

28o HISTORY OF
they bought the present tract of twenty acres of
land for three thousand dollars, of Samuel Graham.
The changes have been a sad detriment to the
financial condition of the Society, as they were each
time made at a loss, and a consequent depression
that alraost invariably follows anything that gets on
the downward grade, however raeritorious it may
be of itself or important to the general welfare of
the public. The grounds and buildings are valued
at four thousand dollars. The present officers are:
J. Boyd Thomas, President; Hirara Hadsell, Treas
urer, and Charles L. Morton, Secretary, with a
director from each Township in the County.

CASS COUNTY IN THE WAR.
The first company raised for the suppression of
the rebellion was organized on the i8th day of May,
1 86 1, at Dowagiac, and was the twenty-seventh
company organized in the State. It was coraposed
of one hundred men, with the following officers : D.
McOmber, Captain ; Williara R. S. Townsend, First
Lieutenant; N. PI. DeFoe, Second Lieutenant: and
Luraan Roberts, Orderly Sergeant. They reraained
in Barracks at Dowagiac six weeks, and were as
signed to the Fourth Regiraent of Infantry, then
organizing at Adrain, but soon after were changed
to the Sixth Regiraent, and ordered to report at
Kalaraazoo ; and iraraediately afterward the privates
were ordered to disband and the officers be sent to a
military school at Detroit.
Both these orders the company protested against,
and sent R. C. Dennison and Lieutenant Townsend
to Governor Blair to get him to recind them, which
was of no avail.

282 HISTORY OF
At the start the corapany was enlisted for three
raonths, but when inforraed that no raore raen were
wanted for that length of tirae, every raan put his
narae down for three years.
When the Governor refused to grant their peti
tion, they in turn refused to coraply with his require-
raents, and were disbanded, with the understanding
that they should corae together at the call of their
officers. About the raiddle of June, the officers made an
arrangement for the acceptance of the company into
the Douglas Brigade, then forraing at Chicago,
when they were called together, and by a unaniraous
vote resolved to go. Upon an application to the
Governor they were refused transportation, but the
citizens clubbed together and furnished tearas and
wagons by which the boys were carried to Berrien
Springs, frora whence they were transported in
boats. On their arrival at Chicago, they found neither
regiraent or brigade, but a full line of officers that
were working to get a regiraent accepted, who in
forraed thera that they could stay at the public
expense or go home, subject to call, and it being
near haying and har\'esting, after remaining three
days, they returned home.
Imraediately after the first Bull Run defeat, the
Douglas Brigade was accepted, and the company
called together and mustered into the United States
service at Dowagiac on the 26th of July, by Captain
Webb, United States mustering officer, as Company
E of the Forty-second Regiment of Illinois Volun-

CASS COUNTY. 283
teers, and went to Chicago the sarae evening, where
they reraained ten weeks, during which tirae McOra-
ber, through the intrigue of Townsend, was super
seded by D. W. Norton, of Chicago, as Captain.
Frora Chicago the Corapany went to St. Louis
and joined Fremont's army, and took part in his
Springfield campaign.
In the spring of 1862, they took part in the cap
ture of Island Number Ten. Frora thence they
went to Corinth and Covington, under Grant, and
participated in the battle of Chickamauga, where
they lost a nuraber of their raen. They also partici
pated in the siege of Chattanooga, Lookout Moun
tain, Mission Ridge, and frora thence to Knoxville,
under Sherraan, where they re-enlisted as veterans.
In 1864 they went through to Atlanta with Sher
raan, and returned to Nashville under Thoraas, and
participated in the battle of that place.
In 1865 they went to Texas and reraained until
disbanded. Araong those that arose frora the ranks to that of
coraraissioned officers were: E. Hurson, to First
Lieutentant; Williara Clark, to the same rank;
Leonard Norton, to that of Captain; William H.
Colburn, to the same; and Charles Munger, to that
of First Lieutenant.
I have followed this Company somewhat in detail
through its various campaigns, to give sorae general
idea of the part they took in the war, and as the ex
periences of the others were rauch the sarae, and
the hraited space I have to devote to the subject, is
the only apology for not treating thera all in full.

284 HISTORY OF
The next Company was that of D, in the
Michigan Sixth, organized at Dowagiac, with
Charles E. Clark as Captain; Frederick Clark and
James Ellis, First and Second Lieutenants, and
Williara H. Gage, Orderly Sergeant. Of these
Captain Clark arose to the position of Colonel; Ehis
to Captain, and Gage to Lieutenant. Frederick
Clark was killed on the Mississippi River at Port
Hudson, and W. W. Mcllvain was proraoted from
the position of Corporal to the rank of First Lieut
enant. At the time, of organization the officers of
the regiment were sent to Detroit to a military
school where they remained under instruction six
weeks. In August, 1 861, the regiment was sent to Balti-
raore and reraained six raonths guarding the city;
from thence they went to Virginia where they
remained but a short time, and then were sent to
Ship Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, where they were
drilled thirty days. Their first active service was in
taking the forts at the raouth of the Mississippi
River, and to this regiment belongs the credit of es
corting the National colors into New Orleans. From
this point they went to Baton Rouge, from thence
to Vicksburg and re-enlisted as veterans at Port
Hudson. They remained in the South during the
entire war and were sent back to Kalaraazoo to
disband. The third was Company A, of the Michigan
Twelfth, organized at Niles, with Joseph Harper as
Captain ; William Van Riper and M. M. McClellen,
First and Second Lieutenants, in the .spring of 1862.

CASS COUNTY. 285
Their first raove was to Pittsburg Landing, frora
thence to Boliver, Tenn., where they were employed
in guarding the railroad for some tirae, then they
were sent to Vicksburg, after its surrender, and
from thence to Arkansas, where they stayed through
the remainder of the war. Araong those that arose
from the ranks to that of commissioned officers from
this County, were William Stevens and Robert Fox.
Company M, of Michigan First Cavalry, organized
at Detroit, by Colonel Broadhead, went frora this
County with R. C. Dennison, Captain; Charles
Sprague and William M. Heazlitt, First and Second
Lieutenants, and D. W. Clemmer, Orderly Sergeant.
William M. Heazlitt was promoted to the position
of Major, as was also D. W. Clemraer; S. G. Morse
to that of Second Lieutenant, and was killed at the
second Bull Run; R. N. Van Alter to Second Lieut
enant ; Albert Vincent to the sarae rank, and died in
prison at Andersonville; P. T. Bently to the sarae
rank, and was killed at Thoroughfare Gap; Jaraes
McElheney to the sarae rank, and was killed at
Gettysburg; John H. Simmons to the rank of First
Lieutenant, and the following to that of Second
Lieutenants: L. C. Roberts, L. D. T. Poor, H. B.
B.nbcock and C. B. Bateraan. The regiraent served
nearly through the entire war in Virginia, and at
the close was sent to Texas.
Corapany A, of the Ninth Michigan, which was
organized at Dowagiac in Septeraper, 1862, with
Joel H. Sraith as Captain; George Shafter, First
and Reuben Larzelere, Second Lieutenants, and I. Z.

286 HISTORY OF
Edwards, Orderly Sergeant. Their first war ex
perience was at Gravel Pit, on the Ohio River,
where the regiraent was stationed to protect the
country frora Morgan's raids, which, at that time,
were becoming too numerous for the comfort of the
inhabitants. From here they went to Covington Ky., where
they were brigaded with Indiana and Wisconsin
troops, and imraediately marched into the interior,
arriving at Lexington in the latter part of the year.
In January, 1863, they were ordered to Nashville,
Tennessee, where they were re-armed with Enfield
rifles. The regiraent reraained in Tennessee until
Sherman's celebrated " march to the sea," in which
they participated. George Shaffer was promoted
from a Lieutenant to that of Colonel, and I. Z.
Edwards, H. J. Ohls, William Kirkwood and
William Slipper, to that of Second Lieutenant,
About one-half of Corapany M, of the Fourth
Michigan Cavalry, was raised in this County, under
Captain Plirapton, of Niles, and Lieutenant Beats, of
Dowagiac. The laurels this regiraent won, in the
capture of Jeff. Davis, will be reraerabered as long as
the raeraory of the rebellion lasts, and to the credit of
Cass County, it is to be said, that some of her men
participated in the actual capture.
Company L of the Ninth Michigan Cavalry, or
ganized at Coldwater, was made up largely of Cass
County men, under Captain George Miller, Lieuten
ants E. M. Watson and I. B. Riford, and WiHiam
Butler, Orderly Sergeant. Watson arose to the
rank of Captain, and was killed at Resacka, Henry

CASS COUNTY. 287
L. Barney from First Duty Sergeant to that of
Lieutenant of Company C of the One Hundred and
Seventeenth Regiraent U. S. C. T., and coraraanded
Company K frora its organization, in Septeraber,
1864, until the ist of January, 1865, when he was
placed on the staff" of General Weitzel, bf the Twen
ty-fifth Array Corps, where he reraained until the
8th of July, when he resigned and carae horae.
Besides the corapanies raentioned, which were
raised wholly or in part in this County, raany raen
enlisted in corapanies out of the County and State.
Among them were raany in the Third Michigan
Cavalry, in which Moral Wills arose to the rank of
Lieutenant. Company I, of U. S. Sharpshooters, had about
twenty-five men from this County, from which W.
H. George was promoted to the rank of Major and
C. W. Thorp to a Lieutenancy.
Samuel Ingling received a silver medal as the best
marksraan in the Regiraent, and a gold raedal for
the best string shooting in the Bridage The silver
medal was struck by a buckshot, while in his fob
pocket, and saved his life.
These comprise all the regular companies organ
ized in the County, but, as before stated, many men
enlisted outside the limits, of which there is no
available record, and, consequently, no credit can be
given to the County. In order to get the informa
tion as correct as possible I made application to the
Adjutant General's office, at Detroit, for the required
data, but was inforraed that their books did not

288 HISTORY- OF
show the part each county performed in this im
portant contest, and the sole reliance was on such
information as could be gained frora the participants.
If any have been overlooked, or not given proper
credit, it is from a want of proper information and
not intentional.
It is estiraated upon good authority, that this
County furnished at least five hundred raen, and had
they all been enlisted at horae, and a proper credit
given, no draft to fill vacancies would have been
necessary.

PIONEER BIOGRAPHY.
UZZIEL PUTNAM, Sr.
Uzziel Putnara, Sr., the first white settler of Cass
County, was born in Wardsborough, Vermont,
March 17th, 1793, when three years old his parents
moved to Oneida County, New York, and again in
five years afterward moved to New Salem, Massa
chusetts, where they reraained until 1806, when they
reraoved back to Jefterson County, New York.
In the fall of 1811 they carae to Detroit, where
they reraained during the winter of 1811 and
1812, in the spring going to what is now
Sandusky City, Ohio. On the 19th of October,
1812, young Putnara entered the United States ser
vice as tearaster, enlisting for three raonths, but
continued in the service until after the defeat of
General Winchester, when he was discharged and
paid. He afterward received a land warrant in
addition for his services.
In 1822 he was raarried to Anna Chapraan, of
Sandusky County, Ohio, and on the 7th day of May,
1825, started for Michigan in corapany with Abrara
Townsend and Israel Markara.
—19

290 HISTORY OF
Putnam obtained his first information of the St.
Joseph Country from an Indian trader, named Parker,
who had been here previous, but having some
trouble with the Indians, had to leave They fol
lowed up the Sandusky River to the mouth of
Nigger Creek, from thence they crossed over the
country to the St. Mary's River, which, at this
time, was very high from long continued rains raak
ing it irapossible to proceed farther with the loaded
team. A council was held and they determined to
build a boat, which was done by the party with the
assistance of an Indian, the material used "was elm
bark, when completed and launched on the river, it
was loaded with all the luggage of the wagon,
except what was absolutely necessary for the use of
the family, and floated down the river to Fort
Wayne, by Townsend and Markam, while Putnam
and family came on with the team, arriving some
time after the boatmen.
Owing to bad roads the oxen had become foot-sore
and a rest was made necessary. While the other
two took the boat and went down the Maumee to
Toledo, and from thence home, Putnam went to
work to earn another yoke of cattle, which he had
accomphshed on the 9th of August. Not hearing
anything from his companions since their leaving he
deterrained to push out alone, but had proceeded
onl}^ about one raile when he was overtaken by
Townsend. The two carae on together to Covert's
Creek, in the south part of this County, where they
cut and put up thirty tons of hay. While Putnam
returned to Fort Wayne for his family, Townsend

CASS COUNTY. 29 1
came on to Pokagon and cut twenty tons raore hay.
On the 25th of October Putnara and faraily had
got back as far as Covert's Creek, where he caraped
all night, on getting up frora breakfast next raorning
not an ox could be seen, and for five days he
searched the woods but no trace of the straying
cattle could be found. On the 2nd of Noveraber he
started. back having previously sent word to Kirk to
come and get his family. When within twenty-five
miles of Fort Wayne he found his cattle, and not
liking to lose his time he bought another wagon and
loaded it with sixteen bushels of corn, a barrel of
flour, a large iron kettle, and when ready to start
Judge Hanna induced hira to take in addition about
three hundred pounds of Indian goods to Coquillard,
at South Bend. On getting back to Covert's Creek
he found their hay all burned except one stack of
about four tons. The next day he arrived at Kirk's,
where his faraily were staying, and on the 22nd of
November he moved on to his land in Pokagon,
where he has resided ever since.
His first cabin was built of small poles and covered
with bark, in which he lived until the following
January, by which time he had completed a cabin of
more comfortable dimensions. The first work on
arriving was to fence in the hay to protect it from
the stock, and the next to build the cabin referred too.
Markam remained and assisted in the work about
two weeks, when he left fbr Ypsilanti on a trapping
tour. At this time there was no trail, nor anything
to mark the way in that direction, but on consulting
with an Indian as to the route he received a correct

292 HISTORY OF
chart on a piece of elm bark, which he was enabled
to follow through the trackless wilderness.
When Mr. Putnara left Kirk's for his new horae
he bought of John Lybrook a hog weighing one
hundred and eleven pounds, which was the principal
raeat for the winter Hominy was the leading
article of diet, a part of which was pounded in an
iron mortar. During the first winter one of the
oxen bought at Fort Wayne died, furnishing an
ample supply of wolf bait, and thirteen of these
aniraals were captured, by Putnara and Baldwin
Jenkins. In the spring work coraraenced in good earnest;
about the raiddle of March a young raan naraed
Duckett arrived frora Ohio and was eraployed to
assist in opening up the new farm. On the 2nd day
of April they coramenced making rails, and in one
month had forty acres of land fenced and the break
ing plow started. On the 14th of May they com
menced putting in the crop of corn by dropping in
every third furrow. The plow share w^as sharpened
on a small grind stone which had been brought along,
as there was no blacksraith nearer than Fort Wayne,
except at the Mission, and this institution turned
rather a cold shoulder on all settlers coming in, the
accommodations they received were not the most
cordial, althoy^gh Mr. Putnam bought of them, the
first spring after coraing in, two sides of bacon, at
eight cents per pound, and four bushels of potatoes,
one half of which were sraall for seed, frora which he
raised a good crop, and, as he jovially reraarks, ,
"We have had potatoes ever since." Their corn

CASS COUNTY. 293
crop also proved a good one, yielding about forty
bushels per acre.
Mr. Putnara and wife still reside on the old horae-
stead, in the enjoyraent of all their faculties, having
long since passed the age allotted to raan. Many
incidents of an interesting character could be related,
in connection with their early life, did space perrait.
Uzziel Putnara, Jr., the first white child born in the
County, is their son, he has represented the County
in the State Legislature, and filled raany other
responsible positions.
WILLIAM BALDWIN JENKINS.
Williara Baldwin Jenkins was born in Greene
County, Pennsylvania, October 4th, 1783. In the
year 1799 his father raoved frora Pennsylvania to
the Cumberland Valley, Tennessee, settling on Stone
River, near the present site of Murfreesboro. His
mother died on the route and was buried at Crab-
apple Orchard, Kentucky.
Leaving his farail}', consisting of four . sons, of
whora Baldwin (the subject of this sketch) was the
oldest, and one daughter, he returned to Pennsyl-
^-ania on business, and reraained all winter. During
his absence his sons killed, and assisted in kihing,
fifty-two bears, in which the country greatly
abounded. Frora here the faraily again eraigrated, in 1804,
to Greene County, Ohio, settling where New Bur
lington now stands, the father dying there in 1808.
In 1812 Baldwin visited his birth place, in Penn-

294 HISTORY OF
sylvania, where he married Mary Hackney, and, re
turning to Ohio, cleared up a large farm in the
heavy timber, and built a saw mill and flouring mill.
Having heard from the Indian traders glowing
accounts of the St. Joseph Valley, he determined to
explore this region.
In the fall of 1823, in company with five others,
he started on the trip. On their arrival at the trad
ing post at Fort Wayne, his companions declined to
go any farther into the unbroken wilderness. Tak
ing a pack of provisions on his back, a blanket and
shot-gun, (the latter for the purpose of kindling fires
more than anything else) he started alone, taking
the direction of the Wabash River, and, following it
down to a trading post, where the present city of
La Fayette stands.
Retracing his steps to a French trading post, on
the present site of Logansport, he struck north to
ward the St. Joseph River, coming to it where South
Bend now stands, and following down the south bank
to Carey Mission, one raile west of the present city
of Niles. After exploring the southeastern portion
of Berrien and the western portion of Cass Counties,
he returned up the St. Joseph River to the inouth of
the Elkhart, then following the course of that
streara sorae distance, he took a southeasterly direc
tion to Fort Wayne, and from thence back home.
In the spring of 1825, in company with Benjamin
Potter and wife, (the latter a niece of Mrs. Jenkins)
he set out for the new country. After many draw
backs and hindrences, without track or bridge, they
arrived near the site of the present city of Niles,

CASS COUNTY. 295
Mr. Potter settling one mile north on the road to
Suranerville. Mr. Jenkins succeeded in putting in a sraall patch
of corn, on what was then known as the old Indian
fields, his only irapleraent being a hoe. After get
ting in his corn, he, in company with a man naraed
Coon, started down the St. Joseph River in a canoe
to ascertain the navigability of the streara. Arriv
ing at the mouth on the 3d of July, they celebrated
the 4th by catching an abundance of fish. During
the season he cultivated his patch of corn and cut a
quantity of marsh hay, on the present site of Niles,
near where the Central Railroad depot stands.
In the fall he returned to Ohio, rented his prop
erty, and on the first day of November, with his
family, (wife and nine children) he started for the St.
Joseph Valley. His equipment consisted of thirty-
six head of cattle, including three yoke of working
oxen, five fat hogs, a wagon, household goods, etc.
On the I oth they arrived at Fort Wayne, where he
laid in an extra supply of provisions, and pushed
on, arriving at Wolf Lake on the i6th.
On the night of their arrival at this place, the
snow fell to the depth of ten inches, in conse
quence of which, in the raorning, Mrs. Jenkins got
into the wagon to ride, for the first tirae since start
ing — she insisting upon walking that more of the
necessary articles for their wilderness home might
be transported.
Crossing the St. Joseph, where Elkhart now
stands, they arrived at Squire Thompson's on the
18th, and on the next day reached Mr. Potter's;

296 HISTORY OF
and on the 2 2d day of Noveraber, arrived at their
future horae, in Pokagon, a short distance north of
Surnnerville, going into an Indian wigwara, where
they lived the first winter. This was the second
white faraily within the present limits of Cass
County, and had it not been for the Indian ponies
destroying his corn, which obliged hira to stop and
harvest it, would have been the first — Mr. Putnam
coraing only two days before. At this tirae there
were but nine white farailies (except the Mission)
within the liraits of Cass and Berrien Counties, two
in the former and seven in the latter, comprising a
population of about sixty persons. The nearest set
tlement was Fort Wayne, Indiana, distant one hun
dred railes.
The hay which Mr. Jenkins had raade in the sum
raer, was burned by the Indians while he was gone
for his faraily, leaving nothing on which to winter
his cattle, but raeeting one of the Markara's, who
wished to move out in the spring, he raade an ar
rangement with him to take his work cattle back to
Ohio and winter them, using them to come back
with in the spring. For the remainder of his stock
he succeeded in getting sorae hay of Mr. Putnam,
and, by felling timber for them to browse on, the
raost of thera lived through the winter, but were so
thin in the spring that they could hardly stand
alone. The effect of poor keeping seriously retarded the
spring's work, the cattle being in such weak condi
tion that nothing could be done until grass came in
sufficient quantity for them to live upon, and even

CASS COUNTY. 297
then it was necessary for the settlers to double
teams to do the work, consequently but half the
amount of land could be brought under cultivation
in the season that they would have been enabled to
if their teams had been well fed.
During the first winter, Mr. Jenkins carried all
the grain for their breadstuff on his back to the
Mission, a distance of nine miles, and ground it on a
hand mill, with the exception of what was pounded
at home in a wooden raortar. Part of the tirae the
snow was two feet deep, without a broken path,
and required two days to raake the trip.
After the first year they succeeded finely, the in-
coraing iraraigration furnishing a ready horae
market for their surplus productions. Mr. Jenkins'
house was a synonyra for hospitality of alraost
worldwide reputation, nearly every settler coraing
in raaking it a teraporary stopping place while look
ing at the co'untry; and after the country becarae
soraewhat settled, their raarket being at the mouth
of the river, and his house at the only bridge on the
Dowagiac Creek, it became a general stopping
place. Many tiraes the barn-yard would be filled
with wagons and the bawi with tearas, for which he
would not receive any corapensation except the
gratitude of his guests, which, to a generous heart
like his, was araple.
Mr. Jenkins was a raan of uncoraraon intellectual
power, though his abilities had never been cultivated-
by any systeraatic training. He had a raost re
markable meraory, and was perfectly at horae on
almost any local historical subject that could be

298 HISTORY OF
raentioned. He kept a coraplete diary of events in
his raind, and could at any time recall the state of
the weather and the work which had occupied his
time on the day of the raonth, five, ten, or twenty
years previous. He could tell the narae and age of
every raan, woraan and child in the neighborhood.
He was the first Justice of the Peace in Cass County
and one of the first County Judges, appointed under
- the Territorial law. He was a raeraber of the Con
vention that fraraed the first State Constitution.
He owned large tracts of land in Cass and Berrien
Counties, and, for a raan of his generous disposition,
accuraulated and left to his children a goodly com
petence. He died at the house of his daughter
(Mrs. Isaac Murphy) in Berrien Center, in 1847,
respected and mourned by every one that knew hira.
Of his faraily one son lives in Oregon ; one son and
two daughters in Berrien County, and his oldest son
John lives in Jasper County, Indiana, to whora I am
indebted for the foregoing sketch of his father and
many other incidents in connection with the early
history of the western part of Cass County.
SQUIRE THOMPSON.
Squire Thompson was the pioneer farmer of the
St. Joseph Valley, a Virginian by birth, but for a
number of years previous to coraing to Michigan a
resident of Ohio. He carae to Michigan in 1823
and chose a location on the St. Joseph River, a short
distance above Niles, and put out a crop of corn in
the spring of that year.

CASS COUNTY. 299
While preparing to plant his crop he was visited
by a nuraber of Indians who were undoubtedly
instigated by the people of the Mission, who were
unfriendly toward any farther settleraent by white
people. The Indians tried to intimidate him by
telling him that they did not wish him to plant corn,
as their ponies would break over and destroy it,
which would make trouble. Mr. Thompson, after
some parley, in which the various treaties by which
the Indians had ceded the lands was discussed, coolly
told them that he "would raise corn or die." At
this they gave a grunt and saying " much brave,"
paddled across the river in their canoes.
In the fall he returned to Ohio for his family and
on his return found that his crop had been destroyed
by sorae evil disposed Indians. Such a raan, how
ever, was not easily discouraged. He soon built a
cabin for his farail}', consisting of a wife and two
children, and " brought food for the winter frora
Indiana. In the spring of 1826 he raoved to this
County, settling north of Suranerville, where he
lived until he moved to California, where he died in
1850, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
JOHN LYBROOK.
John Lybrook was born in Giles County, Virginia,
in October, 1798. In 18 n his parents raoved to
Preble County, Ohio, where John reraained until
1823, when he came to Michigan, arriving in Decem
ber. He carae to assist Squire Thorapson in raov
ing, and, when first starting, only intended to go

300 HISTORY OF
fifty or sixty miles, or until he was fairly on the way,
but as circumstances seeraed to demand his assistance
the entire distance, he came along, and then assisted
in putting up a house and getting things in shape for
the winter, then fairly upon thera.
At the tirae of starting he had but a single suit of
clothes, and that of rather light raaterial, as the sea
son was not yet far enough advanced to require
heavy clothing. Before his return to civilization his
clothes had been torn, and patched, in every con
ceivable raanner.
On the last day of Deceraber he started back to
Ohio on foot, accompanied by a young raan naraed
Eaton. The first night they encamped near where
Mishawaka now stands, the snow was falling very
fast and continued until it was knee deep. On the
next night they encamped on the Elkhart and on the
next they fell in with some Indians with whom they
traveled until reaching Blue River. In the mean
tirae Eaton had frozen his feet so badly that he had
to be left with the Indians, while Lybrook pushed on
to Fort Wayne and procured assistance to go back
after hira. After enduring raany hardships from
hunger and exposere he reached home.
At this tirae wages were frora five to seven
dollars per raonth, but Mr. Lybrook being an expert
hewer could by hard work earn fifty cents a day.
Previous to his leaving with Thorapson he had
taken quite a heavy contract for getting out tiraber
with the expectation of being gone but a few days
and much to his surprise, after so long an absence,
found that the job was still open.

CASS COUNTY. 30I
In the fall of 1824 he came out with quite a stock of
cattle, having made an arrangeraent with Thorap
son, the previous suraraer, to prepare feed for
thern. In the spring of 1825 he planted eleven acres in
corn on what was known as the Indian fields,
below Niles. This land had to be grubbed and
fenced, as the Indian systera of iraproveraent was
very iraperfect, they preferring to cultivate around
grubs to digging thera out and guarding the grow
ing crops frora stock, to making- rails and fencing.
After the corn was planted he returned to Ohio
with a yoke of oxen hitched to the back wheels of a
lumber wagon, and araong other things brought back
was a barrel of wheat, which he sowed that fall and
which was probably the first sown in Southwestern
Michigan. The grain was harvested the next 4th of
July and yielded between thirty-five and forty
bushels per acre.
In passing through Fort Wayne Mr. Lybrook
had noticed a pair of hand burr stones thrown one
side, and after raising a crop it was found necessary
to procure some way of grinding it. In December
he went back and bought them for seven dollars.
They were afterward owned by Squire Thompson
and quite generally known and used throughout the
country for raany railes around.
In the spring of 1825 he bought a grindstone in
Detroit for one dollar, which was shipped around
the lakes, and the scarcity of this iraportant article
may be imagined when we are informed that men
came a distance of forty miles to grind on this stone

302 HISTORY OF
His broad ax was also lent frequently to men twenty
miles away and in one instance to a raan on Pigeon
Prairie where, it not being returned, he had to go
after it hirasplf
In the spring of 1828 Mr. Lybrook moved on to.
his present farm, on La Grange Prairie, where he
has resided ever since. He had the previous year,
in looking over the country, selected this land and
set sorae stakes to raark the location, but when com
ing on in the spring found it occupied by a man
named Kavanaugh, who had already made some
iraproveraents, and it took one hundred dollars to
liquidate his claira.
Mr. Lybrook has for raany years been a hopeless
cripple but otherwise is in the enjoyment of all
his faculties. GEORGE MEACHAM.
Hon. George Meacham, the subject ofthis sketch,
was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1799.
While quite young his parents moved to Jefferson
County, where George remained until coming to
Michigan. In September, 1826, he embarked on a small
schooner at Sackett's Harbor, bound for Rochester,
where he arrived the next day, from thence taking
a canal boat to Buffalo, where he took passage on
the steamboat Superior, bound for Detroit, arriving
on the 22d of that month.
On the 23d he left Detroit for Pontiac, on the
stage, where he arrived next day in tirae for dinner,

CASS COUNTY. 303
distance twenty-four miles. From Pontiac he went
to Ann Arbor, where he remained until the ist of
April, 1828, when, in company with his brother,
Sylvester Meachara, George Crawford, and Chester
Sage, he started for the West.
Their outfit consisted of three yoke of cattle, a
heavy luraber wagon, a supply of provisions, ararau
nition, a plow, and carap equipage. They arrived
at Beardsley's Prairie on the nth of the sarae raonth.
The only inhabitant living in the south part of the
County at that tirae was Ezra Beardsley, whose
cabin was located on the south bank of Pleasant
Lake, near where Dr. Sweetland now lives.
The location of a cabin was the first thing to be
deterrained upon by the party, and as there was
sorae difference of opinion, it was decided by throw
ing a chip in the air, with the well known exclama
tion of "wet or dry." Mr. M. remarks that this
was his first as well as his last gambling.
Their cabin was known far and wide as " Bach
elor's Hall," and was a general stopping place for
explorers looking at the country. At such times a
" field bed," or " shake-down," was made that would
extend across the entire room in front of the fire.
On one of these occasions, when a considerable
company were sleeping as described, a pig that had
been given to Sylvester by Mr. Beardsley when only
one day old, and had been brought up in the chim
ney corner — his pigship assuraing a place in the
hearth that had becorae hollowed out by sweeping —
finding it rather cool toward raorning, began to look
around for raore corafortable quarters, nosing his

304 HISTORY OF
way Tinder the blankets, he located himself between
Mr. Sage's arm and body, expressing his satisfaction
at the same time by a contented grunt, but he had
hardly got settled when Mr. S. awoke, and, taking
hira by the leg, threw hira against the wall accom
panying the action with epithets that were more
expressive than elegant, saying that it was " bad
enough to lay on logs without sleeping with hogs."
After getting their cabin erected they coraraenced
breaking up the prairie, which required an occasional
visit to the blacksraith shop to get the share sharp
ened. The nearest shop at that tirae was Israel
Markara's on Pokagon Prairie, a distance of ten
miles, and the conveyance a man's shoulder.
It was the original design of the company to trade
with the Indians — not supposing that the country
would be settled in their day — and only to raise
grain enough for their own use, and to keep a team,
which they would need in the transportion of their
goods, but, soon finding the country settling up
rapidly,' the Indian project was abandoned, the
Meachams settling down to agriculture, and Craw
ford and Sage reracving to Elkhart where they built
a raill. On the 6th of October George was raarried to
Catherine Rhinehart and the following is an inven
tory of his outfit which Mr. Meacham takes great
pride in detailing: " One cow that gave rather poor
milk, (but not rauch of it), an iron bake kettle, one
skillet, one coffee pot, six cups and saucers, two
stools and a long bench, and bedsteads raanufactured
by myself Our fire-place was quite an elaborate

CASS COUNTY. 305
affair built of stone laid up in clay raortar with two
blocks of wood for andirons, and a clap-board fire
shovel. For light we had one six light window
with seven by nine glass, the sash raade by rayself
with an ax and jack knife The floor of our house
was made of split puncheon and the roof of clap
boards. In sumraer I went bare-foot and in winter
wore moccasins and soinetimes shoes or boots. My
pants were faced behind and before with dressed
deerskin to raake thera durable."
In 1836 Mr. Meachara raoved frora his first loca
tion to Baldwin's Prairie, where he has lived ever
since. He was the first Sheriff' of the County,
which office he held about two years, and while
acting in that capacity summoned the first grand
and petit juries, a part of which were drawn frora
the village of St. Joseph, then within the bounds of
the County. At that time, to be a qualified juror, a
man must have paid a tax of at least fifty cents, and
it took about all the qualified raen in the County to
fill the quota.
Mr. Meachara has served the people of the County
twice in the Legislature and in nuraerous other
responsible positions, he is universally esteeraed for
his raany good qualities and Christian virtues
wherever known. ISAAC SHURTE.
Isaac Shurte was born near Pearson's Mills, New
York, July nth, 1798. When one year old his
parents raoved to Sussex County, New Jersey,
— 20

3o6 HISTORY OF
where he lived until twenty-one years old, when he
started for Ohio — going on foot to Pittsburg, a dis
tance of between five and six hundred miles. At
Pittsburg he bought a small skiff in which he rowed
down the Ohio River to Cincinnatti — then a smart
little town — ^from thence he went across the country-
to Butler County, where he remained until Septem
ber, 1827, when he carae to Michigan. He first
settled at Niles, where he built a cabin, and reraained
two years, when he sold out for twenty dollars, and
removed to La Grange, where he has resided ever
since. On the way out from Ohio his children were very
sick, which, with broken wagons and muddy roads,
made him feel at times almost homesick and dis
couraged, but with the courage that was character
istic of all pioneers he would push ahead. He
brought with him, from Ohio, three yoke of cattle,
one pair of horses, milch cows, hogs, &c. Of the
stock brought along he lost heavily the first winter
from a lack of feed.
The first winter he threshed wheat at the Mission,
getting every ninth bushel as wages— at this rate he
could earn one bushel a day. After earning the
wheat he took it to Ford's mill to get it ground and
then boated it over to the Mission and bolted it on a
hand bolt belonging to that establishment.
Mr. Shurte bought the claim for his present horae-
stead of a raan naraed Loux, giving in exchange a
horse, saddle and bridle. For two bushels of seed
v/heat, he traded to Israel Markara a cut of leather,
(a strip wide enough tor two soles across a side of

CASS COUNTY. 307
leather,) and then went seven miles to borrow a
harrow to put it in with. The grain was sown
araong weeds and grass, and, rauch to his surprise,
made an excellent crop.
In 1830 he bought the first fanning mill used in
the Township, which was manufactured by a raan
named Parker, then living near the present site of
Cassopolis. Mr. Shurte says, " we lived the first
two years after coming to La Grange on corn and
buckwheat bread, excepting wheat bread for cora
pany and on rare occasions. The yarn for all our
wear, both woolen and linen, was spun in the house,
and for a nuraber of years after coraing to Michigan
we did not have a cotton sheet in the house."
In 1832 he planted an orchard, the trees for which
were procured frora a New York man named Jones,
he had but little faith and called them "Yankee
trees," but after they came into bearing was so well
pleased that he filled up all vacancies.
Mr. Shurte was a captain in the Black Hawk
(Soc) war and several times was ordered out for
service and expected to provide himself with three
days' rations, when it was more provisions than they
had in the house. He has always been noted for
keeping good stock, especially horses, of which there
are but few better in the country.
ORLEAN PUTNAM.
Orlean Putnam was born in the Town of Adams,
Jefferson County, liew^York, on the 7th of May,
1809. While an infant his parents moved to Huron

3o8 HISTORY OF
County, Ohio, stopping at Detroit a raonth on the
way. On the 2oth of June, 1813, he, his raother and
eleven others were taken prisoners by the Tawas
Indians, at the head of Colt Creek, in Huron County.
Five of the prisoners were killed at the tirae of cap
ture, and soon after two more, by knocking on the
head with a pipe tomahawk, after which they were
scalped and their brains knocked out against a tree.
The Indians, sixteen in nuraber, were under the
leadership of a chief, named Pontiac, and at onetime
a tomahawk was raised over the boy's head, but
before the blow fell the chief juraped in and pre
vented it, at the sarae tirae telling Putnam's raother
to put the boy on his back and follow close in his
footsteps, and he would protect thera.
At the tirae of the capture they were about three
railes frora Mauraee Bay, to which point the captives
were rapidly raarched, and the whole party era
barked in canoes bound for a peninsula two or three
miles distant. The peninsula was about three-fourths
of a mile wide, across which the canPes were
dragged — the captives being corapelled to assist in
the laborious task.
On the opposite side of the Peninsula the Indians
had a large dug-out (canoe) filled with sand and
sunk in the water. This was emptied and raised,
and with the bark canoes, furnished a conveyance to
Maiden, whither the party proceeded. On the way
they stopped one night at a place where the Indians
held a "pow-wow." The captives were placed
around a stake, and while the chief chanted and

CASS COUNTY. 309
shook a rattle-box, the others danced around the
prisoners. On the arrival of the party at Maiden, the pris
oners were treated to a pan of bread and milk, and,
after reraaining a few hours, the}' were taken over
to Brownstown, where Mrs. Putnara was given by
Pontiac to a half breed French trader, named Iron
sides. Young Putnam was taken to Detroit by the chief,
and while there, was met by Judge May, who asked
Pontiac what he was going to do with the little boy.
"Raise him; raake chief," was the reply. The
Judge told him that it was a friend's boy, and that
he must send him back to his mother, and, after
reasoning with him for some time, and working on
his feelings, he agreed to do it, which promise he
fulfilled; but every time Pontiac got drunk, he
would go and want the boy back. Finally Mrs.
Ironsides bought and paid for him thirty bottles of
whisky, which settled the matter.
The prisoners were kept about ten days, when they
were treated for by a Governnient agent, named
Captain Randall, and sent home in a schooner. Mr.
Putnam was nicknamed Pontiac, by which he was
known until grown up to manhood. For some time
after his return from captivity he was the lion of the
day, and received many pennies for singing and
dancing in imitation of the Indians.
In 1825 Mr. Putnam came to Michigan, stopping
the first winter with his brother, Uzziel, and work
ing the next summer for William Kirk, near Niles.
In the spring of 1827 he went to work for Wilham

3IO HISTORY OF
Brookfield, as back chainman of a surveying party,
which was then running the land into Townships
between the Indiana and base line. The next sura
raer he assisted in sub-dividing the Townships into
sections. While out the first year he was with the
party when Young's Prairie was discovered, and
was snowed in nearly two weeks while encamped on
the bank of Diamond Lake, and thinks their party
cut the first stick ever cut by white men in that
vicinity. In 1832 he was again employed in surveying in
the Grand River region. While at the raouth of
the river, a boat carae in .and brought the news of
the Black Hawk war, and about the sarae tirae their
pack ponies strayed away, but owing to the excite
raent caused by the report, no one was wilhng to go
into the Indian country to look for thera. Finally,
as an inducement, the Surveyor offered one dollar
per day extra for the service, when Putnam volun
teered to go. He, in company with a man naraed
Stocking, followed up the Kalamazoo River to the
mouth of the Thornapple, where they found the
ponies. They were assisted in catching them by
sorae Pottawatomie Indians, who had a large village
at this point, and at the time were, much excited by
the Black Hawk scare.
Mr. Putnam, after coraing back from the surveying
party, stood a draft for the Soc war, but got clear;
but a man naraed Godfrey, who was drafted, wish
ing to procure a substitute, Putnara offered to go
for the wages if he would furnish hira a horse to
ride. This G. readily agreed to do; but after the

CASS COUNTY. 311
service was concluded, he kept the horse and col
lected the pay also.
On the 15th of April, 1834, he was raarried to
Araelia Vanderhoof, with whora he still lives.
They have reared quite a large faraily, who have
raostly gone from home and are doing well by them
selves.

IRA NASH.
The subject ofthis sketch was born in Danbury,
Connecticut, August 12th, 1806. When three years
old his parents moved to Chenango County, New
York, where he lived until coming to Michigan in
1829 — arriving at Detroit on the 6th of December.
Pie came in the employ of John Agard, who was
seeking a suitable location for a store in the then far
West. From Detroit they pushed out on foot,
following an Indian trail via Ypsilanti, White
Pigeon, (where he spent Christmas day,) Beardsley's
Prairie to Niles, which at this time contained but
two or three log cabins.
On the 8th day of March, 1830, they settled at
Geneva — then the prospective County seat. Mr.
Nash continued in the service of Agard until the
loth of January, 1833, when he went in business for
himself He bought his goods in Detroit, where he
went on foot twice a year, preferring this raode of
travel to that of going on horse-back. Frora Detroit
the goods were shipped around the lake to the mouth
of the St. Joseph River, and thence poled up on flat
boats to Niles and then carted to Geneva.

¦J I 2 HISTORY OF
In the winter of 1832 and '33 the river froze up
very early and consequently the goods had to be
teamed all the way from St. Joseph. At this time
there was no road from Berrien to Royalton and
when Nash came up with his teams the men were
at work opening a road there and he was detained in
assisting thera several days. Among the commodi
ties, was an anvil for John White, which had been
bought in Detroit, this, when they were nearly at the
top of a high hill, rolled off the sled and stopped only
when it reached the bottom, causing a deal of trouble
and delay in getting it back.
In the spring of 1830 Mr. Nash set out a small
orchard at Geneva and made additions to it nearly
every year while he stayed here, his first trees were
procured from a small nursery near Baldwin's
Prairie. In the spring of 183 1 he was elected clerk of Penn
Township, which office he held eleven consecutive
years, and in August, 1836, he was chosen Justice of
the Peace, in which capacity he served eight years.
In 1844 he removed from Geneva to Charleston,
on Little Prairie Ronde, where he sold goods until
1850, when he removed to Dowagiac, where he
remained but one summer and then moved to
Decatur, where he was in trade twenty years.
While at Decatur he dealt largely in produce
He was in the Black Hawk war and went as far
west as the Kankakee River. When starting, they
expected to meet the Indians before reaching Niles,
but the farther west they got the farther off were the
Indians.

CASS COUNTY. o i t
Mr. Nash has always been known as an honest
upright raan, he now resides with his son-in-law, G.
L. Linder, at Vandalia.

LEWIS EDWARDS.
Lewis Edwards was born in Burlington County,
New Jersey, in May, 1799, where he lived until
1820, when he went to Warren County, Ohio.
Frora Warren County he carae to Michigan, in
1826. At the time of his coming there were no in
habitants between Fort Wayne and Bertrand. Pie
brought with him a peacock (cast) plow, a set of
iron harrow teeth, a one-horse plow, scythes, sickles,
etc. The first harvest after coming he reaped
wheat for the Mission, by which he earned three
bushels. This he let to Mr. Putnam to sow on
shares, and the yield was sixty bushels.
Mr. Edwards settled on the west side of Pokagon
Prairie, the location being the one previously occu
pied by the old chief, whose name the Prairie and
Township bears, for gardening purposes.
In the spring of 1830 Mr. Edwards brought from
Ohio three hundred apple and one hundred pear
trees, a quantity of currants, raspberries, etc. The
apple orchard is still in a thrifty condition, but the
pear trees were mostly killed by the hard winter of
1855-6. When he came to Michigan he brought with him
some improved Durham cattle, purchased of the
Ohio Shakers, and has added to his herd frora tirae
to tirae since; and probably no raan in the County

314 HISTORY OF
has done raore for the iraproveraent of neat stock
than Mr. Edwards.
He was one of the first jurors in the County, and
as such attended the first court at Edwardsburg.
Mr. Edwards visited La Grange Prairie in the
fall of 1827, then one vast flower bed, with not a
person living on it. He, in coraraon with all the
earlier settlers, had his wheat killed by the June
frost of 1835, and what was not killed was raade
"sick" by freezing.
He was one of the first Justices of the Peace in the
County when they were appointed by the Governor,
but as he reraarks* "the best tiraes we ever had
were before we had any law." Mr. Edwards, now
in the seventy-sixth year of his age, resides on the
land he first occupied fifty years ago ; he is an active,
intelligent man, for his years, and respected by all
who know him.

COLONEL JAMES NEWTON.
Colonel James Newton was born in England in
1777, and carae to this country when a mere boy.
He first resided near Morristown, New Jersey, and
from thence moved to PennsylvaniaT^rid^frora there
to Ohio, in 1804. He carae down the Ohio River
on a flat boat, and was offered an acre of land where
Cincinnati now stands fbr a day's work, but did not
think it worth while to accept.
*What is meant by no law, was that, previous to the organization of
the County in 1829, there were no resident officials in torce, consequently
the people were without practical law.

CASS COUNTY. 315
He settled on the head waters of the Miami, at a
place called Seven Mile Creek, about forty miles
north of Cincinnati. He acquired the title of
Colonel frora coraraanding a regiraent of railitia in
Ohio. He was also an Orderly Sergeant in active
service during the war of 1812, serving under
General Harrison. He had command of Fort Black,
north of Greenville, for a time, and afterward of Fort
Meigs, his term of service expiring a few days before
the battle of Mackinac.
He was a raeraber of the convention that fraraed the
State Constitution, and also a raeraber of the House
of Representatives for this and Van Buren Counties
iri the winters of 1837-38 and 1838-39. He was
coraraissioned as Judge by Governor Mason but
never accepted the position.
His son, Plon. George Newton, was born in Preble
County, Ohio, on the loth day of August, 18 10, and
in corapany with his father came to Michigan in
183 1. They started on the 6th day of April with
three yoke of cattle and a wagon. The streams at
the tirae of raoving were all very high frora the
spring rains and nearly all of thera had to be swara by
the tearas. A sucking colt would be taken into a
boat and carried across while the dam swam beside.
On the third night out they encamped on the battle
ground of Fort Recovery. They crossed the St.
Joseph River by ferry at Sage's Mill, where Elkhart
now stands, and followed up the course of the Chris
tiana Creek to Young's Prairie, frora thence to their
future horae it was an unbroken wilderness without
track or blaze, but, taking the direction and with

3l6 HISTORY OF
an ax to clear the way, they set out, and, after no
little trouble, made the point which ever since has
been called home. Their first habitation was a wig
wam formerly occupied by the Chief Weesaw as
winter quarters.
In the spring of 1832 corn, from some cause, would
not grow, when George made a trip east of White
Pigeon and bought one bushel for which he paid two
dollars and fifty cents.
Mr. Newton has served in the Legislature one
term, and was for a number of years Supervisor ot
the Township, all bf which positions he has filled
creditably to himself and constituents. For a num
ber of years he has been nearly blind, but, by an
operation performed last fall, he has partially recov
ered his sight. JOSEPH L. JACKS.
Joseph L. Jacks was born in Erie County, Pennsyl
vania, on the 18th of May, 1804. When twenty -two
years of age, he moved to Chautauqua County, New
York, where he was married to Susannah Silsby,
and immediately set out for Michigan, arriving at
Edwardsburg on the 4th of July, 1829. When he
came in, the people were celebrating the National
birthday, which was probably the first time that a
luxury of this kind was indulged in in the County.
Mr. Jacks was the first Clerk of the County, ap
pointed by Governor Cass, on the 31st of July, 1830,
and sworn into office by Baldwin Jenkins, then one of
the Associate Judges, on the 4th day of September,

CASS COUNTY. 317
in the sarae year. He was Clerk about two years,
and was succeeded by M. C. Whitraan.
He also held under Governor Cass a coraraission
as Lieutenant of Militia, but never was attached to
any organized corapany. In 1831, he was elected
assessor of Ontwa Township, when it coraprised
nearly the South half of the County, and raade the
assessraent in five days.
Mr. Jacks served five days in the Black Hawk war
in 1832; he held the office of Corporal in his Cora
pany, and by reason of the office, received an extra
half dollar as pay. He has followed the avocation
of farmer, nearly through life, but recently he has
retired from active labor, and now lives in Edwards
burg. JACOB MORELAN.
Jacob Mercian was born in Virginia Septeraber
nth, 1 797, his wife, Sarah Poe, was born in Greene
County, Ohio, August 15th, 1805; they were raarried
May 4th, 1826; carae to Michigan in the fall of 1829,
staying the first winter on the farra of Joseph Gard
ner, in Pokagon; removing to Volinia in the spring
of 1830, settling on the south side of Little Prairie
Ronde, where he lived until the time of his death,
which occurred February i6th, 1854, at the age of
fifty-seven. His vocation through life was that of a
farmer. Mrs. Mercian is still living among her
children in the immediate vicinity of the place of
their first settlement, arid relates many incidents of
their early experiences. At one tirae a hawk carae
and alighted on a tree near by, when none of the raen

3l8 HISTORY OF
were at the house, Mrs. Mercian took down the rifle
and shot it ; at another time a wolf came and tried to
get some pigs that were in a pen near the house,
when she again tried her hand at shooting, but not
with as good success as before, but succeeding in
driving the wolf away. At one time when the mill
was out of order she had to grind buckwheat on the
coffee-raill for bread.
EDWARD SHANAHAN.
Edward Shanahan, the subject of this sketch, was
born in Sussex County, Delaware, in the year 1806,
where he lived until 1828, when he raoved to
Dover in the sarae State. In 1829 he was raarried
to Rebecca Kiramey, with whora he still lives, and
who has borne hira fifteen children.
In 1832, to better his condition, he carae to
Michigan, raoving the entire distance of eight hun
dred miles with a horse team. On the road as he
neared Michigan, he met raany people leaving the
country who were frightened away by the Black
Hawk war — not one of whora would step leng
enough to tell what was the raatter, but recited their
tale of woe as they passed by.
Mr. Shanahan located on the northwest corner of
Beardsley's Prairie, where he lived until 1855, when
he reraoved te his present residence in Jefferson
Township. He has always taken an active part in
politics and represented the Southern District in the
House of Representatives in the winter of i860 and
'6ii His occupation through life has been that of a

CASS COUNTY. 319
farraer, in which avocation he has been successful far
above the average — accuraulating between seven and
eight hundred acres ef valuable land. His brother,
Judge Cliftbrd Shanahan, carae to Edwardsburg in
1834, and in 1844 was elected Judge of Probate,
which office he filled until 1864.
DANIEL SHELLHAMMER.
Daniel Shellhararaer was born in Germany, in the
year 1785. He was a soldier in the war ef 181 2,
for which he drew a pension at the time of his death,
which occurred in June, 1873, at the advanced age
of eighty-eight years. Pie carae to Michigan in
1827, in corapany with Jehn and Joseph Bair, and
put up a cabin on the east side ef Porter Township,
near Mottville. In the fall he returned to Ohio, and
in the spring of 1828 reraoved his faraily, censisting
of his wife and eleven children, to Michigan. His
teara consisted ef a yoke ef cattle, hired fer the trip,
and a yoke ef light three-year old steers, owned by
hiraself. John Shellhararaer, his oldest sen, was born in
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Septeraber nth,
1811. In 1826 his parents raoved te Crawford
County, Ohio, where he reraained until coraing te
Michigan, at the age of seventeen.
Mr. Shellhararaer's recollections of early life and
incidents are reraarkably clear and correct. He re
lates that the first season they carae in (1828),
previous te harvest tirae, all their bread-stuff con
sisted of corn, that had been brought overland frora

320 HISTORY OF
Detroit, and cost feur dollars per bushel, and, after
purchasing it, was carried on their backs to the east
side ef Pigeon Prairie, where a raan naraed Hill had
a cast iron raill, soraething after the pattern of a
huge coffee raill, in which they ground their grist by
hand and returned the sarae day, the distance being
eight railes and back.
On one of these occasins, as they were returning,
they were hailed at the bank of the river by a sraall
French tailor, who wished thera te stop and witness
the raarriage cereraony between hiraself and a lady-
weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds. The
absurdity of the whele affair can be seen by iraagin-
ing a bandy-legged Frenchman, weighing one
hundred and twenty-five pounds being tied to a
Yankee girl weighing double that of himself, and
the ceremony witnessed by a raan and boy that
ceuld scarcely understand a word of English. But
after receiving a glass of good cheer for their
trouble, they wended their way heraeward.
The only persons living at that tirae on Pigeon
Prairie were the abeve naraed Hill and a raan
naraed Savory, who was building a hewed log house
en the south side of the Prairie. At the tirae that
John Baldwin was so badly treated by the Indians,
Mr. Shellhararaer had a brother and sister in the
house, and he was ene of the first on the ground
after the tragedy took place, of which he has a vivid
recollection.

CASS COUNTY. 32 I
ELIAS B. SHERMAN. ' i?P
Elias B. Sherman was born in Oneida Count}-,
New York, in 1803. When he was four years of
age he removed with his father te Cayuga County,
where his boyhood and youth were spent in labor
and the acquirement of a good common school edu
cation. In 1825 he migrated to Michigan, stopping first
at Detroit, but soon after moved to Ann Arbor,
where he studied law and was adraitted to the bar in
1829. In September ef that year he carae, via White
Pigeon, to Beardsley's Prairie, and spent consider.ible
time looking ever Berrien, St. Joseph and Cass
Counties, with a A'iew te speculative investments and
a permanent settleraent. He first raade a claira en
the north side of Little Prairie Ronde, which he sold
to Elijah Goble, in 1830, for sixty-five dollars. He
next engaged in putting the City ef Shakespeare on
the market, but, becoraing disgusted with the course
of his associates, sold out his interest, taking in
exchange sorae property in Lockpert, St. Joseph
County. His next and most permanent venture was the
establishment of the village of Cassopolis and secur
ing the location ef the seat ef Justice therein. Pie
was one of the original proprietors and has always
since preserved a large proprietary interest in its
welfare. January ist, 1833, he was married to Sarah,
enly daughter of the late Jacob Silver, by Bishop
Chase, a brother of Chief Justice Chase. This was
the first wedding in Cassopolis.
— 21

322 HISTORY OF
Mr. Sherraan was appointed Prosecuting Attorney
b}- Gevernor Cass, November 7th, 1829, and served
.under this coraraission until 1836, when he was
elected to the sarae position by- the people. He was
appointed District Surveyor July 31st, 1830, which
office he held six years. March 4th, 1831, he was
appointed Judge ef Probate, and continned to act in
that capacity until the Whig revolution of 1840.
Although new passed the allotted " three score
years and ten," his raeraory of the pioneer days is
reraarkably clear and to it these pages are indebted
for many incidents otherwise unpreserved.
HON. GEORGE REDFIELD. ^'^^^
Plon. George Redfield was born in the State ef
Connecticut en the 6th of October, 1796. While
quite young his parents moved to Ontario County,
New York, where he reraained until 1822, when he
went South for the purpose of teaching school. He
reraained in the South four years, teaching in the
vicinity of Millegeville, Georgia, and while there he
becarae acquainted with, and had for his pupils, those
who were afterward sorae ef the leading spirits of
Georgia, among whom was State Treasurer Jones.
In 1868 Mr. Redfield visited the former scenes of
his labors, in the South, to find desolation spread
abroad on every hand — where luxury and ease had
once been the rule, new was poverty in the extreme
— but he was met with a cordial welcome wherever
he went.
In June, 1831, Mr. Redfield, in company with

CASS COUNTY. 323
eleven other young raen, carae to Michigan. Pro
minent among the party were Sans McCaraley, since
one ef the leading raen of Battle Creek; Nathan
Pierce, of Calhoun County, a thousand acre farraer;
Jehn Downer and Araassa Gillett, the forraer set
tling in Washtenaw County and the latter near the
present site of Manchester. They were all adven
turers seeking homes in what was then considered
the wilderness ef the far West. The trip out from
Detroit was raade en foot, the travelers carrying
their provisions, carap utensils, clothes and a sraall
tent on their backs, and camping out wherever night
overtook them.
While the party were encamped one night, on the
bank of the Kalaraazoo River, at a point where a
small stream put in, leaving just room enough fer
their tent, they were awakened by sorae very unpleas
ant sensations which proved te be caused b}' craw
fish crawling between their blankets as they were
moving frora one streara to the ether.
Mr. Redfield returned to New York, after coraing
as far west as White Pigeon, rauch pleased with the
country, intending to return the next spring, but
with the next spring .carae the raeraorable cholera
season of 1832 and the trip was abandoned for a
tirae. In 1833, in corapany with his brother, Lewis H.
Redfield, who still resides at Syracuse, New York,
he raade a trip through the West, and in the sura
raer ef 1834 George again carae to Michigan and
raade a purchase of eight hundred acres ef land
where he now resides. During this suraraer he spent

324 HISTORY OF
three raonths with his brother, Alexander H. Red-
field, at Cassopolis.
On the 9th of Jnne, 1835, he was married to Juha
A. Masen, 'of Palmyria, New Yerk, and iraraedi
ately raoved te Michigan, living the first suraraer on
the farra new owned by J. Boyd Thoraas, raoving on
to his present horae farra in the fall of the sarae year,
where he has resided ever since.
In 1836 Mr. Redfield purchased of the General
Governraent, three thousand acres of land in Calvin
Township, one thousand acres in Jefferson, ene thous
and acres in Mason, beside nuraerous other tracts in
\'arious parts ef the County, raaking in all between
eight and ten thousand acres, of which he still retains
two thousand, the reraainder he has disposed of frora
time to time, spiling nearly the entire amount to men
of limited raeans, giving thera a chance to iraprove
and make their payraents from the land. In a num
ber of instances the payments have been deferred
over twenty years, the land in the meantirae increas
ing raany tiraes in value. Mr. Redfield's generosity
has becorae alraost proverbial, and for years it was a
coraraon quotation of the neighbors, " going down to
• Egypt for corn," when the colored peeple of Calvin
would come te him for assistance, and I ara credita
bly inforraed that they never went away erapty
handed. He was elected to the House ef Representatives,
and served in the raeraorable one hundred day session
of 184 1. He was also elected Senator, and served in
1842 and '43, and Presidential Elector in 1844. In
1845 he was appointed State Treasurer by Governor

CASS COUNTY. 325
Barry, but positively declined a nomination for that
office in 1846. In January, 1850, he was appointed
Secretary of State, which office he filled during the
session of the Legislature, resigning at its adjourn
ment, and in the sarae year was elected to the
convention that fraraed our present State Constitu
tion, which ended his political career. His strong
domestic attachraents, corabined with his raany horae
duties, made it impossible to his raind to participate
farther in political raatters, although frequentlv
solicited, and had he been arabitious in this particular,
he raight have accepted the highest office in the gift
of the people of the State.
In 1837 Mr. Redfield bought the only water saw
mill in Jefferson Township, and rebuilt it in 1850,
and again after being burned in 1862 in connection
with a flouring raill, which is still running.
His vdfe died in August, 1848, leaving hira three
children — two daughters and one son. He raarried
again in Septeraber, 1854, Jane E. Hararaond,
daughter of Judge Hararaond, of Essex County, New
York, who died in Noveraber, 1865, leaving hira
three daughters and one son, all of whora are living
with or near him. *
In 1870 Mr. Redfield became partially blind from
cataract of the eye, from which he has suffered ever
since, not being able te read or write and only at the
most favorable times is he able to see the dim outlines
of large objects. Notwithstanding his misfortune he
has had, in a great measure, the superintendence
and care of his home farm and an oversight ef his
general business. \ (^'^^ *"

fe

326 HISTORY OF
WILLIAM RENNISTON.
William Renniston was born in Mifflin, Pennsyl
vania, in the year 1796. When twenty-two years
ef age he moved to Indiana and settled near Rich-
mend, where he lived until coming to Michigan in
1830. He first settled at what has since been known
as the Spaulding mill property, near Dowagiac,
where he erected a woolen mill, bringing the card
ing raachines on wagons from Southern Indiana. In
1833 he built a grist mill at the sarae place, the irons
fer which were raade at Cincinnati and wagoned
across the country, a distance of over two hundred
railes. The burrs were quarried and dressed near
Elkhart, Indiana.
After running the grist raill for one year he sold
the whole property to Holmes Spaulding, and bought
the farm that he has resided on ever since. While
a young man he learned the trade of clothier, which
busines he followed while in Indiana and lour years
after coraing to Michigan. Since selling his raill
property his occupation has been that ef a farraer,
which he has followed for nearly forty years. Mr.
Renniston is a close, economical man, having a pen
chant for saving and preserving every thing and
allowing nothing to be destroyed or go to waste.
His collection of old-time implements, harness, etc.,
to be seen in his barn, is well worth the attention of
these interested in pioneer relics.
JOHN ALEXANDER.
Jehn Alexander was born in North Carelinia

CASS COUNTY. 327
about the year 1779, and died in Cass County, Mich
igan, in 1849, at the age ef seventy years In 1811
he emigrated te Wayne County, Indiana, where he
remained until coming to Michigan in 1831, settling
on the farm now owned by Robert Doel. His first
house, or shanty, was a three-sided affair, covered
with basswood bark, in which he lived several
months, and its exact location was where the Chicago
& Lake Huron Railroad now cresses the highway
running north and south. In an early day he was a
member of the New Light or Christian denomina
tion, but after coming to Michigan joined the Christ---
ian Church, of which he was a consistent and devo
ted member. He was a very quiet, peaceable man,
never sued but one man in his life and never was
sued. He was very punctual in all his dealings and
required the sarae of others, but raore by the force
of will than fear of law, his general character raay,
perhaps, be better illustrated by the following inci
dent than anything that could be said at the present
time: One year grain ef all kinds was very scarce and
high, corn and oats bringing frem seventy-five cents
te one dollar per bushel readily. Mr. A. having a
good supply of these products, put the price to set
tlers at fifty cents per bushel, and would sell to no
others. His son, Ephraim, resides in Redwing, Minnesota,
Jehn and Peter on Young's Prairie, the oldest daugh
ter in Silver Creek, another in Douglas County,
Oregon, another in Wexford Count}', this State, and
still another in Penn Township.

328 HISTORY OF
ASA KINGSBURY.
Asa Kingsbury was born at Newton Heights,
near Boston, Massachusetts, en the 28th ef Ma}-,
1806. When a young man he learned the trade of
carpenter, which he followed three or four years.
In 1830 he came West and settled at Cleveland,
Ohio, where he engaged in the manufacture ef glue,
which art he learned after leaving off the carpenter
trade. In 1833 a business raan in Cleveland raade a
proposition to Mr, Kingsbur}' to go farther West
and take a son of his who was a wild, reckless fel
low, offering him whatever capital he would need in
business. Mr. K,, after considering the matter, con
cluded that as he had everything to gain and nothing
to lose, he weuld accept. Loading about three
thousand dollar's worth of general merchandise on
the schooner New Yerk, with his portege, he started
up the lakes without any definite point in view.
While on the St. Clair River, their vessel was
becalmed several days, during which time the young
raan under Mr. Kingsbury's charge, in company
with several sailors, went over into Canada and stole
a let of chickens, for which they were arrested. Mr.
K. went over and got him out of this scrape, but in
a day er two he ran away and got en board ef
another vessel, after which he never heard of him.
Mr. Kingsbury continued on his way alone, stop
ping off at Green Bay, but, not finding it to suit him,
kept on to St. Joseph. The rough weather prevented
a landing for three weeks, during which time the}'

CASS COUNTY. 329
were beating around the upper end of the lake. One
day while the crew were below at dinner Mr. K.
assisted the captain in managing the vessel ; in mak
ing a change in the course the boom came around
very suddenly, taking with it a fifteen dollar fur cap,
and had he been three inches taller this sketch weuld
not have been written.
Soon after his arrival at St. Joseph he struck out
on feet te look up a location fer trade, arriving at
Berrien after night. The hotel where he stopped
was all dark, and on going into the bar-room in the
basement the first thing which attracted his attention
was a dead raan who had been killed on the river —
he ran against the cadaver in the darkness.
The next day he went on te Bertrand, then in the
heighth of its prosperity, where he secured a loca
tion, had his goods brought up the river, and went
into business, deahng in real estate, burning brick
&c. The burning of brick carae near being a fail^
ure, the clay containing sraall particles of lirae,
which, on coraing to the air, would slack and break
the brick. To avoid a loss he put thera into build
ings, sorae ef which are' standing yet.
In 1835, finding that Bertrand was on the down
grade, Mr. Kingsbury moved to Cassopolis, where
he bought ef John M. Barbour a store and distillery.
This proved to be his final stake setting, and he has
ever since been prorainently identified with the
business of the village.
In corapany with his brother Charles, who joined
him in 1838, he dealt extensively in general merchan
dise and real estate for about twenty years, and up-

330 HISTORY OF
on their separation opened a private banking office
which he managed successfully until it was merged
into the First National Bank ef which he is Presi
dent. MAJOR JOSEPH SMITI-I.
Major Joseph Smith was born in Bottetourt Coun
ty, Virginia, on the nth of April, 1809. When
three years eld his parents moved to Clark County,
Ohio, where he remained until coming to Michigan
in 183 1 , raaking a location at the ancient City of
Glasgow (in Calvin), where he bought a mill proper
ty, and moved out in 1832, accompanied by his
father and brother John. He ran the mill until
1835, when he sold out and bought one thousand
acres of land in Jefferson Township, which he imrae
diately coraraenced te improve.
His father and brother became disgusted with the
country and went back to Ohio, after staying one
year. In 1847 Mr. Sraith went into partnership with
Joshua Lofland and Henley C. Lybrook in the sale
of merchandise, which was continued about three
years, since which tirae he has carried on business en
his own account nearly all the time, removing to
Cassopolis in 1S155, where he has ever since resided,
Mr. Smith has been known through all his life as a
Jiard,^ money. Democrat and has always taken an
active part in politics. He served in the Legislature
in 1835 and again in 1836, and was a member of the
convention that accepted the proposition of Cengress

CASS COUNTY. 33I
by which Michigan was admitted into the Union.
He was a Captain ef Militia in Ohio, and appointed
Major in Michigan, by which title he has been known
ever since. -^ 1^50

HENLEY C. LYBROOK.
Henley C. Lybrook was born in Giles County,
Virginia, November 20th, 1802, where he resided
until coming to Michigan in 1830, arriving at Poka
gon Prairie on the 15th day ef May. He taught
school six raonths of the first year, working on a
farra between school terras.
In the spring of 1831 he taught school at Geneva
a short tirae and then went to work on a farra on
La Grange Prairie, and the next winter taught school
in Howard Township, near Joseph Harter's. In the
spring of 1832 he again engaged in farming, but the
Black Hawk war coming en he enlisted in Captain
Shurte's company and was gone until June. Seen
after returning from war Mr. Lybrook engaged as
clerk with Robert Painter, in Cassopolis, and con
tinued with hiin until closing up his business in the
fall of the same year. Mr. Painter started to New
Yerk for a fall and winter stock of goods with one
thousand dollars in raoney, which he carried in a
pocket-book in his coat pocket. At Detroit he took
deck passage on a steamboat in the evening and
toward raorning he fell asleep, awakening te find his
pocket-book gone, when he returned horae and Mr.
L}'brook closed up his business and soon after went
to work fer Jacob Silver, in whose employ he cen-

332 HISTORY OF
tinned several years. In 1834 he was appointed
Courity Clerk, in which capacity he served until about
1840. In 1842 he went into mercantile business on his
own account, six raonths after taking in W. G.
Beckwith as partner. He was afterward connected
with B. F. Silver and Dow and then with Joshua Lof
land. In 1850 they raoved te Dowagiac and G. C.
Jones was raade a raeraber of the firra.
REV. LUTHER HUMPHkEY.
Rev. Luther Huraphrey carae te Beardsley's
Prairie about the year 1830. He was sent out as a
jn-issionary by the Presbyterian Church of New
England and labored ever Cass and Berrien Coun
ties. After reraaining a nuraber of years he went to
Ohio, where he died but a short tirae since.
He was a raan ef raany peculiarities, araong which
was the belief that every faraily sheuld raise as
nearly as possible all they consuraed, and this princi
ple he put in practice to the extent of seeraing
penurieusness. His prejudice against slavery was of
the raost ultra character, and he would neither eat
nor wear anything made by slave labor, and to
obviate the necessity of eating sugar frora this sourcfe,
he annually raised a quantity- ef corn from which ht-
expressed the juice and boiled down te a molasses,
which answered the purpose of sweetening. He was
alse a very strict temperance man and had no
patience with those that tippled, although such was
a very coraraon practice at that tirae.

CASS COUNTY. 333
JAMES ALDRICH.
Jaraes Aldrich was born 'twelve railes frora Pro
vidence, Rhode Island, in the year 1786, where he
resided until a raan grown, when he raeved to
Palrayria, New Yerk, and then to Erie County,
where he reraained until 1829, when he removed to
Chautauqua County. In 1834 he came west and
settled at Niles, and in 1837 carae into this County,
buying the farra now owned by Jaraes Beaucharap,
on Beardsley's Prairie, where he lived until the time
of his death. In 1808 he was raarried te Plannah
Comstock, by whom he had nine children. Doctor
and Henry are the only sons remaining in the
County. PHILIP SHINTAFFER.
Philip Shintaffer and family, consisting ef three
sons and two sons-in-law, carae te Beardsley's Prai
rie in 1 83 1 and settled on the farms owned by Bar
ber and Runkle.
They came frem the Wabash country- here, but
probably they were natives of Virginia, and as
rough specimens of huraanity as could be found any
where They kept a large number ef horses and a huge
wagon and sled, either of which they would take to
the woods, and backing to a tree, no matter how
large, and fall it across the axle, and then hitch
teara enough to it to draw it home At one tirae
the old man professed to get religion, and the nu
merous anecdotes of his religious experience, as

334 HISTORY OF
related by the eld settlers, are arausing but hardly
appropriate to be recorded. The faraily reraained
here but a few years, when it becarae too thickly
settled and they raoved west.
ALEXANDER ROGERS.
Alexander Rogers was born in Rockbridge
County, Virginia, in the year 1788. When twenty-
two years old he raoved to Preble County, Ohio,
where he lived eighteen years, er until he came to
Michigan in 1828. Pie stepped one year after com
ing where Suranerville new stands and then raeved
on to the farra new owned and occupied by his sons,
where he resided until the time of his death in 1867.
His sons Samuel, Alexander, John, Thoraas and
Williara, all, with the exception ef one, live in Poka
gon Township, the ether, Sarauel, lives in Illinois.
SAMUEL C. OLMSTED.
Sarauel C. Olmsted was born in Huntington, >
Hartford County, Conrie.cticut, July loth, 1801. In
181 3 he removed to Cayuga County, New York,
where he was married to Eunice M. Jackson, No
vember nth, 1823. In the latter part of the year
1829 he removed to Chautauqua County, where he
raade a purchase of land frora the Holland Land
Company, making a pa}'ment down and running in
debt for the balance. Plis land was a tough, tena
cious clay soil, covered with a heavy growth of beech,
maple, ash, and hemlock timber, requiring a vast

CASS COUNTY. " 335
amount ef labor te bring it under cultivation. Clear
ing land, making payments on the~ same, and sup
porting a family, he seen found te be up-hill business,
and in 1836 determined to try his forture in the
West. Selling out in New Yerk, he removed to
Michigan, arriving at Edwardsburg on May 20th ef
that year.
The first season he rented land en shares, but in
1837 he made a purchase ef twenty-eight acres ef
land en section four, ef Ontwa Township, and built
a house on it, which he raeved into in the fall when
there were neither deers or windows to keep out the
cold. He continued io add to his possessions until
he owned twe hundred acres of land, en which he
still resides.
Of those that carae with him to Michigan, but
twe are now living, viz., himself and his eldest son,
J. C. Olmsted. His mother died in 1837, and wa:s
ameng the first to be buried in the Edwardsburg
cemetery. His father. Deacon Sylvester Olmsted,
died February 3d, i86i.- His wife, Eunice, died
September 22d, 1854.
Mr. O. is b}- profession a Congregationalist, and
during the entire time of his residence in Michigan
he has been a raember of the First Congregational
Church of Edwardsburg, ef which he is also a
Deacon.

SPENCER WILLIAMS.
Spencer Williams vv-as born in Sussex Count}-,
Delaware, May 2nd, 1807, where he lived until man

;^^6 HISTORY OF
grown. In 1828 he made a trip to Ohio, but not
liking the ceuntry returned home again. In June,
183 1, he emigrated te Michigan, setthng in Ontwa
Township, where he rented a farm for two years,
•when he bought the place en section twelve, of
Milton Township, where he has since resided. In
1833 he was married to Sarah Sraith, with whora he
has lived ever since. At the age of eighteen he
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and has con
tinued in active raerabership te the present tirae.
Soon after coraing to Michigan, at the organization
of the Society, at Sraith's Chapel, he was elected one
of the trustees, and has acted in that capacity ever
since, with the exception of one year. When he was
not worth ever five hundred dollars he gave ene
hundred toward the erection of the Church, and fifty
dollars raore before it was cerapleted.
In the fall of 183 1 Mr. Williaras made a trip to
Chicago. At that tirae there were but sixteen ene
story houses in the place. Just previous to his going
there there had been quite a freshet which had
washed a nifraber ef graves open on the bank of the
river and nuraerous corpses were distributed around
creating a nauseating stench.
At the breaking out of the Black Hawk war in
1832, Mr. Wilharas started with the first express for
Detroit but, overtaking the stage at White Pigeon,
was relieved. The nest day on returning he volun
teered fer the war. On the way to Chicago he was
put in baggage-master, in which capacity he acted
until mustered out. While encaraped he pastured
his horses where the city of Chicago now stands, and

CASS COUNTY. 337
many times, on going after them in the morning,
would have to wade in water ankle deep. Mr.
Williams is a man of no education whatever, but at
the same time has managed a considerable business
tor himself as well as others, and is much respected
by all that know him.

JOSEPH GOODSPEED.
Joseph Goodspeed was born in the town of Sand
wich, Massachusetts, on the ist day of April, 1797.
In 1825 he was married to Miss Sarah B. Fish, who
was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, For three
years after marrying they lived on the Island of
Nantucket, and then moved to Cayuga County,
New York, where they remained until coming to
Michigan in 1836. On the road out one of their little
boys fell out ef the wagon and broi^e his arra. In
the season of 1838, which was known as the "sickly
season," their whole faraily was down, with the ex
ception of Williara, then a sniall boy, and on hira
devolved the duties of cook, nurse and general chore
boy. Mr. Goodspeed served eleven consecutive years as
Township Treasurer, of Volinia, His vocation
through life was that of a farmer. He died on the
30th of April, 1850, at the age of fifty-three. Mrs.
Goodspeed is still living at the old place, in the
enjoyment of all her faculties, has a large circle of
friends and is respected wherever known.
— 22

338 HISTORY OF
JOHN NIXON.
John Nixon was born in Randolph County, North
Carohnia, in 1806, where he lived until coming to
Michigan in August, 1830. In 1832 he was married
to Esther, daughter of Henry Jones. When a
young man he learned the trade of tanner and
courier, which he followed two or three years pre
vious to coming to Michigan. Ever since he has
been a farmer.
At the time of his wedding luraber was so scarce
that a door had to be taken down to splice out the
table to make it long enough to seat all the company.
The cranberries for sauce en the occasion were
gathered by Mrs. Nixon, in a neighboring marsh. A
quantity of dried blackberries were donated by some
Indian squaws, who frequently came around and got
an idea of what was going on. They have had a
lamily of eleven children, nine of whom are still

STEPHEN BOGUE.
Stephen Bogue was born in Perquimans County,
NorthCarolinia, October 17th, 1790. In 1811 he
moved to Preble County, Ohio, where he cleared up
and brought into cultivation a farm in the heavy
timber, where he lived until coming to Michigan in
1831. Here he bought a farm on Young's Prairie,
on which he lived until the time of his death, Octo
ber nth, 1868, a period of thirty-seven years. Mr.
Bogue was a thorough Abolitionist, from nature and
education. Born and brought up amidst slavery and

CASS COUNTY. 339
its surrounding evil influences, he early imbibed the
anti-slavery sentiment of the FriendsJ, Society, of
which he was a life-long, consistent and devoted
member. He voted the Free _Soil ticket when there
was but three or four more men in Penn Township
of the sarae political faith.
His house was a station on the Under Ground
Railroad from the opening of that route through this
County, and continued so as long as it was used.
Many colored men are indebted to him for the food
and assistance they received on the road from bond
age to freedom. In the meraorable Kentucky Raid
of 1847, Mr. Bogue was among the men prosecuted
and put to great expense, the trial being held at De
troit in order to take it as far as possible from the
defendants. EPHRAIM HUNTLEY.
Ephraim Huntley was born in Saratoga County,
New. York, Septeraber loth, 1798. At the age of
eighteen he removed to Erie County, where he re
mained until the fall of 1833, when he came to Mich
igan, settling in Howard Township, where he has
since remained. In the same fall he went back on
business and was shipwrecked on the- steamer
George Washington, then on her fourth trip across
the Lake (Erie), at Long Point, Canada, the steamer
going ashore and breaking in two. One passenger
was drowned in attempting to swim ashore from the
wreck. Mr. Huntley has been almost a life-long Free Ma-

34CJ HISTORY OF
son, very enthusiatstic in his de\'otion to the Order,
was one of the charter members of Niles Lodge, No.
4, in the State, and "Was only about fifty miles from
where the Morgan excitement existed in New Y©rk.

'te*^

REV. JOHN BYRNS.
The subject of this sketch was born in Jrelarttl, in
the year l8i6. When six years old his parents
emigrated to this country and settled in Syracuse,
New York, where he reraained until coming to
Michigan in 1837, settling in Pokagon Township,
where he has remained ever since. In 1840 he was
ccNiverted and joined the M. E. Church, and shortly
after was licensed to exhort, and in 1841 was licensed
to preach, in which capacity he has remained ever
since. He has never been a member of the annual
conference, but has filled numerous circuits by ap
pointment from the Presiding Elder. There is
probably no man in Southwestern Michigan who has
devoted himself more unselfishly to the work of the
Church than has Mr. Byrns. When placed upon a
a circuit it was usually one so poor that they could
not afford to employ a regular minister, and as a
matter of necessity, he would have to work on bis
farm during the week and preach on Sunday, fre
quently traveling from fifty to seventy-five miles on
horsieback each week< besides his regular Work.
When not employed on a circuit, he had numerous
charges within ten or fifteen miles of home^ which he
fttteqded regularly.
Mr< Byrns is a man of untarnished reputation, is

CASS COUNTY. 34 1
a supporter and leader in everything that tends to
the moral as well as spiritual elevation of mankind.
While many others around him, of less energy- and
perseverence, have grown rich, he has been content
te live on a small piece of land, and devote his talents
te the cause ef religion, believing that in so doing he
will finally reap the reward that comes trora an un
selfish devotion to the cause of his Creator.

HON. JESSE G. BEESON. /l^P '
Jesse G. Beeson was born in Wayne County, Indi
ana, in the year 1807, where he lived until coming
to Michigan in 1833, having been here in 1830 and
made a location on the land now owned by Abram
Fiero, where he first settled. In 1837 he made a ,
change, selling out and buying the farm where he
still resides. Mr. Beeson is of English descent, his
great-grandfather and two brothers coming from
England in an early day, one of them settling in
Pennsylvania, Mr. B.'s ancestor setthng in North
Carohnia, and, so far as known, all ef the name can
be traced to these three brothers. They are a
strong, robust, hardy family, combining a healthy-
body with streng intellect. The subject of this
sketch is probably as well known as any raan in Cass
County, was a Clay Whig v/e raight alraost say by
birth and education, a raeraber of that party when
not another raan on McKenney's Prairie agreed with
hhn in politicallaitKr Hehas always been a leader in
whatever measures have been before the public, has
been .Supervisor of the Township, and was State

342 HISTORY OF
Senator in 1853, besides holding numerous other re
sponsible positions. JOSHUA LEACH.
Joshua Leach was born in Vermont, in the year
18 1 2. When six years old his parents moved to
Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he remained until
1833, when he came to Michigan, settling on Young's
Prairie, where he has remained ever since. He has
always followed the occupation of farmer, and he
paid for the first piece of land he ever owned by
chopping and clearing. In 1850 he went to Califor
nia, and when two hundred railes west of St. Joseph,
Missouri, his team was stolen by the Indians, when
he took a pack on his back and walked the remain
der of the way. He went by way of Salt Lake (one
hundred and fifty miles out of his way) where he
traded a blanket fbr fourteen pounds of flour, and on
this and some bacon which he purchased, he lived
the rest of the way. ELIJAH GOBLE.
Elijah Goble was born eight miles north of Cin
cinnati, in the year 1805. His parents were Hol
land Dutch, and moved from Morristown, New
Jersey, to Ohio in 180 1. In 18 18 his parents again
moved to Preble County, in the same State, and in
1820 they moved to Franklin County, Indiana,
where Elijah remained until he carae to Michigan
in 1828. He first carae on a tour of inspection, in

CASS COUNTY. 343
company with Jonathan Gard and a man naraed
Tony, and in the spring of 1829 returned and raade
a location on the northwest corner of Little Prairie
Ronde. In Septeraber, 1834, he was raarried to
Eliza Tittle, with whora he still lives. Mr. Goble
kept hotel at Charleston for over twenty years, ten
years of which it was a stage station, and his fund
of pioneer inforraation is alraost sufficient for a book
of itself

GALLUP FAMILY.
O. D. S., John S., and D. Harmon Gallup came
to Michigan and settled in Howard Township in the
season of 1834, O. D. S., the older brother, coming
in the spring and making a location and putting out
a crop, the family moving in the fall.
They were born in Franklin County, Vermont, in
the years ef 1806, 18 16, and 1819, respectively.
Their parents were from England, and settled in
Cincinnati in 1831, where the father and one sister
died of cholera in 1832. The older brother was
well educated, and went into trade in Verraont and
then to Cincinnati, where he carried on raerchan-
dising until coming to Michigan. About the year
1839 he went to Naperville, IHinois, and in 1852 he
went to California, where he remained some time,
then came back and settled in Howard Township,
where he died in 1855.
In 1836 John S. went with a party of surveyors to
Wisconsin and was employed in running out the
land between the Fox and Rock Rivers, where he

344 HISTORY OF
remained eight months without seeing the face of a
white man, with the exception of their own party.
In 1838 he went back again and made a claim, seven
miles west of Milwaukee, and remained on it about
eighteen months. While out the first tirae, he as
sisted in raising the Belview Hotel, which was the
second frarae house in Milwaukee, and during the
first winter he and another raan killed one hundred
deer. Since his return frora Wisconsin he has raade
Cass County his horae, with the exception of four
years, when he lived in Berrien County.
The younger brother has always reraained in
Michigan, and until 1863 in Cass County. In that
year he went to Niles and engaged in the grocery
trade, where he still resides.

EBENEZER COPLEY.
Ebenezer Copley was born in Hartford, Connecti
cut, in December, 1786, and came to Michigan in
May, 1835, settling near Little Prairie Ronde, where
he reraained until the tune of his death, in March,
184 1. His wife, Annis, or aunt Annis, as she was
universally called, was born in Granby, Connecticut,
and lived until 1848. Their sons, A. G,, T. N., D.
B., and Ebenezer, all remain in Michigan, and with
the exception of T. N., in Cass County.
HON. JAMES O'DELL.
The subject ef this sketch was born in Virginia,
on the 2oth ef July, 1779. When twenty-one years

CASS COUNTY. 345
of age he raoved to Highland County, Ohio, where
he reraained until coraing to Michigan, in 1831.
He first settled in St. Joseph County, where he lived
but one year, raoving into this County in 1832, set
tling just south of the present site ef Vandalia, and
at what was known as the Carpenter Mill, and
afterward as the O'Dell Mill.
He was a miller and farmer by occupation. He
was a raeraber of the first Constitutional Convention,
and also represented this County in the State Legis
lature. He died on the 23d of August, 1845. Plis
two sons, John and Nathan, still live on the eld
horacstead, and another son in Ohio.
JAMES COULTER.
The subject of this sketch was born ef Irish pa
rentage, in Harailton County, Ohio, on the 17th of
May, 1808.
Soon after the birth of Jaraes, his parents raoved
te Clinton County, in the sarae State, where he re
mained until coming to Michigan, in 1834. He first
came in company with his father, and brought a
drove of cattle, which were disposed ef and five
hundred and sixty acres of land purchased in How
ard Township. He reraained during the winter and
worked at raaking sash, by which he realized the
sura of two. hundred dollars, and in the spring went
back to Ohio on foot.
In June, 1836, he was raarried to Ann Wilson,
and immediately set out for their future home, in
the then wilds ef Michigan, where they arrived

346 HISTORY OF
after a tedieus journey of seventeen days, with Ian
ox team.
He was a man ef strong convictions arid decided
character, although not demonstrative, yet his will
was law. In religious and moral matters he knew
no half way ground, but pushed everything with a
zeal worthy the cause.
In politics he was a partisan, which for a man of
his organization, he could hardly have been ether-
wise. His religious belief was in accordance with
the M. E. Church, which faith he espoused about
fifty years before his death, and soon after coming
to Michigan his hovise was thrown open for public
worship, and remained so until school houses and
houses ef worship were built, raaking it unnecessary. .
Coulter's Chapel was built on his land. The site
for the Church as well as the Cemetery, was do
nated by him, beside paying liberally toward the
erection of the Church building.
He filled numerous Township offices during his
lifetirae, and retained the esteera and confidence of
all that knew hira, until the tirae of his death, which
occurred on the i6th of February, 1874.

THOMAS McKENNEY.
Thomas McKenney was born in Washington
County, New York, in the year 1781. When six
teen years old he moved to Cayuga County, where
he remained until 1813.
During the war of 1812 he acted as a horae guard.

CASS COUNTY. 347
and was at Sodus Bay when the British surrendered
that place.
In 1817 he carae te Huron County, Ohio, where
he lived two years, then moving to Wayne County,
Indiana, where he remained until coming to Mich
igan, in the fall of 1827.
He and his oldest son carae e^t on horse-back, in
the fall ef the year, en a prospecting tour, and stop
ped a while with the settlers on Pokagon Prairie.
He was so well pleased with the country that on his
return he iramediately set about preparing te move
to the country he had determined to make his horae.
He carae again in March, 1828, built a cabin and
put in crops, and moved out his family in October
of the same year.
Mr. McKenney's description ef the country in
duced a number of his neighbors to jein him in the
expeditien, among whora were sorae of the most
intelhgent and enterprising of Cass County's citizens.
His reputation fer generosity and hospitality will
last scarce longer than the prairie that still bears
his narae. He was the first Judge of Probate
in the County, and filled numerous ether positions.
He died near Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1852, at the
age of seventy-one Micajah, his son, new living in
California, John A., living in Iowa, and one daugh
ter, Mrs. Dickson, the mother ef the well known
faraily of that narae, are all that are left.
JAMES DICKSON.
James Dickson was born in Westmoreland County,

348 HISTORY OF
^Pennsylvania, in the year 1794. In 18 n he moved
te Huron County, Ohio, and in 1819 he removed to
Wayne County, Indiana, where he was married to
Lillis, eldest daughter of Judge McKenney. In
1828 he moved to Michigan, arriving on the 23rd of
October, and settling on the farm new owned by
Williara Renniston, in La Grange, buying the first
quarter section of land that was bought by one
man on McKenney's Prairie, and building the third
cabin en the prairie.
Mr. Dickson was a great reader and had a large
store of practical information. Pie was appointed
and elected to nuraerous positions, but never ac
cepted anything, preferring to attend to his own
business and leave politics te the raore aspiring. He
died Septeraber i6th, 1866, at the age ef seventy-
two. His faraily, ef nine children, are all living,
except one daughter, Mrs. G. C. Jones.
GEORGE FOSDICK.
George Fosdick was born on the Island of Nan
tucket, Massachusetts. When nine years old his
parents raoved to Carapbell County, Virginia, and
frora thence te Union County, Indiana, about the
year 1822, where he remained until coming to
Michigan in 1830. He first settled at Niles, where
he worked at blacksmithing two years, when he
raoved into this County, settling on the north side of
Barron Lake, in Howard Township, where he estab
lished a shop and laid out a village naraed Howard.
He cleared up and improved the farm now owned

CASS COUNTY. 349
by Henry Pryn, and at the same tirae carried on the
manufactory of agricultural irapleraents. A special
ity of his was the making of jail locks, which he did
fbr Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana, and
one on the old jail in this County was made by him.
In 1838 he moved to Laporte, Indiana, where he
died in 1865.
G. W. Fosdick, his son, now living in Dowagiac,
was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been
identified with Michigan interests nearly all his life.
He married Sarah, eldest daughter of Levi Hall, one
of the pioneers of Volinia Township. He studied
medicine in an early day and has made the practice
of it his profession through life.
A. C. MARSH.
A. C. Marsh was born in Litchfield County, Con
necticut, in July, 1793, where he lived until sixteen
years of age, when he removed to Duchess County,
New York, where he remained until coraing to
Michigan in 1836, settling in Edwardsburg, where
he has resided ever since.
While living in New York he learned the trade
of scythe making. But, soon after commencing busi
ness on his own account, owing to the great influx
of scythes from New England, the business had to be
abandoned in all country shops, and Mr. Marsh
turned his attention to country blacksmithing, and
followed that calling for two years after coming to
Michigan. In 1838 a stock company was formed for the pur-

350 HISTORY OF
pose of carrying on the foundry business, in which
Mr. Marsh took an active part, and in 1839, before it
was got in operation, he bought out the other stock
holders, which business he carried en until the death
of his son, in 1874, when it was discontinued. In an
early day their chief business was making plows and
sleigh shoes, with an occasional country job, among
which may be raentioned was raill castings for
some of the early manufactories at South Bend. In
1842 he also raanufactured steel plows and continued
it tor some years. EZEKIEL C. SMITH.
Ezekiel C. Sraith was born in Erie County, New
York, in 1812, and came to Michigan in 1835, set
tling in Howard Township, where he has resided
ever since. He held the office of Justice of the
Peace from the adoption ef the State Constitution,
\n 1836, until 1872 without interraission, except
about six raonths, a period of thirty-six years. He
has held the office ef Supervisor twelve years nearly
in succession.
Mr. Sraith is a good representative of the hardy-
Western pioneer, a large, powerful built raan, whose
presence bespeaks the force so necessary in contend
ing with dame nature in opening up a new country,
withal a genial, kind-hearted, generous man. He has
been very successful as a farraer, now owning one
of the finest farms in Howard Township.
When Mr. Smith first commenced to build his
cabin, getting thirsty he determined to go across

CASS COUNTY. 35 I
some half mile away to his nearest neighbor's to get
a drink of water and to get acquainted. He was
met at the yard fence by some ten or twelve dogs,
who seeraed by their demostrations ready to make a
meal of him. In front of the house sat a woraan
astride of a shaving-horse, at work on a hee handle,
who, hearing the dogs raaking a fuss, turned around,
at the sarae time yelling to the lead dog, "Lord
Almighty, Dragon, be down with you, or I will
throw a rock at yeu," which had the effect ef quell
ing the disturbance, and Mr. Smith was enabled to
gret his drink of water.

S3-"

PETER TRUITT.
The subject of this sketch was born in Sussex
County, Delaware, February 7th, 1801, where he
remained until 1831, when he removed to Michigan,
settling in Milton Township. For a time he sold
goods in Bertrand, and afterward breught the re
mainder of his stock to where he new resides, and
sold it out. He also kept hotel and postoffice for a
number of years, and was known far and near.
He came West fbr the purpose of bettering his
condition, and has never had cause to regret the
change. His chief occupation through life has been
that of a farmer, in which he has been very success
ful, accumulating over one thousand four hundred
acres of land.
When he came the M. E. Church contained but
ten raerabers. He and hi? wife joined, raising the
nuraber to twelve, to which Church he has belonged

352 HISTORY OF
ever since, with the exception of a period of seven
teen years, when from sorae differences of opinion
in the Church, he withdrew.
To Mr. Truitt belongs the credit of naming Mil
ton Township. At the time the petition was circu
lating fer the organization of that Township, it was
left with him for the purpose of getting signatures,
but not liking the name (Southland) as named, in
the petition, took the liberty of changing it to that
of Milton, the same narae that his native town in
Delaware bore.

JOSEPH WEBSTER LEE.
Joseph Webster Lee was born in Sandwich, Staf
lord County, New Harapshire, on the loth day ef
January, 1807, about six raonths after his father's
death, being left to butfet the waves of life without
the aid or counsel of a father, and only a poor wid
owed raother to rear and educate him. He inherited
a more ungovernable set of passions than are the
usual lot of raan.
In 1828 he raarried Maria Hastings, and started
boldly on the "sea of life." He soon becarae tired
of a New England farmer's life and determined to
try his fortune in the far West Territory of Michi
gan, where he arrived at the house of his brother-in-
law, Abiel Silver, in the village of Edwardsburg, on
the 19th day of June, 1836, after a wearisome jour
ney of six week's duration, with a two-horse team
and a canvas covered wagon, over roads known only
to the trader and pioneer.

CASS COUNTY. 353
With him to will was to de, and he at once
invested his limited means in land, buying the north-
cast quarter of section eight, in Ontwa Township,
on which he moved the block house forraerly built
by Ezra Beardsley, and which had answered the
purpose of dwelling, Ceurt Plouse and hotel. This
was made to answer the purpose of a habitation
until his means permitted him to supplant it with a
commodious brick residence.
He was a strong partisan, being politically, a
Whig andj^epublican, and religiously, a Methodist,
a stern moralist, a worker in the cause of education,
a firm and unflinching supporter of law and order,
never fearing the mob nor flattering the powerful;
popularity was net a factor in any of his calcula
tions. He always had an opinion of his own and
was ever read}' to express it, and he was loved by
his friends and respected by his enemies. He was
an intense worker and succeeded in obtaining a com
petence which was enjeyed through the latter part
of his life by himself and family, as well as numer
ous friends. He died August 24th, 1874, followed
by his wife on the 3rd of February, 1875.
JOHN RHINEHART.
John Rhinehart was born in the State of JV^irginia,
in the year 1771. In 1823 he moved to Ohio, where
he lived until February, 1829, when he came to
Michigan, setthng where James E. Bonine now
lives, on Young's Prairie, buying the claim of a man
named Hinkley. He remained here four or five
—2.3

354 HISTORY OF
years, when he sold out to a raan naraed Collins, and
raoved to Porter Township, where he resided until
the tirae of his death in 1858.
His faraily consisted of Jacob, Catherine, (Mrs.
George Meacham,) Lewis, Samuel, Susan, (Mrs.
Kirk,) John, Abraham, Christiana, (Mrs. Stevens,)
and Ann, (Mrs. Hall and afterward Mrs. Sullivan,)
all of whom are still living, with the exception of
Mrs. Kirk.
Mr. Rhinehart was of German descent, his grand
parents on both sides emigrating from that cpuntry.
In coming to Michigan he was accompanied by John
Price and John Donnel, who also settled on Young's
Prairie.

ABRAM TOWNSEND.
The subject of this sketch was born in the State
of New _ York, in the year 1771. A portion of his
}-ounger days were spent in Upper Canada, and in
181 5 he moved te Huron County, Ohio, where he
remained but a short time. Moving to Sandusky
County, where the town ef Townsend was named
lor him, he remained until 1825, when he came to
Michigan, where he moved his family in 1827. He
first located in Pokagon and raoved on te La Grange
Prairie, (then called Townsend's Prairie) in the
spring ef 1828, and to hira belongs the credit of
naraing the prairie and Township.
His sen, Gamaliel, was born in the town of York,
Canada West, January 20th, 1802, and came to
Michigan with his father in 1826. He has ever

CASS COUNTY. 355
since been identified with Cass County interests.
For a nuraber of years he has been afflicted with
nearly total blindness, which has deprived him of
many of the enjoyments of life.
HAIN FAMILY.
John, David, and Jacob Hain were born in Lin
coln County, North Carelinia, and with their parents
moved to Clark Count}-, Ohio, about the year 1820,
where they remained until 1831, when they carae to
; Michigan, settling in La Grange Township, where
the two older brothers have lived ever since, Jacob
reracving West but a few years ago.
John and David participated in the Black Hawk
war, raaking nuraerous trips te Niles fer the purpose
of fighting the Indians.
On one of these occasions John relates that he
went in corapany with a man named Boon, who
lived about two railes on the way. Their convey
ance consisted of a two-wheeled gig, drawn by a
blind horse, and returning in the night to Mr. Boon's,
where they expected te find their woraen and child
ren, were surprised to find the house deserted; but
continuing 01} to Mr. Hain's house, they found the
two woraen, ene in either corner of the fire place,
with their respective children surrounding them, and
the big dog lying in the middle.
John at one time, considering that taking care of
his faraily was of mere importance than fighting ira-
aginary Indians, did not heed the order to appear at
Niles, and the authorities in power gave hira the

356 HISTORY OF
benefit of a court raartial, but the penalty was re
mitted after the war was over.
David comraenced blacksraithing in 1832, and has
carried on the business ever since. In early times
he manufactured the "Bull Plow," in which he was
quite successful, customers coming a distance of
twenty miles te get his plows and repairs. He as
sures rae that he could raake three a day, which he
readily sold for seven dollars each. In 1837 or '38
he raade for Daniel Wilson a plow out of steel,
which worked well on prairie soil, and was probably
the first steel plow in the County.
The first winter after coming to Michigan, David
lived in a small log cabin with two other families,
(seventeen members in all) in which there was nei
ther door, window, chimney, or floor. At one time
their breadstuff" ran very low, and he and a man
named McPherson started for Ford's Mill, distant
eight miles in a direct line, but much farther the
way they had to travel. The snow was three feet
deep, without a beaten path. Their stock of provis
ions for the trip consisted of a biscuit each and a
quantity of boiled venison. After a hard day's
travel they arrived at the mill to find a full day's
grinding ahead of them; but by taking turns with
the miller through the night in attending the mill,
they were enabled to start horae at three o'clock in
the afternoon following. Night coming on soon
.Tfter leaving the mill, the only way to proceed was
for one to go ahead and feel the sled track made the
previous day, the other following and driving the
team. At one place, where there was a short turn

CASS COUNTY. 357
in the road, they missed the track, going some dis
tance out of the way, which had to be retraced, no
small task in the night and in thick timber. About
daylight they arrived at a widow lady's house, two
miles from horae, so nearly faraished that they could
go no farther. Here they stopped and had a cake
baked to last them home, where they arrived about
noon, to find their farriilies in great distress, fearing
that they had become lost in the weeds and conse
quent starvation would be their portion.
DAVID BRADY.
David Brady was born in Sussex County, New
York, in May, 1795. When twenty-three years of
age he moved to Franklin County, Ohio, where he
lived five years, then moving to Sandusky County,
where he remained until coming to Michigan in
1828, setthng on La Grange Prairie, where he has
remained ever since.
Mr. Brady is a good representative of the hard}
class of pioneers who made the early settleraents of
the West, possessed of an iron' constitution and a
will that knew ne obstacle, eleraents absolutel}
necessary in subduing natural obstacles and bringing
the wilderness under subjection fer the use ef civiliza
tion. He is of rather rough exterior, but - kind
hearted and generous to a fault.
JARIUS HITCHCOX.
Jarius Hitchcox was born in Oneida County, New

358 HISTORY OF
York, in the year 1795, and came to Michigan in
1830. He settled in Porter Township on the land
now owned by his son, J. H. Hitchcox, and moved
his family out in the following year.
He was a brick and stone mason by trade, which
occupation he followed most of the tirae through
life. Plis death occurred on the 14th of April, 1850,
at the age of fifty-five years.
JESSE GREEN.
Jesse Green was born in Welsh County, Gfiargia»__
in the year 1790. When fifteen years old his
parents moved to Preble County, Ohio, where he
lived until coming to Michigan in 183 1. He was a
s Quaker by birth-right, but, from some differences
arising in regard to the liqiior question, he never
acted in concert with them after coming to Michigan.
His first location was on the north side of Young's
Prairie, where he remained a year or two, when he
moved into Wayne Township on the farm since
owned by his son, Eli Green, Esq. While in Ohio
he followed merchandising and brought a small stock
of goods to Michigan, which, after selling out, wa.s
not renewed. AMOS GREEN.
Amos Green was born_j3nJ:he loth of December,
1794, in the State of Georgiai While quite young,
with his raother, he raoved to Randolph County,
North Carelinia, and afterward to Preble County,

CASS COUNTY. 359
Ohio, where he reraained until coming tP Michigan
in 183 1. He settled on the east side of Young's
Prairie, where he lived until the time of his death,
which occurred on the 6th of August, 1854, at the
, age of fifty-nine years, his wife, Sarah, following him
on the 13th of Deceraber, 1863, at the age of sixty-
seven years. They reared a faraily of fifteen child
ren, all of whora grew to man and womanhood
except three. JOPIN TOWNSEND.
John Townsend was born in "Vy^yne County,
Indiana, in the year 1804. He came to Michigan in
1829, settling north of Young's Prairie, on the farm
now owned by Jay Rudd, where he lived until the tirae
of his death, which occurred en the 2eth of Novem
ber, 1835. While a young man he carried on the
raanufacture of edge tools in Butler and Preble
Counties, Ohio, and also dealt in raerchandise, but
after coraing to Michigan followed the occupation of
farraer, with the exception of the tirae occupied by
the Black Hawk war, in which he was a captain.
His three sons, Williara, George and Jaraes, all re
main citizens ofthis County.
DAVID HOPKINS.
David Hopkins was born in Washington County,
New York, in the year 1794, where he lived until
18 1 6, when he moved to Cayuga County, remaining
there until 1834, when he came te Michigan. He

360 HISTORY OF
first settled on the river below Niles, where he lived
two years, then raoving to Volinia, where he died on
the 7th of April, 1856, at the age of fifty-six, his wife
surviving him but two days.
He was a man of many peculiarities, especially in
dress, frequently going bare-headed and bare-footed,
when others required heavy winter clothing ; a great
hunter and trapper, at home in the woods wherever
night overtook him. His special forte was bee hunt
ing, and it is said that not unfrequently every avail
able vessel about the house would be filled with
honey frem the woods. He was a man of consider
able native abilit}- and shrewdness, and served a
number of terras as Supervisor and ene terra as
County Coraraissioner. RICHARD V- HICKS.
Richard V. Hicks was born in the County of
Cornwall, England, in the year 1818. When seven
teen years of age, in company with his father, he
came to Cass County. His three brothers had pre
ceded them twe years. One of them was killed at'a
raising in Ohio. The second fell overboard frem a
boat en the Ohio River, and being struck by one of
the paddle wheels was never seen afterward. The
third was a lake captain fer thirty years and died at
the house of R. V. about two years ago, and still
another brother died about the same time at the
house ef his son-in-law, Emraet Dunning, in Howard
Township. The first season after coming te Michigan he

CASS COUNTY. 36 1
settled in Ontwa Township, en the farm now owned
by Mr. Pladden, but in .the fall of 1838 he went te
Niles and hired out to feed hogs at a distillery at
that place. Being of an ingenious turn of mind he
soon rose to the position of forman of the distillery,
which business he followed six or seven years, at
different places in the County. In 1843 he aban
doned distilling- and settled in the Truitt neighbor
hood, where he reraained six or seven years until
he reraoved to the place where he now resides.
In 1843 he was raarried te Catherine Ullrey, with
whora he still lives.

DANIEL McINTOSH, Sr.
The subject ofthis sketch was born in ScotJand in
the 1765. When about thirty-two years ef age he
iraigrated to this ceuntry, settling at Baltimore,
Maryland, where he remained a year er twe, then
moving to Alleghany County, in the same State.
He afterward moved te Wayne County, Ohio, and
from thence te Michigan in 1829. His occupation
was that of wagon and carriage maker, but while in
Baltimore he Ibllewed the business ef sawing ve-
neerning. It was late in November when they started for
Michigan and extreme cold weather overtook them
when near Tecumseh, where they were encamped
for the night. In the merning they found that their
horses had all ran away in the night except one kept
hitched to the wheel. Instructing his son Daniel to
push on with the family in the o.\ wagon, he set out

362 HISTORY OF
to look for the horses, employing a man named
Dorrel to pilot him through the v/oods. This man
proved to be a treacherous wretch, and, as soon as
out of sight, he abandoned Mr. Mcintosh, whe soon
became bewildered and, overcorae by the extreme
cold weather, he wandered around for five days and
nights, finally crawling to a house on his hands and
knees with his feet se badly frozen that he ceuld not
use them. In this condition he remained fifteen days
after coming in, or until word could be got to his
family and he ceuld be removed home. One of his
feet paining him very badly, his son was sent to
White Pigeon for a surgeon to amputate it, but find
ing the Doctor had gene to Detroit on business that
would detain him some time he carae horae without
hira. On his arrival at horae his father, who was in great
pain all the tirae, iraportuned hira to cut off his foot
with a knife, the only instrument of a surgical char
acter in their possession, which he did after putting
his father off as long as possible in the hope that
some one more skilled could be procured, but raorti-
fication setting in made it a raatter of necessity.
The foot was unjointed at the ankle and done up in
the best raanner with such raaterials as were at hand,
and sorae tirae afterward the other foot was ampu
tated by a surgeon. He was a man of great energy —
after loosing both his feet he would work at chop
ping wood, sawing with a cross-cut saw or hoeing
corn, using his knees to walk on instead effect. He
seemed to enjoy himself best when busy, and long
after his family wished him to quit work he would

CASS COUNTY. 363
beg to be carried to the field where others were at
work, that he raight take part in whatever was going
on. His sons, WiUiara, Daniel and Duncan, all
came with their father, and are, at the present time,
citizens of the County. EZRA MILLER.
Ezra Miller was born in Onondaga County and
town. New York, July 6th,^i8o8. In 181 8, with
his parents, he raoved te Erie County, settling on
land belonging to the Holland Land Corapany. By
the rascality ef some outside parties, Ezra was swin
dled out of all the money he had paid on the land
and the improvements he had made, which was the
cause of "his coraing to Michigan, in the hope of re
trieving his fortune.
He carae to Detroit in 1833, where he followed
the occupation of driving teara for two years, when
he carae to this County, in May, 1835, setthng in
Edwardsburg, where he has ever since reraained.
When he arrived here, he had but forty-eight dollars
in raoney; but with the assistance of friends, he was
enabled to raise enough to enter forty acres of land,
and in the fall of the sarae year he added another
forty to his possessions, all of which he still retains.
Previous te his coraing West, he was married to
Maria A. Best, by whom he has had six children, of
whom two only are now living. Mr. and Mrs,
Miller have been raerabers of the Congregational
Church over twenty years.

^64 HISTORY OF
REV. JACOB PRICE.
The subject of this sketch was born in Brecon-
shire, South Wales, on the 28th of March, 1799.
His fath^eFwas a Deacon in the Baptist Church, and
a man highly respected for his integrity and good
judgm'ent, but died when Jacob was but five years
old, leaving him and a sister, but four years older, to
be supported and educated by the raother. ThiK
proved a hard task in that country, but she workqd
with energy and faithfulness, and lived to see her
son a steady youth ef seventeen, with good mind
and morals.
Young Jacob had early formed the intention of
making his future home in America, and his moth
er's death loosened the last tie that bound him to
the Old World. He determined to gain an educa
tion, if possible, befere leaving, and fer this purpose
entered the Baptist Acaderay, at Abergavenny,
where he corapleted a regular course of, study.
Here, of necessity, he learned the English language,
in which all the text books were printed. When
twenty-two years eld he united with the Church,
and soon after coraraenced to preach, and while, in
the Acaderay he filled various appointraents in the
southern Counties of Wales.
After completing his studies, he resided with his
sister a year or two in Hay, in which time they set
tled their affairs, preparatory to embarking for
America. In 1830 he married a Miss Ann Price, an Eng
lish lady, and, in the fbllowing autumn, with his wife

CASS COUNTY. 36^
and sister, bade their old friends a last good-bye and
sailed for the new country, the voyage occupying
nearly the entire month of September, 1831. While
yet on shipboard, he was waited upon by a number
of prominent Baptists, who had heard of the young
minister and welcomed by them to his new heme.
They made their home in New York the reraainder
of the year, and on the 6th of January, 1832, he was
ordained pastor of the Second Baptist Church, of
Brooklyn, where he reraained a little over eighteen
months. ,
Mr. Price had intended frora the start to settle in
the West and preach the Gospel to that far off" peo
ple, and while in Brooklyn made additions to his
library for this purpose.
In the summer of 1833, M. C. Whitman, a raer
chant frora Cass County, was in New Yerk on
business, and inquired of Dr. Going if he knew of
any minister who would be wilhng to come as a
pioneer and preach in the scattered settleraents of
Western Michigan. Dr. Going introduced hira to
Mr; P., who soon after raade his arrangeraents to
corae to this County.
On the 1st of Septeraber, 1833, he was in Detroit,
and two Sabbaths later, he preach ed in La Grange,
where he had taken up his residence. His next
place of preaching was at Geneva. On the 27th of
the same month he preached at South Bend, and on
their return f"rom this place, his wife was taken with
a fever, from .which she died on the 19th of the fol
lowing month, and his own health was so poor at this
time that he was hardly able to sit up at the funeral.

365 HISTORY OF
While at La Grange he had regular appointments
fbr preaching at Bertrand and Edwardsburg, and
besides these three appointraents, he preached occa
sionally in nearly- all parts of the County, as well as
attending funerals far and wide. In 1836 he re
raoved, with his sister and only child, to Edwards
burg, where he bought eighty acres of land, on
which he lived seven years, at the sarae tirae
preaching in Southwestern Michigan and Northern
Indiana. In 1836 he was raarried to Miss Sarah Bennett,
who still survives hira, as does his sister, whe carae
to the County with hira.
In 1842 he reraoved to Cassopolis, where he raade
his horae until the tirae ef his death, a period of
twenty-nine years. He was pastor of the Church at
Union frora about the year 1850 until the time of
his death, in 187 1. Were there a record ef all the
funerals preached and the marriages solemnized by
Elder Price in this County, it weuld include a large
part of its domestic history.
ALEXANDER COPLEY. k\
Alexander Copley was born in the Town of
Granby, Hartford County, Connecticut, on the 22nd
of November, 1790. His grandfather, in company
with his brother, emigrated from JEkigland to this
country when young men, settling in Connecticut,
where he was married, and, within tw.o years, was
drowned in the Connecticut River while returning
from his weekly labor one Saturday evening in a

CASS COUNTY. 367
canoe, a belt around his body, containing his accu
mulated earnings in silver, is supposed to have been
partially the cause of his misfortune. He left one
son, the father of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Copley was the youngest of six children.
His father dying when he was but six years old, his
education and support devolved largely upen his own
efforts. He first learned the trade of carpenter, and
then that ef machinist, in which capacity he arose to
the position of superintendent of the Mattawan
Manufacturing Company's works, which he held
three years.
On the 12th ef September, 1829, he left Mattawan
for Dayton, Ohio, where he arrived en the i8th of
November, and in October of the next year, as
superintendent, he started in operation the first Cot
ton mill at Dayton, the raachinery for which he had
superintended while at Mattawan.
On the 9th of June, 1833, he left Dayton for
Michigan, arriving at Little Prairie Ronde on the
1st day ef July — averaging eleven railes a day with
ox tearas and caraping out every night while en the
route. He bought the land where Nicholsville now
stands, and built a saw raill in 1835, which was the
first in the Township, and, in connection, run a
cabinet shop until the financial depression ef 1837
and '38, which, with ill health, raade it necessary to
abandon this departraent.
He brought with hira, frora Ohio, three sizes of
Wood's patent cast iron plows, two head of Durham
cattle, bred by John C. Brooks, of Ridgeville, Ohio;
and in 1836 raanufactured a revolving rake from a

368 HISTORY OF
description furnished by a man frora New York.
The first school in the Township was taught by his
oldest daughter, in his house. He afterward built a
school house, which was used by the first district
organized in the Township until it was burned
down. He was a man of very superior native and
acquired ability, and far in advance of the necessities
of pioneer life. Upon first arriving in this vicinity
he examined the water privileges of the Christianna
and St. Joseph and prepared a detailed map ef the
peculiarities and advantages, which is still preserved
by his family. He always kept a full and accurate
journal of current events which has been ef service
in the construction ef this work. He died January
6th, 1842, aged fifty-one.
Hi.s oldest son, A. B. Copley, at present President
of the First National Bank of Decatur, was a
pioneer and resident of this County until 1874, and
has exerted a marked infiuence upon its progress,
both socially and politically. He has satisfactorily
served his Township as Supervisor for six years, and
has been three times sent to the Legislature — twice
by this County and once by Van Buren. ''<^>^ ' ' ^*' "
He is a raan of strong will and honest impulses,
and, although largely self educated, has acquired a
fund of general information and culture which secures
to him a leading position among his fellows.

CASS COUNTY. 369
JOSEPHUS GARD.
The subject ef this sketch, and father ef the nu
raerous faraily bearing the narae, who were ameng
the early pioneers of Cass County, was born in
Morris County, New Jersey, August 24th, 1774. In
1801 he moved te Ohio, settling near Cincinnati,
where he reraained six years, then reracving te
Unien County, Indiana, where he reraained until
coraing te Michigan, in the faU of 1830. His bus
iness through life was farming, but while in Indiana
carried en a tan-yard. His wife, Sarah Goble, was
born in New Jersey, December 15th, 1773. He
settled on the farra now owned by Loomis H. War
ner, where he lived until the time of his death,
August 4th, 1840.

JONATHAN GARD.
Jonathan Gard, the secend sen ef Josephus, and
one of the first settlers of Volinia Township, was
born April 6th, 1 799, in Hew Jersey, and came to
Michigan the season ef 1828, en a prospecting tour.
Se much pleased was he with the country, that im
raediate preparation was made for coming hither,
which he did in the spring ef 1829, arriving the 30th
day of March, settling on the farm now occupied by
his sons, at that time consisting ef a small prairie ef
about twe hundred acres, entirely surrounded by
heavy timber, where he lived until the tirae of his
death, in 1854. He was a raan of great force, both
mentally and physically, ef very generous dispesi-
—24

370 HISTORY OF
tion, his hospitality hardly knowing any bounds,
always ready to help the needy. He left: a record
in the hearts ot the people that will net be obliter
ated while the present generation lasts. His wife
still survives him, living ameng her children in the
imraediate vicinity, a quiet, serene old lady, of whora
no ene weuld judge frora her looks that she had
been through the vicisitudes ef the settleraent of a
new country. JOHN B. GARD.
John B. Gard, or Brookfield, as he was coramonly
called, was born October 4th, 1808, in Indiana. -He
carae te Michigan in the fall ef 1829, settling en the
farra now owned by J. Vancuren. He was the first
Collector of Volinia Township, when it coraprised
what is now Marcellus, and all of Van Buren
County. He was of a restless disposition, and raust
be on the raove, and not satisfied with the taraeness
of civilization. On the breaking out of the Califor
nia fever, he was araeng the first te take up the
Westward raarch, and is new a resident of ene of
the Western Territories.

SAMUEL RICH.
The subject of this sketch was born in Rewana
County, Nerth Carolina, in August, 1802. While
quite yoiirig, his parents moved to Adams County,
Ohio, where he reraained until coming to Michigan,
in the spring of 1829. He was raarried to Charity

CASS COUNTY. 371
Gard, Noveraber 23d, 1827. He died February
20th, 1873. John H. Rich, his sen, born October
2 ist, 1829, was the first white child born in the
Township. Mr. Rich was a quiet, unassuming raan, rauch
respected by all that knew hira, a farraer through
life. His wife still lives at the old horacstead.

HIRAM ROGERS.
Hirara Rogers was born in Morris County, New
Jersey, in the year 1802. When quite young his
parents raoved to the State of New York, first set
tling in Steuben County, near Crooked Lake, but
afterward raeved te Ontario County, and again to
Niagara County, where he reraained until coraing
to Michigan in 183 1, settling en section one ef Mil
ton Township, where he has reraained ever since.
He carae to Michigan in corapany with Luther Cha
pin, who reraained in this County fer raany years, but
is new a resident ef Naperville, Illinois. Mr. R. be
carae a raeraber ef the M. E..Xhurch early in life,
and has remained an earnest, consistent worker with
that body ever since. His occupation throughout
his life has been that of a farmer.
ALLEN DUNNING.
Allen Dunning was born near Albany, New York,
July 27th, 1796. When he arrivedat manhood he
removed to Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he
lived until coming to Michigan in 1836. He was

372 HISTORY OF
married to Minerva Reynolds January 12th, 1824.
Mr. Dunning settled in Milton Township, where he
resided until the tirae of his death, Deceraber loth,
1869. Mrs. Dunning still fives on the eld horac
stead with her sen. In an early day Mr. Dunning
learned the trade of cloth dressing, which he followed
for sorae years, or until about the tirae he was raar
ried, after which he followed farraing. Mr. and
Mrs. Dunning both held to the faith of universal sal
vation, and belonged te the church ef that denorain-
ation at Niles. Their house was frequently used fer
public worship by that denoraination. At the tirae
of Mr. Dunning's death there had not been a death
in his father's faraily in forty years.
HON. G. B. TURNER.
George Brunt was born in Franklin _CoJiaty, New
York, in 1822. He was ef Irish extraction, but, be
ing left an orphan at an early age, was adopted by
Sterling A. Turner, a Virginian, whose patrenyraic
he has since borne
He received a coraraon school education until he
was thirteen years of age, when he reraoved with
Mr. Turner to Detroit. Here he found eraployraent
in a coraraission house for about a year, until in 1836,
when he carae to Cassopolis. After he arrived at
his new and, as it proved, perraanent horae, he en
gaged in teaching school at frora twelve to fifteen
dollars per raonth, and at the sarae tirae pursued a
settled and rigorous course ef study with a view to
fitting hiraself fer acquiring the profession of the law.

CASS COUNTY. 373
Upon the advice of Nathaniel (afterwards Judge)
Bacon he raade a specialty ef history, both ancient
and raodern, as a preparatory and disciplinary study.
After teaching fer several terras he served as
clerk for the Kingsbury Brothers about two years
and then entered the law office ef A. H. Redfield,
where he reraained four years, being admitted te the
bar in 1844.
While a student in Mr. Redfield's office he found
remunerative and instructive eraployraent in prac
ticing in the Justice Courts.
Seen after being adraitted to practice he was raar
ried to Harriet Munroe who died in 1858.
His present wife was an English lady, the widow
of John Tytherleigh, whe iraraigrated te this country
in 1850.
He quitted the practice of law in 1850, on account
of ill health, and raeved en te a farm. Was succeed
ed in business by D. Blackraan, afterwards elected
Judge of this Circuit. In 1848 he was elected to
to represent Cass County in the State Legislature,,
and was re-elected in 1849. In 1856 he was nerai-
nated by the Deraocratic party^ibr State Senator.
The Republican party, organized this year, swept
the State, and Mr. Turner shared the fate of other
nerainees of his party, i, e, was beaten. In 1866 he
was nominated as Secretary ef State, and in 1868 as
Presidential Elector en the Seymour ticket, with like
results. He has been twice nominated for Probate
Judge, and once for Prosecuting Attorney by the
sarae party.
Mr. Turner is a raan of unbounded energy and.

374 HISTORY OF
noted for his great earnestness and strict integrity of
character. He was the first editor of the Cassopolis
Democrat,, and has always been a liberal contributor
to the press.
,. He has frora early raanhood been a staunch Jeffer-
senian Democrat, has defended stoutly, with pen
and tongue, what he believed to be true deraocratic
principles, and has made warm friends and bitter
eneraies thereby. WILLIAM SHANAFELT.
Williara Shanafelt carae frora Sandusky, Ohio, in
1835, and settled where Cassopolis new stands.
The first school house was built on his land. A
hole was dug under the floor for the purpose of
getting raud to daub the cracks with. It was after
ward used by the teachers for a dungeon, in which
to punish unruly scholars, by putting thera in. An
other raode of punishraent was by taking the unruly
urchin over the knees, and applying the ruler with a
brisk raotion.
At ene tirae Henry Shanafelt was up for sorae
boyish raisderaeaner, and when brought into the re- •
quired position for torture, Mr. Harper, the first
teacher in the school house, made the remark that
he was well prepared fer such occasions. His
grandraother, one of those econoraical, good eld
ladies, an honor of their time, had placed nuraerous
patches on various parts of his pants, and particu
larly heavy en that part where the punishraent was
hkely to fall.

CASS COUNTY. 375
CANNON SMITH.
The subject ef this sketch was born in the State
of Delaware,, where he lived until the spring of 1828,
when he started for the West, intending to raake
the Wabash ceuntry his stopping place In Dela
ware County, Ohio, he stopped to visit a brother,
and while there raet a raan frora the St. Joseph
Valley, whe gave such a favorable report ef the
fertility of the soil and the general advantages, that
Mr. Sraith determined to abandon his first destina
tion and come to Michigan. He was accompanied
by a raan naraed Case, who carae as an assistant,
and also te look at the country.
Through the Auglaize country, fer the distance
of eighty railes, but one teara had preceded hira.
He arrived at Edwardsburg October 12th, 1828.
In the season ef 1830 he rented Ezra Beardsley's
farra, and in the spring ef 1831 built a frarae house,
the first ene in Milton Township. The luraber for
this house was all split and shaved out — net a sawed
board in it.
Mr. Sraith and faraily were raerabers of the j/l. E.
iShurch^-and were among the first to help organize
a Society in the south part of the County. His
house was used for public worship until the school
house was built, and that until the Chapel, which
bears the name ef the subject ef this sketch. His
sons, John H., George, Wesley, and Cannon, are
still living in the iraraediate neighborhood of the eld
horacstead, in Milton Township.

376 HISTORY OP
DANIEL BLISH.
The subject of this sketch was born in Cheshire
County, New Harapshire, in the year 181 2. When
five years old his parents raeved to Essex County,
New York, where he reraained until coraing to
Michigan, in July, 1839. He is a millwright by
trade, and the first season worked on Pain's Mill,
above Niles, until February, 1840, when he settled
in Silver Creek Township, on section thirty-two,
where, in the heavy timber, he cleared up a large
farra wholly by his own effort and industry, and on
which he resided until coining to Dowagiac, in the
fall of 1874.
He has served as Supervisor of his Township ten
years, eight of which were in succession. He was
elected Justice of the Peace in 1843, and served in
that capacity thirteen years in succession.

ISAAC WILLIAMS.
Isaac Williams was born near Lynchburg, Vir-
ginia, in the year 1800. About 181 5 he carae te
Ohio, where he lived twenty years, until coraing to
Michigan, in 1835, setthng in Pokagon Township,
on section five. He was the first settler in this part
ef the Township. His nearest neighbor for a nura
ber of years was four railes distant. He hved on
the sarae farra where he first settled until the tirae
of his death, November 22d, 1874, at the advanced
age of seventy-four years.

CASS COUNTY. 377'
DAVID M. HOWELL.
David M. Howell was born in Champaign County, -
Ohao,. in the year 181 7, and came to Michigan with
his father in 1834, at first setthng in Bertrand; his •
father having a contract on the Chicago road.
In 1 84 1 he moved into Howard Township, in this
County, where he served as Township Clerk and
Justice ef the Peace until elected to the office of
Register of Deeds, in 1844, when he removed to-
Cassopolis. He held the office ef Register twelve
years in succession, and was Justice ef the Peace
until he moved on his farm in 1858.
Mr. Howell's success in life is a good illustration
of what raay be dene by an honest course, persever
ance and energy — frora infancy a cripple, dependent
wholly upon his hands and head, he has accumulated
a fine property. He is accredited as being one of
the best farmers in the County, although never able
to plow a furrow in his life.
FULTON FAMILY.
Alexander and Samuel Fulton came frora Frank- -
lin County, Ohjo, in 1829, settling on the south side
of Little Prairie Ronde, David and Jaraes coming ~
in July, 1833.
The three eldest brothers, Alexander, Samuel and
David, after staying five er six years, removed to '
Berrien County, selling a part of their interest in the
land to Dolphin Morris, new the farm ef Samuef
Morris, and the reraainder to the brother Jaraes,
who remained where he first settled until the time ¦-

378 HISTORY OF
¦of his death, last year. David died in Berrien
County about the year 1844, and Alexander in 1865.
In 1852 Sarauel went te California, v/here he re
mained until the time ef his death, some two years

WILLIAM R. WRIGHT.
The subject ef this sketch was born in Sussex
County, New Jersey, about the year 1779, and
vi^hile a young raan moved te Butler County, Ohio,
where he lived until coraing to Michigan, in the
season ef 1828.
The experience ef Mr. Wright and faraily the
first winter after coraing in, was of the raost severe
character. Breadstuff's becarae very scarce and
dear. Potatoes and Johnny-cake were staples, while
perk and flour were rarities.
The faraily have always been noted for keeping
fine horses, and these had to be kept raainly en
hackberry bark for several weeks at a tirae. The
raanner of preparing it was to cut the tiraber into
suitable lengths fer rails, draw the cuts up before
the cabin door, when they weuld be split into rails,
carried in before the fire and warraed sufficiently to
start the bark, which weuld be peeled off, broken
up, and carried to the aniraals by the bushel basket
full. His son, Stephen D. Wright, still lives on the old
horacstead, his father having passed away raany
years age.

CASS COUNTY. 379
WILSON BLACKMAR.
, Wilson Blackmar was born in Connecticut, in
1792, removed with his parents, when fourteen years
old, to Buffalo County, New York, where he re
raained until three years previous te coming to
Michigan, when he raoved to Huron County, Ohio.
Came to Michigan in 1829, arriving at Edwardsburg
on the second day of July. On their arrival prepara
tion was in progress for a celebration of the coraing
4th of July, and Mrs. Blackraar raade a flag frora
two red silk handkerchiefs for the occasion, sewing
on the stars and stripes.
His faraily consisted ef feur girls and twe boys.
Nathaniel B. Blackraar, the oldest son, was born in
Erie County, New York. When ten years old he
carae with his father to Michigan, and, with the ex
ception of twe. years, has resided here ever since.
ISAAC SEARS.
Isaac Sears was born near Hartford^- Connecticut,
in the year 1795. While quite young, he, with his
parents, raoved te Cayuga County, New York, and
frora thence to Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1809.
He was in the war ef 181 2, serving under Corarao
dore Perry.
In 1836, with his wife and eleven children, he
raoved to this County, settling in La Grange Town
ship, where he remained until the time of his death,
in 1839.
He was a member of the Baptist Church, and
held the office ef County Treasurer at the tirae of

380 HISTORY OF
his death. His two sens, Williara and John, are
citizens ofthis County. JUSTUS GAGE.
Justus Gage was born in De Ruyter, Madison
County, New Yerk, on the 13th of March, 1805. In
early life he received a coramon school education,
with a short terra at an acaderay, which was suffi
cient to stiraulate his active raind, frora which tirae
forward, through life, he was a diligent student.
In 1822 he became a meraber ef the Universalist
denoraination, and soon after was licensed to preach,
in which profession he continued through life, so far
as his health would perrait.
In the spring of 1837 he emigrated with his
family to Michigan, settling in Wayne Township.
He always took an active part in everything tending
toward the advanceraent of agriculture, was one ef
the first Presidents ef our County Agricultural
Society; in the fall of 1852 delivered the annual
address before the State Agricultural Society, at
Detroit, and with the organization of the State
Agricultural College he was raade a raeraber of the
Board of Agriculture, in which capacity he acted
eight years.
His interest in educational raatters was second te
none, engaging in whatever tended te the advance
raent of our coraraon and high schools. In the fall
of 1850 he was chosen Director ef the village school
ef Dowagiac, and at once proceeded to the inaugura
tion of the union or graded school systera, under the

CASS COUNTY. 38 1
free school law. He also took an active part in
the organization of the Universalist Society ef that
place, and contributed his full share toward the
erection of the house of worship, and served as
Clerk of the Church frora its organization until the
tirae ef his death, which occured on the 21st of Jan
uary, 1875, in the sixty-ninth year of his age.
His raany virtues and good qualities will long be
reraerabered by the people of this County, and his
pioneer sketches will be treasured with the things ef
the past.

ZADOK JARVIS.
The subject of this sketch was born in Roan
County, North Carelinia. in the year 1785, where
he hved until about the year 1825, when he moved
to Wayne County, Indiana. In 1834 he moved to
this County, settling in La Grange Township, where
he lived until the time of his death, in 1851.
In his younger days he learned the trade ef dis
tiller, but after coming to Michigan followed the
vocation of farraer. His widow, now nearly ninety
years old, is a sprightly old lady in the enjoyraent
of all her faculties. His feur sons. Barton, Norraan,
Benjarain, and Zadok, all reraain in this and Berrien
Counties.

ABIJAH HUYCK.
Abijah Huyck was born in Delaware County,
the year 18 18. When eight years eld his

382 HISTORY OF
parents raoved te Lenawee County, this State, and
in 1836 reraoved te this County.
Mr. H. was one ef the earliest settlers in Mar
cellus Township, raoving in when there were but
three other farailies. In 1850 he erected a saw raill,
on the "Little Rocky," and for a nuraber of years'
manufactured lumber and wagoned it to Decatur,
his nearest market. He is known as a thorough
business raan, and one of the best farraers in the
County. His brother, Richard J., carae to Volinia Town
ship in 1838, and for a nuraber of years sold goods
there, but for several years past has followed the
life of a farraer.

DAVID S. BALDWIN.
David S. Baldwin and his two sons, Josephus and
Silas, left Warren County, Ohio, in March, 1828,
for what was then known as the St. Joseph Country,
and arrived in this County early in April, and caraped
en the southwest corner of Beardsley's Prairie.
They found food for both raan and beast very
scarce, and had te resort to felling trees fer brouse
fer the cattle, and to the strearas and woods for food
for theraselves. They brought with thera three
yoke of cattle, a cart loaded with carap equipage,
provisions, breaking plow, leg chains, axes, iron
wedges, &c. The weather, while on the journey,
was wet and cold and the reads bad. Through the
St. Mary's Swarap they made but three railes a day.
There was but one house between Fort AVayne and

CASS COUNTY. 383.
Benton, at which place they found the Elkhart River
so badly swollen frora long continued rains that a
canoe had to be dug out from a white wood tree be
fore they could cress.
The two lads, then fifteen and sixteen years old,
after reraaining until June, returned to Ohio. Their
outfit consisted of one horse, which they rode alter
nately, a sraall supply of previsions, and a five
dollar bill.
In the fall of 1830 the boys carae back, with the-
rest of the family, the older brother still residing en
the prairie. Silas reraoved .to Elkhart, in April,
1842, where he has ever since reraained, and is
known as one of the raost enterprising ef that city's
citizens. He was a Lieutenant in the Black Hawk
war, and his rerainiscences ef that struggle are well
worth publication.
The third sen, Williara, of auctioneering farae, is
prebably as well known as any raan in Cass County.
Although of liraited education, having never at
tended school but eighteen days in his life, yet he
carries on quite an extensive business, beside fur
nishing the windwork for raany others.
The father was of a migratory character, and
was one of the first to start te California, in 1849,
since which time he has never been heard frora.

RUDD BROTHERS.
Marvrick, Jeremiah, Barker F., and Stephen were
born near the Green Mountains, ofj/erniont, where

384 HISTORY OF
they all lived until raen grown and raarried, except
.the youngest. The three, Marvrick, Barker F.,
and Stephen, carae te this County in 1834, and
Jereraiah carae in 1836.
Stephen and Marvrick settled on Young's Prairie,
the ether two locating in Newberg Township, where
Barker still lives. Marvrick reraoved te Oregon
.about the year 1858, and only lived two years after
getting there. His two sons, Harry- and Jaraes L.,
are residents of Oregan. Jereraiah died in the year
1855. His twe sons. Jay and Orson, are residents
, of this County at the present tirae. Stephen died
en Young's Prairie in 1864. His only son now lives
in Vandalia.

WILLIAM GILBERT.
Williara Gilbert was born on Leng_Island, in the
year 1790. When three years old his parents raoved
to Otsego County, New^York, where he lived until
coraing to Michigan, in 1839, settling on the bank
•of Indiana Lake, in Silver Creek Township.
In New York he' followed tearaing twenty years,
between Albany and Buffalo, and while at this bus
iness received the nick narae ef " Toraray," by
which he was ever afterward known. He was a
man ef rather singular organization; was very fond
of having a good tirae, especially on holiday occa
sions. His three sens, Williara, Andersen, and
Eugene, all live near the old horae, their father dy
ing on the 1 8th of February, 1864.

CASS COUNTY. 385
THE SILVER FAMILY.
Ne narae is raore frequently met or more promi
nently identified with the development of the south
ern portion of Cass County, during the first twenty
years of its history, than that of the Silvers, and,
did space allow, a chapter, detailing their virtues
and experiences, ceuld be written, which of itself
weuld be a tolerable history of that locality, but the
limit which was placed for this velurae, in its incep
tion, having been already exceeded, I raust confine
these sketches to the barest mention.
Jehn Silver was born in New Harapshire, in 1763.
He was a raason and taught that trade to all of his
beys. In 1785 he was raarried te Mary Buell, ef
Soraers, Connecticut, by whora he had eight child
ren, six beys and twe girls. He served with credit
during the war ef 181 2, and at its close retired to a
farra in Hopkinten, New Harapshire, where he re
raained until in 1837 when he followed his children
to the then far West.
He carae first to Edwardsburg and Cassopolis,
but finally purchased a farra in Cleveland Township,
Elkhart County, Indiana, one raile frora the Michi
gan hne, where he resided until his death, in 1843.
His wife survived hira five years.
Jacob, the oldest son, was born in Newport, New
Hampshire, in 1786. In 1806 he married Abigail
Piper, by whora he had five children, only ene of
whora — Mrs. E. B. Sherraan — is now hving. In
1837 he raarried Mrs. Maria Goodrich, who still
survives hira.
In 1830- he forraed a partnership with his two
—25

386 HISTORY OF
younger brothers, Abiel and Benjarain F., fer trad
ing in the West, either at Chicago or Ottowa. They
shipped their goods to Chicago, Jacob accorapany-
ing them, Benjarain reraaining to close up his affairs
East, and Abiel traveling overland. The latter,
while journeying through Michigan, fell in love with
Beardsley's Prairie, and was se strongly irapressed
with a belief in the future greatness of Edwardsburg
that he wrote te Jacob to reship the goods from
Chicago te that peint via the St. Joseph. It was
late in the fall before the change could be effected,
and part of the cargo was in a boat which was frozen
in for the winter, necessitating a long and expensive
portage; but they were finally got through and
opened out in a log store room.
In the spring of 1832 they opened a branch at
Cassopolis, then just laid out and designated as the
County Seat, and Jacob reraoved there with his
faraily some months later. He was the pioneer
trader of the village, and was identified with its
prosperity for raany years.
In 1833 they put up a large distillery, the first in
the county. It was a very heavy frarae building,
and required the aid of nearly the whole able bodied
population of the County to raise it. The work
lasted three days, and each night Mr. S. toek two
pans, one filled with geld and the other with silver
coins, and passed thera around through the crowd,
requesting each raan to help hiraself te whatever he
considered an equivalent for his day's work. In
1834 the partnership terrainated, and the Cassopolis
branch and distillery fell to his share.

CASS COUNTY. 387
In 1833 he was elected County Treasurer, and in
1836 was a meraber of the first Constitutional Con
vention, at Ann Arbor. He died in 1872, leaving
the bulk of his property to the Swedenborgian
Church, of which he had been a zealous suppertel-.
John, the second sen, was born in Hopkinten,
New Harapshire, in 1788. He was an inn keeper
and proprietor of a stage route in Newport for many
years, but in 1845 followed his brothers and sen to
Cass County, Michigan, settling in Ontwa Town
ship. He reraained here about ten years, but after
the death of his secend wife, returned te New
Harapshire, where he died in 1864.
His son, Orrin, was ene of the first hotel keepers
in Edwardsburg, where he stiU resides, and has al
ways been a prominent representative ef the business
interests of that place.
Jeremiah, the third son, was born in Hopkinten,
New Hampshire, in 1790. He served three years
in the war of 181 2, but never applied fer a pension
until 1866, when he received twelve dollars per
month until his death.
Upon the conclusion of hostilities, he exchanged
the sword for the trowel and plowshare, and soon
after raarried Sarah Hastings, by whora he had six
children, feur of whora survived him. He removed
to Cass County in 1836, and in company with Ben
jamin F. purchased a farra of two hundred acres in
Ontwa. During the pioneer days he was noted as a
hunter and trapper, and is said to have destreyed
raore wolves than any man in Southwestern Michi
gan. He toek the contract and built the first Cass

388 HISTORY OF
County Poor House. He died April 19th, 1876.
Josiah was born in New Hampshire, in 1794, and
came to this County in 1837. In 1818 he was mar
ried te Polly Straw, by whom he had three children,
two ef whora" are still living. He died in 1870.
Abiel, better known as Judge Silver, was born in
Hopkinten, New Hampshire, in 1797. In 1825 he
migrated te St. Lawrence County, New York,
where he engaged in teaching, and afterward mar
ried Edna Hastings — by whem he had ene child —
and engaged in raercantile pursuits. In 1830 he re
raoved to Chautauqua County, and in corapany with
Benjarain F. epened a stock ef goods. In 1831 he
carae to Cass County, as before described. He is a
raan of raore than ordinary ability and culture, and
played an important part in the history of these ,
days. He was a raeraber of the first Constitutional
Convention of Ann Arbor, an Associate Judge ef
Cass County, and in 1846 was appointed Corarais
sioner of the State Land Office, which position he
held two years. Seen after this he entered the
Swedenborgian rainistry. He has served in this ca
pacity in Wilmington, Delaware, Newport, New
Hampshire, Salera, Massachusetts, and now has
charge of a Church in Boston, Massachusetts.
Margaret, the sixth child, was born in New
Harapshire, in 1799, raarried Seth Straw in 1817,
and carae te this County in 1837. She new resides
in Elkhart, Indiana.
Joan was born in 1802, was raarried to Tiraothy
Straw in 1821, carae West in 1837, ^^^ still lives on the
farra originally purchased, south of Edwardsburg.

CASS COUNTY. 389
The history of Benjamin F., the youngest ef the
faraily, has been outlined in that ef the others. Pie
was born in Hopkinten, New Plainpshire, in 1808,
and carae te Edwardsburg in 1832, in corapany with
Jacob and Abiel. Upon the dissolution ef their
partnership, in 1834, he reraained in company with
Abiel. He next followed farraing a few years, and
in 1838 married Martha Morrison, by whom he had
one child, a daughter, who died in 1874. In 1843
he coraraenced selling goods in Cassopolis, with H
C. Lybrook and S. E. Dew, but in 1847 he gave up
raercantile pursuits and settled dewn on the farra in
Pokagon, where he now resides.
An annual reunion of the faraily is held on Thanks
giving day, at which feasting and raerryraaking is
diversified by an exchange ef mutual confidences and
a rehearsal ef the traditions of the elders. Ne dis
play ef differences in wealth or social position is
allowed. The women wear calico dresses and the
raen plain business suits, and all raeet upen a footing
of perfect equality. At the last gathering, at "Un
cle Ben's," one hundred and thirty-seven sat down
to dinner.

JACOB A. SUITS.
The subject of this sketch was born in Johnstown,
Montgoraery County,_IfcB^ York, in the year 1798,
where he hved until 1836, when he came to Michi
gan and settled in Silver Creek Township. At that
tirae there was but three cabins in the Township,
Mr. Suit's being the fourth.

390 HISTORY OF
Mr. Suits died in 1844, but his widow is still liv
ing araong her friends, and his twe sens, Adara and
Jacob, are still citizens ef the County, the forraer on
the eld horacstead and the latter in Dowagiac.
The faraily carae frora Buffalo to Chicago and
then te St. Joseph, on a lake schooner. The voy
age, owing te rough weather, was very tedious,
occupying seven weeks, during which tirae, while on
the west side of Lake Michigan, their raast was
blown away and they had to he still until another
ceuld be brought frora shere and put in place.
On their arrival at their new home, Mr. Suits
made inquiry where he ceuld purchase seme butter,
and was informed that their nearest neighbors to the
south had, if fer sale, which he found to his surprise
to be ten miles away.
PLEASANT NORTON.
The subject of this sketch, and father of the nu
merous faraily in this County, was born in Grayson
County, Virginia, in the year 1806. When two
years old his parents raoved te Charapaign County,
Ohio, and afterward te Logan County, in the sarae
State, where he lived until coraing te Michigan, in
the fall ef 1832, settling in Jefferson Township, where
he still resides.
In 1826 he was raarried te Rachel Fukey, who
also is still living. Mr. Norton cast his first vote
for General Jackson, and has adhered to the Derao
cratic party ever since. He has served two terras
in the State Legislature from this County, was Su-

CASS COUNTY. 39 1
pervisor ef his Township eight years, and was
Township Treasurer a nuraber ef terras, besides
holding numerous ether offices by election and ap
pointment.

THE BURK FAMILY.
WiUiara, Thoraas, and Andrew L. were born in
Giles County, Virginia, Jn the years 1788, 1796, and
1 810, respectively. In 1824 they, in company with
their father's family, raoved to Preble County, Ohio,
where they reraained four years, or until 'T8287
when the three brothers carae to Michigan and set
tled in Pokagon Township.
Williara, better known as Judge Burk, who acted
as Associate Judge fer a nuraber of years, reraained
a bachelor and a resident ef the Township until the
tirae of his death, in 1868.
Andrew lived in the Township but a few years,
or until he was raarried, when he reraoved into
what is known as the bend of the river, in Berrien
County, where he still reraains.
Thomas is still living in the vicinity of where he
first settled. He was married in 1829 to Catherine
Lybrook, who was also frora Virginia, and by whora
he had quite a large faraily. She died in May,
1863. The Burk family are ef Irish-descent. The grand
father en one side and the great grandfather en the
ether carae frora Ireland. They have always been
known as honest, upright men, and good types of
Virginia gentlemen.

392 HISTORY OF
The faraily reraoved frora Virginia to Ohio and
then frera Ohio to Michigan, with wagons. While
en the way frera Ohio, Thomas raet with a raisfer-
tune, by cutting his ankle while falling a sraall
saphng a few railes out of Fort Wayne, where he
was carried te haA^e his wound dressed, and was
then put on beard of one of the wagons and hauled
the reraainder ef the way. He was net able to
place his weight on the crippled foot fer eight
weeks.

THE REAMS FAMILY.
Moses Rearas was born in North Carphna, in
1798. While still a lad he reraoved, with his fa
ther's faraily, to Ohio, where he spent his youth and
early manhood.
In 18 1 9 he married Mahala Norton, a sister of
Pleasant Norton, who is raentioned elsewhere in
these pages, and whom he had six children. He
was passionately fond of hunting and fishing, and
when the increasing settleraent ef Ohio rendered
garae scarce, he raoved to Cass County, Michigan,
in 1828, squating on Governraent land in the ex
trerae nerthern part of Jefferson Township. He
changed his location several tiraes within twe years
before settling upon the farm which he now occupies.
Williara Dixon, his oldest child, was born in
Ohio, in 1820. In 1843 he raarried Rhoda CoUyer,
by whora he had seven children, only two of whora
are new living.
Mary Jane was born in Ohio, in 1822, and raar-

CASS COUNTY. 393
ried Christopher Richardson, in 1841, by whora she
had five children, three of whora are stiU livino-.
Levi was born in 1824, raarried Irene Collins, in
1847, by whora he had feur chUdren, aU ef whora
are still living.
Margaret Ann was born in Ohio, in 1826, mar
ried Ichabod Pearson, in 1844, by whom she had
feur children, three of whom are liviner.
Lovinia was born in 1834, and in 1851 married
Joseph N. Marshall, by whora she had three child-
ren, two of whora are living.
Nathan was born in 1842, and in 1872 married
Sarah Ruiner. All ef the children live in Jefferson
or Cassopolis. THE JONES FAMILY.
This faraily, so well and prominently known in.
the central portion of the County, are ef English
descent, the grandfather of the present generation's
father emigrating from England about the raiddle of
the last century and settled in North Carohna,. and
afterward reraoved te Geergia, where George, the
subject ef this sketch, was born, on the 28th day ef
August, 1770. .^
They were of the Quaker persuasion and in cora
raon with their sect early imbibed a distate to
human slavery, and finding life irksome and unre
munerative te nonparticipants in the National crime,
removed te Ohio, where he reraained until 1829,
when he reraoved to Michigan and settled en Young's-
Prairie, where he died en the 4th of April, 1834.

394 HISTORY OF
While in Georgia he raarried Lydia Hobson, by
whora he had ten children, five sons and five daugh
ters. Henry, the oldest son, was born in Georgia,
in the year 1790, and carae to Michigan, with his
father, and entered a large tract of land on the prai
rie, where he died in 1850. His surviving sens are
Araos, George W., Henry, Phineas, and Jesse, who
all reraain in the County with the exception ef
Henry, whe has raigrated te Oregon, where he still
resides. Charles, the second son, was born on the 20th of
January, 1792, and carae te this County in 1829,
where he reraained until the tirae of his death. Of
his sons, Williara and Charles reraain near the old
horacstead, and Joseph lives in Iowa.
Williara, the third son, reraained in Ohio.
George, the fourth sen, was born on the 30th of
April, 1801, accompanied the family te Michigan,
but the change of cliraate proved unfavorable to
hira, and he died three years afterward. All his
sons, Stephen, Nathan, and George D., are residents
of Cass County. His widow, farailiarly known as
" Aunt Polly," is deserving of raore than a passing
notice, and I regret that ray liraited space wiU net
allow a detailed account of her ability and virtues.
Left alone with a large faraily, her superior man-
.ageraent, thrift, and practicability steed in full stead
fer their lost father. She built the first frarae house
on the prairie, superintended the farra and its raar-
ketings, and always made time fer kind and helpful
¦ offices to sick and unfortunate neighbors. She was
widely known and universally respected, and though

CASS COUNTY. 395
long gone te her reward, her raeraory is still green
in the hearts of her beneficaries.
Nathan, the youngest son, was born en the i6th
of October, 1810. He carae to Cass County with
-the faraily, where he reraained until 1850, when he
-took the gold fever and raigrated to California,
where still resides.
Of the daughters, but two came te Michigan, and
were mothers ef the well known Green and Town-
send farailies, which are detailed in another part ef
this work.
The family hold an annual reunion each year,
which is attended by about ene hundred and fifty
descendents.

THE BARNEYS.
Judge John Barney was born in Connecticut, and
while yet a young raan raeved to Willisbarre,'Pennsyl-
vania, frera thence he moved te Mount Vernon, Ohio,
and again te Huron County, in the sarae State. He
was a Captain of volunteers during the war ef 1812,
and was taken prisoner en the Detroit River a day
or two previous to Hull's surrender, and kept a pris
oner on board an old vessel under a strict guard.
After a tirae their capters relaxed their vigilance in
a measure, and while a part ef them were below
playing cards. Captain Barney and his comrades
overpowered them and took possession of the vessel,
which they run to the mouth ef the Maumee River,
frem whence they preceeded heme.
In 1836 Mr. Barney came te Michigan, settling at

396 HISTORY OF
first in Wayne Township, where he lived ene year,
when he raeved te Silver Creek Township, where
he died in 1852. He served a number of years as
Associate Judge in this County. After he was
sixty-five years ef age he went te California, raaking
the entire journey on foot.
Henry Barney, Sr., was born in Connecticut, in.
1763, and early eraigrated to Pennsylvania, where
he was raarried, and then raoved to Western New
York. He afterward reraoved to Huron County,
Ohio, where he reraained twenty years, clearing up
a large farra in the time. He came te Michigan in
1838, settling in Silver Creek Township, where he
lived until a few years before his death, which oc
curred in 1850. He had been a pioneer in four
States. He was married three times and had ten
children, six girls and four boys, three of whom are
now living.
His oldest sen, Henry, Jr., was born in 1804, and
came to this County in 1835, with his brothers, and
entered six hundred acres of land, in Wayne Town
ship, upon which they moved in 1837 and remained
until the time of his death, in 185 1.
Pie left a wife and feur sens, the youngest of
whom, and mother, died within three years of the
husband and father. Of the others, Henry L., our
present Register ef Deeds, is still a resident ef this
County. The other two lie in graves in Seuthern
soil, devotees to their country.
Julius A. Barney was born near Wilksbarre, Penn
sylvania, where he lived until coming to Michigan,.
in 1837, setthng in Wayne Township, having been.

CASS COUNTY. 397
here two years previous to see the country and make
a location. He brought with him hogs, cows, and
sheep to raake a coraraenceraent with, and carae
with a deterraination to succeed by hard werk. He
never experienced the privations that raany cora
plained of, but suffered considerably frera the sick
ness ef 1837-8. He was Supervisor of his Township
one year, Township Clerk two years, and was
elected Justice of the Peace twice, but never quali
fied for that office Mr. Barney reraained on the
farra where he first settled until the spring ef 1874,
when he raoved te Dowagiac.
John G. A. Barney was born in Cayuga County,
New Yerk. While quite young his father raoved
te Huron County, Ohio, where he reraained until
coraing to Michigan in February, 1838, stopping
nearly a year in Wayne township. At this tirae
there was no road across the swarap between Paw
Paw and Suranerville, a distance of ever thirty railes.
He, having purchased land in the township of Silver
Creek, had to wait until it would freeze up to raake
it passable. Mr. Barney believes hiraself te be the
first raan te drive a team across the swamp, which
he did the winter ef 1838-9. He built the first saw
mill in the Township the season of 1840, since known
as the Foster raill. For a nuraber of years he car
ried on, quite a trade with the Indians, buying their
furs and skins, and furnishing thera provisions &c.
In the earlier days ef Dowagiac he engaged in the
drug business with Asa Huntington, where they
were burned out in the first fire, after which he re
raoved to Porter Station, Indiana, where he re-

398 HISTORY OF
mained six years, since which he has lived in Dowa
giac. He was Supervisor of Silver Creek a number
of years ; he has alse held the office of Justice of the
Peace. Mr. B. relates raany anecdotes of his early
career in Michigan, sorae ef which will be found
under their appropriate head.

THE TIETSORT FAMILY.
Abrara Tietsort, Sr., was of HoUandJDiitch- de
scent. The faraily early settled in Newjersey,.
where Abrara was born in 1777. He served in
the war ef 1812, soon after which he settled in But
ler County, Ohio, where he followed the occupatieri.
of farraer.
In the year 1828 he and his faraily carae to Michi
gan, settling on the present site ot Niles, where he
raised grain, and in corapany with his oldest sea
ran a flat beat en the St. Joseph River.
In 1830 he reraoved to this County, and settled
on the farra now owned by Hirara Jewell, which he
afterward exchanged with Mr. Jewell fer land on
which the Air Line depot now stands, where he
lived until the tirae of his death, in 1847, his widow
surviving hira seven years.
Abrara, Jr., his eldest son, was born in Butler
County, Ohio, in the year 1805, and carae to Michi
gan at the same tirae of his father. In 1830 he
settled en the east side ef Stone Lake, and was ene
ef the original owners ef the village plat of Cassopo
lis, where he lived until the tirae of his death, in

CASS COUNTY. 399
1842. In pioneer times he carried on the business of
cabinet raaking, undertaking, etc.
His eldest son, John Tietsort, is a resident ef the
village. Two others are in Detroit, and one in
Illinois. His widow and enly living daughter reside
in Orleans County, New Yerk.
Levi, the secend son, settled in La Grange Town
ship, where he lived until the time ef his death, about:
twelve years age.
Henry, the third sen, is a raason by trade, which
he has followed raany years, in connection with
farraing. He fives just nerth ef the village of Cass
opolis. The fourth son, Cornelius B., settled just east ef"
the village, en the farra now occupied by his widow
and sons, where he died about six years ago.
Squire V.,the youngest son, reraained en the eld.
hornestead until the tirae ef his death, in 1852.

SYLVADOR T. READ.
The subject of this sketch was born in Tompkins
County, New Yerk, on the 12th day of January,
1822. When~six years old his parents moved tO'
Erie County, Pennsylvania, where they remained
four years, when they carae to Michigan, in 1832.
He first settled in Monroe County, where he re
raained nine years, then reraoving to this County, at
first settling in Calvin Township, where he served
for a tirae as Supervisor.
Mr. Read's life has been diversified with raany
callings, and contrary to the general rule, of "too-

400 HISTORY OF
many irons in the fire," has succeeded in accuraula
ting property far beyond the average of raankind.
He served as a soldier in the raeraorable "Toledo
IVar," under Governor Masen, has foUowed the oc
cupations of itinerant thresher, following the break
ing plow, steara saw miUing, merchandising, and
railroading. In 1854 , he went overland to California with a
drove ef cattle, the trip out occupying six months.
In 1855 he removed te Cassopolis, and has been
identified with her interests ever since. He is a
thorough, enterprising, business' man, taking held
with a will in whatever is fer his own benefit or the
public good, a genial, social raan.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH HARPER.
The subject of this sketch was born in Washing-
"ton County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1805, where
he lived until 1834, when he carae west and settled
in Cassopolis, which has been his home ever since.
In 1836 he was raarried to Caroline Guilford, with
w^hera he still lives.
Early in life Mr. H. followed the business ef car
penter and joiner, and was one of the contractors fer
the building of the present County Court House.
He has been elected and served in the several offices
of Register of Deeds, County Treasurer, Sheriff, and
is at present Postraaster of Cassopolis. In early
California tiraes he raade a trip to that golden clirae
and reraained four years, and afterwards went to
Pike's Peak and Montana in search of the precious

caSs cbuTvfT-S'.' ,.401
metal. He served as Captain of Corapany A in the
Twelfth MichiganTnfaritry. ' '¦''' '' '¦¦"=¦ ¦¦¦'•i' -¦¦
He is known as a stern, 'uriflirichihg riibralist, a
man with an opinion and ready to maintaiij.it, a
zealous supporter of law and erder, and an upright,
honest man.

ARMSTRONG DAVIDSON.
The subject of this sketch was born on the James
River, Virginia, about the year 1784, where he
lived until a man grown, and learned the trade of
blacksmith, serving an apprenticeship of seven years. '
Soon after learning his trade he was married te
Rebecca Spears, after which he moved to Wooster,
Wayne County, Ohio, whfere he 'remained until cora
ing to Michigan, in 1829. „' ¦''¦''' '-'¦:}¦'¦¦ .,.
He settled in North Ppr'ter Township, where he,
lived until the time.ot ,-his dea:th, ever twenty .years
ago. Plis oldest son, Samuel, lives' af the present
time in Cassopolis. Henry arid Noah' are residents
ef Oregon, and WiUiam lives in Cahforhia;. ...Cath
erine (Mrs. Hebron) died last' faU (1875), Mary ,
(Mrs. John Hartman) and Ehzabeth ' (the widow.
Robins) are both resideiits ef Porter Tbwnship; ¦
MOSES MclLVAlN'.'
The subject ef this sketch is of Scotchdri§h de
scent. His antecedents left Scotland and.;went over;;
to Ireland during one of the many turmoils that ex,-,,,
isted there in early times.' 'The grandfather of the
—26

402 HISTORY OF
subject of the present sketch settled in Pennsylvania,
and in an early day went to Kentucky on a pros
pecting tour, and while there was taken prisoner by
the Indians and kept in bondage two and one-half
years. He afterward made a permanent settlement
near Lexington, where Moses was born, in 1802.
When three years old his parents moved to Cham
paign County, Ohio, where he remained thirty-one
years, or until coming to Michigan, in 1836. He set
tled in Jefferson Township, wher§ he lived until a
few years ago, when he moved to Cassopolis to Hve
with his son, William W., of the firm of Mcllvain
& Phelps.
Mr. Mcllvain is a quiet, unassuming man, and has
never put himself forwardj yet has served in numer
ous Township offices and other positions.
JOHN RITTER.
The subject of this sketch was of Gerrnan descent
and was born in Virginia, on the 31st of March,
1793. About the year 1 8 10 his parents moved to
Preble County, Ohio, where he was married to
Sarah Lybrook, in September, 1816, after which he
reraoved to Unien County, Indiana, where he lived
until cpniing to Michigan, in October, 1828.
He first settled near Niles, where he reraained
until the foUowing August, when he removed to
La Grange Prairie, in this County,, where he was
killed by lightning on the 31st of the same raonth,
his wife surviving hira until the 24th of January,
1834.

CASS COUNTV. 403
Hannah, his oldest daughter, resides with her
brother, J. K., in Cassopolis. Henry L., his oldest
son, died about four years ago, on La Grange Prai
rie, where his fanJily, still reside.
David M. died about ten years ago. His two
sons reside on McKinney's Prairie.
Eve died while on the road to Michigan.
Joseph K., the youngest of the family, is a resi
dent of Cassopolis, and is well known throughout
the County, having served in numerous public po
sitions.

INDEX.

Ancient Earth Works

5, 49

Coulter J.,

345

Agricultural Society,

279

Copley A.,

365

Alexander J.,

326

Dowagiac,

262

Aldrich Jaraes,

333

Dickson James, •

347

Bogue Stephen,

338

Dunning A.,

371

Byrns Jehn,

340

Davidson A.,

401

Beeson J. G.,

341

Edwards Lewis,

313

Brady David,

357

Fosdick George,

348

Blish Daniel,

376

Fulton Family,

377

Backraar Wilson,

379

Goodspeed J.,

337

Baldwin D. S.,

382

Goble Elijah,

342

Burk Family,

391

Gallup Family,

345

Barney Family,

395

Green Jesse,

358

Carey Mission,

66

Green Amos,

358

Cabin Building,

85

Gard Josephus,

369

Cooking Utensils,

lOI

Gard Jonathan,

369

Cass County,

no

Gard John B.,

37»

Calvin,

208

Gage Justus,

380

Cassopolis,

236

Gilbert William,

384

Cass Co. in the War

281

Howard,

218

Copley E.,

344

Humphrey L.,

332

INDEX.

405"

Huntley E.,

339

Mcllvain Moses,

401

Hain Family,

355

Newberg,

172

Hitchcox Jarius,

357

Nash Ira,

3"

Hopkins David

359

Newton James,

314

Hicks R. v..

360

Nixon Jehn,

338

HoweU D. M.,

377

Norton Pleasant,

390

Huyck A.

381.

Ontwa,

226

Harper Joseph,

400.

Olmstead S. C,

: 334,

Jefferson,

213

O'DeU James,

344,

Jenkins B.,

293

Pioneer Furniture,

96

Jacks J. L.,

316

Penn,

179.

Jarvis Z.,

381

Pokagon,

195

Jones Family,

393

Porter,

202

Kentucky Raid,

131

Putnam U., Sr.,

289*

Kingsbury A.,

328

Putnara O.,

307

La Grange,

188

Price Jacob,

364

Lybrook Jehn,

299

Redfield George,

322

Lybrook H. C,

331

Renniston Williara

326-

Leach J.,

342

Rogers Alexander,

334

Lee J. W.,

352

Rinehart J.,

353.

Michigan,

5

Rich Sarauel,

370'

Michigan Indians,

52

Rogers Hirara,

371

Marcellus,

150

Rudd Brothers,

383.

Mason,

222

Rearas Faraily,

392

Milton,

233

Read S. T.,

399-

Mercian J.,

317

Ritter John,

402-,

McKenney T.,

346

Silver Creek,

166.

Marsh A. C,

349

Shurte Isaac,

305

Mcintosh D.,

361

Shanahan E.,

318.

Miller E.,

363

Shellhararaer D.,

319'

Meacham George,

302

Shernian E. B.,.

321.

4o6

INDEX.

Shintaflier P.,

333

Truitt P.,

351

Smith t. C,

350

Townsend A.,

354

Shahdfelt William,

374

Townsend J.,

359

Smith C,

375

Turner G.B.,

372

Sears Isaac,

379

Tietsort Family,

398

Silver Family,

385

Volinia,

155

Suits J. A.,

389

Wayne,

161

SmitK Joseph,

330

WiUiams S.,

335

Toledo "War,

46

WHliams I.,

376

Thompson 8.,

298

Wright W. R.,

378

1850. 1876.
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