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HISTORY
OF
Cass County,
MICHIQAN
Mlith inustvaticms and i^ioiivaphical J^hctchc;;
Of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers.
CHKAOO:
■Vy-AXE3RMAIT, -VSTATKHNS & CO
18S2.
IBB^
V
PREFACE.
rr^HE undersigned, wlio entered a year ago upon the task of preparing an exhaustive and correct history of
-•- Cass County, place the result of their labors before their patrons, with a feeling of confidence that it will
be fully indorsed by them, as it already has been by the Pioneer Society through its committees appointed for
the purpose of revising it. The publishers believe that they have not only fulfilled, but exceeded the expecta-
tions of those who have taken a friendly interest in their work, and that the volume which has been produced
by them will receive the favorable criticism of all candid people qualified to judge of the character of its con-
tents. No pains nor expense have been spared to make the history all that it should be. Our writers have
labored with well-directed diligence to rescue from oblivion all of the essential facts which should enter into a
work upon the past of this region of country, and to group them in the most appropriate manner possible. In
this labor, always a difficult one, they have received the willing and hearty co-operation of those people who
have been the depositories of the desired information. While we rest assured that we and they have been the
faithful stewards of the riches of historic lore bestowed by a thousand of the pioneers of the county, and that
the facts they have furnished are returned to them in a form which will be acceptable, we are not so pre-
sumptuous as to think that the history of Cass County will be absolutely free from trivial errors. That a book
which contains at least ten thousand dates, and thrice ten thousand names can be accurate in every line, no
thinking person can expect. But we do believe such has been the care bestowed on the preparation of the
present work, that its trivial errors are reduced to the minimum — that the sins of omission and commission are
not numerous. The publishers wish to return their most sincere thanks on their own behalf, and that of those
in their employ, to the pioneers of the county who have, often at much self-denial, assisted them in securing
the data for this work. To mention the names of all of those whose courtesy and cordiality have been appre-
ciated would be impossible, for their number is hundreds; but we cannot refrain from mentioning the names
of a few of this class, whose positions have enabled them to be of especial service. And first we may perhaps
place the name of the venerable Capt. Joseph Harper. The Hon. George B. Turner has also been a valued
"guide, philosopher and friend," and the store of his information has been largely drawn from. Others in
Cassopolis, to whom thanks should be returned for favors rendered in the preparation of the work, are Messrs.
John Tietsort, Elias B. Sherman, S. T. Read, Hon. James M. Shepard, C. C. Allison, Judge Andrew J. Smith,
Judge William P. Bennett and L. H. Glovei-, Esq. Elsewhere in the county, the following may be mentioned :
La Grange — Orlean Putnam, Hon. Jesse G. Beeson, Gamaliel Townsend, Isaac Shurte, Stephen D. Wright;
Pokagon — Robert J. Dickson, John Rodgers, Alexander Robertson, D. W. Ilurd, Rev. John Byrnes; Penn —
John W. O'Dell, Daniel Mcintosh, Dr. Leander Osborn, David M. Howell, W. E. Bogue, Hon. Amos Smith ;
Ontwa — Joseph L. Jacks, George Redfield, Moses II. Lee, J. C. Olrastead, Hon. John B. Sweetland ; Volinia
— M. J. Gard, Hon. George Newton, John Huff, Hon. A. B. Copley. H. S. Rogers ; Marcellus— W. 0. Mat-
thews, Abijah Iluyck, George W. Jones, George Savage; Porter — Hon. George Meacham, Hon. J. II. Hitchcox,
F. C. Morton, Samuel Rinchart; Mason — Henry Thompson, R. C. Ross, D. Bishop ; Jefferson — S. C. Tharp,
Judge M. T. Garvey, .Jonathan Colyar ; Milton — Wesley Smith, N. B. Dennis, Henry Aldrich ; Howard
— Hon. E. C. Smith, Hon. James Shaw ; Wayne — Hon. II. B. Wells, Cyrus J. Gage, Lafayette Atwood ;
Dowagiac — Francis J. Mosher, B. W. Schermcrhorn, C. J. Grecnleaf, Joel II. Smith, Gideon Gibbs,
William K. Palmer, G. C.Jones, Dr. H. S. McMaster, George W. Jones; Newberg— J. M. Chapman,
E. H. Jones ; Calvin — Jefferson Osborn, Levi J. Reynolds, Col. George T. Shaffer. We desire to
make especial mention of the valuable writings of the late Judge Nathaniel Bacon, of Niles, which
have been quoted in the chapter upon Pokagon. Written communications have been received in answer to
letters or circulars from many persons, resident and non-resident of the county. To all who have thus aided
in the compilation of the history we also tender thanks.
WATERMAN, W ATKINS & CO.
CmcAoo, 111., June I, 1882.
ru
i! ••-^1 J ^i,,,^ .,;-^jJ,J) GA^'-'t-' -it
TABLE OF (CONTENTS.
THE GKNEKAL HISTOUY.
lAITEK I— IXTROUICTORY AND UK8CRIPTI VK.— Plan and
Scoi)e ol the. Work— The Region Represented In the History
Described— TopoKraphy of Cass County— Actual Land Areas
In the Several Townships— Varieties of Soil— Dimensions of
Reds and Mounds..
ulorers— The Huguenots Excluded from New France— Rreben,
Daniel, Lalleniand- Raymbault and Jouges— ClaudeAllouer—
Tere Marquette— His Passage down the St. Joseph River 1
11".')— His Death on the Shore of Lake Michigan— I,a Salle—
He Builds Fort Miamis at the Mouth of St. Joseph in IGTS—
HisJournevaci-oss the Michigan Peninsula in leso— Frequent
Subsequent Visits to the St. Joseph— Founding of Detroit by
De la Motte Cadillac— The Mission of St. Joseph Established
—A Mission near the Site of Nlles— The Miamis and the Pot-
tawatomies
AITER III.-( ONTEST FOR POSSF
r.— Oreat Britain Suc-
ceeds France In Domination of the Northwest — MIchlga
. ; >f th
Enmity by the French— PnnWac's''Couspiracy— The Potta-
watoniles join the League— Siege of Detroit— Massacre of the
GaiTlsun at Fort St. Joseph— An Exploit of the Tribe of Top-
■ --- -Indians Propitiated by the British-The Quebec Bill
west by George Rogers Clark— Evacuation of Detroit ....
lAPTEK IV— OnTLiNK OF Civil Hi.stoky. -Ordinance of 1787
—Its Authorship— Michigan as a I'art of the Northwest Ter-
rltoiy— As Part of Indiana Territory — Michigan Territory
Organized— Formation of Stale Government— Dimrultles At-
tending Admission (othe Union— Disputed Boundary— Toledo
War— Michigan Receives the Upper Peninsula in lieu of the
Maiimee Swamp— Removal of the Capital — Constitutional
Cimventlon of J85o— Lists of Territorial and State Governors
—Population from 17% to 18«0
I ITER \
Northw.
Their ('.
duce<l ii
OtlK
LAND TiTLK AND SuRVKv.-Ownership of the
-TlieClaini.sof France and England-Of States—
)n to tlie liiited States— Sy.stem of Survey Intro-
- !n iHiiefli.H-Modlftcatlous for Michigan—
1 V T.ands- Land Sales at White Pigeon
' I ; ' II Michigan Lands— School Lands—
; I :i'il— The Treaty of Chicago in l«21—
IIAITER VI — Thk I'OTTAWATOMiK INDIANS.— They Succeed
the Mlami.s in the Occupation of the St. Joseph Country—
Hostilities in which tliev were Engaged— The Chicago .Mas-
sacre-Customs of the I'ottawatomles— A Festival and Med-
icine Dance Described by the Rev. Isaac McCoy— Bertrand's
Story of Saugana's Dream— Modes of Burial— Keligious Cer-
emonies—Evidences that Cannibalism was Practiced by the
Pottawatoniies and Other Tribes— Deplorable Effectsof Ar-
dent Spirits—Seasons of Extreme Destitution :u
IIAITER VII Tim Pr>TTA« atomie Indians. (Cimtmueil).—
Indian Villages— Their l/ocatlons in Cass County— I'okagon's
Progressive Spirit-Indian Trails in Cass Countv-The Chi-
cago and Grand River Trails— Network of Paths in Porter
Township- Toplnabe— Weesaw.theWarChief-Pokagon.the
Second Clilef In Rank— Shavehead— His Enmltv to the Whiles
-Probable Manner of Ills Death— Indian Murders— Removal
of the Pottawatoniies to the West— Exemption of Pokagon
and His Band— The Latter Days of the old Chief 44
MAI'TEK VIII. Thf.Carkv .Mission.— Its KjitabiUhment near
the Site lit Nlles In IsL-i- Its Effect on the Settlement of Ca«s
and Berrien Counties -The Rev. Isaac McCoy— Trials of the
.Mi.sslonarles Scarcityof Fond— Succes.sfulnessof the School
—How Regarded hv the Pottawatomles— Necessity for Re-
moval—Crowded Out by the Whites— Improvements at Carey
.\ppral9ed, in 1830, at over S.'i.ooo S2
IIAITER IX.— ADVKNT OK THE White Man as a Skttlfk.
-Indian Traders-Zaccheus Wooden, the Trapper— His Visit
to CassC.mntv in 18i:i-15— The White Man as a Permanent
Settler— First Settlement In the Interior of the State— Earliest
SettlementIn Berrien County— The Pioneers Enter Pokagon—
Hates of Earlv Settlements throughout Cass County— Causes
Oocratlng to Retard Immigratl. n-The Sauk or Black Hawk
War Scare- The June Frost of 18,15 .iK
PA OK
CHAPTER X— Pioneer Like— Beauty of the Country in a State
otNature— Cabin Building Described— Furniture and House-
hold Utensils— Food— First Mill— Occupations of the Pioneers
— '■ Breaking " — Women Spinning and Weaving — Social
Amenities— First General Pioneer Gathering at Elijah Co-
ble's In 1837— Character of the Pioneers— Two Classes— Job
Wright, of Diamond Lake Island, as a Type of the Eccentric
'HAPTEK XI.-Erkction and Organization or Cass
CoiNTV.— The 'Earliest Counties EstablLshed— St. Joseph
Township— Cass County Erected in 1829— Berrien Attached
under the name of Nlles Township— Political Divisions—
—Public Buildings-Roster of Civil Officers 6«
CHAITER XII.— Internal Imi-rovk.ments.- Indian Trails—
The Chicago Road— The Territorial Legislative Council— Fos-
tering Internal Improvements— Roads Ordered to be Opened
—Stage Routes— The Old Stage Coach— A Canal or Railroad
Project— Railroads 75
(■H.\PTER XIII.— llELiqioiis akdEdioational.— Character of
Pioneer Preachers— Early Clergymen of Different Denomina-
tions in Cass County— Sketches of .Vdam Miller, John Byrns,
Elder Jacob Price, Justus Gage and Others— Bishop Phi-
lander Chase— Collins, " the Boy Preacher "—Educational In-
teresls of the County- School Laws— Incorporation of an
Academy- Present Method of Scliool Supervision- County
Supeiintendents- County School Examiners DO
CIIAITEK XIV.— Thk Bar ok Cass Bounty.- Alexander H.
Redlield— Ellas B. Sherman— Old Time Non -Resident Law-
yen Sketched by one who knew Them—" Black Chip " and
" White Chip"— Biograpiilcal Sketch of James Sullivan— Eze-
kiel S.Sinith— Henry H.CooIidge— Clifford Shanahan— Daniel
Blackmail— George B. Turner— Andrew J. Smith— Younger
Attorneys who have Practiced at the Cass County Bar ««
CIIAITKR XV.— The Mkdh'al Profession.- Practitioners In
Cass County, Past and Present— Biographical Sketches— The
Succession of Physicians in Cassopoli.s, Edwardsburg, Van -
dalla, Dnwagiac, Pokagon and Sumnerville— Physicians in La
Grange, Brownsville, Jones, .\damsville, Williamsvllle and of
Marcellus *
CHAITEU XVI.— Thk Press.- Firet ifewspaper Published in
Cassopolis— The NatinnaJ D'.mnciat and tlie r«ffilaril— His-
tory of the Dowagiac Press— The Republican and the Times-
Papers in Edwardsburg— Marcellus— Vandalla io«
CHAPTER XVII.— The Underground Railroad and the
Kentucky Raid.— The two Lines of the Underground Rail-
road which formed a Junction in Cass County— Station
Agents and Conductors— Their Methods— Spies f '
and other Friends— Riot and Bloodshed narrowly Escaped—
'• Nigger Bill " Jones, the Baptist Minister and the Negro
Baby-Excited Condition of the Public Mind— Legal Proceed-
ings In (Cassopolis- Negroes discharged from Custody and
Spirited away to Canada— Suit against the Fugitives' Frlcids
by tlieKentuckians
IIAPTER XVIII.— Cash County in the War of the Re-
IIKLLION.— The First Company of Soldiers raised In the
County— Its Organlzatio " '
-Attached to the Forty-second II-
ine rony-secona Il-
linois Infantry- Brief History of that Reglmenr— Roster of
the Officers and Men of the Forty-second, from Cass County
—Other Full Companies from the County— The Sixth Mich-
igan Infantry— Brief Histories of the Twelfth and Nineteenth
Infantry Regiments, with Roster of Men from Cass County—
The First Michigan Cavalry l
'IIAITKI! XIX— (ASS COUNTY IN THK WaR of the RK-
,,n 1 I..V ".."/irii/€d(— Second. Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth,
Niiitii .11(1 I I. viiith Cavalry— First Light Artillery- Four-
\. iK in Infantry Organizations— The Nlntn, Elev-
. , I M. jii. Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seven-
in iiHi I "■ I ii> -fourth, Twenty-lllth, Twenty-eighth and
liuili. Ui Ih, One Hundred and Second V. S Colored In-
laiilry- Cass I'miiity Men In Miscellaneous Organizations 1
'HAPTKR .\X.— The Pion err Sociktv. -Us Organization— Con-
stitution and Bv-Lawn— Annual Picnics— List of omcera frum
187.1 to 1881 Inclusive— An Incident ol the Meeting of 1881— Ros-
Flourishing Condition of the Society.
TABLE OF CONTEXT?
iHAPTKK XXI.— A<5UK 1 l.TIRAI. ANII MisrKl.i.AXEtiv S Soi.T-
KTiRs.— Its Ocg&iil/ation in Issi— Tlie First *"air Held— A
SpeecJi by lleniaii KedlielU— ('oadilion of the County Tliirty
Years Aso — Horses, Cattle and slieep — "Ten Thousand
Thiiiits by Wolverine Audaeilv Called Swine "—Complete
Premium List of the Fair of IKil— Urief .Suhse<iumt History
of the Society— Cass County Bible Society Oi-ganlffld in iwi
—County Medical Societies— Farniei-s' Mutual Fire Insurance
Company 14k
CHAI'TER XXn.— STATISTICS.- Population by Townships, 1837
to 1880- Vote on the Constitutions and for Presidents— Gub-
ernatorial Vote of 1880, by Townships— Valuation— Produc-
IIAPTEK XXIII.— Cassopolis— Foundiugof theVillage-<'ounty
Seat Contest— A Souvenir— I^etter from Alexander H. Re<lHeld
—First Death, llirth and Marriage— Cassopolis as it Appeared
in 1835— The CampaiffU of 1S40— Job Wrighfs Prediction—
Tlie Only Ceneral iMilitia Muster— Llttlejohn's Temperance
Kevival of lj*4."i— Corporation History— Roster of \'illage OfB-
cials— The I'ulilic Souare Case— Mercantile and Manufactur-
iiiB Matters-nankiUK- Hotels— Post Olllce— Religious His-
tory Pul)Iio Scliools— Cemetery Societies
HAPTKI! XXIV.-TheCitvok
velopment— C;ni-f^ rcHiiMni
City of Venirt- ■■ '■
Original Phil
tile and M.in
Hce— RailroM I
History-Tlif,
Secret and l;.-i.. ..n..!. >....
Incorpoialiou aul t ilj I lu
Fire l)eparliiient— The I.ari
■places— Fair Association— I!
lu to Cif.itf a Town- The Paper
'■"■■r!v nnwaglac—
- ~ -Merc;in-
- I'ostOf-
I— Church
i I ■ ;: ■ "-.iihi I'oachers-
..-.-- .- l.iiH.iiy-Village
1 tci-uniccrs from l»58 to 1881—
;o Fires of 18M and 18ti(l-Biirial
iogiaphlcal :
CHAITKR XXV.-FOKAGON— Arrival of Putnam— Incidents of
his Journey— Baldwin Jenkins— Sgiiire Thompson— I^wis
Kdwards— Alexander Rogeis— The Pioneer Plow and First
Cnip— Townseuds— Markhams— The First Religious Meeting
— (Jrganization of the Township— First Marriage- FlrstRoads
—Early Postal Facilities- ,Sauk War— Assessment of 1834—
Shakespeare — State Hatchery— Churches— Civil List — Land
Entries :
Tietsnrts and others — Early Events— First Heath — Fi ret
Marriage — Mary Bonnell, the tirst child born — The flrst
School and Teachers— Deer Killing— First Township Election
—Families of the Early Settlers— Complete List of l,and En-
tries—Principal OBlcere of La Grance from 1830 to 1S80—
IIAITER XXVIl. — Pkw
Soil, Lakes and Wat.-
Escape of Daniel Melni
itivc (irist-Mill— Trii'^i
Entries— Stock iMaikv-'
Alasoiiic— (ieiievB. the l.os
Assessment Roll of l.iST— (
luilXand
./;itions—
-Schools-
I Lisl— liiosraiiliical..
•HA ITER XXXIV.-Sii.vkhCkkkk.— Survey— Topography— Mc-
Daniel the First Settler- Arrival of Barney, Suits, Treat and
theirFamilies— Organization— First TownshipMeeting— First
Oltlcers- Pioneer Wedding— Pokagon and bis Band— Erection
of the First Church— First Road— Assessment Roll of 1858...
Land Entries- Uncle Tommy— Indian Sugar-Making— First
School— Later Settlers— Churches— Civil List :
CHAITEK XXXV.— Jkkfbr«on.— Erection of Township— Water-
Courses and Lakes— First Settlement— Economy of Pioneers
ioneerHospitalitv— Original Land Entries— Initial Events
L-IIAITEli XXXVI.— CALVIN.— Unexpected ResulU of (Cindne.s.<i
— Abner Tliarp and John Ree<l the First Settlers— Early Set-
tlen— A Pioneer Cabin— Tlie Shaffer Family— The East Set-
tlement-Land Entries— Negro Settlement — Saw Mill and
Distillery — Sauk War .Scare— Schools— Religious Organiza-
tions— Civil List— Biographical -
CHAPTER XXXVII— MARCBLbU.H— A Retrospection— View of the
Township—" Ye Olden " and Present Time Contrasted— Early
Settlements— Unexecuted Threats of Tah-Wab, an Indian-
Land Entries— Civil Organization— Post Offices— Early Events
—Marcellus Village- \'Tllage of Wakelee — Religious- Secret
Societies— Schools-Civil List— Biographical
CHAPTER XXXVIII— M.\so>-.—Whv not settled earile^-Elani
Beardsley the First Settler-Sad Death of Darius Beardsley—
Tlie Ross Family— Jotham Curtis— The Millers- Laud Entries
-Erection of Msison Township— Keligious—Schools — Initial
Events— CMvil List— Biographical
CHAITER XXXIX.— NKwiiKH<i.-John Balr. the First Settler-
The Emigrants' Trials-" Land Sharks"- George Eoe— The
Riidd Family- Early Settlement— Land Entries— f!ivil Or-
ganization -iJewberg-Tax Roll f.r 18,18- Postal Servlcc-
Schools— Religious-Civil List— Biographical
II LlSsTRVnONb
AMrich Dr l(
Aldrich Or It
Vldrich Mr and Mrs Henry portraits ii
Vsiiley, Rev James
Beeson Hon Jessie G
Bucklin Mr tnd Mis. William I
lto».n( Sti I 1 u 111 I Htiin ih
;HAPTEIiXXVIll-ONTi\^.-i:arlyHlstorlcIiitcrest-Edward.s
burg, the Enil.ivorn\ -Thr ( ..untrv ms s.in I'V i:/r:i r.iiinis-
ley.tiieFirst-- ••' ' ■ ' ■ ■ -' - . ■ . . ..
niug of Kill-
Same— Ple:i><
—Early Don I
of an Early ^ ;
port-Original i.aim i-.iiini-<- lavnn i.i,',.|ist— ■■.invar.iM..,,-,
Us Demise aud llcsuiici lion, inuliuliiig Laily .Meiulianis, I'd- ,
ritoriai Road, Stage Coach. etc.-Churches- Schools— Organ-
ization— Civil List-Biographical 2ii2 |
Btttlr Ml II I Ml
1I)LIIC^ Lit lolin
Bisho|i Daniel and
( iss ( ount> map
Or^M
.ITKK XXX.-PoKTKK.-Evidencesof a Preliistorii Itict-
Earlv Settlrmeiits, InrlMdiiig the Indians' A>.s lult upon Inhn
Baldwin— A Wolf and Wild Cat Story-Piintlicr scare-Pio-
iieer Samaritanism— Land Entries- Reminisi ences— Or„'an
i/alionnf Townshin— Early Taverns- Coal Oil Specul itloii—
Religious Organizations— Schools-Products— Civil I is(— Bio-
graphical
IIAlTEli \X\li— ll..».Mii.-i;iiiiy b.:i.-f in iL I ii| loiliitlm
ness— William Kirk, the llrst Sclller-The Si ttk mcnl ini liid
ing Social Aiimsenieiits— First Maiiufactureis-I o\\ Prno
of Farm Products— Cliaracteristics of Ploniers- 1 ind l-n
Hies— Poll List of 1837— Yankees vs. Hoosli rs- M Uistics and
Productions- Schools-Civil List— liiograpiiic il
HA ITER XXX 1 1 1 — .M I i.ToN — Beardslev's Prairie .iiid Ihe Town
ship in "Ye Olden Times "—First .Setlkis and tarly Sit-
llement— Liuid Entries — Erection of Township— f>oil and
Products— Religious Organizations— Schools— <'lvll List— Bl
ographical ■
TABl.K OF rOXTKNTS.
ry, .
(I. Mr. and Mrs. James ,„,.
i^}liri^',*!;S.?"*-8»"^" :;;::::::betWeen:
liller, Itev. Adam
McMaster, Dr. H. S ...
Maisb, Austin C
Morris, Samuel
Matthews, Warren O.
..laciug 2si
..facing 372
..facing .184
..faping 314
Jjewton, Hon. Mr. and Mi-s. (icorge
Norton, Pleasant. „..,
Norton, Levi D _
On. George B., residence of
Olds, Mills
I'utnam, Orle:in - Vi
Piitiiam, Tzzicl '--
Price, Kev. .Jacob 1!.
Prindle, l>r. C. I' „: ,„
Prindle, l)r. c. P.. residence u. i..c , ,,.,,,J .;S
Putnam, Hon. IzzicI, Jr fl!- e wl
Pitcher, Mr. and Mrs. Silas A i ueen '«•' tS
Papsons, Mr. and Mrs. Beujamin failne 'im
Kedlleld. Hon. Alexander H .. Uveen « m
Kft>ublie:in,otHce of. * ,yy
• - r . portrnit and residence fai-ini,' ifKi
Mr. and Mrs. John, portraits an<i residence facinc 2<«
r and Mrs. William A., portraits and residence-bet. 216, 217
Hon.George between 264, aw
.■.''»'^* i- facins 27«
facinp: 3(U
Kunklf
It ltrothers..jt'.
. Mr. and Mrs. Cool
inner, Horatio W
Ilot.iiisoii, Mr. and Mrs. Natli
Kiekert, c. ('..residence of..
Keynoids.Hon. Edwin W
Sburte, Isaac-
Sullivan.. lames
simth, Judge Andrew J
Sweiitland, Dr. John B., porlr.,.. -i.,; ,
S'liool, Ca.ssopolis Union
>i'hermerhorn, B. W
School, nowaglac I'nlon
MMipson, Mr. and Mrs. Moses W
Simpson, Mrs. .Sarah H.. residence of
Shanafelt, William H., residence of..
Smith, Hon. Amos
Silver, Orren, residence of
S<iuier, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel C
Storey. Mr. and Mrs. Ozlal
Spencer, E. 11 , residence of
Shaw, .Tames
Smith. .Mr. and Mrs. (ieorgt-
Savage, John
School, Marcelliis I'nion
Sutton, Mr. and Mrs. Polenion
Townsend, Gamaliel
Turner, Hon. George H
Tompkins, l>r. 1,. 1)
Tlce, Isaac T
Townsend. George J
pomaa. Sherwood, residence of
Taylor, K. O., residence of.
Tniitt, Peter, portrait and residence.
\ een 344, :il5
...facing -.vii
...facing SiKi
Rllderback, Win..
Kradt. .John C ....
BIy, Henley W....
Illl 1!..
between u;i^, ;;;!;; ,
facing 33<!
facing 352
between 392, 393
facing 400
facing 40>i
•facing .111
• 'tween 88, ».> I
facing 101) !
.facing l!>2
facing 2,% '
facing 314 '
..facing 3:<il ;
T™i«; .■.am;k'M:,';ii\d7i?cr^J''!".^.^:.: ,„.;;i^S5 ^- ^ I
Tl;i;:^^iiraV;;iM^;:i:v,;;,.;;v;,- ;::::: : :::;;::::::::::::::::::Si Z
between 2011. 2"i i
facing 22(1
.portraits and residence facing 22x '
between .128. '
<'lark,.l)r. William I
Curtis. Dr. Cyrus
Curtis, Dr. Eugene .\
Carbine, Dr. H
Casterllne, Thomas .
Copley, Alexander.
Copley, Hon. Alexan
Condon, William
Chapman, James M
l),.s''\ ,i,.'i!' ' \, I:
Dopp, Kansom
Dyer, J. M
Easton, Dr. W W
Edwards, I^wis
Engle, B. F
Emei-son, Mathew II
Fowler, Dr. Henry II
Flora, Dr. William..
Follett, Dr. Henry.
Flero, vVbram
Flero, Charlr^
Field, Harvpv K
Gagp,Rev. .Iiisiiis
Glover. Ixiw.-I I II
HolllM.r N
Howell, .Mai
Howard, Wi
Hnllanil, lir
How.ll. II. '
u" j
Wells
Wright, Stephen li., imi
Wells, Mr. and .Mis. llo
Whitbeck, George, residence of..
iminernian.
iH..
.facing 318
BIOGRAPHICAL.
A.iains, .lohii T
\iwell. Freeman J
.vidrich. Dr. Levi
.Allen, Dr. .Tacob...
Allison, C. C
.\dains, Tlionia.s W
Anderson, Samuel I
Andrews, G. W
Aldrlfli. Henry .
Ashb-y, Key. .lami
Byriics, Key .loliii
Bradford, VImciii I
Itlai'kinan. Haiiirl
Hick.-*, i;. \'
Hull, Isaac
Huyck, Abijah
Jewell, Kllas
.loiies. (!. ('.. Horace ('.
Jenkins. Wiiiiiiis r.iM
,Tar\is Xmiiii,..,
Jom-,11 ,,.
Bliuly, .\lr. anil .Mrs
Baooij, H(,n. Cvru.s
Bacon, Cyrus, ,Ir., M
Beebe. AWI
Bionson, o. P
Iteaucliamp, Manliive i
Beaiiclianip, James H..
TABLK OF CONTENTS.
Norton. Levi I)
Osborn. Dr. I-eauder..
Oren, James
Osborn, Charles
Orr, George 1'.
Olds, MiUs
ITice, Elder.i.i ■ 1
I'enwell, Dr. l.i.-
Phillips, Dr. II. n
Prindle, Dr. C. 1'
Prlndle, Dr. E.C
Peck, William W
Peck, A. E
Palmer, Wm. K
Putnam, V/.i.u
Parsons, liinj.mi;!:
KedSeld, AleNanilr-r I
Keshore, Frank H
Kayniond. Dt.I.. K.
Hepublican omce
Uobertson Dr. John
Keed, S. T
Koot, Eber
K08S,FredH
Kodgers, John
Hodgers, William A
Uedfleld.Hon. (ieory.
Kodgers, George
Kinehart Bros
Kunkle, Cool
Rider. Horatio W
Kobinson. Nathan.
Kickert, Charles C
Kcynolds, Hon. hdwi;
Kodgers. John
Shurte, Isaac
Sherman. Elias B
Stuart, Charles E..
Sullivan, James.
Smith, Ezekiel s
Shanahan.Cliltord
Smith. Judge Andrw
Spencer, James M .
Smith, Harsen D
.'.'between 408, 409 ' Thomas,
1....
Sweetland. Dr. John B .
Stebbins, Dr. Edward Sa^
Smith, Joseph
Shaw, John
Shepard, James M.
Shermerhom, B. W
Smith, Joel H......
Simpson, Moses W. ...
Shanafelt, William H..
smith, Hon Amos
Silver, Kev. Abiel
silver, Orren Silver
Squier, Daniel C
Storey, Ozial
Spencer, Joseph
Shaw, James
Smith, George
.Savage, John
Sutton, Polemon
Townsend Gamaliel
Turner, Hon. George B
Talbot, John A
Thompson, M. A
Tompkins, Dr. I,. D
Treadwcll,Dr. A. B..
Treat, Dr. John
Thorp, I>r. A. 1> ■
Taylor, Pr. James 1>.
Turner, .S. A
Tietsort, John
Tice, Isaac T
Townsend, George J
Thomas. Sherwood
Tavlor, Emery O
Truitt, Peter
Truitt, James M
Tharp, S C ■-
Thomas, J. Hubbard
Townsend, George J
Van Riper, Jacob
Wright,J
Wooster, John
Wheeler, Dr. J. H..^
Wells, Dr. Charles P
Wells,Hon. H.B
Wells, Homer
Wright, Stephen 1)
Whitbeck, George
Zimmerman, Jacob H
i.eiween 184, 185
Wi
facing 212
213
facing 260
.T.-
27"J
2!1S
npson.
HI8T0EY
CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
BY ALFRED MATHEWS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY AND DESCRIPTIVE.
Plan and Scope of the Work— Tlie Region Kepreseuted in the History
Described— Topography of Cass County— Actual f,and Areas In the
Several Townships— Varieties of Soil- Dimensions of the Principal
Prairies and Lakes— The Pre-hlstonc Garden Beds and Mounds.
THE pages of this volume are intended to present a
complete and exhaustive history of Cass County,*
and they contain incidentally many fragments of the
history of Michigan and of the West. An effort is
made, in many instances, not only to chronicle facts,
but to explain their relations as causes and effects in
the great chain of events through which a wilderness
has been reclaimed and added to the mighty realm of
civilization. In the first few chapters of the book, a
chronological order of arrangement is maintained, but
in subsequent ones which treat of subjects in the
narrower field, which is our especial province, the topical
form is resorted to for reasons which will be obvious to
every reader. Following the brief description of the
county and of the traces of a pre-historic population,
which is given in this chapter, is a condensed account
of the French exploration of the Northwest, written
*Tlin countv was named in honor of Lewid Casn, Oitvernor nf Uicbigtin
from l»»13 lo 18:J1, who, in the lanKUHgp of a hi torlan, "did more f.>r (lie pioB-
I'erity of MIchiiean than any otiier man HvjnK or dead." Cais was born in
Exeter, N. H.. OcUilier 9. 1782. Ue settled In Mailetia, Ohio, about UVU; was a
memtior of the Leglsla'urv, and Manihal of the Slate; came to Michigan in
1812 as (;ol<.nelof the Third Rrgiraent Ohio Vnlunleere; look a dislinKnlstaed
liart in the war, and was promoted to the rank of a Brigadiei. In Ocliibt-r.
1813, be was appointed Governor of Alk'higHti Territory by Pr.-si(lent Madixon.
This position Ue held for elehteen yeara advancing, by his wise and energetic
admlniHtrallon, the material in:eresls of the Territory In a large degree. In
July, 18al. he was appointe.t, by President Jackson, Secretary of War. From
lg:i6 to 1842, ho was M.nitter to France. The Legislature of the State of Sllcli-
Igao elected him to the UnitrnJ Sutes Senate io 1845— an office whi.h he re-
signed three years later, when he became the candMate of the Democracy lor
the Presidency. After his defeat, in 184U, the Leglslatura ie-p|ecied lihn to the
Senate lor the expiration of his original term lie was succeeded by Kacharlah
Chandler, the KepiibllcaD parly having come Into the ascendency. Presi-
dent Buchanan, however, appointed him as Secretary or State, and he re-
mained in that position until the early part of 1860, when he resigned. For the
next six years he resided In Detruit. where he owned a large property. Ue died
in July, 1886. Gen. Cass was an able lawyer, a polished and i-loquent orator and
ergy of character. Ue ha<l the conAdeuce and respect of the people, and his
fine social qualllles, his genial, courteous way and liberal hospitality, combined
wllh his intellectual worth aod illustrious services, made liim the must |>opular
man of his Ume In Michigan.
with especial reference to "the St. Joseph country,"
which was the theater of many of the operations of
La Salle and of other indomitable pioneers of France
in the New World. This chapter is supplemented by
one upon the contest of France and England for su-
premacy in the West, and this in turn by one upon
Michigan, under American rule, as Territory and State.
Two chapters are devoted to the Pottawatomie occu-
pation of the country, and contain much curious
information in regard to this tribe, drawn from the
most authentic sources. Then follows a chapter giving
a synopsis of the titles to Michigan, an account of
the survey and sale of lands and of the Indian treat-
ies by which cessions of territory in Southwestern
Michigan were made. The Carey Mission, founded
near the site of Niles, in 1822, is brought into prom-
inence as a cause and center of settlement. Succeed-
ing this is a chapter entitled " The Advent of the
White Man as a Settler," which, like each one of
those that follow, pertains wholly to Cass County.
The chapters preceding relate to the county only in
part. The chapter on settlement is followed by a
description of pioneer life, of cabin building, "break-
ing," the occupations of men and women, the perils
and the discomforts they endured. This is followed
by an account of the erection and organization of the
county, its division into townships, the establishment
of courts, the early meetings of the Supervisors and
the erection of publio buildings. The chapter is sup-
plemented by a complete and carefully compiled roster
of civil officers. Religious and educational matters, the
Cass County bar, the medical profession, the press
and internal improvements have each a place, and are
considered at length. The history of the Under-
ground Railroad and the Kentucky Raid is given in
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
detail. Two very valuable chapters show what Cass
County did in the war of the rebellion, and contain a
roster of the soldiers enlisted, together with important
facts concerning them. The Cass County Pioneer
Society, the Agricultural Society and a compilation of
statistics upon population, politics and productions,
constitute the concluding chapters of the general his-
tory. The history of the county is followed in its
minor details in seventeen voluminous chapters upon
the townships, the village of Cassopolis and the city
of Dowagiat. In these will be found carefully made
records of the early settlement, and accounts of all
local institutions.
CASS COUNTY.
The region of which this history treats is one fair to
look upon — beautiful alike to the eye of the husband-
man and the lover of nature. It is true there are
here no scenes of grandeur or the rugged picturesque,
but all of the elements of gentler beauty are present,
and they compose a panorama of varied and exquisite
loveliness. The sparkling lakes, the undulating ex-
panse of forest and cleared fields, the level prairies — in
summer clothed with luxuriant growth which proclaims
the fertility of the soil — combine to form a thousand
fresh and beautiful landscapes. Everywhere the
kindliness of nature to man is suggested.
* * * " Nature's hand.
Has showered all blessings on this fruitful land."
The county of Cass lies approximately between
41° 49' 5" and 42° 7' north latitude and 8° 48' and
9° 16' longitude west from Washington. The latitude
of Cassopolis is approximately 41° 50' and the longi-
tude 9° 2". The county is bounded upon the north
by Van Buren County, on the east by St. Joseph
County, on the south by the counties of Elkhart and
St. Joseph, in the State of Indiana, and upon the
west by Berrien County.
The county is composed of the Congressional town-
ships Nos. 5, 6 and 7, and the fractional Town-
ships 8, south of the base line, in Ranges 13, 14, 15
and 16 west, of the Principal Meridian. Were the
southern townships full, the county would be a quad-
rangle, measuring twenty-four miles upon each side,
and containing 576 square miles, or 368,640 square
acres. But the four southern townships are only a
little more than half townships, and the area of the
county is further lessened by the detachment of about
two and a half square miles lying east of the St
Joseph River. The actual area of the county is not
far from 512 square miles. The area of a full Con-
gressional township is thirty-six square miles, or 23,-
040 acres, but the actual land area is in each much
less. The following is an accurate table* of the
amount of lands in each township of the county, deduc-
tions being made for the lakes, etc. :
Actual Land Areas
TOWNSHIPS. in Acres.
Newberg 22,167.24
Marcellus 21,.S94.77
North Porter 21, 780. -S?
South Porter 10,917.40
(Porter, total 32,097.97)
Volinia 22,012.51
Penn 21,468.5.5
CaWin 22,007.82
Mason 12,945.66
Wayne 22,775.10
La Grange 22,698.02
Jefferson 22,126.16
Ontwa 12,361.70
Silver Creek 21,463.14
Pokagon 22,353.04
Howard 22,639.50
Milton 13,482.48
Total, actual land area of county (in acres). ..3
.66
While exhibiting the general characteristics of a
j comparatively level region, the surface of the county
presents, nevertheless, considerable variety. It is for
the most part gently undulating, and in the northeast-
I ern part reaches that degree of roughness which
may be denominated as " broken." The leading feat-
ures may be classed under the headings of heavy
timbered lands, oak openings and prairies. Three
distinct varieties of soil are to be found in these divi-
j sions. That of the heavy timbered regions is a
gravelly soil often mixed with sand or clay. The soil
of the oak openings is usually light and sandy, but
has proven far more productive under judicious culti-
vation than the pioneers anticipated. Richest and
j best is the soil of the prairies. It is a black, sticky
and soft soil, sometimes partaking of the character of
clay. The subsoil is sand or gravel. It is commonly
I believed that the fertile soil of the prairies has been
! produced by the accumulation of vegetable mold — the
I product of centuries of annual growth and decay.
' There are various theories in regard to the causes
I which have produced the prairies or natural meadows
which are so numerous in Southern and Southwestern
I Michigan, but the scientific students of nature offer
I in their writings nothing that is conclusive upon the
I subject. Cass County is rich in prairie lands — the
I mellow, warm soiled meadows which have for ages
been in readiness for man's cultivation. The approxi-
mate areas of the principal prairies are as follows :
J'eardsley's 4410
Young's 2880
Little Praiiie Koride 1690
La Grange 1580
Pokagon 500
Baldwin's 600
.McKinnneys 400
.><and (Pokagon; 200
Gurd's 100
Shavehead 70
Total (about).
.12,230
HISTORY OF (JASS OOUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The foregoing are the areas as computed from the
Government survey. Since the country has become
thickly settled, and the timber lands surrounding the
prairies cleared and carefully cultivated, it is often
impossible to distinguish the original line of demarka-
tion between timber land and prairie, and the size of
the prairies has been consequently very commonly
overestimated.
Cass County is beautified with a fair proportion of
the five thousand lakes of Michigan. One hundred
and eighty lakes and ponds are designated upon the
map in this work. The largest is Diamond Lake, the
area of which is 1,083 acres (minus the area of the
island which is 40.79 acresj, and the most peculiar is
Stone Lake — so named from the fact that its shores
were originally very thickly strewn with stone, in the
form of bowlders. This lake has no visible inlet or
outlet; its water is very fine and very soft. That of
Diamond Lake, only half a mile distant, is hard. It
is supposed by many people that Stone Lake is one of
the surface spots of the great subterranean stream by
which Lake Superior is believed to discharge its waters
into the Gulf of Mexico ; and, it is averred in support
of this theory, that the rise and fall in Stone Lake
corresponds closely with that of the " shining"^ big
sea water." There is known to be a chain of soft-
water lakes extending for a considerable distance
across the country from north to south.
Following is a statement of the size of the principal
lakes in the county :
Barren
255
Baldwin
Birch
302
Dewey
239
Donell
274
Eagle
Fish
Indian
Lilly and Flutchings (surveyed together)
Long and CloTerdale . . . .
267
295
Magician (less islands of twenty-five acres).
Mud
492
186
Shavehead
287
Chief among the water-courses of the county are
the Christianna Creek (so named by the Rev. Isaac
McCoy, founder of Carey Mission, in honor of his
wife, in 1822), and the North and South Branches of
the Dowagiac. The n*me of this stream is of Indian
origin, and its meaning is "fishing water." The
North Branch of the Dowagiac rises in Van Buren
County and enters Cii-ss near the center of the north
line of Wayne Township. Its general course is south-
westerly, and it flows through the townships of Silver
Creek and Pokagon, and, crossing the county line
near the northwest corner of Howard Township, it
empties into the St. Joseph River near Niles, in Berrien
County. The stream is sluggish, and of little conse-
quence as a source of mill power. The country through
which it flows is low, flat, and a considerable portion
of it marshy. A very different stream is the south
branch, which flows quite rapidly, and affords a valu-
able water-power. It has its source in Marcellus
Township, flows through Volinia and the north part
of La Grange, makes short meanders in Pokagon and
Silver Creek, and forms a confluence with the North
Fork near the dividing line of these townships. Chris-
tianna Creek rises in Penn, runs southwesterly through
Calvin into Jefferson Township, and thence southerly
near the eastern line of Ontwa, beyond the southern
boundary of the county, and to the St. Joseph, which
it reaches near Elkhart, Ind. The drainage of the
entire county is into the St. Joseph River, which, in
addition to the streams we have described, receives
the waters of two other small tributaries which rise in
Cass County — Rock Creek, of Marcellus, and Mud
River, of Porter.
Geologically, the county presents very little that is
interesting. . Its surface is composed entirely of
"drift" — the mass of debris consisting of loose stone,
gravel and sand, which covers nearly the whole of the
Michigan Lower Peninsula. It is undoubtedly true
that in Cass County this deposit is several hundred
feet in thickness. Nowhere have the streams cut their
way through this great diluvial deposit, and nowhere
does rock appear in situ. Minerals exist only in very
small quantities, and detached particles mingled with
the drift.
ANCIENT REMAINS.
A description of Cass County would not be com-
plete without an account of the pre-historic remains to
be found within its limits — the relics of those races
which passed away before the Indian came. The
ancient works of Michigan may be classed as (1)
tumuli and inclosures, universally ascribed to the
race known as the Mound-Builders, and (2) the gar-
den beds, which many students of archieology deem
the work of another people.
The former class of works are found in greatest
number, variety, size and perfection in the valleys of
the Ohio, the Mississippi and their tributary rivers,
while in Michigan and the lake region generally,
they are comparatively few, and as a rule small. On
the other hand, the class of ancient remains, commonly
designated as garden beds, are found in Southern
Michigan in their greatest perfection, and are prac-
tically unknown in those parts of the country where
the other forms of earthworks, the mounds and for-
tifications most abound. Unfortunately, the garden
beds (so called from their close resemblance to the
beds of modern gardens), have nearly all disappeared.
12
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The slightness of their elevation, and the fact that
they were nearly always upon the richest lands, were
circumstances conducive to their destruction by the
plowshare.
When Cass County was first settled, various forms
of ancient garden plats were to be seen upon the sev-
eral prairies and in the woods. Many have been
spared by the agriculturist until recent years, but at
present there are few specimens remaining. As a
rule, the garden beds were not over eighteen inches
high, and sometimes they were much less. The
most common form of platting, appears to have
been one similar to that now practiced in the
vegetable garden, viz., that by which parallel
beds of uniform length and breadth, separated by
narrow paths, were arranged in blocks or parallelo-
grams. There were many other forms, however,
among them squares, circles, triangles and a wheel-
shaped plat, consisting of a circular bed, with beds of
uniform shape and size, radiating from it, all sepa-
rated by narrow paths. A garden bed of this kind
was discovered in Pokagon Township by Lewis Ed-
wards, when he first came to the county.
The area covered by the beds was usually not more
than three to five acres, but according to Henry R.
Schoolcraft, who wrote of them as " forming by far
the most striking characteristic antiquarian monu-
ments of this district of country," they have been
found in some localities to extend over as many as
three hundred acres of land.
By whom the garden beds were made must forever
remain a mystery. There are many people who believe
them to have been the work of some large and ad-
vanced tribe of Indians, who, centuries ago, occupied
the Michigan Peninsula. The method of cultivation
which they would indicate, however, had no parallel
in the rude agriculture of the Indians known to his-
tory, and the Indians possessed no knowledge of the
origin of the ancient plats. The fact that the garden
beds have seldom or never been observed in those
regions where are found the most stupendous earth-
works in the forms of tumuli and fortifications, is
strong presumptive evidence that they were not con-
structed by the Mound-Builders.
The tumuli or mounds in Cass County are of far
greater interest, archiieologically, than the garden beds,
because of the character of their contents, which
throw a faint light upon the nature of the lost race
who reared them.
The Mound-Builders are supposed to have passed
away from the region of the great lakes and the val-
leys of the Mississippi and Ohio at least a thousand
years ago. Investigators have discovered facts which
support strongly that belief A great majority of the
I best authorities agree that the race, either pressed by
I a more warlike and powerful people or seeking a
i milder climate, emigrated, by a mighty movement,
from their vast Northern domain to the South, follow-
ing the valley of the Father of Waters, and event-
ually penetrated Mexico ; that they there reached the
height of their civilization and greatness, and devel-
oped into the magnificent nation of Montezuma. That
they were, while they dwelt in the North, a semi-
civilized people, is unquestionable. The great extent
of many of their works, their wide distribution geo-
graphically and the contents of the mounds, in many
cases, amply testify to this. They had settled habi-
tations, carried on agriculture very extensively (as was
a necessity with their vast population) and had a
knowledge of the ruder arts, such as the manufacture
of pottery and the making of cloth. There are evi-
dences that they were a homogeneous people, and it
is conjectured that they were under a single and a
strong government.
As has been said, the works of the Mound-Builders
are neither numerous nor extensive in the lake region.
They are sufiicient, however, to identify the people
who constructed them with the people who made the
mighty inclosures and reared the colossal temple
mounds which appear in great numbers farther south.
Small mounds are to be found in almost every town-
ship in Cass County. There are a number in Volinia,
most of which are near the Dowagiac Creek, and
several in Porter Township, one of the best being on
the farm of Samuel Rinehart. In Howard Town-
ship, two mounds have been excavated. One of them,
in Section 21, a half mile east of Barren Lake, was
opened in 1834, in the presence of quite a number of
people, the work being superintended by Dr. Winslow,
of Niles. This was undoubtedly the first mound ex-
cavated in Cass County. A quantity of human bones
was discovered, fragments of coarse pottery and some
other articles. Another tumulus, on the farm of R.
East, in this township, was excavated by Amasa Smith
and his sons, Ezekiel C. and Zenus. A large number
of human skeletons were found (over a hundred, it is
said), buried in a circle, with their heads toward a
common center. Many of the skulls bore the marks
of weapons, which indicated that death had ensued
from violence. Those who saw them inferred that the
skeletons were those of men who had died in battle.
All had evidently been buried at the same time.
j Most interesting of the Mound-Builders' works in
Cass County are those in Pokagon. A cluster of five
mounds may be seen by the roadside a half mile east
. of Sumnerville, and not far away, is a faintly-visible
I embankment inclosing nearly half an acre of ground.
I On a ridge running east and west on the farm of
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
13
William G. Potter, a half mile north of Champagne
Lake, are a number of excavations, somewhat resem-
bling rifle-pits, which are supposed to be of ancient
anJ artificial production. The largest mounds in the '
county are those upon the farm of Joseph Walter.
Three beautiful and regular mounds occur here, situ- |
ated in a line from east to west. A short distance '
south of them is a well defined ditch which forms a ,
perfect horseshoe, measuring about one hundred and i
sixty feet in length by one hundred feet in width. It '
is flanked upon the north by a line of ditch extending j
parallel with its longest diameter, a distance of per-
haps two hundred feet. There is no trace of embank-
ment in connection with the excavations. For what
purpose the horseshoe-shaped inclosure was made by
the ancient people can, of course, only be conjectured.
There is no probability, however, that it was designed,
as many suppose it to have been, for a work of defense.
One of the three large mounds which have been
mentioned was excavated in September, 1878, by Dr.
E. J. Bonine, of Niles, who operated under the aus-
pices of the Smithsonian Institution. It was a mound
about thirteen feet high (originally it must have been
of greater altitude), and the diameter of its base was
about fifty feet. On the summit of the mound, within
the memory of the settlers, stood a burr-oak tree four
feet in diameter, and probably three hundred years
old. A shaft was sunk by the excavators into the center
of the mound, which was found to be composed
throughout of the same soil as that of the surrounding
plain — a rich black loam. Almost invariably the hu-
man remains found under the mounds rest upon the
natural surface of the earth, the mounds simply being
heaped over tiiem, but in this case the interment was
several feet below the original level. Several skele-
tons were found, being those of men, women and
children, a number of fragments of pottery, a curious
bone or ivory ornament, bearing some resemblance to
a walrus tooth, several amulets pierced with holes,
through which thongs had doubtless once been placed
to attach them to the person, several bone implements
and five copper hatchets of fine edge and good forma- I
tion. Portions of the skeletons were in a good state
of preservation. The femur, or thigh bone, of one of !
the males, which Dr. Bonine has now in his possession, i
is of great size and indicates that its owner must have
been at least seven feet in height. Curiously enough, I
in the same tomb were found the bones of a very small |
child, a child which could not have measured more i
than eight or nine inches in height. They were more [
perfectly preserved than those of the adults. j
The mound from which these remains were taken,
after their sepulture of perhaps a thousand years,
was undoubtedly the monument and the grave of a
ruler and the members of his family. Nearly all of
the mounds in Cass County are of the class to which
archjeologists have given the name of sepulchral
mounds, although it is possible a few of them may
conceal the altars of the ancient people — rude hearths
of clav or stone.
CHAPTER II.
FRENCH EXPLORATION AND OCCL'PATION.
J»c<iuea ('artier the rioneerof New France— Chaniplain— He Wins the
Friendship of the .Vlgonfinins and Trovnltes the Hatred ot the Iro-
quois— Effect upon Future French Exploration and Colonization—
I,e Caron— Religious Zeal of French Explorers— The Huguenots
Excluded from New France— Breben, Daniel, Lalleniand— Raym-
bault and Jouges— Claude AUouez-Pere Marquette— His I'assage
down the St. .Joseph Kiver in 1U75— His Death on the Shore of Lake
Michigan— l.a Salle— He Builds Fort Mlainls at the Mouth of St.
.loseph in 1670— His Journey across the Michigan I'eninsula in liiSo
—Frequent Subsequent Visits to the St. .Joseph— Founding of De-
troit by De la Motte Cadillac— Tlie Mission ot St. Joseph Estab-
lished—A Mission near the Site of Nlles— The Mianils and the Pot-
tawatomies.
IN 1534, Jacques Cartier, sailing from France,
entered and explored the Gulf and the River St.
Lawrence — to the former of which he gave the name
of his patron saint. Returning to France, he made
another voyage to the New World in 1536, this time,
ascending the "great River of Canada" to the site of
Montreal, which city, when it came into existence,
took its name from the elevation near by, which Car-
tier called Mount Royal. In 1541, this explorer,
under the patronage of Sieur de Roberval, a French
nobleman, attempted to plant a permanent colony upon
the St. Lawrence, but the project failed.
For nearly seventy years, no further attempt was
made on the part of the French to colonize America,
or that part of it which Cartier had called New
France.
In 1608,* however, Samuel de Champlain founded
the settlement of Quebec.
An episode in the career of Champlain (interesting
to those who are fond of tracing tremendous results to
apparently insignificant causes) determined the direc-
tion of future French exploration. To secure and
augment the friendship of the Indians ( Algonquins)
by whom he found himself surrounded, Champlain,
during the same year in which he arrived, joined them
in an expedition against their enemies, the Iroquois,
who had a strong-hold upon the banks of the lake
which bears his name. In the battle which ensued,
the allied forces were the victors. The event secured
for three generations the alliance of the Algonquins
and the implacable hatred of the Iroquois. f
• Thin WM only on« year latoi: tlian llio i-sUliliiilinient of the first prmiantnt
Englldli Betllbfnf*nt npon tlid Atlntilic coast — Jamralawn, Va , — and ualy forty-
three yearn later than the foiindtng of the flnit Spiulsh settlomorit — the oldest
city ia America— St. Augustloe, Kla.
t James R. Albscb's ADnalsofthe West.
14
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The French would doubtless have entered zealously
into the exploration of the region to the southward
had not their implacable and powerful foe formed a
barrier. Their alliance with the Algonquins, how-
ever, left often to them the vast interior lake country,
occupied principally by the western tribes of the Algon-
quin nation, and so this region became a field for their
exploration and colonization.
Charaplain, in 1611, established a trading-post on
the site of Montreal, and, in 1615, he made an expe-
dition to the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. In the
same year he led an army of 2,500 Algonquin war-
riors against the Iroquois, and was compelled to retire
without gaining the conquest he had hoped to. The
barrier interposed between the French and the south-
ern region remained unbroken.
In 1616, Le Caron, with two compani6ns, pene-
trated the wilderness to Lake Huron, and for ten
years they there labored as missionaries among the
Indians. They were Franciscans. The means, the
devotion, and the discipline of this order proved in-
adequate to the carrying-on of its self-imposed task,
and the missions established under its authority ulti-
mately passed into the possession of the Jesuits.
Through all the history of French discovery, ex-
ploration and colonization in America runs the story
of religious zeal and martyrdom. Wherever the
Bourbon lilies were planted as the standard of France,
there was found also the cross of the Society of Jesus
and of the Holy Catholic Church. The indomitable
pioneers of France in the New World were more
largely actuated by religious motives than by personal
ambition or commercial enterprise. Champlain re-
garded " the salvation of a soul worth more than the
conquest of an empire," and those who followed after
him were sustained amidst their toils and privations
by the thought that they might Christianize a heathen
race — win the wild denizens of the dark " forest con-
tinent " to the Church of Rome. But the very zeal
with which the explorers and pioneers of France were
inspired, and which furnished them the motive for
penetrating the wilderness of the northwest was
coupled naturally with an intolerance which not im-
probably prevented France from maintaining an
ascendancy upon American soil. Cardinal Richelieu,
the champion of absolutism in France, had turned his
attention as early as 1627 to the New France, and
under his patronage a splendid and powerful organiza-
tion was formed for the purpose of colonizing on a
grand scale the new possessions. Upon this company,
of " the hundred associates" was conferred sovereignty
over all the French territory in America. The colo-
nies to be planted by " the hundred associates " were
to be exclusively French in nationality, and Catholic
' in religion. Champlain was made the civil and mili-
tary Governor of the colony, and the Jesuits were
chosen as the guardians of its spiritual welfare. Under-
j this arrangement the Huguenots were, of course,
rigorously excluded. They were the most enterprising
class in France, and the most strongly inclined to im-
migration. Had they been permitted to people the
shores of the New France, it is possible that the whole
destiny of the French in America might have been
changed. Francis Parkman gives it as his opinion that
" had New France been thrown open to Huguenot emi-
gration, Canada would never have become a British
province; that the field of Anglo-American settlement
would have been greatly narrowed, and that large
portions of the United States would, at this day, have
been occupied by a vigorous and expansive French
I population."
! In 1634, Brebeuf and Daniel, and later Lallemand,
I passed, by way of the Ottawa River, Lake Huron
and the Sault Ste. Marie,* to Lake Superior, and es-
tablished missions in the country of the Hurons, which
tribe, at that time, according to Jesuit authorities,
numbered 30,000 souls. Rayraebault and Jouges fol-
lowed in 1640, and were probably the first Europeans
who set foot upon the soil now included within the
boundaries of Michigan. These Jesuit missionaries
carried the tidings of salvation to the Western tribes
five years before Elliott preached to the Indians within
a few miles of Boston Harbor. In the following year,
Jouges and one of his fellow-missionaries were capt-
ured and tortured by the Iroquois. Daniel was killed
in 1648, and a year later the same savage enemy laid
waste several of the missions and burned at the stake
the two Jesuits, Brebeuf and Lallemand. In the en-
suing Huron-Iroquois war, nearly all of the devoted
apostles of Catholicism fell as martyrs of their faith.
The advance of the French explorers was temporarily
checked; but no obstacles could discourage and no
horrors dismay the brave spirits who had entered upon
the task of carrying to the inhabitants of the wilder-
ness what they devoutly believed to be the only true
religion. With the terrible fate of their brothers
fresh in their minds, the Jesuits pressed on, with al-
I most superhuman zeal, to plant the holy cross and the
golden lilies upon the shores of the Western waters.
Rene Menard (or Mesuard) wa3 probably the first
of the Jesuits who visited the West after the close of
the Indian war. He founded a mission upon the south
shore of Lake Superior in 1660, and in the following
year had fallen a victim to the Indians, or, at least,
such was the supposition, his breviary and cassock
afterward being f)und in the possession of the Sioux.
In 1665, Claude Allouez was sent out to the far West.
♦ Falls of the River St. Mary's, between Lakes Huron and Superior.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
He visited the great fresh-water sea (called by the
Indians Gitchi Goinee, which Longfellow translates
"Big Sea Water" or "Shining Big Sea Water") and
named it, in honor of the new Viceroy of the French
province, Lac Tracy au Superieur. Landing at the
chief village of the Chlppewas, on the bay of Chego-
imegon, he established a mission, and, on behalf of the
French colony, made with the Chippewas, the Potta-
watomies, Sacs, Foxes and the Illinois, an alliance
against the Iroquois. The next year, at the western
extremity of the lake, he came in contact with the
Sioux, and received from them information of a vast
and mysterious river that flowed southward, which
they called "Messipi." Aliouez returned to Quebec,
filled with wonder at the marvelous stories he had
heard of the Father of Waters, and dreaming, doubt-
less, of the splendor and vastness of the future French
dominion and Catholic triumph.
In 1668, Jacques (or James) Marquette and Claude
Dablon arrived at the Sault, and established the mis-
sion of St. Marie. Marquette advocated with enthu-
siasm the exploration of the Mississippi, and the proj-
ect was furthered by Talon, the Intendant under
Tracy, who was ambitious to extend the power of
France. On the 13th of May, 1673, Marquette,
Joliet and five voyageurs, embarking in two birch-
bark canoes at Michilimackinac (or Mackinaw, as it is
now called), made their way across Lac des Illinois,
or Lake Michigan, to Green Bay. From thence they
passed, by way of the Fox River, to a great Indian
town, where dwelt together, in harmony, numbers of
the Miami,* Mascoutin and Kickapoo nations. Al-
iouez had preached here, but beyond the village no
explorer had penetrated. Marquette and his compan-
ions pressed on, through the wilderness, over lakes
and dismal marshes, until they reached the westward
flowing Wisconsin. Committing themselves to the
current, they floated onward until, upon the 17th of
June, their boat shot out athwart the broad bosom of
the Mississippi. But we cannot follow the brave and
pious voyageur in his inspiring and joyous journey.
He went nearly as far South as the mouth of the
Arkansas, and was the discoverer of the Des Moines,
Illinois, Missouri and Ohio Rivers. The party re-
turned, laboriously working their way against the
current of the great river, to the mouth of the Illi-
nois, which they entered. At a village, which Mar-
quette called Kaskaskia (near the site of the present
village of Utica), an Indian chief offered to guide
them to the lake of the Illinois (Michigan). The offer
was accepted, and the voyageurs, passing up the Des-
; fpv, of llie Minniin at tblx tII1bh«. and tb
itump.l to tlK. ahurea of Lake Micliinan
, which country, oa will bo hereafter aliov
plaines River and across the portage to the site of
Chicago,* entered the lake and made their way to the
mission station on Green Bay, which was reached in
September.
Marquette, ever on the alert to advance the cause of
his religion, had determined to found a mission at the
Indian village on the Illinois, and had promised the
chiefs that he would soon return to them for that pur-
pose. With this object in view he set out from
Green Bay October 25, 1674, with a flotilla of ten
canoes manned by Frenchmen and Illinois and Potta-
watomie Indians. Following the west shore of the
lake, they entered the Chicago River, and had pro-
ceeded up the stream but a few miles when Marquette
became so sick that he could go no further. The
little party went into camp, and the Father's illness
continuing unabated, they remained there through the
winter, sustaining life upon the game which abounded
in that region. In the early spring of 1675, how-
ever, the missionary had so far recovered that he was
able to resume his journey, descending the Des-
plaines River, and reached the Illinois village by the
route over which he and Joliet had returned from
their voyage to the Mississippi in 1673. Before a
vast concourse of the red men, Marquette unfolded the
plan of Christian salvation and laid the foundation of
a mission which he named the Immaculate Conception.
The missionary, however, felt that his malady must
soon prove fatal, and he made preparations to return
to the North — to St. Ignace. About the middle of
April, he set out with his escort of Frenchmen and
Indians for Lake Michigan by a route which no white
man had ever traveled.
The now dying priest, led by Indian guides, pro-
ceeded up the Illinois to the mouth of a stream the
Indians called Teankakeek (the Kankakee of our
day), whioh they followed to a portage communicating
with the stream now known as the St. Joseph. The
priest named this water-course the " River of the
Miamis,"t because he found the Indians of this
nation upon its banks, and one of their principal vil-
lages a few miles south of it upon the portage.
Marquette and his companions were the first white
men who passed over the St. Joseph River. They
came to it at, or very near, the site of South Bend,
and steered their canoes to its mouth upon Lake
Michigan, where the village of St. Joseph now stands,
and thence made their way northward along the east-
ern shore of the lake, the priest hoping before his life
ebbed away to reach the mission of St. Ignace.
*SoDie writ«ra have atated that Marquette and Joliet returned to Laka
Michiitaii by way of the St. Joseph Ulver. Parknian ia the authority for the
ttatement aburu given. It was while returnint from hia leooml Journey, In
I6r>, that >[Hr<iue(to piiu^ddown the St. Joaeph. IIiavl«lt to the aite of Chicago,
In 107:1, w.ia uri loubtejly the first one made by a European.
tXhla name waa not auperaede.1 by the preaont one until about the year
17u:i.
16
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Slowly and patiently paddling their frail canoes along :
tlie border of the lake, they reached a point about one
hundred and seventy-five miles from the mouth of the
St. Joseph, within the bounds of the present county
of Leelenaw, and here, upon the wild and lonely coast,
surrounded only by a few Indians and his fellow-voy-
agers, and distant a hundred miles from his beloved i
mission station, Marquette died. The time was even- '
ing, the day May 19, 1675. One account says : '
" Leaving his men with the canoe he went a little
way apart to pray, they waiting for him. As much
time passed and he did not return, they called to mind i
that he had said something of his death being at hand, j
and anxiously went to seek him. They found him |
dead ; where he had been praying he died." He was I
buried near the mouth of a little stream which was 1
afterward given, and, for many years, bore his name. '
But his bones were not to be long left in the desolate '
solitude where he died. They were disinterred in the '
following spring by some Ottawa Indians who had
been converted by him, and carried to St. Ignace,
where they were with due ceremony committed again
to the earth. The grave of the missionary and
explorer long lost has been, in recent years, discovered ;
and marked with an appropriate monument, which \
serves to remind the visitor to St. Ignace of the early
history of the Northwest, and of one of the foremost
pioneers of France. The religious zeal and energy,
the wonderful devotion and self-denial of the Jesuits,
was finely exemplified in Father Marquette. He
sought nothing for himself; he dared all things for
the church ; his whole being was merged in it. When
warned of dangers that lay before him in the vast
wilderness, and urged to turn back, he replied that the
salvation of souls was at stake, for which he would be
overjoyed to give his life. His mind was not influ-
enced by the important discovery of the Mississippi,
which opened up the great valley to the enterprise of
his countrymen; "but," said he, "if ray perilous
journey had been attended with no other advantage
than the salvation of one soul, I would think my
peril sufficiently rewarded."
Following Marquette carae two French explorers,
differing widely from him and from^ each other — La
Salle and Hennepin.
Robert Chevalier Sieur de la Salle, the most
famous explorer of the Northwest and of the
Mississippi Valley, came to Canada in 1667, and en-
gaged in the fur trade. He had been educated under {
the Jesuits. He afterward publicly denounced and '
was very hostile toward the order, although he
remained a stanch supporter of the Catholic faith.
La Salle's ambition was aroused by the discoveries
which Marquette and Joliet reported, and he resolved
to win renown for himself in the wild regions which
had been the scenes of his predecessors' exploits. He
held to the quite popular opinion that the Mississippi
flowed west or southwest to the Pacific Ocean, afford-
ing a passage by which China and Japan could be
conveniently reached from the New France. This
outlet of the great river he had an ambition to dis-
cover, and he w;is still further incited to become an
explorer by visions of vast wealth, which he believed
could be acquired in a monopoly of the fur trade with
the Indian nations of the hitherto unknown interior.
Obtaining the assistance of Frontenac, the Governor
General of Canada, and the approval of his king,
he immediately began preparations for his voyage.
In September, 1678, La Salle met at Fort Fron-
tenac the Recollet Friar Hennepin, who was to be
his co-laborer and rival, having received from his
superiors authority to take charge of the religious
concerns of the expedition. On the 26th of January,
1679, at the mouth of the Cayuga Creek, on the
American side of the Niagara, about six miles above
the Falls, La S;ille laid the keel of the Griflin.*
Upon the 7th of August, 1679, the little barge was
ready to sail, and with the singing of Te Beams and
the discharge of arquebuses, she began her voyage.
Hers was the first sail that cast a shadow upon the
waters of Lake Erie, or that traversed the lakes be-
yond. Over the swelling billows of Erie, through
the straits and the little lake, which La Salle named
Sainte Claire,t and through Lake Huron to Michili-
raackinac, the voyagers sailed under pleasant skies
and with favoring winds, except during the last few
on Huron, when they " were troubled by a great
storm, dreadful as those upon the sea."
La Salle remained at Michilimackinac from the
27th of August until the latter part of September,
and founded there a fort. From Michilimackinac he
went to Green Bay, and finding there a large quan-
tity of furs which had been collected by his men, he
determined to load the Griffin with them and send
her back to Niagara. L^pon the 18th of September,
the little barque set sail for her return voyage, her
crew having orders from La Salle to bring her back
with all possible despatch, to meet him at the mouth
of the River of the Miamis (the St. Joseph). La Salle
had now remaining a party of fourteen men, three
Friars, "Hennepin, Membre and Ribourde. ten other
Frenchmen and a Mohican Indian, who had been em-
ployed as a hunter. This little company, imme-
diately after the departure of the Griffin, set out in
canoes for the St. Joseph River, proceeding slowly
♦The name wm bestowed upon the veMel in honor of Frontenac In whoee
crest the UrlOlu was a conspicuous 6]^ure. A carreJ Griffin adorned the prow
of the boat.
IIISTOHV (»K CASS CM)UNTY. MICIIKJAN.
southward along the western shore of Lake Michigan
— the same wild, deserted shore along which Mar-
quette had voyaged in 1675. Their progress was
slow as their canoes were heavily laden with merchan-
dise and provisions, arms, ammunition, implements of
labor and a blacksmith's forge. At night, they
bivoucked on the bank of the lake. It was the mid-
dle of October before they reached the site of Chi-
cago, and the let of November when they arrived at
the St. Joseph. Their journey had been made a
perilous one by the prevalance of storms, and once
they met Indians who evinced hostility ; but they
came in contact with others who were very friendly.
They would doubtless have died of famine had it not
been for the liberality of the latter in supplying them
with food. La Salle's men were anxious to push for-
ward to the Illinois River, and it was with difBculty
they could be restrained. The leader desired to make
the mouth of the St. Joseph his base of operations
on Lake Michigan, and there to await the coming of
Tonti, his Lieutenant, from Michilimackinac, with a
company of twenty-one men. The same royal author-
ity which had empowered him to prosecute his discov-
eries, had given La Salle permission to build forts at
such points as he thought proper, in the country he
explored. He decided to erect one at the mouth of
the St. Joseph, while awaiting Tonti's arrival, and
immediately began the work. The men who had at
first been mutinous, finally yielding to his will, when
they found that neither persuasion nor threats could
induce him to penetrate the country to the Illinois
villages. The fort was a small stockade. La Salle
named it Fort Miamis, probably from the fact that the
Miami Indians were living in the region roundabout.
This was the first French post established within the
limits of the lower Peninsula of Michigan, although
several had been founded upon the opposite shores.
Fort Miamis was nearly completed when, after the
lapse of three weeks from the time of La Salle's
coming to the St. Joseph, Tonti arrived at the head
of a re-enforcing party. The entire force now con-
sisted of thirty-three men. On the 3d of December,
ihey were mustered, ready for departure ; the fort was
deserted, and the company embarking in canoes, made
their way slowly up the sinuous channel of the St.
Joseph, and thus was resumed the "great voyage and
glorious undertaking " of the ambitious La Salie. On
reaching the abrupt turn in the river near the s'te of
South Bend, Ind., they crossed by way of the portage
which Marquette had traveled, to the Kankakee, and
descending that stream, reached the Illinois. At the
contiiience of the rivers, they found the clustering
villages of the Illinois, but they were deserted, and
hence La Salle passed on to Peoria Lake. Here he
met with many of the natives who received him with
friendly manner. It was not long, however, before
they grew suspicious, and threatened the safety of the
explorers. It has been averred that Allouez, the
Jesuit, who was then in the country, sent Ma.scou-
tin emissaries to them who prejudiced their minds
against La Salle by telling them that he was the
friend of the Iroquois. His own men, too, become
discontented, and some of them deserted. Attempts
were made to poison him. He was filled with anxiety
in regard to the fate of the Griffin, of which he had
received no intelligence since his departure from Green
Bay, and he had a foreboding that he must soon turn
back and abandon for the time the prosecution of his
cherished plans. The fort which he built at the foot
of Peoria Lake he named Crevecceur (the Broken
Heart.)
But in spite of the dangers, the difficulties and dis-
couragements with which La Salle found himself sur-
rounded, it was very far from his purpose to relinquish
the project of exploration. He set about building a
vessel to take the place of the Griffin, instructed Hen-
nepin to familiarize himself with the Illinois, left
Tonti in command of the fort and started with a small
party of men upon a journey of at least twelve hun-
dred miles on foot, through the wilderness, to Canada.
He needed sails, rigging, and an anchor for the little
vessel of which he had laid the keel, and he had also
to procure additional means and enlist new men to
aid him in carrying on his great project. This daring
journey of La Salle's led the indomitable explorer
through, or at least very near, to the territory now in-
cluded in the bounds of Cass County.
La Salle, with four French companions and the
Mohican hunter, who has been alluded to, left Fort
Crevecceur March 2, 1680, and arrived at Fort Miamis
three weeks later. From this point they pursued as
direct a route as possible to the Detroit River. They
were the first white men who crossed the great penin-
sula from lake to lake. This stage of the now almost
inconceivable journey, made two hundred years ago,
is graphically described by Parkman, who translates
and paraphrases the French manuscript journal of La
Salle, entitled Relation des Decouverteg.
"They were detained," says he, " till noon of the
2oth (of March) in making a raft to cross the St.
Joseph. Then they resumed their march, and as they
forced their way through the brambly thickets, their
clothes were torn, and their faces so covered with
blood, that they could hardly know each other,
Game was very scarce, and they grew faint with hun-
ger. In two or three days, they reached a happier
region. They shot deer, bears and turkeys in the
woods, and fared sumptuously. But the reports of
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
their guns fell on hostile ears. * * * On the
evening of the 28th, as they lay around their fire,
under the shelter of a forest, by the border of a prairie,
the man on guard shouted an alarm. They sprang to
their feet, and each, with gun in hand, took his stand
behind a tree, while yells and bowlings filled the s"r-
rounding darkness. A band of Indians were urion
them, but seeing them prepared, the cowardly assail-
ants did not await to exchange a shot."
The scene of this occurrence could not have been
far from the northeast corner of Cass County. La
Salle had surely not progressed far from the mouth
of the St. Joseph in three and a half days. Allowing
that he had made fifteen miles per day, which, consid-
ering the season and the condition of the country, is a
liberal estimate, the explorer and his party would, by
the time of this alarm, have penetrated the forest no
further than the dividing line of Cass and St. Joseph
Counties. It is not improbable that the prairie by
which the men were encamped, on the night of the
28th of March, was Prairie Ronde, in the southwest-
ern corner of the present county of Kalamazoo, or it
may possibly have been Little Prairie Ronde, in Vo-
linia Township, Cass County.
Parkman's account of the journey continues : "They
crossed great meadows, overgrown with rank prairie
grass, and set it on fire to hide the traces of their pass-
age. La Salle bethought himself of a device to keep
their skulking foes at a distance. On the trunks of
trees, from which he had strippei the bark, he drew,
with charcoal, the marks of an Iroquois war party,
with the usual signs for prisoners and for scalps, hop-
ing to delude his pursuers with the belief that he and
his men were a band of those dreaded warriors. Tims
over snowy prairies and half frozen marshes, wading
sometimes to their waists in mud, water and bulrushes,
they urged their way through the spongy, saturated
wilderness. During three successive days, they were
aware that a party of savages were dogging their
tracks. They dared not make a fire at night, lest the
light should betray them, but, hanging their wet clothes
on the trees, they rolled themselves in their blankets
and slept together on piles of spruce and pine boughs.
But the night of the 2d of April was excessively cold.
Their clothes were hard frozen, and they were obliged
to kindle a fire to thaw and dry them. Scarcely had
the light begun to glimmer through the gloom of the
evening when it was greeted from the distance by
mingled yells, and a troop of Mascoutin warriors
rushed toward them. They were stopped by a deep
stream, a hundred paces from the bivouac of the
French, and La Salle went forward to meet them.
No sooner did they see him, and learn that he was a
Frenchman, than they cried that they were friends
and brothers, who had mistaken him and his men for
Iroquois, and, abandoning their hostile purpose, they
withdrew peacefully. Thus his device to avert danger
had well-nigh proved the destruction of the whole
party. Two days after this adventure, two of the
men fell ill from fatigue and exposure, and sustained
themselves with difficulty until they reached the banks
of a river, which was probably the Huron. Here the
sick men rested, and their companions made a canoe.
There were no birch trees, and they were forced to
use elm bark, which, at that early season, would not
slip freely from the wood until they loosened it with
hot water. Their canoe being made, they embarked
in it, and for a time floated prosperously down the
stream, when at length the way was barred by a
matted barricade of trees fallen across the water.
The sick men could now walk again, and pushing
eastward through the forest, the party soon reached
the banks of the Detroit."*
Crossing the river upon a raft, the little company
made their way through the woods to Lake Erie, along
the north shore of which they passed, in a canoe, to
! Niagara. From thence, with three fresh men. La
1 Salle proceeded to Fort Frontenac, where he arrived
j on the 6th of May. During sixty-five days (from the
j time he left Fort Crevecoeur, on Peoria Lake) he had
! traveled more than a thousand miles, through a wil-
1 derness inhabited only by wild beasts and wild men.
I At the foot of Lake Erie, on the spot where the Grif-
I fin was built, he learned of the loss of the vessel, with
I her cargo of furs, and also of the wreck of a ship from
France freighted with his merchandise. At Fron-
j tenac, he received other discouraging tidings. Pushing
\ on to Montreal, additional misfortunes were thrust
J upon his knowledge. His creditors had become im-
I patient and his property had been seized.
I The heart of La Salle remained resolute in spite of
I the complication of troubles which surrounded him.
I In spite of his impaired credit, he succeeded in
emyloying twenty-five men — soldiers, voyageurs, ship-
builders and other mechanics and a surgeon, and was
able to purchase such supplies as he needed. Then he
! set out upon the long, weary journey to the Illinois
country with the firm determination of now complet-
ing the work he had been compelled to abandon in the
spring and of realizing the great project to which he
had dedicated his energies and his life — the explora-
tion of the Mississippi. At the very outset he received
news of appalling nature. When he reached Fort
Frontenac, he found a letter from Tonti awaiting him,
in which the faithful Italian lieutenant stated that
nearly all the men left with him at Fort Crevecoeur
had deserted, after destroying the fort, that they had
i » Dlscoytrr of the Gr««t West, pp. 179-181.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
19
also razed to the ground Fort Miamis, and then going
to Michilimackinac had seized La Salle's property,
and left for the East with the avowed purpose of
taking their master's life should they meet him upon
the lakes. Almost any other heart than La Salle's
would have been crushed by this last information, but
he was not to be deterred from his purpose, even by
the complete destruction of all that his past labors
had accomplished. He set out upon Lake Ontario,
met a party of the treacherous villains, boldly attacked
them, killed several and took the others as prisoners
to Frontenac, there to await such sentence as the
Governor should think proper to pronounce upon
them. Again, he set his face toward the West. He left
Frontenac on the 10th of August, and, upon the ith of
November, was at the mouth of the St. Joseph. The
ruins of the fort corroborated what Tonti had written
him. He pressed forward, by way of the St. Joseph
and the Kan-ka-kee to the Illinois River. Passing
by the ruined Fort Crevecoeur, he followed the Illi-
nois to its mouth, and beheld for the first time the
mighty Father of Waters. But this moment which
La Salle had looked forward to through all his trials
with the liveliest anticipations, brought little of joy
to him. Ilis mind was filled with anxiety in regard
to Tonti and Hennepin. He conjectured that the
latter was upon the Upper Mississippi (for he had
instructed him to explore that river to the northward
as well as to traverse the Illinois), but Tonti, to whom
he had been warmly attached, he feared had met with
death. Along the Illinois he had found terrible
destruction. The Iroquois had made an invasion of
the country, and the villages of their enemies were
now only blackened ruins amidst which lay the bones
of hundreds of Illinois victims. He not unnaturally
supposed that his lieutenant had met with the same
terrible fate which had overtaken his Indian friends.
Tonti had, in fact, been captured by the fierce Iro-
quois, and, narrowly escaping death, and passing
through many vicissitudes, finally made his way to
Michilimackinac, where La Salle met him in June,
1681.
In the meantime, however, the great explorer was
ignorant of his whereabouts and even of his existence.
Again we find La Salle upon the St. Joseph. He
returned there from the Illinois in January, 1681. A
small party of men, whom he had left at the mouth of
the river in charge of stores in November, re-enforced
by a number of the original force who had been left
at Michiliraacinac — in all eighteen souls — under
command of Sieur de la Forest, had rebuilt Fort
Miamis, cleared a considerable space around it for
planting in the following spring, and had made a
saw-pit from which they had turned out nearly all of
the timber and planks necessary for the construction '
of a vessel. Here, at the mouth of the St. Joseph,
two centuries ago, was presented the first well-defined
picture of civilization in what is now the Lower Penin-
sula of the State of Michigan — the home of nearly a
million and a-half of people. The little stockade was
the abiding-place of twenty-five white men during the
winter of 1680-81. Near by was a group of Indian
wigwams occupied by Mohicans and Abenakis, who,
driven from their ancestral lands near the Atlantic,
had sought a refuge in the Far West, and located for
the winter under the protection of the French fort.
The winter months passed slowly and without notable
incident. Preparations were made for resuming ex-
ploration in the spring. The master and leading
spirit of the company employed the days and nights
in devising plans for future action, and in speculating
upon the attainment of the end for which he had
striven. " He might," says Parkman, " have brooded
on the redoubled ruin that had befallen him — the
desponding friends, the exulting foes, the wasted
energies, the crushing load of debt, the stormy past,
the black and lowering future. But his mind was of
a diff"erent temper. He had no thought but to grap-
ple with adversity, and out of the fragments of his
ruin to rear the fabric of a triumphant success."
When the first of March came, although there waa
still snow upon the ground, La Salle, with nineteen
men, started on a mission to the Illinois Indians, to
induce them to make peace with the other tribes and
to locate in the region about Fort Crevecoeur (or its
site) under French protection. Accomplishing the
object he sought, the party returned to Fort Miamis.
An expedition for a similar purpose was made later
in the spring to the great village of the Miamis on
the portage between the St. Joseph and the Kanka-
kee. The conference with the Miamis was success-
ful, and La Salle congratulated himself on having
won the friendship of the two most powerful tribes
through whose country he must pass to the Missis-
sippi. But before commencing his great undertaking
he had to return again to Montreal. The long,
weary journey was made, and in November, 1681,
La Salle returned to Fort Miamis, accompanied by
Tonti, whom he had found in June at Michilimack-
inac. A month was spent at the mouth of the St.
Joseph in preparation for the great expedition.
This spot must ever retain an interest as the scene
of La Salle's frequent visits, the place at which he
passed most of his time in the Northwest, and where
this daring but unfortunate explorer, the chief of the
pioneers of France in Americi , matured the project
which led him to the mouth of the majestic river.
On the 21st of December, the first detachment of
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the exploring company commanded by Tonti left '
Fort Miamis, coasted along the south shore of the lake,
and landed at the mouth of the Chicago River. There
they were joined in a few days by the remainder of the
force under La Salle." They reached the Mississippi
on the 6th of February, and on the 6th of April, 1682, ;
after many adventures, La Salle discovered the three
passages by which the Father of Waters debouches
into the Gulf of Mexico. On the 9th, in sight of the
blue expanse of the sea, with great pomp and cere-
mony, in the name of Louis XIV, King of France,
he took possession of all the lands watered by the
great river, bestowing upon the vast region the name
of Louisiana.
Li September, La Salle reached and descended the
St. Joseph River on his way to Montreal (as he
supposed), it being his intention to return to IT ranee,
but at Michilimackinac he received tidings which
turned him back to the Illinois country.
Once more he ascended the St. Joseph — late in
the fall of 1682 — and this was destined to be his last
view of the beautiful sinuous stream with whose gentle
meanders and forest-clad banks he had become so
familiar. He returned to Lake Michigan in the fall
of 1683, but by way of the Chicago portage, journeyed
to Quebec, and from there sailed to France. He never
again visited the northern region of America, but he
made an expedition to the Gulf of Mexico, landed in
Texas, and was there basely assassinated by some of
his own men on the 19th of March, 1687.
It does not appear that Fort Miamis was regularly
occupied either as a military post or a base of supply
by the French, after La Salle's final departure.* Com-
paratively little is known of the history of the French
in this immediate region during the century following
La Salle's explorations. In a subsequent chapter, we
ahall lay before the reader what information we have
from various sources upon the mission of St. Joseph
located at Fort Miamis about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, and in the meantime conclude this
chapter with a rapidly drawn outline of the French
occupation of Michigan.
The Mission of St. Ignace was founded at the
Straits of Michilimackinac in 1671. The surround-
ing region was known by the latter name, and the
same appellation was given to the military post estab-
lished there in 1680 — a post which became one of the
most important in the whole lake region. Up to this
time, no French garrison had been established upon
the Detroit River, although the eligibility of the loca-
tion had long before been noted by explorers, and the
project of founding a settlement discussed by several
of the Governors of New France. In 1686, Greysolon
de Lhut, at that time commandant of Michilimackinac,
was ordered by Gov. Gen. Denonville to establish a
fortified post on "d'etroit,"* near Lake Erie. De
Lhut, however, used his own discretion in so far that
he located the post near the foot of Lake Huron
(where Fort Gratiot was built in 1814, by an Ameri-
can officer). Two years after it was built, this fort,
which was named St. Joseph, f was evacuated and
burned by Baron La Hontan, who succeeded De Lhut
as its commandant. Soon after Fort Detroit was built
upon the eastern shore of the lake, but, like Fort St.
Joseph, it soon passed out of existence, and now no
man knows exactly where it stood.
It is probable that about this time a few French-
men located on the Detroit River, on or near the site
of the future city, but they were not permanent set-
tlers. If there was any structure like a fort there, it
must have been merely a post of the Coureurs des bois
and not recognized by the government. One reason
why the French had not built a stockade and located
a garrison at this commanding point was because they
had, in the Ottawa River, a more direct] route from
Montreal to Michilimackinac, and the upper lakes than
the Straits and Lake St. Clair afforded. Some time in
the year 1700, Antoine de la Motte Cadillac, who
had become, in 1694, the commandant at Michili-
mackinac, recognized the fact, as others had before
him, that the Detroit was the gateway in the direct
route between the English Colonies and the Iroquois
country on the one side, and the western lakes on the
other, and that, however little the French themselves
might need the strait, it was necessary that they
should guard it against their allied enemies. Cadillac
went to France to procure the full measure of author-
ity, which he wanted, and, obtaining it, returned to
Canada in March, 1701. On the 24th of July, in
the same year, he arrived at the site of Detroit, then
occupied by an Indian village, t and there founded the
first permanent settlement in Michigan. It was the
plan of Cadillac to gather all of the Indians of the
lake region about Detroit, for purposes of trade, and
he was largely successful, although his efforts were
strongly opposed by the Jesuit influence. The com-
pany which formed the settlement at Detroit con-
sisted of about fifty soldiers and as many Canadian
merchants and mechanics, a Jesuit who went out as a
missionary to the Indians, and a RecoUet priest who
*Sorao writers have stated that Fort Miamis was maintained as a French
post up to the time or the ReTuiutionarjr war. Tliis is a manifest error. There
WAS no ftarrison at the month of the St Joseph when Charlevoix visited the
spot in 17>1. II had been removed, s.ys Judge C.mpbeli in his "OuUlnea of
qislory," to Soatb Be
tks year 1700.
• Soatb Bead. The Jesuit mlsaion of St. Joseph
ipbeli in
■ founded about
donbtlen to the fiict that the latter was on the St. Joseph River.
IThls wa< a Buron village, and w u called Teuch&a Orondie (or l^j agh.mgh-
ron.diel. It was probabljr established as earl/ as 1659, hut not permanentljr
occupied.
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
21
was Chaplain. Under Cadillac, the principal officer
was Alphonse de Tonti, a brother of Henri de Tonti,
the companion of La Salle. A fort was erected and
named after the French Minister, Fort Pontchartrain. '
Detroit immediately became, and long remained, a
post of large commercial consequence, and under the
patronage of " the Company of the Colony of Can-
ada," an organization which ha<l, by royal authority,
a monopoly of the fur trade, it was in fact the center
of commerce in the great Northwest. Five years
after it was established, over two thousand Indians
were living in the vicinity of Detroit. In 1712, it j
became the scene of terrible carnage. In the absence {
of the friendly Indians, the Foxes and Mascoutins be-
sieged the garrison, which was, at that time, under
command of M. du Buisson, and were in turn be-
sieged by the allies of the French when they returned,
and upward of a thousand of their number killed, the
massacre being attended with circumstances of the
most horrible atrocity.
About the time that Detroit was settled, the mouth
of the St. Joseph, where La Salle and his followers
had so often been, and where they passed one long,
dreary winter, again became the scene of French
activity. The Miarais, who left the country in 1681,
returned about ten years later, and the Jesuits, ever
zealous to make proselytes of the natives, soon after
established among them the mission of St. Joseph. It
is probable that, at the same time, the name St.
Joseph was bestowed upon the river which, in the
earlier period of French exploration, had been called
the River of the Miamis. The exact date of the
founding of the mission is not known, but most
writers place it in the year 1700.* The earliest men-
tion of it that has been discovered occurs in a letter
from the Jesuit. Joseph T. Marest, to the Governor
General of Canada, dated Michilimackinac, August
16, 1706. After mentioning a plot of the Ottawas
(which had been temporarily frustrated) for a joint
attack with the Sacs and Foxes upon the Miamis of
the St. Joseph, the writer says : " I asked the savages
if I could send a canoe manned with Frenchman to
the River St. Joseph with any degree of safety. They
replied that I could, and urged me to do so, seeming
to take an interest in the fathers who are there. The
truth is, they do not feel at liberty to make war upon
the Miamis, while the rr.isionaries remain there, and
for that reason would prefer that they should come to
us. I had previously engaged some Frenchmen to
carry the news to the River St. Joseph, and to relieve
clearly Hn orror. LaStllri
tliftt he fuiind the placo hod ernr be
Stiloi ImI tail fullowon and (1678) t
lainn wu OTtablldhed bj CUude Allonez
country as early as 17ii5. Thin l> very
^e liny mention which wnuld indicate
h^lilled. Parlioian laya : ■■ Here he ( La
1 fun, and here u afttr gtan the Jeeuila
I our fathers if they were in any difficulty ; but one of
I them has been so much intimidated by the represen-
I tations of his friends that he dare not trust himself
among the savages."
" As affairs areat present, I do not think the removal
of the fathers is advisable for that (St. Joseph) is the
most important post in all this region, except Michili-
mackinac ; and if the Ottawas were relieved from the
existence of the mission, they would unite so many
tribes against the Miamis that in a short time they
would drive them from this fine country. * * j
have at last found another Frenchman who is willing
to go to the River St. Joseph, and I hope the four will
now depart immediately. We have reason to feel
anxious concerning the safety of the Fathers on
account of so many war parties going down on that
side. At last we shall have news from St. Joseph
unless our men find too many dangers in the way."
The Miamis abandoned the St. Joseph Valley and
the country contiguous to the head of Lake Michigan
in 1707, and it is probable that the Pottawatomies
who succeeded them in its occupation came very soon
after their departure. The Jesuit mission was con-
tinued among the Pottawatomies. In 1712, it was
reported by Father Marest as being in a very flour-
ishing condition and the most important mission on
the lakes, except Michilimackinac. Its condition,. one
might judge from these words, was as favorable in
1712 among the Pottawatomies as in 1706 among
the Miamis. It had probably been continued without
any intermission. A military post, too, had by this
time been established at St. Joseph, and a little colony
of Canadian traders had an existence under the pro-
tection of the soldiery, and its members doubtless did
more toward degrading the Indians than the pious
Jesuits did toward their elevation. The Pottawato-
mies, however, were as a nation more tractable and
more inclined to profit by religious teachings than
were the Miamis, or, for that matter, any of the other
tribes of the Northwest. Years after the Jesuits left
them, and, in fact, down to the time when the tribe
emigrated to the far West, a large number of them,
including some of the chiefs, remained earnest adher-
ents to the faith their ancestors had learned of the
Jesuits at the old mission of St. Joseph.*
The Jesuits had another mission upon the St. Jo-
seph River, near the southern limits of the city of
Niles. It was established prior to 1721, for Charle-
voix mentions a visit which he made to it in that year.
Further than this, there is no authentic information in
regard to this missionary station, although there are
some quite circumstantial pretended accounts of it in
•Th" PciltawatuniiM living io Can and Van Buren Cunnliea, and In
Northern IndUna are, at Uiia day, with acarcely an excepUon, momben of the
Boman Caihulic Church.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
existence, and many vague and entirely untrustworthy
traditions afloat.* It is probable that the mission on
the site of Niles was not continued for a very long
period. No allusions are made in the official docu-
ments of the time to its existence, though the mission
of St. Joseph is frequently mentioned. But little
remains to be said of the French occupation of the
northern lake region. Nothing of great importance
concerning the peninsula occurred during the period
embracing the first half of the eighteenth century.
The several missions were zealously supported, a vast
traffic with the Indians was carried on, and, in 1749,
quite a number of French agricultural settlers, en-
couraged by grants of land, located on the banks of
the Detroit. Their number did not, however, exceed
twenty-five hundred in 1761 ; and there were no other
points of settlement in the Lower Peninsula of
Michigan except the military establishments and
the missions. These were merely minute dots of
civilization upon the border of an unknown wilder-
ness, in which the savage roamed free, as he had for
centuries before. France had won a vast though a
transient dominion. It was destined that the Briton
should rule the land the Gaul had found ; that the
standard of the lion should supplant the lilies and the
cross. Already the forces were in operation which
were to eflect this result and to mold the future of a
continent.
CHAPTER in.
CONTEST FOR POSSESSION.
Great Britain Succeeds France in Domination of tlie Nortliwest—
Michigan Posts Occupied by tlie Britisli— Treaty of 17G3— Hatred
of the Western Tribes Aroused— Tliey are Craftily Encouraged in
tlieir Enmity by tlie French— Pontiac's Conspiracy— The Potta-
watomies join the League— Siege of Detroit— Miissacre of the Gar-
rison at Fort St. .Joseph— An Exploit of the Tribe of Topinabe—
Indians Propitiated by the British— The Quebec Bill— Little Ac-
complished During a Century of French and British Occupation—
The Revolutionary War— Comiuest of the Northwest by George
Rogers Clark— Evacuation of Detroit.
nnHE contest between France and England for
J- supremacy on American soil was appealed to
the arbitrament of the sword and settled as have been
80 many other important issues, in blood.
The two great powers had transferred their hatred
from the Old World to the New, and the course of
circumstances was such as to develop an armed
hostility. The war of 1754-60 practically terminated
French dominion in America. Braddock's defeat
was avenged by the British when Wolfe gained his
great victory over the French upon the Plains of
• The last inicM of a small circular earthwork are remiining at Niles, and
the prevailinK l^cal npiniun is thai this au-called " fori," which snmebrKly has
given the nsnit* of " Fort Oola," was of French a^nstruction. The French bnilt
no earthworks in the Indian country ; their forts were all stockades. " Fort
Oola," of which the full outlines were plainly discernihie when the pioneers came
into the country, undoubtedly belongs to the pre-historic period.
Abraham in 1759. Quebec fell in the same year,
and Montreal on the 8th of September, 1760. On
the 29th of November, Detroit was surrendered to
Capt. Robert Rogers and the red cross of St. George
was raised for the first time upon the soil of Michi-
gan.
The French were not immediately called upon to
surrender their other points of pos.session in the West
for the reason that the weather became so cold that it
was impracticable for the English troops to make thalr
way over Lake Huron. Early in August, 1761,
however, three hundred men of " the Royal Ameri-
j cans" — His Majesty's Sixtieth Regiment — command-
j ed by Lieutenant Leslie, reached Michilimackinac
' and took possession in the name of the King of
1 England. A few days later a smaller detachment
arrived at the St. Joseph River and occupied the fort
at its mouth, over which the Bourbon flag had floated
for more than fifty years — during the second period
I of French occupation at this point.
The treaty by which France formally ceded to
i England all of her possessions in America was made
in Paris in 1763. The peace which it was hoped
this instrument would secure to the scattered inhabit-
i ants of the Northwest was rudely broken even before
! the treaty was promulgated — a fact for which the
French in the New World were in ;i large measure
I accountable.
The change in the ownership of the soil was at-
I tended by no immediate good results, but on the
I contrary by many evil ones. Most of the French
j traders left the country with the French soldiers, and
' their places were quickly filled by Englishmen.
Neither the English officers nor the commercial ad-
venturers who accompanied their march into the West
were calculated to win the friendship of the savages.
j The soldiers treated them with rude contempt, and as
[ vagabonds. The same line of conduct which had
I estranged the Iroquois (the allies of the English since
i the time of Champlain) so that they refused to aid
Braddock in 1755, very soon aroused the hatred of
the Western tribes. Whatever cause of grievance
they omitted was supplied by the traders. Many
I of these, according to Parkman, " were ruffians of the
coarsest stamp, who vied with each other in rapacity,
violence and profligacy. They cheated, cursed and
plundered the Indians, and outraged their families,
off'ering, when compared with the French traders, a
most unfavorable example of the character of their
nation."
The seeds of disaffection were widely sown. The
Pottawatomies, the Chippewas and the Ojibways, were
ready and eager to enter into the conspiracy proposed
I by the crafty and powerful Ottawa Chief Pontiac, who
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
was also the leader and head of the confederacy, com- |
posed of the several tribes mentioned. His plan was !
to unite the several tribes of the Northwest, and, by a
preconcerted signal, fall upon all of the British posts
simultaneously, massacre the garrisons and destroy the
forts, and so prepare for the return of the French, i
The French Canadians craftily encouraged the savages i
by informing them that already the armies of King
Louis were advancing to reclaim their lost possession.
In the autumn of 1762, Pontiac sent messengers to i
the various nations, disclosing his plan, and inviting !
them to join the league. The Pottawatomies who,
at this time, had their principal population in the [
country along the St. Joseph and Kalamazoo Rivers, [
lent a willing assent to Pontiac's request. Emmissa-
ries were dispatched to far-distant nations, and these, '
in turn, sent representatives to a great council, ap- ,
pointed by the leader, at the River Ecorces, near De- i
troit, in April, 1763. The plan of the campaign in j
general was here arranged, and the details were per- I
fected at a subsequent gathering, held at a Pottawato-
mie village. The posts to be assaulted were Niagara,
Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, Venango, Du Quesne (now
Pittsburgh) Ouiatenon, Detroit, Michilimackinac,
Sault Ste. Marie, Green Bay and St. Joseph, a chain
extending along more than twelve hundred miles of
frontier. There was gathered together for this pur-
pose a vast concourse of Indian warriors from the
Michigan Peninsulas, from Lake Superior, from the
region beyond Lake Michigan, from the Ottawa
River of Canada, and even from the Lower Mississippi
Valley. So perfect was Pontiac's plan, and so well
carried out by the allied tribes, that nine of the posts
fell into their possession, and only three escaped —
Niagara, Pittsburgh and Detroit. The time set for
the attack was May. On the 7th of that month, Pon-
tiac and a number of lesser chiefs presented them-
selves at thd gates of Fort Detroit, and requested ad-
mission, saying that they had come to hold a council
with the commandant. Under the blanket of each
was concealed a tomahawk and a gun, the barrel of
which had been filed off short, that it might be more
effectually hid. It was arranged that at a precon-
certed signal, the warriors in the council house were
to throw off their disguise and massacre the officers,
and that as soon as the first shot was heard, the Indians
outside the fort should rush in and massacre the
entire garrison. The chiefs were admitted, but they
were chagrined to find that knowledge of their treacher-
ous scheme had been communicated to the command-
ant. Maj. Gladwyn, and that the most thorough
preparations had been made to prevent a surprise.
The garrison was under arms, the cannoneers stood
by their guns, and the officers who met them in the
council house had swords and pistols at their sides.
After a short and hollow harangue with Maj. Glad-
wyn, Pontiac and his companions, baffled in the accom-
plishment of their dastardly design withdrew. It is
traditionally asserted that the British officer in charge
had been warned of his danger by an Ojibway girl,
who lived at the Pottawatomie village, where the
chiefs had been in conference.
The rage of the discomfited Indians was unbounded.
They resolved to make an oRea attack, and on the 10th
of May 800 warriors surrourtded the little fort, and
assaulted it with all of the fierceness of which they
were capable. The battle raged from dawn to dark,
and it seemed as if the garrison must inevitably be
overcome. The British, however, resisted success-
fully, and, thwarted again, Pontiac determined upon
besieging the fort and compelling it* inmates to sur-
render. The siege was continued five months, and
during that time several assaults were made, which
the garrison received as a great roek does the waves
of the sea.
The Pottawatomies were present at the first attack
of Detroit, and during the early stage of the siege, in
large numbers. They fought under their chief, Ninav6,
and were given a post of honor in the battle. After
the unsuccessful attack, they were assigned to the de-
struction of Fort St. Joseph, in their own country,
and, with their thirst for blood intensified by their
repulse at Detroit, the wolfish horde went trooping
through the wilderness to accomplish the destruction
of the weaker post. The day fixed upon for the mas-
sacre of the little garrison was the 25th of May. On
the morning of that day, the commandment of St.
Joseph, Ensign Schlosser, was informed that a band
of Pottawatomies had arrived from Detroit upon a visit
to the members of the tribe in the vicinity. Probably
he believed this story, and felt no uneasiness for the
safety of the garrison. All accounts agree that he
was taken completely by surprise. Not long after he
had heard of the presence of the Indians in the neigh-
borhood, Schlosser was visited by the chief Washash^
and a few others of the tribe, who announced that they
had come for a friendly talk with the white chief.
While he was engaged in conversation with them, a
Canadian (who lived in the little settlement founded,
under the protection of the fort, in 1712) came to him
with the startling intelligence that the stockade was
entirely surrounded with Indians, and that their man-
ner indicated impending trouble. He quickly gave
orders to his men to fall in instantly, with their arms,
and returned to the parade ground. During his brief
absence, more Indians had assembled here, and quite
a number of tho Canadians had also come in. The
latter the commandant endeavored to press into his
HISTOHV OK CASS CtHNTV. MICHIGAN.
service, but while he was talking to them, the dreadful
war-whoop was heard, and a scene of carnage quickly
ensueil. The garrison numbered only fourteen men,
and i\>uld offer no adequate resistance to the horde of
savages by which they were surrounded. Eleven men
were killed and scalped, and the remaining three,
with Schlosser, were taken prisoners, securely bound,
and afterward taken to Detroit, where they were finally
e.xchangeil for some Pottawatomies whom Maj. Glad-
wyn had captured at the commencement of the siege.
With the massacre of its garrison in 1763, the history
of Fort St. Joseph ^originally Fort Miamis) is practi-
cally closeii. There is no proof that the British again
occupieil it as a military post, although the forts at
Green Bay and Michilimackinac, which suftered the
same fate during the conspiracy of Pontiac, were sub-
sequently re-established.
The trading-post at Fort St. Joseph was, at the
time of the m.issacre, owneil by one Richard Winston.
He escaped death, as did also several others besides
the Canadians. The trading-post passed out of exist-
ence when the garrison fell, and was probably not
re-opened.*
The massacre of the garrison at Fort St. Joseph,
the only event of the Pontiac conspiracy in South-
western Michigan, was the chief exploit of the Potta-
watomie Indians. Soon af^er, they, with the Wyan-
dots, pretended to withdraw from the league which
Pontiac commanded, and suetl for peace, which was
grantetl them by Maj. Gladwyn at Detroit. In ac-
cordance with their treacherous natures, however, they
still continued inimical to the British, aided in the
attack on the force of Capt. Dalzell, which was march-
ing to the relief of Detroit, took j>art in the slaughter
at Blooiiy Run, on the last of July, and, a month
later, were among the savages who made an assault
on the schooner "Gladwyn.' In the last-mentioned
engagement they suffered severe loss, and it was prob-
ably their last fight during the siege.
The war had been a severe one for the British, but
disastrous to the plans of Pontiac. At its close, the
English endeavored to bring about such a condition of
affairs as would preclude the possibility of recurrence
of hostilities. The French settlers in the West who had
incited the Indians to war, and in some instances aided
them in carrying it on, although they had sworn
allegiance to the British crown, were treated with
much greater magnanimity than their treachery merited.
A policy of pacification toward the Indians of the
Northwest was adopted, and the friendship of most of
i*Miri<rik«r«i«
the tribes was won by their late enemy. George
Croghan, a man familiar with Indian character, was
sent to the West to confer with representatives of the
several nations. He reached Detroit August 7,1765.
The Indians were ready to accept the offers of peace,
and the propitiatory presents which the emissary of
Sir William Johnson brought to them. Parkinan
speaks particularly of a band of Pottawatomies who
were present, and whose "wise man," after hearing
Croghan"s reasoning, (intended tosoften their antipathy
to the English, and to expose the falsehoods of the
French), thus delivered himself: "We are no more
than wild creatures to you, fathers in understanding ;
therefore, we request you to forgive the past follies of
our young people, and receive us for your children.
Since you have thrown down our former father (the
French), upon his back, we have been wandering in
the dark like blind people. Now you have dispersed
all this darkness which hung over the heads of the
several tribes, and have accepted them for your
children, we hope you will let us partake with them
the light, that our women and children may enjoy
peace. We beg you to forget all that is past. By
this belt we remove all evil thoughts that are in your
hearts. Fathers, when we formerly came to visit our
fathers, the French, they alwttys sent us home joyful,
and we hope that you fathers will have pity on our
women and young men who are in great want of
necessaries, and not let us go home to our towns
ashamed."
This craven, begging speech, delivered by a chief
of the tribe which had massacred the garrison at St.
Joseph, and had an active hand in nearly all of the
atrocities of the Pontiac war, serves well to illustrate
one phase of the Indian character — a phase exhibited
in common by the Pottawatomies and all other tribes.
From the time of the British accession until 1774,
civil law had no existence in the western portion of
the great territory the French had been forced to
relinquish. Martial law was exercised, and Detroit
was the seat of the ruling power. In 1774, however,
the British Parliament passed what was known as the
" Quebec Bill. " By this act. Michigan and all of the
lands northwest of the Ohio, and between the great
lakes and the Mississippi, was made a part of Canada.
Sir Henry Hamilton was made Lieutenant Governor,
and was in command at Detroit, which was the British
headquarters for the Northwest from 1744 until 1779,
when he was captured by Gen. George Rogers Clark,
at Vincennes, on the Wabash.
One hundred years of French and British domi-
nation witnessed little progress in the condition of
the great Northwest. In 1780, it was essentially
what it had been a century b«»fore in the time of La
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
25
Salle. It was to form a magnificent portion in the
heritage of, and to be developed bv, the young, strong,
expansive nation born amidst the throes of the Revo-
lution. The period of the war from 1775 to 1783
while crowdef] with results of the most rital impor-
tance as affecting the future of this region, was not a
period rich in events within it. There was one, how-
ever, of immeasurable conse^juence. We refer to the
conquest of the countrj by Gen. George Rogers
Clark, of Kentucky, under the authority of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia. The man who was to take
so prominent a part in shaping the destiny of the
great West, was in 1774 an officer in the army of
Lord Dunmore, which marched against the Indians in
Ohio, and in 1776 was a pioneer settler in Kentucky.
He was a realization of the ideal soldier — cool, cour-
ageous and sagacious, and perhaps at that time the
most powerful and certainly the most picturesf^uc
character in the West. It was his foresight and
prompt, efficient action, which, at the close of the
Revolutionary war. made the lands between the great
lakes, the Ohio and the Mississippi, a portion of the
United States instead of leaving it in the possession
of the British. He foresaw that even should the
colonies be victorious in their war for independence,
they might be confined to the Eastern side of the
AUeghanies, unless the West was made a special field
of conquest. He failed to interest the House of
Burgesses in his scheme, but obtained from Patrick
Henry, Governor of Virginia, the authority which he
needed to carry out his plans, viz., commissions which
emjwwered him to raise seven companies of soldiers,
and to seize the British posts in the Northwest. In
January, 1778. he was at Pittsburgh securing ammuni-
tion and provisions ; in June, he was marching through
an unbroken forest, at the head of a small, but valiant
army, principally composed of his fellow pioneers
from Kentucky. His march was directed toward the
Illinois country. His able generalship and courige
soon placed the garrisons of Cahokia, Kaskaskia
and St. Vincent in his possession, and his equally
great tact enabled him to win over the French inhabit,
ants to the American cause, and make of them warm
allies. And thus the vast country afterward known
as the Northwest Territory was won. Its cession by
treaty to the United States, or rather the old confed-
eration on September 3, 1783, "was due," says an
eminent authority, "mainly to the foresight, the
courage and endurance of one man who never received
from his country an adequate recognition of his great
service."*
The treaty was formally ratified by the American
Congress on the 14th of January, 1784.
•JuiM A. GarikeU in UMoricsl mUnrn d«liTn«d tn 1873.
Notwithstanding the nature of the treaty provis-
ions, the British for a number of years retained pos-
session of several posts within the ceded territory —
Oswegatchie 'Ogdensbnrg). Oswego. Niagara, Presque
Isle (Erie). Sandusky, Detroit and Macinac. They
rebuilt an old fort on the Maumee in 1794, and did
not evacuate Detroit until July 12, 1796, when the
flag of the United States was first unfurled over the
settlement which was to become the Michigan me-
tropolis.
CHAPTER IT.
<»rTLrVE OF CrVTL mSTORT
OniinaDceof " ' Vorth-
we« Terr . rritory
Organiw ! . nend-
ing Admi-- War-
Michigan E'-nvr- iLl U;^-jr iviil_^_j .h Ucu u; ihe Mvunee
S«am|>— B«moTaJ of the Capital— Coostlititional ConreDtion o(
IKoO— Lists of Territorial and Slate GoTernois— PopulatloD from
1T:« to WeU.
\ S soon as the title to the Northwest was vested in
-^^^ the United States, Congress took measures to
clothe it with law. The first endeavor was futile. In
1794, acommittee, of which Thomas Jefferson was chair-
man, reported to Congress an ordinance for the establish-
ment and maintenance of government in the North-
west Territory. It contained an article prohibiting
slavery after the year 1800, which, however, was
stricken out before it came to its passage. The ordi-
nance remainei] practically inoperative, and the only
good that was accomplished by its passage lay in the
fact that it paved the way for a subsequent act of national
legislation. On May 20. 178.5, Congress oassed the or-
dinance providing for the survey and sale of Western
lands (which is spoken of at length in a subsequent
chapter).
It was not until the passage of the famous act known
as the ordinance of 1787 that the civil law of the
republic had anything more than a nominal existence
in the region from which the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin have 1 een formed.
Even in a work which gives the history of only a small
fragment of the great territory covered by the ordi-
nance of 1787, we deem it appropriate to say a few
words concerning that great instrument. It was the
foundation upon which five splendid commonwealths
were to be built up. the fundamental law, the consti-
tution of the Northwest Territory, and a sacred com-
pact between the old colonies and the yet uncreated
Stat*^ to come into being under its benign influence.
It forever proscribed slavery upon the soil of the ter-
ritory it organized, and it is undoubtedly true that to
this ordinance the people of the nation owe thanks for
the final complete suppression of the " peculiar insti-
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tution " within its borders, for it is probable that had
the system been allowed a foothold north of the Ohio,
it would have grown to such proportions as to have
successfully resisted all measures for its overthrow.
But when the ordinance is considered simply as an
act of legislation providing for the opening, develop-
ment and government of the Territory, its value is not
less apparent or admirable. It provided for succes-
sive forms of Territorial government, and upon it were
based all the Territorial enactments and much of the
subsequent State legislation. It was so constructed
as to give the utmost encouragement to immigration,
and it offered the greatest protection to those who be-
came settlers, for "when they came into the wil-
derness, they found the law already there. It was im-
pressed upon the soil while as yet it upbore nothing
but the forest. Never, probably, in the history of the
world, did a measure of legislation so accurately ful-
fill and yet so mightly exceed the anticipation of the
legislators."*
The authorship of the important clauses of the
ordinance and the causes which really led to its for-
mation, have, until very recently, been misunderstood.
The authorship has been commonly ascribed to Nathan
Dane, Congressman from Massachusetts, and some-
times accredited to Hufus King of the same State,
and to Thomas Jeiferson. And yet nothing is clearer
than that the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, the pastor of a
Congregational Church, at Ipswich (now Hamilton),
Mass., and agent of the Ohio company, was the
true author, at least of the great ideas embodied
in the ordinance. As agent of the New England
Ohio Company, he went before Congress to purchase
an immense tract of land upon the Ohio River, that
within which Gen. Rufus Putnam and other Revolu-
tionary characters in the year 1788, made the first
permanent English settlement in the whole Northwest
Territory. The ordinance represented and embodied
the advanced thought of New England — of Massachu-
setts — and yet this act, embracing a clause prohibit-
ing slavery was passed by the votes of Southern mem-
bers of Congress. There were two inducements
which operated strongly on the minds of the legisla-
tors, influencing them to grant Dr. Cutler's applica-
tion for the purchase of a part of the public domain.
The first was the urgent need of an increase in the
public revenue. The second was the apparent need
of planting a strong colony of patriotic men in the
West to bind it to the east, for it must be remembered
that about that time it was seriously apprehended that
Kentucky would embrace the first opportunity to
separate from the Confederacy and join her fortunes
with Spain.
« Chief Justice Salmon 1>. Cbasc.
The situation of affairs not only made it possible to
secure the purchase for the Ohio Company, practically
at his own terms, but to so mold the organic law of
the Territory in which the lands were situated, as to
make that purchase desirable. It is only when the
Ohio Company's purchase and the ordinance of 1787
are considered in connection with each other, that the
latter can be properly understood.*
The settlement of Marietta was made upon the 7th
of April, 1788. The Governor, Gen. Arthur St.
Clair arrived there in July of that year, and during
the same month the first territorial government in the
United States was formally established.
Michigan, as an integral part of the Northwest Ter-
ritory, was under this government until the year 1800.
Wayne County erected upon the 18th of August,
1796, by Winthrop Sargent, included the whole of
the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, with portions of
Ohio and Indiana. It was entitled to three members
in the Territorial Legislature, which met in Chilli-
cothe (Ohio).
Indiana Territory was erected by an act of Con-
gress passed on the 7th of May, l-sOO. It consisted
of that part of the Northwest Territory lying west of
a line drawn from the Ohio, opposite the Kentucky
River, to Fort Recovery, and thence due north to the
line dividing the LTnited States from the British pos-
session. This line divided the Lower Peninsula
almost exactly in the center, crossing the Straits of
Mackinac and meeting the international line above
the Sault Ste. Marie. Cass County, being west of this
line, was in Indiana Territory, of which William
Henry Harrison was appointed Governor. Ohio
being organized as a State upon the 29th of Novem-
ber, all of that part of Michigan, which lay east of
the boundary line between the two Territories and which
had remained in the Northwest Territory was added
to Indiana Territory. The capital was fixed at Vin-
cennes.
The Territory of Michigan was erected by act of
Congress passed on the 11th of January, 1805,
which, however, did not take effect until June 30 of
the same year. On the 26th of February, the Presi-
dent nominated the Territorial officers who were en-
dowed with legislative power. Gen. William Hull
was nominated for Governor and Hon. A. B. Wood-
ward for the office of Presiding Judge. Both
were confirmed, and the officers proceeded to Detroit,
the capital, Judge Woodward arriving there on the
29th of June, and Gov. Hull upon the Ist of
•Williitm F. Pool« (Librarian of llie Cliicago Public Library), In an admir-
aMe article In the Wortt Amtrieitm Htvieie, for April, 1878, on the ordinance and
Dr. CutlerV ajsency in ita formation, says: "The ordinance of 1787 and the
Ohio purcliuse »er« parts of one and the same transaction The purchase
teould not have been uuide without tlje ordinance, and the ordinance could no/
have been except as an essential condition of (he purchase.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
27
July. Upon the 2d, the Territorial government went
into active operation. Its jurisdiction originally in-
cluded only the Lower Peninsula, but when Illinois
was made a State in 1818, the. region now known as
Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula were added to
Michigan Territory, and in 1834 the far-away lands
of Iowa and Minnesota were attached temporarily.
The war of 1812 was the most important event
which occurred during the existence of the Territorial
government. It is beyond our province to speak of
that struggle in this chapter, and we only allude to
it for the sake of making the observation that it
brought about indirectly one great good for Michigan
— the appointment of Gen. Lewis Cass as Governor.
The oflSce was given to him upon the 13th of October,
1813, and he held it until 1831. His administra-
tion was an able one and he did much to promote the
prosperity of the Territory by various wise measures.
In 1819, Michigan was authorized to send a dele-
gate to represent her people in Congress. The first
delegate chosen was William Woodbridge. In 1823, a
Legislative Council, consisting of nine members was
appointed by the President of the United States, and
two years later the number was increased to thirteen.
This was a change which completely revolutionized
the Territorial government, as it removed the legis-
lative power from the Judges.
The period from 1820 to 1830 was one of great im-
provement in Michigan. The introduction of steam
navigation (1818) and the placing of lands in the
market had stimulated emigration. The white popu-
lation of the Territory which, in 1820, was less than
9,000 souls, had, by 1830, been increased to over
31,000. The advance in legislation and method of
government kept apace with that of material improve-
ment. A judiciary system was established and
militia organized. In 1827, the elective system was
resorted to for the choice of a body of as many mem-
bers as the Legislative Council contained, to act in
union with that assemblage.
In July, 1831, Gen. Cass resigned his office to
take a seat in the cabinet of President Jackson, and
Gen. George B. Porter, of Pennsylvania, was ap-
pointed Governor in his place, entering upon the dis-
charge of the duties of his office in September.
As early as 1830, it had become apparent that
Michigan must soon pass from the Territorial to the
State form of government. The ordinance of 1787
made provision for the erection of not less than three
nor more than five States from the Northwest Terri-
tory. Three had been formed prior to 1818, viz.,
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Michigan was entitled
to knock at the door of the Union for admittance as a
State whenever her free white population should num-
ber 60,000. On the 29th of June, 1832, a statute
was passed to call an election on the first Tuesday of
October to determine whether it be expedient for the
people of this territory to form a State government.
" The result of tiie election," says Judge Campbell
(in his Outlines of the Political History of Michigan)
" was a very decisive expression in favor of the
change." This was the first action taken tending
toward the establishment of the State, and it does not
appear that there was any other until 1834. In that
year, the Territory contained a population of 87,273, as
was shown by a census taken by order of the Legisla-
tive Council. The increase over the population of
1830 was 61,768. " More people had come into
Michigan in four years than the 60,000 which entitled
her to become a State,"* and this did not include any
part of the emigration into that portion of the territory
west of Lake Michigan (Wisconsin). At its session of
January, 1835, the council passed an act authorizing
the holding of a convention at Detroit on the second
Monday of May following, for the purpose of forming
a State Constitution. This convention composed of
eighty-nine delegates met upon the day specified and
continued in session until June 24. A constitution
was formed which was submitted to the people upon
the first Monday in October, at which time also a full
set of State officers, members of the Legislature and a
representative to Congress were elected. The consti-
tution was ratified, Stevens T. Mison was elected
Governor ; Edward Munday, Lieutenant Governor,
and Isaac E. Crary, Representative.
Michigan had now two governments, State and Ter-
ritorial ; Gov. Mason at the head of the former,
which still lacked the recognition of Congress and
Secretary (Acting Governor) John S. Horner, who
had been appointed just prior to the election, holding
his place at the head of the Territorial Government.
The heated controversy in regard to the Southern
or Ohio boundary line, which has gone into history
under the sanguinary title of "the Toledo war"
delayed the admission of Michigan into the Union.
This was a contest between Michigan and Ohio, in
regard to the possession of a strip of land extending
from the Indiana line eastward to the mouth of the
Maumee River, embracing the site of Toledo. It was
almost five miles wide at the west end, and eight at its
eastern extremity. The land belonged in equity to
Michigan, the line which her people claimed being
that established by the ordinance of 1787. Action
had been taken at various times by the State of Ohio,
the Territorial authorities of Michigan and the Con-
gress of the United States, looking toward a settle-
ment of the rival claims, but nothing definite had
•James V. CanipbeU's History of Michigan.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
been accomplished. On the 23d of February, 1835,
the Ohio Legislature passed a resolution declaring the
disputed strip to be the property of Ohio, and pro-
viding for the re-survey of the line and the marking of
the strip into townships. Michigan had, at this time,
held possession of the Territory for thirty years, sue- 1
cessfully opposing attempts to collect taxes under
Ohiolaws,andtheLegislativeCouncil!ipprehendingtlie j
action of the Ohio Legislature passed an act on the 12th
of February, prohibiting any person or persons from
exercising official functions in the Territory of Michi- i
gan, except upon authority derived from the Territorial
Government, or from the United States. The people
of the tract in dispute were divided in allegiance 1
between the contesting authorities, some taking sides
with Michigan and some with Ohio. On the 9th of
March, Gov. Mason ordered Gen. Joseph W. Brown,
in command of the Third Division of Michigan Militia?
to be ready to repel any invasion of the Territory.
Gov. Lucas, of Ohio, with a party of surveyors and I
about six hundred militia, approached the boundary
line about the last of the month. Simultaneously, or
nearly so, Gov. Mason marched into Toledo with a
force of from eight hundred to twelve hundred men.
Gov. Lucas made ready to attack the Michigan army,
and serious bloodshed was probably only avoided by
the intervention of two Commissioners, sent from
Washington to settle the dispute. A truce was patched
up, but after a few weeks, Gov. Lucas' surveyors
beginning their work, were again attacked and put to
flight. The onslaught was a bloodless one. Nine |
Ohioans were taken prisoners. In Ohio a special |
session of the Legislature was called to take action
upon this insult. It met on the 8th of June, passed
an act to prevent the forcible abduction of Ohio citi- j
zens ; one to establish the country of Lucas in the
disputed territory, with Toledo as its seat of justice ;
another to hold a session of the Circuit Court there on
the 7th of September following, and made an appro-
priation of $300,000 for carrying on the war. Ten
thousand volunteers were raised in short order.
Matters were becoming serious. President Jackson
advised that the quasi agreement made by the Gov-
ernors before the Commissioners be observed, and
that the parties abstain from pressing their claims
until Congress could meet. Meanwhile the 7th of
September approached, and to prevent the holding of
the proposed court at Toledo, Gen. Brown repaired to
the vicinity with a force of militia, estimated at over
twelve hundred. It is said that the court was organ-
ized in the night in spite of the watchfulness of the
soldiery. However that may have been. Gen. Brown's
force was soon after disbanded. In the meantime,
numerous arrests had been made, a number of people
imprisoned, some small hostilities engaged in (personal
encounters) and a furious indignation aroused.
Such was the condition of things (although actual
hostilities had ceased) when on June 15, 1836, Con-
gress accepted the Constitution of Michigan, and
passed an act, admitting her as a State on condition
that she accede to the boundary claims of Ohio. In
September, a convention of regularly elected delegates
was held at Ann Arbor, to act upon the proposition of
Congress and rejected it. On the 14th of December,
another convention was held, which was made up
entirely of delegates known to be in favor of accept-
ing theproposition. This gathering was known from
the cold nature of the weather at the time it was held,
and from the illegality of its action, as the "Frost-
Bitten Convention." The convention voted unani-
mously, and with much alacrity to accept the condi-
tions imposed by Congress, and that body acting upon
the acceptance formally admitted Michigan as a State
upon the 26th of January, 1837- The principal
irregularity in the convention lay in the fact that it
was not called by the Legislature. Its members and
those who had favored it were, for several years, deri-
sively dubbed "submissionists." Theirsubmission was,
however, an act of great value to Michigan. As an
inducement to Michigan to forego claim to the long-
disputed strip of land along the southern border, she
was given the Upper Peninsula, which has proven a
domain of far greater value.
"The State," says Judge Campbell, "was recog-
nized when admitted as having existed as such since
November, 1835, when the Senators and Repre-
sentatives, Governor and Legislature, came into
office."
The admission of Michigan into the Union, was
further complicated by being connected with the
admission of Arkansas. The measure was thus made
one of political character.
The seat of government, by act of the Legislature
approved March 16, 1847, was removed from Detroit
to Lansing.
The new constitution — the one now in force — was
adopted by a convention which met at Lansing June
3, 1850, and ratified by the people at the November
election following.
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT OF MICHIGAN.
Following are the names of the Chief Executives,
who have governed Michigan as a part of the North-
west Territory, Indiana Territory, Michigan Terri-
tory, and as a State :
Northwest Territory— Gen. Arthur St. Clair —
1787-1800. Winthrop Sargent (Secretary and Act-
ing Governor), 1796-1800.
i
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
29
Indiana Territory — Gen. William Henry Harrison
1800 to 1805.
Michigan Territory — Gen. William Hull from
March 1, 1805, to August 16, 1812. Gen. Lewis
Cass from October 13, 1813, to August 1, 1831.
(During his administration, William Woodbridge, the
Secretary, was Acting Governor at several periods.)
James Witherell, Secretary and Acting Governor
from January 1, 1830, to April 2, 1830. Gen. John
T. Mason, Secretary and Acting Governor from Sep-
tember 24, 1830, to October 4, 1830, and from April
4 to May 27, 1831. Stevens Thomson Mason,
Secretary and Acting Governor from August 1,
1831, to September 17, 1831. Gen. George B.
Porter, Governor from August 6, lfe31, to death,
July 6, 1834. Stevens Thomson Mason, Secretary
and Acting Governor at various periods from
October 30, 1831, to February 7, 1834. Stevens
Thomson Mason, exofficio Governor as Secretary
of the Territory, July 6, 1834, to August 29,
1835. Charles Shaler was appointed to succeed
Mason as Secretary August 29, 1835, but declined.
John S. Horner, Secretary and Acting Governor,
September 8, 1835, until after organization of State
government.
State Governors under Constitution of 1835 —
Stevens T. Mason, November 3, 1835, to April 13,
1838. Edward Mundy (Lieutenant Governor and
Acting Governor), April 13 to June 12, 1838, and
September 19 to December 9, 1838. William Wood-
bridge, January 7, 1840, to February 23, 1841. James
Wiight Gordon (Lieutenant Governor and Acting
Governor), February 24, 1841, to January 3, 1842.
John S. Barry, Governor, January 3, 1842, to Jan-
uary 5, 1846. Alpheus Felch, January 5, 1846, to
March 3, 1847. William L. Greenley (Lieutenant
Governor and Acting Governor), March 4, 1847, to
January 3, 1848. Epaphroditus Ransom, Governor,
January 3, 1848, to January 7, 1850. John S.
Barry, Governor, January 7, 1850, to January 1,
1852.
Under the Constitution of 1850— Robert McClel-
land, January 1, 1852, to January 5, 1853. Andrew
Parsons (Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor),
March 8, 1853, to January 3, 1855. Kinsley S.
Bingham, January 3, 1855, to January 5, 1859.
Moses Wisner, January 5, 1859, to January 2, 1861.
Austin Blair, January 2, 1861, to January 4, 1865.
Henry H. Crapo, January 4, 1865, to January 6,
1869. Henry P. Baldwin, January 6, 1869, to Jan-
uary 1, 1873. John J. Bagley, January 1, 1873, to
January 3, 1877. Charles M. Crosswell, January 3,
1877, to January 1, 1879. David H. Jerome, Jan-
uary 1, 1881, to .
POPULATION.
The population of Michigan (white) at various pe-
riods from 1796 to 1880, has been as follows :
1796 (cstiinateJ) 3,000
1800 3,200
1810 4,762
1820 8,896
1830 31.6.S9
1834 87,273
1840 212,267
1850 397,6 4
1854 (Sittte census) 507.621
1860 (United Stales census) 749,113
1864 (State census) 803,661
1870 (United States census) 1,184,282
1874 (Slate census) 1,334,031
1880 (United States census) 1,636,885
ClIAPTEE V.
LAND TITLE AND SURVEY.
Ownersliip of the Northwest— The Claims of France and EnRland—
Of States— Their Cession to the United States-System of Survey
Introduced in ITSii- Its Benefits- Modifications for Michigan-
Survey of Cass County Lands— Land Sales at White Pigeon—
I'nfavorable Report on Michigan Lands— School Lands— Indian
Title Extinguished— The Treaty of Chicago in 1821— Other Nego-
tiations.
FRANCE, as we have seen, was the first civilized
nation that laid claim to the soil of the territory
now included within the boundaries of the State of
Michigan, as an integral portion of the great Northwest
and the Mississippi Valley. Her claim was based
upon the discoveries of La Salle and Marquette, and
upon the provisions, subsequently, of several European
treaties. The English claims rested on the priority
of their occupation of the Atlantic coast in latitude
corresponding to the territory claimed, upon an oppo-
site construction of the treaties upon which the French
relied and upon alleged cession of the rights of the
Indians. The last was the principal ground of their
claim. As has been heretofore shown in this volume,
France successfully resisted the claims of England,
and maintained control of the territory between the
Ohio, the Mississippi and the lakes, by force of arms,
until the treaty of Paris was consummated in 1763.
By the provisions of this treaty. Great Britain came
into possession of the disputed lands, and retained it
until the ownership was vested in the United States
and confirmed by the treaty of 1783.
All of England's charters to the colonies 'expressly
extended their grants from sea tq sea. From the na-
ture of these charters, arose grave trouble when the
American confederation was formed. The conflicting
claims of States, or more properly colonies, threatened
even to disrupt the infant nation. Happily, however,
they were ceded within a few years, and all rights and
titles were consolidated and vested in the Genenil Gov-
ernment. New York State, which had a charter ob-
tained from Charles II in March, 1664, embracing
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
territory west of her borders (which had formerly been
granted to Massachusetts and Connecticut) made ces-
sion of her claim in 1781. Virginia, with a far more
valid title, followed in 1784, making, however, a large
reservation (in Ohio). Massachusetts ceded her claims,
without reservation, the same year, and Connecticut
gave up to Congress all her "right, title, interest, jur-
isdiction and claim to the lands northwest of the Ohio,
excepting the Connecticut Western Reserve (about
3,300,000 acres of land in Northeastern Ohio) in the
year 1786.
METHOD OF SURVEY.
Even before the last of the.'.e measures had been
consummated, Congress began the consideration of
two very important matters — the extinguishment of
the Indian title to the soil of the Territory Northwest
of the Ohio River, and a plan for surveying it, prepar-
atory to sale and settlement of the lands. Passing,
for the present, the former subject, we devote a small
space to the consideration of the system of the gov-
ernment survey.
The provision under which the lands of the North-
west Territory were surveyed into uniform sections
and townships was contained in an ordinance passed
by Congress May 20, 1785. Time has demonstrated
the wisdom of its measures. They were undoubtedly
first suggested by Gen. Rufus Putnam, in a letter ad-
dressed to George Washington, in June, 1783, and
modified in a small degree by William Henry Harri-
son when he was the Representative of the North-
west Territory in Congress in 1800, but in all essen-
tial particulars the plan of survey prescribed by the
ordinance of 1785 has remained unchanged down to
the present time. The ordinance provided that "the
surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall pro-
ceed to divide the said Territory into townships of six
miles square, by lines running due north and south
and others crossing these at right angles as near as
may be." * * * " The geographer shall desig-
nate the townships or fractional parts of townships by
numbers, progressively from south to north, always
beginning each range with number one ; and the
ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive
numbers to the westward, the first range, extending
from the Ohio to Lake Erie, being marked one. The
plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked
by subdivisions into Ibts of one mile square, or 640
acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and
numbered from one to thirty-six, always beginning
the succeeding range of the lots with the number next
to that with which the preceding one concluded."
The division of the land into townships of fixed
size paved the way for the introduction of the admira-
ble New England system of town or township organ-
ization, of which political economists have had much
to say. In nearly all of the Southern States the
county is the unit of political organization, the
township being scarcely known. Many writers have
regarded the systems in vogue in the North and the
South as in a large measure affecting the condition of
the two sections as regards their general advancement
and civilization.
But considered in relation to its more immediate ef-
fects, the system of survey and township division
which has prevailed in the Northwest Territory has
been one of almost incalculable good. Daniel Wester,
speaking in the Senate of the United States in 1830,
upon the two methods of disposing of the public do-
main — the Northern and the Southern — said that the
latter — that of warrants and patents— "was one
which had shingled over the country in which it had
been applied with conflicting titles and claims,
causing the two great evils in a new country of spec-
ulation and litigation." " From the system actually
established" (in the North) said he, "these evils are
banished. * * * I^ effecting this great system,
* * * New England acted with vigor and effect,
and the latest posterity of those who settled northwest
of the Ohio will have reason to remember with grat-
itude her patriotism and her wisdom. New England
gave the system to the West, and while it remains,
there will be spread all over the West one monument
of her intelligence in matters of government and her
practical good sense."
The first surveying under the new ordinance was
done in 1786, in what was known as the "seven
ranges " in Eastern Ohio. The first land surveys in
Michigan were made in 1816, in the vicinity of the
Detroit River.
In the survey of the public lands of Michigan,
there was a departure from some of the minor and
unimportant provisions of the ordinance of 1785. A
base line and principal meridian were established, and
the townships numbered north and south from the
former, while the ranges were numbered east and
west from the latter. The Michigan meridian was
the first one located in the United States public lands,
and is called " the First Principal Meridian." It
passes through the State (of course, in an axact north
north and south direction), from a point where the
boundaries of Ohio and of Hillsdale and Lenawee
Counties meet, to a point in Cheboygan County,
nearly south of Bois Blanc Island. The base line
crosses the State from east to west, and forms the
northern boundaries of the Counties of Wayne,
Washtenaw, Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van
Buren.
In the survey of the Territory, three lines were
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
31
run parallel with the base line, called "auxiliary " or
" correction lines." They are about sixty miles
apart and all north of the base line. Another pre-
caution taken against errors was the establishment of
" Guide Meridians," surveyed at convenient distances
— usually forty-eight miles apart.
The lands of Cass County — Townships 5, 6, 7 and
8, south of the base line, in Ranges 13, 14, 15 and
Ifi west of the Principal Meridian — were surveyed in
the years 1826 to 1830. Most of the boundary lines
(township and range divisions), were surveyed by
William Brookfield in 1827, and it is probable that
he was responsible for the work done in all. The
County Surveyor's book indicates, however, that the
boundaries of Township 8 south. Range 13 west,
were run by Robert Clark, Jr. The earliest date
reported as that of the survey of any of the lands of
Cass County is December, 1826. William Brookfield
certifies that he finished running the boundaries of
Township 7 south, Range 13 west, at that time. In
the following year his company consisted of Orlean
Putnam and Chester Ball, chainmen ; Nathan
Young (after whom Young's Prairie was named), ax-
man ; a packer, named Joel Wellman ; and Emory
Stewart, who served in the capacity of cook. In
1828, Orlean Putnam's brother, Benjamin, took the
place of Ball as chainman, a man named Bartlett was
ax-man, and one George Claypole, cook. Of this
company of surveyors, Orlean Putnam, of La Grange
Township, is believed to be the only one still living.
Brookfield died in Texas. Besides the surveyors
mentioned, there were engaged in running the sub-
divisions (section lines) in Cass County and adjoining-
lands, John Mullett and Calvin Britain.
LAND SALES.
In 1818, there was brought into market the first
public lands sold under United States governmental
provision in Michigan.* A land office had been es-
tablished in Detroit in 1801, and a few titles given,
which, although they may not have been strictly legal,
were ccnfirmed by subsequent acts of Congress.
The lands sold in 1818 were all in the vicinity of
Detroit. In 1823, the Detroit Land District was
divided, and a land office established at Monroe, at
which all entries of lands west of the principal merid-
ian were made up to 1831. All lands were at first
offered at public sale, and, after the bids were all in,
the office was closed while they were being examined,
causing a delay which greatly annoyed those i)ur-
chasers who were or intended to become settlers. The
*The earliest legal conveyance of land in Micliigati was in tlie time of tlie
French ocrnpnllon, in llie year 1707, l>y Antoine do la Motte Cadllac, Ihe
French conimamJant, to Francis Falf-irde Delorme. In tlie American State
paper«(Public Lands), it is stated that but eight legal titles to lands In Michigan
were given during the French and English cccnpatlon.
plan was considered ailvantageous to the speculators,
and on account of that fact and some others the sys-
tem of public sales was finally abolished.
In 1831, a land office was opened at White Pigeon
(St. Joseph County), for the entry of lands west of
the principal meridian, and in 1834 it was removed
to Kalamazoo (then called Bronson), where it was con-
tinued until about 1858. Another office was estab-
lished at Ionia, in 1838. The sales, while the office
, was at White Pigeon, were comparatively small. At
Kalamazoo they were extensive, and reached the max.
imum in 1836, when upward of $2,000,000 was re-
ceived there. The amount of lands disposed of from
1831 to January, 1838, are shown in the subjoined
table :
EARS.
1882.,
179.93
Amt. Kec'd.
117,12« 26
'.18,060 23
1833 9.5.980.25 123,466 25
1834 128,244.47 160,321 85
18.55 745,661.34 932,076 64
1836 1,634,511.82 2,048,866 87
1837 313,855.15 394,316 77
The total amount of moneys received in the Kala-
mazoo Land District from 1831 to 1858, was about
$4,375,000, of which all but about $400,000 was re-
ceived while the office was in Kalamazoo Village. The
area of the district was 118 townships, which would
have included, had all been full Congressional town-
ships, 4,248 square miles, or 2,718,720 acres. The
fractional townships along the Indiana line somewhat
reduces these estimates. The entire counties of Cass,
Berrien, St. Joseph, Branch, Calhoun, Kalamazoo
and Van Buren, and all of the counties of Barry and
Allegan, except the northern tier of townships in each,
were included in this district. The Registers of the
Kalamazoo Land Office were Maj. Abraham Edwards,
from 1831 to 1849 ; T. S. At Lee, from 1849 to 1857,
and Volney Ilascall in the years 1857 and 1858.
When the lands were first offered for sale in 1818,
the price per acre was fixed at $2, one-fourth of which
was required to be paid down, and the remainder in
' three annual payments. The lands bought were sub-
ject to forfeiture if the payments were not met. The
I Government, however, did not choose to take the im-
I provements of those settlers who were delinquent,
and finally, about 1832, the credit system was abol-
ished, and the price reduced to $1.25 per acre.
An unfavorable report made upon Michigan lands
by a military board of survey, had a marked effect in
retarding the settlement of the Territory. An act of
Congress of May 6, 1812, authorized the survey of
two million acres of land in Michigan (and the same
1 amount in each of the Territories of Louisiana
and Illinois), to be set apart for the payment of
the bounty_ awards of the Revolutionary soliiiers.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The surveyors reported, after an examination of
the eastern part of the State, that there were no
lands there fit for cultivation, and that the character
of the country appeared to grow worse toward
the interior of the State. Congress assuming the re-
port to be substantially correct, in April, 1816, passed
an act repealing so much of the law of 1812 as per-
tained to Michigan and ordering the location of a simi-
lar quantity of lands in Missouri and Arkansas. The
report and the consequent action of Congress deterred
many people from seeking homes in the Territory, and
it was not until after 1830 that the bad reputation of
Michigan lands was removed by the representations
of actual settlers and the tide of emigration which had
been flowing to the farther West was turned. The
report was not, however, without its good efifect.
Had it been favorable to the location of the soldiers'
lands, the Territory would doubtless have been over-
run with speculators and "land sharks," who would
have bought up many of the warrants, and in that
event great tracts of lands would have been held by
non-residents.
Cass is one of the seven counties in the. State in
which there are no public lands for sale, the others
being Hillsdale, Lenawee, Macomb, Shiawassee, AYash-
tenaw and Wayne. This argues well for the quality
of Cass County lands.
SCHOOL LANDS.
The ordinance of 1785. for the survey of the terri-
tory of the United States, northwest of the River
Ohio, provided that Section 16 of every township should
be reserved for school purposes. One of the clauses
in the famous ordinance of 1787 declared that
" schools and the means of education shall ever be
encouraged." The legislators of the old States laid
well the foundations of the new. An act passed in
1804 providing for the sale of the lands in the Indiana
Territory, from which was afterward carved the States
of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, reiter-
ated the principles laid down in former instruments,
and expressly reserved the school sections from sale,
and the action taken by the Territory of Michigan,
when it was formed in 1805, was confirmatory.
When the State government was formed in 1835, it
was provided that Section 16 should be granted to the
State for the use of schools. It had originally been
designed to give each township the section within its
own limits, but as it frequently was the case that the
section was entirely worthless that plan would, had
it been carried out, have resulted in an unjust distri-
bution of benefit, which could only have been recti-
fied through an immense deal of trouble by making
grants in lieu, and it is doubtful indeed whether such
proceeding could be resorted to._ As it is, all of the
schools of the State have shared alike in the school
fund. The number of acres, of school land in the
State is not far from 1,000,000, of which over one-
half has been sold. The fund derived from the sale
is upward of $2,500,000, and, when all the lands
are sold, it will probably reach §5,000,000.
INDIAN TREATIES.
We have intentionally left for the conclusion of this
brief chapter a review of those measures by which the
Indian title to the soil was extinguished, although some
of them belong chronologically to a period earlier than
topics already treated of
The National Congress, for a few years, acted upon
the policy that the treaty of peace with Great Britain
in 1783, had invested the United States with the fee
simple of all the Indian lands ; but, about 1787, tlie
Government came to regard the Indians as possessing
a proprietary right in the soil, and all of its treaties
with them subsequently were treaties of purchase, or
treaties confirmatory of purchase. The various tribes
were, of course, frequently forced to accept terms
which they bitterly repented. Especially was this
the case, when they came to realize how fast they
were being dispossessed of their old domain, and pushed
toward the far West by the provisions of the treaties
which they had signed.
The first treaty which bore directly upon the abro-
gation of aboriginal title to the soil, now included in
the bounds of Michigan, was that which was concluded
at Greenville, Ohio, on the 3d of August, 1795, in
which the United States was represented by Gen,
Anthony Wayne. Among the many Indian tribes,
whose chiefs and head men were present and signed this
treaty, were the Pottawatomies, Ottawas and Chip-
pewas, who had their homes in Michigan. They were
the tribes chiefly affected by the cession to the Govern-
ment of a strip of land six miles wide, extending along
the west bank of the Detroit River, from the River
Raisin to Lake St. Clair, including, of course, the
military post at Detroit. Appended to this treaty
was the name of Thu-pe-ne-ba (Tofinab6), head chief
of the Pottawatomies.
At the treaty of Detroit, negotiated in November,
1807, by Gov. William Hull, the Pottawatomie, Chip-
pewa, Ottawa and Wyandot tribes ceded to the United
States their claim to a region which may be best
described as including the whole southeastern part of
Michigan, all east of the line on which the principal
meridian was afterward established, and south of the
present center of Shiawassee County.
Instead of enforcing the forfeiture of their lands,
of which it was considered the Pottawatomies, Ottawas
HISTOHV OF CASS COrXTY. MICHKiAN.
and Chippewas were deserving, because of their alliance
with the British during the war of 1812, the Govern-
ment adopted a friendly and conciliatory policy toward
them. At the treaty of Springwells (near Detroit),
negotiated by Gen. William Henry Harrison, Gen.'
Duncan McArthur and John Graham, Esq., all of the
possessions, rights and privileges which these tribes
enjoyed before the war, were restored to them.
An immense tract of Michigan territory was ceded
to the United States at the treaty of Saginaw, con-
cluded September 24, 1819. This treaty was brought
about through the instrumentality of Gov. Cass,
ex officio Indian Commissioner. The ceded land was
a tract which extended from the boundary line of 1807
as far westward as the center of Kalamazoo County,
and northward to Thunder Bay River. The cession
was made by the Chippewas and Ottawas, the Potta-
watomies making no claim to the territory.
The Chicago treaty of 1821 was the one at which
the lands now contained in Cass County were ceded.
It was negotiated upon the 29th of August, at Fort
Dearborn, by Gov. Cass and Solomon Sibley, with the
Pottawatomies, Chippewas and Ottawas, the first
named being the tribe principally interested, and the
others signing the instrument as auxiliaries or friends.
The boundary line of the ceded territory was described
as follows :
" Beginning at the south bank of the St. Joseph
River of Michigan, near Pare aiix Vaches (the cow
pasture), thence south to a line running due east from
the southern extremity of Lake Michigan ; thence
along that line to the tract ceded by the treaty of
Fort Meigs, in 1817, or if that tract should be found
to lie entirely south of the line, then to the tract ceded
by the treaty of Detroit in 1807 ; thence northward
along that tract to a point due east of the source of
Grand River; thence west to the source of that river;
thence down that river on the north bank to its
junction with Lake Michigan ; thence southward along
the east bank of the lake to the St. Joseph River ;
and thence up that river to the place of beginning.'
This tract contained nearly eight thousand square
miles, and embraced the whole of the counties of Cass,
St. Joseph, Branch, Hillsdale, Callioun, Kalamazoo,
Van Buren, Allegan, Barry and Eaton, large portions
of Berrien and Ottawa, and parts of Kent, Ionia,
Jackson and Ingham. From these lands, five small
tracts were reserved. At least three-fourths of the
tract belonged to the Pottawatomies, and the United
States, in consideration of their cession, agreed to
pay the tribe yearly, for twenty years, the sum of
^5,000 in specie, and to make for them an annual
appropriation of $1,000 for fifteen years, for the sup-
port of a blacksmith and a teacher.
Upon the 19th of September, 1827, a treaty was
held at the Carey Mission, by Gov. Cass, the object
of which was to gain the cession of a number of small
Indian reservations " in order to consolidate some of the
dispersed lands of the Pottawatomie tribe in the Ter-
ritory of Michigan, at a point removed from the road
leading from Detroit to Chicago, and as far as prac-
ticable from the settlements of the whites."
A second treaty was held at Carey Mission by Cass
and Pierre Menard on the 20th of September, 1828,
at which the chiefs and head men of the Pottawatomies
ceded all of their remaining lands in Michigan (they
had already been confined to the region west of the
St. Joseph), except a tract estimated to contain forty-
nine square miles, upon which their principal villages
were situated. This unceded tract extended from the
St. Joseph River, opposite Niles, to the South line of
Berrien County.
Five years later, this last foothold of the tribe, in
Michigan, was signed away, and the chiefs of the St.
Joseph band of the Pottawatomies agreed that they
and their people would remove from the country in
1836. This, the last cession of Indian title to the
soil of Southwestern Michigan, was made at the
second treaty of Chicago, signed September 26, 1833,
and negotiated on the part of the government by
George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen and William
Weatherford.
i>ii Country
' Massacre
lue Dance
CHAPTER YI.
THE POTTAWATOMIE INDIANS.
They Succeed the Mlauiis in the Occupation of the St. .Ii»
—Hostilities in which tliey were EnK:iui ^1 Ih. i '.,■■■ ■
—Customs of the I'ottawiitomies— A l"r : .1 i' ■ M
Deserihedby the Rev. IsaacMcCoy— !'.( 1 1 i -i saugana's
Dream- Modes of Burial— Keligious ( . r ir> i i.iences that
Cannibalism was Practiced by the I'ottawatoinies and Other
Tribes— Deplorable Effects of .\rdent Spirits- Seasons of Extreme
Destitution.
AS has been shown in a previous chapter, the
Miamis were the occupants of the St. Joseph
country when it was first penetrated by white men —
by the French explorers and missionaries in the
seventeenth century. They were succeeded by the
Pottawatomies, who remained in possession until
crowded out by the irresistible stream of emigration.
The time when they entered this region is nQt
definitely known, but it was probably very early in
the eighteenth century, and as they were not removed
until 1840, their residence here extended through a
period of more than a century and a quarter.
The Pottawatomies were a fragment of the great
Algonquin' subdivision of the Indian race, wliich
included nearly all of the Northwestern tribes. They
were cousins-german of the Ottawas and the Ojibwfvys
34
HISTOHV (IK CASS COUNTY. MICHIOrAN.
(more commonly known as the Chippewas), and were
leagued with them for a long period in a confedera-
tion.
The earliest authentic information which the whites
received concerning this tribe was given by the French
Catholic missionaries, Charles Raymbault and Isaac
Jouges, who found many of its members as well as
the Ojibways in the country around the Sault Ste.
Marie. The seat of their greatest population at this
time, however, was doubtless in the vicinity of Green
Bay, and upon the islands at its opening into Lake
Michigan. The tribe was certainly settled on Green
Bay and the northwest shore of Lake Michigan in
1669, when the mission of St. Francis Xavier was
founded by Dablon and Allouez. At the great coun-
cil, held at the Sault Ste. Marie in 1671, when all of
the Indians of the Northwest were formally declared
under the protection of France, the Pottawatomies
were represented by a very large delegation. They
welcomed Marquette and Joliet when they were striv-
ing to reach the Mississippi in 1673; many of them
accompanied the former to the country of the Illinois in
the succeeding year, and they greeted La Salle in 1679,
when his unfortunate little vessel, the Griffin, sailed
into Green Bay. They were the steadfast friends not
only of La Salle, but of Hennepin, Tonti and other
explorers.
One of the Catholic Fathers — Marest — alludes in
a letter written in 1706 to the formation of an alliance
between the Pottawatomies and Ottawas against the
Miamis, and it is probable that at this time was begun
the movement which resulted in the displacement of
the latter tribe and the occupation of their country by
the Pottawatomies. The migration once begun, was
carried on slowly until almost the entire tribe had
removed from the northwestern to the southeastern
shore of the lake. Their territory extended to the
head-waters of the St. Joseph, the Kalamazoo and
Grand Rivers. Upon the north their neighbors were
the Ottawas ; still farther to the northward were the
Ojibways. The three nations occupied, or called
theirs, nearly the whole of the Lower Peninsula of
Michigan.
The Pottawatomies at the time Pontiac organized
his great confederation, placed themselves under his
command, and took a prominent part in the war
against the English. In 1764, at the council held
by Col. Bradstreet, at Detroit, they transferred their
allegiance from the French to the English. During
the Revolution, and afterward, until Wayne's signal
victory over the united tribes in 1794, they served the
interests of the British, and were almost" constantly
waging war against the border settlements, either in
Virginia, Kentucky or Ohio.
At Wayne's treaty held in 1795, at Greenville,
Ohio (commonly called the Treaty of Greenville),
this tribe, like the other important ones, received
$1,000 and the promise of a small annuity. This
was chiefly in consideration of the cession to the
United States of a six-mile tract at Chicago, which
was within the bounds of the territory the Pottawat-
omies clainjfd to own. In 1807, at a treaty made
with Gov. Hull, they ceded their interest in lands
lying in the Southeastern part of the Territory of
Michigan, and in 1808 surrendered the claim which
they assumed to certain lands along the south shore
of Lake Erie.
The famous Shawanese chieftain Tecumseh visited
the Pottawatomies in the autumn of 1810, to induce
them to enter a league with the other Western tribes,
for the purpose of driving the whites from the coun-
try. He was successful in his mission, for a large
number of the St. Joseph band, with Topinabe at
their head, and some members of the tribe from the
southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, in all about
three hundred warriors, promised to enter the confed-
eracy. In the following year, they were present and
engaged fiercely in the battle of Tippecanoe, fought
on the 7th of November — a sharp engagement in
which Gen. Harrison's force of about seven hundred
soldiers were opposed by upward of one thousand
Indians. The whites finally repulsed the Shawanese
and Pottawatomies, and they fled in all directions.
The Pottawatomies returned to their vilhiges on the
St. Joseph after this defeat, and from that time until
the Chicago massacre upon the 15th of August, 1812,
their history exhibits no remarkable exploit.
THE MASSACRE AT CHICAGO.
Allusion has already been made to a tract of land
six miles square ceded to the United States by the
Pottawatomies at the treaty of Greenville. Upon
this land, where the city of Chicago now is. was per-
petrated the greatest atrocity upon the whites of
which the tribe was ever guilty. To the credit of the
St. Joseph band of Pottawatomies, be it said that •
only a small number of their warriors were engaged
in the wholesale murder and that Topinabe, Winne-
mac (or Winneneg) and other chiefs made strenuous
endeavors to avert it.
At the breaking-out of the war of 1812, Fort
Dearborn (which had been built in 1804), and named
after Gen. Henry Dearborn, at one time Commander-
in-Chief of the United States Army), was garrisoned
by about seventy-five soldiers under Capt. Heald.
The same dispatch, from Gen. Hull at Detroit, which
announced the declaration of war, contained instruc-
tions that Fort Dearborn should be evacuated, and
inSTOKY OF CASS COINTV. MICIIKiAN.
that Capt. Heald's force should march to Fort Wayne
or Detroit. The bearer of the dispatch, the friendly
Pottawatomie, Winnemac, finding the country be-
tween Detroit and Fort Dearborn swarming with
hostile savages, labored strongly to dissuade the com-
mandant from carrying out the order of his superior.
He argued that a retreat would be extremely danger-
ous, but that if made at all, it should be done at once,
and that the goods in the fort should be left undis-
turbed, in order that the Indians, while plundering
them, might allow the fugitives a better start in their
flight. Mr. Kinzie, the post trader, gave advice simi-
lar to that of Winnemac, but Capt. Heald paid no
attention to his counsel, or to that of the subordinate
officers.
The Indians had, as soon as war was declared, at-
tached themselves to the British, thinking that they
saw an opportunity to drive the whites j^beyond the
Ohio. Every day they had become more bitter in
their hatred of the Americans. Before Capt. Heald
had finished his preparations for evacuating the fort
the Pottawatomies jn the vicinity, were aroused to
tlie highest pitch of war feeling. Those who were
friendly to the trader Kinzie and a few other inmates
of the fort, were unable, as it proved, to restrain the
greater number, who thirsted for blood. Upon the
12th of August, Capt. Heald met the Indians in
council, telling them that it wa^ his intention to dis-
tribute among them all the goods in the storehouse
with the provisions and ammunition, and requested
the Pottawatomies to furnish him an escort to Fort
Wayne, promising them a liberal reward on their ar-
rival there, in addition to the presents which he would
give them before setting out. They were profuse in
their professions of friendship, and assented to all
that was proposed. Mr. Kinzie endeavored to make
the commander realize the danger of the course which
he proposed to pursue, but in vain. Capt. Wells, a
brave man, who had had much experience with the
Indians, arrived at the fort on the 14th, escorted by
fifteen friendly Miarais, with whom he had made a
forced march from Fort Wayne. He had heard of
Gen. Hull's order for the evacuation of the fort, and
foresaw the danger to which its occupants must be ex-
posed. Mrs. Heald was his sister, and it was doubt-
less the hope of saving her life, which had led him
forward on his perilous journey. When he arrived,
the goods had been distributed to the Indians, though
the whisky, of which there had been a large quan-
tity in Mr. Kinzie's possession, was withheld, and
subsequently poured into the river, and this fact com-
ing to the knowledge of the Indians, had greatly
enraged them. It had been Capt. Wells' intention to
dissuade the commander from leaving the fort, but
the action already taken had rendered that plan
absolutely impossible, and there was nothing before
the garrison but the course on which Heald had stub-
bornly insisted. Seeing no alternative, Capt. Wells
did what he could to hasten the departure. A second
council was held on the afternoon of the 14th, at
which the Indians expressed great indignation at the
destruction of the whisky. The ammunition had
been withheld from them and thrown down in an old
well. •' Murmurs and threats were heard from every
quarter."
Preparations were made for the evacuation and
march. The reserved ammunition, twenty-five rounds
to a man, was distributed, the baggage-wagons and
wagons for the sick, the women and children were got
in readiness.
The morning of the loth dawned, beautiful and
bright. The day that began as the sun rose from the
waters of Lake Michigan was in strange contrast to
the dark deeds of man to be enacted before the sun
went down.
The following graphic account of the massacre is
from -James R. Albach's " Annals of the West:"
" Early in the luorning, a message was received
by Mr. Kinzie, from To-pe-nee-be, a friendly chief
of the St. Joseph's band, informing him that the
Pottawatomies, who had promised to be an escort
to the detachment, designed mischief Mr. Kinzie
had placed his family under the protection of some
friendly Indians. This party, in a boat, consisted of
Mrs. Kinzie, four young children, a clerk of Mr. Kin-
zie's, two servants and the boatmen, or voyageurs,
with two Indians as protectors. The boat was in-
tended to pass along the .southern end of the lake to
St. Joseph's. Mr. Kinzie and his oldest son, a youth,
had agreed to accompany Capt. Heald and the troops,
a.s he thought his influence over the Indians would
enable him to restrain the fury of the savages, as they
were ■much attached to him and his family.
" To-pe-nee-be urged him and his son to accompany
his family in the boat, assuring him the hostile Indians
would allow his boat to pass in safety to St. Joseph's.
" The boat had scarcely reached the lake, when
another messenger from the friendly chief arrived to
detain them where they were. The reader is left to
imagine the feelings of the mother. ' She was a
woman of uncommon energy and strength of charac-
ter, yet her heart died within her a.s she folded her
arms around her helpless infants.' And when she
heard the discharge of the guns, and the shrill, terrific
war-whoop of the infuriated savages, and knew the
party and most probably her beloved husband and
first-born son were doomed to destruction, language
has not power to describe her agony.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIfiAN.
" At 9 o'clock, the troops with the baggage-
wagons left the fort with martial music, and in mili-
tary array. Capt. Wells, at the head of his Miamis,
led the advance, with his face blackened after the
manner of Indians. The troops, with the wagons,
containing the women and children, the sick and lame,
followed, while at a little distance behind were the
Pottawatomies, about five hundred in number, who
had pledged their honor to escort them in safety to
Fort Wayne. The party took the road along the lake
shore.
" On reaching the point where a range of sand-hills
commenced (within the present limits of Chicago City),
the Pottawatomies defiled to the right into the prairie,
to bring the sand-hills between them and the Ameri-
cans. They had marched about a mile and a half
from the fort, when Capt. Wells, who, with his Miamis,
was in advance, rode furiously back, and exclaimed :
" ' They are about to attack us ; form instantly and
charge upon them.' "
• " The words were scarcely uttered, when a volley
of balls from Indian muskets behind the sand-hills
were poured upon them. The troops were hastily
formed into lines, and charged up the bank. One
man, a veteran soldier of seventy, fell as they mounted
the bank. The battle became general. The Miamis
fled at the outset, though Capt. Wells did his utmost
to induce them to stand their ground. Their chief
rode up to the Pottawatomies, charged them with
treachery, and brandishing his tomahawk, declared
he would be the first to head a party of Amer-
icans and punish them. He then turned his horse
and galloped after his companions over the prairie.
" The American troops behaved most gallantly,
and sold their lives dearly. Mrs. Helm, the wife of
Lieut. Helm, who was in the action, behaved with
astonishing presence of mind (as did all the other
females), and furnished Mr. Kinzie with many thril-
ling facts, from which are made the following ex-
tracts :
" ' Our horses pranced and bounded and could hardly
be restrained, as the balls whistled around them. I
drew ofi" a little and gazed upon my husband and
father, who were yet unharmed. I felt that my hour
was come, and endeavored to forget those I loved, and
prepare myself for my approaching fate. While I
was thus engaged, the Surgeon, Dr. V., came up; he
was badly wounded. His horse had been shot under
him, and he had received a ball in his leg. Every
muscle of his countenance was quivering with the
agony of terror. He said to me, ' Do you think they
will take our lives?' I am badly wounded, but I
think not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase our
lives by promising them a large reward.' ' Do you
think there is any chance?' * Doctor V.,' said I, 'do
not let us waste the few moments that yet remain to
us, in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a
few moments we must appear before the bar of God.
Let us endeavor to make such preparation as is in our
power.' 'Oh! I cannot die, exclaimed he ; I am not
fit to die — if I had but a short time to prepare — death
is awful.' I pointed to Ensign Ronan, who, though
mortally wounded and nearly down, was still fighting
with desperation upon one knee.
•' ' Look at that man,' said I, ' at least he dies like
a soldier.'
" ' Yes,' replied the unfortunate man, with a con-
vulsive gasp, ' but he has no terrors of the future — he
is an unbeliever !'
" At this moment, a young Indian raised his toma-
hawk at me. By springing aside, I avoided the blow,
which was aimed at my skull, but which alighted on
my shoulder. I seized him around the neck, and while
exerting my utmost efforts to get possession of his
scalping knife which hung in a scabbard over his
breast, I was dragged from his grasp by another and
an older Indian.
'■ The latter bore me struggling and resisting toward
the lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with which I
was hurried along, I recognized as I passed them,
the lifeless remains of the unfortunate surgeon. Some
murderous tomahawk had stretched him upon the
very spot where I had last seen him.
" I was immediately plunged into the water and
held there with a forcible hand, notwithstanding my
resistance. I soon perceived, however, that the object
of my captor was not to drown me, as he held me
firmly in such a position as to place my head above
the water. This assured me, and .regarding him
attentively, I soon recognized, in spite of the paint
with which he was disguised. The Black Partridge.
" When the firing had somewhat subsided, my pre-
server bore me from the water and conducted me up the
sand banks. It was a burning August morning, and
walking through the sand in my drenched condition,
was inexpressibly painful and fatiguing, I stopped
and took off my shoes, to free them from sand with
which they were nearly filled, -when a squaw seized
them and carried them off and I was obliged to pro-
ceed without them. When we had gained the prairie, I
was met by my fiither, who told me that ray husband
was safe, and but slightly wounded. They led me
gently back toward the Chicago River, along the
southern bank of which was the Pottawatomie en-
campment. At one time I was placed upon a horse
without a saddle, but soon finding the motion insup-
portable, I sprang off. Supported partly by my kind
conductor and partly by another Indian, Pee-so-tum,
lllSTOIiV OF CASS (■
who held dangling in his hands the scalp of Capt.
Wells, I dragged my fainting steps to one of the wig-
wams.
" The wife of Wau-bee-nee-mah, a chief from the
Illinois River, was standing near and seeing my ex-
hausted condition, she seized a kettle, dipped up some
water from a little stream that flowed near, threw
into it some maple sugar, and stirring it up with her
hand gave it to me to drink. This act of kindness
in the midst of so many atrocities touched me most
sensibly, but my attention was soon diverted to an-
other object. The fort had become a scene of
plunder to such as remained after the troops had
marched out. The cattle had been shot down as
they ran at large and lay dead or dying around.
" As noise of the firing grew gradually less, and
the stragglers from the victorious party dropped in, I
received confirmation of what my father had hurrie<lly
communicated in our rencontre on the lake shore,
namely, that the whites had surrendered after the
loss of about two-thirds of their number. They had
stipulated for the preservation of their lives and those
of the remaining women and children, and for their
delivery at some of the British posts, unless ransomed
by traders in the Indian country. It appears that
the wounded prisoners were not considered as in- I
eluded in the stipulation and a horrible scene occurred
upon their being brought into camp.
" An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends,
or excited by the sanguinary scenes around her,
seemed possessed by a demoniac ferocity. She seized ;
a stable fork and assaulted one miserable victim who 1
lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds, I
aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With
a delicacy of feeling scarcely to be expected under |
such circumstances, Wau-be-nee-raah stretched a mat
across two poles, between me and this dreadful scene.
I was thus spared in some degree a view of its horrors, [
although I could not entirely close my ears to the
cries of the sufferer. The following night five more
of the wounded prisoners were tomahawked.
'' But why dwell upon this painful subject 'i Why
describe the butchery of the children, twelve of
whom, place! together in one baggage wagon, fell be-
neath the merciless tomahawk of one young savage ? j
This atrocio IS act was committed after the whites, !
twenty-seven in number, had surrendereil. When
Capt. Wells beheld it, he exclaimed, ' Is that their
game? Then I will kill too! ' So saying, he turned
his horse's head and started for the Indian camp near
the fort, where had been left their squaws and chii- j
dren.
"Several Indians pursued him, firing at him as he
galloped along. He laid himself flat on the neck of j
NTV MIClIKi.VN.
37
his horse, loading and firing in that position. At
length the balls of his pursuers took effect, killing his
horse and severely wounding himself At this mo-
ment he was met by Winnemac and Wau-ban-see,
who endeavored to save him from the savages who had
now overtaken him ; but as they supported him along
after having disengaged him from his horse, he re-
ceived his death blow from one of the party (Pee-so-
tum), who stabbed him in the back.
" The heroic resolution of one of the soldiers'
wives deserves to be recorded. She had from the first
expressed a determination never to fall into the hands
of the savages, believing that their prisoners were al-
ways subjected to tortures, worse than death. When,
therefore, a party came up to her to make her pris-
oner, she fought with desperation, refusing to surren-
der, although assured of safe treatment, and lit-
erally suffered herself to be cut to pieces rather than
become their captive.
" The heart of Capt. Wells was taken out and cut
into pieces and distributed among the tribes. His
mutilated remains remained unburied until the next
day, when Billy Caldwell gathered up his head in one
place and mangled body in another, and buried them
in the sand.
'•The family of Mr. Kinzie had been taken from
the boat to their house, by friendly Indians, and there
strictly guarded. Very soon a very hostile party of the
Pottawatomie nation arrived from the Wabash, and it
required all the skill and bravery of Black Part-
ridge, Wau-ban-see and Billy Caldwell (who arrived
at a critical moment), and other friendly Indians, to
protect them. Runners had been sent by the hostile
chiefs to all of the Indian villages to apprise them of
the intended evacuation of the fort and of their plan
of attacking the troops. In eager thirst to participate
in such a scene of blood, but arrived too late to par-
ticipate in the massacre, they were infuriated at their
disappointment, and sought to glut their vengeance
on the wounded and prisoners.
"On the the third day after the massacre, the fam-
ily of Mr. Kinzie, with the attaches of the establish-
ment, under the care of Frangois, a half-breed inter-
preter, were taken to St. Joseph's in a boat, where
they remained until the following November, under
the protection of To-pe-nee-be and his band. They
were then carried to Detroit, under the escort of Chan-
donnai and a friendly chief by the name of Kec-po-
tah, and, with their servants, delivered up as prisoners
of war to the British commanding officer.
"Of the other prisoners, Capt. Heald and Mrs.
Heald were sent across the lake to St. Joseph's the
day after the battle. Capt. Heald had received two
wounds and Mrs. Heald seven, the ball of one of
38
HISTORY OF ("ASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
which was cut from her arm by Mr. Kinzie, with a
penknife, after the engagement.
" Mrs. Heald was ransomed on the battle-field by
Chandonnai, a half-breed from St. Joseph's, for a
mule he had just taken, and the promise of ten bottles
of whisky.
" Capt. Heald was taken prisoner by an Indian
from the Kankakee, who, seeing the wounded and en-
feebled state of Mrs. Heald, generously released his
prisoner, that he might accompany his wife.
"But when this Indian returned to his village on
the Kankakee, he found that his generosity had ex-
cited so much dissatisfaction in his band that he
resolved to visit St. Joseph's and reclaim his prisoner.
News of his intention having reached To-pe-nee-be,
Kes-po-tah, Chandonnai and other friendly braves,
they sent him, in a bark canoe, under the charge of
Robinson, a half-breed, along the eastern shore of
Lake Michigan 300 miles, to Mackinac, where they
were delivered over to the commanding officer.
"Lieut. Helm was wounded in the action and taken
prisoner, and afterward taken by some friendly Indians
to the Au Sable, and from thence to St. Louis, and
liberated from captivity through the agency of the
late Thomas Forsythe, Esq.
"Mrs. Helm received a slight wound in her ankle,
had her horse shot from under her, and, after passing
the agonizing scenes described, went, with the family
of Mr. Kinzie, to Detroit.
" The soldiers, with their wives and children, were
dispersed among the different villages of the Potta-
watomies upon the Illinois, Wabash, Rock River and
Milwaukie. The largest proportion were taken to
Detroit and ransomed the following spring. Some,
however, remained in captivity another year, and ex-
perienced more kindness than was expected from an
enemy so merciless."
The Chicago massacre well illustrated the Indian
character, the prominent traits of which were blood-
thirstiness and treachery. The occurrence affords one
of the strongest elements of opposition to the theory
held by some persons that Indian hostilities were
always commenced by the aggressions of the whites.
Although the St. Joseph Pottawatomies did not take
a prominent part in the horrible affair at Fort Dear-
born, and notwithstanding the fact that the chiefs —
Topinabe and others — endeavored to prevent the mas-
sacre, they almost immediately afterward engaged in
hostilities elsewhere. Capt. Heald, who, taken as a
prisoner to the St. Joseph, lived with Burnett, the
trader, says: "In a few days after our arrival there,
the Indians all went off to take Fort Wayne."
The Pottawatomies not only fought at Fort Wayne,
but at Fort Harrison, where, in company with the
Shawanese and other tribes, they were stoutly resisted
by a small but brave band, under Col. Zachary Tay-
lor. The tribe appeared in large force at the battle
of Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, in January, 1813,
and in the summer of the same year took part in the
operations under Proctor, opposite Fort Meigs, on the
Maumee, and on Sandusky Bay. They were, in fact,
one of the most valuable and active allies of the
British throughout the war.
INDIAN CUSTOMS.
During the period intervening between the close of
the war of 1*812 and the time when actual settlement
of their country was begun, the St. Joseph Pottawato-
mies led, so far as is known, a quiet and uneventful
existence. The only outward influences brought to
bear upon them were those exercised by the traders,
and by the little band of missionaries which the Rev.
Isaac McCoy led among them. The pioneer of Chris-
tianity among the heathen (the founder of Carey
Mission upon the site of West Niles in 1822), was a
close observer of the people among whom he lived and
labored for eight years. His book, "A History of
Baptist Missions among the Indians," affords many
interesting glimpses of Pottawatomie life and customs
as they appeared during his residence on the St.
Joseph, and we therefore make ample extracts from its
pages.
In one place he says, " If we would form a correct
opinion of a people, we must notice small matters as
well as great," and then he proceeds to give an ac-
count of a social gathering among the Pottawato-
mies :
" In the summer of 182.5," he says, " I attended
an Indian festival, which, according to custom, they
accompanied with dancing. These festivals professedly
partake of a religious character, but in reality it seems
otherwise. Different festivals have appropriate names.
The seasons for some occur regularly, but most of them
are occasional, as circumstances are supposed to sug-
gest or re(iuire them. That which occurred at this
time was one at which singular feats of legerdemain,
such as taking meat out of a boiling pot with their
naked hand, drinking boiling hot broth, eating fire,
etc., are attempted. Some ignorant whites who have
mingled with Indians, have reported that the latter
were very dexterous in these feats, but we have never
seen anything of the kind attempted among them that
was not very clumsily performed.
" On the present occasion a little tobacco prepared
for the pipe, was placed in the center of the hall, on
the bottom of a new moccasin (Indian shoe) with a
small bundle of cedar sticks, resembling candle
matches. Three large kettles of meat, previously
lIlSTor.V OK CASS COUNTY. MI(!HICrAN.
boiled, were hanging over a small fire near the center
of the house.
" The aged chief Topinabe, led in the ceremonies.
He delivered a speech of considerable length, without
rising from his seat, with a grave countenance, and his
eyes almost closed. He then sat and drummed with
one stick and sang at the same time, while his aid at
his side rattled the gourd. At length four women
appeared before him and danced. A while after this
he arose, delivered another speech, then drumming
and dancing, turned round, and moving slowly around
the dancing hall, was followed by all the dancing party.
When he had performed his part in leading, others
went through the same ceremonies, and these were
repeated until every pair had twice led in the dance.
These exercises were accompanied with many uncouth
gestures and strange noises. Occasionally, a man
would stoop to the kettle and drink a little soup. One
fellow assuming a frantic air, attended with whooping,
lifted out of a kettle a deer's head, and holding it by
the two horns, with the nose from him, presented it,
first upward, and afterward toward many of the by-
standers, as he danced around, hallooing. The drop-
pings of the broth were rather an improvement to the
floor than an injury, it being the earth, and now be-
coming pretty dusty. At length he tore asunder the
deer's head, and distributed it to others, and jvhat
was eatable was devoured with affected avidity.
" At the conclusion, which was after sun setting,
each brought his or her vessel, and received a portion
of the food. Chebass, a chief, sent to me and in-
vited me to eat with him, and I having consented, he
placed his bowl on the earth beside me and said:
' Come, let us eat in friendship.' The same dish con-
tained both meat and soup. The chief took hold of
the meat with one hand and with a knife in the other,
severed his piece, and I followed his example. After
eating, another speech was delivered, the music fol-
lowed, all joined in a dance with increased hilarity,
and most of them with their kettles of meat and broth
in their hands, and at length breaking off, each went
to his home."
THE "ME-TA-WUK," OR MEDICINE DANCB.
One of the festivals most punctiliously observed by
the Indians was the '^Me-ta-wuk" or Medicine Dance.
Mr. McCoy makes mention of one of these assem-
blages which occurreil on the 11th of October, 1824,
near the Carey Mission, probably upon Pokagon Prai-
rie, and which was attended by a number of his peo-
ple who wished to gratify their curiosity by witness-
ing the curious exercises. He adds that " Old
Topinabe, the principal chief, had a child lying a
corpse, but he was so intent upon attending the festi-
val that he could not attend to its burial, but intrusted
the management of the funeral to another."
Elsewhere, McCoy gives in his valuable book a de-
tailed account of one of these medicine dances which
we reproduce. He says :
" The apartment in which the services were per-
formed had been specially constructed for such occa-
sions. Stakes were driven into the ground at proper
distances, on which poles were tied horizontally, with
bark ; on the outside of these, grass mats were fast-
ened, which raised a temporary wall about as high as
a man's breast. The hall was about twenty feet wide
and sixty feet long. On three sides were spread mats
I and skins for the company to sit upon. Through
the center, three posts were erected, ranging with each
other the longer way of the apartment, and extending
so much higher than the sides that a temporary roof,
in case of rain, might be made to rest upon poles that
lay along their tops.
" On our arrival, the chief was delivering to the
few who were with him short speeches to which the
others occasionally responded with 0-oh, in a more
plaintive tone than is commonly heard among Indians.
Between speeches the chief drummed and all sung.
Two of them held in their hands a gourd, to which
had been fastened a wooden handle. Gravel or corn
j within the gourd made a rattle resembling a child's
toy. The drum consisted of a skin stretched over the
end of a small keg, after the heading had been dis-
placed, and was beaten with one stick only ; the
strokes, without changing their force, occurred regu-
larly at the rate of about one hundred and thirty a
minute. The gourds were shaken so as to make their
rattling in unison with the strokes of the drum.
" About 11 o'clock, thirty or forty persons, in-
cluding men, women and children, assembled about
I thirty yards from the dancing house, at which place
! they had loft most of their children and some of the
women. The others formed in single file and marched
until the leader reached the door of the dancing hall
and halted, the whole maintaining their order. The
leader stamped a few times with his foot, crying Ho!
ho! ho! Those within responded with their Ho!
Several who were on the front end of the line sung
for a few minutes and then all marched into the hall,
and around the room three times, halting and singing
twice each time. Invariably through the whole day.
when they marched around the room, the circle was
described by turning to the left so that if a person
seated near the door to the right desired to walk out,
he never retraced his steps, but walked around the
room with his left hand toward the center, until he
reached the door. All took their seats with their
backs against the wall.
HISTORY OF CASS COrXTY. MICHiaAX.
" A principal man then arose and addressed the
company in a speech of considerable length ; after
which one drummed, two rattled gourds, several sung,
and two women and one man danced. The musicians
and dancers then passed round the hall, severally
pointing a finger to each one seated, as they passed,
and using words which I did not understand. The
person pointed at responded each time with a mourn-
fiil groan, A-a-a ; then all took their seats. Another
man arose and made a speech ; two men held a short
private consultation in a low voice, and then mixed
some powders which they called medicine. A little
tobacco, or rather the common mixture of tobacco and
the leaves of some other plants which they use in
smoking, made fine as if prepared for the pipe, was
sprinkled at the foot of the two posts of the door, and
of those planted along the center of the building, and
a small quantity put into the fire. Another man
arose and delivered a lengthy speech, which was fol-
lowed by drumming, singing and dancing. A little
respite ensued, which the men employed in smoking ;
another speech was made, and followed by the danc-
ing of ten persons to music ; another turn of smoking
ensued and the two men who had charge of the
medicine allowed each person to take a little between
the fingers and put it in an otter's skin, with which
each was furnished. These skins had been taken ofi"
the animals entire, including the bones of the head.
The sack thus formed by a whole skin has an opening
into it on the throat, which is generally the fashion of
an Indian's tobacco-pouch. These medicine-bags are
esteemed sacred, and are used for no other purpose
than those belonging to this festival occasion, and to
hold the sacred medicine. Artificial eyes, usually of
metal that will glisten, are inserted ; the teeth are
disclosed by the drying of the skin, and the sides of
the mouth are ornamented by soft feathers, dyed red,
extending along the sides of the jaws three or four
inches. The tails are ornamented with porcupine
quills, to the end of which, and also to the feet, small
brass thimbles and bells are suspended, which make a
tinkling sound whenever the skin is moved. Each
keeps his or her skin hanging upon the arm at all
times while in the house, during the festival, except-,
ing when seated, when they are hung upon the wall
by the owner's seat.
" Another speech being delivered, four men and
two women marched out at the door of the hall with
ho-ho's and gesticulations which cannot be described.
They formed a semi-circle in front of the door, and
one of the men delivered a speech which was followed
by singing. Their otter skins were held horizontally
in the two hands, with a tremulous motion that rattled
the trinkets suspended to them, and which made the
skin assume the appearance of the living animal when
about to leap forward. While thus shaking their
skins they ran around, now stooping toward the
earth, and then stretching upward and hallooing;
they then marched into the hall again, severally point-
ing a hand to each one seated as they passed, and
each person pointed at uttered an awful groan as be-
fore. They marched around the hall until they
reached the door again, when each of the four men
pretended to swallow a small bullet, which apparently
almost choked him, and gave him great uneasiness
at the moment ; but as he did not fall to the ground,
it was understood that he was wise and good, and an
expert in the performance.
" All these fooleries were but preliminaries to the
regular course of exercises on which they were now
prepared to enter. Two principal men took the lead ;
each held in one hand a rattle, and in the other
a piece of folded cloth to defend the hand against
injury when the gourd should be struck against it.
The leader delivered a speech, and all became seated
again, when the drummer, and the gourd-men on each
side of him, beat in unison, and the leader sung alone.
Three or four persons presented themselves before the
drum and danced ; when these dancers had retired to
their seats, the musicians rose and the leader delivered
a brief speech. They then marched twice around the
hall with their instrumental music, stopping to sing a
few minutes at the completion of each semi-circle.
The drummer then facing the door, became seated by
the middle post, with one of the rattlers in front and
one behind ; the principal one delivered a speech at
the conclusion of which they both commenced singing,
and then rattled, and were joined by the drummer.
"Now all appeared to become inspired with new
life. Some rose and danced in their places, then
others, until all were on their feet and dancing to the
sound of the drum and the gourds. Suddenly, as if
moved by supernatural impulse, one man stepped
from his place into the space left for them to pass in
single file around the room, which, as before observed,
is always with the left hand toward the center ; he
bends forward, whirls around (always to the left), ap-
pears frantic, though not mad, shakes his otter skin,
crying Ho-o-o-o in a quick, frightful tone. He falls
into the rear of the music, now passing around the
room, and somewhere in his circuit he becomes more
frantic, gives a few louder Whoh-whohs, and suddenly
punches the nose of his otter skin against some one of
the company, who are all standing with their backs to
the wall. The person punched either drops to the
earth as if dead, like a butcher's beef, or bows and
staggers back against the wall, uttering a horrid
shriek of 0-ho-ho, as if pierced to the vitals. He
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MTCIIIOAX.
41
now kisses the nose of his otter skin with gestures
expressive of profound respect and warm affections.
These fond kisses counteract the electric shock just
received from the nose of his neighbor's otter skin,
and in half a minute he is restored and falls into the
rear of the company as they march around with the
music.
" When a person fell apparently lifeless, I noticed
he never hurt himself in falling. Each one invariably
fell in the same position. In about half a minute, he
would recover and rise, and as in the other case, fall
into the company of the music. Each one on recover-
ing from the electric shock, before he went around the
room once, would become frantic and Whoh- whoh oftener
and louder than usual, and punch his otter skin at the
nose of another person, after which he danced until he
came around to his proper place, where he again took
his station, with his back to the wall. In this manner
they continued to go around the room, usually seven
or eight persons at a time, with their music, whooping
and dancing, and shaking their otter skins and punch-
ing them at each other's faces. Sometimes a short
pause is made, and again the vocal music strikes a
new tune, and at the same instant many set up a
hideous whoop of Ho-ho-ho, until the ear is stunned
with almost every frightful kind of noise that can be
imagined. Having proceeded in this way a sufficient
length of time, the music ceased, and each took his or
her proper place against the wall. The principal
actor, followed by the other gourd man, with the
drummer in the rear, went twice around the hall,
halting and singing twice in performing each circuit ;
at length, halting at the man who was designed next
to use a gourd as the leader in the farce, they made an
uncommon ado in hallooing and in singular antics and
gesticulations, and finally laid down the gourds,
cushions and drums at his feet. They then continued
around the hall once more, each pointing a finger at
every one as they passed, groaning each time, and
being answered by the person pointed at with a fright-
ful groan.
" Another now takes the lead, and the same cere-
monies are acted over again, and this round is repeated
until every male has once led in the exercises. If,
therefore, the company be small, the exercises will
end the sooner. Sometimes the company is so large
that the services continue until late in the night, and
even all night. The females follow in all the exer-
cises, but never lead. They carry their otter skins,
or medicine bags, sing, dance, blow, etc., and at this
meeting one went so far as to deliver two short public
speeches, but this was a rare occurrence. The males
having each led in a round of the regular ceremonies,
all became seated to rest, and the men smoked. On
coming together, each had brought a kettle or bowl ;
seven or eight large kettles of boiled meat were now
brought into the house, and every one's small kettle
or bowl was placed near the food. A man then arose
and delivered a speech. Next, the man who had sup-
erintended the cookery, distributed to each a. portion,
using a sharpened stick for a fork ; and when a piece
was not too hot lie took hold with his hand.
" It was now between sundown and dark ; they all
ate, having nothing before them besides meat. An-
other speech was delivered, and when it was concluded,
every one rose, vessel in hand, in which remained a
considerable portion of food. They marched once
around the room, and the leader halted at the door,
where he performed some antic feats, attended by
noises of divers kinds, and then marched out of the
house, followed by all in single file ; and those who
did not reside at the place marched directly off" to
their homes, not stopping within sight to speak to
any one, or even to look back."
ILLUSTRATION OF INDIAN SUPERSTITION.
The following story, illustrating Indian superstition,
was related by Bertrand, the half breed French trader.
The episode occurred, as he related it, while a large
party of Pottawatoraies were on their way to the treaty
of Wabash, in the autumn of 1826. he (Bertrand)
accompanying them :
" After their company was formed," said he, " which
consisted of four or five hundred souls, they set out
for the treaty-ground, compelled by circumstances to
travel slowly. Within the first three days' journey,
their most expert hunters, to the number sometimes
of fifty, with their utmost vigilance, were unable to
kill a deer. They saw game, and often shot at it, but
killed nothing. The consequence was that they began
to be distressed for want of food. Soon after, the
company halted to encamp on the eyening of the third
day, Saugana, a well-known chief, fell asleep and
slumbered soundly through the night. On the follow-
ing morning, he informed the company that in a dream
a person had acquainted him with the cause which had
rendered their hunting unsuccessful, which was an
error in Chebass, a celebrated chief, who had been the
principal agent in prevailing them to set off on the
journey to atiend a place at which business of impor-
tance was to be transacted, and had neglected to make
a sacrificial feast before they started. He had started
on this important journey, the dreamer said, as a white
man would, without making any religious preparation,
and, for this dereliction of duty, the whole company
had been rebuked by being left by the Great Spirit to
realize the scarcity of food. In order to propitiate the
Deity, Chebass must fast that day ; twelve men, neither
42
HISTOKY OF OAfJ? COUNTY. MICHmAX.
more nor fewer, with faces blacked, indicative of hunger i
and want, and of their devotion, must proceed to their !
hunting, six of them on each side of the road, along
which the company had to travel. By the time the j
sun had risen to a height pointed out in the heavens |
(we should say about 9 o'clock), Saugana said they I
would have killed four deer, and he assured them that
such would be the fact, because he had seen in the
vision four deer lying dead.
" The hunters set off according to instructions ;
killed the four deer within the time spoken of, and
brought them to the company. A general halt was
called. The four deer, including heads, legs, feet, etc.,
were all boiled at the same time, and feasting immedi-
ately followed, in which all participated, each receiving
a portion meted out, excepting Chebass. The feast
was considered his, and, on that account, it was neces-
sary for him to fast until the sun had gone down.
Several speeches were made during the festival. About
noon of the same day, the company resumed their
march, and, on the following day, they killed five deer
and one bear, and, during the two or three remaining
days of their journey, had plenty.'"
MODES OF BURIAL.
Various modes of disposing of the dead were in vogue
among the Indians. Mr. McCoy gives descriptions
of several.
On one occasion, when he was present with some
other missionaries at the death of a Pottawatomie
man, whom he says they had buried as decently as
time would permit. He continues : " It is their
custom to bury their dead as soon as possible. We
were not allowed time to procure a coflBn ; but we
placed boards about the corpse. They will not permit
their graves to be dug so deep as civilized people
usually inter their dead. Agreeably to their custom,
a piece of tobacco was by them put into the grave at
the head. The countenance of his wife indicated
melancholy, and her sister shed tears. Before the
burial, a nephew of the deceased, who was somewhat
intoxicated, came running and hallooing like a madman.
He set up a hideous lamentation, which resembled the
howling of a wolf more than the expressions of grief
of a bereaved relative. After some foolish incantations,
such as blowing his breath into the nostrils of the corpse,
etc., he declared that the deceased had been poisoned,
and hurried off, threatening to be avenged upon the
Indian whom he suspected of the crime. To us it was
evident that his death had been caused by intemper-
ance and privation.'"
Sometimes the corpse was inclosed in a hollow log.
The position of the body was in most cases recum-
bent, but instances were common where the corpse
was placed in a sitting posture, and occasionally
standing erect. The same authority whom we have
been quoting says that in some instances the corpse
was placed on the surface of the earth and inclosed
with small poles, the walls either being laid up per-
pendicularly or inclining inward. Frequently in the
graves of men, a small wooden post extended a few
feet above the tomb, on which were cut notches, each
supposed to stand for a scalp which the deceased had
taken. Over the graves of chiefs, tall poles were
usually erected, from the tops of which flags depended.
Almost universally, food and various implements,
weapons and ornaments were placed in the graves of
the dead. In cases where the body was placed above
ground in an inclosure of poles or logs, a small aper-
ture was made at one end to introduce food or tobacco
from time to time. McCoy mentions a Pottawatomie
" who had acquired the name of Tobacco from his
fondness for that article, and who desired to be buried
in" a public place which travelers would frequently
pass, in the hope that by this means he should fre-
quently receive a piece of tobacco, the use of which
he could not think of discontinuing." Accordingly,
he was buried in the forks of a road between Detroit
and Chicago.
Disposal of the dead by placing upon an elevated
platform, supported by poles or the limbs of trees,
was frequently practiced by the Northern tribes, but
seldom or never resorted to by the Pottawatomies or
other tribes in Southern Michigan.
An Indian funeral is thus described : " I saw a
company of women carrying kettles of food to the
grave of a child who had been buried a few weeks
previously. The nature of this funeral rite, as it
was described to me at the time, is as follows : A few
days after the burial of a child, the father or mother,
or if neither of these be living and present, another
of the near relatives of the deceased, makes a feast.
The food is prepared and carried to the grave to
which the company of sympathizing friends repair.
If the feast be prepared by a man, none but men
attend, and the same principle applies to the females.
When assembled at the grave, the ruler of the feast
distributes to each of the attendants a portion of the
food which has been prepared, and each, before eating
any, puts a small quantity on the head of the grave.
A small aperture is usually made in the poles or
boards which cover the dead, through which the food
is passed. If it be a company of females, and one of
their number be esteemed profligate, she is not per-
mitted to make the ofiiering to the dead from her own
hands, but another receives it at her own hand, and
oflers it in her behalf. After the offerings are made
to the deceased, the remainder of the food is eaten by
IIISTOKV OF CASS COlM'y. MlCHKiAN.
43
the company. Similar feasts are prepared for adults
as well as for children, and when the party consists
of males, addresses are made to the deceased. These
festivals are usually repeated once a year. On re-
turning from their wintering grounds to the villages,
in the spring of the year, the grass and weeds are
carefully removed from about the graves of deceased
relatives and none are permitted to grow there during
the summer.
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE.
McCoy says : " I found none who possessed distinct
ideas on the subject of their religious ceremonies.
There has been a time, no doubt, when something more
like system was observed in the small amount of relig-
ion embraced by their pretensions ; but changes in their
original ceremonies have been progressing ever since
their acquaintance with white people. Keeshwa, the
aged Pottawatomie female, * » * ^jj^
was long an inmate of our family, has stated to us,
with tears, that since her recollection there had
been great deterioration in the observance of religious
ceremonies. Formerly, said she, ' on the return of
the Indians to their villages in the spring, prepara-
tion was early made for a feast. This would require
a day or more. At noon on the day appointed, men,
women and children would assemble, when an elderly
and respectable man would proclaim aloud, that the
time for them to take their seats had arrived. All
being seated, he would make a speech to them, and
they would sing a song to the Great Spirit. The
elderly leader would follow with a prayer in behalf of
the company, in which thanks would be returned for
their preservation through the past winter, and for
their safe arrival at their villages, and prayer made
for a blessing on their labors through the summer.
On these occasions such language as the following was
employed : ' Oh ! Our Father, we want corn, we
want beans, etc.; pity us and give us these things.'
After the prayer, all would eat, and after a little
respite they would again sing. Singing was repeated
four times during the service. After the due observ-
ance of this festival, all felt at liberty to commence
preparations for planting their fields. These meet-
ings, said she, ' were affecting, and frequently I wept
all the time.' "
CANNIBALISM.
The fact that the horrors of Cannibalism were occa-
sionally practiced among the Indians is well attested.
Schoolcraft, Parkman, Drake and various other
writers, whose reliability is unquestionable, cite in-
stances of the commission of this revolting crime.
Pokagon. the Pottawatomie chief, assured McCoy
that the Sauks frequently killed their prisoners after
they had been a considerable time captives and that
they ate the flesh of their victims. He said that " in
1825, while the Sauks were making their annual
journey to Canada, an Osage man who was a prisoner,
when sitting in his tent unconscious of danger, was
approached by two Sauks, who taking him by the two
arms, conducted him out of the company and killed
him. A woman afterward cut him to pieces and
boiled the flesh, and it was eaten by the party."
Such deeds were not done on account of hunger,
but through superstition, the Indians believing that
they were thus endowed with greater strength and
courage.
It appears that the Pottawatomies had also practiced
occasionally the abomination of which Pokagon ac-
cused the Sauks. McCoy says " we were compelled to
believe that it was such a people as this that we labored
to improve. From well-attested facts, the recital of
which was no less shocking than the above, we are
constrained to believe that the Pottawatomies, Otta-
was, Chippewas and Miamis, the tribes among whom
we labored, have all been cjidlty of eannihalism. *
* * If the accounts of the Indians can be credited,
the last war between England and the United States,
in which Indians were mercenaries on both sides,
was disgraced by cannibalism ; the last instance of
which we have been informed occurred near Fort
Meigs, on the Maumee River, in 1813. Deeds, the
enormity of which cannot be described, we know have
been done in the country about us."
FIRE-WATER.
Many of the evil deeds of the Indians were directly
traceable to the excessive use of ardent spirits. The
traders who located in or traveled through the country
sold enormous quantities of whisky, and, in fact, de-
rived their principal support from a revenue which
produced daily murders and a very general condition
of destitution. So eager were the Pottawatomies to
secure their beloved "fire-water" that they would
sacrifice any article in their possession to secure a
sufficient quantity to make them drunk. An instance
is mentioned by a good authority in which an Indian
gave a trader a tine silver-mounted rifle, worth at least
|25, for 75 cents worth of whisky. Articles picked
up in this way by the traders were again given to the
Indians in exchange for furs.
When annuities were paid to the Indians by Gov-
ernment agents the traders, who were sure to be pres-
ent, would receive in a few days, and in some cases in
only a few hours, almost every dollar of the red men's
money. Scenes of the wildest debauchery would fol-
low, and be protracted for days or weeks. It was not
unusual, on such occasions, that murders would be
perpetrated, and those too under the most shocking
41
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
circumstances. Sometimes three or four or a half
dozen would be committed in one day.
The utterly abject condition to which the Pottawat-
omies were degraded in the latter days of their resi-
dence in Michigan is vividly portrayed by the language
of one of their chiefs, used in answer to the expostu-
lation of Judge Lieb, a Government agent, and the
Rev. Isaac McCoy. He spoke with great feeling,
saying: "They were all sensible of the deleterious •<
effects of whisky, and of the ravages it had made and
was still making among them: that they did not seek
it, but it was brought to them ; that they could not pre-
vent it, nor could they possibly forbear from drinking it
when it was within their reach; that they had lost all
their manhood with their independence ; that they
were a degraded and disgraced race ; that they now
looked upon the whites as so much their superiors that
they would not attempt to resist anything they did or
should do. But." continued the chief, elevating his
dignified person, "if our Great Father feels such an
interest to preserve us as you mention, all powerful as
he is, why does he not command his people to abstain
from seeking, in the ways you mention, our destruc-
tion. He has but to will it, and his will will be done.
He can punish. He can save us from the ruin which
surrounds us. We can do nothing ourselves. If
whisky were not brought to us, we should soon cease
to think of it, and we should be happier and health-
ier." And the missionary adds: '"AH this was said
with so much feeling and truth that I blushed for my
country, and could find no apology for my Govern-
ment in not devising means to restrain these licen-
tious traders, high and low individuals and companies,
who, by every means, open and covert, are conveying
to the Indian the poison of his life and hopes."
Elsewhere, McCoy says: "Many of the Indians
manifested a dislike to this trafiic in ardent spirits,
fraught with ruin to themselves, though they seldom
possessed fortitude to withstand the temptation to
drink. On the 20th of August (1824), Pokagon. a
chief, and many others, came to inform us of liquor
in their country and expressed a wish to go and seize
it. We could not hope that Indians, in such cases,
would be governed by sound discretion, and therefore
dissuaded them from their purpose. About this time
they frequently applied to us for aid in securing their
little property and money received from the Govern-
ment from the rapacity of lawless white people. But
we could oftener pity than help them."
SE.^SONS OF DESTITUTION'.
In May or June, the Indians usually returned to
their villages from their winter hunt for the purpose
of planting their fields. From this time on until their
corn ripened or vegetables were grown was, with them,
the most trying season of the year, because of the
scarcity of food. The Pottawatomies in this region
made very frequent begging visits to the Carey Mis-
sion. Mr. McCoy, under date of July 17, 1824,
made the following note in his journal : " The
Indians are so exceedingly pinched with hunger at
this season of the year that swarms of them linger
about us in hopes of getting a few crumbs or bones
from our table, or the liquor in which any food may
chance to have been boiled. We are continually
grieved at witnessing their distresses ; we cannot feed
them, and yet many cases present themselves, espe-
cially of women and children, too affecting to be wholly
disregarded. Often on presenting a petition for the
relief of hunger, they place a hand on the stomach to
show how it is sunken for want of food. A few
hours ago a woman appeared in our house with moc-
casins to exchange for powder and lead ; pleading that
she and the family with which she lived were in a
measure starving. She had nephews who would hunt
for wild meat, did they possess the means of taking
it. She was informed that we could not conveniently
grant her the articles she needed, yet she continued
her importunity, entreating for a ' very little.' Beg-
ging like this occurs almost hourly through the day.
At this time, eight or ten unfortunate women are
at our house begging for a morsel to eat. When we
gave the old woman alluded to above a little salt, she
said 'this will season the weeds on which I feed.'
She ileclared to us that for several days she and the
families with which she was connected had not eaten
a particle of any kind of food, except weeds boiled
without salt or grease. This is, at this time, the con-
dition of hundreds around us."
CHAPTER Til.
THE POTTAW.\TOMlE INDIANS— [O.NTiNrEn].
Indian Villages— Their Locations in Cas.s County— Pokagon 's Progres-
sive Spirit— Indian Trails in Cj«ss County— The Chicago and Grand
River Trails— Network of Patlis in Porter Township— Topinabe—
Wee.saw, the War Chief— Pokagon. the Second Chief in Kank—
Shavehead— His Enmity to the Whites— Probable -Manner of His
Death- Indian Murders— Kenioval of the Pottawatomies to the
West— Exemption of Pokagon and His Band— The I-atter Days of
the old Chief.
INDIAN VILLAGES.
C^ ENERA LLY speaking, the term " permanent In-
J^ dian village," is a misnomer. Nearly all of the set-
tlements were abandoned in the fall or early winter, at
which time the Indians went on long hunting ex-
peditions, alternating the fields each season in order
chat the game might not be exhausted. The In-
dian method of agriculture contained nothing con-
MISTOKY OF CASS COrNTY. MICHIGAN.
ducive to permanency of location, and the construc-
tion of the lodges or wigwams was so crude and simple
as to make their removal or abandonment a matter of
comparative indifference to the builders or possessors.
Encampment would, in the great majority of cases,
be a better term than village for the habitation of a
band of Western Indians. They had, indeed, fiivorite
localities, but their villages in such spots had at the
most but a few years' duration. At the time the
whites came among the Pottawatomies, they had,
within the present limits of Berrien and Cass Coun-
ties, at least a dozen so-called villages, and it is prob-
able that within the first twenty-five years of the
present century, they had occupied a hundred loca-
tions. Every chief of any note whatever had a '' vil-
lage," and, with a few exceptions, they were moved
every two or three years. Besides the.se there were
sugar camps, which are often confused in tradition
with the places of more permanent residence. A
Pottawatomie village usually consisted of a group of
a dozen to a score of bark huts or wigwams made of
flags, irregularly disposed in a locality offering some
pecular advantages, such as water .supply, natural
shelter, ground suitable for the growing of corn, etc.
Proximity to a stream navigable for canoes, and afford-
ing a supply of fish, was also considered desirable,
and hence the most important villages in the region
of the St. Joseph River were immediately upon its
banks. After the Carey Mission was established, and
as the result of its influence, the Indians in the vicin-
ity began to make more valuable improvements than
they had before attempted — to build houses instead of
huts and wigwams, to fence their fields, and otherwise
to imitate the methods of the whites.
Pokagon appears to have been foremost in emulating
the good example of his white brothers, and of im-
proving the condition of himself and his people.
McCoy makes mention of the fact that this chief
and his band " had commenced a village about six
miles from the mission, and manifested a disposition
to make themselves more comfortable." (This village
was undoubtedly west of the St. Joseph River in the
Indian reservation.) " In the spring of 1826," con-
tinues the writer above quoted, "we were about to
afford them some assistance in making improvements,
when one of those white men that are commonly hang-
ing around the Indians for the purpose of flaying them,
like crows around a carcass, interfered and made a
contract for making improvements. This ended in
disappointment to the Indians." Pokagon again ap-
plied to the missionaries, and in November they hired
white men to erect for the Indians three hewed log-
houses and to fence twenty acres of prairie land. The
Indians promised to pay for the labor and the mission
' people became security for them, and saw that the
work was properly performed. Subsequently they
sent over to the Indian village one of their teams in
charge of men, who plowed up twenty acres of prairie
soil, made them a present of some hogs and loaned
1 them a milch cow.
I Prior to this there seems to have been little ad-
vancement in the Indians' mode of life. Pokagon's
action at this time was in accordance with prin-
ciples of progress which actuated him during the
remainder of his life, and which won for him the
I respect of the old residents of Cass County among
whom his latter years were spent.
The first settlers in Cass County found within its
i limits about four or five hundred Indians, almost all
of whom were Pottawatomies. They were divided
into three bands, each of which had a chief. Two of
these chiefs — Pokagon and Weesaw, who have already
been frequently mentioned in the previous chapter —
were prominent characters, reputable and represent-
ative men of their tribe, and the third — Shavehead —
[ seems to have been a renegade, who enjoyed little
I respect among the Indians, and found even less among
the whites. He was, nevertheless, a man of sufficiently
powerful personality or active influence to hold the
position of chief over a small band of rather
inferior Indians.
Pokagon's band, which numbered over two hun-
dred persons, occupied originally the prairie in the
western part of the county, which retains the chiefs
name ; but, as we have shown in svn extract from Mr.
McCoy's history of the Carey Mission, their principal
village was established in 1826 in Berrien County.
A large part of the band continued to reside in Cass
County, moving from place to place as the lands
were taken up by settlers, and the latter years of the
chief were also passed in this county. Weesaw's home
appears to have been in the northeast portion of the
county, in Little Prairie Ronde, in Volinia Town-
ship, and Shavehead's in the southeastern, within the
present limits of Porter Township. The number of
men, women and children in the band of the former
was about one hundred and fifty, and that of the lat-
ter was scarcely half as large.
INDIAN TRAILS IN CASS COUNTY.
The following accurate description of the Indian
trails in Cass County, as they appeared at the time
the United States survey w:is made (1826-28) is fur-
nished by Amos Smith, the present County Surveyor:*
" 1 find that nearly every township, in the olden time,
had its highways and its byways. Some of these seem
on llic outHoe nmp of
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
to have beea of great importance, connecting localities
widely separated from each other, while others of less
note served only neighboring settlements.
" It is noticeable that the principal Indian trails, like
our own main thoroughfares, ran east and west, while
others tributary to these came in from the north and
south. The Chicago trail, more important because
more used than any of the others, coming from the
east, entered the county near the half-mile post on
the east side of Section 1 in South Porter Township,
and run thence westerly, crossing Sections I, 2, 3, 4.
5, 8, 7 and 18 in South Porter ; Sections 13, 14, 15,
16, 21, 20, 17, 18 and 7 in Mason ; Sections 12, 11,
10, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in Ontwa ; and Sections 12, 11,
10, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in Milton. The Chicago road,
as it is now traveled, varies but little from the trail as
above described. Near the corner of Sections 4, 5, 8
and 9, in South Porter, the Chicago trail was inter-
sected by the Shavehead trail, a branch from the
north. This trail, or rather system of trails, as more
than a dozen different ones united to form it, had two
main branches which came together on Section 29, in
North Porter, near the lower end of Shavehead Lake.
The west branch, which commenced near the north
line of Penn Township, led southerly across Young's
Prairie, dividing on Section 28 in Penn. One trail
continued south and east to the west, and south of
Mud Lake in Calvin, the other running between
Donell and Mud Lakes, the two uniting near Birch
Lake in Porter. The last-mentioned trail was of
great service, later to the early white settlers, in pro-
curing supplies from the old distillery, situated on the
East Branch of the Christiana Creek, a little south of
Donell Lake. The east branch, coming from the
direction of Big Prairie Ronde, crossed the county
line at the east line of Section 12 in Newberg, just
north of Long Lake, and ran southwesterly across
Sections 12, 13, 23, 26, 27, 34 and 33, in Newberg,
and Sections 4, 9, 8, 17 and 20, in North Porter, and
united with the west branch on Section 29, as before
stated. Another branch of the Shavehead trail, of.
less extent than either of those above described, com-
menced at the Indian Sugar Works, near the half
mile post on the line between Sections 10 and II, in
North Porter, and ran thence southwesterly, crossing
Shavehead Prairie in its course, and uniting with the
main branch on Section 32.
"Beside the three principal branches of the Shave-
head trail above mentioned, there were many others.
In fact, the whole township of Porter was a perfect
network of trails — a regular "stamping ground" of
the Indians, so to speak, as the numerous sugar works,
Indian fields and villages, abundantly attest.
" The second branch of the Chicago trail commenced ,
on Section 30, in Calvin, running thence southeast-
erly, crossing Sections 2 and 12, in Mason, very
nearly where the wagon road now runs, intersecting
the Chicago trail at an Indian village, a few roads
west of the present village of Union.
"The third branch commenced on Section 3, in
Mason, and ran southwesterly, entering the Chicago
trail near what is now Adamsville.
"^The fourth and last branch of the Chicago trail,
coming from Fort Wayne, Ind., intersected the county
and State line, near the southwest corner of Section
20, in Ontwa, and running thence northwesterly,
united with the main trail on Section 16, in Milton.
" The trail from the Carey Mission to Grand River
Mission, sometimes called the Grand River road,
crossed the county line near the corner of Sections 6
and 7, in Howard, and running thence angling across
Howard, Pokagon, Silver Creek, Wayne and Volinia
Townships left the county at the north line of Section
2, in Volinia. It had no branches. The present ang-
ling road running through the greater part of Poka-
gon Township, the northwest corner of Howard and a
portion of Wayne, occupies very nearly the same posi-
tion. In fact, we are indebted to the Indian, or it
may be to his predecessor, for some of our best lines
of communication, and as many of these are trav-
eled to-day, and probably will be for all time to come,
where they were marked out hundreds, and it may be
thousands of years ago, it shows that great skill and
judgment must have been exercised in their location."
POTTAWATOMIE CHIEFS.
The tribal chief — the chief of all the Pottawato-
mies — was Topinabe, who died near Niles, in the
summer of 1826. Several local historians have com-
mitted the error of stating that the same Topinabe
who was, in 1795. recognized as the head of his na-
tion, and who signed the treaty of Greenville in that
year, was living in 1833. signed the treaty at Chicago
at that time and went WesFwith the tribe when they
were removed, under authority of the Government, in
1838. No statement concerning Topinabe can be more
authoritively made than that he died in 1826. At the
time the missionary McCoy came into the St. Joseph
country (1822) the famous chief was upward of eighty
years of age. He had been a man of much nobility
of character, had exerted a very potent influence in
his tribe and had frequently given evidences of un-
usual friendship for the whites (as, for instance, at the
Fort Dearborn massacre), but as early at least as 1821
he had become hopelessly enslaved by alcohol. In the
year mentioned, at the treaty of Chicago, he was urged
by Gen. Cass, the United States Commissioner, to
keep sober, if possible, and make an advantageous
niSTORV OF CASS roiTXTV. .MHMIirJAX.
bargain for his people. His reply indicated the depth
of his degradation. He said: ."Father, we do not
care for the land, nor the money, nor the goods. What
we want is whisky. Give us whisky." In May, 1826,
one of Mr. McCoy's missionary companions, writing
to him from Carey, says: "Since last we wrote you,
I suppose the Indians have not passed a single day
without drinking. Poor old Topinabe (principal chief)
is said to be near his end from intoxication." McCoy
himself writes: "On the ■27th of July, a poor, desti-
tute Indian woman was murdered about a mile and a
half from our house, under circumstances too shock-
ing to be narrated. About the same time, Topinabe,
the principal chief, fell from his horse, under the in-
fluence of ardent spirits, and received an injury of
which he died two days afterward." From this testi-
mony, which is unquestionable, being written by a
man who was intimately acquainted with the Potta-
watomies, and who was living in their midst, it would
seem that Topinabe came to his death in the latter
part of July or early part of August, 1826. The fact
that the name of Topinabe appears at the head of the
Indian signatures appended to the treaty of 1828,
made at Carey Mission, and the treaty of 1833. made
at Chicago, does not tend to overthrow this evidence,
for it is known there was another Topinabe in the
tribe, a much younger man than the chief of whom
we write. The name was undoubtedly hereditary.
Topinabe, the valorous and cunning in warfare, the
sagamore of his tribe, in his latter years the friend of
the whites, has not been honored by the application
of his name to any locality in the region where he
dwelt, though the lesser chiefs, Pokagon and Weesaw,
have been thus given a place in the memory of the
race which inhabits their old hunting ground.*
Pokagon was second in rank among the Pottawato-
mies to Topinabe. and the most admirable character
among the St. Joseph band. One of the members of
the Carey Mission family says : " He was the reality
of the noble red man of whom we read. He was a
man of considerable talent, and in his many business
transactions with the early settlers was never known
to break his word." Various instances have been
given in the preceding chapter which support this
assertion, and prove Pokagon to have been the most
progressive individual of his tribe. He probably owed
his position of chief to the fact that he had a good
command of language, and that he married the daugh-
ter of Topinabe's brother. Ilis name was originally
Sagaquinick. He became a convert to the Roman
Catholic religion, and continued in the faith all of his
• Recently the
the Mackinnw Divigion of the 1
u|H>n a summer roaort and embryo village i
utaMlshecl by noiiie gentlemen of Nilon.
life. Pokagon and most of the members of his band
were exempted from the removal to the West which
the Government decreed for the tribe. His chief
objection to departure seems to have arisen from his
fear that he and his people would lose the benefits of
their religion and partial civilization. After the other
Indians had been removed, Pokagon and his band set-
tled in Silver Creek Township, of Cass County, and
there the good chief died in 1840. As we shall have
occasion to speak of the later history of Pokagon in
the conclusion of this chapter, we will now pass to
some of the other principal characters among the St.
Joseph Pottawatomies.
First among them (after those of whom we have
written), was Weesaw, the war chief. He had three
wives, of whom the favorite was a daughter of Topin-
abe. He had a village in Berrien County, just north
of Niles, and another (at a later period) in Volinia
I Township, Cass County, on Dowagiac Creek on the
farm now owned by George Newton, where, with
about twenty families composing his band, he spent
I several summers. In the spring, he would go to what
is now the B. G. Bueli farm on Little Prairie Ronde,
I and there raise corn and beans and a few other veg-
etables. He also frequently visited the northwest
portion of the township, in proper season, to make
maple sugar. He only visited his hunting grounds
I in Volinia every third year, allowing an interval for
the restoration of game.
j Weesaw is described by the Hon. George B. Turner
who, when a boy, frequently saw him, as being a
superb specimen of physical manhood, and a realiza-
tion of the ideal Indian warrior. He was fully six
feet high, muscular, finely formed and of stately car-
riage. He had the appearance of one who deemed
himself every inch a king. Fond of savage ornament
and gaudy attire, he was usually dressed in such man-
ner as to enhance the natural picturesqueness of his
appearance. His leggings were bordered with little
bells which tinkled as he walked, his head adorned
with a turban of brilliant material, and his waist
bound with a sash of the same, while upon his breast
he always wore a huge silver amulet or gorget, bur-
nished to its utmost brightness. Heavy rings of
silver depended from his ears and nose. Occasionally
he left off this savage splendor, and appeared in a suit
of blue broadcloth. His favorite wife he adorned
with a degree of Indian pomp and show, only inferior
to his own gorgeousness, and she was always allowed
to walk immediately behind him and ahead of the
other wives when they accompanied their proud lord
to the settlement of the whites. Weesaw was very
friendly in his relations with the whites, and per-
i formed many favors for them. Orlean Putnam has
HISTOKY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
occasion to remember him with pleasurable and kindly
feeling. When the surveyors were at work north of
"the big swamp " in 1827, they became very much
straitened for provisions, the packer who was to
supply them having lost his way. Mr. Putnam and
another man in this contingency were detailed to pro-
cure such articles of food as were needed. There
were no white settlers nearer than Pokagon Prairie,
but knowing that Weesaw had an encampment on
Little Prairie Ronde, they went there conjecturing,
and rightly as it turned out, that the chief could
supply their wants. They arrived at the Indian
camp at night, but the squaws, by Weesaw's direction
immediately began preparing food to be taken to the
surveying party, and in the morning the chief and his
favorite wife accompanied Mr. Putnam and his com-
panion some distance on their way back, assisting
them in carrying the liberal allowance .of provisions
which had been given them.
Weesaw removed from Cass County to Berrien in
in 1832, and died there not long after, being shot by
his own son while the latter was in an almost crazed
condition from the eflFects of drink.
Other chiefs among the St. Joseph Pottawatomies
were Chebass and Saugana. The former, who was of
high rank, had his village within the present limits of
Berrien County. He is frequently mentioned in Mc-
Coy's history of the Carey Mission, but compar-
atively little is known concerning him. Saugana |
was the chief whose remarkable dream (related in the
preceding chapter) was believed to have saved a large ,
party of Pottawatomies from starvation when on their |
way to attend a treaty at the Wabash in 1826. !
Shavehead appears rather to have been the renegade
head of a miscellaneous group of ill-savored savages
than a chief among the Pottawatomies. He was one
of the most notorious characters among the Indians of
Cass County, and many anecdotes and traditions con-
cerning him have been handed down to the present
generation by early settlers who knew him. He was
a sullen, treacherous, vindictive savage — " the ugliest
Injun of them all," according to almost universal tes-
timony. His appearance was in accordance with his
evil nature. He had naturally a vicious and cruel
look, which wa.s set off by a peculiar device — that of
shaving nearly all the hair from his head. Only a
lock on the top and a strip down the back of his head
was left, and this flowed down in a shape suggestive
of the mane of a lion, or perhaps of some lesser
beast. Shavehead never ceased to regard the white
man as an enemy and an intruder upon the Western
soil. It is probable that he enacted a bloody role in the
tragedy at Fort Dearborn and took part in most of the
hostilities against the Americans in which his tribe
were engaged. He retained his hatred for the whites
when all of the Pottawatomies were living among
them in peace. His feeling may perhaps be accounted
for by the fact that he never signed any treaties and
consequently received no annuities. He was always
suspected of evil designs. Hon. George Meacham is
authority for the statement that during the Sauk war
scare. Gen. Joseph Brown ordered Pokagon to " take
care" of Shavehead, meaning that he should be
watched or guarded so that he could not join the enemy
should they penetrate the country.
The old chief and his small band lived a part of the
time on the prairie which bears his name, in Porter
Township ; a part upon the St. Joseph River, in the
extreme southeastern portion of the county ; and
sometimes wintered east of Young's Prairie. He
committed many petty depredations, and was very
insolent when he dared to be. On one occasion, he
presented himself suddenly before Mrs. Reuben Pegg,
of Penn Township, while her husband was away, and
impudently insisted that she should give him some tal-
low to grease his gun. Being refused very decidedly,
he became violent, and threatened the lady's life.
Soon after, Mr. Pegg returned home, and, being told
of the occurrence, followed Shavehead with a stout
ox-goad, and overtaking him, administered a terrible
thrashing. Mrs. Lydia Rudd, who was some distance
from this Indian defeat, remembers that she heard
very distinctly the thud of the stalwart blows.
One of Michigan's pioneers,* who has written
much, and is regarded as a good authority upon mat-
ters of early history, relates the following concerning
Shavehead's residence on the St. Joseph River, op-
posite Mottville, his custom of taking toll from those
who crossed the stream, and a whipping he received
at the hands of Asahel Savary, of Centerville :
" The old Chicago road where it crossed the St.
Joseph River at Mottville was called * * *
Grand Traverse or Portage. This road was the great
traveled route through the southern part of the terri-
tory to Chicago. Here at Mottville, the old chief
Shavehead had stationed himself as the Charon to
ferry travelers across the stream. There being no
grist-mills nearer than Pokagon, the settlers in this
part of the country went by this route to get their
grinding done. Standing with gun in hand, at this
portage, Shavehead was accustomed to demand toll of
every one who wished to cross the stream. One day,
Asahel Savary, of Centerville, finding the old chief
off his guard, crossed over the St. Joseph free. But
on his return, there the old Charon stood, gun in
hand, to demand his moiety. Savary stopped his
team. Shavehead came up and looked into the
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
49
wagon, when the farmer seizing him by the scalp-
lock, drew him close to the wagon, and with his ox-
whip gave him a sound flogging. Then seizing the
old chief's gun, he fired it ofi" and drove on. Old
Shavehead never took any more toll from a settler
crossing the St. Joseph River at Mottville."
Concerning the death of the troublesome old chief
(if chief he was), there has always been some mys-
tery. Two accounts of his demise, agreeing in essen-
tials, are extant. Both belong in the shadowy border
land of history where it emerges in the broad uncer-
tain domain of tradition. The first, from the writer
we have just quoted, is as follows :
•'An old frontiersman, who lived not far from
Shavehead Prairie, was very fond of the woods, of
hunting and trapping. He and Shavehead were very
great friends, and often spent days together on the
hunt. Their friendship had continued so long that
the settler had begun to be considered as a sort of
Leatherstocking companion to the old Indian. One
day a report reached his ears that Shavehead had said
' Deer getting scarce ; white man ' (pointing toward
the settler's home), ' kill too many ; Injun no get his
part. Me stop white man shoot deer.' His old
friend interpreted this ; he knew its meaning, but said
nothing. He and the old chief had another hunt
together after this. Time passed on, and one pleasant
day in autumn, the two old friends went out on a
hunt together, and at night the settler returned alone.
The old Indian chief was never seen in that region
afterward. It was generally believed that the reason
Shavehead did not return, was because he had crossed
the river to the happy hunting-grounds on the other
side. And it was generally conceded that the settler
thought he or Shavehead would have to cross the river
that day, and that he, the settler, concluded not to
go-"
The second hypothesis of the death of Shavehead,
by the Hon. George B. Turner, involves the eccen-
tric Job Wright, the hermit of Diamond Lake Island,
and intimates that he may have been responsible for
the exit of the chief from this world. Mr. Turner
does not vouch for the absolute truth of the story.
We will say by way of preface that Job Wright is sup-
posed (in the narrative) to have been one of the little
band of soldiers attacked at Fort Dearborn by the
Pottawatomies in 1812 ; that Shavehead took an
active part in the massacre, and that in subsequent
years he was suspected by Wright of burning down a
cabin which he (Wright) had built on Diamond Lake
Island. These statements should be borne in mind by
him who would read understandingly what follows :
" It was late in the afternoon of a beautiful Sep-
tember day " [1840] * * * * " that
we dragged our weary limbs into town [Cassopolis]
from a long stroll in the woods with dog and gun ; and
as we reached the public square we espied a con-
siderable number of settlers from the country about,
who had gathered in a compact circular body around
some object in front of the village store that seemed
to deeply interest them.
" We were not long in reaching the spot ; there, in
the center of the group stood Shavehead, the re-
nowned Pottawatomie chief His habitual reserve
and caution had left him, for he was gesticulating
wildly as he told of his feats of bravery in more than
one border conflict. It was plain to see that his
peculiar weakness had taken possession of him ; in
other words, that corn whisky, of which he was very
fond, had overcome him. The men listened silent
and sullen as he told of the scalps he had taken ; of
the battles in which he had been engaged. Some re-
garded his talk as the bravado of a drunken Indian,
while a few old hunters, who hung about the outer
circle, thought and felt otherwise. At last Shave-
head closed his harangue by referring to the massacre
near Chicago, at the same time exhibiting an English
medal, in token of his bloody deeds of that eventful
day.
" As he closed and the crowd opened to let him
pass, many were the curses hurled at him, many the
threats we heard pronounced against him. Now for
the first time we noticed the tall, gaunt form of the
old recluse leaning upon his rifle apart from the main
body of listeners, but near enough to hear all that was
said. As the drunken chief stalked away. Job mut-
tered audibly to himself, ' Yes, it is him, we fought
by the wagons; he burned my cabin, curse him.'
Suddenly shouldering his rifle, he disappeared from
the village, evidently taking the route home. After
sunset a settler who came in, reported seeing Job on
the track of something, and moving rapidly in a
southeasterly direction. Knowing glances were ex:
changed among the little knot of villagers, to whom
this story was told, they evidently believing that Job
had gone to pay his old friend a visit. How far wrong
they were in their conjectures, we do not pretend to
say. One thing however, is certain ; after that day,
Shavehead was never known to brag of the number of
white scalps he had taken. We do not pretend to say
that he was shot by any of the settlers — for those
were peaceful times ; law and order prevailed all over
the land ; the animosities engendered by the war of
1812 had nearly all passed away. But this we do
say, if Job Wright, the scout, the recluse, went on the
trail of Shavehead, in all probability he found him ;
moreov£r, if he did go, something more than an or-
dinary business transaction was uppermost in his
50
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
mind; and lastly, if he ever did draw a bead upon
him across his rifle, a moment after there was one
Pottawatomie chieftain less in Michigan."
As a rule the Indians in Cass County were very
respectful to the whites and seldom made any trouble.
Among themselves they had many difliculties and sev-
eral murders were committed. The white settlers
paid little or no attention to these crimes, and the
Indians themselves allowed them to pass unpunished.
Shortly before the Pottawatomies were removed to
the West, a murder occurred in Pokagon Township (on
Section 19), Schotaria, a "medicine man," killing
his squaw. The body of the dead woman was taken
on a pony to Berti-and, on the St. Joseph River, and
there interred in the Catholic burying-ground. About
the same time a murder was committed in Howard
Township, on the road that led from Summerville to
Niles. An Indian, named Wassatto, slew his brother-
in-law, Mashkuk, in a peculiarly brutal manner. The
only cause known for either of these murders was the
drunkenness of their perpetrators.
The Indians came very near murdering a white
man soon after the first settlement of the county.
John Baldwin, who lived in what is now Porter
Township, and after whom Baldwin's Prairie was
named, was assaulted in his cabin b}' a party of
Indians who claimed to have been cheated by him in
a bargain. They came to his cabin in the night,
gave him a terrible pounding with clubs, jumped
upon him, and when there was no longer any indica-
tion of life in his bruised and motionless body, left,
uttering the most exultant yells. A son of Baldwin's,
a young man, mounting a horse, galloped to White
Pigeon and summoned a doctor, having first found
that his father's life was not quite extinct, and with
careful medical treatment Baldwin was restored. He
subsequently recovered from the Indian agent nearly
$3,000 damages, which was deducted from the
annuities of the ofi"enders. It was asserted that
the cause of the Indians' grievance was that they
had received in payment for some oxen they had sold
Baldwin a quantity of whisky which was so diluted
with water as to render it entirely useless for the pur-
pose of producing the intoxication they had fondly
anticipated.
REMOVAL OF THE IXDIANS.
By the Chicago treaty of 1821, the Pottawatomies
had ceded to the United States their right and claim to
all of the territory lying west and north of the St.
Joseph River. Still further cessions were made by
the treaty of 1828, all of the possessions of the tribe
within the Territory of Michigan being at that time
transferred to the Government, with the exception of
a reservation of forty-nine square miles in Berrien
County, west of the St. Joseph, and bordered by it.
On this tribal reservation were the chief villages of
the Pottawatomies, and the larger part of their popu-
lation. Their last foothold was destined soon to be
taken from them. On September 2H, 1833, at Chi-
cago, they ceded this reservation, and at the same
time agreed to remove from the lands they occupied.
The articles of the treaty were signed by George B.
Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen and William Weatherford,
Commissioners for the United States, and by Topina-
be,* Pokagon, Weesaw, and forty-five other chiefs
and head men of the Pottawatomies. The ceded land
is described in the treaty as " the tract of land on the
St. Joseph River, opposite the town of Niles, and
extending to the line of the State of Indiana, on
which the villages of To-pe-ne-bee and Pokagon are
situated, supposed to contain about forty-nine sec-
tions."
The clause stipulating the removal of the Indi-
ans was the third supplementary article which read as
follows : "All the Indians residing on the said reserva-
tions (there were some other than the tract above
described, smaller and farther east, but none of them
in Cass County), shall remove therefrom within three
years from this date, during which time they shall not
be disturbed in their possession, nor in hunting upon
the lands as heretofore. In the meantime, no inter-
ruption shall be offered to the survey and sale of the
same by the United States. In case, however, the
said Indians shall sooner remove, the Government
may take immediate possession thereof."
Pokagon and some of the members of his band who
were present at the treaty, refused to sign the instru-
ment until they had received guarantees that they
should be exempted from the obligation to remove.
The Pottawatomies had no right to occupy the lands
now included in Cass County after 1821. In 1833,
as we have seen, they were nominally restricted to the
reservation west of the St. Joseph, but until their de-
parture from the region, they roamed freely over the
adjacent country, and, indeed had a scattered popula-
tion in the territory now within this county. They
evinced considerable of an attachment for certain
localities, and visited them from year to year, or in
small bands held them continuously, until absolutely
crowded out, not by the provisions of treaties, but by
the actual settlement of the superior race.
The time when the reservation was to be relinquished,
September, 1836, arrived and passed, and the Potta-
watomies still clung tenaciously to the little fraction
of their ancient domain. A considerable number had
scattered through the surrounding country — through
HISTORY OF I'ASS COUNTY. MK'HKiAN.
51
all the counties of Southwestern Michigan — and were !
living in a state of serai-civilization, upon tracts of ,
land not entered or occupied by the white settlers. ,
Pokagon, in pursuance of his plan of remaining in the j
country, began to enter land as early as 1835, taking
up a small tract in Silver Creek Township. In 1830,
he bought still more, and in 1837 added to his I
possessions enough to make the total nearly a thou- \
sand acres.
No definite action tending toward the removal of
the Indians was taken until two years after the e.xpira- j
tion of their privilege, and then, in the autumn of '
1838, Government took steps for carrying out the
provisions of the treaty of 1833. The preliminary to
this removal, or more properly expulsion, was a 1
gathering of the Indians near Niles for a " talk." |
Long before the period had expired, during which
they had been permitted to remain, the Indians had
repented their acquiescence to the treaty, and now at
the meeting many of them pleaded most earnestly
and touchingly that they might be suifered to remain
in the land of their fathers. But the great father to
whom they addressed their prayers was inexorable. In
other words, the Government agents, Messrs. Godfrey
and Kercheval, were not to be moved, and peremp-
torily insisted that they must be ready upon a certain
day to begin their westward journey. The agents
endeavored to bring together the scattered bands, but
were not entirely successful. Many were determined
not to leave the country, and fled to localities remote
from the surveillance of the Government's representa-
tives; some took refuge with the Ottawas in the Grand
River region, and not a few hid in the forest near
their homes. Some were assisted in secreting them-
selves by the white settlers, who felt sympathy for
them. Upon the day appointed for the exodus, it is
probable that about two-thirds of the St. Joseph Pot-
tawatoraies rendezvoused at Niles, and under the escort
of two companies of United States troops, detailed for
the purpose by Gen. Brady, moved out on the Chicago
road, destined for the land beyond the Father of
Waters. It was a sorrowful and dejected body of
human beings, this remnant of the once powerful tribe,
which slowly and wearily wended its way from Michi-
gan to Kansas, and their departure was no doubt
witnessed with sincere regret by many who reflected
upon their situation, and realized what their feelings
must be. During the journey some escaped, and
returned to the St. Joseph country, and in 1839
these, with most of those who had avoided removal in
the preceding year, were collected by Alexis Coquil-
lard, and under his charge taken to their brethren in
Kansas. The old trader, Bertrand, accompanied those
who were removed in 1838,
After the departure of the other Indians, Pokagon
and his little band of Roman Catholics moved into the
lands they had bought in Sdver Creek Township.
The old chief was thus near one of his old dwelling
places — the prairie named after him. Although the
lands in Silver Creek, amounting to about a thousand
acres, were entered in Pokagon's name, most of the
other Indians in his band had contributed funds for
the purchase, and the chief made deeds to each for
tracts proportionate in size to the amount of individual
investment. Pokagon exerted a benign influence over
his fellows, setting them a good example in temper-
ance and morality. He was a zealous Catholic, and
in 1839-40 built the first church in Silver Creek — a
substantial log structure, which John G. A. Barney
and other white settlers helped him to raise. The
good old chief was sadly victimized by the priest in
charge of this church, when approaching his death.
The holy father induced Pokagon when he was very
sick, in the autunm of 1839, to give him a deed for
forty acres of land as the price for receiving absolu-
tion. The deed proved to be for six hundred and
seventy-four acres instead of forty. It was received
tor record by Joseph Harper at 6 o'clock A. M.,
upon the 10th of August, 1840, the day being Mon-
day. The priest came to Cassopolis in great haste
on Sunday and urged that the document be immedi-
ately filed, but the Register compelled him to wait
until the next day. Pokagon had died upon the
Saturday succeeding, and the news of his demise was
first brought to the county seat by the priest. The
deed transferred two tracts of land; one consisting of
four hundred and seventy-four acres, and the other of
two hundred, from Leopold Pokagon and his wife,
Ketesse, to Stanislaus A. Bernier, providing for a
small reservation upon which Ketesse Pokagon and
her four children should be allowed to live. Very
soon after the deed was recorded, Bernier deeded the
property to Celestine Guynemir de la Hislander, from
whom it was subsequently recovered by the rightful
heirs through a verdict of the Court of Chancery
which sat at Kalamazoo, it being proved that the
original deed w;is procured through fraud.
The descendants of Pokagon and the other Potta-
watomies of his band nearly all live in Silver Creek
and number not more than seventy-five persons. The
whole number of the tribe in Michigan does not ex-
ceed two hundred and fifty. They are distributed in
the Counties of Cass, Calhoun, St. Joseph, Berrien
and Van Buren, and until his death in February,
1882, their chief was Augustine Topash, who lived
in Silver Creek, near the suburbs of Dowagiac.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
UHAPTEE Ynr.
THE CARET MISSION.
Its Establishment uear the Site of Nlles in 1R22— Its Effect on the Set-
tlement of t'ass and Berrien Counties— The Rev. Isaac McCoy-
Trials of the Missionaries— Scarcity of Food— Success! ulness of the
School— How Regarded by the Pottawatomies— Necessity for Re-
moval—Crowded Out by the Whtte.s— Improvements at Carey Ap-
praised, in 18:iO, at over .?5,OU0.
A N interesting book might be written on religious
-i^^ zeal as a factor in the development of new
countries. We have had occasion, in this volume,
to remark upon the holy aspirations and ambitions
which led the French Roman Catholics to penetrate
the Western wilderness two centuries ago, and now we
call the attention of the reader to the history of the
Baptist Mission among the Pottawatomies, founded
just west of the site of Nilesin 1822, which very mate-
rially affected the settlement of Southwestern Mich-
igan. It was, indeed, the Mecca toward which jour-
neyed nearly all the pioneers who located in the
western portion of Cass and the eastern portion of
Berrien County. No sooner had the fact become
generally known that Isaac McCoy had pushed for-
ward into the Indian country and there established a
religious mission and a school than many adventurous
spirits in Ohio and Indiana prepared to follow in his
footsteps, and the surrounding country was speedily
settled.
The man* who, underthe auspices of the Baptist Mis-
sionary Association, of Washington, founded the Carey
Mission(so-called after a celebrated pioneer missionary
in Hindostan), was in many respects a remarkable man,
and his services in the cause of Baptist missions
among the Indians, extending through a long period,
were very valuable. His labors were not confined to
the propagation of Christianity among the Indians,
but he materially advanced the temporal condition of
several tribes, and assisted in bringing about some of
the most salutary measures of national legislation
upon the Indian question that were ever enacted.
Mr. McCoy's first mission school among the Indi-
ans was established in 1804, near Vincennes, Ind. In
1820, he removed to Fort Wayne, and from there to
the St. Joseph River. It was in May, 1822, that the
missionary made his first visit to the scene of his fut-
ure labors. "On the Kith," he writes, 'we reached
the French trading-house (Bertrand's) at Parc-aux-
Vaches (the cow pasture), by traveling through the
rain. I was sorry to hear that many of the chiefs,
whom I wished to see in reference to our settlement in
that country, had gone to Lake Michigan to engage
in a drunken frolic, a trader having arrived in that
*ThoKe». laaic McUoy wai liora Juno 1:!, 1788, near Oniont.iwn, P«in.;
removed, with his parents, to J-fferson Connrv, Ky , in 1794 ; wa8 married to
<;liristiana Polke in October, 1803, and licensed to preach In March, 1804, when
he Immediately began his serricea among the Indians. He died at Louisville,
Ky., in 1S46.
locality with a quantity of whisky." The effect of this
discouraging circumstance, however, wa.s in a iarge
measure counteracted by the utterances of those mem-
bers of the tribe whom McCoy did see, and who, he
says " appeared delighted with the prospect of our
settling near them, and by many rude expressions of
friendship, welcomed me to their country."
On the 9th of October, Mr. McCoy, with Mr. Jack-
son and hi.s family, four hired men and a number of
Indian boys, old enough to make themselves useful —
in all twenty persons — set off from Fort Wayne for
the purpose of erecting buildings at the site chosen
for the new mission. On arriving there after a jour-
ney full of privation, they immediately began cutting
down trees, chopping out logs and preparing them to
be laid up in house walls, Mr. McCoy himself taking
an active part in the work, although he was still suf-
fering from the effects of a serious fever. About the
middle of November, leaving his men to finish the
work, he set out for Fort Wayne and arrived there
after a three days' ride, wet, cold, almost ftimished
with hunger, weary and sick. There were many
preparations to be made before the final removal to
Carey could be accomplished, and the little company
was not in readiness for the journey until the 9th of
December, 1822, on the morning of which day they
started from Fort Wayne into the woods destined
for their new home. Mr. McCoy says in his History
of Baptist Indian Missions:* "Our company con-
sisted of thirty-two persons, viz., Seven of ray own
family, Mr. Dusenberry (a teacher), six work hands
and eighteen of the Indian part of our family. The
health of many was by no means firm. One ■of our
children was still unwell with its late sickness. We
had three wagons drawn by oxen and one by horses,
fifty hogs and five cows. On account of the ice, we
found much difficulty in crossing the St. Mary's
River, and were able to make only about three miles
of our journey the first day. The. snow was about
three inches deep, which we raked away with hoes,
until we found earth to make our beds upon, and
where we could kindle a fire. On the 10th, traveling
was extremely difficult on account of snow and ice
and many deep quagmires, in a flat, wet country. I
lent my horse to enable some hands to go back after
cattle that had escaped on the preceding night, and
being compelled now to go on foot, became greatly
fatigued and not a little indisposed. I took a hand
and went ahead, and had a fire burning by the time
the company came up at dark." Slowly and tediously
the missionaries and their company made their way
through the woods, fording streams, crossing swamps
and encamping at night after the wearisome march
* Published in 1840; now very rare.
mSTOKY OF CA88 COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
of the day in the most sheltered spots they could find.
Various circumstances conspired to delay their pro-
gress. Their cattle strayed away and they had to
sear'ch for them many hours at a time ; their wagons
broke down and it was necessary to mend them before
the company could proceed. The weather was dis-
agreeable and dreary; the journey full of vexation
and discomfort and peril. On the 12th, they passed
an encampment of Miamis who resided in the Potta-
watomie country and with whom Mr. McCoy says he
"had previously little acquaintance." Mr. McCoy
had by exposure contracted a serious cold, and on the
13th he was so ill that he could not ride on horse-
back and was compelled to get into a wagon. On the
14th, the company, after traveling all day through
the fiilling snow, reached the bank of the Elkhart
River, where they encamped and butchered a hog,
•nvhich furnished them with supper and breakfast. On
the following day, great difficulty was experienced
in crossing the river, the ice having to be first cut
away. On the morning of the 16th, McCoy left the
camp early and wont on before the rest of the company
to the St. Joseph River, ten miles, to examine a
crossing. On returning, he found that the company
had not left camp on account of fifteen oxen having
gone astray. By night they were recovered.. On
the morning of the 17th, McCoy, though quite sick,
took two men with him ahead of the. company and
made a large fire on each side of the St. Joseph, by
which the men might warm themselves occasionally
while the work of getting their wagons and stock
across the icy stream was going on. All got
through safely but with much discomfort. " On the
morning of the 18th," says the missionary, " our
oxen were almost worn down and the company all ex-
ceedingly anxious to terminate thejourney. We there-
fore made a vigorous effort to reach Bertrand's trading-
house, which we accomplished at dark. Here we
found a shelter from the cold and freezing rain which
had been falling on us half the day." On the follow-
ing day, which was the eleventh of their journey, they
reached the mission, which was six miles from Bert-
rand's. They forded the river, says the late Judge
Bacon, where is now the foot of Main street in Niles,
" crossing it diagonally, and handing near the rear of the
garden of Mr. Colby. , In an hour thereafter, they
reached their home in the woods."* They found
their cabins unfinished, but they afforded a shelter so
much superior to what they had experienced on the
road that, in the language of the patient pioneer of
Christianity, they " were not inclined to complain."
Mr. McCoy notes in his book that upon the 1st of
January, they invited Topinabe and Chebass, " prin-
cipal chiefs and some others, to partake of a frugal
meal with us, some attention having generally been
paid to the 25th of December and the 1st of January,
by white men among them, most of whom have been
French Catholics, from whom the natives derived a
knowledge of these holidays." The Indians fully
appreciated the treatment they received from the mis-
sionaries, upon this and other occasions, and one of
them said privately to the interpreter, that " they
could not think there were any more such good people
among the whites."
The experience of the people at Carey, during the
first winter they spent there, was very severe. The
earth was covered with snow from the time they
reached the station until the 20th of March, and it
was generally from ten to fifteen inches deep. The
weather continued cold, and the houses being unfin-
ished, were very uncomfortable. For the comfort of
fifty people, there were but four fires, and one of them
a kitchen fire. " Out of doors, business went on slowly,
on account of the severity of the weather," says the
historian, and he adds, '" our religious services ap-
peared to be attended with cold hearts as well as cold
feet."
Added to their other troubles during the winter of
1822-23, was the scarcity of food. The teams which
they had dispatched to Ohio for a supply of Hour
soon after they arrived at Carey, and which they sup-
posed would return within a month, were delayed, and
from the middle of January until the 13th of February,
when they finally did arrive, there was actual suffering
for want of sufficient provisions. A few extracts from
the mission journals show with painful plainness the
situation of these isolated pioneers :
"February 1st. — Having eaten up our corn, and
having only flour enough for one meal, we sent five
of our stoutest Indian boys five miles to an Indian
trader, and borrowed a barrel of flour and a bushel of
corn. Our teams were absent and the boys carried it
home on their backs. The flour was damaged ;
nevertheless it was very acceptable to us."
" February 7. — Ate our last meal of bread for break-
fast, which was so scarce that we had to divide it
carefully, that every one might have a little. We
had saved a few pounds of Hour for the small children,
whose necessities were increased by-the want of the
valuable article of milk. Sent out an Indian to en-
deavor to buy corn, who returned with about six
quarts, which was all he could get. We sent an In-
dian and a white man to Fort Wayne to see what was
detaining our wagons ; and should they not meet the
teams on this si'le, they are directed to hire horses and
fetch flour to us."
54
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
" February 8. — Breakfasted upon the corn we hail
procured the preceding day. Blessed be God, we
have not yet suflfered for want of food, because corn
is an excellent substitute for bread. But having now
eaten our last corn, we cannot avoid feeling some un-
easiness about the next meal."
Regardless of the deep snow, and of his poor health, ■
McCoy now set forth attended by an Indian, in quest
of corn. His thought was to procure some from the |
Indians in the neighboring villages, who had small
quantities buried in caches, but scarcely as much as
they would themselves need. The missionary says :
" My own anxieties were very great. I could not
contemplate the destitute condition of so many persons,
among whom were my wife and my children, when
the probabilities of extreme suffering, not to say I
perishing, were thickening around us, without feelings ;
which can better be imagined than described."
He was slowly working his way through the track- ;
less waste of snow when he met Bertrand, the trader, i
The old Frenchman told McCoy that it was extremely
improbable that the Indians were at their villages,
and that in their absence it would be impossible on
account of the snow to discover the caches, but, said
he generously, '■ I got some corn, some flour; I give
you half Suppose you die, I die too." McCoy
returned with his horse heavily loaded with corn and
flour, anticipating as he laboriously made his way
homeward, the joy that his success would cause at the
mission. Arriving there, he was not a little astonished
to find his people regaling themselves with a substan-
tial meal of sweet corn. He had scarcely ridden out
of sight of the mission in the morning when an aged
Pottawatomie woman, a widow, their nearest neighbor,
who herself had nothing on which to live except a
limited supply of corn and beans, appeared at the
house with a sufficient supply of sweet corn to make a
liberal meal for the entire "family." "Thus," says
the pious missionary, in chronicling an account of the
day, "thus we had scarcely eaten our last meal, when
God sent us another." On the same day, four other
Pottawatomie women, whom the kind widow had told
of the condition of want at the mission, came in, bear-
ing upon their backs about three bushels of potatoes.
On the 10th of February, two Indians brought a
bushel of corn each, and two traders, who had received
news of the scarcity, came into the mission a distance of
fifteen miles, bringing " lialf of a pittance of flour
they had." These instances of the kindness of human
nature would bear chronicling in letters of gold.
But now that one immediate peril was escaped,
another arose. McCoy, whose system had been
severely worn by labor and exposure, privation and
9.nxiety, became very siok with a fever, suff"ered oiuob
physical pain, and for a time lay in delerium. His
life was despaired of, but, after a number of days of
extreme illness, he began to improve upon the 20th
of February. *
The wagons with supplies which had been long ex-
pected from Ohio, arrived on the 13th. Mr. John-
ston Lykins, a valued assistant of Mr. McCoy's, ^yho
had been long absent, arrived on the 21st. The re-
turn of this useful member of the family, the arrival
of food and other supplies and the approach of spring,
all combined to work an improvement at the mission,
and the hearts of the people, which had been very
sorrowful and full of foreboding during the winter,
grew lighter. Mr. McCoy's convalescence was slow,
but quite regular and assuring, and the future looked
promising and bright. Encouraging news was also
received about this time from an agent who had been
employed to solicit aid for the Mission, and word came,
from various sources that benevolent people in Ohio
and the East had increased their liberality to the
cause and were taking a deep interest in the labors of
Mr. McCoy and his companions among the Pottawat-
omies.
The school had by this time thirty-six scholars. It
had been opened on the 27th of January, 1823, in a
building erected for the purpose, and finished at that
time, with the important exceptions of laying a floor,
building a chimney and hanging a door in the open-
ing intended for one. It was used for some time be-
fore these elements, which would now be considered as
necessities, were added, and teachers and pupils sat
about a fire, built on the ground in the middle of the
room, suffering greatly from the cold and smoke. All
was prosperous with the Carey Mission in the spring
and summer of 1823, and Mr. McCoy was successful
in establishing another mission, which was known as
Thomas, upon the Grand River, among the Ottawas.
In June, 1828, Carey was visited by Maj. S. H.
Long and his party, who were on their way to the
headwaters of the Mississippi. William H. Keating,
who was one of the company, gave a very interesting
description of the mission in the first volume of Maj.
Long's report of the expedition. Passing from Fort
Wayne to Chicago, he says : " There is in this neigh-
borhood an establishment which, by the philanthropic
views which have led to its establishment, and by the
boundless charity with which it is administered, com-
pensates, in a measure, for the insult offered to the
laws of God and man by the traders. * * *
The Carey Mission House, so designated in honor of
the late Mr. Carey, the indefatigable apostle of India,
is situated within half a mile of the River St. Joseph.
* * '■ The spot was covered with a very
dense forest seven months before the time we visited
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
55
it; but by the great activity of the superintendent he
has succeeded in the course of this short time in build-
ing six good log houses, four of which afford com-
fortable residence to the inmates of the establishment ;
a fifth is used as a school-room, and the sixth forms a
commodious blacksmith shop. In addition to this,
they have cleared about fifty acres of land, which are
nearly all inclosed by a substantial fence. Forty
acres have already been plowed and planted with
maize, and every step has been taken to place the
establishment upon an independent footing. The
school consists of from forty to sixty children. The
plan adopted appears to be a very judicious one.
The plan adopted in the school purposes to unite a
practical with an intellectual education. The boys
are instructed in the English language, in reading,
writing and arithmetic ; they are made to attend the
usual avocations of a farm, and to perform every
operation connected with it, such as plowing, planting,
harrowing, etc., and in these pursuits they seem to
take great delight. The system being well regulated,
they find time for everything ; not only for study and
labor, but also for innocent recreation, in which they
are encouraged to indulge ; and the hours allotted to
recreation may, perhaps, be viewed as productive of
results fully as important as those accruing from more
serious pursuits. The females receive in the school
the same instruction which is given to the boys, and
are in addition to this taught spinning, weaving and
sewing, both plain and ornamental. They were just
beginning to embroider ; an occupation which may, by
some, be considered as unsuitable to the situation
which they are destined to hold in life, but which ap-
pears to us very judiciously used as a reward and a
stimulus. They are likewise made to attend to the
pursuits of the dairy, such as milking of cows, 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 talent for drawing. The insti-
tution receives the countenance of the most rtspecta-
ble among the Indians. There are in the school two
of the grandchildren of Topinabe, the great heredi-
tary chief of the Pottowatomies. The Indians visit
the establishment occasionally and appear pleased with
it. The (mission) family have a flock of one hundred
sheep, collected in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio,
and are daily expecting two hundred head of cattle
from the same States. These contributions, together
with the produce of their farm, will, it is thought,
prevent them from being exposed to suffer as much
from scarcity of provisions as they have already
done." * * *****
During a portion of this summer, the mission people
were again on very short allowance. One day in June,
they sent out two men to purchase corn, if any could
be found, as they had not enough to last through the
day. A small quantity was obtained from an Indian
and a little damaged flour from a trader. "The In-
dian," says McCoy, "had not the corn to spare with-
out risking his own comfort, and refused to sell it, but
said: ' It is too hard to be hungry. I will give my
father that sackful. I believe I will lose nothing by
it. I think he will give me an equal quantity when
he shall get corn.' "
Two day days after that occurrence, a herd of 121
cattle arrived, a portion of the 200 which Mr. Keat-
ing, in his report, said were expected. Some had been
left at Fort Wayne.
Mr. McCoy had contracted with the captain of a
vessel on the lakes to bring them a loaS of flour to
the mouth of the St. Joseph River. It was to be de-
livered by the middle of June,, but did not come to
hand, and the missionaries learned that the captain
had violated his agreement, finding that he could dis-
pose of his cargo at a better price than had been con-
tracted. This was a great disappointment and sub-
jected the people to inconvenience and loss. Their
chief reliance for breadstuffs, until they could pro-
duce them at the mission, was to transport them, by
wagons, 200 miles. This was very expensive, but
necessity induced the immediate sending off of teams
for the purpose.
During the summer, Mr. McCoy was busied, a large
portion of his time, in agitating a scheme for coloniz-
ing the Indians in the West, and carried on an exten-
sive correspondence with Lewis Cass, Governor of the
Territory of Michigan, and several members of Con-
gress, as well as influential citizens of Ohio and Indi-
ana. He also brought the matter to the attention of
the Missionary Board.
Although the season had been one of general pros-
perity, there was a scarcity of breadstuffs at the mis-
sion ; 900 bushels of corn were gathered in the fall
and a large quantity of vegetables, but no wheat had
thus far been grown, and all the flour used was trans-
ported overland from Ohio. The mission was in debt
several hundred dollars. To make matters worse, a com-
munication was received from the agent of the Board
of Missions, saying that its funds were exhausted and
that no more drafts could be drawn on the Treasurer.
The mission had grown and its expenses had in-
creased in proporti'on. Miss Fanny Goodridge, of
Lexington, Ky., had entered the mission as a teacher
in November, and a Miss Wright and a Miss Purchase,
of Ohio, and Mr. and Mrs. Polke, of Indiana, had
either arrived or were soon expected.
56
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Toward the close of the year (1823), McCoy, urged
by the growing needs of the mission and the decreas
ing flow of aid toward it, set out upon a journey East
in order to solicit contributions from the charitably
disposed. He visited Washington, Philadelphia, Bos
ton and New York and other places, making repre
sentations of the conditions and wants of the mission
and everywhere received liberal donations of clothing
food supplies, books and over $2,000 in money.
On the 25th of May, 1824, he embarked at Buffalo
upon a schooner, which he had chartered for the pur-
pose of taking his goods directly to the mouth of the
St. Joseph. He left the vessel at Detroit, and crossed
the Peninsula on horseback, arriving at Carey June
11. There were at this time no inhabitants at the
mouth of the St. Joseph, and McCoy sent two young
Indians there, instructing them to keep a great fire
burning day Snd night to attract the attention of the
sailors upon the schooner to the point where the cargo
should be landed. The arrival of the vessel was
looked forward to with very pleasant anticipations
and with considerable impatience. There was no
flour at Carey, and the Indians who were sent down
to the shore of Lake Michigan were told to open the
first barrel landed from the schooner, and hasten back
with as much as they could carry. Mr. McCoy says :
" All except myself were in good spirits in regard to
food, hourly expecting the arrival of the vessel. I
feared that contrary winds or other hindrance might
cause us to sufi'er, but I concealed my anxiety. On
the 18th (of June) we had only corn enough for one
day, but our merciful God was still near us. * * *
On the evening of the 18th, to our great joy, and
mine in particular, one of the young men arrived with
a mule packed with flour." Their ship had come in.
The goods unloaded at the mouth of the river were
conveyed to Carey in pirogues (large canoes), Mr.
Polke superintending the labor, which occupied a con-
siderable time, the articles to be transported, includ-
ing a hundred barrels of flour, twenty-four barrels of
salt and thirty bushels of wheat for seed, and many
boxes of miscellaneous supplies, clothing and books.
" From this time forward the mission did not sufi'er
for want of bread, nor did the pecuniary wants ever
again become so great as they had been." It is fur-
ther stated that " from this time until, by an arrange-
ment with the Government in 1830, the affairs of the
mission were wound up, the people at Carey never
had occasion to draw on the Board of Missions."
During the next two years, Mr. McCoy and his as-
sociates had much to be grateful for. The Superin-
tendent notes in his book, in the summer of 1824,
"that it was discovered that the prejudices of the
Pottawatomies, with which they had to contend at
first, had almost wholly vanished from among those
who were near us. We had never before seen a time
when our Indian neighbors manifested so much inter-
est in the mission. Applications to us to take their
children into our family were frequent, and their at-
tention to religious instruction appeared to increase."
One or two of the neighboring Indian villages were
visited every Sunday. The number of pupils in the
school was considerably augmented. Materially, as
well as religiously, the affairs of the mission were
prosperous. More than two hundred acres of land
was inclosed with fence, and over three hundred bush-
els of wheat were harvested in each of the years 1824
and 1825. A horse-power flouring-mill was also
erected — the first in Michigan west of Ann Arbor or
Tecumseh.
John L. Leib, Esq., of Detroit, a Government
Commissioner appointed to examine the condition of
affairs at the mission, spent three days there in 1824
— the last day of October and the first two of No-
vember. His report to Gov. Cass was very compli-
mentary to the missionaries. One sentence from this
paper will convey an idea of the whole. He says :
"I beheld a colony firmly settled, numerous, uivilized
and happy, with every attendant blessing, flowing
from a well regulated, industrious and religious com-
munity."
Mr. Leib made a second visit, in the latter part of
August, 1826. We make liberal extracts from his
report* to the Governor, describing the mission :
"On the 15th of August, I proceeded to the Carey
establishment, on the St. Joseph's, where I ar-
rived on the 21st, and was much gratified with its im-
provement in all departments. It is a world in min-
iature, and presents the most cheerful and consoling
appearance. It has become a familiar resort of the
natives, and from the benefits which they derive from
it in various shapes, they begin to feel a dependence
on and a resource in it at all times, and especially in
difiicult and trying occasions. There is not a day — I
might almost say an hour — in which new faces were
not to ♦e seen. The smithey afi'ords them almost
incalculable facilities, and is constantly filled with ap-
plicants for some essential service. It is a touching
spectacle to see them, at the time of prayers, 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 satisfaction.
" The missionaries permanently connected with this
institution, beside the superintendent and his wife,
are Robert Simmerwell and wife, Jonathan Meeker
and Johnston Lykins, who is now constituted the
* The documeat is published in Mr. McCoy's history.
GAMALIEL TOJ^NfSEfslD.
GAMALIEL TOWNSEND.
The subject of this sketch was born January 20,1802,
in Canada, and was the son of Abraham Townsend, the
pioneer of La Grange Township. He removed with his
parents to Huron Co., Ohio, in 1815, where he married
in February, 1825, his first wife, Malinda Brown. In
1826, he emigrated to Michigan from Perrysburg,
Ohio. He was in company with Israel Markham and
others who had two yoke of oxen. Mr. Townsend's
team consisted of a yoke of oxen with ahorse hitched
ahead of them. The party left Perrysburg on June
10, and arrived at Uzziel Putnam's, on Pokagon
Prairie, upon July 4. It is probable that the anni-
versary of national independence was first celebrated
in Cass County upon that day in the enjoyable meeting
of these pioneers. Mr. Townsend's journey, occupy,
ing nearly a month's time, was not as disagreeable as
that of the majority of early emigrants to Southwest-
ern Michigan, for it was made in a pleasant season of
the year and with good company. They had cows
with them and therefore plenty of milk to use with
their humble but substantia! fare. They made slow
progress and encamped in the most favorable places
at night. While they were winding their way through
the heavy woods between Monroe and Tecumseh,
Israel Markham's wagon broke down and the whole
company was delayed three days awaiting its repair.
The subject of our sketch worked during his first
summer in Michigan for the Carey Mission people,
cutting with Abraham Loux forty tons of wild hay,
near Barren Lake. The second season they cut in
the same vicinity about eighty tons. In 1829, Mr.
Townsend moved to La Grange Township, settling
where he now lives. He kept the first post office in
the township, in 1830, at his father's house. In 1832,
when the Sauk or Black Hawk war broke out, he
served as a Lieutenant in the militia. His first wife
dying in 1838, Mr. Townsend married in November,
1841, Charlotte Hunter, whose family became settlers
in the vicinity in 1831. The children are Statta and
Abraham (deceased); Gamaliel, a resident of the towii-
sliip; John H., who died in California ; Otis, Clau-
dius, Agnes, Lewis, Candice and George. For the
past ten years, Mr. Townsend has sufi'ered the affliction
of almost total blindness, but otherwise has enjoyed
good health, considering his advanced age, and has been
the deserving recipient of very many of the blessings
of life.
LiZZIEL F\JT\4AfA.
orleaN PiirNy^jvi
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
superintendent of a missionary station called Thomas,
on Grand River, a ramification from the St. Joseph's.
" There are at present seventy scholars, forty-two
males and twenty-eight females, in various stages of
improvement. * * * Eight of the alumni of
this institution, who have completed the first rudi-
ments of education, have been transferred to acade-
mies in New Jersey and New York. Two of the
boys at Carey are learning the trades of blacksmith
and shoemaker ; the remainder, of sufficient size,
are employed occasionally on the farm. The girls
are engaged in spinning, knitting and weaving, and
the loom has produced 185 yards of cloth this year.
Two hundred and three acres are now inclosed, of
which fifteen are in wheat, fifty in Indian corn,
eight in potatoes, pumpkins and other vegetable pro-
ducts. The residue is appropriated for pasture.
" There have been added to the buildings since my
last visit a house and a most excellent grist-mill,
worked by horses. The usefulness of this mill can
scarcely be appreciated, as there is no other within
100 miles at least, of the establishment ; and here, as
benevolence is the predominating principle, all the
surrounding population is benefitted.
"Numerous Ifldian families have since my last
visit settled themselves around, and have, from the
encouragement, countenance and assistance of the
missionary family, made 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 them to witness myself
the change in their condition. To good fences, with
which many of their grounds are inclosed, succeed
domestic animals. You now see oxen, cows and
swine grazing around their dwellings, without the
danger of destroying their crops. These are the
strongest evidences of their improvement, and not
the least of the benefits arising from the neighbor-
hood of this blessed abode of the virtuous inmates of
Carey.
"It is not in the immediate neighborhood alone
that the efforts of missionary exertion are felt. In
distant places, near the moutH of the St. Joseph, and
on the Grand River, the most surprising changes
have taken place. Strong and effective inclosures
are made and making, and stock acquired, and at the
latter place the missionary family have erected several
spacious buildings, including a schoolhouse, and
improved some lands."
In September, 1827, the missionaries had the pleas-
ure of entertaining a distinguished visitor, Gov. Cass,
who had been from the first a warm friend of the
establishment. The Governor was one of three com-
missioners appointed by the United States to negotiate
a treaty with the St. Joseph Pottawatomies. While
negotiations were pending, Gov. Cass and the mem-
bers of his party carefully investigated the management
of the mission, and spoke of it in terms of approbation
and admiration.
Carey Mission had now been in existence about five
years. Although many of the hopes entertained by
Mr. McCoy and his helpers had been realized in the
institution, and notwithstanding the fact that it had
been in a general way successful, it was foreseen that
its usefulness could not long continue. It was known
from the beginning that when the Indian title to the
land had been extended, and the country occupied by
white settlers, the native people, and the religious in-
stitution planted in their midst, must inevitably be
crowded out. Hence, for some time prior to 1827,
Mr. McCoy had been devoting much attention to the
projoct of removal. The stream of immigration over-
whelmed the mission even sooner than its people had
expected. One of the potent evils arising from the
proximity of the whites was the wholesale furnishing
of liquor to the Indians, and their terrible debauchery
through its use. The traders could not be restrained
from the traffic in whisky, and the missionaries felt
that their strongest efforts were powerless to advance
the condition of the Indian while they had to contend
with it.
The mission was not entirely suspended until 1830.
In September of that year, Charles Noble, Esq., of
Michigan, and Mr. Simonson, of Indiana, made a
valuation of the Carey property, appraising the im-
provements at $5,080, and the growing crop at
$641.50. The total of these amounts was paid to
the Board of Missions by Government, and was after-
wards applied in establishing a mission in the West.
The school was discontinued at this time, with the
exception of a half dozen pupils, who remained a few
months in charge of two of the missionaries — Mr. and
Mrs. Simmerwell — who remained in the country,
and subsequently located at a spot not far from
Carey.
The establishment of Carey Mission, as we have
said at the outset of this chapter, was an important
event in the history of Southwestern Michigan. It
was the chief nucleus of early settlement. The con-
dition of many of the pioneers was ameliorated in a
large measure by their close proximity to this station.
Some of them earned money there, and made their
start in life with the proceeds of labor performed for
McCoy. Many of the early settlers of Cass County
found the mission a convenient place from which to
procure seed for planting and various necessary sup-
plies. The mill at Carey supplied them with flour and
meal, and obviated the necessity of making long and
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
tedious trips to remote settlements, or the alternative
of grinding by hand. In a score of ways the mission
was advantageous to the people who located in the
region surrounding it.
CHAPTEE IX.
ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN AS A SETTLER.
Indian Traders— Zacclieus Wooden, the Trapper— His Visit to Cass
Countyin 1814-15— Tlie White Man as a Permanent Settler— First
Settlement in the Interior of the State— Earliest Settlement in Ber-
rien County— The Pioneers Enter Pokagon— Dates of Early Settle-
ments throughout Cass County— Causes Operating to Ketard Immi-
gration—The Sauk or Black Hawk War Scare— The .lune Frost of
IS.'K.
THE earliest white men in Southwestern Michigan
were the adventurous characters who traded with
the Indians. At Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Bert-
rand and St. Joseph, in Michigan, and South Bend
and Elkhart, in Indiana, were important trading sta-
tions, some of which were maintained for long terms
of years. So far as is known, there was no station
within the present limits of Cass County. This region
was tributary to the traders at St. Joseph, and upon
the site of Bertrand ; and the Indians took the pel-
tries which they gathered in its woods and upon its
prairies, and upon the margins of its lakes, to one or
the other of those localities.
A Frenchman named Le Clere was the first trader
located at Bertrand, and it is probable that he estab-
lished himself there as early as 1775. He was suc-
ceeded by John Kinzie, and he by Joseph Bertrand,
after whom the place was named, in 1814. In the
meantime, Abraham Burnett had settled at the mouth
of the river. Both Bertrand and Burnett made im-
provements, which indicated their intention to remain
as permanent settlers.
The first well-authenticated visit of a white man to
the region now known as Cass County was made by
Zaccheus Wooden. He was a native of Saratoga
County, N. Y., and, in 1813, when nineteen years of
age, he went to Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In the fol-
lowing spring, being of an adventurous turn of mind,
in company with eleven others, he engaged to go on a
trapping expedition for that king of fur-traders,
John Jacob Astor. The party proceeded through the
woods from Cleveland to Monroe, Mich., where
there was a small settlement, and there divided into
pairs and penetrated the forest in various directions.
Wooden and his companion went up the River Raisin,
and thence to Elkhart. Making this place a rendez-
vous, they followed the various water-courses, and vis-
ited the lakes in the surrounding country, setting
their traps where the otter, beaver, mink, muskrat and
other fur-bearinp' animals did most abound.
The only white man Wooden saw after leaving
Monroe was a Frenchman named John Kabeau, who
lived with an Indian wife in a little hut on the bank
of Pleasant Lake, near the site of Edwardsburg. He
was a trapper, and undoubtedly in the employ of
Bertrand. Upon a little piece of poorly-cultivated
ground near his cabin, he raised sufficient c&rn to sup-
ply the needs of himself and dusky partner, and he
even had a little to spare, which his visitor was glad
to buy on several occasions. During most of the time
that Wooden was engaged in trapping in Cass
County, he was alone. He visited Diamond Lake and
Stone Lake, spending two weeks upon the banks of the
latter. Near Diamond Lake there was a beaver dam,
and he there secured quite a large number of skins.
His food consisted of corn-meal cake, salt, and such
game as he chanced to secure. Beaver livers, pre-
pared by a peculiar process and dried, were consid-
ered a great delicacy. The trapping was carried on
in Cass County from November to April in the years
1814-15, and, in subsequent seasons Mr. Wooden's
avocation led him to other parts of the country.
There is something quite engaging in the contem-
plation of the rude, free life of the trapper, and the
joys that must have been his in traversing so beautiful
a region while it was still in a state of nature.
But it is the advent of the white man as a perma-
nent settler which must most interest all of those per-
sons who now enjoy, or in the future shall enjoy,
those blessings which the pioneers of Cass County,
having laboriously earned, left to them as a free but
priceless legacy.
The first permanent settlement in the interior of
Michigan was made in Oakland County in the spring
of 1817.
In the preceding chapter a full history has been
given of that guiding star of the pioneer, the Carey
Mission, founded by the zealous McCoy in 1822. The
effect of that missionary station in the wilderness
has been fully described. It was the center of settle-
ment for Cass and Berrien Counties.
The first actual settler in Berrien County was
S([uire Thompson, who located at Niles, in 1823, and
brought his family there in the following year.
In 1825, upon the 22d of November, Uzziel Put-
nam made the primal settlement in Cass County,
moving onto Pokagon Prairie, where he lived until his
death, in the summer of 1881, witnessing that won-
derful work of development which in a half century
converted the surrounding country from an uninhabited
and trackless expanse of woods and prairies into one of
the best improved and most beautiful farming regions
of the West. Baldwin Jenkins was the second settler,
and arrived in less than a week from the time that Put-
lllsroKY OF ("A?
•OI'.NTY, MICIIhJAN.
nam came into the country. In the spring of 18"27,
Squire Thompson removed from Niles to Pokagon.
The settlement was further increased by the arrival of
Ira Putnam and Lewis Edwards.
In the meantime the southern part of the county
became the scene of pioneer beginnings, Ezra
Beardsley making his home, in 182 •, upon the prairie
in Ontwa, which bears his name.
In the following year, the Pokagon settlement re-
received accessions to its population in the persons of
William Garwood and Israel Markhara with his several
sons, and Beardsley was cheered by the arrival of sev-
eral neighbors, among whom were George and Sylves-
ter Meacham, George Crawford and Chester Sage.
Very naturally the earliest locations were made
upon the prairies, and the heavy timbered land from
which farms could only be hewn out by almost hercu-
lean toil were as a rule the last chosen by immigrants.
Many of the pioneers had already experienced a battle
with the forest in Ohio or Indiana, and for such the
prairies possessed beauties which were hidden from
other eyes.
La Grange Prairie was the scene of the next settle-
ment, and Abraham Townsend was the first man who
built a cabin there. His son, Gamaliel, and himself,
with other members of the family, airived upon the
1st of March. Soon after, came Lawrence and James
Cavanaugh and Abraham Loux, and in October Thomas
McKenney and James Dickson settled on the prairie
which bears the name of the former. In the same
month, the family of William R. Wright located on
La Grange Prairie.
Penn Township was permanently settled soon after
La Grange and had some S(juatter residents at a prior
date. Joseph Frakes, who arrived in 1827, was the
first of these. In 1828, after a short visit to Ohio,
he returned, with his bride, and subsequently removed
to Kalamazoo County. He made the positive state-
ment to the writer of his biography in the history of
that county that he was the first settler in Penn. In
1828. settlements were also made by Rodney Hinkley,
Daniel Shaffer, John Reed and some others, all of
whom, however, sold out their claims the following
season, except Shaffer. John Reed conveyed his im-
provement to Daniel Mcintosh. Other settlers of
1829 were George Jones and his sons, John Price,
John Rinehart and sons, Stephen Bogue, William
McCleary and Martin Shields.
Jefferson Township was settled in October, 1828,
by Nathan Norton, Abner Tharp, Moses and Will-
iam Reames, all of whom made permanent locations
except Tharp. He removed to Calvin in the spring j
of 1829, and in 1830 returned to Jefferson. He
soon after went to one of the Western States, but sub-
sequently returned and settled in Brownsville. John
Reed moved into the township from Penn, in the fall
of 1829, and was the second settler there.
In Porter, John Baldwin was the pioneer, locating
on the prairie which bears his name, in 1828. Will-
iam Tibbetts and Daniel Shellhammer settled in the
south part of the township in 1829, and John White
in the north part the same year.
Volinia was settled in 1829. Samuel and Dolphin
Morris arrived upon the 27th of March, and three
days later Jonathan Gard settled on Gard's Prairie,
and Elijah Goble and Samuel Rich, on the western
side of Little Prairie Ronde. Both parties were
guided to their locations by Squire Thompson, of
Pokagon. In the same season, Jacob Morland and
Jacob Charles arrived, and in the following year
Josephus Gard, William Tietsort, John Curry and
Samuel and Alexander Fulton.
Elara Beardsley was the first settler in Mason in
1830, and Denis Beardsley was the second settler,
coming into the township in 1832.
Howard was settled some time prior to Mason, but
the exact date is not known. The pioneer of this
township was William Kirk.
Milton Township was settled about the same time
as Mason, but it is not absolutely known who was the
first settler. The honor belongs either to John Hudson
or J. Mellville. The latter purchased land Septem-
ber 24, 1829.
In Newberg the first settlement was made by John.
Bair, in 1831. He located in the southern part of
the township. Daniel Driskell and George Poe ar-
rived in 1833. The township was settled slowly until
after 1837.
Wayne Township was settled in 1833, and Jacob
Zimmerman was probably the pioneer.
In Silver Creek the pioneer was James McDaniel,
who located there in 1834. Jacob A. Suits became a
settler in 1836, and there were but three other men
in the township when he arrived, viz., McDaniel,
John Barney and Jacob Van Horn.
Marcellus was the last township in the county to be
settled. Joseph Haight, who arrived in 1836, was
the earliest resident.*
These whom we have named, their cotemporaries and
those who followed closely after them were among the
pioneers of one of the grandest armies earth ever knew
— an army which came not to conquer with fire, antl
force and carnage, but to hew away the forest, to till
the prairie's pregnant soil, to make the wilderness
blossom as the ro.se — the array of peace and civiliza-
tion. The pioneers were the valiant vanguard of such
*The Bflbject iif settlomoiit in vi-ry briefly In'atfd hcrt", iia it ri>riuii Otc iiirRer
portion uf oiicU and ovcry chuptcr iil townsblp history.
60
HTSTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
an army as this — an array which, after the passing of
half a century, has not fully occupied the country
which it has conquered, but whose hosts are still fast
and irresistibly pressing onward.
The settlement of Cass County did not proceed
uniformly or unbrokenly. Several disturbing in-
fluences had an effect upon the current of emigra-
tion.
The first of these was the scare which the far-away
Sauk or Black Hawk war created in 1832. The
scene of actual hostilities was in Western Illinois and
Wisconsin ; but the inhabitants of the less remote West
were, and not without some reason, very much
alarmed. There was no telegraph then as now to
convey the news, and it came in the form of vague
rumors, and imagination picture! a hundred horrors
for every one related. There were two grounds of fear ;
first that the terrible Sauks would invade the country,
and second that the Pottawatomies. scattered through
Southwestern Michigan, would become inflamed by
news of the hostilities and either join the force of
Black Hawk or wage war independently. When the
dread tidings of the Sauk uprising were received at
Chicago, the Government agent there sent an express
to Michigan asking for the aid of the militia of the
Territory in defending that point. Gen. Joseph W.
Brown commanded his brigade to take the field, ap-
pointing Niles as the place of rendezvous. Those
who arrived there by the 24th of May were mustered
and marched out toward Chicago. Cass County
furnished as many men as her small population would
allow. The news was brought to Cassopolis by Col.
A. Houston and communicated to Abram Tietsort,
Jr., whose duty it was, as Sergeant of the company, to
notify members of the order issued by their com-
mander. Isaac Shurte was Captain, and Gamaliel
Townsend, one of the Lieutenants. There was great
agitation in the scattered prairie settlements of the
county as the order to turn out was carried from
house to house, and still greater when the men started
away from their homes for what their wives and chil-
dren supposed was to be mortal combat with the fero-
cious Sauks and Foxes.
The terror of those left unprotected Vas very real
and very intense, although when the actual condition
of affairs was learned, when it was found that there
had been no hostile Indians within two or three hun-
dred miles of Michigan, some of the occurrences dur-
ing the season of supposed danger appeared rather
ridiculous. The few settlers in the central part of
the county seriously considered the project of taking
refuge upon the island in Diamond Lake and for-
tifying it against the enemy, and would undoujjtedly
have done so had their suspense not been ended just
when it was. The plan was certainly a feasible one,
and it is altogether probable that in past ages the
island has served exactly the same purpose to which
the alarmed inhabitants proposed to put it in 1832.
It is an admirable natural stronghold.
In the Volinia settlement — upon the farm of Elijah
Goble or possibly that of Jacob Charles, the women
began to erect a fortification, but had not made much
progress with their work when Samuel Morris and
the Rev. Mr. Pettit arrived with information which
allayed their fears.
During the absence of the militiamen from the
settlements, it was a common thing for the few males
who remained at home, and the women and children,
to abandon their cabins at night and sleep in such
hiding-places as they could find. They were in con-
stant fear that the war-whoop of the Indian would
assail their ears, and that their cabins would be fired
to light the scenes of butchery that would follow.
One squad of the militia returning home in the
evening, when near Cassopolis, greatly alarmed a
family by the name of Parker, by firing off their
guns. The firing was intended to serve as the signal
of joyful home-coming, but Parker mistook it f)r the
noise of battle and fled precipitately to the bank of
Stone Lake, and throwing himself into his canoe,
paddled in great haste to the center of the little sheet
of water, where he remained until morning.
One individual in La Grange Township, who was
prejudiced against labor, remonstrated against the
planting of corn during the season of supposed danger.
" Why," said he, " what is the use ; by harvest time
there won't one of us have a scalp on our heads."
Many of the militiamen did not go farther from
home than Niles, but they each received a full month's
pay and a land warrant. But whatever of benefit ac-
crued to individuals was more than counterbalanced
by the effect upon the country at large. Immigration
was almost completely checked. Rumors of the
scare found their way East, and many who contem-
plated coming into the country either abandoned their
plans altogether and sought locations in Ohio, or de-
layed their settlement in Michigan for a year or so.
Interviews with the pioneers of Cass County reveal
the fact that very few of them arrived in 1832.
Another cause which affected immigration to South-
western Michigan was nothing more or less than a
heavy frost which occurred in June, 1835. It created
great damage to the growing crops, and the impres-
sion went abroad that a land in which such a catas-
trophe could come to the husbandman was not a
desirable one to emigrate to. The reputation of the
climate received a blow from which it did not fully
recover for a number of years. Of course the frost
LEWIS EDWAF^DS.
M^S. LEWIS EDWAI^DS.
LEWIS EDWARDS.
Lewis Edwards, or, 'Squire Edwards, as he was fa-
miliarly known during his lifetime, was perhaps more
prominently connected with the initial events in the
history of Cass County than any one else.
He witnessed its transition from a wilderness to a
highly productive and fertile country, from a sparsely
settled region to a busy and prosperous community,
and in his own person so typified the agencies that
wrought these changes that no history of Cass County
would be complete without an extended and elaborate
sketch of his life and that of his worthy wife, who, per-
haps, is entitled to almost as much prominence as he,
as she bore with him the trials, hardships and depri-
vations of the early days.
He left an enviable name and an unspotted repu-
tation, and so long as anything is known of the history
of the county of which he was one of the founders,
the name of Lewis Edwards will be held in grateful
remembrance by those who will be reaping the
benefits of his self-sacrificing toil, and the many
things he did to advance the interests of the county.
To his son, Lewis, the patrons of this volume are
indebted for the portraits of this eminent couple, and
to his nephew, Joseph 11. Edwards, of Cassopolis, for
the ably written sketch of his life, which will be found
on another page in this history.
HISTORY OF TASS COUNTY. MI("I1IC.AX.
61
in June was a phenomenal occurrence. It has never
been paralleled in Cass or the adjoining counties.
Farmers who were living in the county at the time
suffered quite severe losses. Very little other than
prairie land was in cultivation at that time, and hence
the loss was general. Corn and all other growing
crops were cut to the ground. The wheat crop was
an almost total failure. Many of the settlers did not
have enough for seed, and had to go long distances to
procure sufficient quantities for sowing ; and it often
happened, such was the scarcity of money in those
days, that they were obliged to pay for it in labor.
There is some dispute among old residents as to the
exact date of the occurrence of this frost of 1835 ; but
good authority places it in the night of the 19-20th
of June.
Notwithstanding the effect of the frost in retarding
immigration, the records show that the land sales of
18-36 were larger than those of any former or subse-
quent year. Just how much they would have ex-
ceeded the amount actually reached, had not the frost
occurred, cannot of course be determined. That in
Cass County at least, the entries would have been
far more numerous is beyond dispute. It is probable,
however, that the report concerning climatic severity
did not reach the full measure of its effect unMl 1837.
CHAPTER X.
PIONEER LIFE.
Beauty of the Country in aState of Nature— Cabin Buildins Described-
Furniture and Houseliold Utensils— Food— First Mill— Occupations
of the Pioneers-" Breaking "-Women Spinning and Weaving-
Social Amenities— First (teneral Pioneer Gathering at Eli,|ah
Goble's in 1837— Character of the Pioneers— Two Classes— .Tob
Wright, of Diamond Lake Island, as a Type of the Eccentric Class.
THE pioneers who penetrated Southwestern Michi-
gan found a land as fertile and as fair to look
upon as heart could wish. In the spring the woods
were odorous with the spicy exhalations of bursting
buds, and the prairies were jeweled with strange and
brilliant flowers? — " the stars that in earth's firmament
do shine " — while the luxuriant growth of tall, wav-
ing grass gave evidence of the strength of the virgin
soil which it clothed. One early settler (George Red-
field, of Ontwa, whose eyes for the last ten years have
been closed to the beauties of nature which he so well
loved) gives an enthusiastic description of the loveli-
ness of the scene which met his gaze when he first
visited Cass County. The profusion and the variety
of the wild flowers was remarkable. They gleamed
through the cool, green grass in countless millions.
Mr. Redfield owns seven or eight hundred acres of
Beardsley's Prairie, which has been for years in a su-
perb condition of cultivation and inclosed with miles
of living fence, but he says that the land has never
appeared so beautiful to his eyes as it did when in a
state of nature.
The long aisles of the forest led away into mazes of
vernal green and twilight shadow, where the swift
deer bounded by or paused to hear the rolling echoes
of the woodman's ax. The underbrush nearly every-
where had been annually burned away by the Indians,
and where the ground was level the vistas stretched
far away, there being nothing to obstruct the vision
I but the brown boles of the trees which appeared like
innumerable pillars supporting the fretted ceiling of a
vast temple.
The placid and pellucid waters of the little lakes
mirrored the overhanging boughs of the great trees
which lined their banks and lent brightness and
variety to the view.
All about were displayed the lavish bounties of
' nature. Animate life abounded in forest and in lake.
Game was plenty. The waters teemed with fish.
Water fowl — swans, geese and ducks — were in their
season present in great flocks.
But the pioneers came not to enjoy a life of lotus-
eating ease. They could admire the pristine beauty
of the scenes around them ; they could enjoy the
vernal green of the great forest and the loveliness of
all the works of nature; they could look forward with
[ happy anticipation to the life they were to lead in the
midst of all this beauty and to the rich reward that
i would be theirs for the cultivation of the mellow, fer-
I tile soil, but they had first to work.
The pioneers arriving at their places of destination
j after long and tedious journeying over Indian trails
I or roads rudely improved by the whites, as a rule
brought very little with them with which to begin the
I battle of life. They had brave hearts and strong
I arms, however, and possessed invincible determina-
tion. Sometimes the men came on without their
! families to make a beginning, but more often all came
! together. The first thing done after a rude, tempo-
rary shelter had been provided, was to prepare a little
spot of ground for the growth of some kind of a crop.
If the location was in the woods, this was done by
girdling the trees, clearing away the under-brush (if
there chanced to be any), and sweeping the surface
with fire. Ten, fifteen, twenty, or even thirty acres
I of land might thus be prepared and planted the first
season. In the autumn, the crop would be carefully
gathered and garnered with the least possible waste ;
for it was the chief food supply of the pioneer and his
family, and life itself might possibly depend upon its
safe preservation.
While the first crop was growing, the pioneer
busied himself with the building of his cabin, which
62
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
must answer as a shelter from the storms of the com-
ing winter, and perhaps serve as a protection from the
ravages of wild beasts. The pioneer who was com-
pletely isolated from his fellow-men, occupied an
unenviable situation ; for, without assistance, he could '
construct only a poor habitation. In such cases, the !
cabin was generally made of light logs or poles, and
was laid up roughly only to answer the purpose of
temporary shelter, until other settlers should come
Into the vicinity, by whose help a more solid structure !
could be built. Usually a number of families came
into the country together, and located within such
distance of each other that they were enabled to per-
form many friendly and neighborly offices. After
the first year or two had elapsed from the first settle-
ment of the county, there was no difficulty experienced
in cabin- building. Assistance was always readily
given a pioneer by all of the scattered residents of the
country within a radius of several miles. The com- i
monly-followed plan of erecting a log cabin was
through a union of labor. The site of the cabin
home was generally selected with reference to a good
water supply. It was often by a never-failing spring
of pure water, or if such could not be found in a
location otherwise desirable, it was not uncommon to
first dig a well. If water was reached, preparations :
were made for building near the well. When the
cabin was to be built, the few men in the neighbor-
hood gathered at the site and first cut down within as
close proximity as possible the requisite number of
trees, as nearly of a size as could be found, but rang-
ing from a foot to fifteen inches in diameter. Logs i
were chopped from these and rolled to the common j
center where they were to be used. Often this pre-
liminary part of the work was performed by the
prospective occupant of the cabin. If not, it would
consume the greater part of the day. The entire
labor of erecting the cabin would commonly occupy \
two or three days. The logs were raised to their |
position by the use of hand-spikes and "skid-poles,"
and men standing at the corners with axes notched
them as fast as they were laid in position. The place
of " corner-man " was one of honor.
When the cabin was built a few logs high, the work
became more difficult. The gables were formed by
beveling the logs and making them shorter and
shorter, as each additional one was laid in place.
These logs in the gables were held in position by
poles which extended across the cabin from end to
end, and which served also as rafters upon which to
lay the rived "clapboard" roof. The so-called
"clapboards" were five or six feet in length, and
were split from oak or ash logs, and made as smooth
and flat as possible. They were laid side by side, |
and other pieces of split stuff were laid over the cracks
so as to effectually keep out the rain. Upon these
were laid logs to hold them in place, and the logs
were held by blocks of wood placed between them.
An important part of the structure was the chim-
ney. In rare cases it was made of stone, but most
commonly of logs and sticks laid up in a manner
similar to those which formed the cabin. It was in
nearly all cases built outside of the cabin, and at its
base a huge opening was cut through the wall for a
fire-place. The sticks in the chimney were held in
place and protected from fire by a plastering of mud.
Flat stones were procured for the back and jambs of
the fire-place. An opening was chopped or sawed
in the logs on one side of the cabin for a doorway.
Pieces of hewn timber, three or four inches thick,
were fastened on each side by wooden pins to the
ends of the logs, and the door (if there was one), was
fastened to one of these by wooden or leathern hinges.
The door itself was a clumsy piece of woodwork. It
was made of boards rived from an oak log, and held
together by heavy cross-pieces. There was a wooden
latch upon the inside, raised from without by a string
which passed through a gimlet hole. From this mode
of construction arose the old and well-known hospita-
ble sayijig, "You will find the latch-string always
out." It was only pulled in at night, and the door
was thus fastened. Some of the cabins of the pioneers
had no door of the kind here described, but instead
merely a blanket suspended at the opening.
. The window was a small opening, often devoid of
anything resembling a sash or glass. In lieu of the
latter, greased paper was frequently used and some-
times an old garment constituted a curtain, which was
the only protection from sun or rain.
The floor of the cabin was made of puncheons —
pieees of timber split from trees about eighteen
inches in diameter, and hewed smooth with a broad
ax. They were usually half the length of the floor.
Some of the cabins earliest erected in this part of the
county had nothing but earth floors. Occasionally
there was a cabin which had a cellar, that is a small
excavation under the floor, to which access was had
by removing a loose puncheon. Very commonly the
cabins were provided with lofts. The loft was used
for various purposes, and among others as the " guest
chamber." It was reached by a ladder, the sides of
which were split pieces of sapling.
While the labor of building a rough log cabin
would be concluded in two or three days, the occu-
pant was often employed for months in finishing and
furnishing it. The walls had to be " chinked and
daubed," various conveniences provided and a few
rude articles of furniture manufactured.
IIISTOltV (»F CASS rOtlNTY. MICHIGAN.
K3
A forked stick set in the floor and supporting two
poles, the other ends of which rested upon the logs
at the end and side of the cabin, formed a bedstead.
A common form of table was a split slab supported by
four rustic legs set in auger holes. Three-legged
stools were made in similar simple manner. Pegs
driven in auger holes in the logs of the wall supported
shelves, and upon others was displayed the limited
wardrobe of the family. A few other pegs or perhaps
a pair of deer horns formed a rack where hung the
rifle and powder horn which no cabin was without.
These and a few other simple articles formed the
furniture and furnishings of the pioneer's cabin. In
contrast with the rude furniture fashioned by the j
pioneer with his poor tools there was occasionally to ',
be seen a few souvenirs of the "old home."
The utensils for cooking and the dishes for table
use were few. The best of the latter were made of
pewter, and the careful housewife of the olden time
kept them shining as brightly as the most pretentious
plate to be found in our later-day fine houses. Knives
and forks were few, crockery scarce and tinware by
no means abundant.
Corn was frequently ground or pounded into
coarse meal at home by the family of the pioneer.
Going to mill was considerable of a task when a man
had to journey ten or twenty miles over a bad road or
a mere trail with his grist loaded upon a horse. The
first mill to which the pioneers of Cass County went,
was one built at Dowagiac Creek, near Niles, by Eli
Ford, in the year 1827. In the following year was
built the first grist-mill in Cass County. It was a
very primitive affair indeed, but was a great conven-
ience to the people. It was located near the site of
the village of Vandalia, upon Christiana Creek, and
was built and operated by a Mr. Carpenter. The
buhrs and irons of this mill were brought from
Ohio. \
Bread was commonly baked in a " reflector" — a
huge tin receptacle which was placed before the fire —
or in a bake kettle. Sometimes when these conven-
iences were not at hand, corn-cake was baked in the
ashes or upon a board or large chip. Wild fruits were
made use of when they could be procured. If the
pioneer was a hunter, as was usually the case, he kept
the larder supplied with venison, wild turkeys,
squirrels, and the many varieties of small game. Oc-
casionally bear meat varied the bill of fare. Salt
pork was a greater rarity and lu.xury however than
the choicest game. The food of the pioneers was
simply cooked and served, but it was almost always of
the most substantial and wholesome kind. j
The men were engaged constantly in the varied
avocations of pioneer life — cutting away the forest, |
burning the brush and debris, preparing the soil,
planting, harvesting, and caring for the few animals
they brought with them or soon procured.
"Breaking" was a distinctive feature of tlie pio-
neer's labor, and probably the most exhausting work
that a man could perform. The turf on the prairies
was very tough, and the ground in most places was
filled with a network of the wire-like red-root. The
most diflicult plowing, however, was in the openings
and timber land, where, although the underbrush had
been kept down by annual fires, the roots had grown
to great size. These were called "stools." An
ordibary plow-team would have been worthless among
the stools and grubs, and a common plow would have
been quickly demolished. The plow used was a
massive construction of wood and iron, and was known
as the "bull plow." The share and coulter were of
iron, and made very heavy and strong. The beam
was long and of huge proportions, to resist the enor-
mous strain brought to bear upon it. Usually the
weight of one of these ponderous bull plows was
about three hundred pounds, and there was one in
use in Cass County which weighed 500 pounds. To
the bull plow were attached ordinarily six or seven
yoke of oxen ; but instances have been known where
twelve and even fourteen yoke have been used to
advantage. With such a team, grubs as large around
as a man's arm or leg were cut off as if they were so
many straws. The breaking-team and the bull plow
was managed by two men, one holding the plow and
the other moving backward and forward along the
line of the team, administering stimulative blows, and
shouting the loud " gee, whoa, haw, to guide his oxen
as they draw."
" Breaking " was a regular business with some of
the pioneers for several years, and was followed as
threshing now is. The sum of $5 per acre was the
customary price for breaking land.
While the men were engaged in the heavy work of
the field or forest, their helpmeets were busied with
a multiplicity of household duties — providing for the
day and for the year, cooking, making and mending
clothes, spinning and weaving. ■ They were heroic in
their endurance of hardship and privation and loneli-
ness. They were, as a rule, admirably fitted by
nature and experience to be the consorts of the brave,
strong, industrious men who first came into the West-
ern wilderness. Their cheerful industry was well
directed and unceasing. Woman's work, like man's,
in pioneer times, was performed under many disad-
vantages, which have been removed by modern skill
and science, and the growth of new conditions. The
pioneer woman had not only to perform what are now-
a-days known as common household duties, but many
64
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
others. It was frequently the case that she had not
only to make the clothing for the family, but the
fabric for it. Money was scarce, and the markets in
which satisfactory purchases might be made were far
away. It was the policy of the pioneer (urged by
necessity), to buy nothing which could be profitably
produced by home industry ; and so it happened that
in many of the cabins of the earliest settlers was heard
the sound of the softly-whirring wheel and the
rhythmic thud of the loom, and that women were there
engaged in that old, old occupation of spinning and
weaving — an occupation which has been associated
with woman's name in all history, but one of which
the modern world knows little except what it has
heard from the lips of those who are grandmothers
now — an occupation which seems surrounded with the
glamour of romance as we look back upon it through
tradition and poetry, and which conjures up thoughts
of the graces and virtues of a generation of dames and
damsels which is gone. The woman of pioneer times
was like the woman described by Solomon : " She
seeketh wool and fla.x, and worketh willingly with
her hands; she layeth her hands to the spindle and
her hands hold the distaff."
The earliest pioneers of Cass County suffered much
from apprehension of Indian hostilities. The alarm
which was felt at the time of the Sauk war has been
spoken of in the preceding chapter. There were
many other occasions when the occupants of lonely
log cabins, with their nearest neighbors miles away,
were fearful that some roving band of savages might
inflict atrocities upon them. The women especially
were filled with a feeling of insecurity. Wild animals
caused much annoyance and created great damage by
their ravages. Wolves were very numerous for the
first fifteen or twenty years, and it was only by exer-
cise of the utmost care that the settlers were able to
raise sheep. The Board of Supervisors at their Octo-
ber meeting in 1834 resolved to give a bounty of $2
for scalps of the large species of wolves, and $1.50 for
the scalps of " pups and prairie wolves." In 1835, the
bounty was raised to $5 and later to $10. The
State also offered a bounty, and wolf-killing being
made profitable the animals were finally exterminated.
The great liability to sickness which always exists in.
a new country was another source of dread. Still
another trial which was endured by the men and
women who first dwelt in the Western country, and
one that was greater than is generally imagined, was
the sense of loneliness which could not be dispelled.
In the midst of all the loveliness of their surround-
ings, and in spite of the active life they led, the early
settlers experienced a deep-seated, constantly recur- j
ring feeling of isolation, which made many stout hearts
turn longingly back to the older settlements, the homes
and friends, the companionship and the sociability
they had abandoned co take up their new life in the
wilderness. This feeling was perhaps in the majority
of cases harder to bear than the privations and toil
and hardship and rude living which were inseparable
from pioneer life.
As the settlements increased, the sense of loneliness
[ and isolation was dispelled; the asperities of life were
softened, its amenities multiplied. Social gatherings
became more numerous and more enjoyable. Tlie log
rolling, harvesting and husking bees for the men and
the apple-butter making and quilting parties for the
I women furnished frequent opportunities for social in-
tercourse. A wedding was the event of most impor-
tance in the sparsely settled new country, and when-
ever one was celebrated the whole neighborhood turned
out to make merry. The young people had every in-
ducement to marry, and usually did so as soon as they
were able to provide for themselves.
The first social gathering in the county, which was
distinctively a meeting of the pioneers and intended
to be such, was held in the year 1837 at Elijah
] Goble's, in the village of Charlestown, Volinia Town-
ship. The occasion was the completion by Mr.
j Goble of a tavern building. He resolved to have a
house warming and so exten<led a general invitation
I to his fellow-pioneers to be present upon a certain
day with their wives and families. The day designated
was a pleasant one and from seventy-five to one hun-
dred people, mostly residents of the north part of the
county, assembled and passed a most enjoyable season
of social converse, related their experiences during the
first years of settlement, sang old-time songs and par-
took of a bountiful and substantial repast. A wandering
fiddl-er, happening opportunely to make his appearance,
was pressed into service, and the pioneer party ended
with a merry dance.
In the period between 1836 and 1840, immigration
seemed to receive a new and powerful impetus and
the country rapidly filled up with settlers. The era
of prosperity was fairly begun ; progress was slowly
but surely made ; the log houses became more numer-
ous in the clearings ; the forest shrank away before
the woodman's ax. Soon more commodious structures
took the places of the old log cabins ; frame houses
and barns appeared. The pioneers laid better plans
for the future, enlarged their possessions, improved
the means of cultivation, and resorted to new methods
and new industries. Society had begun to form itself,
the schoolhouse and the church had appeared and ad-
vancement was noticeable in a score of ways. Still
there remained a vast work to perform. The brunt
of the struggle, however, was past, and a way made in
ISAAC smJpje,
f/,P,5. ISAAC SHUrTE.
MR AND MRS. ISAAC SHURTE.
There is on earth no spectacle more beautiful than
that of two old people who have passed with honor
through storm and contest and retain to the last the
freshness of feeling which adorned their youth. Such
is a true green old age, and such are a pleasure to
know. There is a Southern winter in declining years
when the sunlight warms although the heat is gone.
There are still living in La Grange two of the town-
ship's first settlers. For over a half century they
have observed the momentous changes which have
culminated in the present stage of advancement.
When they came to Cass County they found a wilder-
ness, with here and there a clearing. Detroit had
hardly reached the distinction of a village, and Cassop-
olis and Dowagiac had not an existence. Beneath
their observation in a grand life panorama, Cass
County has been organized and developed into one of
the foremost agricultural regions in Michigan. It is
in keeping with the self-abnegation of such people
that they have retired to the background and quietly
look on as the great and varied interests of which
they iielped lay the foundation are seen to rise and
extend in prominence and utility. The father of
Isaac Shurte was of Dutch descent, and a soldier of
the Revolution. He was a staid and industrious man,
and reared a large family, Isaac being one of the
younger members. At tiie time of Isaac's birth (July
11, 1700). the family were living in New Jersey.
When a young man, he emigrated to Butler County,
Ohio, where he married Miss Mary Wright. She
was born in New Jersey, about thirty miles from New
York City, June 11, 1801 ; her father was a farmer
and soldier in the war of 1812. From Ohio Mr. and
Mrs. Shurte came to Cass County, where they have
since resided. By reference to history of La Grange,
it will be seen that Mr. Shurte took a conspicuous
part in the early affairs of the county ; the first town
meeting in La Grange was held at his house. When
the little settlement had reason to believe their homes
were to be despoiled and the lives of there families
placed in jeopardy by the Indians, Mr. Shurte took
command of a company of men and reported for duty.
Mr. and Mrs. Shurte have had ten children — Sally M.
Mary A., Elizabeth, Margaret, Francis M., Susan,
William, Sarepta, Henry and Cynthia E. Of the
above Sarepta (now Mrs. Fletcher), Margaret (Mrs.
Hardenbrook), Francis M., William and Henry are
now living, the latter on the old homestead. It is
questioned what recourse is left to the aged when no
longer able to pursue an accustomed round of labor.
Mr. and Mrs. Shurte are qualified to reply. They
have led a quite home life. They have marked out
and pursued a line of action whose goal has proved a
satisfaction. They have enjoyed the quiet of home
and the retirement of the farm, and their long lives
affords a marked contrast to the brief existence of
the votaries of pleasure.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHICtAX.
the wilderness by the pioneers for the army of occu-
pation that was to come.
The pioneers of Cass County and of all the West-
ern country were of two classes. The greater class
was made up of those earnest, strong, sturdy charac-
acters who came into the wilderness with the settled
and definite purpose of hewing out homes by dint of
patient toil and of securing for their ftimilies the best
possible condition in life. As a rule, they were a
pious, God-fearing class of men. Their habits of in-
dustry, frugality and sobriety, their patience, steadfast-
ness and determination to succeed made them in time,
however humble their beginnings might have been,
substantial citizens. The memory of hundreds who
were of this class is preserved in this volume.
But there was another class of men among the early
settlers well known in their day and generation, con-
cerning whom little information is now obtainable,
although some of their names have been made by
legend and tradition almost as familiar as household
words. We allude to those restless, migratory char-
acters who formed what may be called the floating
population of the frontier who were the human flot-
sam and jetsam of the ocean of life, borne onward,
and stranded here and there by the waves and surges
of emigration.
Among these wandering, transient pioneers there
were many strange, interesting characters who im-
pressed themselves strongly on the minds of the steadier
and more solid denizens of the n&vf country. A
marked type of this element was the eccentric Job
Wright, who lived for a number of years upon Dia-
mond Lake Island, and closed his strange existence in
Cass County.
As it would perhaps not be elsewhere presented, we
make a place here for what little is definitely known
about the apparently purposeless life of this erratic
pioneer.
From the history of Ross and Highland Counties,
Ohio, we learn that Job Wright was the first settler
at Greenfield, in the latter-named county, in the year
1799. We quote from the work mentioned. " He
was a native of North Carolina and had emigrated
with his father's family to Ross County, and settled at
the High Bank a few miles south of Chillicothe, but
not liking that locality he removed to Greenfield,
while as yet that town had no existence save on paper.
He made the first improvement in the village, build-
ing a log cabin where the Harper House now stands.
He was a hair sieve-maker, and as wire sieves were
then unknown * * * he derived quite
an income from his trade. * * * Mak-
ing hair sieves, however, did not monopolize Job's
time or talent. His principal occupation was fishing,
and he followed it with a perseverance and patience
worthy of his Biblical protonym and with a degree of
success of which even Isaak Walton might be proud.
His little cabin * * * became too
public a place to suit Job's fancy, after a few families
had removed to the town plat and he built another
in an isolated locality near his favorite fishing place
in Paint Creek, which is known to this day as ' Job's
Hole.' * * * It was not long before
civilization crowded Job farther west."
He probably left Greenfield before 1807 or 1803.
He is known to have taken part in the war of 1812.
Wandering from one place to another, but always
going westward, keeping upon the outposts of civiliza-
tion, he made his appearance in Cass County in 1829.
Very naturally he selected as the place of his loca-
tion the island in Diamond Lak e, that being the most
secluded situation he could find. He built a small
log cabin near the north end of the island, and for
some time lived there as a "squatter," but finally
entered the land, when there appeared to be danger
that it might pass into the possession of some one
else.
At his island home, Job led, the greater part of the
time, a hermit's life. During a portion of the years
he spent upon his little domain, however, his mother,
son and son's wife, whom he brought from Ohio, lived
with him. Job Wright was tall and gaunt, but power-
ful, red headed and long bearded. Upon one hand he
had two thumbs, and claimed that this peculiar forma-
tion was the badge and token of the gift of prophecy
and other endowments of occult-power. His strange
appearance and habits, secluded life, remarkable reti-
cence, and, the mystery in which his past was shrouded
all combined to produce the impression that he was
possessed of abilities not bestowed on common mortals.
By many persons he was said to have a knowledge
of witchcraft, and some people tell impressively at
this day how he could stop the flowing of blood by
simply learning the name and age of the person whose
life was endangered, and pronouncing a brief incanta-
tion. Most of his time was spent in hunting and
fishing, but he cultivated a small part of the island,
raising a little corn and a few vegetables for his own
use.
As the country became more thickly settled, Job
grew uneasy and sought the still farther west. After
several years of wandering, he returned to Diamond
Lake Island, which was probably the home of the
recluse pioneer for a greater period than any other
locality. His sturdy constitution had begun to fail
under the weight of years, when he returned to tlie
island and he died not very long after, at the home of
his daughter, Mrs. Cornelius Huff".
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
A few friends and acquaintances among the settlers
of the neighborhood, not more than a dozen in all,
followed the remains of the old recluse to the Cas-
sopolis burying-ground. George B. Turner, passing,
and happening to notice the little knot of men gathered
about an open grave, was led by curiosity to join
them. There was no minister present. The prepara-
tions were all made and the rude whitewood coffin
was about to be lowered into the ground when one of
the men, a rough spoten but tender-hearted and
humane old farmer uttered a suggestion to the effect
that some remarks ought to be made before the remains
of a fellow-mortal were laid away to rest. He called
upon Mr. Turner, who, after a moment's hesitation,
stepping upon the little mound of fresh earth at the
side of the grave, delivered Job Wright's funeral ser-
mon.
The secret of the cause which had driven the eccen-
tric pioneer to his life of seclusion was buried with
him.
CHAPTER XI.
ERECTION AND ORGANIZATION OF CASS COUNTY.
The Earliest Counties Established— St. Joseph Township-Cass County
Erected in 182;i— Berrien Attached under the name ol Niles Town-
ship—Political Divisions— County Seat Contest— Early Meetings of
the Supervisors— Valuations of the Townships and Taxes Levied—
The Courts— Public Buildings— Koster of Civil Officers.
THE first county erected within the territory now
included in the boundaries of Michigan was the
county of Wayne. It comprised a vast extent of ter-
ritory — the whole of the Lower Peninsula and also
portions of the present States of Ohio and Indiana.
It was established in 1796, and named after Gen.
Anthony Wayne. Detroit was the county seat.
Other counties were erected as follows: Monroe, in
1817; Mackinac, in 1818; Oakland, in 1820; Wash-
tenaw, in 1826; Chippewa, in 1826; Lenawee (from
Monroe), in 1826. On the 20th of November in the
year last named, the Legislative Council of the Terri-
tory of Michigan attached to Lenawee County all of
the territory, the Indian title to which had been ex-
tinguished by the treaty of Chicago in 1821. All of
this territory, including from seven to eight thousand
square miles of land, is now embraced in the counties
of Cass, St. Joseph, Branch, Hillsdale, Calhoun, Kala-
mazoo, Van Buren, Allegan, Barry and Eaton, and
constitutes nearly all of Berrien and Ottawa, and parts
of Ionia, Ingham, Jackson and Kent.
Upon April 12, 1827, the whole of this territory
was constituted and organized the township of St.
Joseph, and the first town meeting was ordered to be
held at the house of Timothy S. Smith, which stood
very near the site of the village of Niles. On Sep-
tember 22, 1828, the lands, of which the title was
ceded by the Indians at the Carey Mission treaty of
the same year, were attached to Lenawee County, and
added to the enormous township of St. Joseph. It
does not appear that Government had any other than
a merely nominal existence in St. Joseph Township,
and it is probable that no legal acts were performed
in or by it.
ERECTION AND ORCfANIZATION OF CASS COONTY.
The county of Cass was constituted very nearly as
it now exists by an act of the Legislative Council of
the Territory of Michigan, approved October 29,
1829. By the same act were erected the counties of
Ingham, Eaton, Barry, Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo,
Van Buren, Hillsdale, Branch, Berrien and St. Jo-
seph. The section defining the boundaries of Cass
County provided " That so much of the country as lies
west of the line between Ranges 12 and 13 west of
the meridian and east of the line between Ranges 16
and 17 west, and south of the line between Town-
ships 4 and 5 south of the base line and north of the
boundary line between this Territory and the State of
Indiana, be, and the same is hereby set off into a
separate county and the name thereof shall be Cass."
The boundaries remained unchanged until March
3, 1831, when that portion of the country lying east
of the St. Josepli River (consisting of one whole .sec-
tion and fractions of four others) was by act of the
Legislative Council made a portion of St. Joseph
County. Since that time no alteration whatever has
been made in the territory of Cass County.
Cass County "was organized under an act passed
November -1, 1829, entitled "An act to organize the
counties of Cass and St. Joseph, and for establishing
courts therein." Of this act, we reproduce the por-
tions having reference to Cass County.
ACT OF ORGANIZATION.
Be it enacted by the Legislative Council of the Territory of Mich-
igan, That the counties of Cass and St. Joseph shall be organized
from and after the taking effect of this act, and the inhabitants
thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law
the inhabitants of the other counties of this Territory are entitled.
Sec. 2. That there shall be a County Court established in each
of said counties; and (he County Court of the county of Cass
shall be held on the last Tuesday of May and on the last Tuesday
of November in each year. * * *
Seo. 3. That all suits, prosecutions and other matters now
depending before the County Court of Lenawee County, or before
any .Justice of the I'eace of said county of Lenawee, shall be
prosecuted to final judgment and execution ; and all taxes here-
tofore levied and now due shall be collected in the same manner
as though said counties of Cass and St. Joseph had not been or-
ganized.
Sec. 4. That the couties of Berrien and Van Buren, and all
the country lying north of the game to Lake Michigan, shall be at-
tached to and compose a part of the county of Cass.
i\
HISTORiT OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Sec. 8. That there shall be Circuit Courts, to be held in the
counties of Cass and St. Joseph, and that the several acts
concerning the Supreme, Circuit and County Courts of the Ter-
ritory of Michigan, defining their jurisdiction and powers, and
directing the pleadings and practice therein in certain cases,
be and the same are hereby made applicable to the Circuit Courts
in said counties.
Sbc. 9. That the said Circuit Court shall be held at the re-
spective county seals in said counties, at the respective court
houses or other usual places of holding courts therein ; provided,
that the first term of said court in the county of Cass shall be
holden at the schoolhouse near the house of Ezra Beardsley, in
said county. * * *
Sec. 10. That the county of Casa shall be one circuit, and the
court for the same shall be held hereafter on the second Tuesday
of August in each year.
Sec. 11. * * * For the purposes of this act, it is hereby
enacted and declared that the counties aforesaid shall be consid-
ered to comprehend, respectively, all the counties not organized
and districts of country attached thereto by any law or executive
act.
Sec. 12. That all acts now in force, and parts of acts contra-
vening the provisions of this act, be and the same are hereby re-
pealed.*
Approved November 4, 1829.
POLITICAL DIVISIONS.
Originally the county was divitied into four town-
ships — :Pokagon, Penn, La Grange and Oncwa. This
political division was made by the Legislative Council
of the Territory by an act passed November 5, 1829.
Section 1 of this act provides that all that part of
the county of Cass known and distinguished on
the survey of the United States by Townships 5
and 6, and the north half of Township 7 south,
in Range 16 west (that is, the territory at pres-
ent included in Silver Creek, Pokagon and the
north half of Howard) be a township by the name of
Pokagon ; that all that part of the county of Cass
known as Townships 5 and 6, and the north half of
Township 7 south, in Range 15 west (the present
Wayne, La Grange and north half of Jefferson), be a
township by the name of La Grange ; that all that
part of Cass County known as Townships 5 and 6
and the north half of Township 7 south, in Ranges
13 and 14 west (the present townships of Volinia,
Marcellus, Penn, Newberg and the north halves of
Calvin and North Porter), be a township by the name
of Penn ; that all that part of Cass County known as
the south half of Township 7 ami Fractional Town-
ship a south, in Ranges 13, 14, 1 "> and 16 west, be
a township by the name of Ontwa. The township
last named, a strip of territory six and one-half miles
wide, extending across the county from east to west,
and bounded on the south by the Indiana line, con-
tained nearly one hundred and fifty-six square miles.
The original Townships of Pokagon and La Grange
Laws of llm Territory of
each contained ninety square miles and the enormous
township of Penn contained one hundred and eighty
square miles. But this was not all. The county of
Van Buren and other territory lying north of that
county having been attached to Cass County, was
made a part of Penn Township and so remained until
1835. The county of Berrien, which had been at-
tached to Cass, was organized as one township under
the name of Niles.
The act of November 5, 1829, named the places
for holding the first town meetings in the several
townships as follows: In Pokagon, at the house of
Baldwin Jenkins ; in La Grange, at the house of
Isaac Shurte; in Penn, at the house of Martin Shields;
in Ontwa, at the house of Ezra Beardsley ; in Niles,
at the house of William Justus.
By act of the Legislative Council of the Territory
of Michigan, passed March 29, 1833, the townships
of Porter, Jefferson and Volinia were organized, and
the size of the original townships of La Grange,
Ontwa and Penn was considerably decreased. The
act provided that all that part of Ontwa, situated in
Ranges 13 and 14, west of the Principal Meridian,
should compose a township by the name of Porter,
and that the first township meeting therein should
be held at the house of Othni Beardsley ; that all that
part of the county of Cass, known and distinguished
as Township 7, south of the base line, and in Range
15 (the south part of La Grange), should compose a
township by the name of Jefferson, and that the first
election should be held at the house of Moses Reams ;
that all that part of the county distinguished as Town-
ship 5, in Ranges 13 and 14 (the present townships
of Volinia and Marcellus), should compose a town-
ship by the name of Volinia, and that the first elec-
tion therein should be held at the house of Josephus
Gard. The county of Van Buren, which had been
attached to Penn, was now attached to Volinia, and
so remained until March 26, 1835, when it was organ-
ized under the name of Lafayette Township. The
county was now divideil into seven townships.
In the following year (1834), upon March 7, the
township of Howard was ordered into existence by an
act similar to those from which we have quoted. It
was constituted as it now exists, being Township 7,
of Range 16, and was composed from territory
which had before this time been included in
Ontwa and Pokagon. The first election was held at
the house of George Fo.sdick.
The townships of Calvin anil Wayne were erected
with their present boundaries under the provisions of
an act approved March 17, 1835 — the former from
territory incluiled in Penn and Porter, and the latter
from La Grange. The first township meeting in Cal-
68
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
vin, it was provided, should be held at the dwelling
of John Reed, Sr., and the first in Wayne at that
of Joel C. Wright.'
When the Territorial Government passed out of
existence, Cass County consisted of ten townships.
Under the authority of the State Legislature, ex-
pressed from time to time in its acts, five other town-
ships were established, viz.: Mason, Silver Creek,
Newberg, Milton and Marcellus. Mason was estab-
lished by an act passed March 23, 1836, and the first
election was held at the house of Jotham Curtis. The
organization of Silver Creek was ordered March 20,
1837 ; Newburg, March 6, 1838 ; Milton, March 15,
1838; and Marcellus, March 9, 1843. The first
township election in Silver Creek was held at James
M. McDaniel's ; in NewbeVg, at John Bair's ; in Mil- j
ton, at Peter Tniitt's; and in Marcellus, at Daniel
G. Rouse's. I
LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT.*
July 31, 1830, the Legislative Council of the Ter- I
ritory approved " an act to provide for establishing
seats of justice." By the provision of this enactment, j
the Governor was authorized to appoint commissioners
to locate the seats of justice in the several counties
where they had not already been located ; it was spec-
ified that the commissioners, on being appointed,
should duly qualify for their ofiice by taking oath
faithfully and impartially to discharge their trust ; !
that having located the seat of justice of any county,
they should report their proceedings to the Governor,
and if he approved of the same, he should issue a proc-
lamation causing the establishment of a seat of justice
agreeable to the report. It was further provided that
the proclamation should be published in the several
newspapers printed in the Territory.
Gov. Porter, under the provisions of this act, ap-
pointed Martin C. Whitman, Hart L. Stewart and J
Col. Sibley as Commissioners to locate the seat of
justice for Cass County, and they, after some delibera-
tion, decided upon Geneva, a village laid out on the
bank of Diamond Lake, by Dr. Henry H. Fowler,
as the proper location.
The decision produced much dissatisfaction. It
was alleged, and truly, that Sibley and Stewart de- |
layed the announcement of the location until they
had been able to go to the land oflRce at White Pigeon
and enter tracts of land adjoining Geneva.
Those who were unfriendly to the location at Ge-
neva signed remonstrances which they addressed to
the Territorial Council. They were effective.
March 4, 1831, the council passed an act to amend
that of July 31, 1830, under which the seat of jus- |
tice of Cass County had been located at Geneva.
* 9ee also chapter on tbe history of CaaBopolii.
Section 1 of this act provided that the Governor
should, by and with the consent of the Council, ap-
point three Commissioners to re-examine the proceed-
ings which had taken place in relation to the estab-
lishment of the seats of justice of the counties of
Branch, St. Joseph and Cass, and to confirm the same
or make new locations, as the public interest might in
their opinion require. It was provided by Section
2 that the Commissioners should meet in Cass County
on the third Monday in May, 1831, to examine the
county and determine where its seat of justice should
be located. They were authorized to accept any do-
nations of land, money, labor or material that might
be tendered to them for the use of the county. Sec-
tion 3 provided that the proceedings and decision of
the Commissioners should be reported to the Governor
within thirty days after the termination of their serv-
ices, and that a proclamation should be issued by
the Governor announcing the decision and establish-
ing such seat of justice as had been agreed upon, and
that after the 1st day of January next ensuing, the
places selected in the respective counties should be-
come seats of justice. This section contained the
proviso that in case it was made to appear to the satis-
faction of the Governor that the Commissioners were
guilty of any improper conduct, tending to impair
the fairness of their decision, it should be his duty to
suspend any further proceedings. It was further pre-
scribed that the Commissioners be allowed $3 per
day for their services, to be paid out of the Ter-
ritorial Treasury, with the proviso that the amount
thus paid should be refunded to the treasury in equal
proportion by the persons upon whose land the seats
of justice might be located. Section 9 read as fol-
lows:
" That the decisions of the Commissioners heretofore appointed
t3 locate the seats of justice in the counties of Branch, St.
Joseph and Cass shall be and the same are hereby set aside.
Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A.
O'Keefe, were appointed Commissioners under the
provisions of this act to relocate the county seats of
Branch, St. Joseph and Cass Counties. They located
that of Cass County at a point- in the southeast quar-
ter of Section 26, in La Grange Township, and their
action was confirmed and made authoritative by the
following proclamation of Acting Gov. Mason, issued
December 19, 1831 :
Whereas, In pursuance of an act of the Legislative Council,
entitled " An act to amend an act entitled • .Vn act to provide for
establishing seats of justice,' " Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow
and George A. O'Keefe were appointed Commissioners to re-ex-
amine the proceedings which had taken place in relation to the
establishment of the seats of justice of the counties of Branch,
St. .Joseph and Cass, and to confirm the same, and to make new
locatioas, as the public's ioterest might in their opiaion require ;
i
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
And Whereas, The said Commissioners have proceeded to
perform the said duty, and by a report signed by them, have
located the seat of justice of the said county of Cass, at a point
on the southeast quarter of Section 'J6, Town 6, Range 15 west,
forty rods from the southeast corner of said section, on the line
running west between Sections 26 and 36;
Now TiiEREFOKE, By virtue of the authority in me vested by
said act, and in conformity with said report, I do issue this
proclamation, establishing the seat of justice of the said county
of Cass at the said point described as aforesaid.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the great seal of the Territory to be affixed, on this nineteenth
day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and thirty one, and of the Independence of the United
States the fifty-sixth.
(Signed), Stevens T. .Mason,
Secretary and at present Acting Governor of the Territory of
Michigan.
EARLY TRANSACTIONS OF THE HOARD OF SUPER-
VISORS.
A majority of the Board of Supervisors of the
county of Cass and Territory of Michigan met for
the first time pursuant to law, at the house of Ezra
Beardsley, in Edwardsburg, on October 4, 1831.
Those present were John Agard, Othni Beardsley and
James Cavanagh. John Agard. was chosen as Presi-
dent and Alex H. Redfield was appointed Clerk of
the Board. As two members were absent, the meet-
ing was adjourned. On the 17th of October, the
Supervisors again assembled at Edwardsburg. After
examination of the assessment rolls of the several
townships and making various alterations therein, the
board reported the first valuation and tax assessment
of Cass County as follows:
Pokagon ....
Niles
La Grange..
Penn
Ontwa
Total $1.56960 2
523364 00
38087 00
23321 00
37643 00
33634 27
L. Kdwards...
D. Wilson, .Ir
E. P. Bonnell
H. Langslon.
N. C. Tibbits.
Purpose*.
$ 82 52
23 28
87 88
89 68
87 6-2
$370 98
»r Township
Purposes.
% 31 00
1.5.5 61
31 00
92 60
80 55
$390 76
At the time provided for the next meeting — Jan-
uary 3, 1832 — there was no quorum present, nor yet
upon the 5th of March, but upon the 31st of that
month, the board met at the house of Ira B. Hender-
son in Cassopolis. The Treasurer of the county was
present and showed receipts of money as follows:
From Lewis Edwards, Collector of Pokagon, $82.52;
from E. P. Bonnell, Collector of La Grange, p7.88;
from Hardy Langston, Collector of Penn, $89.68 ;
and from Nathan C. Tibbits, Collector of Ontwa, $87.-
62. It was shown that there was due from David
Wilson, Jr., of Niles, the sum of $23.28, for which
sum a warrant "was issued against the goods and
chattels, lands and tenements of the aforesaid David
Wilson, and delivered to George Meacham, Sheriff of
the county, on the 20th day of February, 1832."
Further entry shows that the business was satisfac-
torily adjusted.
The following table shows the tax a.ssessmeut of
the county for 1832:
ASSESSMENT OF THB CollecMi-s
SEVERAL TOWNSHIPS.!
Tax Laid
for County
Purposes.
Tax Laid
for Township
Purposes.
Penn
$47304 00;S. Hunter
34260 00!e. p. Bonnell.
29194 00;L. Edwards...
40509 00. 1. Butler
$ 70 80
51 39
43 79
60 76
$ 70 80
La Grange
Pokagon ....
85 65
102 37
81 11
Total
$151167 00
$226 74
$339 93
The rate of tix for township purposes was : In 1
upon the dollar; in Pokagon, 3J ; in Ontwa, 2.
The tax laid in 1833 was as follows :
Volinia
Penn
Jefferson ..
Pokagon ...
Porter
Ontwa
La Grange
$21334 00
44708 00
12063 00
33249 00
26685 00
Tax Laid Tax Laid
Collectors. foj- Cou n tyjfor Township
riKises. I Purposes.
J. B. Gard....
Sam'l Hunter.
L. D. Norton..
M. Robinson..
Beardsley.!
55208 00 J. L. Jacks...
P. Bonnell. I
$ 53 33 I $ 53 33
111 72 : 135 00
31 11 6 03
83 12 ; 63 12
66 51 jNo tax Claimed.
138 02 82 80
HI 39 I 66 75
$595 20 I $397 03
The rate of tax this year for township purposes was : In Penn,
3.! mills on the dollar; in Pokagon, 1] ; in Volinia, 2J ; in Ontwa,
4; in La Grange, \\, and, in Jefferson, \ mill.
The valuation of the townships, with amount of taxes
levied by the Supervisors for county and township pur-
poses for the years 1834 to 1840 inclusive, is here
YEAU.S
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
Valuation.
$ 293958
342.585
820978
1092893
1086234
1145620
$ 881 87i
1027 (Jo
4105 02
5442 94 i
4098 34i
4344 95'
6870 64
$ 468 38
511 54^
985 32
1323 U
1349 70
1732 40
2132 67
COURTS.
The courts of record which now exercise jurisdiction
in Cass County are the Supreme Court of the United
States, the United States District Court, the United
States Cii'cuit Court, the Supreme Court of Michigan,
the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of
Michigan and the Probate Court. The County Court
had jurisdiction prior to April, 1833, and during the
period between 1846 and 1851. The Court of Chan-
cery had existence from 1836 to 1847. Cass County
was within the jurisdiction of the Kalamazoo Circuit.
The fii"st court established in the Territory of
Michigan was the Supreme Court, consisting of one
Supreme Judge and two Associates, appointed by Presi-
dent Jefferson and confirmed by the United States
Senate. The Judges originally appointed in 1805
were Augustus Brevoort Woodard, Samuel Hunting-
ton and Frederick Bates. The oflSce was declined by
70
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Huntington and his place was filled in 1806 by John
GriflBn.*
The court was organized by Gov. Hull and
Judges Brevoort and Bates on the 24th of July, 1805.
On the 25th of July, 1805, the same authority
created the District Courts. They had only a brief
existence, being abolished in September, 1810.
The next courts established (after the County Courts
in 1815) were the Circuit Courts, which were created
in the counties of the Territory by the Legislative
Council in August, 1824, and re-affirmed in April,
1825, the act to take effect in September.
Upon the 27th of April, 1827, the Council re-en-
acted former laws pertaining to the courts and re-es-
tablished the Probate Courts. Cass County was
then attached to Lenawee for judicial purposes. The
act which erected it as a separate county contained
clauses establishing within it the Circuit County and
Probate Courts (see ante) and prescribing that the
first term of the Circuit Court "should be held at
the schoolhouse, near the house of Ezra Beardsley."
This was the first court of any kind held in Cass
County, of which there is record.
The first term of the Circuit Court opened upon the
9th of August, 1831, at the house of Ezra Beardsley
(instead of the schoolhouse) in Edwardsburg,t the
Hon. William Woodbridge and the Hon. Solomon
Sibley presiding.
The records show, that " the court being opened by
the Sheriff (George Meacham), and organized accord-
ing to law," and the venire having been previously
served, there appeared the following grand jury, to
wit: Adam Miller, Moses Finch, Reuben N. Harri-
son, Jacob L. Kinzey, William Barlow, T. A. H.
Edwards, Isaac Williams, James Girt, Mulford Hulse,
Nathan Tharp, Abner Tharp, Maxwell Zane, Abra-
ham V. Tietsort, Garrett Waldron, Isaac Shurte,
Eli P. Bonnell, Dennis Wright, Michael I. McKen-
ney, Wilson Blackmore. John Bogart and Sylvester
Meacham. Adam Miller was appointed by the court
as foreman of the jury. Eli P. Bonnell was excused
from duty as a juror, and assigned to attend the court
as Constable. The jury being sworn, received their
charge, and retired for consultation.
William H. Welch and Columbia Lancaster made
application to be admitted as counselors and attorneys
at law. The court appointed E. B. Sherman, Neal
McGaffey, and J. Stetson, Esqs., a committee to
examine the applicants, and they reported favorably
upon their admission.
Two suits were brought before the court upon the
*CumpbeIl'8 "Outlines of the Political History of Michigan."
tin H. S. Rodger's history of Cass County, it is slated that "the first
court was held in the fall of 1832, under an oak tree just south of tne puMic
first day of the session, viz. : Adam Salladay vs. G.
Shurte, and John Agard vs. Sterling Adams.
The jury returned into court, and "presented one
presentment and one indictment, indorsed true bills."
The District Attorney having no further cause for
their detention, they were discharged by the court.
It appears from the fragment of the record of this
court that one of the presentments " was relative to
the laws of the Territory," and upon motion of E. B.
Sherman, it was ordered that it " be copied by the
Clerk and sent to the Governor of the Territory, and
that one copy be sent by said Clerk to the editor of
some newspaper, published within the Territory, for
publication."
The term of court lasted but two days, being ad-
journed upon the 10th of August.
The County Courts were established by the Terri-
torial Governor and Judges on the 24th of Octo-
ber, 1815. The first term of the County Court in
Cass County was like that of the Circuit Court Reld
at Edwardsburg, and in the house of Ezra Beardsley.
The date was November 29, 1831. After the open-
ing of the court by the Sheriff, the commission of
the Hon. Joseph S. Barnard as Chief Justice was
read, and also the commissions of Hon. John Agard
and Hon. William Burke, Associate Justices. The
men summoned to appear as jurors at this court were :
John Kinzey, William Kirk, Calvin Sullivan, John
Ray, Henry Denny, Joseph McPherson, Samuel
Springer, John Donnel, Hiram Jewell, James H. C.
Smith, Dennis G. Wright, Thomas Smith, Moses
Reames, Joel C. Wright, Micajah McKenney, Arm-
strong Davidson. William Tibbitts, John Smith, Jacob
Virgil, William Morris, George Shultz, Ebenezer
Thomas, Jacob Rinehart, and Nathan Norton. Of
I these, McPherson, Donnel, Kirk and Reames did not
i appear, and a capias was issued, summoning them to
' appear before the next term of court, and " show rea-
j son why they should not be dealt with as the law
' directs." Those jurors who were present were dis-
charged, there being no business before the court
demanding their presence. Only one case was upon
[ the docket — a criminal action for assault and battery
— in which the defendant was discharged.
The second term of the County Court was held at
Cassopolis, opening November 27, 1832. The County
Court consisted of a Chief Justice or Judge, and two
Associate Justices. Various acts were passed by the
1 Legislative Council, restricting the jurisdiction of the
( County Courts, and transferring their powers to the
I Circuit Courts, and finally, in April, 1833, they were
abolished altogether in all of the organized counties
of the Territory.
I In 1846 a revision of the judicial system of Michi-
IllSTOKV OF CASS COITNTi'. MU'HIOAN.
gan being made, the Countj Courts were again estab-
lished. A County Judge was elected for a term of
four years, and at the same time a "second " Judge
was chosen for a similar period. The County Court,
as re-constituted, "'had original and exclusive juris-
diction of civil actions in the county, in which the
demand did not exceed $500, excepting actions of
ejectment, probate proceedings, and cases within a
Justice's jurisdiction. It also had appellate jurisdic-
tion over Justices. Cases were removable from the
County Court to the Circuit Court on certiorari
only."
The first term of the County Court of the second
period, held in Cass County, opened in Cassopolis
March 1, 1847, the Hon. Joseph N. Chipman on the
bench. "There appearing to be no business, the
court adjourned sine die."
By the Constitution of 1850, the judicial power
was restricted to the Supreme, Circuit and Probate
Courts, courts of Justices of the Peace, and such Muni-
cipal Courts as might be established by the Legisla-
ture in cities. The County Court passed finally and
forever out of existence in 1851.
The last term held in Cass County commenced
August 5, 1851, Judge Cyrus Bacon upon the bench.
The earliest record of the Probate Court of Cass
County, which can be found, appears upon the last
page of an early volume of the record of Mortgages in
the Register's office, and the beginning reads as fol-
lows : "The Probate Court met agreeable to adjourn-
ment on Saturday, April 14, 1832, at Edwardsburg,
E. B. Sherman, Judge presiding."
"John Lybrook appeared and made application for
letters of administration on the goods, chattels and
credit of John Ritter, deceased, died in the township
of La Grange on the 31st day of August, 1829."
Thomas McKenney, after whom McKenney's Prai-
rie was named, was the first Judge of Probate appointed,
but it is probable that he transacted no official
business, and in fact it is not known that he quali-
fied. Elias B. Sherman was undoubtedly che first
Judge who filled the office. He was appointed March
4, 1831, and succeeded by H. B. Dunning in 1838.
The early mention of the Probate Court, which has
been given, is a mere fi'agment and irregularly record-
ed. In the present Probate Jutlge's office is a very
small volume, labeled "Liber A," which contains a
record of the court from 1835 to 1839. The first
entry is under date of April 18, 1835. It appears
that Judge Sherman at that time held a court at Cas-
sopolis. One of the items of business was the proving
and recording of the last will and testament of Jona-
than Hussey, of Howard Township.
While Mr. Sherman was Judge, the court was usu-
ally held in Cassopolis, and during Mr. Dunning's
term, which extended to 1839, the court nearly always
sat in Ontwa or the village of Edwardsburg.
The regular terms of the Probate Court are now
held upon the first Monday of every month, but the
court is in readiness to discharge the duties imposed
upon it upon all other days, when business may be
legally transacted.
The Court of Chancery, which has been spoken of
as having jurisdiction in Cass County for a term of
years, was established by the Legislature in 1836,
immediately after the admission of Michigan to the
Union. Its powers were exercised by a Chancellor,
appointed by the Governor and holding office for seven
years. The jurisdiction of the court was substan-
tially the same as that of the English Court of Chan-
cery. There were three circuits of the Chancery
Court, and terms were held at Detroit, Ann Arbor
and Kalamazoo. Under this system, a Master of
Chancery was appointed by the Governor, in each
county. When the judicial system of the State was
revised in 1846, the Chancery Court was abolished
and its powers transferred to the Circuit Court. The
Constitution of 1850 prohibited the office of Masters
of Chancery and provided for the election of Circuit
Court Commissioners, who were given a jurisdiction
in chancery matters.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The first public building erected was a jail. At the
meeting of the Supervisors, held upon the 31st of
March, 1832, it was resolved "that a gaol be built at
Cassopolis, the county seat, to be completed on or be-
fore the 1st day of December next, and to cost at the
extent but $350, to be paid for out of the money sub-
scribed for the county seat." Alexander H. Redfield,
Esq., was appointed to make and let the contract for
the building of the "gaol" and to collect the subscrip-
tion moneys. It was prescribed that the jail should be
made of hewn logs, one foot square, of hard timber, and
that the building should be thirty feet long by fifteen
in width and one story high. The contract was awar'l-
ed to Eber Root and John Flewwelling. Nathan
Baker and Andrew Woods were appointed as inspect-
ors of the work. The jail was finished according to
specifications, but not within the time originally speci-
fied, because of Mr. Root's ill health. In fact the
building was not ready for use until the early part of
1834. In January, Henry H. Fowler (of Geneva)
Sheriff of the county, presented a protest against the
acceptance of the jail, alleging that it was an unsafe
place for the "confinement of criminals and debtors."
The building however was accepted. In March, 1834,
the Supervisors recommended that it should be floored
72
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
and lined with plank. This was subsequently done,
and the logs under the plank were driven full of nails
and bound with strap iron to make it still more diflS-
cult for transgressors of the law to make their exit.
The lock upon this log jail is one of the relics, which
has lodgement in the museum of the Cass County Pio-
neer Society. It is a massive and curious piece of
mechanism. Its maker was George Fosdick, of Bar-
ren Lake, who had a great reputation in early days
for the construction of jail locks, and furnished many
that were used in Southwestern Michigan and North
ern Indiana. The old jail stood until very recent
years in its original location, just south of the Lind-
say planing-mill. It was used until a larger struct-
ure was built in 1853.
Steps were taken toward the building of a court
house in the fall of 183.5. The first definite action
was the passage of the following resolution on the 23d
of October by the Board of Supervisors.
" Resolved, That a wooden building be erected on Lot 4, in
Bloclc 2 north, Range 1 west, in Cassopolis, .34 feet long by 24 feet
wide, and to be for a court house, cost not to exceed $4-50, and
to contain desks for the Judges and bar."
The lot designated in this resolution is the one on
the west side of Broadway, where John Boyd now
resides. The contract for building was awarded to
Joseph Harper, and he had the building in readiness
for occupancy by May 1, 1835. It was used as a
placefor holding courts and for various county purposes
until 1841, when the present court house was com-
pleted.
The structure now and for the past forty years in
use was built by a number of men who associated
themselves together under the name of "the Court
House Company." Upon the 7th of August, 1839,
David Hopkins, Heni-y Jones and James W. GriflSn,
County Commissioners, who had succeeded to the
rights and powers of the Supervisors, entered into a
contract with Darius Shaw, Joseph Harper, Jacob Sil-
ver, Asa Kingsbury and A. H. Redfield (" the Court
House Company") to build according to specifications
a court house. The terms were §6,000, of which sum
one-third was to be paid in cash and the remaindsr in
village lots, which had been donated to the county by
the proprietors of the village in consideration of the
location of the seat of justice at Cassopolis. The pub-
lic square was also included in the consideration, the
Commissioners only reserving that portion (the north-
east quarter) on which it was proposed to build the
court house. The Commissioners made a deed of
bargain and sale to Messrs. Shaw, Hs^rper and their
associates, and the grantees simultaneously gave to
the Commissioners their bond in the sum of 812,000
for the proper performance of their undertaking.
Following is the full text of the instrument, which
contains the specifications upon which the present
court house was built :
Know all men by these presents, that we, Alexander H.
Redfield, Darius Shaw, Joseph Harper, Jacob Silver and Asa
Kingsbury, all of Cassopolis, Cass County, Michigan, are held and
firmly bound unto David Hopkins, Henry Jones and James W.
Gritfin, Commissioners of said county of Cass, and to their sue-
•essors in office, in the penal sum of $12,000, which sum well and
truly be paid we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and admin-
istrators, firmly by these presents. In witness whereof we have
hereto set our hands and seals this 7th day of August, A. D.
eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.
The condition of the above bond is as follows : Whereas,
certain village lots in said village of Cassopolis, and certain
sums of money were formerly given to said county of Cass by the
original proprietors of said village and by others for the purpose
of erecting public buildings in said village for the use of the
county ; and whereas, the said Commissioners have this day
given to us a warranty deed for a certain part of said village lots
and property, and also one order upon the treasury of said
county for the sum of §2,000. Now, if we, the said Darius Shaw,
Asa Kingsbury. Jacob Silver, Joseph Harper and .ilexaader H.
Redfield shall erect or cause to be erected in said village within
two years from the date hereof, on such ground as the said
Commissioners shall select, a court house fifty-four feet in length
and forty-six feet in width and twenty-four feet high from sills to
the eaves ; of the following general description, to wit : It shall be
a wood building, the frame shall be good and strong, made of
timber of good size and quality, the building shall be placed on
good and sufficient stone wall foundations, sufficiently sunk into
the earth not to be afifected by the frost. Said building shall
have built in it a brick safe sixteen (16 1 by seventeen i ITj feet,
with two apartments therein : the walls of said safe shall be
eighteen inches in thickness : it shall be completely arched over
with brick, one arch over each apartment : the partition wall shall
be a brick ; the said safe shall have two iron doors, and two
windows with iron shutters on the inside and a brick floor, and
shall be furnished with cases and shelving for the public books and
papers ; thi- said house shall be inclosed with good pine siding
neatly dressed, and covered with a good roof of pine shingles,
with a suitable and proper cornice, principally of pine ; the
whole house shall be well and neatly painted on the outside
white, and lighted with at least six hundred and twenty-
four lights of 10 by 12 glass ; there shall be two good
entrance doors ; there shall be a hall lengthwise of the building
12 feet wide ; all the floors in the basement and second story
shall be neatly dressed and matched and laid down ; there shall
be five rooms partitioned off' and lathed and plastered and
furnished with doors on basement story. In the second story, the
court room shall be lathed and plastered, and there nhall also be
two small rooms cut off, and also lathed and plastered for jury
rooms. The aforesaid safe shall be plastered ; the whole work
shall be done in a good and workmanlike manner, and of suitable
and proper materials. Then this obligation to be void, otherwise
to be and remain in full force and virtue.
Signed, sealed and delivered the day and year first above
written, in presence of H. C. Lybrook and J. Barnum.
A. H. Reiifieli>. [l. s.]
DxRtrs Shaw. [l. s.]
Joseph Harpkb. [l. s.]
Asa KiNosBrBY. [l. s.]
Jacob Silver. [l. s.]
The building erected in accordance with the speci-
fications included in the above document, was finished
t
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and used in 1841, but not formally accepted until the
following year.
In 1851, th» Board of Supervisors took steps to-
ward the building of the second jail, and appointed
James Taylor as Commissioner for carrying out their
plans. The jail was built by him and finished in the
fall of 1852. It stood upon ground just north of
the present court house until the present jail was
built, when it was removed.
The county officers' building was erected in 1860, by
Joseph Smith. It was designed to be and is a fire-
proof structure.
In 1852, the matter of making systematic and ade-
quate provision for the poor was first effectually agi-
tated. Up to this time there had been upon the
county poor farm in Jefferson Township, bought of
Asa Kingsbury, only a small log house. Upon the
12th of October, 18.Jo, the Board of Supervisors re-
solved " to build a good, sufficient and convenient
house on the poor farm owned by the county, the ex-
pense of which should not exceed $1,200." The
resolution was afterward amended to read §2,000 in
place of $1,200. Pleasant Norton was appointed
agent to cause the erection of the building. Upon
the 7th of January, 1854, the contract for building a
brick structure was awarded to Lewis Clisbee & Son,
at $1,795. The work was completed by them in No-
vember of the same year, under the direction and to
the satisfaction of W. G. Beckwith and Joshua Lof-
land, who were appointed as a building committee.
In 1868, the committee of the Board of Supervisors,
appointed to examine public buildings, reported that
the poor house was entirely inadequate for the purpose
designed, and " an utterly unfit habitation for the
paupers of the county," and the board recommended
the raising of $15,000 in three equal annual assess-
ments for the building of a new house. The matter
being put to vote before the people, it was found that
there was an overwhelming popular majority against
the levying of the special tax. The need of a new
house, however, was urgent, an<l the Board being ad-
vised that they had the right to appropriate the sum
of $1,000 for improvements, resorted to that course
for securing the desired end. This was the begin-
ning of the measures which resulted in tiie erection
of the present fine home of the poor. The house
was built in 1869 and 1870, by P. W. Silver, of
Goshen, Ind., who took the contract for $6,300. He
was subsequently allowed between $1,100 and $1,200
e.xtra remuneration, and even then lost money upon
the job. The work was performed under the direc-
tion of D. M. Howell, James Boyd amd Gideon Gibbs,
Superintendents of the Poor, who were constituted
by the Supervisors as a building committee, and they
deserve great credit for the thorough provisions they
have made for the unfortunate. In 1871, an additional
building was erected for the insane. This is called
the asylum. It is two stories in height, and well
adapted for the purpose intended. The brick work
was done by D. W. Smith, of Niles, and almost all of
the other work by or under the direction of Daniel B.
Smith, of Cassopolis. Gideon Gibbs was the Super-
intendant of construction. The asylum, with the other
improvements and the addition made to the farm, cost
as much, or perhaps a little more, than the poor house
built in 1870. The whole outlay, within a period of
about four years, was not less than $15,000. The
county has now, upon a good farm of 280 acres, as
fine accommodations for its pauper and insane popu-
lation as can be found in any county of equal size
and wealth in the West. There are but three or
four finer or more convenient county houses in Michi-
gan, and those are in counties of much greater popu-
lation than Cass possesses.
In 1878-79 was erected the present jail and Sheriffs
residence, the newest, costliest and best of the public
buildings in Cass County. The old jail had been
found an unsafe place for the confinement of criminals
several years previous to 1877. One report of an ex-
amining committee stated that " the back door was
shrunk and could be opened from the outside with a
shingle." In 1877, the Supervisors spent much time
in planning the erection of a new building. Upon
December 14, they appointed William P. Bennett, Jo-
seph Smith and Charles L. Morton as a committee, and
authorized them to advertise for bids for building a
jail in accordance with the plans of T. J. Tolan &
Son, of Fort Wayne, Ind., which had been accepted.
On January, 1878, the bids were opened, and that of
W. H. Myers, of Fort Wayne, for $17,770, was ac-
cepted. Mr. Myers entered into contract for the per-
formance of the work and furnishing of materials.
The erection of the jail was begun in the early spring
and completed in February, 1879. The building com-
mittee consisted of C. G. Banks, Charles L. Morton and
Joseph Smith. Daniel B. Smith was local superin-
tendent. When completed, the jail was formally
accepted by the building committee, acting in con-
junction with H. 11. Bement, J. H. East and R. II.
Wiley, of the Board of Supervisors. The structure
is one of the strongest and most substantial to be
found in the State.
CIVIL ROSTIOR OF CA.-'S COUNTY.
Following is a list of the civil officials of Cass County,
and of men from the county holding at different periods
State offices:
State ,?t'»ators— 1846, Alexander 11. Redfield ;
74
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
1852, Jessee G. Beeson; 1854, Jamea Sullivan; 185*^,
Alonzo Garwood ; 1858, George Meacham ; 1860, Gil-
man C. Jones ; 1862, Emmons Buell ; 1864, Levi Al-
drich; 1866, Charles W. Clisbee; 1868, Amos Smith ;
1870, Uzziel Putnam, Jr.; 1874, Matthew T. Garvey;
1878, James M. Shepard.
Representatives — James O'Dell, Joseph Smith;
1836-38, James O'Dell, William Burk; 1839-40,
James Newton, Henry Coleman ; 1840-41, Myron
Strong, George Redfield ; 1841-42, S. F. Anderson ;
1842-43, S. F. Anderson; 1843-44, James W.
GrifiBn; 1844—45, James Shaw; 1845-46, James L.
Glenn ; 1846-47, James L. Glenn, James Shaw ;
1847-49, George B. Turner, Milo Powell; 1849-50,
Cyrus Bacon, George B. Turner; 1850-52, George
Sherwood, William L. Clyborne; 1852-54, E. J.
Bonine, Pleasant Norton ; 1854-56, Franklin Brow-
nell, Uriel Enos ; 1856-58, B. W. Schermerhorn, Ed-
win Sutton; 1858-60, George Newton, E. W. Rey-
nolds ; 1860-62, Edward H. Jones, Edward Shanahan;
1862-64, H. B. Denman, Levi Aldrich ; 1864-66,
Lucius Keeler, Alexander B. Copley; 1866-68, Henry
B. Wells, Leander D. Osboni; 1868-70, Uzziel Put-
nam, Jr., James Ashley; 1870-72, Alexander B.Cop-
ley, John F. Coulter; 1872-74, Alexander Robertson,
Thomas O'Dell; 1874-76, John Struble, John B.
Sweetland; 1878, Samuel Johnson, Hiram S. Chap-
man; 1880, James H. Hitchcox.
Members of Constitutional Convention — Detroit,
May 11, 1835, James Newton, James O'Dell, Bald-
win Jenkins; First Convention of Assent, Ann
Arbor, September 26, 1836, James Newton, James
O'Dell ; Second Convention of Assent, Ann Ar-
bor, December 14, 1836, Edwin N. Bridge, Jacob
Silver, Joseph Smith, Abiel Silver; Lansing, June
3, 1850, George Redfield, Mitchell Robinson, James
Sullivan ; Lansing, May 15, 1867, Levi Aldrich,
Jacob J. Van Riper.
Attorney General — 1875-77, Andrew J. Smith.
State Treasurer — 1845-46, George Redfield.
Commissioner of State Land Office — February,
1846-50, Abiel Silver.
County Court Judges — 1831, Joseph S. Barnard,
Chief Justice ; William Burke and John Agard, As-
sociate Justices; 1834, William A. Fletcher, Chief
Justice ; Abiel Silver and William Burke, Associate
Justices ; 1846, Joseph N. Chipman, first ; Mitchell
Robinson, second ; 1849, Ezekiel S. Smith, vice Chip-
man, resigned ; 1850, Cyrus Bacon, first ; Ezekiel S.
Smith, second.
Circuit Court Judges — 1837, Epaphroditus Ran-
som, Presiding Judge ; James Cavanaugh and Richard
V. V. Crane, Associate Judges; 1839, Myron Strong,
vice James Cavanaugh, resigned ; 1841, Epaphroditus
Ransom, Presiding Judge ; John Barney and Thomas
T. Glenn, Associate Judges; 1845, Epaphroditus
Ransom, Chief Justice ; Samuel F. 'Anderson and
William H. Bacon, Associate Justices ; 1848, Charles
W. W'^hipple, Circuit Judge ; 1856, Nathaniel Bacon,
Circuit Judge ; 1864, Perrin W. Smith, Circuit
Judge; 1866, Nathaniel Bacon, Circuit Judge ; 1870,
Daniel Blackman, Circuit Judge; 1875, Henry H.
Coolidge, Circuit Judge ; 1878, Charles W. Clisbee,
Circuit Judge, vice H. H. Coolidge. resigned ; 1878,
Andrew J. Smith, present incumbent.
Judges of Probate — 1831, Elias B. Sherman ;
1837-40, Horace B. Dunning; 1841-64, Clifford
Shannahan; 1864-68, Matthew T. Garvey; 1868-
83, William P. Bennett.
County Clerks — 1830 (appointed by Governor),
Joseph L. Jacks ; 1833, Martin C. Whitman ; 1835-
40, Henley C. Lybrook ; 1840-41, H. B. Dunning;
1842-43, H. C."^ Lybrook; 1844-49, George Sher-
wood; 1850-51, William Sears; 1852-55, E. B.
Warner; 1856-57, Benj. F. Rutter ; 1858-61,
Charles G. Lewis; 1862-65, Ira Brownell; 1866-
77, Charles L. Morton ; 1878-82, Joseph R. Edwards.
Circuit Court Commissioners — 1852, Elias B. Sher-
man ; 1854, Henry H. Coolidge; 1856, James M.
Spencer; 1858-60. Charles W. Clisbee; 1862-64,
Uzziel Putnam, Jr. ; 1866, George Miller ; 1868,
•Joseph B. Clarke ; 1870, John R. Carr and N. B.
Hollister; 1872, Joseph B. Clarke and George L.
Linder ; 1874-78, George Ketcham and Joseph B.
Clarke ; 1880, George Ketcham and John F. Tryon.
Prosecuting Attorneys — 1831, Elias B. Sherman;
1840-42, Ezekiel S. Smith ; 1842-52, James Sulli-
van ; 1852-54, H. H. Coolidge ; 1854-61, Andrew
J. Smith ; 1862-64, Charles W. Clisbee ; 1864-68,
Andrew J. Smith ; 1868-70, George Miller ; 1870-
72, William G. Howard ; 1872-74, Spafford Tryon ;
1874-76, Marshall L. Howell: 1876-80, Harsen
D. Smith ; 1880-82, Joseph B. Clarke.
Sheriffs— im^-Z'l, George Meacham; 1832-34,
Henry Fowler ; 1835-36, Eber Root ; 1836-40, M.
V. Hunter ; 1840-42, Walter G. Beckwith ; 1842-
44, James L. Glenn ; 1844-46, Walter G. Beckwith ;
1846-49, Barak Mead; 1850-52, Andrew Wood;
1852-54, Walter G. Beckwith ; 1854-56, Joseph
Harper ; 1856-1860, Joseph N. Marshall ; 1860-62,
B. W. Schermerhorn ; 1862-66, William K. Palmer ;
1866-70, Zacheus Aldrich ; 1870-72, Levi J. Rey-
j nolds ; 1872-74, William J. Merwin ; 1874-76, J.
' Boyd Thomas ; 1877-80, James H. Stamp ; 1881,
John A. Jones (present incumbent).
County Commissioners — 1838, David Hopkins,
Henry Jones, James W. Griffin ; 1840, William Burk,
James O'Dell ; 1841, William H. Bacon.
HISTORY OF CASS COTTNTY, MICHIGAN.
75
County Treasurers — 1831, Andrew Grubb (appoint-
ed) ; 1833, Jacob Silver (appointed); 1836, Eber
Root; 1837, Joseph Harper; 1838, Isaac Sears;
1839, Joseph Harper; 1840-43, Amos Fuller ; 1843-
45, Asa Kingsbury ; 1846-49, Joshua Lofland ; 1850
-51, Henry R. Close; 1852-53, Henry Tietsort;
1854-57, Jefferson Osborn ; 1858-59, William W.
Peck ; 1860-61, Ira Brownell ; 1862-65, J. K. Ritter ;
1866-6l\ Isaac Z. Edwards; 1870-73, Anson L.
Dunn ; 1874-77, Hiram S. Hadsell ; 1878-82, R. L.
Vanness.
Register of Deeds— ism, H. H.Edwards; 1835,
Alex H. Redfield; 1836-37, William Arrison ; 1838
-42, Joseph Harper ; 1842-54, David M. Howell ;
1854-64, Ariel E. Peck ; 1864-67, William L. Jak-
ways.- 1868-71, Joel Cowgill ; 1872-76, Henry L.
Barney ; 1876-82, Stephen L. George.
County Surveyors — 1831, E. B. Sherman ; 1834,
John Woolman ; 1838, J. C. Saxton ; 1840, Henry
Walton ; 1842-48, David P. Ward ; 1848-50, Charles
G. Banks; 1850-54, David P. Ward; 1854-56,
Amos Smith; 1856-60, Amos Smith; 1860-62,
H. 0. Banks ; 1862-64, Amos Smith : 1864-70, H.
0. Banks; 1870-74, John C. Bradt ; 1874-76, Aus-
tin A. Bramer; 1876-82, Amos Smith.
County Superintendents of Schools — April 1867,
Chauncey L. Whitney (elected). He resigned in Oc-
tober, of the same year, and the vacancy was filled by
the appointment of Albert H. Gaston, who held the
office during 1868 ; 1869-70, Irvin Clendenen ;
1871-72, Lewis R. Rinehart; 1873-74, Samuel
Johnson.
County School Examiners — 1881, E. M. Stephen-
son, Michael Pemberton, Daniel B. Ferris (elected for
terms of one, two and three years respectively).
CHAPTEE Vn.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Indian Trails— The Chicago Road— The Territorial Legislative Council
—Fostering Intenial Improvements— Roads Ordered to be Opened
—Stage Routes— The Old Stage Coach— A Canal or Railroad Pro-
ject—Railroads.
EARLY ROADS.
THE earliest roads in the territory to which this work
has especial reference were the Indian trails, and
the chief of these was the Chicago trail, from that
point to Detroit. It was over this path that for time
immemorial the tribes of the Northwest had passed
eastward and returned to their homes. The Sauks,
the Outagamies and the Winnebagoes coming down
the western shore of Lake Michigan and rounding its
head, had for ages traveled this great path. After
1815, they passed over it annually upon their way to
Maiden, Canada, where they received their annuities
from the British.
Another Indian trail led from the Ottawa villages
in the region of Little Traverse Bay, southward to
the place where the city of Grand Rapids now is, and
thence to the center of the Pottawatomie settlements
of the St. Joseph. Still another connected these vil-
lages with the Shiawassee and Saginaw Rivers. Lesser
trails crossed the country in all directions.
It was along the great Chicago trail that the Chi-
cago road was laid out, the first important thorough-
fare of the whites through Southern Michigan. The
Indians seemed almost by instinct to select the most
direct routes that were compatible with the topogra-
phy of the county, and they always forded the streams
at the best places of crossing. Hence it was natural
that the whites when they opened roads should follow
in their footsteps.
When the Chicago treaty of 1821 was made, a
clause was inserted especially stipulating that the
United States should have the privilege of making
and using a road through the Indian country from
Detroit and Fort Wayne, respectively, to Chicago.
The first of the Congressional acts which led toward
the construction of the Chicago road was passed April
30, 1824. It authorized the President of the United
States " to cause the necessary surveys, plans and
estimates to be made of the routes of such roads and
canals as he may deem of national importance in a
commercial or military point of view, or necessary for
the transportation of the public mail."
The sum of $30,000 was appropriated for the
surveys and the President was authorized to appoint
two competent engineers.
The route from Detroit to Chicago was one of those
which the Executive " deemed of national impor-
tance," and the sura of $10,000 was set apart from the
appropriation for the survey.
In 1825, work was commenced at the eastern end
of the road. The surveyor began on the plan of run-
ning on nearly straight lines, but had progressed only
a few miles when he came to the conclusion that if he
carried out his original intention, the money apor-
tioned for the work would be exhausted long before
he could reach the western terminus. He then re-
solved to follow the old path of the Sauks and Foxes,
and in fact did so to the end. The road was never
straightened, and the thousands of white men who
have traveled over it have turned at every angle
and bend of the ancient trail. The flagmen were
sent in advance as far as they could be seen, the bear-
ings taken by the compass and the distance chained and
marked. The trees were blazed fifty feet on each sideof
the trails, the requirement being that the road should
76
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
measure one hundred feet in width. It was surveyed
through Cass County in 1832, by Daniel G. Garnsey.
The road was not worked through St. Joseph, Cass
and Berrien Counties by the Government until after
the Sauk or Black Hawk war. Immigrants made
such improvements as they found necessary, and the
stage companies worked the road sufBciently to get
their coaches through, and built some bridges. In
1833, the Government made thorough work of build-
ing the road through Branch County, and in 1834,
through St. Joseph and Cass Counties. It was
grubbed out and leveled for a width of thirty feet,
and the timber was cut away on each side. The
first bridge over the St. Joseph was built in 1834, at
Mottville, which crossing was designated as " the
Grand Traverse."
The Chicago road enters Cass County opposite
Mottville, follows a generally southwesterly course
through South Porter, and nearly reaches the Indiana
line in Mason Township. It thence follows a north-
westerly direction through Adamsville to Edwards-
burg, and from the latter point passes southwesterly
to the county line, and thence to Bertrand. Five
and a half miles west of the second crossing of the St.
Joseph River it crosses the State line into Indiana.
This road was the great thoroughfare from East to
West until about 1850, when its usefulness was super-
seded by the railroads. It still remains as originally
laid, but is only used for local travel.
From the year 1829 (when Cass County was
erected) until Michigan became a State, the Territorial
Legislative Council seduously fostered internal im-
provements. Acts authorizing the laying-out of roads
and appointing Commissioners to superintend the
work were passed at every session, and sometimes
this business equaled in importance as well as bulk
all other legislation.
By act approved July 30, 1830, authority was
granted for the laying-out of a road " commencing
where the township road laid out by the Commis-
sioners of Ontwa Township, Cass County, from Pleas-
ant Lake, in a direction to Pulaski, in Indiana, inter-
sects the southern boundary line between the Terri-
tory of Michigan and the State of Indiana ; thence
on the road laid out as aforesaid until it intersects the
Chicago road a few rods west of the post office, near
the house of Ezra Beardsley, running thence on the
most eligible and practicable route to the entrance of
the St. Joseph River into Lake Michigan." George
Meacham, John Bogart and Squire Thompson were
the Commissioners appointed to lay out and establish
this road.
By act of the Council in June, 1832, another Ter-
ritorial road was authorized which was to pass through
Cass County, viz., a road " commencing at the
county seat of Branch County, running westerly on
the most direct and eligible route through the seats of
justice of St. Joseph and Cass Counties to the mouth
of the St. Joseph River." The Commissioners ap-
pointed to lay out the road were Squire Thompson,
C. K. Green and Alexander H. Redfield, Esq.
During the same season, an act was passed author-
izing the establishment of a road from White Pigeon
by Prairie Ronde and Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids,
and E. B. Sherman, Isaac N. Hurd and John S. Barry
(afterward Governor of the State), were appointed as
Commissioners to lay it out.
During the season of 1833, in March and April,
the Council passed a large number of acts directing
the making of roads. Among those authorized we
find the following wholly or part in Cass County :
" A road from Adamsville, on the most direct and
eligible route, to the Paw Paw River, at or near the
center of Van Buren County." Sterling Adams,
Charles Jones and Lyman J. Daniels were appointed
Commissioners.
George Meacham, Elijah Lacey and Fowler Preston
were appointed Commissioners to lay out a road from
Edwardsburg, through the village of Niles, to the
mouth of the. St. Joseph River, in Berrien County.
An act passed March 7, 1834, appointed Henry
H. Fowler, John Woolman and Hart L. Stewart as
Commissioners to lay out a road from Mottville
through Cass and Berrien Counties to the mouth of
the St. Joseph River.
Authority was given by an act passed January 30,
1835, for the laying out of a road from Jacksonburg
through Cassopolis to the mouth of the St. Joseph,
James Cowen, Michael Beedle and D. McCauley
being appointed Commissioners. The same act ap-
pointed James Newton, Henry Jones and Elijah
Lacey to lay out a road from Cassopolis to Galien
River. The work of improvement (by act), went on
under the authority of the State very much as it had
under the Territory. The first Legislature author-
ized the establishment of a very large number of roads,
among which the following were ordered to be laid
out, wholly or in part, in Cass County.
"A State road from Edwardsburg, via Cassopolis,
Volinia and Paw Paw Mills, to Allegan, in Allegan
County," for which David Crane, Jacob Silver and
John L. Sherer were appointed Commissioners.
"A road from Schoolcraft, in Kalamazoo County,
to the village of St. Joseph, in Berrien County. For
this road Alexander Copley, Nathaniel M. Thomas
and Albert E. Bull were appointed Commissioners.
The following roads were authorized, by act ap-
proved July 26, 1886 :
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MlCIIKiAN.
A State road " from French's Tavern, on the Chi-
cago road, at the crossing of Prairie River, to Con-
stantino, in St. Joseph County ; thence to Cassopolis,
crossing the river at Bucic's Tavern, and from thence
to the mouth of the St. Joseph River." Thomas
Langley, George Buck and E. B. Sherman, Com-
missioners.
A road "from Constantine, in St. Joseph County,
through Berrien to New Buffalo Village." Wessel
VVhittaker, R. E. Ward and Thomas Charlton, Com-
missioners.
A road from Constantine to Niles. William F.
House, H. W. Griswold and Robert S. GriflSn, Com-
missioners.
A road " from Centerville, in St. Joseph County,
through Cassopolis and through Berrien, to the
entrance of Galien River into Lake Michigan." H.
L. Stewart, John Withenmyer and E. P. Sanger,
Commissioners.
A road " from Constantine, in St. Joseph County,
to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by the most
direct and eligible route." William F. House, James
Odell and Moody Emerson, Commissioners.
By act of March 17, 1837, the following, among
many other roads, were authorized :
A State road from Whitmanville to the State
road, at or near Bainbridge. Charles J. Martin, M.
C. Whitman, John P. Davis and Jehiel Enos, Com-
missioners.
A State road from Whitmanville to St. Joseph,
Eleazer Morton, John Wolver and E. H. Spaulding,
Commissioners.
A road from Cassopolis, through Berrien to New
Buffalo. Abiel Silver, Isaac Sumner and Pitt Brown,
Commissioners.
On the 16th of February, 1838, an act was passed
authorizing the laying out of a State road from Niles
to Kalamazoo. This »oad passed through Wayne and
Pokagon Townships of Cass County.
April 1, 1840, an act was passed authorizing the
establishment of " a road commencing at some point
at or near the north bank of the River St. Joseph, in
the vicinity of the village of St. Joseph, thence run-
ning in an easterly direction, on the most eligible
route, to the village of La Grange, formerly called
Whitmanville, in Cass County." L. L. Johnson,
Morgan Enos and Jacob Allen were appointed Com-
missioners. An act appropriating 3,000 acres of the
internal improvement lands of the State for the pur-
pose of opening and improving this road was ap"
proved by the Legislature March 28, 1848. Seven
tliousand acres of the internal improvement lands of
the State were appropriated by act of April 3, 184^
for opening and improving the State road from Con-
stantine, in St. Joseph County, to Paw Paw, in Van
Buren County.
To "lay out and establish" a road, and to open
and improve a road were two very different things. A
number of those authorized by the Territorial and
State Legislature were never made passable for
vehicles, and some were never opened at all — other
roads which better suited the convenience of the pub-
lic being made in their stead.
A mania for plank roads originated about 1848,
and a very large number of companies were incor-
porated in the State within the next few years. The
only one in Cass County of which we have any
knowledge was known as the Niles and Mottville
Company. It was incorporated March 22, 1849, and
empowered to construct a plank road between Niles
and Mottville, by way of Edwardsburg, Adamsville
or Cassopolis. The persons named to receive sub-
scriptions were James L. Glenn, H. P. Mather, J.
M. Finley, H. B. Hoffman, Nathaniel Bacon, George
Meacham, Ezra Hatch, Moses Joy, Hiram HoUibard,
Orrin E. Thompson, H. Follett and Norman Sage.
The capital stock authorized was $100,000. The
company built only about five miles of road between
Niles and Edwardsburg, which was used until nearly
worn out.
STAGE ROUTES.
Although the Chicago road did not pass through
Niles, a branch was established from Edwardsburg to
that place at a very early day, and much of the travel
went that way.
The first stage coaches in Cass County passed
through in the year 1830 upon the Chicago road and
the above mentioned branch. The line was established
by Col. Alamanson Huston, and connected Niles with
Detroit. Messrs. Jones & Savery, of White Pigeon,
continued to operate it until 1832, when travel was
suspended on account of the Sauk war. It took about
seven days to make the journey from Niles to Detroit.
At first, two stages went over the road each week, but
trips were made tri-weekly before the cessation of the
business in 1832.
In 1833, Benjamin B. Kercheval, DeGarmo Jones
andMaj. Robert Forsythe, of Detroit, and Joseph W.
Brown,of Tecumseh, established a line of stages between
Detroit and Chicago. The route was from Detroit via
Ypsilanti. Jonesville, Coldwater River, White Pigeon,
Edwardsburg and Niles. Teams were changed about
every twelve miles. In 1834, Messrs. Saltmarsh,
Overton and Boardman purchased an interest in the
line, and the concern was known as " the Western
Stage Company." It was soon afterward divided in-
to sections, that extending from Jonesville to Chicago
being placed under the superintendency of Maj.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAiN.
William Graves, who located at Niles in June,
1835.
In the spring of this year, immigration having very
largely increased and there being many land speculat-
ors travelling through the country, it was found that
daily stages were demanded. They were almost inva-
riably crowded, and the company was compelled to put
on a double line before the season was over. Even
then the agents were sometimes obliged to hire extra
teams and common wagons in which to convey pas-
sengers. The most desirable seats in the stages were
frequently sold at a heavy premium by speculators.
The stage companies upon this direct through line to
Chicago were very liberally patronized and grew rich.
They flourished finely until the iron horse and the
railroad coach surpassed the "Concord."
In 1836, what was known as "the Territorial road,"
was surveyed through Van Buren County, a line
of stages was put on it by John Allen, and the busi-
ness was subsequently carried on by other parties.
When the Michigan Central Railroad was pushed
westward across the State, the stage business began to
decline, but it was continued as long as there was a
gap between the iron rail and Lake Michigan to be
filled. When the road was built as far as Marshall,
stages were run from there to Kalamazoo and thence
to St. Joseph and New Buffalo. The line to the latter
place passed through the northwest part of Cass Coun-
ty. It was operated by D. Humphrey & Co., and one
of the noted drivers was Ransom Dopp, of Wayne
Township.
The stage coach in use in Michigan during the pio-
neer days and until a generation ago, was the "Con-
cord," probably so named from Concord, N. H., where
the pattern was originated. They cost from $200 to
poo.
A REMINISCENCE OF THE STAGE.
The following reminiscence by an old settler con-
veys a good idea of the stage coach and of stage travel
in Michigan in the "olden time:"
" The old stage coach was the fastest and best
public conveyance by land forty-five years ago. Its
route was along the main post roads ; and although a
third of a century has elapsed since steam was har-
nessed to the flying car, and the whistle of the loco-
motive usurped the place of the echoing stage-horn
that heralded the coming of ' tlie four-wheeled
wonder,' bearing the mail with the traveling public
and their baggage, yet along the byways and more
secluded portions of our country, the old stage coach,
the venerated relic of our past, is still the speediest
mode of travel, and the stage-horn yet gives notice of
its approach. Thus in this direction and in many
others we carry the past with us.
" As one makes a pilgrimage, in imagination, along
the old stage-route, the spirit of the past seems to
start into life and clothes every object he meets with
an additional charm, bringing back the old associations
' withdrawn afar' and mellowed by the light of other
days.
" Reader, you can fancy this ancient vehicle — a
black painted and deck- roofed hulk — starting out
from Detroit, with its load of passengers, swinging
on its thorough-braces, attached to the fore and hind
axles, and crowded to its fullest capacity. There was
a boot, projecting three or four feet behind, for luggage ;
an iron railing ran around the top of the coach where
extra baggage or passengers were stowed as occasion
required. The driver occupied a high seat in front ;
under his feet was a place for his traps and the mail ;
on each side of his seat was a lamp firmly fixed, to
light his way by night ; inside of the coach were three
seats which would accommodate nine passengers. You
can imagine the stage-coach thus loaded, starting out
at the "'get ape" of the driver, as he cracks his whip
over the heads of the leaders, when all four horses
spring to their work, and away goes the lumbering
vehicle, soon lost to sight in the woods, struggling
along the road, lurching from side to side into deep
ruts and often into deeper mud holes.
" For bringing people to a common level and mak-
ing them acquainted with each other and tolerant of
each other's opinions, give me the old stage-coach on
the pioneer road. You can ride all day by the side
of a man in a railway car and he will not deign to
speak to you. But in the old coach, silence found a
tongue and unsociability a voice ; common want
made them companions and common hardships made
them friends.
" Probably this was the only place where the Demo-
crat and Old-Line Whig ever were in quiet juxtaposition
with that acrid, angular, intens^y earnest and cordially
hated ms^naiWeA ah Abolitionist. Spurned and tabooed
as an agitator, fanatic and disturber of the public
peace by both the old parties, his presence was as
much spurned and despised as were his political prin-
ciples. But this man, thus hated, was found ' cheek
by jowl,' with Democrat and Whig in the old stage.
Who shall say that these old politicians, sitting face
to face with a common enemy, and compelled to listen
to 'Abolition doctrines,' were not benefited by it?
Perhaps this was the leaven cast into the Democracy
and Whiggery of the past, that finally leavened the
whole lump.
" When the roads were very bad, the ' mud-
wagon,' on thorough-braces, drawn by two horses,
was substituted for the regular coach. The verb trot
was obsolete at such times, but the verb spatter was
i
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
conjugated in all its moods and tenses. The wagon,
the horses, the driver and the passengers could testify
to this, for they were often covered with 'free soil.'
The driver sitting high up on the front, was monarch
of the road. Everything that could must get out of
his way. If there was any opposition he had only to
slap his hand on the mail bag and say ' Uncle Sam
don't want this little satchel detained.' And thus
on they go.
" The driver, as he nears a tavern, post office
at the roadside, or village, whips out the tin horn
from its sheath at his side, and sends forth a succes-
sion of pealing notes, that wake the slumbering echoes,
which reverberate and die away in the distant arcades
of the forest. The tavern or village, catching the
first note of the horn, is immediately awake. All are
on the qui vine to witness the ' coming in' of the
stage with its load of passengers, and to hear the news
from the outer world, contained in the old pad-locked
leathern mail-bag. The stage-coach of forty-five years
ago was an important institution. Its coming was
always an interesting event. It had all the enchant-
ments about it that distance lends. The settlement
or village hailed its advent as a ship returning from
a long cruise bringing relatives, friends and news
from a foreign land. It linked the woodland villages
with each other, and kept them all in communication
with the outside world."
CANAL OR RAILROAD PROJECT.
A meeting was held at Edwardsburg on February
2, 1836. to consider the project of constructing a
canal from Constantine to Niles. A majority of those
present favored the idea of a railroad rather than a
canal, and the result was that the friends of the
enterprise secured the passage of an act by the
Legislature (March 26, 1836), incorporating the Con-
stantine and Niles Canal or Railroad Company
with a capital stock fixed at $250;000. The com-
pany was empowered to construct either a canal
or railroad between the termini mentioned in its name
and charter. The first Directors were William Meek,
George W. Hoffman, Wells T. House, Watson Sum-
ner, John G. Cathcart, Edward N. Bridge, J. C.
Lanman, Jacob Beeson and Vincent L. Bradford. It
is possible that a survey was made of the proposed
line of the canal or railroad, but it is certain that no
action was taken beyond that step, and the financial
crash of 1837, with its following period of depression,
put an end to the project. There were no further
attempts to build railroads or to open canals in this
part of the State for a number of years, but several
other abortive efforts were made simultaneously with
that above described.
RAILROADS.
And now the iron trail traverses the country where
little more than a half century since there was naught
but the Indian path, and where within the memory of
men not old, the lumbering stage coach was the most
rapid medium of transportation.
A few brief notes upon the history of the three
lines of railroad which cross Cass County will not, we
think, be without interest in this chapter.
The first railroad in Cass County or Southeastern
Michigan was the Michigan Central. As early as
1832, the Territorial Council took steps toward the
building of a railroad in Michigan, and upon the 29th
of June, passed an act incorporating the Detroit &
St. Joseph Railroad Company. The company organ-
ized under this the first official movement toward
railroad construction was the ancestor of the present
corporation, the Michigan Central Railroad Company.
The company was authorized to build a single or
double railroad from Detroit to St. Joseph by way of
the village of Ypsilanti, and the county seats of Wash-
tenaw, Jackson, Calhoun and Kalamazoo Counties,
and to run cars on the same " by the force of steam,
of animals, of any mechanical or other force, or of
any combination of these forces;" was bound to
begin work within two years from the passage of
the act, to build thirty miles of track within six years,
to complete half of the road within fifteen years, and
to finish the whole of it within thirty years under
penalty of the forfeiture of its franchises.
The route was surveyed by Lieut. Berrien, of the
regular army, and some work was done upon it near
the eastern terminus to secure the franchise of the
company. Before the six years had expired in which
it was prescribed that thirty miles of road should be
built, new and important official action was taken.
Immediately after the admission of Michigan as one
of the States of the Union, upon the 20th of March,
1837, an act of the Legislature was approved by the
Governor, providing for the construction of three rail-
roads by the State government across the whole
breadth of its territory, to be called the Northern,
Central and Southern Railroads. The Central was
to run from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph.
The act also provided for the purchase of the rights
and property of companies already established,
and especially tiiose of tlie Detroit & St. Joseph Com-
pany. The sum of $.')50,000 was appropriated for
the survey and making of the three roads, $400,000
of which was set apart for the Central. By anotlier
act passed March 21, 1837, the Legislature authorized
a loan of $5,000,000. With the money obtained
from this and other sources, the Commissioners of
Internal Improvements proceeded with the construe-
80
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tion of the Central and Southern Uailroads. Owing
to the very slow method of carrying on the work in
that pioneer era of railroads, the Central was not
built to Kalamazoo until 1846. Upon March 28,
1846, an act was passed by the Legislature which
provided for an entire change of system in railroad
building. A body corporate by the name of the
Michigan Central Railroad Company was established.
It was authorized to purchase and the State agreed to
sell all of its interest in the Central Railroad for f 2,-
000,000. The franchise of the company required it
to follow substantially the route originally decided
upon, but instead of specifying that the mouth of the
St. Joseph should be the western terminus, allowed
the company to build from Kalamazoo " to some point
in the State of Michigan on or near Lake Michigan
which shall be accessible to steamboats on said lake,
and thence to some point on the southern boundary
line of Michigan," the men who composed the com-
pany insisting on the latter provision in order that
they might have a choice of destination. As soon as
the company had made its payment and taken posses-
sion of the road it determined to take the nearest route
by which communication with Chicago could be pro-
cured, and began surveying a route to New Buffalo,
running through the northwest part of Cass County.
This route was adopted, laborers employed and the
work pushed forward at a rate of speed which for the
time was remarkable. It was finished to Niles Octo-
ber 7, 1848, and to New Buffalo in the spring of the
following year. In the winter of 1851-52, the road
was opened to Michigan City, and in the spring of
of 1852 completed to Chicago. Since that time the
business of the Michigan Central has steadily increased,
and it has long been recognized as one of the princi-
pal lines in the West.
The Michigan Southern was originally intended to
pass through the southern part of the county, and the
same act which provided for the construction of the
Central authorized its building, but the route was
subsequently so changed as to run through Northern
Indiana.
The Air Line Railroad was built to open to traffic
a fertile region through the counties of Cass, St.
Joseph, Calhoun and Jackson, and to form a more
direct line from Jackson to Niles than the Central
furnished. It was opened to travel to Homer in the
summer of 181 0, to Three Rivers in the autumn of the
same year, and to Niles in February, 1871. The
iron was laid to Cassopolis November 28, 1870. The
first regular passenger train commenced running on
the road January 16, 1871. The Air Line was built
chiefly by parties living along the route. The road
is now leased and operated by the Michigan Central.
The Grand Trunk Railroad was constructed through
Cass County about the same time as the Air Line.
The amount of subscriptions and donations of right of
way in the county amounted to about $100,000. To
S. T. Read, of Cassopolis, is doubtless due the credit
of having brought the line through Cassopolis. He
took an active interest in the building of the road, and
contributed liberally to the enterprise in money and
time. Iron was laid to Cassopolis February 9, 1871,
and regular trains East were run for the first time in
June of the same year. The road was completed to
Valparaiso, Ind., in 1871. The origin of the Grand
Trunk dates back to June 30, 1847, when the Port
Huron k Lake Michigan Railroad Company was
chartered to construct a railroad from Port Huron to
some point on Lake Michigan, at or near the mouth
of Grand River.
In 1855, the Port Huron & Milwaukee Rail-
road Company was chartered, and not long after
amalgamated with the first-named organization. The
Peninsular Railroad Company was chartered October
3, 1865, for the construction of a railroad between
Lansing and Battle Creek, and January 3, 1868, the
Peninsular Railroad Extension Company was char-
tered for the extension of the line from Battle Creek
to the Indiana State line, and the two companies were
consolidated into a corporation as the Peninsular
Railway Company, February 17, 1868. After numer-
ous other consolidations and changes, the present or-
ganization was consummated in April, 1880, under
the name of the Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway
Company. The length of the line froin Port Huron
to Chicago is 330.40 miles.
CHAPTER Xni.
RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL.
Charicter ot T'ioneer Preachers— Karl y Olergymeii of Different De-
nmniiiations in Cass County— Sketches ot Adam Miller, John
Byrns, Elder Jacob I'rice, Justus Gage and Others— ISishop Phi-
lander Chiise— Collins, " the Boy Preacher "—Educational Interests
ot the County— School Laws— Inoorporatlou ot an Academy— Pres-
ent Method ot School Supervision— County Superintendents-
County School Examiners.
FROM an interesting and valuable paper on the
" Pioneer Clergy,"* by Hon. George B. Tur-
ner, we extract the following paragraphs upon the
character of those avant-couriers of Christianity, who
were known to the early settlers of Southwestern
Michigan :
" It is to be regretted that in the history of the
early settlement of Southern Michigan so few facts
» 1\w article was publistied iu the Cassopolis Nalional Democrat February S.
1874. Several selections fr.>in it are iiicorpiratod in this chapter— in fact, all of
the matter which appears in quotation marks, the authorship of which is not
otherwise indicated.
F(EV:JAC0B PRICE.
f^E'/.ADAj^ Ml LLEf^.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
81
have been preserved in relation to the efforts of the
clergy of that period. As a class, none contributed
more toward opening up the far West, as Michigan
was called so late as 1837 — none did more toward
spreading civilization and knowledge — toward sowing
the seed of practical religion and nursing the early
plants as they sprang up under their ministrations,
until churches were organized, Sunday schools
started, theological institutions founded, and a better
civilization had taken the place of what they found
among the hardy backwoodsmen of this new country.
" The pionear clergy, with a self-sacrificing spirit j
worthy of the earlier days of Christianity, plunged
into the wilderness, Bible and hymn-book in hand ;
sometimes astride a horse with saddle bags containing
but a single change of raiment — oftener on foot, with
a bundle of clothes thrown over his shoulder on a
stick, he made his way from one settlement to another
along deer paths or Indian trails, to preach the word '
of life to the rough frontiersman and their fiimilies. '
Wherever the white man penetrated the wilds of an |
American forest, not far behind him followed the dar-
ing Methodist circuit rider, the pains-taking and in-
defatigable Baptist, or the stately and dignified Pres-
byterian. If pulpit oratory, in those days, had less
of the polish of modern times in it, certainly it had,
as a general thing, more of the spirit of the great
Master in it. The early preacher may have lacked ,
somewhat of the book learning of the present day,
but he more than made up for it by an earnest, per-
sistent, undoubting faith in the divine Word, and in
his own mission to preach that Word to dying men
and women. He seldom failed to impress upon his j
hearers that hearty, enthusiastic love for the Re-
deemer, or that dread of His retributive justice, which
he seemed to feel and speak and act in this new and
wild theater of action. He may at times have ap-
peared severely personal — sometimes intolerant and
even coarse in the demonstration of the Word ; but, it
must be remembered, he lived and preached at a time
and under circumstances when a faithful, fearless
denunciation of sin in all its forms was regarded as
the highest possible qualification for a minister of the
Gospel.
" Most of the pioneer preachers were young men —
some mere youths who had been sent into this new
region to cultivate a ministerial talent, preparatory to
engagement in other and more refined fields of labor.
So far as the Methodist Church of Michigan is con-
cerned, its ablest and best men have been through
this backwoods probation. For example, many years
ago, there came into the circuit two mere boys, El-
dred and Collins. Both became eminent men. The ]
latter, before his death, bid fair to reach the highest
position in the church — the former now holds high
rank in it. To write the history of Methodism in
Michigan, with either of these names left out, would
simply be to give to the world a broken and unsatis-
factory view of the church in Michigan, its power
and extent."
The earliest minister of the Gospel in Cass County,
concerning whom we have any authoritative informa-
tion, was the Rev. Adam Miller, a Baptist, who
settled in Ontwa Township in 1830. Several Method-
ist circuit riders had preached in the county prior to
this time. Adam Miller was born in Pennsylvania
in the year 1781. At the age of twenty-three, he
married Sarah Prior, and settled as a farmer in the
neighborhood of his birthplace. About the same time,
he began to preach, but with what success is not
known. In 1815, he emigrated to Franklin County,
Ohio, where he labored in his chosen fields, temporal
and spiritual, until the year 1880, when he removed
to Michigan. Many persons now living can remem-
ber the emigrant wagon of fifty years ago — its heavy,
unsightly, comfortless make-up, its roof of tent-cloth
supported on hickory bows, its interior crow-ded with
bundles of bedding, clothes, boxes of edibles, babies,
boys and girls, pots, kettles, etc., etc. The wagon,
with its heavy load, was drawn by one, two or three
yoke of oxen. In one of these cumberous vehicles
Elder Miller and his family made the journey from
Ohio to Southwestern Michigan, crossing the great
Black Swamp, and following a tortuous trail through
the heavy forest. The passage through the swamp
in the spring was anything but a pleasure trip. Many
stories have been told of it which would not read well
in the biography of a minister. After a wearisome
journey of from three to four weeks' duration, Elder
Miller and family reached the northwest part of
Beardsley's Prairie, near Edwardsburg, where they
found three cabins and a few settlers. The preacher
bought eighty acres of land of a Mr. Coan, or Coon,
which he immediately proceeded to plow and plant.
Soon afterward, he entered quite a large tract of land,
adjoining his original purchase, and lying partly in
Michigan and partly in Indiana. Elder Miller's
time was divided between farming and preaching.
Laboring at agriculture through the week, he saddled
his horse Saturday night, or early upon Sunday, and
traveled often many miles to fill preaching appoint-
ments, usually following Indian trails, .and occasionally
the primitive roads cut through the woods by the
white settlers. His first sermon in the vicinity of
Brownsville. Calvin Township, was preached under a
burr-oak tree. The congregation was not a large one,
but it is safe to say that not many in the surrounding
country, who had heard of the appointment, remained
HIST()RY OF CASS COtNTY, MICHIGAN.
away. Religious meetings were very frequently held
in the open air, but the settlers proffered the use of
their humble homes when the weather was such as to
forbid out-door gatherings. The field of Elder Mil
ler's labors included Cass and Berrien Counties, and
the counties of St- Joseph and Elkhart in Indiana.
His simple, zealous style of preaching, and his per-
sonal persuasion, led many to embrace Christianity.
Among his earliest converts was an Indian, whose
name is not now remembered. He was a very earnest
adherent of the faith, and died in its enjoyment. The
pioneer preacher was present at his deathbed. The
Indian arose, and, with his eyes and arras raised
heavenward, exclaimed as if addressing a spiritual
personage made visible to him, " Come, Jesus ; " then,
sinking back upon the couch, peacefully expired.
It is said Elder Miller organized, or assisted in
organizing. Liberty Church, two and a half miles
south of Cassopolis ; also the Baptist Churches at
Edwardsburg, Niles, Mishawaka (Ind.), and a number
of others. Elder Miller had an education of only the
merest rudimentary character in his early days, and
whatever of usefulness characterized his after life was
the result of self-improvement, native ability and force
of character, combined with goodness of heart, deep
sense of duty, and untiring zeal. He was a fair type
of the pioneer minister of the Gospel. He was a
man of genial temperament, and was full of kindness
and sympathy for all mankind. Notwithstanding the
fact that he had a large family, several poor boys, at
different periods, found homes under his roof, and his
ienevolence was exhibited in various deeds. He sup-
ported himself upon the proceeds of his farm ; never
received a salary during his fifty years' service in
the cause of religion, and very rarely accepted a
donation. He perceived at an early day the impro-
priety of a minister of the Gospel using intoxicating
liquors as a beverage in his family. He said that he
wanted none of his boys to become drunkards through
his influence, and poured out his stock of whisky as
a libation to the earth. His wife anticipated diflS-
culty in getting the neighbors to assist in raising a
barn the following week, if they learned that liquor
was not to be served. They were notified on being
invited to " the raising " that the usual custom would
not be observed, but turned out notwithstanding, and
the barn was raised in as good shape as if the jug of
stimulating spirits had been present. Rev. Adam
Miller was rather singularly the seventh son of a
seventh son, and himself the father of seven sons.
He was twice married. His sons were John P.,
Anthony, Samuel, David, Adam, Jacob and Henry.
Three of them, Anthony, Samuel and David, are
ordained ministers ; two or three others are occasional
exhorters, and all church members. His daughters
were, by his first wife, Sarah ; by his second, Mary,
Margaret, Elizabeth and Eliza, three of whom — Sarah,
Elizabeth and Eliza — are now living. A grand-
daughter, Mrs. Sarah K. Owen, resides in Cassopo-
lis. A few years before his death. Elder Miller re-
moved from Cass County and settled a few miles from
Mishawaka, Ind., where he died August 27, 1854.
In 18.32, the county was visited by a pioneer of
Episcopalianism who was no less a character than
Bishop Philander Chase. He came out from Ohio
with Bazaleel Wells, of Steubenville, who wished to
make a visit to his sons in Kalamazoo County. The
Bishop bought land in Branch County and made a
temporary home there, to which, because of the pro-
ductiveness of the land he gave the name of " Gilead."
In his published "Reminiscences," Bishop Chase gives
the following description of Southwestern Michigan
as it was when he first saw it : " The whole region
of the St. Joseph, embracing one hundred miles square
and more, never till now had an Episcopal minister
to ofiiciate in it. All was waste in regard to the
primitive Protestant Church. Wherever the writer
went, he invaded no man's diocese, parish or labors.
In and throughout this country a circuit of duty was
planned to be fulfilled in that and coming years. This
embraced Niles. South Bend, Beardsley's Prairie or
Edwardsburg, Cassopolis. White Pigeon, Mongoquinon,
English Prairie and Coldwater, besides other places
afterward erected — Constantineand Centerville. Some
of these appertained to Michigan and some to
Indiana."
Bishop Chase married the first couple ever joined
in the bonds of wedlock at the county seat of Cass,
upon New Year's Day, 183-3, and performed the first
religious services in the village afterward.
An incident of some local interest is related as oc-
curring in Cass County when the Bishop was on his
way with his family to Illinois, in 1836 : " At
Edwardsburg they were the guests of Abiel Silver.
The Bishop's favorite horse, Cincinnatus, well along
in years, got quite lame, and he resorted to the fol-
lowing expedient to return him to his farm in
" Gilead." He tied a small piece of board to his
neck, upon which there was written, ' My name is
Cincinnatus; I belong to P. Cha.«e, Gilead, now
Bishop of Illinois; I am 18 years old and somewhat
lame. Let me pass on to Gilead, where I shall be taken
care of through the winter as a reward for my past
services.' It is needless to say the old horse reached
his destination and was well taken care of during the
winter." Much of Bishop Chase's life was spent in
the West, and he exerted a large influence in Chris-
tianizing it.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
83
Elder Jacob Price, one of the foremost pioneers of
the Baptist faith, came to Cass County in 1833.
Probably no minister who has lived in the county was
more widely known or generally loved. He was
brought to Michigan through the instrumentality of
Martin C. Whitman, a merchant of Whitmanville [
(La Grange), who made his acquaintance in the city
of New York in the summer of 1833. He arrived in
Detroit on the 1st of September, and two Sundays
later preached at Whitmanville, where he had taken
up his residence. He next preached at Geneva (on
the banks of Diamond Lake), and upon the 27th of '
September at South Bend. While returning from
that place, his wife was taken sick with a form of fever I
common to the new country, from which she died,
October 19. Elder Price resided at Whitmanville
about three years, preaching regularly there, at Ed-
wardsburg, and at Bertrand (Berrien County), as well
as filling occasional appointments in all parts of Cass
County. In 1836, he came to Edwardsburg, where i
ho lived until 1842, when he took up his residence at |
Cassopolis, which place he made his home until his |
death, which occurred August 8, 1871 — a period of '
twenty-nine years. He was, during the whole period '
of his residence in Cass County, zealously engaged in |
propagating the seed of Christian faith, and probably
delivered more sermons than any other minister of
the Gospel who ever had a residence in the county.
He officiated at a very large number of funerals and
weddings during his ministry, being sent for from all
parts of the region around his home. Rev. Jacob
Price was of Welsh nativity, being born in South
Wales March 28, 179Q, and was the son of a Deacon
in the Baptist Church. He married his first wife.
Miss Ann Price, an English lady, in 1830, and sailed
from England to New York in 1831. Until he re-
moved to Michigan, he was pastor of the Second Bap-
tist Church of Brooklyn. His second wife, whom he
married in 1836 and who still survives, was Miss
Sarah Bennett.
His children were: By his first wife, Anna, now
Mrs. Carmichael, of Benton Harbor. By his second
wife, Sarah and Ellen, residents in Cassopolis; Mary
(Fletcher), now in Chautauqua County, N. Y.; Carrie
(Mrs. Orson Rudd) recently removed to Dakota;
Judson, in Kansas; and Alfred, at present a Professor
in Central University, of Pella, Iowa.
Mr. Turner says of Elder Price : •' Perhaps no
clergyman who ever ministered to our people was
more universally and thoroughly known to them at the
time of his death or more generally beloved, than this
truly good man. * * * He was not what would
be called a great preacher; that is, one of those
possessed of the marvelous power to stir up at will
the emotional in men and women, and promote wide-
spread revivals. But in one sense he was a great
man. His humble life, his uniform goodness of heart,
his unvarying piety, which, taught every day, as well
by example as by precept, endeared him to our people,
and stamped him as a Christian of extraordinary
purity of character. In that sense, he was a great
man — a profound preacher."
A beautiful monument in the Cassopolis Cemetery,
reared to the memory of Elder Price through the
contributions of hundreds of citizens of the county,
will bear testimony for centuries to the esteem in
which he was held.
Universalism was preached in Cassopolis in the
year 1836, by the Rev. George R. Brown, and he was
the first settled pastor of any denomination in the
county seat.
The Rev. Justus Gage who died in Dowagiac on the
21st of January, 1875, was, however, the best known
clergyman of the Universalis! faith in the county,
and has been commonly regarded as its pioneer
preacher. He settled in Wayne Township in 1837,
coming from New York, in which State, the county
of Madison and village of De Ruyter, he was born on
tiie 13th of March, 1805. He became a Universal-
ist in 1822, and was soon after licensed to preach.
Until declining health forbade, he continued to exer-
cise his high calling. He was the organizer of the
Dowagiac Universalist Church, which enjoyed his
ministry for many years, and has been a flourishing
society. Mr. Gage was a man of much public spirit,
and took a deep interest in educational matters and
various secular subjects as well as religious. He was
prominently identified in the organization and build-
ing up of the County Agricultural Society, and for
eight years was a member of the State Board of
Agriculture.
Another early preacher of Universalism in this
county was the Rev. J. P. Averill. " He was re-
garded as a young man of much promise, and during
his short career in this vicinity made many warm
friends. His early death deprived the church of a
strong pillar and society of a genial, warm-hearted
gentleman."
Among the early Methodist ministers of note who
resided for a long term of years in the county,
were "Father" McCool and Rev. John Byrns, both
of whom settled in Pokagon. Of the first named, Mr.
Turner writes : "He was a man of large frame, of
strong native ability, and possessed a fair amount of
book-learning. As a preacher, he was not of the
sympathetic order. He rather held up the pains and
penalty of a violated law, and thundered anathemas
upon the heads of obdurate sinners ; and among that
84
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
class in which fear of a hereafter was the main in- j
centive to religious life, he was unusually successful. |
Combativeness was a strong element in his character.
He never, so far as I knew, declined a discussion with
one of another denomination. His meetings in the
early days of his ministry were remarkably orderly.
If bis intellectual forces were not sufficient to reduce
the refractory young men to order, his physical forces {
were, and when he did bring them into action, woe
was it to the luckless sinner who felt his strong hand
grasp him. Not long since (1874), this really good
and useful man passed to his reward." i
A man of quite different character in many essen-
tials is the Rev. John Byrns, who settled in Pokagon
in 1837. He is a native of Ireland ; was born in •
1816, and came with his parents to America when he
was six years of age. Prior to his emigration to
Michigan, he resided in Syracuse, N. Y. In
1840, he was converted, joined the Methodist Church,
and it was not long thereafter that he was licensed to
exhort. In 1841, he was licensed to preach. Since i
that time, he has devoted himself unselfishly to the
church, and been very active in its service. Few men
have done more for the advancement of Methodism in
Southwestern Michigan than Mr. Byrns. He never
joined the Conference, but has been appointed to and '
has filled numerous circuits, and when not so em- j
ployed has had charges nearer home. He has main- '
tained himself by industrious farming, and his labors >
for the church have been performed through the most
strenuous extra exertions. He has often been obliged
to travel from fifty to seventy-five miles upon horse-
back at the end of the week, besides doing his regular
work upon the farm.
Collins, " the Boy Preacher" (afterward in the front
rank of Methodist divines) and the impression he pro-
duced in Cassopolis, in the fall of 1839, are described
by Mr. Turner, in his paper on "The Pioneer Clergy,"
very happily :
"I naturally looked toward the speaker's stand.
There, occupying his chair, sat a youth, who seemed
to be eighteen or nineteen years of age, yet he was
probably several years older than his looks indicated.
He was of good size, well proportioned, with a full,
fresh beardless face and flaxen hair. His garments,
which were of some dark gray material, seemed, in
every way, too small for him, and evidently made him
feel uncomfortable, for I noticed him occasionally try j
to lengthen out his pants by thrusting his thumbs just
inside of the pockets and pushing down on them.
Then he would pull at the bottom of his vest, so as to
close up the open space between it and the waist-band
of his pani,s. Now and then he would catch, with his
fingers, the lower end of his coat sleeve and pull it |
down, in order to cover much of the wrist left exposed
by the extreme scantiness of the cloth. While sitting
there, his eyes, the most of the time, were cast down
to the floor, but occasionally he would raise them for
a moment, and take a glance at the congregation, as
if to take in its character and capacity, then let them
fall again.
" The time for service had come. He slowly raised
to his feet, and, in a tremulous, indistinct manner,
read a hymn, which having been sung, he knelt down
and made a brief but certainly not a powerful, prayer.
Then rising to his feet, he gave out his text, which
may be found in the first epistle general of John —
' God is love.'
" Up to this time, he had not made a very favorable
impression upon bis audience. Indeed, some of the
old campaigners of the church began to hang their
heads, feeling that Methodism would suffer in the
hands of the ' Boy Preacher.' His manner, his read-
ing, his prayer all fell short of what was expected of
one sent to take charge of so large and important a
field of labor as Cass Circuit."
" My sympathies, however, were strongly enlisted
in his favor from the first. He was young and inex-
perienced. He must begin his career somewhere. The
Conference, no doubt, regarded our circuit as a new
field, comparatively, and eminently fit ground for a
young theologian to practice in. Then, as now, the
most matured talent of the church was thrown into
the cities and larger villages. But, notwithstanding
all the drawbacks that the ' boy ' had to contend with,
I felt, if there was any truth in physiognomy, he had
within him the germs of a noble manhood — the indices
of a great mind. If he had disappointed his hearers
in the preliminary exercises of the morning, his slow,
hesitating words and awkward gestures at the opening
of his discourse, bid fair to intensify that feeling be-
fore its close. Yet, as he stumbled along, there was
something in his honest face, something in his clear,
blue eyes, that gradually attracted and fixed the at-
tention of his audience. It was a kind of magnetic
influence, such as some of our best public speakers
possess and often wield to control the masses on great
and important occasions.
" By degrees the embarrassment under which he
labored wore off; his language and gestures im-
proved ; his Methodist friends began to look up
again, and hope at least that he would not disgrace
them. His slow, broken utterances gave way to a
stronger, better-connected and clearer train of thought.
His eyes, which had before sought the floor, now
looked confidently up, and his countenance beamed
with an intelligence so grandly good as to rivet the
attention of every one who could see and hear him.
IIISTOliV OK (WSS COUNTY. MICIIK! AN.
85
The transformation from the uncouth, inexperienced,
stammering boy to the convincing, powerful minister
of God's word was now complete." * * * *
" Concluding his discourse by a brief exhortation,
Brother Collins sat down, and for a time all was
wonderfully still in the house. That he had made a
decidedly favorable impression was clearly apparent.
A satisfied and pleased expression lit up the faces of
many, especially of church members. Others, un-
usually sympathetic in their feelings, wept freely ;
and not a few seemed thoughtful and solemn. * *
" From that day we kept the young brother in
view. With each succeeding year, he grew in impor-
tance among the Methodists of Michigan and the
public generally. His acknowledged ability placed
him in the front rank of his denomination. He be-
came a leader ; honors upon honors were showered
upon him, and had his life been spared, the crowning
one of them all in the church militant would have
been his — a Bishopric."
Presbyterian ism had among its leading early ex-
ponents the Rev. Mr. Bryant, and the Rev. Mr.
McClaren — " both eminent for piety, learning and
ability. Perhaps none who preceeded them, and cer-
tainly none who came after them, exercised so great
an influence for good in the church as these pioneers.
They were industrious and earnest in their advocacy
of the cause they had espoused."
Roman Catholicism was first preached in Cass
County to the Pottawatomie Indians. The Chief,
Pokagon, and his followers, built a small log church
in Silver Creek Township, on the north bank of Long
Lake, in 1838. The first priest who regularly visited
them was the Rev. De Salle, who came from the Col-
lege of Notre Dame, at South Bend, Ind.*
EDUCATIONAL.f
The ordinance of 1787 for the government of the
Northwest Territory contained the declaration that
" schools and the means of education shall forever be
encouraged." An ordinance for the sale of Western
lands, passed by Congress in 1785, provided that Sec-
tion 16 in every township should be reserved for the
use of schools, and that wise and beneficent measure
has been re-enacted and enforced by subsequent legis-
lation — the acts for the sale of lands in the Indiana
Territory, for the organization of Michigan Territory,
and the ordinance admitting the State of Michigan
into the Union. The original and the present consti-
tutions of the State required that the proceeds of
these lands should remain a perpetual fund for the
»The intercnting history of tho Silver Croek Catholic Church is given at
UiiKth In the chapter devoti-il to the townnhlp.
fli^iliicalionnl niiittera are here treated only in a eenernl way — as per*
tjiining to tho county an a whole. Detailed hiatorieM of the principal achoola of
tho connty appear in their appropriate placm In liila work.
purpose originally designed. The measure was sub-
sequently modified to the advantage of the State as
a whole.*
The success of the sciiool system of the State is
very largely due to the foresight and wise manage-
ment of its organizers. Educational interests have
nowhere in the Union received more attention or been
more enhanced by the people than in Michigan. School-
houses everywhere dot the landscape. The cities and
villages have vied with each other in erecting the best
school edifices, and it is no rare thing to see in towns
of one, two or three thousand population schoolhouses
admirable in architecture and arrangement, which
have cost ten, twenty or thirty thousand dollars.
In 1827 was enacted the first Territorial school law.
This law ordained that the citizens of any township
having fifty householders should employ a school-
master of good morals to teach the children to read
and write, and that the citizens of any township hav-
ing two hundred householders should secure the
services of a schoolmaster competent to teach Latin,
French and English. The townships which neglected
to observe this law were liable to the payment of a
fine of not less than $50 or more than $150.
This law gave place to another in 1833, which re-
enacted many of its leading provisions and placed the
school lands which had formerly been under the super-
vision of the Governor and Legislative Council, un-
der the management of three Commissioners and
ten Inspectors. The oflSce of Superintendent of Com-
mon Schools was also created.
In 1837, a primary school law was enacted by the
State Legislature. This law, which was almost identical
with that of New York, provided for the division of
the State into districts, each containing a sufficient
number of inhabitants to support a school with a
single teacher. The districts were divided and sub-
divided as the population increased.
The union or graded schools followed by a natural
process of growth, and these liave been constantly
developed until at present they are the glory of the
State.
During the later years of the Territorial and the
early years of the State government, there was a pop-
ular rage for the establishment of academies. Charters
were secured for their organization in almost every
county in Southern Michigan. As a matter of course,
many of them never progre.ssed beyond 'the stage of
incorporation.
An act of the Territorial Legislative Council, ap-
proved April 19, 1833, incorporated the Cass County
Academy. The corporators were Baldwin Jenkins,
William Burke, Isaac Shurte, Jacob Silver, Martin
* See (ante thin volume) chapter on landn.
86
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Shields, Abiel Silver, Alexander H. Redfield, Demster
Beatty and Elias B. Sherman. The charter granted
to the corporators the privilege of building an acad-
emy in Cassopolis, and stipulated that the amount
of property owned by the incorporation should not
exceed in value §20,000. No action was taken to-
ward carrying out the objects for which this corpora-
tion was made.
As the common schools were developed, it was uni-
versally recognized that they would supply very
nearly the same kind of education which the acade-
mies were designed to afford. There are now in the
State about three hundred graded schools doing the
work of academies. Each of these has a board of six
Trustees, two of whom are elected annually for a term
of three years.
General supervision of the work of education in the
State is exercised by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
Local supervision has, during most of the years of
Michigan's history, been exercised by township or
village officers chosen for the purpose.
The schools first came under county management
in 1867, through the operation of a law passed at the
session of the Legislature for 1866-67. This was
entitled "An act to provide for County Superintend-
ents of Schools." It prescribed the election of a
County Superintendent in every organized county of
the State having more than ten school districts. It
was provided that the Superintendent should be
elected for a term of two years, and that the first elec-
tion should be held on the first Monday of April, 1867.
The compensation was to be decided by the Board of
Supervisors. The duties of the County School Su-
perintendent were explicitly defined. Among others
were those of examining all persons ofi"ering them-
selves as teachers, attendance in each township at
least once a year, the issuance of certificates of three
grades to those applicants passing examinations, and
the visitation of every school in the county. He was
also required to examine into the condition of school
buildings, suggest plans for new or repairs on old ones,
and to advance the interest in and efficiency of instruc-
tion by the holding of institutes, delivery of lectures
and other means in his power.
The first County Superintendent of Schools elected
in Cass County was Chauney L. Whitney, elected
April 1, 1867. He resigned the position in the fall
of the same year, and the Rev. Albert H. Gaston was,
upon October 22, appointed by Orimel Hosford, State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, to fill the va-
cancy. In 1869, Irvin Clendenen was elected, and
in 1871 Lewis P. Rinehart. Samuel Johnson was
chosen in 1873, and filled the office until 1875, when
it was abolished. From 1875 to 1881, public instruc-
tion was managed by township authorities.
In 1881, the examination of teachers and other
details of the supervision of educational interests was
vested in a County Board, provided for in each county
of the State by act of the Legislature. The board,
it was specified, should be composed of three persons
elected by the chairmen of the Township Boards of
School Inspectors. In accordance with statutory pro-
vision, a meeting was held at Cassopolis upon the 12th
of August. At this meeting E. M. Stephenson was
elected to serve for a term of one year, Michael Pem-
berton for two years and Daniel B. Ferris for three
years. Mr. Stephenson was subsequently chosen
Secretary and Michael Pemberton Chairman of the
Board.
CHAPTER XIY.
THE BAR OF CASS COUNTY.
Alexander H. Kedfleld— Elias B. Shennaa— Old Time Non -Resident
Lawyei-s Sketched by one who knew Them—" Black Chip "
and " White Chip"— Biographical Sketch of James Sullivan—
Ezekiel S. Smith— Henry H. Coolidge— Clifford Shanahan— Daniel
Blacknian— George B. Turner— Andrew J. Smith— Younger At-
torneys who have Practiced at the Cass County Bar.
THE first lawyers in the county were Alexander
H. Redfield and Elias B. Sherman. They were
associated together in the proprietorship of Cassopolis?
and it was principally through their influence that it
was designated the county seat.
Alexander H. Redfield was the seventh son of
Peleg Redfield, and was born in Manchester, Ontario
Co., N. Y., October 24. 1805. He studied three
years at Hamilton College, Clinton, N. T., but
graduated from Union College, Schenectady, in 1829.
He studied law with James R. and Grove Lawrence and
with Hon. Samuel Hammond, and was admitted to
practice in the Supreme Court of New York in July,
1831. In August of the same year, he came to Cass
County. After assisting in laying out Cassopolis and
securing the location of the seat of justice, he for
many years made the village his home. He assisted
in raising the first frame building in the town and
was appointed the first Postmaster. In 1832. as a
Colonel in the Michigan militia, during the Sauk or
Black Hawk war, he went to Northern Illinois and
for many days encamped on the site of Chicago.
During his residence in Cassopolis, he not only prac-
ticed law but carried on a very extensive miscella-
neous business, of which, however, land speculation
formed the greater part. His office was the brick
building, still standing upon Broadway, in Cassopolis,
next door to Capt. Joseph Harper's residence. Mr.
Redfield was a man of very methodical business and
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
87
professional habits. It is related by his friends that he
could, in the darkest night, go to his oiSce and select
any book or package of papers he desired with abso-
lute certainty. He was noted for his love of order.
A cotemporary says that his chief excellence as a
lawyer consisted of his thorough knowledge of the
routine of office business. He was an able and safe
counselor, but did not possess remarkable oratorical ;
talent. His social qualities marked him as a thor-
ough gentleman and made him a most genial com-
panion. There was much of quiet humor in his
composition, and a uniformity of good nature, which,
with his rare mental characteristics, made him very '
popular as man and friend. His integrity was un-
questioned, and he therefore possessed the almostuni-
versal respect of the people among whom he dwelt. |
Those persons who entertained for him any other feel-
ings than those of friendship, admiration and respect,
were very few, and their coldness was, almost without
exception, of the kind that must arise occasionally
from political differences. Mr. Redfield's large land
business withdrew his attention more and more, as
time went by, from the law, and interfered materially
with his professional success. He also entered the
field of politics, which claimed and received much of
his time and energy. In 1847, he was elected State
Senator from the Fourteenth District, and not long
afterward moved to Detroit. An able and useful
man was thus lost to Cass County. In 1856, he was
elected to the State Senate from Detroit. Prior to
this time, he served several years as one of the Re-
gents of the State University. In 1857, he received
from the President a commission appointing him as an
agent among the Indians of the Upper Missouri. In
this capacity, Mr. Redfield's services were responsible,
arduous, and, to the Government, very valuable. Dur-
ing the several years that he held the position, he
made a number of expeditions through the region oc-
cupied by the tribes to whose charge he had been as-
signed, which included the head-waters of the Yellow-
stone and the Missouri, and held councils with thou-
sands of the Indians, perfecting some beneficent meas-
ures. In one journey he traveled 7,000 miles. On
the expiration of his term of service as Indian Agent,
he returned to Detroit and was soon afterward ap-
pointed as Comptroller of the city, which office he
held until failing health compelled him to resign it.
He died November 24, 1869. It has been said that
in every public trust imposed upon him, he gave en-
lire satisfaction, and that of all the vast sums of pub-
lic money disbursed by him, every penny was faith-
fully accounted for. Mr. Redfield married, in 1842,
Miss Phebe C. Dean. Their children, four in num-
ber, were all born in Cassapolis.
Eiias B. Sherman was born in Oneida County, N.
Y., in 1803, removed with his parents to Cayuga
County when four years of age, and there acquired his
education. In 1825, he emigrated to Michigan, and
after spending a season at Detroit went to Ann
Arbor, where he was admitted to the bar in 1829. In
September of that year, he first visited Cass County.
In 1831, he took the leading part in the laying-out of
the village of Cassopolis, and in securing the seat of
justice, the story of which is told in the appropriate
place in this volume. Messrs. Sherman and Red-
field appeared in the first court held in the county.
Mr. Sherman was appointed by Gov. Cass, November
7, 1829, as the first Prosecuting Attorney of the
county, and held the position until 1836, when he
I was elected by the people. He was appointed Dis-
trict Surveyor July 31, 1830, and held that office for
six years. On March 4, 1831, he received appoint-
ment to the office of Probate Judge, in which he
remained until 1840. Mr. Sherman never had an
extensive law practice. His time, during the earlier
years of the history of the county, was devoted very
largely to his official duties, and in later years he
directed his attention entirely to farming. He has
done much for the benefit of the village which he
founded and for the county at large. Mr. Sherman
was married to Sarah, daughter of Jacob Silver, on
January 1, 1833, by Bishop Philander Chase, of the
Episcopal Church, the ceremony being the first cele-
brated in Cassopolis.
What we may call strictly the Cass County bar,
was very small during the first ten or twelve years
after settlement and the organization of the courts.
Several of the old attorneys of adjoining counties who
I practiced in the Cass court?, owing to the small num-
ber of the resident lawyers, have been very nicely
sketched from memory by the Hon. George B.
Turner :
" First, there were the two Chipmans — familiarly
called " White Chip " and " Black Chip." Our im-
pression is they were in no way related. The former,
a resident of this county, was, we believe, a native of
New England ; tall and straight as an arrow ; to a
stranger he st-emed rather pompous and distant in his
1 demeanor, yet he was as companionable and good-
I hearted as any attorney it was our lot to meet.
" He was regarded as a fair lawyer and an honest
one. At one time he was a member of the State
Senate from our district, and was afterward elected
County Judge for Cass County. So far as we can
recollect, he gave general satisfaction in both posi-
tions."
["White Chip," Joseph N. Chipman above de-
scribed, had only a short residence in Cass County,
HISTORY OF (^ASS COUNTY, MICHK^AN.
and lived most of the time in Niles. He was born in
Vermont in 1803, and descended from a family in
which were same of the most distinguished lawyers in
that State. He settled in Niles in 1836, and died
there in the year 1870.]
" John S. Chipman (" Black Chip"), of Berrien
County, was, we think, a native of the State of New
York. Like his namesake, he was tall and com-
manding in person, but unlike him had raven black
hair and eyes to match, and a facial development gen-
erally, which rendered him always a terror to weak-
kneed and timid witnesses. Mr. Chipman was regarded
by many as one of the ablest lawyers in this judicial
district, though we never believed him to be as deeply
learned in the law as some others. He was a bold,
impulsive and at all times an eloquent speaker ; pos-
sessing a rich, full voice over which he had perfect con-
trol. More than once have we heard him use it with
decided effect, either to build up or demolish the char-
acter of witnesses or suitor. His eloquence after all
partook more of the ' spread eagle' character than
of that fascinating kind, which, while it electrifies,
impresses one thoroughly with the speaker's deep and
scholarly attainments. He was never a favorite with
the younger members of the bar, in consequence of
his brusque manner of dealing with them. Toward
witnesses, he was at times abusive ; but take him all
in all he was a good lawyer. Elected to Congress
from this district, he made a speech soon after reach-
ing Washington, and, to use his own language
' planted himself on the ramparts of the Constitution'
and doubtless would have remained there had not a
wicked and mischievous Southern gentleman reached
up and pulled all of the feathers out of his wings so
that he came fluttering down to the level of his fellow-
members. His morals were bad in several respects ;
finally he went to California and, report says, died there
an inebriate. With all his faults, John S. Chipman
possessed many qualities, which his intimate personal
friends might havo-eolitrolled to his great advantage
— to his final redemption from the principal evils
which beset him — had they chosen to exert their power
over him in that direction."
Charles Dana, who practiced much in this county
during early years, was a resident of Berrien, and died
at Niles many years ago. Mr. Turner has made the
subjoined pen sketch of him : " He was a thin, dried
up little man, with a remarkable feminine voice, but
by all odds the best special pleader at the bar. Every-
body liked Dana both for his goodness of heart and
his unquestioned ability as a lawyer. In chancery
practice, where plethoric bills or answers were to be
drawn up or their framework dissected, he was per-
fectly at home. As a speaker, he was dry and un-
interesting to the masses, yet at the same time was a
close, sharp, logical reasoner. He ranked among the
first lawyers of the State."
.Vincent L. Bradford was another practitioner well-
known in Cass County. He settled in Niles in 1837,
and did not remain very long in the West, but re-
turned to Philadelphia from whence he had emigrated
to Michigan. The rough and ready manners of the
majority of the law practitioners of the new county
and the social habits of the people were not tasteful to
him. Mr. Turner considers him to have been one of
the finest specimens of physical manhood he ever saw,
and describes him as " always dressed with scrupulous
neatness, each particular hair, pleat and rufile being in
its proper place. Withal, he was refined, sociable,
gentlemanly, to an eminent degree. As a lawyer, he
was thoroughly posted ; as a speaker, rapid and easy;
yet we cannot say he was always interesting ; on the
contrary, somewhat tiresome ; his argument was
usually spread over too much ground."
" Charles E. Stuart," says the writer we have
above quoted, "or 'Little Charley,' as his ardent
country admirers used to call him, was a native of the
Empire State, and in their estimation held the first
position at the bar of Kalamazoo and its adjoining
counties. As a jury lawyer, he was certainly very
successful ; for nearly all of the elements which go to
make an attorney invincible before such a body, he
possessed to a rare degree. Cool and self-possessed,
with language smooth and insinuating, accompanied
with an air of sincerity, and with a certain dignified
and polished manner, which well-trained rhetoricians
know so well how to bring to bear upon their hearei'S,
his speeches always pleased and interested ; exer-
cising strong common sense, a pretty accurate knowl-
edge of the law, as well as human nature, we have the
key to Mr. Stuart's success as a lawyer." He repre-
sented this district in Congress at one time, and
later was United States Senator from Michigan.
Samuel Clark, also of Kalamazoo County, a mem-
ber of Congress from New York State before he set-
tled in Michigan, " was regarded by many as the peer
of Mr. Stuart at the bar, though differing from him
in more respects than one. He was tall, rather slen-
derly built, with black hair and eyes, always sustaining
himself with a quiet, honest dignity of manner and
speech, which won for him hosts of friends wherever
he went. He was in truth a sound lawyer ; not really
brilliant before a jury, but he possesseil the happy fac-
ulty of convincing that body that he was honest in
the advocacy of his client's cause, and had the law and
the facts on his sidle to sustain him. We would not
detract one iota from the solid or brilliant acquire-
ments of any other member of the bar, when we say
^^^^cz^^^^/^^^i
HISTOKY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
that Samuel Clark was our beau ideal of the gentle-
man and lawyer combined."
At a later day many other attorneys, not residents
of the county, have practiced in its courts, among the
earlier of whom were James Brown and Nathaniel
Bacon, of Niles, and Henry H. Riley, of St. Joseph
County. In later years, the principal practitioner at
the Cass bar, not residing in the county, was Frank-
lin Muzzy, of Niles, who was admitted to the bar in
Berrien County in 1842.
The name of James Sullivan recalls to the minds
of those who knew him, a character in which was
combined rare qualities of the mind and heart. In
every sense of the word, except the chronological, he
was unquestionably the first lawyer of the Cass
County bar. James Sullivan, practitioner at this bar
from 1838 to 1878, was born in Exeter, N. H ,
December 6, 1811. His ancestry was illustrious.
Darcey McGee, in his history of the Irish settlers of
North America, says : " In the year 1723, the Irish
settlement of Belfast was established in Maine by a
few families. Among them was a Limerick school-
master by the name of Sullivan." His sons, John
and James reached the height of civil and military
authority. James was a Representative in Congress
and Governor of Massachusetts ; John (the grand-
father of our subject), was the noted Gen. Sullivan,
of the Revolution, was a Representative in Congress
from New Hampshire, and Governor of the State from
1786 to 1789. His son, George, was for many years
one of the most eminent members of the New Hamp-
shire bar. Attorney General and successively member
of the State Senate and of Congress. James Sulli-
van had the fineness and the force of his fathers. It
was not strange that with such an ancestry he should
himself achieve eminence. He graduated from Dart-
mouth College at the age of eighteen, ranking high
in his class, and after practicing for a short time at
Concord, N. H., he came in 1837 to Niles. He re-
moved soon after to Edwardsburg, Cass County, and
from there in less than a year to Cassopolis, where he
achieved great success.
In 18.53, he took up his residence in Dowagiac,
where he resided until his death. His ability as a
lawyer was of the highest order. He was a man of
fine scholarship, of culture, and possessed a remark-
ably clear and logical mind. He comprehended fully
whatever subject he was considering, and seemed to
recognize from the first the point upon which a case
must ultimately turn. One of his brother members
of the law says : " His statements were clear and his
language accurate, and we can all say his logic was
honest. He would not usurp or misrepresent the law,
and he scorned the use of any trick or chicanery to
achieve a temporary triumph, and despised any one
who would stoop to it." Another says : "That mag-
netic fire of eloquence which sways the minds and
hearts and passions of men, despite their reason and in
defiance of logic, Mr. Sullivan did not possess ; or,
certainly if he did, disdained to employ it. His elo-
quence was of the higher and purer type, and was
addressed to the intellect alone. His was a close-knit,
logical, skillful and vigorous statement, displayed in
apt and nervous language."
In moral character, Mr. Sullivan was all that the
allusions to his professional honor would imply. He
was unsuspecting, frank, his nature as guileless as that
of a child. Some slight errors of conduct indeed ap-
peared, but they could always be imputed to the nerv-
ous impulses of his nature, rather than to any wrong
intention. No man was ever more ready than he,
when convinced of error, to make ample acknowl-
edgement and reparation. He was eccentric and
erratic, nervous and intense, and yet no man of gen-
tler nature or kinder heart has been known to the old
residents of Cass County. His nervousness was phe-
nomenal, a source of much annoyance to himself,
wonder to strangers and often of amusement to his
friends. He seemed to have an instinctive dislike
and distrust of all animals, and his morbid fear of
riding behind a horse was often illustrated. The
least irregularity in the gait of the animal, any slight
and unusual motion of the head or ears, would
throw him into a state of painful uneasiness, and
sometimes a shying movement of the horse would
cause him to leap from the carriage. An unfortunate
deafness caused him also considerable trouble, and
was a disadvantage which undoubtedly had a marked
effect upon his life. It is probable that had it not
been for this physical disability, the highest judicial
honors in the State would have been his. His in-
firmities did not disqualify him for the ordinary duties
of his profession, but they contributed in no small
degree to prevent his acceptance of positions which
he could have well filled.
Mr. Sullivan was for a long time Prosecuting At-
torney of this county ; was a State Senator and
a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850.
While that body was in session he made a speech
upon the Grand Jury system, which at the time was
regarded as a master-piece of eloquence and logic, and
gave evidence of the most profound study. He died
in August, 1878.
John T. Adams came to the county about 1835,
and settled at Edwardsburg. He had a small practice
during his brief residence in the county. In 1836,
he was elected Probate Judge, but did not qualify for
the oflSce. We have no biographical facts concerning
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Mr. Adams, and about the only thing which old resi-
dents remember concerning him is that he was a
remarkably fine looking man.
Frederick Lord was a resident of the county for a
short time prior to 1839. in which year he removed
to Van Buren County, and settled at Paw Paw.
In the year 1839, a young man named Masters,
from Albany, N. Y., became a practitioner at the
Cass bar, but he soon disappeared, moving probably
to the farther West.
Ezekiel S. Smith came to the county in 1840, with
a commission from Gov. Woodbridge as Prosecuting
Attorney. After his term was served out, he prac-
ticed law more or less, until about 1852, when he
removed to Chicago, where he died in 1880. While
here he followed successively the occupations of
editor and merchant, as well as that of the lawyer,
and found time to " take a hand in politics." As a
lawyer, he is described as having been energetic, almost
without parallel, in getting evidence, but not so good
in the management of his cases in court. He was
bold and aggressive, but lacked ability as a logician.
Mr. Smith was fertile in resources ; would take hold
of almost any project, and was always well provided
with great plans for the future. He is said to have
been a man of very fine appearance.
Judge Henry H. Coolidge, now of Niles, resided in
Cass County for a term of about fifteen years, and
has practiced at the Cass bar and presided over its
court since his removal. He was born at Leominster,
Mass., in August, 1811, and educated at Amherst
College. He came to Michigan and settled at Ed-
wardsburg in 1836. He was admitted to the bar in
1844, elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1850, and
removed to Niles in 1859. He was elected Prosecut-
ing Attorney for Berrien County in 1862, and a
delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1867.
In 1872, he was appointed as Circuit Court Judge to
fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge
Daniel Blackman. and in 1876 was elected to the
same office, which he resigned about two years later.
His son, Orville W., who was admitted to the bar in
Cass County in 1865, now resides at Niles.
George Brunt Turner, of Cassopolis, was one of
the earliest resident practitioners at this bar. He
was born in Franklin County, N. Y., March 1, 1822.
and was the youngest son of Ralph and Mary
(Thompson) Brunt, natives of the North of Ireland,
who had emigrated to America a short time before his
birth. When the subject of our sketch was three
years old, both of his parents died of malarial fever,
and he was adopted by Sterling A. Turner, a Virginian,
taking the name of his benefactor. He was educated
in the public schools of New York until thirteen
years of age. In 1835, Sterling A. Turner emigrated
to Michigan, and as he passed through Detroit he
found a place for his adopted son in an auction and
commission house. Mr. Turner settled in Niles, to
which place George B. followed him, and, in July,
1836, they removed to Cassopolis. In this place,
which, as it proved, was to be his permanent home,
the lad was occupied for the first four years, or until
1840, in attending school, teaching and clerking.
During the next four years, he studied law in the
office of Alexander H. Redfield, Esq., and was admit-
ted to the bar September 27, 1844, before Judge
Epaphroditus Ransom, the Examining Committee
being Ezekiel S. Smith, James Sullivan and Alexan-
der H. Redfield. In the meantime, he had by the
aid of his preceptor and other gentlemen, who had
taken an interest in him, acquired a knowledge of the
higher mathematics and the languages, and pursued a
systematic course of reading in history, acting under
the advice of Nathaniel (afterward Judge) Bacon.
He had also practiced in the justice courts, and thus
obtained not only a valuable experience, but some
remuneration. An event which occurred upon the
day he was admitted to the bar serves to illustrate one
phase of Mr. Turner's character, and in a certain
degree the state of society at that time. He had not
long before stabbed with a pocket knife and danger-
ously wounded a notorious bully who had made an
unprovoked assault upon him to revenge a spite, Mr.
Turner having made efibrts to force the payment of a
debt owed by the bully, which had been given to him
for collection. The Sheriff who arrested him became
his bondsman, and every member of the bar present
at the term of court volunteered his services free of
charge in his defense. There were several counts
in the indictment, the first being assault with intent to
kill and murder, and another, simple assault. Mr.
Turner was acquitted of the more serious charge and
found guilty upon the smaller offense. Public opin-
ion was in favor of his entire acquittal, and the jury
would doubtless have so decided had there not been a
couple of Quakers in the body whose strong non-com-
bative principles urged them to bestow a slight repri-
mand. The same Judge before whom Mr. Turner
was admitted to the bar heard the trial for murder and
imposed the lightest fine allowed by law for assault.
The incident was used against him by Mr. Turner's
political opponents, when he was a candidate for
the Legislature in 1848, but as a campaign gun it
proved ineffectual. He was elected and served so
satisfactorily that he was returned in 1849. In 1850,
he was compelled to abandon his profession by reason
of ill health, and removed to a farm in Jefferson Town-
ship. In 1856, he was nominated upon the Demo-
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
91
cratic ticket for State Senator, but the Republican
party organized that year swept the State, and Mr.
Turner, like others of his party, was defeated. Mr.
Turner has been active in the affairs of his party, and
a man always trusted and very frequently honored by !
it. Twice he has been a camlidate for the office of
Probate Judge, and once for that of Prosecuting j
Attorney. He was nominated for Secretary of State
in 1866; was Presidential Elector on the Seymour
ticket in 1868, and, in May, 1876, was a delegate to
the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis,
which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presidency.
Had he been a Republican he might have been "
advanced to distinguished positions, but he has pre-
ferred to be loyal to his political convictions at the
price of losing honored public place, and has enjoyed
private life in a degree which, perhaps, only one man
in a hundred is qualified for. Mr. Turner was for
several years editor of the first paper published in
Cass County — the Cass County Advocate, now the
National Democrat, and has been a valued contributor
to the local press, the Jackson Patriot and other pub-
lications at periods during the past thirty years. He
has been noted for his strict integrity, untiring indus-
try, energy and earnestness. Politically, he has ever
been a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, has vigor-
ously asserted and supported what he has conscien-
tiously believed correct political principles, and, in '.
so doing, has made some bitter enemies, as well as :
many friends. In 1874, he returned to Cassopolis,
where he has since resided and carried on an exten-
sive business in real estate, insurance, etc. Mr. Tur- ;
ner was married, in 1845, to Harriet, daughter of Allen
Munroe, who died in 1858. In 1863, he married the
widow of John Tytherleigh, an English lady, who came [
to this country in 1850. Mr. Turner had by his first [
wife six children, two of whom died in infancy. Two
daughters — Mary (Bosworth) and Lotta (Banks) have {
died in recent years, and two sons are now living — j
Ralph B., located at Jackson, Mich., and Sterling B.,
at Bremen, Ind.
Clifford Shanahan, although a member of the bar,
was more generally known to the people through his
long occupation of the office of Probate Judge. He
was born in Sussex County, Delaware, February 4,
1801. His mother died when he was eleven years old,
and he was brought up by an uncle. After he was
twenty-one years of age, he worked on a farm summers
and taught school winters, for three or four years. He
also carried on for a time a cabinet shop and preached
quite frequently for the Methodist denomination, of
which he was a member. April 8, 1828, he married
Miss Mary Lowrey. In the spring of 1834, he moved
to Michigan, and settled at Edwardsburg, Cass County.
There he worked at his trade of cabinet-making, served
as a Justice of the Peace and preached occasionally.
He was elected Probate Judge, in 1840, upon the
Whig ticket, and served in that capacity until 1864,
the extraordinary period of twenty-four years. In
1845, he removed from Edwardsburg to Cassopolis
and soon after that was admitted to practice. He died
August 1, 1865. He was the father of eight children,
the oldest of whom, Sarah E., now deceased, was the
wife of Judge Andrew J. Smith. Another daughter,
Harriet (Pollock), now resides in Cassopolis.
Noel Byron Hollister came to the county in 1850
and was the first resident lawyer of Dowagiac. He
was originally from Victor, Ontario County, N. Y.,
but removed to Dowagiac from Clinton County, Mich.
Mr. Hollister, besides practicing law, engaged in busi-
ness as a druggist. His father, Joseph Hollister, who
was also a lawyer, became a resident of Dowagiac, but
did not long remain there. Noel B. Hollister, after a
few years removed to Perryville, Ind.
Samuel N. Gannt, of Baltimore, Md., came to Do-
wagiac early in the fifties and obtained a small prac-
tice.
Daniel Blackman, one of the ablest lawyers and
most marked characters of the county bar, resided at
Cassopolis for a period of twenty-one years. He was
born in Newtown, Conn., December 31, 1821 ; was ad-
mitted to the bar in December, 1845, and practiced
five years in Danbury, Conn. In July, 1851, he
settled in Cassopolis. He was elected Circuit Judge
on the peoples' ticket, in November, 1869 ; resigned
November 1, 1872, and removed to Chicago, where he
is now practicing law as a member of the firm of Fair-
child & Blackman. In politics, Mr. Blackman is, and
has been, a Democrat. He is a man of large ability
and many peculiarities. While he lived in Cassopo-
lis, he was identified with a number of public meas-
ures. In company with Joseph Harper, he located the
site of the new schoolhouse ; he induced the building
upon the public square, and did much to bring the
Peninsular Railroad through the village.
Judge Andrew J. Smith, son of White B. and Arriette
(Brown) Smith, was born near Chillicothe, Ross County,
Ohio, whither his parents had emigrated from Delaware,
on the 2d of September, 1818. His mother died when he
was nine months old, and his father, who was a house-
joiner and farmer, removed the family a few years
later — in the fall of 1826 — to Rush County, Ind.
From there they went to Porter County, in the same
State, in 1835, and settled where the town of Valpa-
raiso has since been built. The subject of our sketch
enjoyed very limited educational advantages. He at-
tended the district school a few winter terras, but the
greater portion of his time he was at work upon his
92
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
father's farm, until he was twenty years old. In the
spring before he arrived at his majority, he was elected
Constable of Valparaiso. Soon after this time, he
resolved to abandon farming. He conceived a great
liking for study, and determined to improve himself
mentally. He began teaching the district school in
winter arid studying in summer. In the summer and
fall Df 1840, he became much interested in politics,
attended the immense Whig Convention at Tippecanoe,
and rendered some services during the campaign in
the neighborhood of his home. In December, 1840,
he removed to Edwardsburg, Cass County, where he
attended school alternately as teacher and pupil, most
of the time for seven years. During this period, he
also read law. Mr. Smith moved to Cassopolis in
June, 1847, and taught school there in the fall and
winter succeeding, after which he clerked in " Uncle
Jake " Silver's store. Subsequently, he entered the
employ of Asa and Charles Kingsbury, and was sent
by them, in 1851, to carry on a branch store in Van-
dalia. In the mean time, he had industriously pur-
sued the study of law. He was admitted to practice
in 1853, and elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1854.
In the spring of 1856, he gave up the mercantile
business, returned to Cassopolis and devoted himself
wholly to the practice of law, and the discharge of his
official duties. He was elected County Prosecutor five
times in succession, and served from 1854 to 1864.
After an interval of two years, he was again elected,
and thus served altogether in this capacity twelve
years. In 1874, Mr. Smith was elected Attorney
General of the State, and served in that capacity for
two years. In his official capacity as Prosecuting At-
torney, he rigidly enforced the anti-liquor laws, and
brought about a very salutary condition of things in Cass
County. The number of saloons in the county was
decreased to the minimum, and there were none at all
in Cassopolis from 1857 until the license law came
into force. While he was Attorney General, the con-
stitutionality of the liquor tax law was tested, and,
notwithstanding the fact that he was personally op-
posed to such a law, and believed in prohibitory legis-
lation, he decided it admissible under the constitu-
tion. His briefs in favor of the law attracted atten-
tion not only in Michigan, but in all the States in
which similar questions were before the people. He
gained a reputation second to that of none who have
held the position. In the fall of 1878, Mr. Smith
was elected Circuit Judge in the Second Judicial Dis-
trict, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Judge Coolidge, and in the spring of 1881, he was
re-elected without opposition. On that occasion he
published the following card, which may very appro-
priately be inserted here :
Cassopolis, April 11, 1881.
I take this opportunity to return my thanks to the people of
this Judicial Circuit for the unanimous support they have given
me for the office of Circuit J udge. It is certainly very gratifying to
me to be re-elected without opposition from any parly, and I
especially tender my thanks to the people of Cass County for the
hearty support they have always given me whenever I have been
a candidate for their suffrage ; and the unanimous indorsement
the people of this circuit have given me at this time is the more
gratifying to me, as this is the last time I shall be a candidate for
any office. If I shall live to the close of this term, I shall have
served the people nine years as Circuit Judge, two years as Attor- ■
ney General of the State, and twelve years as Prosecuting Attor-
ney of Cass County. This is certainly all that I could ask or de-
sire, and if I live to see that time, I shall retire from public life.
Again thanking the people of this circuit for the confidence re-
posed in me, I assure them that I shall endeavor to discharge the
duties of the office impartially and to the best of my ability.
.A. J. Smith.
Judge Smith has held many positions of trust in
Cassopolis; been active in promoting the welfare of
the village, and a liberal supporter of all good institu-
tions. He has been a member of the Council for a
number of years, and has served twelve years on the
School Board. He joined the Presbyterian Church, of
which he has been a very influential member, in 1845, and
hasbeen a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1853.
Judge Smith's strict integrity, untiring industry and
strong determination, have been the forces which have
made his career one of success. He has always com-
manded the respect of the people with whom he has
come in contact, as being a conscientious man and one
of remarkable fidelity to fixed principles. In politics,
he has been a Whig, a Free-Soiler and a Republican.
He was married in 1844, to Sarah E. Shanahan,
daughter of Cliiford Shanahan, who was Probate
Judge of Cass County for twenty-four years, and of
whom a sketch appears in this chapter. Mrs. Smith
died January 1, 1873, leaving a son and daughter of
mature age.
James M. Spencer was born on board of a British
merchantman, in British waters, on the 14th of Sep-
tember, 1833. His father was in command of the
ship, and his mother accompanied her husband on
the voyage. Not long after his birth, his parents re-
moved to this country and located in New Orleans.
After carrying on a mercantile business there for a
year or two, the father and family removed to Cincin-
nati, and in 1836 or 1837, to Monroe, Mich. He in-
vested his money in wild lands lying west of that
place, and soon after died. The mother's death fol-
lowed a few years later, and the family of three boys
and two girls were left to care for themselves. The
subject of this sketch worked his way upward in the
world without any assistance (some defect in the title
to the estate purchased by his father causing it to be
lost to the children). He went in turn to Ypsilanti,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Ann Arbor, Jackson, Kalamazoo and Dowagiac. In
September, 1853, he was admitted to the bar at Cass-
opolis by the Hon. Nathaniel Bacon, then Circuit
Judge. From that time until August, 1865, he re-
sided and practiced in the county. He writes that
"he made many friends, and doubtless some enemies.
My fourteen years' sojourn in Cass County, as a
whole, were pleasant and profitable to me." Mr.
Spencer was elected a Justice of the Peace in Po-
kagon Township, and discharged the duties of the
office for four years; he was Circuit Court Com-
missioner for two years, and subsequently Assessor
of Internal Revenue for the General Government
for the district including Cass County. In 1862, he
was appointed to a position in the War Department,
which he occupied for about eight months. In 1865,
Mr. Spencer removed to Topeka, Kan., where he has
since been engaged in the practice of his profession.
Charles W. Clisbee, son of Lewis and Hannah
(Farr) Clisbee, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 24,
1833. He moved to Cassopolis with his father's
family in 1838. In 1846, he went to Oberlin, Ohio, and
spent five years in preparing for college, maintaining
himself in various ways during the whole period. He
entered Oberlin College in 1851, but left very soon
afterward to recruit his finances, and after teaching
one year at Rochester, Oakland Co., Mich., entered,
in 1852, Williams College, Massachusetts, where he
spent three years. He passed his senior year at Ham-
ilton College, New York, in order to enjoy the advan-
tages of its law school, and graduated in 1856. He
then went to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the law
office of the Hon. John Crowell. In 1858, he was
admitted to the bar and served the four years follow-
ing as Circuit Court Commissioner. He was elected,
in 1862, as Prosecuting Attorney of Cass County. In
1864, he was a delegate at large from Michigan to the
National Republican Convention, held at Baltimore,
which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the second
term. He was elected "State Senator from Cass
County in 1866. In 1868, he was a Presidential
Elector from Michigan, and in the following year was
appointed Reading Clerk of the House of Represen-
tatives of the Fortieth Congress, which oflBce he held
until 1875. He then returned to Cassopolis and fol-
lowed his profession. He was Reading Secretary of
the Republican National Convention, which assem-
bled in (.'hicago in 1880, and in December, 1881, was
appointed to his old position as Reading Clerk of the
House, a place which he is eminently fitted to fill.
Joseph B. Clarke was born in Connecticut, edu-
cated at Pompey Academy, Onondaga County, N. Y.,
and at the Rennselaer Scientific School (now called
institute), at Troy, N. Y., of which he is a graduate.
He studied his profession principally at Rochester,
N. Y., and has been admitted to the Supreme Court
of the United States, to the Federal, Circuit and Dis-
trict Courts of several States and to the State Courts
of New York, Michigan and several other States as
his business has required. Before his admission to the
bar, he was editor of daily newspapers at Rochester
and Buffalo, N. Y., Inspector of United States Cus-
toms for the Genesee District, including the port of
Rochester, in that State, and acted as Professor of
Chemistry, botany and other branches of natural
science in the Vermont Medical College, at Wood-
stock, Vt., and in several institutions in the State of
New York. He commenced practice in this State at
Coldwater, Branch County, in 1855, removed thence
to Dowagiac, in 1859, and has practiced there ever
since, with the exception of three years during the
war when he held positions in the War and Interior
Departments at Washington, resigning in February,
1866. He has held the oflSce of Circuit Court Com-
missioner in this and Branch County, eight years ;
is now and for fifteen years has been United States
Commissioner for the Western District of Michigan?
and is now the Prosecuting Attorney for this county.
Whilst at Washington, during the war, and when it
was surprised by the appearance upon its northern
border of Early's army of eighteen thousand in the
summer of 1864, he, with others in the civil service,
volunteered and was mustered into the military serv-
ice of the United States, in a force extemporized for
the defense of the national capital.
George Miller came to this county from Preble
County, Ohio, in 1859. He had practiced law in
Ohio two years prior to that time. He was admitted
to the bar of the several courts in this State at the
March terra of the Circuit Court in 1860, and at once
opened an office at Dowagiac, obtaining a fair share
of business. In 1861, he was elected Justice of the
Peace for a term of four years. He resigned the
office, however, in February, 1862, for the reason
that upon the 22d of the preceding month he had
been commissioned as Captain of Company L of the
Ninth Regiment of Michigan Cavalry, which was
then in camp at Coldwater. He remained in the
army until March, 1865, when he returned home
and commenced the practice of his profession a
Dowagiac. In the fall of 1866, he was elected Circui
Court Commissioner, and in 1868 Prosecuting At-
torney. In May, 1871, he removed to Berrien County
three years later to La Salle, 111. ; in 1875, re
turned to Cass County, and in 1881 removed to
Dakota.
Lowell H. Glover was born in Orleans County, N.
Y., February, 25, 1839, and removed with his parents
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the same year to White Pigeon Prairie, St. Joseph
County, Mich. In the fall of 1840, the family
removed to Edwardsburg, Cass County. The father
of the family died in 1852. The subject of our
sketch attended school for two years, and then took
charge of a grocery belonging to his step-father, and
pursued his law studies while carrying on the store.
In the meantime, he had lost his right hand by the
bursting of a shot-gun. In April. 1861. Mr. Glover
removed to Cassopolis and became a student in the
office of Daniel Blackman. He was admitted to the
bar at the October term of the Circuit Court in 1862,
Judge Nathaniel Bacon presiding, and Henry H.
Coolidge. A. J. Smith and the late James Sullivan
constituting the examining committee. In April. 1862,
he was elected Justice of the Peace, and has held the
office ever since with the exception of one year. He
was married in October. 1865. to Maryette, youngest
daughter of Joseph Harper.
Jacob J. Van Riper, the present Attorney General
of the State of Michigan, was a practitioner in Cass
County for nearly nine years. He was born at Hav-
erstraw, Rockland Co., N. Y., March 8, 1838, and
was the son of John and Leah Van Riper, who after-
ward were settlers at La Grange Village. Cass County.
The young man w:as reared in New York City, and
there received a good academic education in the Con-
ference Seminary and Collegiate Institute. He came
to La Grange in March, 1857, about six months after
his parents located there. After teaching school for
two years in the village, he attended law lectures at
Michigan University in 1860 and 1861. He was ad-
mitted to the Cass County bar in January. 1863,
subsequently to the bar of the Supreme Court of the
State and, in May, 1881, to the bar of the Supreme
Court of the United States. He commenced practice
in 1863. taking up his residence at Dowagiac. His
practice was carried on, with only slight intermission,
until 1872, when he removed to Buchanan, Berrien
Co., where he has since lived. During the war, he
was Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for Cass
County. He was elected a member of the Constitu-
tional Convention of 1867. and was a member of the
Judiciary Committee and Committee on Bill of Rights.
He was elected, in 1876, Prosecuting Attorney for
Berrien County, reelected in 1878, appointed to the
Board of Regents of the State University in January,
1880, and, in the same year, was elected to the office
of Attorney General. Mr. Van Riper was married,
in 1858, to Miss Emma E. Brouner, of Y'ork Mills,
N. Y.
Freeman J. Atwell was born in Orleans County, N.
Y., December 24, 1831, where he was reared and ed
ucated. taught school and read law. He went into
the Union army May 21, 1861, and remained until
1863, serving in the Twenty-seventh Regiment New
York Infantry, which had, perhaps, more heavy losses
than any other from the State, coming out of the war
with only 400 men of a total enlisted of 2,200. Mr.
Atwell was on detail duty most of the time. On his
return home, he was admitted to the bar, in 1863, at
the Supreme Court, which sat in Buffalo. In 1864,
he went to Memphis to join the forces of Gen. Slo-
comb; but that officer having gone to Atlanta, Mr.
Atwell remained in Memphis and began the practice
of law. He remained there until 1868, when, becom-
ing partially blind, he gave up his business and spent
nearly a year in wandering, his infirmity disabling
him for close attentiou to professional duties. In 1869,
he came to Dowagiac, with no definite intention of re-
maining there; but his sight improving and business
coming to him, he did so, and has since practiced un-
interruptedly and with fine success. He is rejcognized
as the leading lawyer of Dowagiac and the equal of
any in the county. He married, in October, 1871,
Miss Ellen T. Clark.
John A. Talbot, son of Edward and Aseneth
(Green) Talbot, of Penn Township, was born Febru-
ary 27. 1847. When only seventeen years of age. he
enlisted in the First Regiment of Michigan Sharp-
shooters, and went into active service. He was
obliged, at one time, to return home on account of
sickness, but when his health was sufficiently re-
covered, again went into the army, and remained
until the war was nearly over. He graduated when
in his twenty-first year from the Law Department of
the State University of Michigan, and began practice
in Cassopolis, continuing about ten years, or until
the sickness which ended in his death, December 24,
1878, incapacitated him for labor. Mr. Talbot
was a good lawyer, a man of fine qualities, almost
universally liked, and, had he been longer spared,
would undoubtedly have made for himself more
than a local reputation in the law. or some other
intellectual field. During the last three years of
his life, he compiled " Talbot's Tables of Cases," a
law book which has received high praise from mem-
bers of the profession.
The law firm of Messrs. Howell i Carr, of Cass-
opolis, was formed May 10, 1870. At the start the
firm possessed a library of ten volumes, and they now
take a laudable pride in pointing to the complete re-
ports of nine States, and about two hundred and fifty
volumes of law text-books, costing not far from
§4.000. This firm, which has enjoyed a lucrative
and constantly increasing practice, is composed of
Marshall L. Howell and John R. Carr.
-Marshall L. Howell, son of David M. and Martha
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
A. Howell, was born in Cassopolis January 25, 1847.
He received the degree of Bachelor of Science from
Kalamazoo College June 17, 1867, and the degree of
Bachelor of Laws from the University of Michigan in
March, 1870. His preceptor, with whom he read
law one year, was the Hon. Daniel Blackman. He
was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Cass County in
1874, and defeated in 1876, when he was also candi-
date for Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket.
He ran again for Prosecuting Attorney in 1880, but
made no canvass, and was defeated by Joseph B.
Clarke. Mr. Howell was married to Miss Emma
Banks October 11, 1870.
John R. Carr was born May 18, 1841, at North
St. Eleanors, Prince Co., Prince Edward Island,
B. N. A. His father and mother, Hugh and Sophia
(Ramsey) Carr, both of whom were born upon the
Island, are still living, and reside at the old home-
stead. They are- of Scotch and English descent.
John R. Carr came to Michigan at the close of the
war ; taught school, studied law, entered the Law
Department of the University of Michigan in 1868, and
graduated therefrom in March, 1870, receiving the de-
gree of Bachelor of Law. He was immediately after-
ward formally admitted to the bar at Paw Paw, Mich.,
and was also admitted to the United States Courts at
Grand Rapids in May, 1873. Mr. Carr was called upon
in the summer of 1881 to defend a man charged with
murder in Dakota, and appearing as his attorney in the
court at Fargo, cleared him. Upon October 10, 1868,
Mr. Carr married Olive, only daughter of John and
Ann Lyie, of Dowagiac.
Harsen D. Smith was born near Albion, N. Y.,
March 17, 1842. He received an academic educa-
tion, and at the age of seventeen commenced teaching
school. In 1863, he was Principal of the Union
School at Eldora, Iowa, and the following year be-
came Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the Iowa
Lutheran College at Albion, Iowa. In 1865, he re-
turned to New York and commenced the study of the
law in the office of Hon. George F. Danforth, of
Rochester, now one of the Judges of the Court of
Appeals of that State. In 1867, he came to this State
and was admitted to the bar the same year at Cold-
water, Branch County, by Hon. Nathanial Bacon,
Circuit Judge. He commenced practicing at Jack-
son, Mich., the following year, and remained there
until August, 1870, when he removed to Cassopolis
and formed a copartnership with Hon. Charles W.
Clisbee for the practice of law. He remained in
partnersiiip with Mr. Clisbee until August, 1872, at
which time he opened an office by himself. October 16,
1873, he was married to Miss Sate Read, daughter of
S. T. Read, Es(j., of Cassopolis. January 1, 1875,
' he formed a law partnership with Hon. A. J. Smith,
under the firm name of A. J. k, H. D. Smith, which
continued until the senior member was elected Circuit
Judge in the fall of 1878, since which time Mr. Smith
has been practicing at Cassopolis without a partner
in business. In 1876, Mr. Smith was elected Prose-
cuting Attorney of Cass County, upon the Republi-
can ticket, and was nominated and re-elected in 1878,
and in 1880 declined to be a candidate for re-nomina-
tion. In politics, Mr. Smith has always been a Re-
publican.
William G. Howard was a native of Cass County,
being born in Milton Township, on the 18th of May,
1846. He was raised on a farm and lost his left hand,
it being cut off by a mowing machine, when he was
about ten years of age. After attending district
school and a higher school at Kalamazoo, he entered
in the year 1863 Olivet College, where he remained
until 1865. He then returned to Kalamazoo College,
from which he graduated in June, 1867, at the age of
twenty-one. Commencing to read law in the fall of
1867 with Messrs. Balch, Smiley & Balch, of Kala-
mazoo, he remained in their office continuously until
the fall of 1869, with the exception of a term spent
at Ann Arbor Law School. He was admitted to the
bar at Kalamazoo in 1869, and on the 1st of Febru-
ary, 1870, began the practice of law in Dowagiac, in
partnership with James Sullivan. At the election
that fall he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, run-
ning on the Democratic ticket. He remained in the
practice of law at Dowagiac until 1873, when he re-
moved to Kalamazoo, and formed a partnership with
H^n. N. A. Balch, which existed until 1878. He
I then formed a partnership with Arthur Brown and
I Ebert S. Roos, under the firm name of Brown, How-
i ard & Roos.
George Ketcham was born in Mason Township,
Cass County, January 9, 1850, a son of Samuel
and Abigail (Pullman) Ketcham. When eighteen
years of age, he went to Hillsdale College, from which
he graduated in 1873. He studied law with Judge
Henry H. Coolidge, at Niles, and was admitted to the
bar at Cassopolis, in 1874. In 1875, he was elected
Circuit Court Commissioner and has held the office
three terms since.
Merritt Alonzo Thompson, who lived at Vandalia
and practiced law in the county from 1874 to 1881,
was a native of Penn Township, and was born in the
old homestead, where his mother and sister still reside,
upon the 26th of April, 1847. He attended the com-
mon schools until he was sixteen years of age, and
worked at farming after that until he was twenty. In
the spring of 1868, he entered the State Agricultural
College, which he attended two years. In 1870, he
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
entered the law department of the State University, i
from which he graduated in March, 1872. In June
of the same year, he was admitted to the bar at Cass-
opolis. In 1873, he began practice at Osceola City,
Mich. ; but in 1874 returned to Cass County and
opened an office at Vandalia, in partnership with '
George L. Linden. In 1875, Mr. L. withdrew and
Mr. Thompson continued alone until October, 1881,
when he removed to Little Valley, Kan.
John Wooster was born in Wheatland County,
Mich., February 1, 1847. He graduated from Hills-
dale College in 1873, and spent the two years follow-
ing in reading law in the office of the Hon. Henry
F. Severns, in Kalamazoo, being admitted to the bar
in that county December 30, 1875. In the following
year, he opened an office in Constantine, but not find-
ing the location a favorable one fo'r a young lawyer,
removed in the fall of the same year to Dowagiac, j
where he has since lived and carried on a general law i
business. He was admitted to practice in the United i
States, District and Circuit Courts in the fall of 1878. I
Mr. Wooster is at present City Attorney of Dowagiac, '
having been elected to that office in the spring of
1880, and re-elected in the spring of 1881.
Joseph L. Sturr, of Vandalia, was born in Bergen
County, N. J., in February, 1842, and lived there
until 1854, when he removed with his parents to this
county. He entered the army in July, 1861, and
was in the service until September, 1864, when he
received an honorable discharge. Upon his return
home, he went to Wexford County, Mich., of which
he was several times elected Sheriff. He studied law
with the Hon. N. A. Balch, of Kalamazoo ; was
admitted to practice there, and located at Vandalm. I
L. B. Des Voignes, of Marcellus, was born at
Mount Eaton, Wayne Co., Ohio, October 15, 1857. In
1861, he removed, with his parents, to Mendon, St.
Joseph Co., Mich., and, in 1875, entered the office
of 0. J. Fast, Esq. (then Prosecuting Attorney for i
the above county), to read law. In 1876, he was ad-
mitted to practice at the bar of St. Joseph County,
and was the youngest attorney ever admitted there.
He then entered the Law Department of the State
University, from which he graduated in 1878. Upon
October 2 of that year, he located at Marcellus, where
he has since followed his profession. He has been,
for the past three years. City or Village Attorney.
Frank H. Reshore, of Dowagiac, was born in Ohio,
in 1853, and removed to Michigan, with his parents,
the next year. He graduated from the Dowagiac pub-
lic schools in 1870. His father, Louis Reshore, who
was an energetic Dowagiac merchant, dying that year,
the young man took his place in the store, and man-
aged it successfully for several years. While thus
engaged, he began reading law. He attended the
Law Department of Michigan University from 1873
to 1875, graduating in the latter year. He was
obliged to give up his profession and engage, for a
time, in business ; but resuming his law studies in the
office of Spaffi^rd Tryon, he was admitted to the bar
in 1879, and in 1880 opened an office in Dowagiac.
W. J. Sampson was admitted to the bar in Cass
County August 7, 1880, and has since that time
practiced at Marcellus. He was born in Hillsdale
County, Mich., and received his education at Hills-
dale College.
OHAPTEE XT.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Practitioners in Cass County, Past and Present— Biographical Sketches
—The Succession of Physicians in Cassopolis, Edwaidsburg, Van-
dalia, Dnwagiac, Pokagon and Sumnerville— Physicians of La
Grange, Brownsville, Jones, .^.damsville, Williamsville and Mar-
cellus.
CASSOPOLIS.
THE first physician in the vicinity of Cassopolis,
or the central part of the county, was a Dr. Grant,
who made his arrival in 1830 or 1831, and boarded
with Judge Barnard, of La Grange Prairie. He re-
moved some time before 1835, "and left no mark."
Little is known concerning his personality.
Henry II. Fowler settled at Geneva, on Dia-
mond Lake, in 1831, and in 1835 went to Bristol,
Ind. He was not prominent professionally, but be-
came well known through his establishment of the
village above named, and the manipulations by which
he caused that place to be designated as the seat of
justice for the county.
Isaac Brown, a native of Virginia, settled in
Cassopolis in the year 1835, and about two years
later moved to Prairie Ronde, where he continued to
practice until his death.
Charles L. Clowes (pronounced Clews), a broth-
er-in-law of Dr. Brown, and also from Virginia,
came to the county seat in 1835, and remained in
active practice from that time until his death, in
March, 1850.
David E. Brown, a brother of Isaac Brown, prac-
ticed in the village a short time at a period subse-
quent to the above.
Benjamin F. Gould, a native of New Hamp-
shire, born in 1804, came in 1837, and practiced
until his death, in November, 1844. Dr. Gould was
a man of fine medical and general education, and a
graduate of Dartmouth College.
David A. Clowes, son of Charles L. Clofres,
came to Cassopolis with his father in 1835, and prac-
ticed with him during the last few years of his life.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
97
Subsequently, he was associated for a short time with
Dr. David E. Brown, and in 1854 he removed to
California.
James Bloodgood came to Cassopolis in 1838,
and practiced for about ten years. He was born,
May 1, 1813, in Albany, N. Y., and on first coming
to Michigan, in 1835, located at Niles. He was mar-
ried, July 3, 1843, to Miss Louisa Beckwith, sister
of Walter G. Beckwith. Leaving Cassopolis about
1848, he went to Niles ; from that place not long
after, to Chicago, and from that city to Dowagiac,
where he died quite suddenly, April 24, 1865.
E. J. Bonine, now of Niles, was one of the
early and prominent practitioijers in Cassopolis. He
was born in Richmond, Ind., September 10, 1821,
and was the son of Isaac and Sarah Bonine, who were
of Quaker descent, and emigrated from Tennessee to
Indiana at an early date. The young man entered the
office of Dr. J. Prichet, of Centerville, Ind., and
remained there three years and #half. In 1844, he
removed to Michigan and settled in Cassopolis. From
that time, onward, until the breaking-out of the war
of the rebellion, he resided in this place and Vandalia,
and carried on an extensive practice.
He was elected to represent Cass County in the
Lower House of the State Legislature in 1852. The
Doctor became quite prominent in politics, and in his
later years has held several offices by election and
appointment. He was originally a Whig, then a
member of the Free-Soil party, and subsequently
aided in the organization of the Republican party, of
which he has ever since been an adherent. On the
breaking-out of the civil war, he enlisted as a private,
and was soon afterward appointed by Gov. Blair as
Surgeon of the Second Regiment of Michigan In-
fantry. He received steady promotion through the
various grades to the position of Surgeon-in-Chief for
the Third Division of the Ninth Army Corps, which
consisted of about 30,000 men. During his services,
he participated in twenty-nine engagements, the prin-
cipal ones being the battles of Yorktown, Williams-
burg, Fair Oaks, the seven days' fight before Rich-
mond, the second battle of Bull Run, Chantilly and
Fredericksburg. In 1864, he returned to Michigan
and located at Niles. He was elected to the Legisla-
ture, but preferred to accept the position of E.xamin-
ing Surgeon on the Provost Marshal's Staff for the
Western District of Michigan, with headquarters at
Kalamazoo, where he remained until the close of the
war.
He was subsequently elected Mayor of Niles
two terms ; in 1873, was appointed Postmaster and
re-appointed in 1877 and 1881. He has been Vice
President of the State Medical Society, and for the
past twenty-five years a surgeon of the Michigan
Central Railroad Company.
L. D. Tompkins, of Cassopolis, the oldest med-
ical practitioner in the county, arrived in 1848,
and had a large experience of the pioneer physician's
life. At the time he began practice in Cass County,
the labors of physician were much more arduous than
they now are, and involved not a little of hardship.
The Doctor soon secured a very fair practice and had
an extended ride. During the first eight or ten years
of his residence in the county, he almost invariably
traveled upon horseback. The roads were not then as
numerous as now, and most of those which had been
cleared and improved were in a condition inferior to
that of the present. Large bodies of land were
unfenced, and it was the universal custom among
those persons familiar with the country when travel-
ing in the saddle to save time by " going across lots "
by way of the numerous paths through the " open-
ings " and the heavy timber. Dr. Tompkins rode
very frequently upon these paths and often in the
darkness of night was obliged to lean forward upon
his horse's neck to avoid being brushed from the sad-
dle by overhanging limbs of the trees. Sometimes,
wearied with travel and loss of rest, he would fall
asleep in the saddle, but the trusty horse, plodding on
through the darkness along the winding, narrow path,
would bring him safely home. Dr. Tompkins was
born in Litchfield, Oneida County, N. Y., February
15, 1817. His parents, Elijah and Minerva (Barber)
Tompkins, emigrated from New York to Trumbull
County, Ohio, in 1832, and there the subject of
our sketch learned the trade of cloth dressing and
wool-carding which he followed at Newton Falls
for three years. He studied medicine three years
in Portage County, Ohio, practiced in North Bend,
Columbiana County, about one year ; another year
in Carroll; removed to Logan County, Ohio, in
1844, and from there to Cassopolis in May, 1848. He
has since been in constant practice except during the
interval when he attended the Rush Medical College
at Chicago, from which he graduated in the winter of
1851-52. Dr. Tompkins was married December 19,
1850, to Miss Frances S. Bostwick, who is still living.
Alonzo Garwood, son of Isaiah and Caroline
(Culver) Garwood, born October 15, 1824, in Logan
County, Ohio, came to Cassopolis in 1850, and is still
in practice in the village. His medical education
began in reading with Dr. James Hamilton in East
Liberty, in his native county, in the year 1847. He
continued under the preceptorship of Dr. Hamilton
for one year ami a half, then went to Columbus, Ohio,
attended lectures at the Starling Medical College, and
studied in the office of Dr. Howard, the Professor of
98
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Surgery, and an eminent member of the College Fac-
ulty. He graduated from the institution above men-
tioned in 1850, and came directly to Cassopolis. Upon
the 22d of October of the same year he returned to
Ohio and married Miss Elvira E. Brown. Dr. Gar-
wood has taken a deep interest in the affairs of the
community in which he has lived, has been promi-
nently identified with the management of the schools,
and in 1857, was honored with election to the State
Senate and filled that position satisfactorily to his
constituents.
Richard M. Wilson came from Niles in 1854,
and practiced until 1864, when he returned to his
former location. He was of the eclectic school, and
a graduate of the college of Cincinnati.
Alonzo B. Treadwell, one of the prominent and
successful physicians of the village and one of its most
popular citizens during his life, began practice here in
1864, and continued it until his death. Dr. Treadwell
was born in Monroe County, N. Y., January 9, 1825.
He obtained a good common school education mainly
through his own exertions, and in 1845 or 1846 came
with his father's large family to Calhoun County, Mich.
Soon after their settlement, the young man left home
rather against his father's wishes, and entered Albion
College, and a year or so later went to Detroit to con-
tinue his study of medicine. In 1850, he commenced
practice in Hudson, Mich., in company with Dr. Buch,
and remained there about two years, when he was called
home to see a sick brother, whom the attending physi-
cians had given up to die, but who was saved probably
through the Doctor's skillful treatment and nursing.
He soon after formed a partnership with a physician at
Battle Creek, and while living in that place married
Miss Augusta Phillips, who was attending school there,
but whose home was in Cortland County, N. Y. From
Battle Creek Dr. Treadwell went to Albion, and from
there to Northville, Mich., where he remained five or
six years, obtained a large practice and broke down j
under hard work. The next four years he spent upon !
a farm. At the breaking-out of the civil war, he en- I
listed in the army and was commissioned as a Second j
Lieutenant, but, owing to an unfortunate accident, was
incapacitated for the service. In 1864, his health was
so far improved that he resolved to again commence
the practice of his profession, and in the spring brought
his family to Cassopolis. He was for a time in part- j
nership with Drs. Tompkins and Kelsey, and after-
ward with Dr. F. F. Sovereign. He died April 21, 1
1874, universally lamented by those who knew him,
and highly regarded both as a generous and kindly
man and an able, conscientious physician.
William J. Kelsey, of the firm of Tompkins &
Kelsey, was born in Niagara County, N. Y., August
20, 1839, and came to La Grange Township, Cass
County, the same year, with the family of his father,
James Kelsey. He studied medicine with Dr. C. P.
Prindle, of Dowagaic, and attended the Rush Medical
College, of Chicago, from which he graduated in 1865.
In February of that year, he came to Cassopolis, and
formed a partnership with Dr. L. D. Tompkins, which
has existed uninterruptedly since. The firm has en-
joyed a very large practice.
Robert Patterson came from Edwardsburg in 1867,
and was a practitioner in the village for a period
of about two years ; after which he returned to Ed-
wardsburg. He is now located at Leonia, Jackson
County.
A little later than Dr. Patterson's time. Dr. Fred-
erick F. Sovereign, now of Three Oaks, Mich., prac-
ticed in the village for a short time, and following him
came Dr. M. C. McOmber, a homeopathic physician,
who remained about two years.
Fairfield Goodwill was born in Madison County,
N. Y., May 12, 1835. His father and his grand-
father were both physicians. His father's family re-
moved to Detroit when Fairfield was only a year old,
and the boy was reared in that city and there obtained
a common-school education. He began the study of
medicine in 1859, reading with Dr. D. Alden, in Pon-
tiac, Mich., for two years. Upon the breaking-out of
the civil war, he enlisted in Taylor's Chicago Bat-
tery. He was promoted rapidly, and held every non-
commissioned office below the rank of Captain. At
the battle of Shiloh, he was seriously wounded and
went home, being assigned to the recruiting service.
He raised a company of men at Pontiac — Company
C of the Eighth Regiment Michigan Cavalry — and,
in January, 1862, was mustered as its Captain, in
which capacity he served until the close of the war.
Upon returning to Michigan, he clerked two years in
Detroit, then went back with his old preceptor, and,
upon his death, succeeded to his practice. In 1871,
he went to Detroit, and entered the office of Dr. Will-
iam Brodie, and, in the fall of the same year, began
attendance at the Medical Department of the State
University. After taking three courses of lectures,
he graduated in 1874, and, in the same year, located
in Cassopolis, where he has since practiced very suc-
cessfully. Dr. Goodwin has, in the comparatively
brief period of his residence in the village, done much
to advance its interests. Few of its citizens have ex-
hibited an equal degree of enterprise and public spirit.
The block on the east side of Broadway, in which is
Goodwin's Hall, is noteworthy as a single example of
the Doctor's zeal in building. Dr. Goodwin was first
married December 25, 1861, in Pontiac, to Miss Mary
Gordon, who died several years later. Upon January
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
15, 1879, he was united with his present wife, who
was Miss Lida Wadsworth, of Lansing.
F. P. Hoy was born at Bellefonte, Centerton
Co., Penn., in 1854 ; graduated at the Hahnemann
Medical College in New York in 1870, and after
taking extra courses of lectures, located in Cassopolis
in the fall of the same year.
William E. Parker, born in Jefi'erson Town-
ship, Cass County, in 1854 — a son of John and
Sarah J. (Ingling) Parker — graduated from the Rush
Medical College, of Chicago, in 1879, and located in
Cassopolis in 1880, after practicing one year in the
eastern part of the county.
J. D. Mater, a graduate of the University of
Virginia, came to Cassopolis in 1881, from Parke
County, Ind., and formed a partnership with Dr.
Goodwin.
EDWARDSBURG.
The first physician who practiced here was a Dr.
Martin, a young man who came to the village in 1829.
He remained only a short time.
Henry H. Fowler, afterward of Geneva, practiced
in Edwardsburg a short time prior to 1830. He
came from Connecticut a single man, and soon re-
turned there and married. When he came back to
the village with his bride, they boarded at John
Sibley's, on Pleasant Lake.
Dr. Meacham, a cousin of George Meacham, was
another early practitioner.
P. P. Barker located here as early as 1834 or 1835,
and died in the village. He was a man of much pro-
fessional ability, and had been a surgeon in the
regular army.
Henry Lockwood was one of the most prominent
and popular physicians ever in the village. He was
born in Little Falls, N. Y., in 1803, read medicine
with a Dr. Green of that place, graduated at the West-
ern Medical College, located at Fairfield, Herkimer
Co., N. Y., and after practicing for several years in
that region, emigrated to Michigan and settled in
Edwardsburg in 1837, or the following year. In
1862, he left Edwardsburg, spent the winter and
spring in New York State, and, returning, made a
Western visit in the summer. On coming back to
Michigan he determined to locate in Dowagiac, but
had not fairly settled there when his death occurred
upon the 17th of December, 1863. His remains
were taken to Edwardsburg for interment. Dr.
Lockwood was a leading member of the Odd Fellows
Lodge.
Isr.ael G. Bugbee, another well-known practitioner
of Edwardsburg, was born in Putney, Vt., April 11,
1814. Some time in the thirties he came to Edwards-
burg, and soon after commenced the study of medi-
cine with Dr. John Treat. He afterward went to
the State of New York and attended lectures at Fair-
field Medical College. He practiced Medicine for a
time in Livingston County, N. Y., and there married.
June 16, 1839, Elizabeth Head. Shortly after his
marriage, he returned to Michigan, at first locating in
Oakland County. In 1840, he removed to Berrien
Springs, Berrien County. He remained there but a
few months, and then went to Edwardsburg, where he
formed a partnership with Dr. Henry Lockwood.
With Dr. Lockwood he organized Ontwa Lodge, No.
49, I. 0. 0. F., at Edwardsburg, and he was its
first chief officer. He was elected Grand Warden of
the Grand Lodge of Michigan, in 1847, and Grand
Master of the order in 1859. He was Representa-
tive of the Grand Lodge of Michigan to the Grand
Lodge of the United States, for the years 1861-62.
In 1852, he was Democratic candidate for the office
of Sheriff" of Cass County, and was defeated by
twelve votes. He was a successful business man and
practitioner in Edwardsburg, until the fall of 1869,
when he met with an accident which made him an in-
valid for the remainder of his life. He died May 18,
1878.
Dr. Alvord and Dr. John Treat practiced in the
village a portion of the period covered by the resi-
dence of Drs. Lockwood and Bugbee. The latter
sold out in 1839 or 1840, to Philogene P. Mallard,
a West India man, who had received his medical edu-
cation at Philadelphia. He went from Edwardsburg
to Niles.
A Dr. Wheeler, a young man, was in partnership
with Dr. Lockwood for a brief period, about 1845-46,
and a Dr. Sargent came to the village in 1847.
Enos Penwell, a man who became very prominent,
and gained a large practice, came to Edwardsburg in
1846, from the Medical College at La Porte, Ind. He
moved away in 1854, and is now at Shelbyville, III.
During a portion of Dr. Penwell's practice in Ed-
wardsburg, he had as a partner. Dr. Edgar Reading,
whose parents lived in the township of Ontwa. He
was also a graduate of the college at La Porte. He
went to Niles in 1853, built the Reading House
there, and subsequently removed to Chicago.
John B. Sweetland came to Edwardsburg in 1861,
having graduated from the University of Buffalo in the
same year. He was born in Tompkins County, N. Y.,
in 1834. He enlisted in the Fourth Regiment
Michigan Cavalry, in August, 1862. About a year
later, he was made a surgeon in the regular army,
and sent to Louisville. In this position, he gained an
experience which has been of great value to him in
subsequent private practice. In 1875, he was sent to
the Legislature as Representative of Cass County,
100
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
being elected upon the Republican ticket. Latterly
he has found time for journalistic labors in addition to
his large medical practice, and has ably edited the
Edwardsburg Argus. Dr. Sweetland was married,
February 19, 1868, to Frances E., daughter of Will-
iam Bacon, one of the pioneers of Ontwa.
Levi Aldrich, born in Erie County, N. Y., Jan-
uary 27, 1820, was the son of James and Hannah
Aldrich, who at an early day settled in Milton Town-
ship, where Levi was reared. He studied with Dr.
J. V. D. Sutphen, of Bertrand, for a year and a
half, and then went to Erie County, N. Y., and finished
under the preceptorship of Dr. George Sweetland.
He then took a course of lectures at Buffalo, another
at Albany, and the final one at Buffalo, graduating
there in 1849. He practiced in Erie County and then
came to Edwardsburg, where he has successfully
practiced ever since.
Robert S. Griffin was born in Erie County, N. Y.,
September 25, 1828, and came with his parents to
Cass County when quite young. The family located
near Edwardsburg. Young Griffin read medicine
with Dr. Henry Lockwood, and with Drs. Penwell
& Reading. He graduated from the Indiana Medi-
cal College at La Porte, in 1849 ; then practiced at
Baldwin's Prairie (where now is the village of Union);
removed to Edwardsburg in 1853, and to Van Buren
County in 1855. Afterward, he spent one year at
South Bend, and in 1875 returned to Edwardsburg,
where he still resides.
Frank Sweetland has practiced in the village about
four years, and James H. Williams for a short time.
Marion Holland, born in Oakland County, Mich.,
graduated from the Medical Department of the State
University in 1875, and from the Dental Department
in 1877. After his graduation, he located in Cassopo-
lis and practiced a short time ; then went to Grand
Rapids, and in 1880 came to Edwardsburg, where
he has since practiced and carried on a drug store.
William I. Lusk was born in New Y^ork. He is a
graduate of the Cincinnati Homeopathic College, and
the only homoepathic physician in Edwardsburg.
VANDALIA.
Dr. A. L. Thorp was the first physician who set-
tled in this village. He came in 1849, remained for
two years, and then, after an absence of two years,
returned, and has since practiced continuously.
Dr. E. J. Bonine practiced here for several years
subsequent to 1851. (See Cassopolis).
Dr. Leander Osborn was born December 27, 1825,
in Wayne County, Ind., and in 1835, removed with
the family of his father, Josiah Osborn, to Cass
County, settling in Calvin Township, then an almost
unbroken wilderness. There were no schools in the
neighborhood, and he received the rudiments of an
education at home, his mother being his teacher.
The first occupation to which he devoted himself after
arriving at his majority was teaching a district school.
He was examined by and received a certificate from
Dr. Taylor and the Rev. George Miner, who compli-
mented him highly upon his acquirements. His
school was in what was known as the " Shavehead
District," in Porter Township. Shortly after this he
made the acquaintance of Dr. E. J. Bonine, then a
young practitioner in Cassopolis, and determined to
study and follow the medical profession. He com-
menced reading with Dr. Bonine in 1847 ; attended
the usual course of lectures at the Rush Medical Col-
lege, of Chicago, in 1851 and 1852, and commenced
the practice of his profession in Vandalia in 1853.
For two years he was in partnership with Dr. Bonine.
In 1856, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and has
since occupied that ofiice continuously, with the ex-
ception of an interval of two years. He had pre-
viously held the office of Supervisor of Calvin
Township. In 1866, he was elected to the State
Legislature, served two years and had the pleasure of
voting to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States. Dr. Osborn was
married November 12, 1854, to Miss Helen M. Beall,
of Centerville, Wayne County, Ind.
H. H. Phillips was born in Scott, Cortland
County. N. Y., July 2, 1843, and removed with the
other members of the family to Minnesota in 1859.
He enlisted when eighteen years old in the Fourth Regi-
ment Minnesota Infantry, and served three years and
two months, the last two years in the medical depart-
ment. He commenced studying medicine while in the
army in 1863. He came to Cassopolis in the spring
of 1866, continued the study under the direction of
Drs. Tomkins, Kelsey and Treadwell ; subsequently at-
tended the State University and graduated from the
medical department in 1868. He commenced the prac-
tice of medicine and surgery at Vandalia in the sum-
mer of the same year, and has since carried it on.
D. L. Flanders, of St. Joseph County, practiced
in the village from 1871 to 1873, and Dr. D. Teague,
of Wabash, Ind., from 1865 to 1868.
DOWAGIAC.
There have been fifty phsicians in Dowagiac from
the time of its establishment as a village to the present
writing. The greater number of these have been
transient residents concerning whom no extended men-
tion could be made even if it was desirable. A few
have been men of high standing in their profession,
and have practiced long in the community. Of all
^/z^.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
101
such, biographies are given whore it lias been pos-
sible to secure the data.
Thomas Brayton was the first physician in the
place and began practice in 1848 or 1849. He was
a native of Steuben County, N. Y., and both as man
and physician, of good repute. His practice in Dowa-
giac extended from the time of his arrival until his
death, which was caused by a railroad accident some
time in the sixties. Dr. Brayton had some original
methods of treatment. As an example, when Nicho-
las Book's daughter (now Mrs. William Larzelere) was
very sick with a fever and not expected to live, the
physician brought Fred Werz, the village fiddler, to
the bedside and commanded him to remain there day
and night and fiddle his most inspiriting tunes when
the patient had sinking spells. The Doctor's orders
were followed to the letter, and the patient recovered.
Dr. Barnum came soon after Dr. Brayton, but left
in 1852.
A Dr. Jarviscame to the village about the time Dr.
Brayton left, and remained for a number of years. He
was more noted as a drayman than a follower of the
healing art, and for some time attracted attention by
driving a bull or steer instead of a horse.
L. R. Raymond came to Dowagiac about 1851 and
left five or six years later. He was from Evans, Erie
County, N. Y., and returned to that place. He was,
during his stay, regarded as one of the leading physi-
cians of the county.
Dr. Keables, now of Decatui-, practiced here a short
time in the fifties.
C. W. Morse came to Dowagiac in 1851, and with
some intervals has since lived here and enjoyed a large
practice. He was born in Orange County, Vt., June
26, 1827, but left there when twenty years of age.
He read medicine with a brother, A. H. Morse, in
Erie County, N. Y. After coming to Dowagiac, he
went East, received a diploma from the University of
Buffalo, in 1864, and also took a course of lectures at
Cincinnati. Soon after coming to Dowagiac, he bought
the place where he now resides. For about four years
he was in the drug business with N. B. Hollister.
Hiram Crapper and a Dr. Richards practiced for
brief periods from 1853 to 1856.
Dr. C. P. Prindle had an extensive practice in
Cass County, and followed it for a long term of years,
residing at Dowagiac, of which community he was a
highly valued citizen. He was born in Spafford,
Onondaga County, N. Y., May 25, 1825. His
boyhood days were passed in the usual manner of
well-conditioned children. Under the supervision of
loving parents, in moderate though comfortable cir-
cumstances, he had little to mar his pleasures. He
was light-hearted and merry, and made the most of
life. When he was eleven years of age, however, his
father died, leaving him, with other children, to the
guidance of his mother. Time passed on and at the
age of sixteen he commenced the study of medicine
in the office of Dr. Morrel, of Borodino, Onondaga
County. Passing through the required course of
reading and obtaining much practical knowledge in
the office from other sources than books, he went to
Geneva College, from which institution he graduated
in 1846. He desired to gain further knowledge in
the line of his chosen calling, and with that end in
view decided to go to New York and enter the great
Bellevue Hospital, which has been a valuable school
for hundreds of physicians. In order to pay his ex-
penses, he was first obliged to work for six months.
This he did and then carried out his plan. He re-
mained for about a year at Bellevue, and also attended
lectures during that period. Returning from the city,
he spent a year in the central part of New York
State. He had some thoughts of removing to the
West, but it was with difficulty he made up his
mind to do so. At last he came, and for a short time
was located in Sumnerville, Pokagon Township, Cass
County. Feeling that he could not have sufficient
latitude at that place, he went to Lawrence, Van
Buren County. There his ride soon became very ex-
tensive and he felt that his labors as a physician had
commenced in earnest. This was in 1850 and 1851.
It was during his residence at the last-named place
that he married Miss Adaline S. Case, of Onondaga
County, N. Y. The winter of 1854, he spent in New
York City, attending lectures and ministering to the
needs of a friend who was seriously ill. In the city,
he was brought into close intercourse with his old
preceptor. Dr. Alonzo Clark, which he felt was a
great advantage to him, as a young physician. In
March, 1855, he came West again and located at
Dowagiac, where he spent the remainder of his life.
He practiced thirty years, and those the best years of
his life. His death occurred August 2, 1876. He
built several houses in Dowagiac, and was closely
identified with its best interests ; but it was as a
physician that he was best known and appreciated
there and in the county. He was very much devoted
to his profession and nothing daunted him in his zeal
and determination to honor it. A writer in one of
the local newspapers said of him at the time of his
death : " For twenty-one years, although often racked
with pain and fatigue, such as few imagined, never in a
single instance when able to ride did he refuse to attend
the call of suffering — whether coming from friend or
foe, rich or poor, it was all the same to him." He
detested " the professional quack in medicine," and
few things hurt his feelings as much as did the often
102
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
sad results of their insincerity and ignorance. He
disliked, too, anything like pretentiousness, or the
use of high-flown language. On one occasion when
returning from a long country ride, he observed as
he drove into town quite a large gathering of men
around one of his cotemporaries, a young doctor who
was giving his ideas of a case of illness, and ostenta-
tiously displaying his knowledge of the technicalities of
medicine, using all the terms in the category of the
" Materia Medica," and, for that matter, in the whole
range of the literature of the healing art, which he
could possibly find excuse for. After listening for a
few moments, he stepped up to the young M. D., say-
ing, in his outspoken manner, " Young man, you are
disgracing your Alma Mater. How do you expect
these men to understand what you are trying to ex-
plain in your high-flown language ? Always use plain
and simple language ; then there will be no mistakes."
He often spoke against professional bombast, and said
that there should be no secrets in the true practice.
The doctor was known as a strong, earnest, manly
character, and was almost universally esteemed for
his worth as a man and his qualities professionally.
" His death," continues the obituary notice, from
which we have already made one brief quotation,
" caused widespread sorrow in many homes, where
for years he had been the trusted physician, the tried,
true friend. His funeral was very largely attended,
the stores and business places in Dowagiac being
closed by common consent."
Dr. Prindle left at his death a wife and two chil-
dren. Flora H. Prindle. the elder, and Edward C.
Prindle, the younger, who is now a practicing physi-
cian, having graduated from Ann Arbor University
with the class of 1876, and also from the Columbia
College of New York City in 1877. .
A. B. Hall followed the profession here from 1854
to 1858 or '59.
William E. Clarke, M. D., was formerly in practice
here as physician and surgeon for some ten or twelve
years prior to the breaking-out of the war. He is a
native of Lebanon, Conn., was educated at the Roches-
ter (N. Y.) Institute, and in his profession chiefly
under the tuition of Prof Edward M. Moore and
Frank Hamilton, then of that city, with several courses
of lectures at the Williamstown (Mass.) and Vermont
Medical Colleges, of which they were professors. In
the summer of 1861, and while in practice at Dowa-
giac, he was commissioned Surgeon of the Fourth
Regiment of Michigan Infantry ; served with it in the
Army of the Potomac, until after McCiellan's cam-
paigns of 1862 ; was transferred to the Nineteenth
Infantry, organized at Dowagiac, in the fall of 1862,
and thence, in 1863, to Carver General Hospital at
Washington, and thence, at the close of the war, to
a regiment still on duty in North Carolina. After
his discharge, he commenced and has since continued
the practice of his profession at Chicago, where he has
been President of the Medical Society of the city.
Moses Porter came in 1854, and after practicing
eight years, removed to Kalamazoo.
A. J. Leonard followed the profession for a short
time, and then removed to Whitewater, Wis.
Theodore P. Seeley was, for a year or so, in part-
nership with William E. Clarke. He went into the
army, and on his return settled in Chicago.
J. H. Beals was for a short time associated with
Dr. Brayton, afterward went into the army, and was
a Lieutenant of cavalry.
James Bloodgood came here in 1864 and died in
1865 (see Cassopolis).
Dr. Odeil and Dr. Salter each practiced for a short
time, as did also Dr. Martin, now of Berrien Springs.
Cyrus J. Curtis was the pioneer Eclectic physician
of Dowagiac and of Cass County. He was born in
St. Lawrence County, N. Y., January 31, 1819 ; re-
moved with his father's family to Erie County, Penn.,
in eai-ly boyhood, and there received his education at
the Waterford Academy. He studied medicine with
a Dr. Smith, in Erie, and graduated at the Worthing-
ton Medical College of Ohio. In 1844, he was mar-
ried to Lucinda Brace, of Erie, Penn., and removed
to Adrian, Mich. Four years later, he returned to
Erie County, Penn., where he practiced until 1860.
His health failing that year, he removed to Berkeley
Springs, Va. At the outset of the war, he was obliged
to leave at a great personal sacrifice, and located in
Portage County, Ohio. His wife died there May 2,
1864. and in December of that year he removed to
Michigan and located at Dowagiac, bringing with him
his children and Dr. S. T. McCandless, who was as-
sociated with him in practice. He married his second
wife, Lillie A. Mills, of New Milford, Ohio, in May,
1865. The labor of an extensive practice in Penn-
sylvania and Ohio had so impaired his health that he
was unable to follow a general practice after coming
to Dowagiac, and devoted himself to the treatment of
chronic diseases, and soon established an enviable
reputation through his marked success. During most
of the time of his residence in Dowagiac. he had part-
ners who gave their attention to the general practice.
Dr. S. T. McCandless was with him from December,
1865, until January, 1867 : D. B. Sturgis and Will-
iam Flory from September 1, 1868, to March 10, 1869 ;
Linus Daniels from May, 1869, to May, 1870 ; Dr.
H. S. McMaster from September, 1871, to Septem-
ber, 1873, and his son, E. A. Curtis, from December,
1873, until his death, which occurred April 21, 1875.
iX/z- C^^'^
0,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHICtAN.
103
During his early professional life, Dr. Curtis took an
active part in public affairs, especially educational
matters. He was a charter member of the Eclectic
Medical Society of Michigan, and its President ; a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and of
the Masonic Order, The last year of his life was
spent in traveling in Colorado, in the vain hope of re-
storing his health.
S. T. McCandless, a graduate of the Eclectic
Medical Institute of Cincinnati, came to Dowagiac
in 1864, associated as has been said, with C. J. j
Curtis. He removed to Alliance, Ohio, in January,
1867.
D. B. Sturgis came to Dowagiac in September,
1868 ; was associated with C. J. Curtis, under the i
firm name of Curtis & Sturgis until March 10, 1869, \
when he removed to South Bend, Ind.
William Flora was a partner of C. J. Curtis, and a
son-inlaw of D. B. Sturgis. He came to Dowagiac in >
1868, having graduated from the Bennett Medical
College of Chicago.
Linus A. Daniels, also an Eclectic physician, came
to Dowagiac in May, 1869, and was in partnership
with C. J. Curtis until May, 1870, when he removed
to Plainwell, Mich. He attended the Medical Depart-
ment of the State University, but graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.
Henry Lockwood practiced here a very short time.
(See Edwardsburg.)
A Dr. Barnes was here several years.
James D. Taylor came to Dowagiac in 1858, and prac-
ticed his profession until his death. February 11, 1871
His wife (who waa Miss Elizabeth A. McMain) and
two children still reside in Dowagiac. Dr. Taylor
was born near Elyria, Ohio, December 2, 1828, and
obtained his medical education in Cleveland and Chi-
cago, receiving his diploma from the Hahnemann
College of the latter city in 1868.
P. I. Mulvane was born in Newcomerstown, Tus-
carawas Co., Ohio, December 13, 18-36. He was ed-
ucated at the University of Michigan, and received
his medical diploma from the Rush Medical College,
Chicago, in 1870. He commenced practice in Illi-
nois in 1862, and in the same year entered the army.
In 1865, he came to Dowagiac, and remained in prac-
tice there until 1873, when he removed to Topeka,
Kan. At one time Dr. Mulvane was associated with
Dr. C. P. Prindle, and again for two years or more
was in partnership with Dr. C. W. Morse. He was
quite prominent as a physician, and had a large prac-
tice. Since residing in Kansas, he has been Presi-
dent of the State Eclectic Board of Medical Examiners,
ever since the new medical act has been in force.
"Dr." Whitehead, an Indian "medicine man,"
came to the town in 1862, or about that time, and for
a short time occupied an office near where Mosher &
Palmer's store now is, and exercised the " herb art "
upon a few credulous people.
J. H. Wheeler came to Dowagiac in 1867, and
soon became one of the leading and influential physi-
cians of the town. He was born in Cheshire County,
N. H., October 17, 1812; removed with his father
and other members of the family to Western New
York in 1821, and emigrated to Cass County in 1835.
He was a practical surveyor, and in his leisure mo-
ments studied medicine. He took his degree in Phil -
adelphia in 1844, and in the same year began practice
in Edwardsburg; removed to Berrien County in 1847,
and from there, twenty years later, to Dowagiac. He
died here, January 5, 1877, in his sixty-fifth year,
leaving a wife and three children.
Dr. Sherwood was in partnership with Dr. Wheeler
from 1872 to 1874.
G. W. Fosdick practiced (homoeopathy) for a short
time, and removed to a farm in Volinia in 1876.
L. V. Rouse came in the sixties, and still practices
in the city.
Edward Sawyer Stebbins settled here in 1868.
He was born in the town of Norwich, Vt., January
17, 1820, and resided there until 1839, when he went
to Worcester, Mass. He began the study of medicine
in part for the purpose of curing himself of consump-
tion, with which he was then afflicted in its incipient
but well marked stages. Succeeding in this, he at-
tended the prescribed courses of lectures in the New '
England Botanical College, at Worcester, Mass., in
1845 and 1846. In 1844, he was united in marriage
with Harriet Goddard, of that city. He continued to
res ide in Worcester until his removal to the West,
and in 1867 was el ected Representative to the Mas-
sachusetts Legislature, on the Republican ticket. In
1869, the year after the Doctor removed to Dowagiac,
he lost his wife, a very estimable lady, who left four
children to mourn her loss. With the exception of
a short interval when he was in business with his son-
in-law, L. E. Wing, he continued to follow his pro-
fession, until 1879, when he abandoned a lucrative
practice for a larger field, and removed to East Liver-
pool, Ohio, where he now resides. Dr. Stebbins is a
scholarly man, a great reader and an untiring student
of specialties. In electrical therapeutics, he probably
had no equal in Western Michigan.
Hamilton Sheldon McMaster was born December
80, 1842, in West Sparta, Livingston Co., N. Y., in
a log house, on the banks of the Genesee Valley
Canal, and was reared on a farm one mile from his
birthplace until he was nineteen years of age, attend-
ing district school in the winter. August 6, 1862,
104
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Thirti-
eth Regiment New York Infantry, afterward changed
to the First New York Dragoons. He was AVard-
master eight months in Douglass Hospital, Washing-
ton, D. C. (after getting up from a siege of typhoid
fever), in 1863-64, and his experience there has been
of value to him in subsequent practice. He served in
the army two years and ten months, being discharged
June 6, 1865. In October, 1867, he came to Michi-
gan. He received a good academic education at
Dansville Seminary, in New York, Lima Seminary of
the same State, and Albion College, Michigan. He
taught school a couple of terms before coming to
Michigan, and four in this State, the last three (one
year) being in a graded school at Blissfield. His sum-
mer vacations were spent upon a farm, and his even-
ings occupied with study. He attended lectures at
the Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, and at
Bennett Medical College, Chicago, graduating from
the latter in the class of 1871. He commenced prac-
tice in Onondaga, Mich., in 1870, and was there six
months before going to Chicago ; went to Battle
Creek in June, 1871, and came to Dowagiac in Sep-
tember of the same year, and has resided here ever ■.
since, with the exception of a little more than a year
spent in Grand Rapids. In 1872, he was married to
Miss Mary F. Stebbins, daughter of Dr. E. S. Steb-
bins. Dr. McMaster is well known in his profession
as a frequent contributor to the medical journals, such ;
as the Medical Times, of Chicago, the Eclectic Medi-
cal Journal, of Cincinnati, the Medical 7ribune, of
New York, and the Therapeutical Gazette, of De-
troit ; also as a defender of the liberal, non-sectarian
principles and ethics of the Eclectic school of practice,
and advocate for a high standard of qualifications for
graduation in the colleges that are recognized by
the National Society. He has prepared several
papers for the State and National Medical Societies.
He was the first City Physician of Dowagiac ; is now
a Trustee and Director of the schools : President of
the Ladies' Library Association ; President of the
Dowagiac Union Medical Society ; Secretary of the
State Eclectic Medical and Surgical Society ; the
editor of the report of its annual transactions, and I
the Vice President of the National Eclectic Medical
Association. He is best known outside of his pro- ,
fessional practice as a persistent advocate of equal
rights for the Eclectic school of medicine, before
the law, in the University, in the State Board of
Health, and in other institutions of Michigan. Dr.
McMaster has taken an active part in public affairs,
and been a leading spirit in temperance reform. His
heart is always on the right side. This is not merely
a rhetorical figure — true metaphorically — but a phys-
ical fact, and one which has been attested by various
examinations by medical gentlemen.
E. B. Weed, a homoeopathic physician, came to
Dowagiac in 1871, and remained until 1877, when he
went to Grand Rapids. He now resides in Detroit.
Eugene A. Curtis, an eclectic physician of Dowa-
giac, was born in Waterford, Erie County, Penn.,
December 17, 1852, and came here in 1864 with his
father. He studied medicine with his father. Dr. C.
J. Curtis, and graduated from the Bennett Medical
College of Chicago in 1873. He began practice with
his father and Dr. H. S. McMaster. He was asso-
ciated with Dr. W. F. Ball during 1877, but termi-
nated the partnership to reside in Chicago. After
spending nearly two years there in attendance at the
colleges and hospitals be returned to Dowagiac in the
summer of 1879, and has since been in practice here.
W. L. Marr came to Dowagiac in 1874, having just
graduated from the State University, and remained
until 1879, when he went to Chicago.
E. C. Prindle, son of Dr. C. P. Prindle, graduated
from the State University in 1876, and has since
practiced here.
Theodore Rudolphi has been in practice in the city
since 1877.
John Robertson, now of Pokagon, was in practice
here from 1877 to 1880.
W. F. Ball, an eclectic physician and a graduate of
the Philadelphia Medical Institute, came here in
1877 and left in 1878, going to East Liverpool, Ohio.
He was in partnership with Dr. E. A. Curtis.
E. W. Eldridge, a graduate of the Cincinnati Col-
lege of Medicine and Surgery was in the city in
1879-80.
J. H. Ludwig, a homoeopathic physician, came
here in 1879, and still remains.
W. W. Easton, eclectic, graduate of the Bennett
Medical College of Chicago, has been here since 1880.
He is a son of Thomas Easton of Silver Creek.
D. W. Forsythe has been in practice in Dowagiac
since 1880, coming directly from the Bennett Medical
College of Chicago. He was born in Canada in
1853.
W. J. Ketcham, for about six years a practitioner
in Volinia, has lately formed a partnership with Dr.
C. W. Morse. He studied with Dr. C. P. Prindle,
and is a graduate of the State University.
LA QRANfiE.
Dr. Jacob Allen located in La Grange (then called
Whitmanville) in 1837, and practiced there with mod-
erate success until 1852, when, on account of failing
liealth, he went to California. He was afllicted with
asthma, but became entirely relieved of the disease
vVlLLlAjM J, K ELSE/ Jv(. D,
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I
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F^ESIDENlCE OF ^OK. J0H,NI B.SWEETL/iKD fvl. D. EDW/M^DSBa^G, MICH
HI8T0RY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
when lie readied the plains, and was free from it
until he came East upon a visit. He returned to the
Pacific Slope, and now resides at Los Angelos, Cal.
POKAGON AND SUMNERVILLE.
The physicians at present residing at Pokagon are
Dr. C. P. Wells, Dr. Charles A. Morgan and Dr.
John Robertson. Dr. Henry Leeder (now deceased)
formerly practiced in the vicinity, residing between
Pokagon Village and Sumnerville. Dr. James Leeder
now resides at the latter place.
Dr. John Robertson was born in the town of Ar-
gyle, Washington Co., N. Y., September 25, 1820.
In 1835, he moved, with his parents, to Onondaga
County, of the same State, and, in 1844, commenced
reading medicine with Dr. Isaac Morrell, in that
county. He attended the Medical Institution at Pitts-
field, Mass., and graduated at Castlets, Vt. In the
summer of 1848, he came to Michigan, and settled in
Sumnerville, where he practiced his profession for ten
years very successfully. In 1850, he bought property
in what is now the village of Pokagon, and built the
residence where he still resides. He has had an ex-
tensive practice, but has been compelled recently to
abandon it, because of failing health. It has been
said of Dr. Robertson, by a friend: "Whenever his
patrons or strangers required his aid, he never refused
to go, no matter how dark and stormy the night, how
bad the roads or whether the mercury stood a hundred
degrees above or thirty below zero."
Charles P. Wells was born in Conquest, Cayuga
Co., N. Y., May 26, 1834, and came, with his parents,
Jonathan and Sylvia P. Wells, to Niles, Mich., in June,
1835. They soon after purchased land previously
entered by Arthur Johnson, on which was four or five
acres of "slashing," and a log cabin, situated one and
a half miles east of Niles and near 'Yankee street,"
in Section 31, Howard Township, Cass County.
There they settled, and, in 1836, erected the third
frame dwelling in the township, and remained for
many years. The subject of this sketch entered upon
the study of medicine November 1, 1852, in the office
of the late Dr. Joel Loomis, of Niles, and completing
the usual course of study under his preceptor and at
the medical college, graduated at Cincinnati, Ohio^
May 13, 1856, and during the following summer, en-
gaged in the practice of his profession at Plymouth,
Ind., and, after several seasons of travel, mostly in the
Northern States and Territories, came to Pokagon in
November, 1865, and, associated with. A. L. Abbott, a
merchant of the place, opened the first drug store ever
kept in the village, of which he subsequently became
sole proprietor, and has continued the business unin-
terruptedly, in connection witli his practice, and may
be counted the oldest and only dealer remaining in
any branch of trade that was here when he came.
May 21, 1870, he was married to Josephine V.,
daughter of Benjamin Curtis, of Berrien, Berrien
Co., Mich.
Dr. Charles A. Morgan, born in Wales in the year
1841, came with his parents to Michigan in 1848,
and the family settled in Cass County, near its west-
ern border. He worked upon his father's farm until
1861, when he entered the army. He served until the
close of the war, and was taken prisoner at the battle
of Pittsburg Landing. Soon after the close of the
war, he attended Kalamazoo College, where he studied
until 1868, in which year he entered the office of Drs.
Bonine &. Dougan, in Niles, and began to read medi-
cine. He graduated from the Medical Department of
the State University in 1871, and established himself
in practice at Sumnerville soon afterward.
ADAMSVILLE.
Henry Follett, one of the earliest and most noted
medical men of Cass County, was born in Eastern
New York November 5, 1789 ; went to Cayuga
County at an early age ; studied medicine with Dr.
Pitney, of Auburn, and served under him in the war
of 1812, as assistant surgeon, being stationed at
Niagara. He commenced the practice of medicine
after the war, near Weedsport, Cayuga Co., N. Y.,
and soon afterward moved into Weedsport. He was
married on the 26th of February, 1816, to Mary
Wells.
In 1836, he started with the family, consist-
ing of his wife and six children, for the far West,
journeying from Niagara through Upper Canada to
Detroit, and thence to Adamsville, in this county,
arriving in the latter part of August. He at once
commenced the practice of his profession ; in 1838,
moved onto a farm a mile and a half east of Adams-
ville, and there continued practice until his death,
which occurred December 14, 1849.
j BROWNSVILLE.
Dr. Phineas Gregg, of Brownsville, was born in
j Ross County, Ohio, on the Slst of March, 1800. He
has been a lifelong member of the Society of Friends.
In 1812, the family moved to Knox County, in the
above State, and Phineas was there married, in 1827, to
Lydia Carpenter, who was born in Vermont in 1806.
They moved to Logan County in 1834, and thence to
Brownsville, Cass Co., Mich., in the year 1848,
where they are both still living at this writing. The
Doctor commenced the practice of medicine on
botanic principles in Ohio, but since coming to Michi-
gan took up the Eclectic system.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Thomas L. Blakeley, of Newberg (Jones' Station),
was born in Niagara County, N. Y., July 5, 1839.
When a small boy, the family removed to Huntington
County, Ind., where his parents died. In 1857, he
removed to Vandalia, Cass County, where he lived un-
til 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, Eleventh
Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry. In 1865, he
returned from the war and located in Buchanan, Ber-
rien County, where he married, July 1, 1866, Mary J.
Batchelar. They removed to Nicholsville, in this
county, in 1869, and there the Doctor began the
practice of medicine in accordance with the Eclectic
system. In 1872, they removed to their present
home, Jones' Station. Dr. Blakley was the first
physician who located there. In 1873, he opened a
drug store, which he carries on in connection with his
practice. He was elected Justice of the Peace on the
ticket of the National Greenback party in 1879.
WILLIAMSVILLE.
Otis Moor was born at St. Joseph, Mich., July 12,
1847. He moved with his parents to Chicago in
1852, married Miss Mary Conkey, of that city, in
1866 ; graduated from the Rush Medical College in
1872, moved to Williamsville, Cass County, in the
same year, and has since continued to practice there.
Dr. Moor has been twice elected as Justice of the
Peace, and is at present Superintendent of Schools of
Porter Township.
MARCELLUS.
H. Carbine has been in practice since 1871, when
he came from Decatur, and has had considerable suc-
cess. In partnership with him is F. Grant, a gradu-
ate of the State University, who has been in the
village about a year.
C. E. Davis came to Cass County in 1861, from
Huron County, Ohio, where he was born in 1846.
His father's family settled in Howard Township. Dr.
Davis enlisted, February 22, 1864, in Company
A, of the Twelfth Michigan Infantry, in which he
served two years. He studied medicine with Dr. A.
J. Mead, of Niles, and began practice in the spring of
1869. In 1871, he went to Philadelphia, and took a
two years' course of lectures in the University of
Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1873. In
the following year he located at Marcellus.
CHAPTER XVI.
First Newspaper Published in Cassopolis— The Xatimial Democrat
and the Fi{)ti!an(— History of the Dowagiae Press— The ReimhUcaii
and the Tinxx— Papers in Kdwardsburg— Marcellus-Vandalla.
CASSOPOLIS.
THE first newspaper established in the county was
the Cass County Advocate, the first number of
which was issued March 11, 1845. It was a small
but well-printed sheet, issued as a weekly, and bore
at the column head the name of E. A. Graves, who
was editor and proprietor. In politics it was Demo-
cratic. Abram Townsend purchased the paper in
1846, but failed to build it up to a prosperous condi-
tion. In 1850, it fell into the hands of Ezekiel S.
Smith, Esq., who removed it the same year to Do-
wagiae.
The National Democrat was established by a stock
company in 1850, and the first number published
March 17. George B. Turner was the first editor
of this journal, and conducted it with ability, making
a lively, spicy paper, which nevertheless did not lack
solidity of character and dignity of journalistic tone.
H. C. Shurter was the publisher for the company.
In the spring or summer of 1854, the paper was pur-
chased by G. S. Bouton, who sold out to W. W. Van
Antwerp upon September 5, of the same year.
While the paper was owned by Mr. Van Antwerp, it
was edited by Daniel Blackman, Esq., now of Chicago.
In 1858. the original stock company again became the
owners of the Democrat, and employed Blackman as
editor and H. B. Shurter as publisher. During the
next three years, the oflBce was not in as prosperous
condition as was desirable, and in 1861 it came under
the Sheriff's hammer. The purchasers were Pleasant
Norton, D. M. Howell and Maj. Joseph Smith. It
was transferred by them to L. D. Smith, who managed
it during the first two years of the war. In March,
1863, it again became the property of Messrs. Norton,
Howell & Smith, and for a short time was edited by Maj.
Smith. C. C. Allison had been employed as publisher
in 1862, and upon May 5, 1863, bought the property.
He has since been its owner, and has personally edited
the paper and managed the office. The Democrat,
under his control, has been enlarged and improved
from time to time, and made a valuable, local news;
paper, as well as a political factor of much influence.
The Democrat has always been an advocate of those
principles which its name would indicate.
An ephemeral and unremunerative journalistic en-
terprise was inaugurated in 1846, in the publication
of the Literary News. This paper was a small sheet,
devoted, during its short existence, to social gossip and
humor.
I
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
107
The Cassopolis Vigilant was established as a Re-
publican newspaper on the 16th of May, 1H72, D. B.
Harrington and M. H. Barber being its projectors.
It was purchased by C. L. Morton and W. H. Mans-
field, on the 28th of February, 1873, and in July, of
the same year, Mr. Mansfield became the sole pro-
prietor. He continued the publication alone until
1876, when he associated with himself James M.
Shepard. This gentleman, in 1<S7S, purchased Mr.
Mansfield's interest, and has since that time managed
the paper alone. The Vigila7it, has been and is a
live, cleanly, well edited newspaper, and it receives
the hearty support of the people of Cass County.
DOWAGIAC*
The first paper published in Dowagiac was one re-
moved from Cassopolis, by the proprietor, Ezekiel S.
Smith, in 1850. It was called the Cass County Ad-
vocate. The building containing the office was situ-
ated on Front street, nearly opposite the northern
terminus of Beeson street. Mr. Smith soon disposed
of his interest to L. P. Williams, who changed its
title to Dowagiac Times atid Cass County Republican.
In 185-1, Mr. Williams returned from a short busi-
ness trip to find the building containing the office de-
stroyed by fire. He made no effort to resurrect the
paper, and abandoned the field.
In 1854, Mr. James L. Gantt established the
Dowagiac Tribune, and continued its publication until
1859, when he sold the good will of the office to W.
H. Campbell. During the previous year, W. H.
Campbell and N. B. Jones hatl established another
newspaper entitled the Republican, and the last-
named paper now occupied the field without op-
position. Mr. Gantt removed his printing material
to Mackinaw, published a paper there a short time,
and finally removed to Baltimore, Md. The cause
which led to the establishment and final success of the
Republican was, that the course of the Tribune be-
came very distasteful to the Republicans of the
county, and in January, 1858, a meeting of the county
officers and leading Republicans was called to con-
sider the matter. Overtures were made to Mr. Gantt
to either dispose of the paper or to allow a committee
to select an editor, in which case the expense would
be paid, but all offers were rejected. It was then de-
cided to establish another paper which would more
clearly represent the views of the party. Thereupon,
negotiations were entered into with Jones k Camp-
bell, of Jackson, Mich., and the Republican was es-
tablished. The co-partner.ship continued but three
months, when Mr. Jones retired. The committee
which was instrumental in establishing the Republican
•The history of the Dowagiac prem ia by Mr. O. J. Oreenlcaf.
consisted of Justus Gage, Jesse G. Beeson, W. G.
Beckwith, Jo.shua Lofland and William Sprague, of
Kalamazoo. The last-named gentleman had pre-
viously represented the district in Congress, and was
then engaged in business in Dowagiac. Mr. Camp-
bell continued the publication of the Republican until
Januai-y, 1865, when Mr. Charles A. Smith pur-
chased the office and published the paper for a period
of about two years. While the paper was under Mr.
Smith's administration, it continued to prosper, was
ably edited, and, being the official organ of the county,
was well patronized. It still maintained the old-time
out-and-out Republican principles, and did every-
thing in its power to aid the Union cause during the
dark days of the rebellion. It was a journal of wide-
spread influence, and an advocate upon which the
party could with safety depend. Mr. Smith was quite
young at the time, being but little more than twenty-
one years of age, but having learned his trade in the
same office, and having studied the desires and pecu-
liarities of the citizens of the county, and, being withal,
a firm and unflinching advocate of Republican princi-
ples, managed to furnish his readers with a good,
sound, local paper. Mr. Joseph B. Clarke, a promi-
nent lawyer, and yet a resident of the city, and
a brother of " Grace Greenwood," frequently con-
tributed political articles which were highly appre-
ciated by the readers of the paper. He was a man of
gi-eat talent, and his writings always had the same
painstaking precision which characterize his legal
practice, in which profession he was a jurist wliom
few equal and fewer excel. Mr. Smith, wishing to
engage in another branch of business, disposed of the
office to Mr. Jesse J. Roe, of Buchaniin, Mich., who
retained the same but a few weeks, when he sold the
HISTOKT OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
concern to its founder, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Roe was
not a practical printer, and knew little about the
business, whicli was doubtless the cause of his retire-
ment after three weeks' experience. Mr. Smith is at
present, we understand, residing in Chicago, having
been a resident of that city some dozen years. Soon
after his arrival in that city, he became editor of the
Real Estate and Building Journal, and in one year
became half-owner of the same concern. He was con-
nected with the Journal as its editor four years in all.
It was a large twenty-four-page paper. He is, we
believe, now engaged as proof-reader for the large
printing house of Culver, Page, Hoyne & Co.
In 1868, the paper was sold to H. C. Buffington,
under whose management the name and politics
remained unchanged. Mr. Campbell later removed
to Minneapolis, Minn., where he still resides. He
was a practical printer and formerly worked on the
Lockport (N. Y.) Democrat.
Mr. Buffington continued the publication of the
Republican until September of 1875, when it was
purchased by Richard Holmes and C. J. Greenleaf
Mr. Holmes was a practical printer of many years'
experience, he having once owned half-interest in the
La Porte (Ind.) Herald, and he had also served Mr.
Buffington some years as foreman of the office. Mr.
Greenleaf had been a .resident of the village some
years, and had acquired a local repute as a writer of
some ability.
About a year after Mr. Buffington had retired from
the Republican, he again entered the newspaper field
by the purchase of the Van Buren County Republican,
located at Decatur. By the influence of influential
politicians, he was appointed Consul at Chatham, Can.,
which office he still holds. Under the management of
Holmes & Greenleaf, the Republican paid much atten-
tion to purely local matters, and was fairly successful.
In August, 1880, Mr. Holmes disposed of his interest
in the office to his partner, and in the next month Mr.
Greenleaf sold the office to Mr. R. N. Kellogg, of
Ellsworth, Kan. Of the former proprietors, Mr.
Holmes formed a co-partnership with Mr. Kellogg,
under the firm name of Kellogg k Holmes, but soon
retired, and again resumed work before the case as
foreman of an office. Mr. Greenleaf turned his
whole attention to the photographic trade, in which he
had been engaged many years. Mr. Kellogg had
been engaged for some years in the publication of
the Ellsworth (Kan.) Times, but hearing of the lively
little city in Michigan, he sold out and determined to
locate there. Under his management the name was
changed from the Cass County Republican to the
Dowagiac Republican, and the paper changed from a
seven-column folio to a six-column quarto. It has
recently been changed back to a seven-celumn quarto.
I Mr. Buffington purchased the Van Buren Repub-
lican of Mr. W. M. Wooster, who then turned his
eyes longingly on the journalistic field at Dowagiac.
He therefore purchased the material of the Lawrence
; Advertiser, and removed it to Dowagiac. September
I 1, 1880, he issued the first number of the Dowagiac
Times. The paper claimed to be independent in poli-
tics, but before the experiment became an assured
success, Mr. Wooster met with a severe accident on
the railroad, inflicting such injuries that he was forced
to abandon his work. On March 15, 1881, the mate-
rial and good will were purchased by Mr. A. M. Moon,
I of the Marcellus News. Mr. Moon had been pub-
lishing the Netvs for nearly four years, and, moving
part of the material to the Dowagiac office, he contin-
ued the publication of the Times, changing its politics
from Independent to Democratic. Careful attention
is paid to local news, and the enterprise promises a
I fair degree of success. It is a five-column quarto in
size.
I Among the more ephemeral ventures in the Dowa-
giac journalistic field might be mentioned a paper
called the Herald, published by Samuel N. Gantt soon
after the commencement of the rebellion. The sol-
diers demanded its suppression, and its editor, deem-
ing discretion the better part of valor, announced its
suspension by order of Gen. Burnside.
The Monitor, started in 1875 by C. W. Bailey,
had a short and deservedly unsuccessful career of a
few months only. The first daily ever issued here
was, on Monday evening, April 22, 1861, by William
H. Campbell. Only a few numbers were issued.
November 11, 1879, Ward Brothers, of Port Huron,
started the Cass County Daily Netvs. It was a little
leaflet about 14x20 inches in size, and expired after a
troubled existence of eighty-nine days.
EDWARDSBURG.
[ The publication of a newspaper was commenced in
this village, by M. M. Edminston, December 3, 1874.
It was called the Edwardsburg Index, and the first
issue was printed in Mishawaka, Ind. This paper
was suspended September 25, 1875, and the portable
property of the office, together with the proprietor,
disappeared suddenly. The Index has been described
as "neutral in politics and destitute of religion."
William A. Shaw began the publication of the Ed-
wardsburg Argus October 5, 1875, and, not long
after, H. B. Davis became its editor. He sold out to
F. M. Jerome. The paper continued to be neutral in
politics until 1878, when Jerome formed a partnership
with G. F. Bugbee, and it was made a supporter of
Democracy. Dr. John B. Sweetland took charge
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of the paper February 6, 1879, since which time it
has " been neutral in nothing, independent in every-
thing." It has been liberally sustained, both by sub-
scription and advertising patronage, and deservedly,
for it has been a well-couducted local newspaper.
MARCELUJS.
The first newspaper in this village was the Messen-
ger, started, in 1874, by S. D. Perry. The paper was
not remarkably successful, and the material used for
its printing and publication soon passed into the hands
of tiie Goodspeed Brothers, of Volinia. They re-
sumed the issuance of the paper, under the name of
the Marcellus Standard, with R. C. Nash as manager.
The Standard passed over to the silent majority of
local papers in August, 1876.
Upon July 13, 1879, A. M. Moon brought out the
first issue of the Marcellus News. It was established
as an independent journal, but, eight months later,
made an organ of the Greenback party. In March,
1881, Mr. Moon removed to Dowagiac, taking the
machinery and material of the News, and purchased
the Dowagiac Times, which he has since conducted.
Mr. Moon had quite a large experience in newspaper
making before coming to Cass County, having been
connected with the Lawton (Mich.) Tribune, with the
Bee Keepers' Journal and Agriculturist, with his
father, establishing Moon's Bee World at Rome, Ga.,
and holding a position, more recently, on the Bee
Keepers' Journal, published by H. A. King, in New
York.
The Netvs, at present published in Marcellus, and
a bright, newsy sheet, was established by C. C. Alli-
son, proprietor of the Cassopolis National Democrat,
upon December 24, 1881, and is now published by
Messrs. Allison & Parker.
VANDALIA.
The Vandalia Journal was first issued June 14,
1881, by William A. De Groot, an old and expe-
rienced printer, who had started a paper of the same
name at Constantine in 1876, and subsequently re-
moved to White Pigeon, where he remained in busi-
ness until coming here. The Vandalia Journal was
established as a six-column folio, and soon afterward
made a five-column quarto.
CHAPTEE XVn.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND THE KENTUCKY
RAID.
The two Lines of the Underground Kailroad which fi)rnied a .lunction
in Cass County— Station Agents and tMiidnotors— Their Methods-
Spies sent out from Kentucky Id lind liigitivc Slaves— Kidnapers
foiled in Calhoun County— Warniiik's sent by Friends to the Cass
County Colored Colonies— Raid cf the Kentucliians In August,
1847— Incidents— The Raiders' Plans frustrated by tlie Aboli-
tionists and other Friends— Riot and Bloodshed narrowly Ks-
caped— " Nigger Bill" .Tones, the Baptist Minister and the Negro
Baby — Excited Condition of the Public Mind — Legal Pro-
ceedings In Cassopolis— Negroes discliarged from Custody and
Spirited away to Canada— Suit against the Fugitives' Friends by
the KentucUians.
THE so-called Kentucky raid, which grew out of
the workings of the " Underground Railroad,"
was a very unique and interesting episode in the his-
tory of Cass County, and one which produced some
far-reaching results.
The Underground Railroad, as it has been happily
called, from the dark, mysterious nature of its opera-
tions, was organized and carried on by a few hundred,
or perhaps thousands, of earnest philanthopists,
scattered through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois- and Michi-
; gan. Its founders and operators were men who en-
1 tertained a firm conviction that human slavery was a
! sin, and that it should, therefore, be combated. They
assisted many thousand fugitive slaves in their journey
j toward the north star and freedom. The railroad
j which afforded transportation to the poor blacks, was
I one of many ramifications, a vast system of routes,
each one of which exten,ded from some point on the
I border of the Slave States to the Canada line. Two
j of these routes, one from the Ohio River and the other
! from the Mississippi, formed a junction in Cass County.
The first of these was known as the " Quaker line,"
; and the other as the " Illinois line." Of the latter,
John Cross was the projector. It was put into opera-
tion in 1842. The " Quaker line," so called because
I almost entirely managed by the Quaker settlers in
I Indiana and Michigan, was opened to travel prior to
j 1840. Every Quaker settlement along the line was
a station. At all of them were afforded rest, refresh-
ment and that retirement from publicity which was
always grateful to the colored traveler.
\ In Cass County, the houses of Ishmael Lee, Stephen
Bogue, Zachariah Shugart and Josiah Osborn (all
Quakers), were stations of much importance. W. S.
Elliott, conductor, brougiit fugitive slaves through to
these men from L. P. Alexander, agent at Niles, and
they were sent onward toward Canada by way of
Flowerfield, in St. Joseph County, and Schoolcraft,
in Kalamazoo County. William Wheeler was the
agent at the former, and Dr. Nathan M. Thomas at
the latter station. William Jones, of Calvin, known
as "Nigger Bill," and Wright Modlin, of Williams-
110
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ville, were famous "nigger runners," and made fre-
quent trips to the Ohio River, and sometimes to
Kentucky soil, for the purpose of assisting and guid-
ing fugitives to freedom. The number of runaway
slaves who passed through Cass County, prior to
1848, and who were given aid in one way or another
by the Abolitionists, was probably not less than fifteen
hundred. Dr. Thomas, of Schoolcraft, estimated that
he had assisted at least a thousand upon their way,
and he by no means received all who journeyed
through this county.
The men engaged in "nigger running," and those
who gave the slaves food and shelter along the road
were engaged in a business which made them amena-
ble to law, and which placed their property, and even
their lives sometimes in jeopardy. Operations were,
therefore, carried on with the utmost cunning and
stealth. The trains upon the Underground Railroad
were usually run at night, and the human freight,
when unloaded at a station, was carefully concealed.
Each station agent knew the name of the next agent
ahead of him, but was ignorant of the identity of the
one behind, unless he learned it by accident. The
conductors, when applying for hospitality for their
passengers, either at regular stations, or occasional
stopping-places, to which they resorted in case of
accident on the road, invariably used as a password
the query, " Can you furnish entertainment for my-
self and another person ? " The form of question
never underwent the slightest change.
Often the owners of escaped slaves, or agents em-
ployed by them, came through the country in search
of their property, and many amusing tales might be
told of the manner in which they were sometimes
foiled. Occasionally the fugitives were discovered,
and marched back to slavery ahead of their master's
As time progressed, the slaves enjoyed greater im-
munity from the danger of pursuit and recapture, and
many of them finding occupation in Michigan, re-
mained here with friends, thinking that they would
be nearly as safe as in Canada.
In Cass County, in the beginning of the year 1847,
there were at least fifty runaway slaves. The num-
ber has been estimated as high as one hundred, but
the former statement is nearer the truth. Most of
them were in Penn and Calvin Townships, where
the chief Quaker .settlements were located. All of
the Quakers entertained Abolition sentiments, and
there were many people in this vicinity who, as a
rule, sympathized with them. Another colony of
colored people was formed in Calhoun County.
Some of the fugitives who had settled down in Cass
County owned small tracts of ground, for which they
were about equally indebted to their own industry,
and the generosity of their white friends. All were
willing to work and conducted themselves in an in-
offensive manner, gaining the respect of the people
around them. That they were not secure in their
newly-found homes was soon made manifest. During
the years 1846 and 1847, spies were sent out from
Kentucky to hunt for fugitive slaves in various neigh-
borhoods in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. One of
them who came to Michigan, was in the employ of an
association of Bourbon County, Ky., planters, formed
for the purpose of recovering their runaway slaves.
Perhaps no neighboroood in the whole South had
suffered more losses than Bourbon County, and it so
happened that a large proportion of the blacks who
had colonized in Cass and Calhoun Counties, were
from that region.
Early in 1847, a young man who gave his name as
Carpenter, arrived in Kalamazoo, and entered the
law office of Charles E. Stewart, for the alleged pur-
pose of studying law. He represented himself as
from Worcester County, Mass., and professed to be a
strong Abolitionist. He was in reality a spy sent
out by the planters of Bourbon County, Ky.
After remaining a short time in Mr. Stewart's
office, and gaining some information in regard to the
location of the fugitives' settlements, he started out to
visit them, thus to obtain more minute and definite
knowledge. Still playing the role of the Yankee
Abolitionist, he went in turn to the Calhoun and Cass
County colonies, spending considerable time in each.
Adopting the shrewd device of canvassing for Eastern
Abolition journals, he readily obtained admission and
hospitable entertainment at the houses of the Quakers
and other friends of the negro, and easily received
such information as he desired. He ascertained the
number and the exact location of the fugitives, and
the places from which they had "emigrated " in Ken-
tucky.
Not long after his visit to Calhoun County a party
of Kentuckians, led by one Francis Trautman, ap-
peared there and endeavored to kidnap the Crosswhite
family, former slaves. In this they were foiled by
the neighbors who came to the defense of the negroes
some two hundred strong. The slave-hunters returned
to Kentucky, and great excitement was aroused by
the tales which they told of the Abolition outrage. In-
dignation meetings were held and a memorial presented
to the State Legislature setting forth in vigorous lan-
guage the wrongs which the would-be kidnapers* and
the owners of the slaves had suffered. An appropriation
* The term " kidnapers" haa been commonly used in Michigan &s an appetla
tion for the KentucltianB and appears; frecniently in this chapter, but as a mattel
of fact they were not in the eye of the United Slates law" liidnapers" at all
but simply men engaged in the recovery of their legal property.
I
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY,. MICHIGAN.
Ill
was made by the State to aid her citizens in seeking re-
dress. Suit was brought by the owners of the slaves
against a number of the leading citizens of Calhoun
County to recover the value of their chattels and
damages because of riot. The parties made defendants
to the suit were Dr. 0. C. Comstock, Charles T.
Gorham (late United States Minister to the Hague)
and Jarvis Hurd, they being among the crowd as-
sembled on the occasion of the alleged riot, who were
known to be responsible financially. The first trial
resulted in a divided jury, and the second, which
came off in 1848, in a verdict against the defendants
for $1,900 and costs. The late Zachariah Chandler
was brought into political prominence indirectly by
this suit. He headed a subscription paper with
$100 and succeeded in raising (principally in Detroit)
the amount which the defendants were required to
pay. His activity did much to make him popular
among the people who afterward gave him their suf-
frages.
Before the Calhoun County riot case was brought to
a conclusion in the courts, another and similar one
was commenced — that which grew out of the Ken-
tucky raid in Cass County.
A party of thirteen Kentuckians driving fine hores
attached to comfortable covered wagons, arrived in
Michigan about the 1st of August, 1847. They
made their first stop at Battle Creek, took lodgings at
the hotel, and representing themselves to be engaged
in vending some kind of domestic machinery, made
excursions into the country, ostensibly to conduct busi-
ness with the farmers"! There were a number of fugi-
tive slaves living in the vicinity of Battle Creek, and
the Kentuckians had doubtless gone there to capture
them. Before their plans were perfected, however,
their mission was discovered. Erastus Hussey, gath-
ering the strangers in the village tavern, told them
that the citizens knew them to be slave-hunters and
that they must depart immediately from the town and
its neighborhood. He further informed them that the
people would not allow any of the negroes there to be
returned into slavery, and intimated that those who
contemplated seizing them for that purpose, were en-
dangering themselves by longer remaining in the
vicinity. The Kentuckians left.
Immediately after their departure, Mr. Hussey,
conceiving that they would visit the Cass County
negro settlements, dispatched letters to Stephen Bogue
and Zachariah Shugart, to put them on their guard
against the invasion. It transpired subsequently that
Mr. Hussey 's kind intention failed in its object, be-
cause of the slowness of the mails. Another warning,
which had its source in Kentucky, also arrived too
late. It was forwarded through the efl"ortsof the late
Levi Coffin, "the reputed President of the Under-
ground Railroad," who, in his "Reminiscences," has
told the story as follows :
* * * " Slaves often have friends living in Slave
States — people whose principles are unknown to the
slaveholders. One of this class, a man living in
the neighborhood of the Kentucky slaveholders, became
apprised of all their plans for capturing the fugitives
in Michigan, but was misinformed in regard to the
time they were to start. He wrote to a confidential
friend in Cincinnati, informing him of all the plans of
the raiders, but stated the time of their starting incor-
rectly — they started several days earlier. His friend
came directly to me, and gave me all the information
he had received. I at once set about to intercept their
plans. I was well acquainted at Young's Prairie,
Mich. There was a settlement of friends there, many
of whom had emigrated from Wayne County, Ind.,
and were among the early settlers of the neighbor-
hood. Some had formerly been my neighbors in Ind-
iana. I had been at Young's Prairie and visited sev-
eral of the families of fugitives in that settlement.
Friends had established a school among them, and
they seemed to be prospering. I decided to send a
messenger at once to apprise them and their friends of
the danger. At that day, letters were often eight or
ten days in reaching Young's Prairie, and I knew it
would not do to risk sending a message by mail ; it
would not reach them in time.
" A young man then boarding with us, an active
and energetic Abolitionist, volunteered to go if his
expen.ses were paid. I agreed to pay his expenses,
and started him at once. As there were no railroads
or stage lines then, we had to depend on private con-
veyance for the journey. I gave the young man let-
ters to my friends in the various neighborhoods in
Indiana, through which he would pass, requesting
them to furnish him with fresh horses on the stages of
his journey. This was promptly done on his way
through Wayne, Randolph and Grant Counties, Ind.,
and greatly facilitated his journey to Michigan. But
his laborious effort proved too late; the raid was
over."
But to return to the Kentuckians. Upon leaving
Battle Creek they had driven southward into Indiana,
and rendezvoused at Bristol. After remaining there
a day or so, they moved northward after nightfall into
Cass County, entering Porter Township, and travers-
ing it until they reached a point near the southeast
corner of Calvin, where a halt was made. It was
their intention to kidnap the negroes in Calvin and
Penn, and retreat as quickly as possible to Bristol.
They had in their possession, as was afterward ascer-
tained, very accurately drawn maps upon which the
112
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
houses which sheltered the fugitives were carefully
designated. These had undoubtedly been made by
Carpenter, the spy. They had little difficulty in fol-
lowing the roads which the maps exhibited, and made
their way quietly and without being observed, to the
vicinity of Josiah Osborn's dwelling, near the east
line of Calvin (Section 24). Their wagons had been
left two miles down the road where the party had
halted, and they were thus enabled to proceed more
rapidly and more stealthily. At Osborn's, several of
the raiders stopped, but the larger number pushed on
to the other localities in which they knew their human
chattels were to be found. The plan was to divide,
seize them as nearly simultaneously as was possible,
hasten back to Osborn's, join the men left there, pro-
ceed together to the point where the wagons were left,
and then drive rapidly southward a -little over three
miles and cross the Indiana line. But " the best laid
plans of mice and men gang aft aglee."
Several months before the time of which we write,
a family of five fugitive slaves, tired, foot-sore and sick,
had arrived at Mr. Osborn's, on their way to Canada,
and had been allowed to stop and rest. Subsequently,
as they were satisfied to remain, thinking they had
traveled far enough north to be safe, they had been
given employment on the farm. The family consisted
of an old man, his wife, two sons and a daughter.
They occupied a small house, a few rods from the one
in which the Osborn family lived. The three males
of this slave family were the first persons captured by
the raiders. They were seized and handcuffed in bed,
making little or no resistance. The mother and
daughter escaped by jumping from a window and
concealing themselves. The men, manacled together,
were marched out to the road. Josiah Osborn imme-
diately sent out messengers, who apprised the farmers
in the neighborhood of the capture, and, in an almost
incredible short time, a large and excited company
had gathered at his house.
The party who made the arrest at Osborn's had in-
tended to await the return of their comrades from
Young's Prairie, but finding themselves surrounded
by a throng of angry and threatening men, among
them some free negroes, they became uneasy. They
were annoyed, too, by the delay of their friends, and,
as the night wore away and they did not return, were
filled with apprehension that they had met with the
same kind of trouble experienced by themselves.
After anxious consultation, they moved off to the
northward, with their three captives, closely followed
by the crowd of men and boys who had assembled
about them.
In the meantime, the other company of slave hunt-
ers had made captures in Penn Township, and met
with a reception similar to that of the party at Os-
born's.
They went first to the East settlement in Calvin,
where William East and several sons, all members of
the Society of Friend-, had their residence. Here
they captured three men, a woman and a child. The
raiders were resisted by one of the male slaves, but
they battered dowa the door of his cabin and over-
powered him. They found lying upon the bed a
child about two years old, which one of the Kentuck-
ians, the Rev. A. Stevens, a Baptist minister, claimed
as his property. He was the owner of the mother,
and although the child had been born on free soil, it
was his, according to the principle of slave law, which
declared that a child followed the condition of its
mother. The mother had made her escape when the
cabin was attacked and could not be found. But the
Rev. Mr. Stevens secured her by a stratagem. Tak-
ing the babe in his arms and making it cry, he started
toward the road. The voice of the infant reached the
mother, as was intended, and emerging from her hid-
ing place she was made a captive.
The raiders went next to the neighborhood of Zach-
ariah Shugart's house, which stood where A^'andalia
now is. One of the families of fugitives who lived
here had leased a piece of land of Mr. Shugart, built a
snug cabin upon it and were prospering finely. The
cabin was approached stealthily and suddenly entered.
A negro man was seized but his wife made her
escape unobserved through a window. She ran to
Zachariah Shugart's, aroused the family, gave the
alarm and then secreted herself and managed to es-
cape capture.
Immediately upon being informed of the raid by
the slave woman, Shugart mounted his horse and rode
as fast as he could to the house of Stephen Bogue,
who lived about two miles west. Bogue had a very
fleet horse, which he saddled and rode at its utmost
speed to Cassopolis, to give the alarm and to have the
proceedings of the kidnapers arrested.
Passing ou to Stephen Bogue'a, the party secured
a man who lived in a cabin upon his farm. Here
they met with determined and vigorous resistance.
The door of the cabin was securely fastened. The
negro's master demanded admittance, but his voice
was recognized and the occupant of the cabin refused
to throw open the door. It was soon battered down,
however, and the black man overpowered, though he
fought stoutly against his enemy. The blow which
finally prostrated him was dealt with the butt-end of
a heavy riding whip and it cut a terrible gash through
his ear and across the side of his head.
The company of raiders now turned southward to
effect a retreat into Indiana. A crowd of excited
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN
113
men gathered about and followed tliem. The night
was liow nearly gone. The alarna had been spread with
amazing swiftness, and the throng rapidly increased
in numbers. At Odell's Mill, a short distance south
of the site of Vandalia, the company from the prairie
with its undesired escort of Abolitionists, met the party
who had kidnaped the negroes from Osborn's and
the East settlement. About the same time and just
as daylight came on, a large number of people from
Cassopolis, to whom Stephen Bogue had carried the
news, arrived upon the scene. Their leader was
Moses Brown, a powerfully built blacksmith, and as
staunch an Abolitionist as any in the land. " Nigger
Bill" .Jones was also present and several other resolute
characters.
The Kentuckians were now given to understand
that they could not proceed further southward, unless
they went without the negroes. They were all armed
with pistols and bow^ie knives. Nearly every man
among their opponents had a stout club in his hand,
and tliere were doubtless some other weapons carried
less conspicuously. Angry words were exchanged,
violent threats made, and it was evident that a feeling
existed which might become- uncontrollable. A battle
was imminent, and might at any moment have been
precipitated by a single act of violence. But there
were many Quakers present — men like the Orsborns,
Bogues, Shugarts and Easts, and their wise counsel
that only peaceable and lawful measures should be em-
ployed to attain the desired end, finally triumphed
over the sanguinary spirit exhibited by the larger
part of the mob.
It was agreed, after much discusssion, that the
Kentuckians should go to the county seat, submit
their case to a Justice of the Peace, and prove their
property, as the law required.
"Nigger Bill" Jones particularly distinguished
himself during the excited conference at Odell's Mill,
and upon the march to Cassopolis. It is said that he
dextrously disarmed a man who drew a pistol and
threatened to shoot him, and several other similar
acts are reported of which he was the hero. Soon
after the motley crowd started from Odell's Mill,
Jones compelled Hubbard Buckner, one of the Ken-
tuckians, to dismount from his horse in order that one
of the negroes taken at Osborn's, who was sick, might
ride. Having thus unhorsed one of the enemy,
Jones playfully slipped the shackle which had bound
the negro's wrist upon his own. It closed with a
snap, and could not again be opened, the key being
lost. Consequently the wearer trudged along the
road manacled to the remaining one of the original
pair of chained chattels. The Rev. A. Stevens was
compelled to carry the babe which he had captured.
About 9 o'clock in the morning, the strange pro-
cession entered Cassopolis. It was composed of thir-
teen Kentuckians, their nine shackled captives and a
crowd of at least three hundred citizens. During the
time that had elapsed between the bringing of the
news and the arrival of the concourse in town, it had
been constantly increasing in size, by reason of the
addition of various small parties met upon the road
ami merged in its mass.
In Cassopolis, the utmost excitement prevailed.
The public square was thronged with people, the ma-
jority of whom, though not Abolitionists, sympathized
with the negroes and plainly indicated their intense
disapprobation of the Kentuckians.
The slaves were soon conducted to Joshua Bar-
num's tavern and a guard stationed at the door of the
room they occupied.
The Kentuckians had not been long in Cassopolis
before they secured the services of George B. Turner,
at that time a young man and only the year before
admitted to the bar. He told them very frankly that
although the law was up on their side, it would be almost
an absolute impossibility even if an order was secured
from any court in Cass County, remanding their
slaves, to take them from the county. Mr. Turner
offered nevertheless to take every legal step which
was possible, and he did so.
Preparations were made to prove the ownership of
the slaves and to recover possession of them, a writ of
restitution being applied for before D. M. Howell, Jus-
tice of the Peace, under provisions of the law of 1793.
EzekielS. Smith, Esq., and James Sullivan, Esq., ap-
peared on behalf of the fugitives and obtained an ad-
journment of the case for three days.
Sheriff Barak Mead immediately after the adjourn-
ment was secured served a writ upon all of the Ken-
tuckians (except one Graves, whom the defense had in
hiding) for kidnaping, arrested four of them on
the charge of trespassing upon the premises of Josiah
Osborn, and one upon the charge of assault and bat-
tery. Theirbail was fixed by Justice Howell at $2,600,
and Asa Kingsbury, Amos Dow and Daniel Mc-
intosh were accepted as sureties for the amount. The
names of the raiders which have been preserved, in
the memory of old residents, are nine in number, as
follows : Rev. A. Stevens, Hubbard Buckner, C.
B. Rust, John L. Graves (Sheriff of Bourbon County),
James Scott, G. W. Brazier, Thornton Timberlake,
Bristow and Lemon.
A. H. Redfield, Esq., who was at that time Circuit
Court Commissioner of Cass County being absent, the
friends of the fugitives sent to Niles to secure a writ
of hahe.ax corpus, under which tiiey might take them
to Berrien County. -James Brown, Esq., of Niles,
114
HISTOKY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
volunteered his services as assistant counsel for the
fugitives, with Messrs. Sullivan and Smith, and ad-
vised Mr. Mcllvain that he might legally go to Cass
County to try the case. He accordingly did so, and
a writ of habeas corpus was sworn out, which required
the Kentuckians to show cause why the alleged slaves
should not be discharged from custody. The Com-
missioner heard the case on Monday, and decided ad-
versely to the Kentuckians. Mr. Turner, their law-
yer, offered, first, the statutes of the State of Kentucky,
which included the State and National Constitutions,
as evidence that the institution of slavery existed in
that State, and argued that the Commissioner, as well
as all the courts. State and National, were bound to
notice judicially the existence of slavery in the States
where it was recognized by the Constitution or laws
of the United States. Upon this latter point, he
made his strongest argument, but upon both was over-
ruled by the Commissioner. In this connection, it
may not be amiss to state that Mr. Turner offered
oral testimony, as well as documentary evidence from
courts of record in Kentucky, to show that slavery
had a legal existence in that State, but he was, on all
points, overruled. Mr. Turner then boldly charged
the Commissioner with illegal and corrupt rulings;
amongst other things, that he had no jurisdiction of
the case and came to the county as the willing tool
of men bent on violating the laws of the State and
the United States. It was generally acknowledged
that Mr. Mcllvain did not have jurisdiction in Cass
County, and it was afterward so held by the United
States District Court at Detroit, and further held that
even if the Commissioner had jurisdiction, he was
bound to recognize, officially, the existence of slavery
as a legal institution in States where recognized by
the laws of the United States. But the Commission-
er's decision nevertheless liberated the nine fugitives.
They were immediately taken to the house of Ishmael
Lee, a mile south of Cassopolis, and a few days later,
with more than forty others, left for Canada on a train
of the Underground Railroad, of which Zachariah
Shugart was conductor.
Three days had elapsed between the time the raiders
arrived in Cassopolis and the day when Commissioner
Mcllvain rendered decision against them. During
those three days, they had been angered almost be-
yond endurance by colloquys with various citizens,
and several times personal encounters seemed immi-
nent; but disgraceful scenes of that kind were, hap-
pily, averted. When the Circuit Court Commission-
er's decision was rendered, and the fugitives renloved,
there was no longer any object in prosecuting the
raiders, and the suits against them were dropped.
They were crestfallen at the turn affairs had taken,
and their only recourse was to bring suit for recov-
ery of the value of the slaves against citizen^ who
were financially responsible, and this they made prep-
arations to do. In the meantime, a single and small
grain of comfort was left them. A runaway slave,
whom one of them claimed as his property, had been
convicted of some petty crime a short time before the
raid was made, and, being unable to pay the fine im-
posed upon him, was serving out a sentence in the
county jail. This man, at least, the Kentuckians
thought they had secure. He certainly could not be
spirited away to Canada. But lo ! when they looked
for him at the jail, he was gone. Some ardent Ab-
olitionist had paid his fine and set him free.
An incident of some interest, the particulars of
which have never yet been related in print, occurred
just after the Kentuckians started from Cassopolis
upon their return South. They were preceded upon
the road by Josiah Osborn, who was going to his home
in Calvin ; and that was a very fortunate circumstance
indeed for the Kentuckians. Osborn had gone but
a little way along the road in Calvin, when he espied
four negroes in a cornfield. They were armed with
rifles, and a little questioning revealed the fact that
they were lying in ambush for the purpose of firing
upon the slaveholders, whom they knew must soon
pass by. They expressed a very firm determination
to carry out their design, and were laboring under
considerable excitement. It required all of the good
Quaker's power of argument and his most earnest
protestation , to prevail upon them to desist from their
murderous purposes, but they finally promised to do
so and dispersed. A half hour later the raiders passed
safely by the spot where, but for Osborn's lucky dis-
covery, some of them must inevitably have met with
death. The negroes afterward denied that they had
intended to take life, but said their plan was for each
of them to take such aim as to break a man's leg and
kill the horse he rode. Then they intended to make
their escape to Canada. They said they " wanted to
give the slaveholders something to remember Michi-
gan by," and it is altogether probably that their
bitter hatred would have led them to shoot in such
manner as to kill instead of wound their victims.
In February, 1848, the Kentuckians brought suit
to recover the value of their slaves, in the United
States Circuit Court, at Detroit. The defendants
were D. T. Nicholson, Stephen Bogue, Josiah Osborn,
Ishmael Lee, Zachariah Shugart, Jefferson Osborn,
William Jones and Ebenezer Mcllvain. Abner Pratt,
of Marshall, and Francis Trautman (the Kentuckian
who acted as leader in the Calhoun County raid) ap-
peared in behalf of the plaintiffs, and Jacob M. How-
ard, of Detroit (afterward United States Senator)
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
James L. Jerneygan, of South Bend, Ind., and Eze-
kiel S. Smith, were the attorneys for defendants, the
last named being the attorney of record.
The case was continued several times, and finally
came to trial in the latter part of 1850. In January,
1851, it was concluded, the jury disagreeing. The
principal witness for the prosecution, Jonathan Cruise,
of South Bend, was arrested on the charge of perjury
as soon as he left the stand, and the jury before which
he was tried, stood nine to three for his conviction.
At the disagreement of the jury, D. T. Nicholson
paid th% sum of $1,000 to clear himself and Ishmael
Lee. This virtually settled the cause of the Ken-
tucky slave-owners against the Michigan Abolitionists.
The total costs of the case, which amounted to about
$3,000, were borne by the several defendants, Nichol-
son included. The number of witnesses subpoenaed by
both sides was somewhere from forty to fifty, and
many depositions were taken, especially by the plaint-
iffs. The witnesses for the defense charged, as a
rule, only the amount of their actual expenses. Had
they received the legal fees, the costs of the suit would
have been much larger.
The sum of $1,000 paid by Mr. Nicholson, was ac-
cording to rumor, appropriated by Abner Pratt, Esq., as
his fee in the case, and the slave-owners never received
any portion of it. And so ended, as far as the Cas* County
people were immediately interested, tliis " celebrated
case." The Kentucky raid, however, had other effects
than those locally observable. With the Van Zant case
in Ohio, it had a strong bearing upon the passage of
the fugitive slave law of 1850, which, in turn, brought
slavery into a more pronounced position as a political
issue, and powerfully influenced in one way or another
all subsequent legislation upon the " peculiar institu-
tion."
CHAPTER XVIIT.
CASS COUNTY IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
The First ('ompany of Soldiers raised in tlie County— Its Organization
— Attaelied to tlie Forty-second liiinois Infantry— Brief History of
tliat Keginient— Koster of tlie Officers and Men of the Forty-
second, from (ass County— Other Full Companies from the County
—The Sixth Michigan Infantry— Brief Histories of the Twelfth and
Nineteenth Infantry -Kegiments, with Koster of Men from Cass—
The First Michigan Cavalry.
rpiHE first demonstration made in Cass County
-L toward taking a part in the armed protection of
the .Union, was made at Dowagiac by the Cass County
Guards, upon the 22d of April, 18G1, at which time
they elected officers, "voted to drill every Saturday
afternoon until accepted in the service of the State,"
and passed a resolution in favor of publishing the pro-
ceedings of their meetings " in the Dowagiac Daily
Union and other papers in tlie county friendly to the
stars and stripes."* The officers elected were : Cap-
tain, D. McOmber; First Lieutenant, W. N. S.
Townsend ; Second Lieutenant, N. H. De Foe.
The remainder of the officers chosen were as follows :
L. Andrews, First Sergeant ; L. Roberts, Second
Sergeant ; James Wiley, Third Sergeant ; Joseph
Johnson, Fourth Sergeant; L. H. Barney, First
Corporal; Charles Root, Second Corporal; B. F.
Griffin, Third Corporal; Edward Herson, Fourth
Corporal.
This company singularly enough became a portion
of an Illinois regiment. The company was re-organ-
ized upon the 18th of May, but without essential
change of officers, and was then the twenty-seventh
company organized in the State. They remained in
barracks at Dowagiac six weeks : were assigned to
the Fourth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry,
which was in process of formation at Adrian ; subse-
quently changed to the Sixth, and before they could
report, the officers were ordered to Detroit for military
schooling, and the privates ordered to disperse. An
effort was made to have these orders rescinded, but it
was unavailing, and refusing to comply with the Gov-
ernor's requirements, the members of the company,
by a unanimous vote, decided to proffer themselves for
enlistment in the Douglas Brigade, then organizing
in Chicago. This brigade was not accepted until
after the first battle of Bull Run, and the company,
which had gone to Chicago in June, had returned
: home; but upon the 26th of July, 1861, they were
mustered in at Dowagiac by Capt. Webb, United
States Mustering Officer, as Company E, of the
Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and left for
Chicago, where they remained ten weeks.
We herewith present a condensed history of the
regiment :
THE FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.!
j This regiment was mustered into service at Chi-
I cago, 111., July 22, 1861. Its first movement was
to St. Louis, Mo., September 21, 1861. October
; 18, it arrived at Tipton, Mo., and was assigned to
Col. Palmer's brigade. October 25, it was at War-
saw, fro'n whence it moved, November 1, to Spring-
field, arriving there November 4, after a march of
ninety-seven miles. December 13, they went into
winter ([uarters at Smithton, Mo., where they re-
mained until February 3, 1862, when they marched
to St. Charles, Mo. February 20, they were at Fort
Holt, Kentucky ; Columbus was occupied March 4,
and March 10 saw them on their way to Island No.
10, where they were engaged until its surrender,
I April 11, 1862, at which date they joined Gen. Pope's
♦Dowaulac Umly Union, A|)rirz4, 18111.
1 t From report of the A^jutint Uonentl uf [lllnoirt.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
army, and moved to Fort Pillow the 14th. Hamburg,
Tenn., was the next point in the march, arriving
there April 22. They were engaged at the siege of
Corinth, Miss. May 19, 1862, we find them engaged
in battle at Farmington, Miss., where the regiment
lost two killed, twelve wounded, and three missing.
After this fight, they were in the advance, in pursuit
of the rebel army, under Beauregard. From July
25 to September 3, they were occupying Courtland,
Ala., when they left for Nashville, Tenn., at which
place they arrived September 13, having had on their
march a battle at Columbia, Tenn., in which they lost
one man.
They were in Nashville during the siege, and on
December 20, 1862, marched out on the Nolensville
pike six miles. December 16, engaged in the Mur-
freesboro campaign. December 31, 1862, they were
in the battle of Stone River, losing 22 killed, 116
wounded, and 85 prisoners.
March 5, 1863, engaged in the pursuit of Van
Dorn to Columbia, returning to camp at Murfrees-
boro the 14th ; entered upon the Tullahoma campaign
June 24 ; camped at Bridgeport, Ala., July 31.
September 2, engaged in the Chattanooga campaign.
Marched to Alpine, Ga., thence to Trenton, and
crossed Lookout Mountain ; was in the battle of
Chickamauga, Ga., losing 28 killed, 128 wounded,
and 28 prisoners, and retreated to Chattanooga. At
the battle of Mission Ridge, November 28, 1863, the
Forty-second was on the skirmish line during the
whole engagement, losing 5 killed and 40 wounded.
Pursued the enemy to Chickamauga Creek and re-
turned.
The East Tennessee campaign was entered upon
November 28, 1863. December 27, 1863, camped
at Stone's Mill.
January 1, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted and be-
came a veteran volunteer organization. Dandridge
was the next point, arriving there January 15. Feb-
ruary 2, arrived at Chattanooga. February 21,
moved by rail for Chicago. March 2, the men re-
ceived a thirty days furlough, returning April 2, and
arriving in Chattanooga April 27, 1864. May 3,
they began the Atlanta campaign and were engaged
in battles at Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Adairs-
ville. New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw
Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro and
Lovejoy Station, encamping at Atlanta September 8.
Total 'loss of the campaign, 20 killed, 89 wounded
and 7 prisoners.
Moved, September 25, by rail, to Bridgeport, Ala.,
and to Chattanooga October 19 ; then marched to Al-
pine, Ga., and returned October 30.
Moved, by rail, to Athens, Ala., then marched to
Pulaski, Tenn., arriving there November 5. Began
retreating for Nashville November 22, 1864, and on
the march fighting the rebels at Spring Hill and
Franklin, and losing 24 killed, 95 wounded, and 30
prisoners. Arrived at Nashville December 1. The
battle of Nashville occurring the 15th and 16th, the
regiment engaged and lost 2 killed and 11 wounded ;
then pursued the enemy eighty-two miles, and camped
at Lexington, Ala.. December 31, 1864. January 6,
1865, they were in Decatur, Ala., remaining there-
until April 1, 1865. They went to Nashville, going
through Bull's Gap and Blue Springs. June 15,
1865, they went by rail to Johnsonville, Tenn., and
thence by water to New Orleans. July 18, they pro-
ceeded to Port Lavaca, Tex , and went on post duty.
December 16, 1865, they mustered out and left In-
dianola, Tex., the 20th. Left New Orleans the 24th
and arrived at Camp Butler January 3, 1866. Janu-
ary 10, 1866, received final payment and discharge.
Company E.
Capt. Daniel McOmber, Uowagiac.
Capt. William H. Colburn, Silver Creek; com. April 11, 1865;
m. 0. Dec. IG, I860; 1st Lieut. May 17, 1864; Sergt. vet.
Jan. 1, 1864 ; Corp., July 26, 1861.
First Lieut. William H. Clark, Dowagiao, May 17, 1864; declined
coin.
Second Lieut. Nathan H. DeFoe, Uowagiac, Jan. 22, 1861 ; res.
Mayjl, 1862.
First Sergt. William T. Codding, Dowagiac, July 22, 1861 ; m. 0.
.Sept. 16, 1864.
Sergt. Jehiel Hall, Dowagiac, July 23, 1861 ; killed at Stone
River Dec. 31, 1862.
Sergt. Cyrus Phillips, Dowagiao, July 22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864 ;
prom. 1st Lieut. Co. F.
Sergt. Leonard H. Norton, La Grange, Aug. 10, 1861 ; vet. Jan.
1, 1864 ; died of wounds March 5, 1864.
Corp. William H. Colburn, Silver Creek, July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan.
1 , 1 864 ; prom. Ist Lieut, from Sergt.
Corp. Asher Huff, Dowagiac, July 26, 1861 ; dis for clisahility
March V?., 1863.
Corp. Comfort P. Estes, Dowagiac, July 26, 1861; vet. Jan. 1,
1864; killed at Kenesaw June 18, 1864.
Corp. Christopher Harmon, Dowagiac, July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1,
1864 ; m. 0. Sergt. Dec. 16, 1865.
Corp. Theo. De Camp, Silver Creek, July 26, 1861 ; dis. for dis-
ability March 11, 1863.
Corp. William H. Clark. Dowagiac, July 26, 1861: vet. Jan. 1,
1864; m. 0. as Sergt. May 28, 1865.
Corp. Victor Wallace, Dowagiao, July 26, 1861; vet. Jan. I,
1864; ra. 0. as Sergt. Dec. 16, 1865f
Arnold, Desire, Silver Creek, July 26, 1861 ; killed at Stone
River Dec. 31, 1862.
Brownell, Lorenzo D., Dowagiac, July 26, 1861 ; dis. for dis-
ability Nov. 18, 1862.
Barrack, Jonathan A., Calvin, Aug. 1, 1S61 ; dis. for disability
Aug 17, 1862.
Burling, Robert G., I'okagou, July 26, 1861 ; dis. for disability
Oct. 24, 1862.
Bragg, Gustavus, Pokagon, Aug. 7, 1861 : died of wounds at Tren-
ton, Ga., Sept. 10, 1863.
Caston, Hiram. Jefferson, July 26, 1861 ; ra. 0., wounded, Sept.
16, 1864.
HISTORY OF CASS COUiXTY, MICHIGAN.
Cone, Hulett, Dowagiae, Aug. 31, 1861 : died at Park Barracks'
Ky., Nov. 6, 1862.
Calhoun, .\lbert, Aug. -SO, IS61 ; died in rebel hogp., Wilniinglon.
N. C, March 5, 186-5.
Day, Lucius C, Dowagiae, .July 'JG, 1861 ; vet. .I.an. 1, 1864; m.
0. July 15, 1865.
Finehart, Daniel P., Pokagon, .luly 26, 1861 ; died Feb. 8, 1862.
Fleming, James H., Volinia, Aug. — , 1^61; died of wounds at
Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 25, 1863.
Heath, Edward C, Pokagon, July 26, 1861 ; Corp. ; died Aug. 2;-!,
1862.
Hill, James, Dowagiae. July 26, 1861; vet. .Ian. 1, 1864; m. o.
Dee. 16, 1865.
Hanna, Nathaniel L., Dowagiae, Aug. 10, 1861 ; dis. for disability,
March 27, 186,3.
Hover, John B., Calvin, Aug. 21, 18fil ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864; prom.
Prin. Mus.
Higgins, George W., Dowagiae. July 26, 1861 ; dis. for disability
March 27, 1862.
Henderson, George H., Dowagiae, July 26, 1861 ; m. o. July 15,
186-5.
Hitsman, Sidney, Dowagiae, July 26, 1861; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Dec. 16, 1865.
Higgins, Daniel, Dowagiae, Aug. 1, 1861 ; dis. Dec. 5, 1862.
Krisher, John, Jr., Calvin, Sept. 9, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864; m.
o. Dec. 16, 1865.
Lc'on.ard, William, Cassopolis, July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Dec. 16, 1865.
Lucas, Henry, Newburg, July 31, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864; de-
tached at m. 0.
Lewis, Edwin H., Cassopolis, July 26, 1861; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
dis. for disability April 18, 1862.
Miller, William H. H., Calvin, .luly 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864 ;
killed at Franklin, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1864.
Munger, Charles A., Dowagiae, .July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
prom. 1st Lieut, from Sergt.
Momany, Oliver F., Dowagiae, July 26, 1861; wounded; trans-
ferred to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 16, 1864.
McDonald, Alva, Pokagon, Aug. 1, 1864; m. o. Oct. .3, 1864.
Northrup, Adoniram, Calvin, Aug. 1, 1864; killed at Stone River
Dec. 31, 1862.
Nevill, John G., Dowagiae, Aug. 1, 1864; wounded; transferred
to Vet. Res. Corps April 16, 1864.
Orange, Andrew, Dowagiae, Aug. 10, 1861 ; dis. Dec. 5, 1862.
Peters, John, Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; dis. for disability May 26,
1862.
Picrson, Bartley, Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; dis. for disability .May 3,
1862.
Corp. Peter Rummels, Silver Creek, July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1,
1864; m. o. Dec. 16, 186.5.
Rea, Albert W., Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; vet. Jan. I, 1864; died of
wounds Dec. 15, 1861.
Spieer, George G., Dowagiae, July 26, 1861; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Dec. 16, 1865.
Shanafelt, Albert A., Dowagiae. July 26, 1861 ; m. o. Sept. 28,
1864.
Shan.afelt, Herbert R., Dowagiae, July 26, 1861 ; died of wounds
Columbia, .S. C. .
Shearer, James H., Dowagiae, Aug. 1, 18<)1 ; died at Smithlon,
Mo., Jan. 29, 1862.
Stevens, Joseph H., Dowagiae, Aug. 1, 1861 ; died of wounds .luly
7, 1864.
Stevenson, Zimri, Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 1, 1864; ni. o.
Dec. 16, 1865.
Sturr, Joseph L., Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; m. o. Sept. 18, 1864.
Tillotson, John D., Calvin, Aug. 1, 1861 ; m. o. Dec. 16, 1.865.
Trenholm, Benjamin, Calvin, Sept. 9, 1861 ; m. o. .Sept. 16, 1864.
Worden, Amasa P. R., Dowagiae, July 26, 1861 ; died of wounds
April 7, 1864.
RKCKHITS.
Morse, Abel S.., Silver (>eek ; dis for disability Aug. 15, 1861.
Row, Ferd. P., Silver Creek ; dis. for disability, Sept. 10, 1861.
Stage, William, transferred to .Sappers and Miners Sept 5, 1861.
SIXTH MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
The second company, organized in the County, was
Company D of the Sixth Michigan Infantry. This
company was organized at Dowagiae, with Charles E.
Clarke, as Captain ; Frederick J. Clarke, First Lieu-
tenant ; James Ellis, Second Lieutenant, and William
H. Gage, Orderly Sergeant. The Captain of the com-
pany arose to the position of Colonel,* James Ellis to
the rank of Captain, and Orderly Sergeant Gage to
that of Lieutenant. First Lieutenant Clarke became
acting Captain, and was killed at Port Hudson. f
The history of the Sixth Regiment is briefly as
follows :
It was what was known as a " camp instruction regi-
ment;" was oi'ganized in the summer of 1861, and
was rendezvoused at Kalamazoo. The commissioned
officers were selected by the Governor, and they in
turn selected the non-commissioned officers of their re-
spective companies, and both commissioned and non-
commissioned officers then went into a camp of instruc-
tion at Detroit, where they were thoroughly drilled
for nearly two months. The regiment left Kalamazoo
for the East, August -SO, 1861, with 944 men, and
remained in Baltimore for nearly six months on
garrison duty. On February 22, 1862, the regiment
went to Newport News (Fortress Monroe), and, on
the 4th of March, left with other regiments for New
Orleans, embarking just in time to encounter a ter-
rific gale off Cape Hatteras. The Sixth was the first
Union regiment which occupied New Orleans in the
day time (a few had entered in the night). On the
9th of May, the regiment, with its brigade, proceeded
up the Mississippi, taking possession of various
places, but meeting with no opposition until it arrived
at Warrenton, a small place near Vicksburg. The
♦Colonel Charles E. Clarke, formerly of Dowagiao, is a native of Lebanon,
Conn. For several years prior to liis residence at Dowagiae, be was Captain of
Bteiimboats on tlioOhio and MissiHsippi Riv,-r.^. Tn ilie summer of 1861, ho was
(afterwanl made Heavy Artilt.M >-. i i. ..,. .^,,vi. pr,.iii .ti..ri.. h.-rjime its
Colonel. Ho served with hi»n _)Mi,i.l li.iiil. ~ imil.-r Gens.
BiitlorandB:4nks, in the Low.-i M v. . .inm iniril tl,,. |,riiM ipal part
CnpLi
regiii
. I n>> was mustered out with bis
.; was soon aftercommissioned
V I milk of M^Jor, conferred "for
I i!i III' rrgutar army, chiefly as com-
,it]i. ami was transferred to the retired
t (and Acting Captain) Frederick J. Clarke, wasa native of
of .Toseph B. (Jlarke and nephew ofOol. Charles E. Clarke.
buried in the National Militory i;emetory at Baton llouge.
118
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
enemy was fortified there and refused to surrender. ,
They were not dislodged, and on the 5th of June the j
brigade returned to Baton Rouge, where they en- I
camped the next day. On the 20th of July, six
companies of the regiment, in command of Col.
Clark (T. S.), made a raid in the direction of Camp
Moore, sixty miles eastward of Baton Rouge, for the
purpose of capturing Charles M. Conrad, who had
been Secretary of War under President Fillmore, and |
a number of other rebels. At Benton's Ferry, a rebel !
force was encountered, and a running fight ensued. !
On August 5, while Baton Rouge was being heavily
atttacked by the rebel forces under Breckinridge, the
regiment, then under command of Col. Charles E. ;
Clarke, received and repulsed the principal attack,
which, had it been successful, would have resulted in
the loss of a large quantity of artillery and stores.
The loss of the regiment was twenty killed, forty-three !
wounded and six missing. Capt. Clarke, Acting Lieu-
tenant Colonel, and Lieut. Clarke, were especially men- '
tioned for meritorious action in the reports of their ]
superior officers. After the evacuation of Baton'Rouge
by the Union forces on the 20th of August, 1862, the i
Sixth was stationed at Mettarie Ridge, guarding one of
the approaches to New Orleans. Owing to the un-
healthiness of the locality only 755 men were fit for ,
duty when they arrived at New Orleans December 6,
but those sick soon recovered there. On the 14th of
January, 1863, the regiment participated in an ex- [
pedition, under Gen. Weitzel, to Bayou Teche,
which destroyed the rebel gunboat Cotton. On the
the 23d of March, it attacked the rebels at Poncha- .
toula ; was engaged with the enemy April 3, at
Amite River; at Tickfaw River on the 12th, and
again at Araite River on the 12th of May. On a
later date, the Sixth made a raid up the -Jackson Rail-
road, destroying the enemy's camp at Pangipaho, |
capturing sixty prisoners and appropriating or destroy- !
ing property valued at ^400,000. The regiment i
then returned to New Orleans, and upon the 23d, as :
a part of Gen. Banks' force, arrived in front of Port ,
Hudson, and was placed in one of the most exposed
positions. On the 27th, the Sixth was engaged in the
celebrated and deadly assault on Port Hudson, in
which a third of its men were killed. The regiment
in this finely fought combat, was under the command
of Col. T. W. Sherman (who should not be confounded |
with Gen. William T.. Sherman). The siege of Port
Hudson followed. On the 5th of June, the regiment
took part in a less disastrous assault. The Sixth
was stationed at Port Hudson until March 11, 1864,
where 247 men re-enlisted, a sufficient number of
veterans to preserve the organization. It started
for Michigan under command of Col. Edward Bacon,
and after arriving at Kalamazoo, was furloughed for
thirty days. Having again re-assembled it returned to
the South, arriving at Port Hudson on the 11th of May,
with a large number of recruits. On the 6th of June,
it was ordered to Morganzia and remained there until
the 24th, when it was ordered to Vicksburg. From
that point it went to St. Charles, Ark. After the
siege of Port Hudson, the Sixth had been made an artil-
lery regiment, but it was now attached to an infantry
regiment. Remaining but a short time at St. Charles,
the regiment returned to Morganzia, where, for a
short time, it was employed as engineers, but was soon
after returned to duty as heavy artillery. The regi-
ment was present at the bombardment and surrender
of Fort Morgan, Ala., but arrived too late to partici-
pate. Almost the entire service of the Sixth was
rendered in the extreme Southern States. On the
the 1st of November, 1864, Col. Charles E. Clarke,
commanding, it was stationed in Alabama. Com-
panies A, B, D, G and K garrisoned Fort Morgan
and Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, while
the other companies were detached in December and
joined an expedition against Mobile. After a fine
career, the regiment came North at the close of the war,
and was paid off and discharged at Jackson, Mich.,
September 5, 1865. The Sixth, during its term of serv-
ice, met the enemy at Sewell's Point, Va., March 5,
1862 ; Fort Jackson, La., April 25, 1862 ; Vicks-
burg, Miss., May 20, 1862 ; Grand Gulf, Miss., May
27, 1862; Amite River, Miss., June 20, 1862;
Baton Rouge, La., August 5 and 7, 1862 ; Bayou
Teche, La., January 14, 1863 ; Ponchatoula, La.,
March 24, 25 and 26, 1863 ; Baratoria, La., April
7, 1863 ; Tickfaw River, La., April 12, 1863 ; Amite
River, Miss., May 7, 1863 ; Ponchatoula, La., May
16, 1863 ; siege'of Port Hudson, May 23 to July 8,
1863; Tunica Bayou, La., November 8, 1863; Ash-
ton, Ark., July 24, 1864 ; Fort Morgan, Ala., August
23, 1864; Spanish Fort, Ala., April, 1865; Fort
Blakely, Ala., April, 1865 ; Fort Huger, Ala.,
April, 1865 ; Fort Traeey, Ala., April, 1865 ; siege
of Mobile, Ala., from March 20 to April 12, 1865.
The total enrollment of the Sixth was 1,957 officers
and men ; its losses 542 ; of which 2 officers and 43
men were killed in action ; died of wounds, 21 men ;
and of disease, 6 officers and 470 men.
Field and Staff.
Col. Chas. E. Clarke, Dowagiac, com. October 16, 18G4 ; m. o. as
Lieut. Col. Sept. 7, 1865; com. Lieut. Col. Feb. 1, 1864;
Maj. June 21, 1862; Capt. U. S. Army July 28, 1866 ; Brevet
Major March 7, 1867, for gallant ami meritorious services in
the siege of Port Huron, La. ; retired June 28, 1878.
NoN Commissioned Staff.
Sergt. Maj. Henry W. Ellis, Pokagon, com. May 13, 1865; m. o.
.\ug. 20, 1865.
I
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Principal Musician Geo. 'L. Hazen, Calvin, e. .Ian. 1, 1862; vet.
Feb. 1, 1864 ; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Musician John R. I.ee, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. by order Sept. 20,
1862.
COMTANY A.
Briggs, George, Porter, e. Aug. 30, 1862 ; dis. by order July 22,
1865.
Woodard, Alvah, Porter, e. Aug. 30, 1862: died of disease at
Ft. Morgan, Ala., Sept 24, 1864.
Company C.
First Lieut. Jas. A. Ellis, Donagiac, com. Dec. 1, 1862; trans.
1st. Lieut, to Co. D. July 20, 1863.
Anderson, Andrew J., Calvin, e. Jan. 11, 1864; trans to 7th
U. S. Heavy Artillery June 1, 1864.
Freeman, Henry W., Porter, e. Jan. 20, 1864 : trans, to Veteran
Reserve Corps.
Gilbert, Alson, Wayne, e. Dec. 21, 1863 ; died of disease at New
Orleans, La., Oct. 12, 1864.
Hawks, Henry, Mason, e. Jan. 11, 1864; trans, to 7th U. S.
Heavy Artillery June 1, 1864.
Turnley, Hiram M., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability March
28, 1864.
Company D.
Capt. Charles E. Clarke, Dowagiac, com. Aug. 20, 1861 ; prom.
Major.
Capt. James A. Ellis, Dowagiac, com. Sept. 1, 1863 ; resigned July
19, 1864; trans. 1st Lieut, from Co. C, July 20, 1863; 2d
Lieut. Co. D, Aug. 20, 1861.
First Lieut. Frederick J. Clarke, Dowagiac, com. Aug. 19, 1861 ;
killed in battle at Port Hudson, La., May 27, 1862.
First Lieut. William W. McIIvaine, Cassopolis, com. Sept. 1,
1863 ; com. 2d Lieut. Dec. 1, 1862 ; Sergt. Aug. 20, 1861 ; re-
signed as 1st Lieut. July 20. 1864.
First Lieut. Charles St. John, Dowagiac, com. March 7, 1865 ; m.
0. July 20, 1865; 2d Lieut. Co. F; Sergt. Co. D; vet. Feb.
1, 1864.
Second Lieut. John G. Allison, Porter, e. Sergt. Aug. 20, 1861 ;
vet. Feb. 1, 1864 ; m. o. as Sergt. July 20, 1865.
Sergt. Hiram Meacham, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct.
14, 1862.
Sergt. William 0. Kellam, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability
April 30, 1864.
Sergt. Ira Coe, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut. U. S. C. T.
Corp. Charles K. Weil, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; prom. 1st Lieut. 1st
La. Battery, Nov. 29, 1802.
Corp. Ira Coe, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. 23,
1864.
Corp. Thomas M. Sears, La Grange, e. Nov. 21, 1862; vet. March 2,
1864: dis. by order Aug. 20, 1865.
Corp. James K. Train, e. Dec. 10, 1863 ; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Corp. Theodore Perarle, Ontwa, e. Dec. 2, 1804; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
PRIVATES.
Aikins, Alexander, Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 1863 ; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Baker, Ferdinand, m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Bell, James M., Jefferson, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1. 1864 ;
dis. for disability Aug. 1, 1865.
Brown, Francis D., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of .service, Aug.
23, 1864.
Carter, Elijah H., Porter, e. Aug. 12, 1862 ; died at Port Hudson,
La., of wounds, May 27, 1863.
Carter, John M, Calvin, e. Aug. 12, 1862; died of disease at
Port Hudson, Sept. 2, 1863.
Christie, Willard, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service, Aug.
23, 1864.
Curtis, Edward, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at New Orleans,
La., Nov. 30, 1862.
Cushing, James H., Silver Creek, e. April 12, 1864; dis. by
order, Sept. 5, 1865.
Dorr, Peter, Penn, e. Aug. 20, 1861; vet. Feb. 1, 1864; m. o.
Aug. 20, 1865.
Estabrook, Aaron L., e. .\ug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service,
Aug. 23, 1864.
Estabrook, George R., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability, Oct.
14, 1862,
Fraker, Oliver P., Porter, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864 ;
dis. for disability. May 18, 1865.
Gannett, Lewis, e. .\ug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. 23,
1864.
Grennell, Oliver C, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct. 14,
1862,
Gales, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Baltimore
Oct. 8, 1861.
Gilbert, Allison J.. Wayne, e. Dec. 21, 1863; dis. for disability
June 2, 1865.
Goodrich, Noah, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis for disability Oct. 12,
1864.
Gregg, James H., e. .\ug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug.
23, 1864.
Greenman, James J., Porter, e. Aug. 12, 1862; m. o. July 21,
1865.
Hall, George M., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct. 6,
Hall, Philander W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864; m. o.
Aug. 20, 1865.
Harmon, Benjamin H., died at Port Hudson, La , of wounds.
May 27, 1863.
Harmon, James, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. by order March 28,
1864.
Harmon, Sylvester, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port
Hudson, La., Aug. 13, 1863.
Herrod, Francis M., Porter, e. Jan. 2, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20,
1866.
Horr, Calvin L., Calvin, e. Aug. 14, 1862 ; m. o. July 21, 1865.
Hover, Evart, Silver Creek, e. March 31, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Jackson, J. J., Porter, e. Aug 27, 1862 ; dis. for disability March
10, 1863.
Johnston, Albert, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. by order Feb. 10, 1863.
King, Edward, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. 23,
King, John, e. Jan. 1, 1862 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864.
Kidder, Norman C, e. Aug. 12, 1862 ; m. o. July 21, 1865.
Kirk, George W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Camp
Williams Nov. 21, 1862.
Lake, William H., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug.
23, 1864.
Lewis, Peter, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port Hudson,
La., Aug. 12, 1803.
.Mcintosh, Jacob M., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug.
23, 1864.
j Meacham, Cyrus, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct. 14,
I 1862.
j Meacham. William J., e. Jan. 1, 1862; dis. for disability Oct.
1 14, 1802.
Miller, James M. ;.di3. for disability Sept. 18, 1803.
Montgomery, .Milton, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Baton
Rouge, La., Aug. 3, 1862.
Montgomery, Samuel, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port
Hudson, La., July 18, 1863.
i Myers, George R., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at New
I Orleans, La., Aug. 12, 1862.
120
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Nesbitl, William, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dig. for disabililj Ocl. 14,
1862.
Neville, Jerry, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 22, ISCS : in. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Osborn, Allen S., Calvin, e. Aug. 11, 1862 ; m. o. July 21, 1865.
Osborn, Arthur, e. Nov. 10, 1862 ; in. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Osborn, Job E., Calvin, e. Aug. 14, 1862 ; died of disease at Port
Hudson, La., Oct. 4, 1863.
O'Neil, Timothy, Silver Creek, e. Nov. 21, 1863 ; ni. o. Aug. 20,
Overmeyer, Thomas J., e. Aug. 20, 18i;l : dis. at end of service
Aug. 23, 1864.
Owen, Andrew J., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of
23, 1864.
Patrick, Levi \V., died of disease at Baton Rouge, La., July 3, [ Corp. John R. Lee, e. Aug
1862.
First Lieut. .John Jacks, Edwardsburg, com. Sept. 1, 1862; dis.
for disability Oct. 27, 1863.
First Lieut. Edw.ard C. Beardsley, Dowagiac, com. Nov. 25,
1864.
Second Lieut. .John Jacks, Ontwa, com. .\ug. 20, 1863; prom.
First Lieut.
Second Lieut. Edward C. Beardsley, Dowagiac, com. June 3,
1864 ; prom. First Lieut.
Sergt. Charles Morgan, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service
Aug. 23, 1864.
Sergt. E. C. Beardsley, e. Aug. 20, 1801 ; prom. Second Lieut.
Aug. j Sergt. John P. Carr, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861; vet. Feb. 1,
0. Aug. 26, 1865.
il ; trans, to regimental band.
Corp. Alouzo Benedict, e. Aug. 20, 1861; dis. for disability Oct.
26, 1862.
Corp. Leonard Sweet, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct.
26, 1802.
23, 1864. I Corp. David Ogden, e. Aug. 20, 1861; vet. Feb. 1, 1,864; m. o.
Reynolds, Paul S., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. i ^ug. 20, 1865.
Randall, Lorenzo D., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug.
23, 1864.
Reynolds, George, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug.
23, 1864.
Rinehart, Henry, e. Aug. 18, 1862 ; m. o. July 21, 1805.
Ring, John. e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct. 14, 1862.
Robb, John, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Jan. 20, 1862.
Rogers, Leroy, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. .at end of service Aug. 23,
1864.
Sickles, George VV., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died in action at Port
Hudson, La., June 30, 1863.
Starka, William, Silver Creek, e. April 12, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Shawl, Merrin, Silver Creek, e. April 12, 1864 ; ra. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Stockwell, John, e. Aug. 20, 1851 ; dis. for disability Oct. 14,
1862.
Stone, Edmund, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at New Orleans,
La., Aug. 12, 1862.
St. John, Charles, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 2U, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1,
1864; dis. for prom. 2d Lieut, this regt., Co. J, Nov. 1,
1864.
Swinehart, Lewis, Porter, e. Aug. 18, 1862; died of disease at
Port Hudson, La., Aug. 29, 1863.
Tracy, Spencer, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port Hudson,
La., Sept. 22, 1863.
Wallace, William, Wayne, e. Dec. 19, 1863 ; m. o. July 21, 1865.
Wheeler, Thomas, Penu, e. Aug. 25, 1864 ; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Wicting, John, Silver Creek, e. March 31, 1864 ; dis. for disability
Dee. 15, 1864.
Wilsey, William H., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Carrol-
ton, La., March 6, 1863.
COMl'ANY E.
Second Lieut. Charles St. John, Dowagiac, prom, from Sergt.
Co. D, July 18, 1864; prom. 1st Lieut., Co. I). March 7,
1865.
Company F.
PRIVATE.
Corsclnian, Levi, Marcellus, c. March 1, 1862 ; dis. by order Sept.
14. 1865.
Company G.
privatks.
Clark, (leorge 11., Wayne, e. Dec. 19, 1863; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Dewey, Enoch, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 21, 1863; m. o. Aug. 20,
1866.
Stevens, Isaac R., Silver Creek, e. Oct. 20, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20,
1865.
Corp. James H. Smith, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Jan,
20, 1862
Corp. John Chatterdon, Howard, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1,
1864; m. o. Aug. 11, 1865.
PRIVATES.
Barrett, Ransom, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port Hud-
son, La., June 25, 1862.
Bramhall, Nathan W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Port
Hudson, La., FeJ). 6, 1864.
Brunson, Perry, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. to enter Regular Army
Dec. 23, 1862.
Bump, Adolphus, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Aug. 20, 1865.
Coder, Willett G., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for disability Oct. 26,
1861.
Cole, Johnson B., e. Aug. 20, 1861; dis. for disability Oct. 29-
1862.
Eby, George W. N., e. Aug. 20, 1861 : dis. for disability Jan. 5,
1863.
Hanson, Benjamin, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Ship
Island, La., March 18, 1862.
Haskins, Calvin, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Aug. 20, 1865.
Heyde, Henry, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. 23,
1864.
Joy, Elias W., Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864 ; m.
0. Aug. 20, 1865.
Kieffer, Jacob, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Aug. 23,
1864.
Lamson, Horace, dis. at end of service, Aug. 23, 1864.
Lockwood. Henry P., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at
Baton Rouge, La., July 24, 1863.
McKinstry, Albert, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. by order March 9,
1864.
Mott, Sylvester, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease at Camp Will-
iams Oct. 8, 1862.
Putnam, Uzziel, Pokagon, e. .\ug. 20, 1861 ; dig. for disability
Jan. 26, 1864.
, , Niles, vet. Feb. 1, 1804 ; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
Rourke, Patrick, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1, 1864 ; m. o. Aug.
20, 1865.
Shiry, William, Baton Rouge, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of disease
New Orleans. La., Sept. 11, 1862.
Smith, Mathew, e. Aug. 20, 1862 ; died of disease at New Or-
leans Aug. 29, 1868.
Sweet, Leonard, re-e. Dec. 6, 1863 ; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865.
IIISTOIIY OK CASS COUNTY. MICllrCAN.
Thayer, Kira, .lefferson, e. Aug. 20, 18lil ; vet. Feb. I, 18ti4; m.
o. Aug. 20, I860.
Wesifall. Mivrvin F., Jefferson, e. Aug. 2(1, 18(11 : ve(. Feb. 1 , 1864 ;
(lis. for disability .lune •), 18(55.
Williams, George W., e. Aug. 20, 18('.l ; (lis. at end of service
Aug. 23, 1864.
THK TWELFTH MICHUiAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
A large number of Cass County men were in
this regiment. Company A, raised by Capt. Joseph
Harper of Cassopolis, was composed almost entirely of
men from this county. They were enlisted at Casso-
polis, in the fall of 18(31, and the company was orga-
nized at Niles, which place was selected as the place
of rendezvous for the Twelfth Regiment, in the spring
of 1862. Charles A. Van. Riper was First Lieutenant,
and David M. McLelland Second Lieutenant.
The Twelfth completed its organization, and was
mustered into service, on March 5, 1862, with a
strength of 1,000 officers and men. The regiment
moved from Niles, on the 18th of March, taking the
route to St. Louis, from whence it was hurried forward
by steamer, by the Mississippi. Ohio and Tennessee
Rivers, reaching Pittsburg Landing in time to take
part in the important engagement, fought at that
place on the 6th and 7th of April. The Colonel
commanding was Francis Quinn, of Niles. The regi-
ment was assigned to Col. Peabody's brigade of Uen.
Prentiss' division, and was one of the first regiments
attacked by the enemy, sufi"ering a severe loss. The
battle of Shiloh was an important event in the history
of the Twelfth. During April and May, it remained
at Pittsburg Landing, and in June and July was in
Jackson, Tenn. In August, it was stationed at Boli-
var, in the same State. Under command of Col.
Uraves, the regiment was on picket duty, near the
field of action, at luka on September 2, and was in
the battle of Metamora, on the Hatchie River, October
.'), with loss, and was complimented in the report of
Gen. Hurlburt for efficiency and bravery in the action.
The other engagements with the enemy, in which the
Twelfth took part, were at Middleburg, Tenn., De-
cember 24, 1862; Mechanicsville, Miss., June 4, 1868;
siege of Vicksburg, Miss., June and July, 1863 ;
siege of Little Rock, Ark., August and September,
ISO-]; Clarendon, Ark., June 26, 1S64; Gregory's
Landing, September 4, 1864.
The regiment was, for some time after the close of
active hostilities, engaged in guarding public property
in Arkan.sas, but came north, in February, 1866, and
on the 6th of March, the men were paid off and dis-
charged at Jackson, Mich. The total membership of
the regiment was 2,32.^. and its losses 432, of which
number 1 officer and 23 men died of wounds ; 28 men
were killed in action ; 3 oflicers and 377 men died of
disease.
Cdmpanv A.
('apt. .Foseph llarper, Ossopolis, com. .Sept. 26, 18(51 ; resigned
May 7, 1862.
First Lieut. Charles A. Van Riper, La (irange, com. Oct. 4, 1861 ;
resigned Feb. 28, 1863.
First Lieut. Austin L. Abbott, Pokagon, com. Feb. 23, 1863 ;
resigned .luly 3, 1864.
Second Lieut. David M. McLelland, Dowagiac, <:oni. Oct. 14,
1861 ; resigned Nov. IG, 1862.
.Second Lieut. Robert .S. M. Fox, H(.ward, com. April 8, 1864 ;
prom. 1st Lieut. Co. G.
Sergt. Austin L. Abbott, Pokagon, e. .Sept. 28, 1861 ; prom. 1st
Lieut. Co. A.
Sergt. George B. Crane, Pokagon, e. Oct, 4, 1861 : died of disease
at Little Rock, Ark., .July 23, ]8(i4.
Sergt. 15en,iarain F. Dunham, (^assopolis, e. Oct. 4, 1861 ; prom.
(^m. Sergt. April 1, 1862; died of di8ea,se at St. Louis, .Mo.,
May 24 1862
.Sergt. .James Hill, Cassopolis, e. Oct. 9, 1861 ; dis. for disability
May 31, 1864.
Sergt. Joseph R. Edwards, Pokagon, e. Sept. 28, 18C1 ; dis. at
end of service Jan. "J, 1865.
Sergt. Robert S. .M. Fox, Howard, e. Oct. 2, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25,
1863; prom. 2d Lieut. Co. A.
Sergt. Isaac D. Harrison, Pokagon, e. Sept. 28, 1861 ; vet. Dec.
25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Corp. Isaac D. Harrison,
t'orp. William E. Stevens, Mason, e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut .
Co. K.
Corp. Lewis Van Riper, La Grange, e. Oct. 4, 1861 ; dis. for .Usa-
bility Jan. 21, 1862.
Corp. William Lingual, Pokagon, e. .Sept. 31, 1861 ; dis. at end of
service Feb. 14, 1865. •
Corp. Almon W. Eck, Wayne, e. May 18, 186:5; vet. Feb. 2!J
1S64; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Musician Wellman Blanchard, Pokagon, c. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. for
ilisability Aug. 16, 1862.
Allen, Alonzo W., Pokagon, e. Sept. 28, 1861 ; died of disease at
Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 25, 1863.
Allen, Nelson K., Porter, e. .Ian. 30, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Barker, George F., e. Dec. 15, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 5, 18(53; m. o. Feb,
16, 1866.
Bilderback, Peter, .Silver ( 'reek, e. Oct. 31, 1861 ; dieil of wounds
at Pittsburg Landing, June 5, 1862.
Bilderback, Wesley B., Silver Creek, e. Oct. 31, 1861 ; dis. for
disability Nov. 14, 18(53.
Broniier, David, Penu, e. Oct. 18, 1861 ; died of disease .\pril — ,
1862.
Brown. Albert E.. Ontwa, e. March 2, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Brown, Charles G., Dowagiac, e. Sept. 5, 1862; dis. at end of
service .Sept. 9, 1865.
Buckley, Peter, Pokagon, e. March 18. 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Bucklin, George S., Wayne, e. Nov. 12, 1861; dis. for disability
Sept. 9, 1862.
Hush, Asa L., Dowagiac, e. Feb. 18, 1862; died of disease at
Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 20, 1863.
Bycrs, Charles F., La Grange, e. Aug. 19, 1864; dis. at end of
service Sept 9, 1865.
i;arr, Allen .M., Ontwa, e. Feb. 25, 1864; dis. for disability May
22, 1865.
Caves, Samuel, died of disease at Niles, Mich., March 23, 1862.
Chisby, James, La Grange, e. Feb. 18, 1862; dis. a( end of serv-
ice Feb. 17, 1865.
Campbell. Daniel, Pokagon, e. March 18, 1863; died of wounils
ai Cuniden, .\rk., Oct. 6, IsCo.
122
HISTORY OiF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Cleveland, Cliailes E., e. Jan. 27, 1«02; dis. ai end of service
, Jan. 27, 1865.
Colby, James, e. (Id. 14, 18iil ; died in action at ShUoh April
6, 1862.
Colvin, James M., e. Oct. 29, 1861; vet. Dec. 25, 1863; acci-
dentally killed Sept. o, 1864,
Curtis, Franklin P., Mason, e. Feb. 14, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866,
Davis, Edson, Uowagiac, e, Oct. 5, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25, 1863 ; m. o.
Feb. 15, 1866.
Delauey, Thomas, Cassopolis, e. Oct 9, 1861 ; vet. Dec, 25, 1863;
dis. by order Aug. 14, 1865.
Denison, Franklin, Cassopolis, e, Oct. 9, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 28,
1863; dis. for disability .May 11, 1865.
Eggleston, William J., Mason, e. Feb 16, 1865; dis. by order
May 22, 1865.
Emmons, Darius, Dowagiac, e. Feb. 22, 1864; dis, by order May
22, 1865.
Emmons, Jonathan, Dowagiac, e, Feb. 22, 1864; m, o, Feb. 15,
1866.
Emmons, Wm. A., Dowagiac, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; m. o, eb. 16, 1866.
Foster, Francis M,, Penn,, e. Feb. 23, 1864; m. o. Feb, 15, 1866,
Gallagher, James, Jefferson, e. Dec, 8, 1863; m, o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Gilbert, Samuel, Mason, e. Oct. 25, 1861 ; dis. by order Sept. 7,
1862,
Gillespie, George, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 28, 1861 ; dis. by order April
25, 1863.
Goodrich, James, Jefferson, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866,
Goff, Hiram, Wayne, e. Nov. 9, 1861 ; died at home,
Graham, Edward R., Cassopolis, e. Feb. 21, 1862; dis. at end of
service Feb. 21, 1865,
Graham, Henry C, La Grange, e, Sept. 7, 1864 ; dis. al end of
service Sept. 9, 1865.
Haas, Jacttb, Howard, e. Sept. 23, 1864; dis. at end of service
Sept. 9, 1865.
Haines, Thomas L., Outwa, e. March 2, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Hartsel, Edward, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 5, 1861 ; died of disease at
Columbus, Ohio.
Hatfield, Andrew V., dis. by order Jan, 24, 1866.
Hauser, Michael B., Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. for disability
Aug. 28, 1862.
Heaton, Abram, Porter, e. Dec. 5, 1863 ; m. o. Feb 15, 1866.
Heaton, Lester iM,, Porter, e, Dec, 29, 1863; m, o, Feb, 15, 1866,
Higgins, Benjamin F,, Newburg, e. Oct. 12, 1861 ; dis. by order
.\pril 21, 1863,
Higgim, James P,, e, Dec, 10, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25, 1863; dis, for
disability July 8, 1864.
Higgins, Jonn, Newburg, e. Dec. 11, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25, 1»63 ;
m, 0. Feb, 15, 1866.
Higley, Solomon G., Ontwa, e. Dec. 29, 1863 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866,
.Higley, William, Ontwa, e. March 2, 1865; m, o, Feb, 15, 1866.
Hill, Henry T., Cassopolis, e. Feb. 18, 1862 ; dis. at end of service
Feb. 17, 1865.
Kibray, Jacob P., Newburg, e. Oct. 3, 1861 ; died of disease at
Montgomery, Ala., May I, 1862.
Hitchcock, Lucius P., Porter, e. Feb. 5, 1864; m. o. Feb, 15, 1866
Holmes, Henry, Pokagon, e, .March 18, 1863; died of disease at
Dowagiac Oct. 2(i, 1863.
Holmes, William, Silver Creek, e. Nov. 19, 1861 : died of disease
at Dowagiac June lU, 1863,
Horner, James, La Grange, e. Oct. 18, 1861 ; vei. Dec. 28, 1863;
m. 0. Feb. I i, 1866.
Hudson, James, Jefl'erson, e. Dec. 16, 1863; m. o. Feb. 16, 1866.
Huff, Charles H,, La Grange, e. Jan. 17, 1866 ; dis. by order Jan.
24, 1866.
Hunt, John H,. Jefferson, e. Nov. 11, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 26, 1863:
m. 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
Ireland, Elon M., m, o. Feb. 16, 1866.
Jackson, Erastus M., Porter, e. Feb. 7, 1864; m. o. Feb, 15, 1866.
Jackson, George, Mason, e. Feb. 14, 1865; m o. Feb, 15, 1866.
Jackson, John S., Porter, e. Feb. 7, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Jennings, Abram, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. by order July
23, 1862.
Johns, Aaron, Mason, e. Oct. 18, 1861 ; m. o. Feb, 15, 1866,
Kugan, Edward, Jefferson, e. Feb, 28, 1862: captured at Little
Rock, Ark., Sept. 3, 1864; exchanged May 27, 1865; dis, at
end of servici' July 8, 1865.
Kelley, John H., Calvin, e. Feb. 7, 1866; died of disease at Wash-
ington, Ark., July 2, 1865.
Kelley, Joseph, Calvin, e. Peb. 26, 1864 ; dis. by order May 22,
186.J,
Keyes, John, Wayne, e, Nov, 9, 1861 j dia. by order July 16, 1862.
Landon, Edward, .Mason, e. Feb. 16, 1865; m, o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Langley. Zachariah B„ Pokagon, Oct 13, 1861 ; dia, at end of
service Jan. 7, 1865.
Lillie, John, La Orange, e, Dec. 28, 1861 ; dis. at end of service
Jan. 7, 1865.
Liphart, George M,, La Grange, e. Oct. 31, 1861 ; died al Indian-
j apolis, Ind., April 17, 1865.
Lewman, Simon, La Grange, e. Feb. 22, 1864; died of disease at
i Duval's Bluff, Ark., Dec. 16, 1804.
I Maloney, Lawrence, Pokagon, e. Feb. 3, 1864 ; died of disease at
I Camden, Ark., Dec, 9, 1865.
.Marsh, Benjamin, La Grange, e. Dec. 7, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15,
1866.
Marsh, Nathan, La Grange, e. March 16. 1865; m. o. Feb. 16,
1866,
Miner, William A., La Grange, e. Oct. 6, 1801 ; vet. Dec. 25,
1863 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Munson, Allen C, Volinia, e. Sept. 2, 1864 ; dis. at end of serv-
ice, Sept. 9, 1865.
.Myers, George, Volinia, e. Feb. 18, 1864 : died of disease al
Camden, Ark., Dec. 9, 1865.
Neft', Aaron, Jefferson, e. Feb 22, 1864 ; ui. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Niblett, James, Mason, e, Feb. 8, 1864 ; dis. by order .May 22,
1865.
Nichols, Arthur. Penn, e. Dec. 11, 1»61 ; dis. for disability
July 17, 1862.
Norton, Bela A., La Grange, e. Jan. 27, 1802; dis. at end of serv-
ice, Jan. 27, 186-J.
Odell, Victor M , e. Feb. 1, 1862: missing in battle al Shiloh.
April 7, 1862.
Pratt, Henry D., Pokagon, e. Nov. 17, 1801 ; died of disease al
St. Louis, Mo,, June 5, 1862.
Pratt, James i:.. La Grange, e. Oct. 21, 1801 ; vet. Jan. 2, 1864 ;
m. 0. Feb. 16, 1866.
I'hilips, William J.. .Mason, e. Jan. 18, 1864; died of ilisease at
Duval's Bluff, Ark.. Nov. 26, 1864.
Post, John H., Pokagon, e. Oct. 8, 1861 : dis. al end of service,
Jan. 27. 1865.
Reams, Peter, Jefferson, e. Feb. 23, 1864; dis. for disabilily May
26, 1865.
Roberts, James H, Mason, e, Feb. 15, 180.5; m. o. Feb. 15,
1860.
Robinson, Levi, Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25. 1863;
dis. by order March I. 1864.
Rogers, .lesse. Potter, e, Dec 5, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1860.
Root, Charles. La Grunge, e. Feb. 22, 1804; died of disease at
Little Rock, Ark.. Aug. 8, 1864.
Root, Josiah C, La Grange, e. t)ct. 31, 1801 ; dis. for disability
July 17. 1862.
Rosburgh, Enos. Jefferson, e. Feb. 26, 1862; dis. by order Nov.
16, 1K62. •
Rost, John A., La Grange, e. Feb. 18, 1862; dis. for disabilily
June 4, 1802.
I
itISTOKY OF OASS COUNTV, MICHIGAN
Keh.2H, 18li4
123
Kussey. .lohn M., tji (irangc, e. Feb. 21, 1W2
m. o. Feb. lo, 1866.
Sergt. .lames M. Savage, La Grange, e. Oct. 31, 18i'>l : vet. Dec.
■>o. 1863: m. o. Feb. 15, 18H0.
Scotten, William, Ontwa, e. March '2, 1865: iii. o Feb. 15, 1866.
Secor, Isaac, La (irange, e. Oct. 28, 18^1 ; ilied at .laekson, Tenn.
(railroad accident,) .Sept. 24, 1862.
Secor, Joseph VV., La Grange, e. Oct. 24, 1861 ; dis. by order
Sept. 1, 1862.
Shanafelt, William H., e. Oct. 81, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 26, 1863; m.
0. Feb. 15, 1866.
Shepard, Charles, Calvin, e. Feb. 25, 1864; died of disease at
Niles, Mich.
Shuste, Thomas P , La Grange, e. Nov. 11, 1861 ; dis. for disability
Sept. 20, 1862.
Simpson, Thomas, La Grange, e. Oct. 20, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25,
1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866
Soules, Peter, Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 38, 1863; m.
o. Feb. 15, 1866.
.Stanage, Benton, La Grange, e. Feb. 20, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, (,„i,b, Albert T., Dowagiac, e. Dec-. 25, 1861; dis. for disability
1866.
Una.*, George, La Gran're, e. Dec. 1, 1863; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Haas. .lohn. La Grange, e. Dec. 1, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Haas, .lohn A., La Grange, e. Dec. 1, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Higby, Calvin .J., Newburg, e. Sept. 5, 1864 ; dis. at end of serv-
ice, Sept. 9, 1865.
Ilnyck, William D., dis. for disability, Nov. 9, 1865.
.Mosher, Isaac, Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 1865 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 18ii5.
Palmer. Charles H., vet. .Ian. 2, 1864.
Parkertdn. William, Dowagiac, e. Feb. 19, 1862; vet. Feb. 27,
1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Peltus, Luther, La Grange, e. Dee. 1, 1863; died of disease at
Camden, Ark., Sept. 1, 1865.
Rose, .lohn. Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. at end of service,
Sept. 9, 1865.
Wheeler, Kdwin. Marcellus, e. Feb. 29, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Ashley, Horace, e. Dec. 31, 1861 ; discharged for disability .July
19, 1862.
Barmore, .lohn E., e. Dec. 5, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 29, 1868.
Stephenson, .James B., .letTerson, e. Feb. 22, 1864; died of dis.
ease at Little Rock, Ark., .lune 28, 1864.
Steere, William H., Wayne, e. Nov. I'.l, 1861 ; dis. for disability
Aug. 2, 1862.
Stevens, Samuel. .Mason, e. Feb. 15. 1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Smith. Nelson A., Porter, e. Oct. 13, 1861 ; il
Jan. 7, 1865.
Temple, Franklin, Ontwa, e. March 2, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15.
1866.
Thomas, Noble O., La Grange, e. Oct. 31. 1861 ; dis. at end of
service, Jan. 7, 1865.
Feb. 25, 1862.
Doty, James H., Porter, e. Feb. 22, 1864; vet. Dec. 24, 1863.
Doty, William J., e. Dec. 7, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 24, 1868; m. o. Feb.
15, 1866.
Griffith, Samuel, Milton, e. Oct. 25, 1861; vet. Dec. 24, 1863;
m. 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
end of service (.^^p charies Hungerford, Dowagiac. e. Oct. 25, 1861; dis. by
order June 30, 1862.
Kappelman, John, Pokagon, c. March 1, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15,
1866.
King, Samuel P., Porter, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Kirk, William H., Porter, e. Feb. 22, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
homas, Sherwood, La Grange, e. Oct. 31, 1861 : dis. at end of ^^j^^^^ j^^^ Dowagiac, e. Feb. 15, 1862 ; vet. Feb. 25, 1864
.\IcGee, Lemuel S., Dowagiac, e. Jan. 4, 1862; vet. J
service, Jan. 7, 1865.
Thompson, Smith, Marcellus,
864 :
)cl. 20, 1861 ; dis. at end of
service, Jan. 7, 1865.
Townsend, William, La Grange, e. Oct. 31, 1801 : died of disease
at St. Louis, Mo., Nov. II, 18ii3.
Tubbs, Lester, Porter, e. Dec. 5, 1803; m. o. Feb 15, 1866.
Upham, George, La Grange, e Feb. 23, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Van Tuyl, Richard, Mason, e. Feb. 27, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
White, Seth, Wayne, e. Nov. 12, 1861 : vet. Dec. 25, 18<;3; ra. o.
Feb. 15, 1866.
Wilcox. Henry, Pennsylvania, e. Feb. 4, 18t;2; killed in railroad
accident at Jackson, Tenn., Sept. 24, 1862.
Wiltard, John, e March 3,1804; died of disease at St Louis,
Mo., Oct. 20, 1863.
Williams, Samuel, Jefterson, e. Feb. 23, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15,
1866.
Winfrey, George, Dowagiac. e. Dec. 15, 1861 : dis. by order July
24, 1862.
Wing, Orlaudo, Jefferson ; e.- Dec. 2, 1862; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866_
m. 0. Feb. 15, 1860.
Olmstead, John, e. Feb. 8 1862 ; dis. by order March 18, 1«62.
.Sergt. John H. Patterson, e. Nov. 25, 1861 ; vet. Dee. 24, 1863;
m. 0. Feb. 15, 1866
Sanders, Daniel, Pokagon, e. Feb. 21, 1865; ni. o. Feb. 15,
1860.
Stillwell, lidwiu C, Dowagiac, e. Jan. 6, 1802; vet. Dec. 31,
18C3.
Tliompson, Reason, Porter, e. Feb. 23, 1864 : died of disease at
Camden, Ark., Sept. 8, 1866.
Welch, John C, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 35, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 31, 1863;
prom. 2d Lieut. Co. 1 July 3, 1864.
Company D.
Simmons, Peter W., Mason, e. .\ug. 31, 1864; dis. at eml of ser-
vice Sept. 9 1865.
Sirriue, Henry F., Volinia, e. Sept. 2, 1864; dis. at end of service
Sept. 9, 1865.
Wolfe, Franklin, e. Feb. 26, 1862; vet. Feb. 29, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. Springsteen, John W., Volinia, e. Sept. 6. 1864; dis. at end of
16, 1861;
WooUey. Lewis, La Grange, e. Oct. 4, 1861 ; died of disease at
Camp Logan, Tenn., May 21, 1862.
Bsldwin, IMwin K., La Grange, e. Dec. 1, 1863; m. o. Feb.
1866.
Bell, Richard H., Howard, e. March 29, 1862; vet. March
1864; m.o., Feb. 15, 1866.
Bryant. Thomas G., Mason, e. .March 1, 1865; dis. at en«
service, Sept. 9, 1865.
Dennis, John, Milton, e. .March 1, 1865; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1860.
DriscoU, Noah, Porter, e. Feb. 13, 1864; in. o. Feb. I'l, 1806.
Dunn. Ambrose, Cassopolis, e. Feb. 15, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1:
service Sept. 9, 1865.
coMP.tN^ i:.
Barton, Reuben. Pokagon, e. .Sept. 3, IS64 ; dis. by order Sept.
14, 1865.
Beebe, William H.,died of disease at St. Louis, Mo. June 1, 1862.
Leach, James M., Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. by order June
20, 1865.
OJell, ,lo8eph, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. by order Sept. 14,
1865.
Perkins, Harvey W.. Howard, e. Oct. 18, 1864 ; dis. by order Oct.
24, 1865.
Walz, John, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 29, 1864; died of disease at
Grand Rapids, Mich.
124
COMPAMY t'.
Second Lieut. William Horton, Jr., Dowagiac (Sergt. Co. I), re-
signed June 12, 1865.
.Sergt. Philo H. Simmons, dis. for disability March IG, 1862.
.Sergt. aobert A. Walton, Howard, e. Oct. 12, 1861 ; vet. .Jan. 1,
1864; m. o. Feb. :'), 1866.
PRIVATES.
Albrecht, Jacob G., Torter, e. Feb. 22, 1864; m. o. Feb. ir,. 1866.
Bellows, Job S., Ontwa, e. Sept. 2, 1864 ; dis, at end of service,
Sept. 9, 1865.
Brown, Luman, Jefferson, e. Nov. 25, 1861 ; died .May I, 1862, of
wounds received at Shiloh April 6, 1862.
Butler. Henry M., m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Dean, Thomas, Ontwa, e. Nov. 8, 1861 ; dis. at end of service
Jan. 7, 1865.
Durstern, Michael, e. March 16, 1862; discharged by order July
1.5, 1862.
Hawkins, Charles, Pokagoii, e. Dec. 30, 1863 ; m. o. Feb. 16, 1866.
Hawkins, Benjamin, vet. Dec. 30, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Hawkins, Charles, discliarged by order June 17, 1865.
Inman, Isaiah, La Grange, e. .\ug. 31, 1864; m. o Feb 15, 1866.
Leich, Elias, Milton, e. Dec. 5, 18G1 ; trans, to Veteran Reserve
Corps Jan. 15, 1864.
Lewis, George W., Jefferson, e. Nov. 22, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 30, 1863 ;
m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Lynch, William J., Milton, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; died on hospital
boat May, 1862.
■Markle, John, Milton, c. Feb. 22, 1862; vet. Feb. 24, 1864 ; m. o.
Feb. 15, 1866.
McNitt, Charles W., Porter, e. Feb. 26, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15,
1866.
Mitchell, Robert, Pokagon, e. Feb. 21, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Morau, James, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 30, 1863; m.
0. Feb. 15. 1866.
Morgan, Charles A., Milton, e. Oct. 15, 1861; vet. Jan. 1, 1864;
m. 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
Noble, James M., Milton, e. Dec. 3, 1861 ; dis. by order June 25,
1862; re e. March 8, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
O Keefe, Eugene, Silver Creek, e. Oct. 30, 1861 ; dis. at end of
service, Jan. 7, 1865.
Parks, Almenon, e. .March 7, 1862; vet. Marcli 8, 1864; m. o.
Feb. 15, 1866.
Reigle, Goorge W., Porter, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Reynolds, Henry C, La Grange, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; dis. at end of
service Sept. 29, 1865.
Rogers, Charles F., Pokagon, e. Nov. 19, 1861 ; trans, to Vet.
Res. Corps Jan. 15, 1864.
Rogers, Hiram, Ontwa, e. Nov. 21, 1861 ; dis. for disability March
16, 1862.
Rogers, Kiram L., Pokagon, e. Oct. 14, 1861 ; died of disease at
Keokuk, Iowa, May 6, 1862.
Simmons, Joseph, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2, 1861 ; dis. for disability
March 16, 1802.
Snow, William H., Jefferson, e. Nov. 22, 1861 ; dis. at end of
service Jan. 7, 18115.
Tuttle, Jacob, Milton, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. for disability March
16, 1862.
Whitmore, George A., La Grange, e. March 15, 1865; m. o. Feb.
15, 1866.
Wilson, James, Ontwa, e. Dec. 13, 1861 : vet. Dec. 3, 1863 ; m. o.
Feb. 15, 1866.
Wilson, Joseph S., Outwa; e. Dec. 14, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 3. 1863;
m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Warden, George, R., Jefferson, e. Dec. 5, 1861 ; dis. by order
July 25, 1862.
Wyant, James, Ontwa, e. Nov. 21, 1861 ; dis. by order July 8,
1862.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Zeek, William F., Ontwa, e. Sept. 2, 1864 ; dis. by order Oct. 31,
Company G.
First Lieut. Roberts. M. Fox, Howard, com. Oct. 19. 1864; re-
signed .Sept. 18, 1865.
Lawrence, Joseph, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 19, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15,
1866.-
Nichols, Warren W., Marcellus, e. Sept. 27, 1864; dis. by order
Sept. 30, 1865.
Schuh, Nicholas, La Grange, e. Dec. 3, 1803; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Shiwl, Alexander, Pokagon; e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. at end of serv-
ice, Sept. 9, 1865.
Shiver, Walter, Ontwa; e. Dec. 24, 1863; m. o. Feb. 10, 1866.
Stamp, David, Porter, e. Dec. 5, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Ties, Anton, La Grange, e. Dec. 3, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Company H.
Bailey, James E., Silver Creek, e. Feb. 14, 1864; dis. by order
May 22, 186.5.
Born, Henry, Mason, e. Sept. 3, 1864 ; dis. at end of service Sept.
9, 1865.
Conrad, Jacob, Volinia, e. Feb. 20, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1860.
Eggleslon, Harvey, Porter, e. Aug. 11, 1862; vet. Dec. 26, 1863 :
dis. by order Sept. 30, 1865.
Franklin; Samuel W., Mason, e. Jan. 29, 1864 ; died of disease
at DuvhII's Bluff, Ark., Oct. 21, 1864.
Salyer, James, Mason, e.; died of ilisease at Duvall's Bluff, Ark.,
Sept. 24. 1864.
Company I.
Second Lieut. John C. Welch, Dowagiac, com. July 3, 1864 ;
prom. 1st Lieut, (^o. A, Jan. 7, 1865.
Allen, Israel M., Pokagon, e. Sept. 2, 1864; Ah. at end of
service, Sept. 9, 1865.
Aumack, Jacob, Pokagon, e. Sept. 2, 1864; dis. at end of service.
Sept. 9, 1865.
Cole, William L., La Grange, e. Jan. 17, 1864; m. o. Feb. IJ,
1866.
Corin Robert, Ontwa, e. Sept. 2, 1864 ; trans, to 5th U. S. Coloreil
Infantry, April 1, 1865.
Curtis, Thomas J., Mason, e. .\ug. 31, 1864; died of disease at
Duvall's Bluff. Ark., Nov. 1, 1864.
Fisher, John, Pokagon, e. Feb. 21, 1865; m. o. Feb. 15,1866.
Hayden, Edward W., e. Dec. 25, 1861 ; dis. for disability July
26, 1862.
Iloyt, Henry, Ma.son, e. .\ug. 31, 1864; dis. at end of service,
Sept. 9, 1865.
Johnson, Uriah, died of disease at Decatur, Mich., June 1, 1862.
Johnson, Egbert, Mason, e. Aug. 31, 1864 ; died of disease at
Washington, Ark., July 1, 1866.
Leader, Nathan H., Pokagon, Sept. 2, 1864 ; dis. by order .May 6,
1865.
Horton, William, Jr , Dowagiac, e. Dec. 11, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25,
1863 ; .Sergeant, prom. 2d Lieut. Co. I.
Knapp, Bruce, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 24, 1864 ; dis. for dis-
ability Aug. 23, 1864.
Tuttle, Royal J., Silver Creek, e. Feb. 1864; died of disease at
Duvall's Bluff, Ark., Aug. 12, 1864.
McMichael, Albert, Ontwa, e. Feb. 24, 1862; vet. Feb. 26, 1864:
m. 0. Feb. 15,1866.
Nye, Isaac, Jefferson, e. Sept. I, 1864; dis. at end of service,
Sept. 9. 186...
On, Adam, .Mason, e. .\ug. 20, 1864; dis. at end of service, Sept.
9, 1865.
Searles, Henry M., Mason, e. Feb. 24. 1861 ; vet. Feb. 26, 1864;
m 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
HISTORY OF CASS rOPNTY, MinilTGAN
.Smith, Hiram, La Grange, e. Aug. 20, 1864 ; dis. al end of ser-
vice, Sept. 9, 1865.
Stephenson, Harvey, I'okagon, c. Sept. 1, 18lU; dis. at end of
service, Sept. il, 186-5.
St. Joljn, John, Pokagon, Sept, 3, 1864 : dis. at end of service,
Sept. 9, 1865.
Tibbits, Nathan, Porter, e. Dec. 15, 1863 ; died of disease :it
Hunlersville, Ark., .July 2, 1864.
Treat, Horace .1., Silver Creek, e. Oct. 10, 1861 ; died in action at
Pittsburg Landing, April 6, 1862.
Vawkey. Amos, Howard, e. March 7, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866.
Vetter, .loshua T., vet. Dec. 29, 1863.
Willard, William, iefferson, e. Dec. 3, 1863 ; died of disease at
Duval's Bluff, Ark., .Tan. 6, 1865.
Company K. ^
Second Lieut William E. Stevens, Mason, c. Oct. 22, 1861 ; vet.
Dec. 25, I860 ; Sergeant Co. A, com. April 2, 1865 ; m. 0. Feb.
15, 1866.
Bidlack. Charles E., Porter, e. Oct. 14, 1864; dis. by order, Oct.
27, 1865
I'randall, Lewis, Wayne, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; ni. 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
Drake, Lnri-nzo, dis. hv onler. Aug. 12, 1865.
Karnham, Erastus S., e. Dec. 9,1861 ; dis. at end of service, Sept.
7, lfS65.
French, Noah, Sergeant, e. Dct. HI, 1H61 ; dis. by order, .July 19,
1862.
Hardy, Robert, Milton, e. Oct. 21, 1861 ; dis. by order, Oct. 17
1862.
Nostrand, .lohn .1., Silver Creek, e. Nov. II, 1861 ; dis. at end of
service, .Ian. 7, 1865.
Kawson, Charles W., Volinia, c. Sept. 7, 1864; dis. at end of
service, Sept. 9, 1865.
.layers, James, Pokagon, e. Feb. 24, 1863; dis. by order, June 1,
1865.
Shepard, Caleb, Howard, e. Dec. 28, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 29, 1863 :
dis. by order, Aug. 12, 1865.
Tappan, Harlow, Marcellus, e. Feb. 25, 1864; m. n. Feb. 15,
1866.
Weatherwax, John G., Porter, c. Feb. 13, 1864: died of dis-
ease at Little Rock, Ark., June 13, 1864.
Webber, Geo. W., Ontwa, e. Feb. 29, 1864; m. 0. Feb. 15, 1866.
THE NINETEENTH MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Gompany A of this regiment, Joel H. Smith,
Captain, was compose<i almost wholly of Cass County
men, and there were many in other compjinies of tlie
regiment. The First Lieutenant, George T. Shaffer,
of Calvin, arose to the position of Colonel. The
Second Lieutenant was Reuben B. Larzelere. The
company was organized in Dowagiac, in September,
186-2.
The Nineteenth Regiment was assigned to the Sec-
(iinl Congressional District to be recruited in the
counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien, Kala-
mazoo, Van Buren and Allegan. Recruiting was
commenced July 15, 1862. The camp of the Nine-
teenth was at Dowagiac, and the Hon. Henry C. Gil-
bert was its commandant and charged with the
organization of the regiment. The regiment broke
camp September 14, and in command of Col. Gilbert,
took its route To Cincinnati, its strength being W:'>
officers and men. It was attached to the first division
of the Army of the Ohio, and was stationed in Ken-
tucky October, November and December. On the 1st
of January, 1868, the regiment was stationed at Dan-
ville, and belonged to Col. Coburn's brigade, Baird's
division. Army of Kentucky. This army having
been transferred to the department of the Cumberland
as a " reserve corps," the Ninetenth moved with its
brigade to Nashville, where it arrived February 7,
proceeding thence to Franklin. On the 4th of March,
with 600 Ciivalry and 200 additional infantry, it took
part with its brigade in a reconnaissance in force.
After a march of four miles, skirmishing began with
the enemy's scouts and advanced pickets, but the
rebels retiring the brigade encamped, the Nineteenth
having lost in the skirmish one wounded. The march
having been resumed, the enemy was met upon the
following day in force, at Thompson's Station, nine
miles from Franklin. The Nineteenth with others
fought stubbornly, against iintnense odds, repulsing
attack after attack, struggling bravely but without
hope. Defeat being inevitable, they finally surren-
dered. The engagement was sanguinary. At times
the contest was severe and the fighting terrific. Three
charges were made by the enemy and gallantly
repulsed. In one charge the Nineteenth captured the
colors of the Fourth Mississippi and several prison-
ers The surremler did not occur until after five
hours of fighting. The rebel force proved to be the
entire cavalry force of Bragg's army, 18,000 strong,
under Gen. Van Dorn. The Nineteenth went into
the action with 572 officers and men, of which num-
ber 11-3 were killed and wounded. Such was the
"baptism of fire" which this regiment received.
The regiment was re-organized at Camp Chase, Ohio,
and on the 8th of June, 1863, left Columbus, arriv-
ing at Nashville on the 11th. It took part in the
advance on Tallahoma in June. On the 28d of July,
the regiment was ordered to Murfreesboro, and went
upon garrison duty in the fortifications. From this
time on till the close of its service, the Nineteenth
took part in the following engagements : Nashville iV
Chattanooga Railroad, Tenn., October 5, 1863;
Resaca. Ga., May 15, 1864 ; Cassville. Ga., May
10, 1864: New Hope Church. Ga., May 25, 1864;
Golgotha, Ga, June 15, 1864; Gulps Farm, (Ja.,
June 22, 1864; Peach Tree Creek. Ga., July 20,
1864; siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 22 to September
2, 1864; Savannah, Ga., December 11, 18, 20, 21,
1S64; .\verysborn, N. C, March 16, 1865; Benton-
ville, N. C, March 10, 1865.
The entire membership of the regiment was 1,288.
of which it lost 237 men, as follows : 4 officers and 50
men killed in action ; 3 officers and 38 men <lied of
wounds, and 142 of disease.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
FIELD AND STAFF.
.Surgenn William E. Clarke, Dowagiac, Sui-geon 4th Mich. Infantry,
trans. Surgeon to 19th Infantry Aug. 12, 18H2; resignefl
July 18, 1863.
Asst. Surgeon Leander D. Tompkins, Cassopolis. com. .\ug. I'J.
18H2 : resigned for disability Sept. 7, I7H8.
NON COMMISSlllNEll STAFF.
i,;uariermaster Sergt .lohn M. Myers, Cassopolis, c. ,\ug. '.i, 1862:
appointed 1st Lieut, and Quartermaster ; m. o. .lune 10, 1865.
I'ommissary Sergt. George S. Larzelere. Silver Creek, com. .Jan.
14, 186.3: ni. o. .June J5, 1865.
Principal Musician Kxekiel Owen, La Grange, e. Aug. 0, 1862;
m. 0. June Id, 1865.
COMPANY A.
('apt. Joel H. .Smith, Dowagiac, com. July 22, 1862; resigned
July 11. 1864.
Capt. George T Shaffer, Calvin, com. May 15, 1864 ; promoted
Maj. 28th Mich. Inf.; wounded in action June 22, 1864.
First Lieut. George T. Shaffer, Calvin, com. August 2, 1861 ; pro-
moted Capt.
First Lieut. Henry J. Ohls. Marcellus, com. May 8, 18ii5 ; Sergt.
Aug. 8, 1862; m. o. June 10. 1865.
.Second Lieut. Reuben B. Larzelere, Dowagiac, com July 28,
1862; resigned Aug. 7, 1863.
Sergt. Isaac '/.. Edwards, Pokagon, e. Aug. 6, 1862: promoted 2d
Lieut. Co. E.
Sergt. Norman B. Farnsworth, Silver Creek, e. .Vug. 2, 1864 ; dis.
for disability Sept. 2, 186-3.
Sergt. John S. Gritfis, Wayne, e. .\ug. II, 1862 ; killed at Resaca,
Ga., May 5, 1864
Sergt. Barker F. Rudd, Newburg, e. Aug s, 1862 ; dis. for wound
Oct. 23, 1863.
Sergt. George S. Ltrzelere, Silver Creek, e. Aug. '.•, 1862: ap
pointed Commissary Sergt.
Corp. George H. Batten, Penn, e. Aug. 9, 1862; died of disease
at Murfreeshoro, Tenn., Aug. 29, 1863.
Corp. Zach Aldrich, Newburg, e. Aug. .\ug. 9, 1862: prom, sergt.
dis. for loss of an eye Feb. 9, 1864.
Corp. John Manning, Marcellus, e. .\ug. 13, 1862; dis. forwnund,
lost hand, .May 9. 1863.
Corp. Alexander Kirkwood, Wayne, c. .\ug. 9, 1862: prom. Ist
Lieut. Co. I.
Corp. .\mos D. Stocking, Pokagon, e. Aug. 2. 1862; dis. for dis-
ability Feb. 1, 1863.
Corp. Albert T. Cobb, Wayne, e. Aug. 5, 1862 : dis. for disability
Feb. 8, 1863.
Corp. William Slipper, Penn, e. Aug. 2, 1862; m. o. Sergt. .lune 10,
1865.
Corp. James S. Ciego, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 7, 1862: m. n. Sergt.
June.
Musician Ezekiel Owen, La Grange, e. Aug. 9, 1862; prom Prin-
cipal Musician Sept. 1, 1863.
.Musician Franklin It, Sherman, Pokagon, e. July 31, 1862; m. o.
June 22, 1865.
Wagoner Isaac Hamlin, Pokagon, e. July 20, 1862: died of dis-
ease at Washington, D C, Feb. 17, 1863.
TRIVATES.
Allen, Loren A., Pokagon, c. Aug. 16, 1862; m. o. June 10,
I860.
Allison. George W., Pi)kagon. e. .\ugust 7, 1862; m. o June
10, 1865.
\llisnn, Henry C., La Grange, e. Aug. 3, IS64: m. u. May I'.i,
186--..
\nderson, Jacob M., Newburg, e. Aug. 22, 1863; trans. |o V^i.
Hes- Corps.
died of disease at Nicho
' Baker, .Albert, Mason, e. Aug.
lasville, Ky., Dec. 5, 1862.
Bell, Simuel D., Silver Creek, e. Aug. 8, 1862; m. 0. .lune 10.
1865.
Benton, Elic, Pokagon, e. ; m. o. June 10, 1865.
Bend, Thomas F., Wayne, e. Aug. 6, 1862; dis. for woun^l April
28. 1865.
Bowerman, Addison, Newburg, e. Aug. 27, 1863; died of disease
at Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 25, 1864.
Bridge, Daniel G., Marcellus, e. Aug. 8, 1862; m. 0. June 10,
186.5.
Corbit, James. Penn, e. Aug. 8, 1862: killed on picket before At-
lanta, Ga.. July 23, 1864.
, Corwin, Amos B., Penn, c. Aug. 8, 1862; m. o. June 10, 1865.
[ Cooper. Harley R., Jefferson, e. Dec. 15, 1863: m. 0. May 26,
1865.
Crawford, George, Pokagon ; e. Aug. 8, 1862 ; Sergt.; lu. o. June
10, 1865.
Crocker. Milford, .Silver Creek, e. Dec. 16. 1864 ; m. 0. June
10, 1»65.
Fos.lick, Franklin H., Penn, e. Feb. 27, 1864; .lis. for ilisabiliiy
June 27. 1865.
Danahy, Timothy, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9, 1K62 : died of wounds
at Resaca, Ga., May 25, 1864.
Davis, Norman, Pokagon. e .-Vug. 7, 1862; dis. for disability Feb.
8, 1863.
Davis, Reason, Newburg. e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. o- June 10, 1865.
Davis, William, Penn, e. Aug. 9. 18. i2; m. 0. June 10, 1865.
Edwards, Henry, Pokagon, e .\ug. 9, 1862; m. o. June 10,
1865.
Evans, John, Pokagon, e. Aug. 9. 1862; m. 0. June 10, 1865.
Freeman. .\din. Silver I'reek, e .Vug. 2. 1862; killed in action at
Thompsons Station, Tenn., March 5, 1863.
Fuller, Oren A., Penn, f . Aug. 7, 1862 ; dis. for w..unds May 20,.
1863.
Fuller, William R.. Wayne, e. Aug. 6. 1862; m. 0. June 10,
1865.
Garwood, Levi. Volinia, e. .4ug. 8, 1862; dis. for disability .Vug.
21, 1863.
George, Stephen L., Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9, 1862; dis. for dis-
ability Jan. 14, 1864.
Gilbert, Jeremiah B., Penn, e. Feb. 27, 1864; m. 0. June 10,
1865.
Gillon, Patrick I., Pokagon, c. Aug. 9, 1862; m. 0. June 10,
1865.
Gleason, Charles H., P.ikagon, e. Aug. 9, 1862 : m 0. June 10,
186.5.
Grinntll. Sylvester M., Penn. e. Feb. 27, 1864; m. 0. .lune 10,
1865.
Hagerman, Noah D., Penn. e. .\ug. 9, 1862: m. o. June 10,
1865.
Hamilton, .lohn P., Wayne, e. -Vug. II, 1862; died in action at
Thompson's Station, Tenn., March 5, 1863.
Hannah, James -V., La Grange, e. Vug. 9, 1862 ; died in action at
Thompson's Station, Tenn., March 3, 1863.
Hawes, Jerome B., Pokagon. 0. Aug. II, 1862; m. 0. June 10,
1865.
Hoover, Calvin, La Grange, e. .Vug. 8, 1862; m. June 10, 1865.
Hungerford, Homer M., Wayne, e. .-Vug. 9, 1862: missing in ac-
tion near Dalton, Ga., I8l'-4.
I.aylin, Oren, Wayne, e. Aug. 6, 1862; lu. o. June 10, 1865.
Lilly. Aaron. Wayne, e. Aug. .s, 1862; m. 0. June 10, 1865.
Lundy, Ira C, Penn. e. Aug. S, 1862; in. 0. June 10, 1865.
Lun.ly, Robert. Penn. e. Aug. 11. 1862; .lis. for disability Feb. 8,
1863.
Lundy, Thoniiu), Penn. e. .\ug. 8. 1S62 ; died of dise^eat Annap.
olis. Md., April 13. 1863.
II
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MTCHIftAN.
l.ylle. William M., Marcellus, c. Jan. I. I»ii3; dis. for wound
Nov. 12. iw;i.
Mearl, Smilh. Silver Creek, c. .\ug. 2. 18ii2; in. o. .lune 10. lxiir>.
Means. Andrew. Pokagun. e. .\ug. S, I8il2; dis. for disability
Aug. IS. \HiV.i.
Muncy. Nioirod. Wayne, e. Aug. 2. I.''il2; m. o. .lune HI. IKii:;.
Nicholas. Kzra W . .Marcellus. e. .\ng. 9, ISr,2; died of wounds at
Vining's Station. Ga., Sept. 4. lS(i4.
Nich(d8. William H., Marcellus, e. .Ian. 1. I81I8; died of wounds
at Chattanooga. Tenn.. June 20, 1804.
Parker. Haynes <i.. Calvin, e. Aug. 8, lHi>2; died of ilisease at
Nashville. Tenn., July 13, 18li4.
Parker. Roniaine. Pokagon, e. Aug. 4, 18ii2; ni 0. June 10. IWir).
Parker. Thomas S.. Calvin, e. Aug. 8. lHti2; ni. 0. June 10. ISii.l.
Peters. John. Silver Creek, e. Dec. 22, IWi.S; died of wounds at
Chattanooga. Tenn.. .lune 20. 18t;4.
T'otter. Thomas, Jefferson, e .\ug. 7, lHi'i2; dieil nf disea.se at
Lexington. Ky.. Nov. 13. 18(12.
Reams. Caleb M.. Penn. e. Aug. 2i;, 18ti2; m. o July 10. ISiii.
Reams. Isaiah G.. Penn. e. Sept. 12, 18ii2; m. 0. July in, 18(i5.
Reams. Silas G.. Penn, e. .\ug. 31, ]8ii3: m. 0. May 24. 18(15.
.'lavage. Henry B.. Marcellus. e. Aug. 12. 18(12; died in action at
Thompson's Station. Tenn.. March 5. 18(13.
Schideler. John. Silver Creek, e. Aug. 7. 18(12; ilied in rebel prison.
at Richmond. Va.. March — , 18(13.
Schideler. Robert. Silver Creek, e. Aug. ", 18(12; dis. f'lr disability.
Shawl. Madison. Silver Creek, e. July 25. 18(12: m. 0. June 10.
18(15.
Shepard, Purley, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 2. 18(12; dieii of disease
at Lookout Mountain. Tenn., Oct. 26, 18(14.
Sherman. C. C, Pokagon. e. July 23, 1862; m. 0. June HI, 1865.
Spaulding. Joel. Xewburg. e. Aug. 9. 1862; m. 0. May 10, 1865.
Spencer. E.lward. Wayne, e. Aug. 9. 1862; m. o June 10. 1865.
Siedman. Livingston, Pokagon, e .\ug. 8. 1862; m. 0. June 10.
18(16.
Stuart. Salmon, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9. 1862; m. 0. June 10,
1865.
Suits, Jacob, Wayne, e. Aug. 9, 1862 ; m. 0. June 10, 1866.
Suits. Solomon A., Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9. 1862; m. 0. June 10,
186.5.
Sullivan. Solomon .\.. Wayne, e. Aug. 4, 1862; m. 0. June 10.
1865.
Taylor, John. Pokagon. c. Aug. 4. 1862; m. 0. June 10. 18(15.
Thompson. Francis M.. Wayne, e. Aug. 11. 18(12; ni. o. June 10.
Underwood. Enos. Newburg. e. Aug. 9. 18(12;
lune 10.
L'nderwood. Stephen W.. Penn. e. Aug. 9. 1862; in. 0. July 11.
1865.
Wickham, William C. Silver Creek, e. .\ug. 13, 18(12; died of
ilisease at Danville, Ky.. Dec. — . 1862.
Wiggins. George E., Wayne, e. .\ug. 11. 1862; died of wounds at
Richmond. Va.. March — , 1863.
Wiggins. Lorenzo R.. Wayne, e. .-Vug. 7. 1862; died in rebel
prison. Richmond. Va.. .March — . 1863.
Winchell, Seneca W.. Pokigon. e. Aug. 2. 18(12: ra. 0. June 10.
18(15.
('l)MrANT <.'.
Phillips. John II . Newburg. clan. 17. 18(14; m 0. July 19. I,sil5-
COMI-ANV D.
Second Lieut. Isaac Z. Edwards. Pokagon. trans, from tlo. E July
27. 1863; prom Ist Lieut. June 1. 1864; resigned as 2d
Lieut. Aug. (1. 18(14.
Ilarrigan. Willi.im. Mnnellus. e. Sept. 15. 1864; in. 0. June 23.
1865.
Wright, Giles, Newburg, c. Sept. 5, 1863; ni. o. July 19, 1865.
Company E.
Second Lieut. Isaac 7,. IMwards. Pokagon, com. May I. 1863;
trans. 2d Lieut, to Co. D.
Ashley, William H , e. Aug. — , 1862; confined in Libby Prison;
died at Annnpolis, Md.. April II, 1863.
Basley. Hiram E., .lefferson. e. Deo. 16, 1863, in 10th Infantry.
Hollister, Albert E , Penn, e. Sept. 29. 1864. in lOlh Infantry.
Mahey. Martin. Silver Creek, e Dec. 22, 1863. in loth Infantry ;
(rans. to lOth Michigan Infantry.
Martin, George H., m. 0. Aug. 3, 18(15.
Miller. (Charles 7... c. Aug. — . 18(12; died at Nicholasville, Ky.,
Dec. 13. 1862.
Qwiy. William II., Newburg, e. .Ian. 23, 18(14; died of disease at
-Nashville. Tenn.. March 21. 1864.
Quay, Edward L.. Newburg, e. Dec. 21, 1863 ; m. 0. .luly 19, 1866.
Welch. Thomas C.. .lelferson. e. Dec 15. 18(13; m. o. July 19,
White. Knos H., Pokagon. e. No
luly
18(15.
Beaman. Alonzn P. Newburg. e. Jan. 5. 1864; m. 0. July 19,
1865.
Boghai-t. Peter C. Newburg. e. Jan. 5. ISH4; in V\b Infintry ;
died of disease March 3. 1864.
Madden, Michael. .Silver Creek, e. Dec. 23. 1863; m. o. July 19,
1865.
McCoy. John, .Silver Creek, e. Dec. 23. 1863; m. o. July 19. 1865.
Reams. Erastus. Dowagiac. e. Sept. 12. 1862 ; m. o. June 10. 1865.
Reed. Henry S.. Newburg. e. Jan. 5. 1864 ; died of disease at Chat-
tanooga. Tenn.. June 30. 1864.
Reed. William T., Newburg. e. Jan. 5. 1864; died of disease at
Chattanooga. Tenn.. \ug. 7, 1864.
Trattles, Daniel, Newburg. e. Aug. 11. 1862 ; m. 0. June 10, 1865
IIOMPANT II.
Bair. Myron M.. New6urg. e. Jan. 20. 1864; m. 0. June 10.
1865.
Hawkins. Isaac. Dowagiac. e. .\ug. 13. 1862; m. 0. Jun6 10.
1865.
Musician George N. Rosebrock. Ontwa. e. .A.ug. 13. 1862; died
of disease at Covington. Ky., Oct. 21. 1862.
Teagen. Samuel. Porter, e. Aug. 13. 1862; dis. for disability
July 6. 1863.
First Lieut. Alexander Kirkwood. Wayne, com. Nov. 11. 1864;
m. 0. June 10. 1865.
Bultrick. William, Wayne, e. Jan. 4. 1864; m. 0. June 24. 1865.
(Jarroll. Thomas. Wayne, e. Dec. I". 18(13: m. o. July 19. 1866.
(hooper, .\9bury. Jefferson, e. Dec. 15. 1863. in lOth Infantry;
trans, to lOth Michigan Infantry.
Havens. .Vdam. Wayne, e. Jan. 4. 1864. in 10th Infantry; trans.
to 10th Michigan Infantry.
White. William L.. Wayne, e. Dec. 4. 1863: trans, to Vet.
Res. (^orps.
THK FIRST RKGI.MKNT MICHKiAN CAVALRY.
Company M, of this organization, was from this
county, and there were a considerable number of Cass
men scattered through the regiment.
The First Cavalry commenced recruiting August 21,
1861, at Camp Lyon, near Detroit, the work of organ-
ization being carried on by Thornton F. Broadhead,
afterward Colonel of the regiment. The First was
mustered into service on the 13th of September, 1861,
128
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHlfiAX.
with 1,144 officers and men on the rolls. On the
29th, it left Ciirnp Lyon, under orders to proceed to
Washington ; lay in camp at Frederick, Md., a
considerable portion of the winter, and its principal
service following was in the Shenandoah Valley, in the
Upper Potomac Valley and near the eastern slopes of
the Blue Ridge. The regiment engaged with the
enemy at Winchester, Va., March 23, 1862 ; Middle-
town, Va., March 25, 1862 ; Strassburg, Va., March
27. 1862; Harrisonburg, Va., April 22, 1862: Win-
chester, Va., May 24, 1862 ; Orange Court House,
Va., July 16, 1862 ; Cedar Mountain, Va., August
0, 1862 ; Bull Run (second). Va., August 30, 1862 ;
Occoquan, Va., February — , 1863 ; Thoroughfare
Gap, Va., May 21, 1863 ; Greenwich, Va., May 30,
1863. After a winter of grand guard duty in front
of Washington, the First was assigned to the Mich j
igan Cavalry Brigade, of which the gallant Custer
was Commander, and its services were from that time
chiefly rendered with the brigade. I
Sergt. Maj. .lames S. .VloEllieay, Dowagiac. e. Aug. lo. l.sill ;
prom. 2d Lieut. Co. G.
Hosp. Steward James R. Leader, I'okagon ; uj. o. Ucl. lxn:i.
Company A.
First Lieuc. .Sidney G. Morse. Cassopolis. oum. June 18i'i2; 1st.
Sergt. Co. M. May 12. 18ii2; killed in battle at Second Bull
Run. Aug. 80, ISr,2
First Lieut. John H. Simmons, Dowagiac, com. March 7. 18ii.5 ;
m. 0. Nov. T, 18ii5.
Private Richard L. Crawford. I'eiin. e. Feb. 4, l<sii4; m. o. Jan.
23, 18(16.
Co Ml A .NY B.
Capt. KoUin C, Deiiisou. Dowagi.ic, Iraus. from Co. M, (>ct. 18(11 ;
trans, to Co. M. November ISill.
Capt. William Heazelil, Dowagiac. Irans. from Co. K. ,luly IS.
18(;2: m. o. Oct. 30, 18(i4.
Second Lieut. John .'>immons, Dowagiac, prom. Ist Lieut. Co, X.
March 7. ISC-a
COMI'ANY C.
Kaidall. Wesley C, .letferson. e, March ]■:. IsCo ; m. o. May 1'.),
ISdC.
Company I),
Bugler, (Jeorge Krupp. I'ok.agon. e. Dec. 30. I»(i?. ; m. o. March
2.5, ISiiii.
Shanafels, George. Calvin, e. Feb. li. I8(io; in. o. Dec. '), IHCa.
First Lieut. John Munson. Volinia. com. March 7. !8iij; 2d
Lieut. Dec. 4, l.S(;4; m. o. trans, to Co. G. .March 10. 18(16.
Company G.
First Lieut, James .S. .McKlhony. Dowagiac. com. .May IS. ISd.!;
2d Lieut, Nov, 12, 18(12: killed in action at Monterey. Md,,
July 4, 18(13.
First Lieut, John Munson. Volinia. Irans. from Co. D. Ist Lieut.
March Id, ISil."): m. o. March 10, 18(1(1.
Trivate Warren Simpson, Jetterson, e, Feb, 8. 18(15; ni. o. Di-i-
5, 18(15,
Company K,
Capt, William M. Hazelet. Dowagiac, com. Nov, 12, 18(12; L'd
Lieut, Co, M ; wounded in action at Gettysburg July 3, 18(13 :
and at Cold Harbor June 1, 18(i4 : trans. Capt, to Co. B : m.
o. Oct. 30, 18(14.
PRIVATES.
Apted. William, Volinia, e. Feb. 15. 18(15: m. o. Dec. 5, 18(15.
Conner, Isaac B., Volinia, e. Feb. 17, 18(15 : trans, to Co. G.
Fonger. William. La Grange, e. Nov, 30, 18(13.
Hanna, Hezekiah. Volinia. e. Nov. 2(1, 18(13 : died at Washington.
D. ('., July 11. 18(14.
Herbert. William 1'., Corp.. Volinia. e. Dec, \o. l.S(13 ; m. o. .March
10, 18(15.
James, Lewis, Volinia, e, Dec. Id. ISI13: m. o. March 10. ISdti.
Kenny. James, blacksmith, Volinia. e. Nov. oO, 18(1.!: m. o. Jan.
10, 18(15,
Munson, John, saddler, Volinia. i-. Nov :io, isii:?: prom. 2d Lieut.
Co. D, Dec, 4, 18(14.
.Myers. James W„ Jefferson, e. Feb. 7. Isdo: m. o. Dec. s, 18(15.
Sweet. George W.. Volinia. c. Dec. 1(1. ISd:; : m. u. .Inly 1(1, I8(l.">.
Welcher. Nelson, Volinia, e. Nov. 3(l. IS(13 ; died .1 Detroit. Mich..
Oct. 27. 18(14.
Winegarden. Abram S.. Voliua. e. Nov. .;o. 18d:i : dis. by order
July 7. 18(15.
COMI'AXV L.
Corp. Albert Vincent. Volinia. e. Aug. 20, l.sdl ; died in rebel
prison.
Ivooiise. Herbert. Mason, e. Jan. 2d, 18(14; m. o. .Sept. 25, 18(15.
Kedman, ,1. W.. .Mason, c. Feb. 2(1. I.S(15 : m. o. Dec. 5. lsi.5.
Company M,
Capt. Kollin C. Deuison, Dowagiac, c im. .\ug 12, isdl ; resigned
April 23, 1863.
Capt. David W.Clemmer, Dowagiac, com. May 2, 1863; mounded
in action at Gettysburg, I'enn., July 3, 1863 ; m, o. Dec. 1 I,
1864,
First Lieut. Charles H. Sprague, Dowagiac, com. .Vug. 12, 1861 ;
prom, Capt. Co. A.
First Lieut, David W. Clemnier, Dowagiac, com. Nov. 12, 1862;
prom. Capt. May 2, 1863.
Second Lieut, David W. Clemmer, Dowagiac, com. .M.iy 12, ISdJ ;
prom. 1st Lieut. Nov. 12, 1862,
Second Lieut. William M. Ileazlit, Dowagiac, com Aug. 12, 1861 ;
prom. Capt. Co. K, Nov. 12, 1862.
First .Sergt. David W. Clemmer, Dowagiac, c. .\ug. 12, 1861 ;
prom. 2d Lieut. May 12, 1862.
.Sergt. Sidney G. Morse, Cassopolis: 1st Sergt. May 12, 18i)2 :
Commissary Sergt. Aug. 16, 1801 : prom. 1st Lieut. Co. A.
Sergt. William Dickson, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 12, 1861 ; prom. 2d
Lieut. May 12, 1862: dis. for disability January, 1864.
•Sergt. .loseph L. Tice, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21,
1863; dis. by order Aug. 1, 1865.
Sergt. John H. .Simmons, Dowagiac; prom. 2d Lieut. Co. D.
Sergt. Matthew B. Dopp, Dowagiac, e. Aug. lit, 1861 ; vet. Dec.
21, 1863; m. o, March 25, 1866,
Sergt, Gilbert Vincent, Volinia, e. Aug. 20, 1861 : dis. for dis-
ability Nov. 1, 1862;
Sergt. .lohn W. Robinson, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22, 1861 ; vet. Dec.
21, 1863; in. o. March 25, 18(i6.
Corp. James S. .McElheny, Dowagiac, c. Aug. 15, 1861 : prom.
Sergt, January, 1862; Sergeant Maj, October, 1862.
Corp. Charles Allen, Dowagiac e. .Vug. 16, 1861 ; prom, Sergt.
October, 18(12; died in rebel prison at Florence, Ala.
Musician .lohn H. Simmons, Dowagiac, e. Aug. Id, 1861 : vet.
Dec. 21, 1863; promoted.
Musician (ieorge W. Pierson, Dowagiac, c. .\ug. 1(1, l.Sdl ; vi^t,
Dec. 2'.i, 1863; m. o. July 29, 18(1."..
HISTORY OF CASS COrXTY. MICHIGAN
Kanier Aliriiin K. Sigcrfoos, Uowagiac, c. Aug. 19, 18iil ; vcl.
Dec. 21. IH6:?: m. o. July 31, lS(;r>.
Wagoner Daniel Kummell, Dowagiac, e. Aug. Ifi, 18G1 ; vcl. Dec.
•Jl. 1S63: m. o. Aug. S, 1865.
I'ltlV.MES.
.lames K. Leailer, Tokagoii c. Aug. 20, ISOl ; pronioled llnsiiilal
vartl.
Aug. IG, 1801 : dis. for disaliilily
Henry W. Ellis, Dowa
Not. 1, 1862.
Cliarlcs ('. Wilco.\, Uow.-igiac. c. .\ug. 16, 1861 ; prom. Sergt.: ili;
at eud of service.
.)i)lin II. Simmons. Dowaginc, c. Aug. 16 1861 ; prom. .'^ergt.
Albert II. Lewis, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 1861 : vel Dec. 21, 186:;
m. o March 2'.', 1866.
,\1.
vet. Dec. 21. 1868;
.\nglc, Philip, Wayne, e. .Vug. l'•^
0. March 25. 1866.
liarualiy. .Vlvin 1'., Voliniii, c. .Ian. 2o, IHiU; dis. by order May
8, 17I-.5.
liarney, William W.. I,a lirange. e. Feb. 1-5. 1864: died of disease
Aprils, 1S64.
Becraft. William F.. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 20. isiil; vet. Dec. 21,
ISCS; dis. by order May Ml. 18ii5.
Itentley. Pardon F., Pokagon, e. Aug. 13, Isnl : vet. Dec. 21,
I8i;3: died at Alexandria. Va. Nov. 22. lsr,4.
Bilderback. John. Silver Creek, e. Aug. 20. 18r,l ; vet. Dec. 21,
lS(i3 ; prom. Sergt.: trans, to Co. D.
I'.ulhand, Joseph L.. Kdwardsburg. e. Aug. 22, 18iil : vet. Dec. 21,
ISiiS: m. 0. March 2'), 1H6(;.
Cables, Jerome I., Volinia. e. Aug. 17, 18i;l : vet. Dec. 21. lf<63:
m. 0. Aug. 7, 1865.
Chatterson. Joseph. Silver Creek, c. .\ug. Hi, 1S61 ; vet. Dec. 21,
ISC,:!; m. o. Nov. 24, lsc,5.
Clock, Miles A., Porter, e. ; m. o. .Uig. 7, lsii5.
Colby. Frank. Penn, e. Feb. 2, I8c,4: vet. Dec. 21. 18ii:i; m. o.
July 10. 1865.
Cook, .\lbert H., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 21. Isfil ; dis. at end of serv-
ice, Sept. 24, 18114.
Crawford, Charles!'.. I'enn, e. Feb. 16, 1861: died in action Wil-
derness, Va.. May 6. 1864.
Day, James E.. I'orler. e. Feb. H. 1S64: m. o. March 25, ISiiii.
Dewilt. Isaac A.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 19. ISlil ; vcl. Dec. 21, lH(i:3 ;
m. 0. March 2.'), I8i;i;.
Urunimond, Alcius, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22. IStil ; dis. for disability
April 10, 186.3.
Ellsworth, Andrew J.: ni. o. March 2'). iscc.
.Ensign. Leroy. Pokagon, c. Aug. 13. IWil : died in battle at Win-
chester. Va.. May 24, 1«62.
fiates, Henry C, Dowagiac. e. Sept. 5, I81II ; died of disease at
Alexandria. Va., Sept. 24. 1S62.
Crush. John, Volinia, c. .\ug. 16. IS61 ; vet. Dec. 21. 1863: ni. 0.
March 25, lHi;i;.
Ilutson, Edward R.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 12, I8I1I : dis. for dis-
ability.
Hull', Franklin, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 22, 1861 : vel. Dec. 21,IMii3:
dis. at end of service. .Vug. 22. 18114.
King. John R., e. Oct. 10. 1X62: died in rebel prison, Richmond,
Va., Feb. 3, 1X64.
Labadie. A. C, Dowagiac. e. Aug. HI, I81II ; dis. lor disabilily
April 3, 18113.
Laniphere. Elias, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 12, 1861 ; dis. for disability
April. 1862. wounded.
liillie, (ieorge, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 17. ixdl ; dis. fordisabilily .Ian.
13, 1863, wounded.
Lyons, John. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 16, 1861 ; dis. for disability Sep-
tember. 1S(12.
McCreevy, Hiram. Dowagiac. e. Aug 17. 1861: vet. Dec. 21, 1863 .
dis.by order July 31, 18ii.5.
.Meacham, Charles, Dowagiac. c. .Vug. Di, 18'11 ; vcl. Dec. 21 ■
1863 ; m. 0. March 25, ISilH.
Morland, Joseph, Volinia, e. Jan. In. I,s(i4 ; ni. o. March 25,
IXHIi.
.Norton, Cassius M., Dowagiac. e. Oct. 21, 1S62; dis. by order
June 19, 1865.
Niver, William C. Ontw.i. e. Vug. 22, isnl ; die.l of disease at
Annapolis, Mil., Oct. 3, IS112.
Ornt. Eli, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22, 18(11 ; dis. at end of service.
Olney, Darwin, Dowagifto, e. Aug. 19, 18111 : yet. Dec. 21, 1X63:
killed in battle at Gettysburg, Penn.. July 3, 1X(13.
Oyler, John. Dowagiac, c. Aug. 22, I811I : dis. for disability .luly.
Peck, Coleman C, Cassopolis, e. Aug. 19, 1X61 : dis. at end of
service.
I'eltigrew, William M., Uowagiac. e. Aug. 22, ixr.l ; vet. Dec. 21,
1X63; m. 0. .May 11. Is6ii.
Pierce, Thomas P., Dowagiac. e. Aug. 16. 1X61 : died of disease at
Richmond. Va.
Reimer. Henry, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16. 1X61 : dis. for disabilily
Nov. 29, 1862.
Robinson. Richard M., Dowagiac. c. .Vug. 22. 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21,
1X(13; m. 0. Aug. 22, 1864.
Roberts. Luman C, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 12, 1861: vel. Dec. 21,
1863: m. 0. Nov. 24. 1865.
Rose, Alexander, La Grange, e. Dec. 21, 18il3 ; in. o. Aug. s.
1X65.
Rutter, Benjamin II., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 20, 1x61 : dis. iit end of
service, Sept. 6, 1X64.
Rutter. Henry C, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 17. ix-il : died of disease
.Vpril. 1862.
Serrine. Ezra, Dowagiac. e. Aug. Hi. 1x61 : dis. fordisabilily May,
1862
Dec.
Dec.
Stulls. Seth S., Dowagiac. e. Vug. 26. 1861
Sergt.: trans, to Co. F.
Shrackengast, George W., Dowagiac, e. .Vugust 22, 186
21. 1X63.
Shaw, John N., Corp., Dowagiac, c. Aug. 16, 1861 : ilis. at end of
service.
Simons, Joseph R. ('., Dowagiac. e. .Aug. 22. 1861 : vet. Dec. 21.
1863: died at Ft. Bridger, Utah, Nov. 18, 1S6">.
Smyth, Daniel, Dowagiac, e. .Vug. 22. 1X61 : dis. for disability
Jan. 14. I8fj3.
Spillman, Jacob, Dowagiac, e. .Vug. 26, IXol ; dis. by order.
Stone, George. Corp., Jefferson, e. Feb. 7, 1865; m. o. March 25,
1866.
Snydam, William II., Silver Creek, e. Dec. 36, 1X63; dis. by
order Vug. 3, 1865.
Taylor. Ilalbert R. Wayne, e. Dec. 28, isr,:!; m. o. .Much 25,
1866.
Thomas. Cassius. Porter, e. Feb. 19. IsiU ; died of yellow lever
May 6. IX(i4.
Tinkler, George W.. Dowagiac.' e. .Vug. 16. IXiil ; dis. at end of
service.
Tice. Myron C. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 19. Isr.l ; ni. o. .Inly I i. 18115.
Watson. Joseph H.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 21. IXill ; taken prisoner
in aation at Kobh's Tavern. Va.
Wilber. Oscar, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22, IxiU ; died of disease .Vug.
29. 1X112.
Wiley, James P.. Dowagiac. c. Aug. 17. 1861 ; vet. Dec 21. 1X113 ;
m. 0. March 25. 1866.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MTCHTGAX.
CHAPTER XIX.
■ASS roU.NTY IN THK WAR OF THE RRBELLION.
(CONTINUKD)
<jiiarterma3ler Sergl. S. .1. W. Thomas, e. 1862 ; killed at battle of
Bear Rivei-, Feb. 29, 18fi3.
Andrews, James H., Mnson, e. Aug. 27, 18fi4: dis. by order .lu
.3, 1W5.
.sei-oiid, Thiril, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Cavalry— First Barker, John C
.ight Artillery— Fourteenth Biittery--Inf:iiitry Organizations— The
Ninth. Kleventh, Thirtpnnth. In\irtpeiith, Fifteenth, Sixteenth,
Spvpnteonth, Twenty-foin I h, 1 «r)ity-nftli, Twenty-eight and Thir-
tieth— Tlic One Hundred ami Se'oinl r. S. Colored Infantry— Cass
e. Ilcl.
1865.
•A. Kes. Corps.
1864; ni. o. Aug.
ion at Mossy Creek,
t>, 1864 : m. o. Aug.
IN the foregoing chapter have been given the rosters
of ail of the full companies from Cass County, to-
gether with very brief histories of the regiments to
which they were assigned. In the present chapter
appears the roster of Cass County soldiers in miscella-
neous organizations of the infantry, cavalry and artil-
lery service. Great care has been exercised in the
compilation of this roster. It contains every name
and fact procurable from the Adjucant Generals office, Griffith, John W., e. Sept
at Lansing. The lists have also been verified in all
cases where it was practicable by members of the com-
panies to which they have reference. If the roster as Hewitt. Henry W., e. Sept, Kl, 1861 ; dis. for disability May :iO,
here presented is incomplete or inaccurate (as it '*"'-^-
Burns, Lawrence, c. .Sept. 14, ISfil ;
action in Alabama Oct. 7, 18K4.
Burns, Roger, e. Sept. 14, 1861 ; vet. ,
186.5.
Carlisle. William, e. .Sept. 14, 1861 ; I
Dailey, Hiram, e. .Nov. 14, 1861 ; ve
17, 18<i5.
Kisele, Felix, e. Sept. 24, 1K61 ; died
nee. 27, 186:1.
Kisele, Martin, e. Sept. 24. 1861 ; vet
17. 1SH.5.
Goodrich, J. T., e. Nov. 1, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 5, 1SH4
, 1864 , m. 0. .Vug.
1. :<, 1864; died in
864; m. o. Aug. 17,
an. 6, 1864; m. o. Aug.
186.5.
Hanson, John, e. Sept. 16. 1861 ; dis. at end of service Oct. 22,
1864.
doubtless is in some degree), the fact is attributable to
the neglect of officers, whose iluty it was to return
full and complete lists to the Adjutant General.
SECONli REUIMENT MICHKJAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY-
Fellows, Austin 1'., Milton, Nov. 8, 186:^ ; m. o. Aug. 17, 18C,.-,
Kelchnm, Alonzo,c. Sept. 14. IStil ; vet. Ja
1864 ; m. o. Aug.
Furrier, .John H. Ashley, .Mason, e
order June 20, 1865.
Rix, Alfred, Mason, e. Aug. 24, 18ii4
Creek, Ala., Nov. 5, 1864.
Stephens, George, Mason, e. .Vug 24,
20, 1865.
Aug 24, 1864; dis. by
taken prisoner at Shoal
1861; dis. by order .lune
ora. Au
24, 1861 : resigned
First Lieut. Andrew J. Fi
Aug. 31, 1862.
First Lieut. John H. hution, com. Sept. 9, 1862; 2d Lieut. Au
24, 1861 ; resigned for disvhility April 0, 1864
(Juirtermaster Sergt. William P. Thomas, e. Sept 12, 186
died of disease at Corinth, Miss., .lune 25, 1862.
Sergt. .lay Blodgett, e. Sept. 16, 1861 ; dis f .r <lis=ihiliiy Sept.
I.ayton, James L., Newhurg. m. o. Aug, 17, 1865.
Loveland, Andrew J., e. Sept. 21, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 5, 1864.
Lowry, William S., e. Sept. IX, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 5, 1864; dis. by
order June 4, 1865.
Lyhacher, I'orter, Mason, e. Aug. 14, 1861 ; m. o. July 5, 1865.
Mallory, Marquis D., e. Oct. 1, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Oct.
22, 1864.
.Manco, Theo., e. Sept. LS, 1861; vel. Jan. 5, 1864; in. o. Aug.
17, 1865.
Mann, George H., Mason, e. Aug. 14, 1862; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865.
Mannering, W. H., e. Oct. lo, 1861 ; dis. for disability Aug. 16,
1862.
Marshall, .lames M., Mason: c. Aug. Ml, 1862; dis. for disability
Dec. 6, 1862.
Moore, Lorenzo D., e. Sept. 24, 1861 : vet. Jan. 5, 1864 ; diedo f
wounds at Shoal Creek, Ala., Dec. I, 1864.
Nelson, Edgar, e. Sept. 16, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 5, 1864 ; dis. by order
May I'.l, 18155.
I'arker, Chandler, e. Nov. 1. l.Hiil ; vet. Jan. 5, 18(i4 ; m. o. Aug.
17. 18(i5.
Shockley, Alfred, e. Sept. 14, 1861 ; vel. Jan. 5,1864 ; m. o. Aug.
17, 1865.
18iil ; dis. at end of service Oct. 22,
'orp. John K. Slark. e Sept. 17.18
14. 1862.
^)rp. Harvey L. Drew, e. .Sepi. 16. 1
2, 1861.
.'orp. Albert I'. Anderson
Smith, Henry, e. Sept.
18114.
Smith, Waller, e. Sept. 17, ISiil ; dis. at end of service Oct. 22,
18114.
Siark, Edward, e. .Sept. 24, ISill ; dis. for disability Oct. 20, 18il2.
Stilson, Hiram, mason, e. Aug. 14, 18il2; trans, lu Vet. Res.
Corps Feb. 15, 18ii5.
Sept. 14, 18111 ; died of wounds Stilson, John, Mason, e. Sept. I, 18il4; m. o. Aug. 17, I8ii5.
for disability Aug.
ms. to au Cav. Nov.
near Boonville .Miss., July 3, 1862
Corp. William H. Todd. e. .Sepl. 16,
Dec. VI, 1862.
Corp. Samuel .Maxham, e. Sept. 18,
Dec. 6, 1862.
Corp. Vbner I'. Slimp40u, e. Sept. I I, 1
m. o. Aug. :10, 1865
Wagoner Robert Lingrell, e. Sept 8,
prom. Sergt,; m. o. .•Vug. 17, 1865.
Slillson. Willi;
C, Ma
e. Aug. 24, 18H4:
0. Aug.
18111
dis for disability
dis. for disability
Welling, Jacob, dis. for disability March 25, ISilo.
^Villiams, Richard J., e. Sept. 14, ISHl ; vet. Jan. 5, 18il4; dis.
for promotion Sept. 20, 18114.
Williama. TUeodoie. e, Sepl. 18, 1861 ; killed by guerrilla-s at
Madisonville, Tenn., March 7, 18il4.
Wooden, Timothy, e. Sept. 16, 1861 ; died of disease at St. Louis.
Mo., Jan. 31, 1862.
HISTORY OF CAS? rOT'NTY. MICHIGAN.
THIRD RE(UMENT MirHIGAN VOMJNTKER CAVALRY.
COMPANV A.
Smith, George W ., Vi
Feb. 1ft, 18d4 ; m. o. Fch. 12, 186li.
Sccoml Lieut. Morrel Wells, La tirange, e. Seyl. M), I8fil. corp ,
vet. .laji. 19, 1864; sergt ; prom. 2<l Lieut, i'o. F; |iroin.
1st. Lieut ("0. 1, Nov. 17, 18f,4: m. o. Feb. 12, ISfili.
Second Lieut. Robert H. Carr, nowagiac, e. Sept. 26, ]St;i;
Corp., scrgt.. 2d Lieut, .luly 4, 1861 ; m. u. as sergt., Feb !"2,
1866.
Beebe, BcDJaniin, F., Volinia, e. Feb. 24, ISill ; died ol' disease
Duval's Bluff, Ark., .lul.y 29, 1864.
Vance, William. I., Volinia, e. .Ian. 19, 1864; m. o. Feb. 12, 1866
Wallace, .lohn I., Dowagiac, e. Sept. :'>i), 1861 ; dis. for prom.,
.lunc 2(1. 186.5.
Company I.
First Lieut. Morrel Wells, La Grange, com. Nov. 17, 1864; in. u.
Feb.' 12, 1866.
CdMI'.^NV M.
Foster, David, Pokagon, c. Dec. 29, 1868; m. ». Feb. 12, 1866.
FOURTH REGIMENT .MICHIGAN VllLUNTEKR CAVALRY.
Company A.
McManus, .lohn. La Grange, e. Nov. .">, 1863 ; m. o. Aug. l-'i,
1865.
Company C.
McCoy, William, D. P. R., Aug. 1. 1862; m. o. .luly 1, 186-5.
Partridge. Edwin l>. Pokagon, e. Dec. 5, 1863; m. o. Aug. \o,
1 865.
Kiggs, Rensselaer, P iter. e. Aug. 18 1864; ni. «. .luly 1, 1865.
Shoemaker, .John H., Maroellus, e. .luly 15, 1862; ni. o. .July 1,
186.-..
Company G.
Cowles, David B., Howard, e. Nov, 3, 1863 : trans, to Veteran
Reserve Corps, Aug. 17, 1864.
Company I.
Bedwell, George W., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 11, 1862 ; in. o. .July 1,
1865.
Corp. Brown, Preston W., Dowagiac, e. .luly 29, 1862; ni. o. .luly
1, 1865.
Driskel, Noah, Porter, e. Aug. 11, 1862; dis. for disability April
2, 1863.
Eaton, Frank P.. Dowagiac, e. .\ug. 11, 18ii2; dis. for disability
March 3, 1863.
Fetterly Charles, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 2, 1862 ; ni. o. .luly 1, 18t;5.
.loy, Franklin D., Penn, e. Aug. U, 1862 ; m. o. May 3, 1865.
Kennedy, David A.. Penn, e. Aug. II, 1862; m. o. July 1, 1865.
Powers, Samuel (I., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 11, 1862; died of disease
at Nashville, Tenn.,. Ian. 12. 1863.
Uober.son, .lohnathan S., corp.. e. .Vug. 2. 1862 ; trans, to \'et.
Res. Corps Sept. 1. 1863.
Matthews. William. Penn. e. Aug. 11. l.';r,2; sick at Nashville
First Lieut, lliram F. Heals, Dowagiac. com. .Aug. l:'.. 18ii2.
(.iuartci master Sergt. William H. Davis. Dowagiac. c. .luly 26,
18112; dis. by order May 19, 1865.
Commi-sary .Sergt. .lames W. .Vrgo. e. .July 2L I8ii2; m. o. .luly
1. 1865.
Scrgl. .lames D. Dawson, e. .Vug. II. 18i;2; dis. fur disiibiliiy
.luly 8. 1863.
Sergt. Edward Peaice. Wayne, c. Aug. 15. lKi,2; ni. o. .luly I.
18(15.
t'orp. Truman P.ind. VVaync. e. Aug. 2. 1862; died of disease at
Louisville. Ky.. Oct. 27. 1 862.
Corp. George .Scott, Volinia, e, Aug. 5. I8il2; dis. for ilisahilily
.Ian. I. 1863,
Corp. .lohn Fo.\. Milton, e. Aug. 7, 1862; dis. by order May I'l.
18(15.
Corp. Elias Ingling, Dowagiac. c. Vug, 9. 18112; m, o, .luly 1.
18(i5.
Corp. .lohn W. Bowles. Volinia. e. .\ug. 7, 18(12; absent sick at
m. o.
Farrier Henry Cooper. Dowagiac. e. .\ug. 13. 1862; m. o. ,luly
1. 1865.
Teamster (.'harles D. Northrup, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 5. 1862; m. o.
.luly 1. 1865.
Wagoner, .Josiah I pes. e. Vu;.'. 2. 18(12 ; m. o. .luly I. I8(;5.
disability
Morton, Charles L.. Porter, e. Aug. II. 18(12;
Feb. 27. 1863.
Sigerfoos, Albertus. Porter, e. Aug. II. I8il2: sick at Na.shvillc
Scrgt. Witherell. Ileury A.. Pokagon. e. Vug. II. 1862; died of
disease at Nashville. Tenn.. April, 9. 1864.
Lewis, .lames. Newburg, e. Vug. 11. 1862; killed in aelioii .it
Stone River.
Lewis. Franklin B., e. .Vug. 11, 1S(12 ; died of digease at Nash-
ville.
.\bbott, Hiram, .Milton, e. Aug. 16, 1862; m, o. .luly 1, 1865
Aldrich, James M., e. Aug. 12, 1862; died nf oisease at Lebanon.
Ky., Nov. 18,'1862.
Arnold, Alvin, Newburg, e. .Vug. 13. 1862; trans, to Vol. Res.
Corps.
Arnold, Robert, Volinia, e. Aug. II, 1862; m. o. .luly 1, 1865.
Baldwin, Thomas, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 5, 1862; ni. o. July 1, 1865.
Dunbar, George W., Milton, e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. o. July !, 1865.
Finch, .Mathew, Volinia. e. Aug. 10, 1862; dis. for disability May
1, 1863.
Ferris, Albert P., Volinia, e. Aug. 11, 1862; dis. by order .May 3,
1865.
Garwood, Levi J., Volinia. e. Aug. 2, 18(i2; dis by order .luiie
29, 1865.
i Higgins, George W., Dowagiac, e. .luly 26, 1862; ui. o. July 1,
I 1865.
I Haight, Horatio, Marcellus, e. Aug. 7, 1862; m. o. July 1, 1865.
! Hoyt, Henry, Dowagiac, e. .Vug. 2, 1862 ; died of disease at Nash-
i ville, Dec. 26, 1862
I Huft\ Simon, Volinia, e. Aug. 15, 1862; m. o. July I, 1865.
j Humiston. Perry, e. Aug. 8, 1862; m. o. July 1, 1865.
j Jaquays. William, Volinia, e. Aug. 15, 1862; transferred lo
Vet. Res. Corps Jan. 15, 1K64.
Little, .lohn H., Volinia, e. Aug. 6, 1S62; dis. for disability Feb.
I 11, 18113.
Northrup, Freeman G., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 6, 18(12 ; died of disease
at .Mitchellville, Tenn., Nov. 22, I8(i2.
Parks, James, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 6. 1862; dis. by order .Vpril 2s,
j 1865.
' Pond, Wesley D., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 9, 18(12; ni. o. July I. IN(15.
Quick, Robert I., Dowagiac, c. Vug. (l, IS(l2; dis, for di-iahility
Feb, 4, 18113.
Rankin, John E,, Dowagiac, e. Aug, 12. 1X62; ni, o. July I, 1.S65.
Shanahan, Henry, e, Aug, 12, 18112; m, o, July 1, 1x65,
Southworth, George M,, Volinia, e. Vug. II, l.X(i2; ni. n, .luly I,
LSdu.
.Sweelland. James ,M,, Dowagiac, c. ,Vu!;, 7, 1862; dis, lor ili.sa-
l)ility Jan, 7, 1863,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MTOHIGAX
Swcetland, John B., Edwardsburg, e. Aug. 12, lm2 ; dis. by order
to appointment as I'nited States .Medical Cadet Sept. 20, 1W3.
Taylor, Nelson, m. o. .July 1, M'lO.
Thompson, Benjamin F., .Milton, e. Aug. 15, lS(i2; prom, to Corp.
1863, after the battle of t-tone River; dis. for disability
Xov. 11, 1K(14.
Tharp, John L., Penn e. Aug. '.•. 18ii2; dis. for disability March
25, lK(i4.
Van Tuyl, John, Dowagiac, e. Aug. hi, 18112; ni. o. July 1, 18115.
Vaughn, Dewitt C, t'alvin, e. Aug. H, 1K(12; died of disease in
Indiana March Is, 1,H(13.
Welch, Michael, La Grange, e. .\ug. o, 1X62; died in rebel prison,
Richmond Va.. Dec. 18, 1W12.
Welcher. -Sherman B., Volinia, e. Aug. H, 18r,2; died of disease at
Woodsonville. Ky.. Dec. — , 18ii2.
Wilson, Samuel, Dowagiac, e. Aug. H, 1,hii2; m. o. July 1, 18115.
RECRIITS — UNASSIONEII.
Brown, Simeon, Wayne, e. Nov. 18, 18(13.
Day, Robert B., Wayne, e. Dec. 21, 18(13.
Rigin. Thomas, Mason, e. Nov. 3, 18(13.
Ross, William, Silver Creeli, e. Dec. 23, 18(13.
Randall, Charles, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 30, 18(14.
Shoemaker. Franklin ('., Penn, e. Dec. 23, 18(l3.
Williams, Leonard W.. Penn, e. Xov. 3, 18(13.
FIFTH REOIMENT MICHWAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
PlELl) ANO STAFK.
Surg. Sylvester L. Morris, Dowagiac. Oct. 23, IK(13; A3«istau
Surgeon Sept. 3, 18(13; resigned July 28. 18(14.
Dean. Kdw.ird, La (irange, e. Jan. 23, 18(15; transferred to Isl
Michigan Cavalry.
Randall. Wesley C, Jefferson, c. .March 13, 18(15; m. o. May 1'.),
iKdd.
Shilling, Lemuel C, Voliiiia, e. March 15, 18(15; in. o. Jan. D,
Ci>Ml
King. Franklin T., La Grange, c. Jan. (1, 18(15; tiansferred to
Ist Michigan Cavalry.
('0Mr\.\v K.
Iluyck, Alva H., Volinia, e. March 15, IK(15; transferred to 7lh
Michigan Cavalry.
ClIMCANV M.
Harrington, Silas. Silver Creek, e. Feb. 17, 18(15; transferred (o
7(h Michigan Cavalry.
.SIXTH KEdlMENT MICHIHAN VOLl'NTEER ('AV.ALKY.
COMI'.A.NV K.
Savage. Frank'', Marcellus. e. .March -11, 18(15: ui. o. Feb. 1(1,
1866.
lll.MCA.NY G.
Branch, Arthur K. Silver Creek, c. .March 7, 1865; m. o. Feb.
16, 1866.
Nearpass, Ira N, Newberp, c. .March 31, 1865; in. n. May 16,
1866.
Cn.MCASV K.
Potts. Janice II., Silver Cicek, e. March 10. 1865; in.... March
31, 1866.
('OMl'ANV L.
Bliss, Edwin S.. Newberg. o .Ian. 26, 1864; m. o. May :10.
18115.
Dewey, Orlando, Marcellus; in. o. March 25. 1866.
Kilmer, George P., I'enii, e Feb 11, 1864; m. o. .Iiine 24. 1865.
Mathers, William, Silver (reek, e. Feb. 17,1865; m. o. March
10, 1866.
CO.MI'ANY M.
Cole, Hiram G., JeHerson, e. Feb. 6, 1865; m. o. Feb. 8, 1866.
Deline, Frank H., Calvin, e. Feb. 6, 1865; died of disease at St.
Louis, Mo., June 24, 1865.
SEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
Co-MCANY A.
.\lexander, ."^amuel, Jefferson, e. Sept. '.(, 1862; missing in ac-
ti..n.
Crocker, William A., Jefferson, e. Sept. 0, 1862; tri^ns. to Invali.l
Corps Sept. 10, 1863.
(Jollins, Joseph E., Pokagon, e. Sept. 12, 1862; died at .\lexan-
dria, Va., J.an. 12, 1864.
Foster, Zaoh ; trans, to Isl Mich. Cav.
Harrison, Jesse, Jefferson, e. Sept. 'J. 1862; trans, to Vet. Res.
Corps, April 10, 1864.
Henderson, William, Milton, e. Dec. 20, 1862; m. o. June 7, 1865.
Huyck, John.
Maloy, Thomas, Pokagon, e. Sept. 29, 1862; m. o. Dec. 15, 1865.
Vlilliman, Samuel, Pokagon, e. Sept. 18, 1862.
i Nels.m, Walter, Pokagon, e. Sept. 29. 1862 ; died in battle at Get-
tysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863.
Peck, George P., Jefferson, e. Sept. 9, 1862; dis. for disability
Nov. 25, 1862.
Richardson, Varnum, Pokagon, e. Sept. 15, 1862; dis. for dis.
i ability March 28, 1863.
I Smith, Thomas J., Milton, e Dec. 25, 1862; m. o. July 6, 1865.
I Stout, John, Milton; m. o. Dec. 15, 1865.
i Wortler, George A., Milton, c. Dec. 27, 1862.
Irwin, .Vndrcw ; m. o. Dec. 15, 18(35.
NINTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
FIKLO AND STAFF.
Chaplain John Fletcher, Edwardsburg, Aug. 23, 1864 ; m. o. July
21, 1865.
Company L.
('apt. George Miller, Pokagon.'Nov. 3, 1862; resigne.l March 12,
1864.
Commissary Sergl. James F. Prater, Wayne, e. Dec. 12, 1862;
prom Regimental Commissary Sergt. May I. 1864 ; m. o July
21, 1865.
Sergl. Henry L. Barney, Wayne, e. Dec. 1, 1S62; prom, in U. S.
Cav. Troops.
Sergt. (lagon Dunham, Volinia, e. Dec. 28, 1862; ni. o. June 30.
1863.
Corp. Martin Ijuinlan, Volinia, e. Jan. HI, 1863; m. o. .luly 21,
1865.
Teamster John Oyler, Pokagon. e. Nov. 12, 1862; m. o. Dec. 5,
1865.
Barrett, George, Wayne, e. Dec. 28, 1862; m. o. June 13, 1S65.
Blackman, Jerome, Dowagiac, e. March 24, 1863 ; in. o. July
21, 1865.
Brownell, William, Wayne, e. Dec. 27. 1862; m o. May 27. 1865.
Ellsworth, Daniel, Howard, e. Jan. 1.1863; dis. for .Usability
June 9, 1865.
Elliott, Franklin, Jefferson, c. .Ian. 1, 1863: died in rebel prison
at Richmond, Va., Feb. 17, 1864.
tiarrigan, John, Volinia, e. Dec. 18, 1862: died in rebel |iris..n
pen. Andersonville, Ga., June 19. 1864.
Kelly. E.lgar D.. Waynf. e. Dec. 13. 1862: m ... July 21, 1865.
Rose, .lolui H.; D.>wagiac, e. April 28, 1863: dis. for disability
June 9, 1865.
I
aiSTOKY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Smiih, JuJson, Wayne, e. Jan. 12, 18H3: m. o. July 21, 18ii5.
.Siiiilli, Henry, Silver Creek, e. Jan. 12, 18i;:?; died of disease in
Tennessee, Dec. 27, 18i;8.
Travis, I'lzekiel, Wayne, e. Nov. 11, 18i;2: m. o, Dec. •">, 18i',.5.
Oveiheck, Augustus, Volinia, e. .Ian 8, ISr,:!; died at Dandridge,
Tennessee, Dec. 15, 18f,3.
Willi.ims, James A., Corp., Venn e. Dec. 2!l, 18(;2 ; in. o. July21,
18(15.
Davis, M. Barney.
Willis Barney.
ELEVENTH REOIMKNT .MICHIOAN VOLITNTEER CAVALRY.
I'OMl'.KXY (.i.
Canning. George. Marcellus. e. Nov. ,'), 18(5.'? ; m. n. N'ov. 2, 1865.
COMI'ANY I.
Allen, William H., I'enn, e. ,>^epl. Ui I8i',.3; m. o. May 17, 1805.
Canning, Tlionins, Miircellus, e. .Sept. Ifl, 18113; ni. o. Aug. 24,
I.etlick, Wil
La Grange, e. Dec. 7, 18113 ; ni. o. Sept. 22, 18(15.
Company K.
•Sergl. Horace ft. Brown, Ontwa, e. Sept. 22, 1.^(18; died of dii
ease at Le.\iDgtiin, Ky., Jnly 8, 1,S(14.
Blackburn, Thomas, Ontwa, e. Nov. 2, 18(13;
22,
Blue. Krwin, Ontwa, e. Nov. 2, IWi : killed by accident at Shel-
by ville, Ky., July 17, 18114.
Brown, Carlton, Ontwa, e. Sept. 30, 18i!3; ni.o. July 18, 18(1.-).
Lofand, Joshua, Ontwa, e. Sept. 1, 18(13; ni. o. Sept. 22, 18(15.
Farrier William W. Marr, Ootwa, e. Sept. 22, 18(13; m. o. Seiil.
22; 18(16.
Saddler .\lbert H. Raymond, Ontwa, e. Oc(. !), 18(13 ; m. o. Sept.
Shideler, George, Ontwa, e. Oct. 2(1. 18(13; m. o. .Sept. 22. 18(15.
Shiar, .\lonzo S., Ontwa, e. Sept. 22, 18(13 ; died of disease at
Ashland, Ky., July 11. 18(14.
Stark, Edward, Silver Creek, e. Sept. 10, 18(1.!; m. o. Oct. 9,
18i>0.
Steele, John S. Ontwa, e. Oct. 14, 18(13 ; m. o. Sept. 22, 18(15.
Farrier Wieling, .lacob H., Silver Creek: e. Sept Id, 18(13; ni.
0. .Sept. 22, l.H(15.
FIRST MICHIGAN LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Battbkv .\.
Second Lieut. George J. .Nash, Vulinia, March (1, 18(l.'i; m. o
28, 18115.
(lanning .Samuel ; m. o. July 28, 18(1).
Ilickox, William If., La Grange, e. Dec. 30, 18(13; m. o.
28, 18(10.
Mesler, William, La Grange, e. Dec. 25, 18(13; m.o. July 28,
(dy28, 18
Willianis. Levi P., I',
, Feb. •\, 18(13
Battkhy I'..
Abliolt, .Seneca W., Ontwa, e. Sept. .■>, 18(14 : ni. o. Aug. 30,
Norris, Webb ; m. o. .\I«
G.
Smith, Horace, .Sergl., Adamsville, e. Nov. 23, 18(11 ; dis. f«
ability Aug. 25, 18(1;;.
Wickerly, David, e. Dec. 15, IHd
1802.
. for disability July
FOURTEENTH BATTERY.
I'BIVATES.
Armstrong. Benjamin F., Fokagon, e. .Sept. 17, 18(13; dis. for dis-
ability .May 15, 18(1.5.
Arnold, Kdward R., Corp , Volinia, e. Oct. !(, 18(18 ; m. o. July 1,
1805.
Barney, Myron F., Newberg, e. Sept. 7, 1803; m. o. .Inly I,
1805.
lilanchard, George L., I'okagon, e. Sept. 6, 1804; m. o. .luly I,
18(1.'T.
Burnham, Charles M., Jetferson, e. Dec. 31, 1803 ; ni. o. .luly 1,
1805.
Canfield, Washington B., .Mircellus, e. Sept. 17, 1803; .lis. for
disability Jan. 12, 1805.
Crane, Judson J., I'okagon, e. Sept. 3, 1804 ; m. o. .July I, 1805.
Day, Alexander P., Volinia, e. Sept. 3, 1804 ; m. o. July 1, 1805
Davis, Charles J., Newburg, e. Sept. 7, 1803; m. o. July 1.
18(15.
Drake, George S., Newberg, e. Oct. 3, 1803: m. o. July I, 1805.
j Goff. William 11., Penn, e. Sept. 4, 1803 ; m. o. July 1, 1805.
Goff, Stephen C, Peun, e. SepL 3, 1804; m. o. July 1, 1805.
j Golf, Sylvester J., Volinia, e. Sept. 3, 1804; m. o. July 1, 1805.
Goodrich, George, Pokagon, e. Sept. 5, 1804; m. o. .luly I.
1805.
Harwood, William M., Penn, e. Aug. 2!l, 1804; m. o. July 1,
1805.
Holloway, Charles, Newberg, e. Sept. 12, 1803; m. o. Julyl,
1805.
Holloway, William, Penn, e. Aug. 25, 1804 ; m. o. July 1 , 1805.
Hutchings, William W., Newberg, e. Sept. 2(1, 1803; dieil of dis-
ease at Washington, I). C, March 21, 1804.
Lemon, John F., Penn, e. Sept. 1, 1804; m. o. July I, 1805.
Martin, Robert N., Penn, e. Sept. 6, 1803; dis. for disability Nov.
23, 1804.
Murphy, William, Jefferson, e. .Ian. 2, 1804 ; m. o. July 1, 1805.
Patrick, Christopher, Corp., .Marcellus, e. Sept. 7, 1803; mo.
July 1, 1805.
Pembcrton, Eliphalet, Marcellus, e. Oct. 3, 1863 ; m. o. July 1,
1805.
Pound, Isaac S., Pokagon, e. Sept. 1. 1804; m. o. July 1, 1805.
Rudd Baruk L., Newberg. e. Sept. 9, 1803; m. o. July 1, 1805.
Shoemaker, Frank C, Pokagon, e. Aug. .30, 1804; m. o. July 1,
180.-..
Skinner, James R., Marcellus, e. Oct. 2, 1803; m. o. July 1,
1805.
Skinner, Harrison H., Marcellus, dis. for disability Dec. o. 1804.
Tompkins, .Melvin R., Newberg, e. Sept. 20, 1863; ra. o. July I,
1805.
Turengo, Andrew, Jefferson, e. ,Ian. 4, 1804: m. o. July 1, 1805.
Vincent, Henry, Volinia, e. Oct. 2, 1803 : m. o. July 1, 1805.
Wetherell, Smith D., Corp., Volinia. e. Nov. 5, 1803 ; m. o. July 1,
1805.
Wilsey, Erasmus, Marcellus, e. Sept. 10, 1804; m. o. July 1,
FIRST REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
COMI'ANY F.
Sergt. Frank Upson, Howard, e. July 17, 1801 ; died in aedon at
Gaines' Mills June 27, 1802.
SECOND REOIMENT MIOHIGAN VdLlINTEKK INFANTRY.
COMI-ASY E.
Corp. .loel (Juwgill, Calvin, e. May 25, 1801 ; (rans. to Vet.
Res. Corps July I, 1803.
Sergt. Johns. Gliddou, e. .May 21. 180! ; vet Dec :'.l, l.so:: ; .lis
by order Sept. 15. 1804.
l:u
HTSTOIlY OF CASS COUNTY. MlCIlTCAN.
rrivate William Jackson, Jefferson, e. May 2r., l?in : vet. Bee.
Dec. 31, 18i;3 ; in. o. July 28, ISti.i.
Sergt. Benjamin F. Lee, Ontwa, e. May 25, 18K1 : died May, 18,
I8ii2, of wounds received at Williamsburg.
Corp. Henry Meacham, Ontwa, e. May 25, ISHl : trans, to Vet.
Res. Corps Feb. 15, 18i>4.
CO.MP.*.NY 1.
Coleman, Franci.* A., Wayne, e. Feb. 21, IMtio ; dig. by order June
15, 18ti5.
FIFTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Company A.
Haigh, William, e. Aug. 28, ISHl ; vet. Dec. 15, 18i)8.
Co.Mi-.\!«v l).
Stamp, F,. M., Porter, e. Sept. 18, 18112; m. o. June .3, 18i;."..
SEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
.\asistant Surgeon Cyrus Bacon, Ontwa, enrolled June HI, 18111,
at Fori Wayne (near Detroit), Mich ; mustered in Aug. 22,
18111: resigned May il, 18ti2; appointed Ass't Surgeon of
Regular Army July :J, 18il2; died .Sept. 1, 18(18.
TENTH RKGIMENT MICIIIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
(lOMPANT C.
.\yers, Tliuinas B., Porter, e. Oct. 27, 1864; m. o. July 19, 18il5.
Barker, Peter, Marcellus, e. Oct. 31. 18114; m. o. July 19, 18115.
Brown, William A., Calvin, e. Nov. 2, 1864: m. o. July 19, >8il5.
Baer, Westell, Marcellus. e. Oct. 2il, 18tl4:
July 111, 1811.-..
Com p.* XT K.
Philips, John, NewI.erg. e. Jan. 17, 18K4; m. o. July 19, 18ij5.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER IN-
FANTRY (old).
Company C.
.\ngle, John A., Wayne, e. -•Vug. 24. 18H1 : died of disease ai
Bardstown, Ky., March 20, 18H2.
Beardsley, Elisha L., e. Nov. 22, I81II ; died of disease at Bards-
town. Ky.. June 31,181.2.
Birdgeit, John, e. Aug. 24. I81U : dis. for disability Sept. 15,
1862.
Parnham, John B., Ontwa, e. Ang. 24, ISill ; died of disease at
Bardslown, Ky., Feb. 6. 18t;2.
EIGHTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Company A.
Grant, William, Pokagon, e. Dec. 21, 18t;3 ; died in aition near
Petersburg, Va., June 27, 1864.
Lane, Thomas, Milton, e. Dec. 22, 1863; m. 0. July 30, 18i;5.
NINTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
COMPASV A.
Ayres, Sylvester B.. Howard, e. Oct. I. 1804; dis. by order June
20. IH115.
CoMPASV B.
Uougherly, Thomas, Howard, e. Sept. 29, I8G4: ilis. by onler
June 20, 1865.
Medger, Charles W., Pokagon, e. Feb. 9. 1^06; m. 0. Sept. 15,
1866.
Kelly, Ethan, La Grange, e. March 17. 1865; dis. by onler Aug.
10, 1865.
Mater, John, e. 1861 ; dis. 1862; re-e. in same company, and fi-
nally dis. Sept. 26, 1863.
Fisher, Franeis. Porter, e. Oel. 1, 1864; ni. 0. June 20, IS65.
Company It.
Bender, .Joseph D., Newberg, e. April 5. 1865; m. o. .Se)U. 15,
1865.
Hendricks, Clark, Pokagon, e. Sept. :l, 1864 ; m. o. June 20, 1865.
II iggins, Charles J.. Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1S(I4; m. o. .hine 20,
1865.
Company 0.
Cole, Brayton M., La Grange, e. March 25, 1865, in. 0. Sept. 15.
1865.
Myers, William, ."silver Creek, e. October 4, 1864 : absent sick at
Company H.
i^altsgiver, Henry, Porter, e. Oct. 3, 1864; m. n. Sept. 15, 1865.
COMP.VNV I.
Thompson, John K., Howard, e. Sept. 30, 1864; m. o. June 20,
Hathaway, Henry C., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; absent sick at m. 0.
Lucas, William H., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; killed al Stone River.
O(3onnor, Cyrus W., e. .\ug. 24, 1861 ; dis. al end of service
Sept. 30, 1864.
I'iiilips, William J. e. .Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at eud of service Sept.
30. 1864.
Company K.
Corp. Ilavid Klase.
PRIVATES.
Baldwin, Daniel, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died of wounds near Atlanta,
Ga.. Aug. 7, 1864.
Blakely, Thomas L., e. Aug. 24. I8H| ; dis. for di.sabilily Aug. 4,
1862.
Booth, Zeivala, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; ilis. al end of service Sept. 30,
1864.
Chamberlain, William L., e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; dis. al en.l of service
Sept. 3t), 1864.
Haines, James L., dis. at end of service.
Latham, Kneeland, e. .•Vug. 24, 1861 ; dis. by order July I, 1863.
Milliman Bryant, dis. at end of service.
MiiHgn, Sidney S., e. .Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. al end of service Sept.
.30, 1864.
Noilinghain, Jud.son, dis. at end of service, Sept. 30, 1864.
Poorman, John, e. .■Vug. 24, 1861 ; dis. al end of service Sept.
30, 1864.
tjuay. George W., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died near .\llanta. Ga., of
wounds, Aug. 7. 1864.
Ryan, James X. C, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Sept.
30, 1864.
.Schug, Emanuel, e. .Vug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at end of service .Sept.
30, 1864.
Schug, William F., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps,
Nov. 15, 1863.
.Shoemaker, Samuel S., dis. for ilisabilily.
Smith, Cyrus, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Sept. 3o,
1864.
Tayler, George, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died of disea.se at Bardslown,
Ky.. Feb. 5, 1862.
Thompson. Smith, e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; ,lis. for disability Sept.. 1861.
Vanordslranil, John, e. Aug. 24, 1861; dis. at end of service
Sept. 30. 18t,4.
I
HISTORY OV OASS rOUNTY, MICllKiAN
Van \ alkeiibuig. Ben.iaiiiii>. e. Aug. J4, IMil ; clis. al eml nf serv-
ice Sept. :^0, \SM.
Vanordstranil. lerome 1'.. Sergl., e. Aug. "24, 1H61 ; dis. at end of
service Sept. 311, l.Hr,4.
CO.MI'ANV G.
Bryan, .);imes, dis. at end of service Sept. 30, 1«S4.
Br_v;iu, Moses, died of wounds at Chaltanoogn, Tenn., Sept. 1^,
l.siiS.
Granger, Chauncey, dis. for disability .June 8, 18(54.
Haines, James L., dis. at end of service Sept. 36, 18t)4.
Higgins, Thomas W., died of disease March 18, 1862.
Nichols, Charles N.. dis. at end of service Sept. 30, l8t)4.
Nichols, James 0., died at Cbickamauga. Tenn., Sept. 20, 186:1.
Scott, Lorenzo H., dis. at end of service Sept. 3li, 1864.
Skinner, Harrison H.. Corp., dis. for disability ; Feb. 15, 1.S62.
Moody. I.oren. 1)
m O.July 25
v.igiao, f. Oct. -12.
1865.
Company G.
("lendenning, James, e. Dec. 13, 18(11 ; dis. for disability Oct. 2'J,
I 1863.
I Roy. William G.. I'enn. e. Oec. 12, Isi.l ; vet. Jan. Is, lHi-.4;
Sergt: ra. o. July 2'>. 1S65.
Salter. James, e. Dec. 12. 1K61 ; vet. Feb. 13. l.siU: .lis. by order
June 20. 1865.
j Salter, Silas, e. Dec. 12, 1861 ; dis. for disability Sept. 12. 1862.
i Weist, William F., Dowagiac. e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; dis. for disability
Nov. 23, 1863.
, nOMP.4NV H.
Clampbell. Seth R.. Silver Treek, e. Feb. 2", 1.H65: ni. o. .luly 25,
1865.
Wrisrht, Gilbert. Silver Creek, e. Feb. 27. 1865; m. o, July 25,
ELEVKNTH RKOIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFAN-
TRY (NEW).
Company E.
Sergt. Joel Cowgill, Calvin, e. March '.I, 1K65; m. o. Sept. 16,
1X6.5.
Musician Charles E. Deal, La Grange ; Co. F; e. March,
m. 0. Sept. 16, 1M65.
.Musician Elaui Dacy, La Grange ; Co. F.; e. m. o.
Sept. 16, 1,S65.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY.
Company A.
Beaman, .Marvin D., Penn, e. Feb. 29, 1864 : m. o. July 25, 1865.
VVoliver, Philauder J., Marcellus, e. Dec. .^, IW,'. ; Corp; in. o.
Wail, Byron. Jellerso
ville, Ky., July
of disease at L(
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER IN
FANTRV.
Company B.
Austin. Harvey H., e. Nov. 25, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 4. 1864.
Cope, Jacob, e. Oct. 5, 1861 ; dis. at end of service.
Eaton, -\bner, e. Dec. 18, l!S6l ; dis. for disability .Ian. 10, 1863.
Garner, Henry, I'orter, e. Nov. 28, isr.l ; vet. .(an. 4. I8i'.4: m. o.
July 18, 1865.
.Moore, Jared C, m. o. .luly 18. 1S65.
Morse, Albert J., e. Jan. 2, 1862; vet. Jan. 4, 1864 : m o July
18. 1865.
Stewart, Jiuiiea A., vet. Jan. 4, 1864; m o July 18, 1865
Blood, Charles H. Voliua, e. Feb. 26, 1864 ; m. o. July 25, 1865.
Blood, George A., Volinia, e. Jan. 2, 186'J ; vet. Jan. IS, 1864;
m. o. July 25, 1865.
liailey, William S., Porter, e. Dec. 13, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864 ;
m. 0. July 25, 1865.
11 aefner, Christian G., Volinia, e. Feb. 27, 1864: m. o. July 25
1865.
Jaciuays, Smith C, Volinia, Feb. 26, 1864 ; ilied of disease al
Philadelphia, .May 20, 1865.
Johnson, Heniy .\l., Porter, e. Dec. 13, 1861 ; .lied of liisease al
Danville, Ky.. Nov. 2(1. 1862.
Company K.
Brown, William H., Pokagon, e. Feb. 2'.l, 1864 ; m. o.
Caldwell, William W., Pokagon, e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; vet. Jan Is
1864: m. o. July 25, 1865.
Crego, Hilance J., Pokagon, e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; .1
16, 1863.
Fluallen, Simon K., Corp Sergt., e. Gel. 22, 1861 ; vei. Jan. 18,
1864; m. o. July 25, 1865.
llazeii, Charles, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 27, 1861; dis, for disability
Sept. 20. 1862.
lIuDgerford, Calvin A., Dowagiac. e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. Is,
1864; m. o. July 25. 1,S65.
Iliingerford, Mason, Dowagiac. e. Oct. 22, 18(;i ; m. o. al end of
service Jan 1(>, 18(i5.
Ilutson. Edward R.. Dowagiac, e. Oct. 22. 1861 ; vet. Jan. Is,
1864; m. 0. July 25, 1865.
Kegley. William, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 22, 1861 ; vet, Jan. 18, 1864;
m. 0. July 26, 1865.
Lewis. Ephraiui, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 22. 1.861 ; vet. Jan. 18. 1864;
m. o July 26, 1865.
Calkins. I'liomas J., Porter, e. Sept. 27, 1864 ; m. o July IS, 1865.
Company F.
Wilson, John, m. o. .luly 18, 1865,
Zimmerman. Michael, Porter, e. Sept. 27, 1865; mo July 18. 1865
Company 1.
Rogers, (jeorge. Porter, e. Sept. 27, 1864; m. o. July 18. 1865.
FIFTEENTH REGIMEMT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFAN-
TRY.
Company A.
Fiel.ls, Alonzo, Porter, e. .Sept. 27, 1864; .lis. by or.ler May SH,
Company H.
ler April B„el, Leon, Volinia, e. May 27, 1865: m. o, Aug. 13, 18C5,
Leiti, Joel B, .Marcellus, e. Oct. 22, 1864; died of disease al
Jan. 18, Alexandria, Va., June 3, 1805.
Mowry, Jacob, Marcellus, e. Oct. 22, 1864; .lis. by or.ler Sept.
11, 1865.
Company C.
Mice, John, Volinia, e. March 18, 1865; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865.
Park, .John, (Mvin, e, Nov, ;{0, 1864; dis, by order Aug. 2, 1866.
Parsons, E/.ra, Calvin, e. Oct. 22, 1864; m, o. Aug. 13. 1865.
Kacey, Robert, Milt.ui, e, Oct. 22, 1864; dis. by or.ler June 25.
1865.
Sampson, .lolin, Calvin, Ocl. 21, 1864; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865
Id. 22, 1864, m. o. Aug. LI, 1865.
March 18, 1866; mo. Aug. 13, 1865,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Dunn, Anson L., Newberg, e. Nov. 4, 1861 ; ra. o. Aug. 13. 1865.
Wagner, John, Calvin, e. Dec. 5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 13, 186-5.
Company E.
Descartes, Peler, (lis. at end of service Jan. 28, 1865.
De Witt, James, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 23, 1861 ; dis. for disabilily
May 19, 1862.
Doherty, Charles, dis. at end of service Jan. 28, 1805.
Ducat, Duffy, dis. by order July 21, 1865.
Gee, Alexander, m. o. Aug. 9, 1865.
Girirdin, Richard, dis. by order Sept. 9, 1865.
Greenwood, Anthony, dis. for disability July 9, 1802.
Johnson, Fred., Dowagiac, e. Dec 21, 18C1; vel. Jan. 25, 18i!4;
dis. by order Aug. 5, 1805.
KfUy, John, m. o. Aug. 1?., 1865.
Liltlejohn, William, dis. for disability Aug. 3, 1802.
Logan, John, dis. for disability Aug. 3, 1802.
McTaggart, Archibald, dis. for disability Aug. 3, 18o2.
Nephew, Anthony, dis. foi disability Aug. 11, 1802.
Nye, Theo., dis. at end of service Jan. 28, 18ri5.
Walustrand, Julius, Marcelliis, e. Oct. 22, 1804: m. o. Aug. 13,
1805.
Company G.
East. Alva, Porter, e. Oct. 10, 1804: died of disease at Baltimore.
Md., Feb. 21, 1805.
Company H.
Harder, James E.. Howard, e. March 18, 1805: m. o. .\ug. 13,
1866.
Honeywell, Newell, Howard, e. Oct. 6, 1804; m. o. Aug. 13, 1805.
Howard, John F., Howard, e. .April 1, 1805; m. o. Aug. 13,1805.
Hudson, William, Howard, e. April 1, 1805; m. o. Aug. 13, 1805.
.lohnson, John S., m. o. Aug. 13, 1805.
Koot, John W., V.iliniv, e. March 18, 1865; dis. by order Sept 20,
1805.
Company I.
Bell, Edward 15., e. Feb. 5, 1802 ; .lied of .lisease at Griffith's
Landing, Miss.. Oct. 3, 1803.
Joslin, Hiram, Newhurg, e. Feh. 10, 1802; di^. for di^^ahilily Aug.
25, 1802.
I'llMPASY K.
Hogeboom, Cornelius 1'.. m. o. .\ug. 13, 1805.
SIXTEENTH REUl.MENT .MICHKi.W VOLUNTEER INFAN-
TRY.
Company C.
Kapp. George. Volinia. e. Jan.. isi;'); m. n. Julys. l,si;5.
Company K.
I'rebanisky. Frank, Volinia. e. March 30. I8i;-. ; ra. o. July s. I.S05.
SEVENTEENTH RE(U,MENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER IN-
FANTRY.
Company B.
Hick. William M.. Howard, e. July 2. 1802; m. o. June 3. 1,S05.
Doau. Tlionms R., Howard, e. .\ug. 3. 1802; killed on Mis.sissippi
River by explosion .\pril 28. 1805.
Earl. Levi F.. Howard, e. Aug. 2, 1802.
Foote. John M.. Howard, e. Aug. 5. 1802; transferred to Vel. Res.
I'orps Dec. 15. 1803.
Harder. Tunis J.. Howard, c. Aug. 5. 180 >; m. o. June 3. 1,805.
Kenyon. Varnum. Howard, e. Aug. 0, 18(;2; ilied of disease at
Fredericksburg. Va.. Feb. 5. 1803.
Kenyon. Jesse .\.. Howard, e. Aug. 0. 1.SI12; died of woumls at
Washington Dec. 10. 1802.
.Schell. (ieorge I* Ktnv>(rd. *• Aui^ 1 ls<;2: di* by oriler June
10. 1805.
Taylor. Fred. Howard, e. .Vug. 7. Isi;2; dis. for disability Dec. s,
1802.
TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY.
Company A.
Bowen. Henry H., Porter, e. Feb.'27, 1805; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Goldsmith, Henry, Porter, e. Feb. 27, 1805: m. o. June 30, l.Hi;5.
Hunt, Henry H., Porter, e. March 9. 1805; m. o. June 30. 180.5.
Luhbow, William, Porter, e. March 7, 181)5; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Powers. William, Porier. e. March 1, 1805; m. o. June 3(», 1805.
Preston. Winfield S.. Porter, e. March 5. 1805; m. o. June 30,
1805.
Rinehart. Nathan, Porter, e. Feb. 27. 1S05: m. o. .lunc 30, 1805.
Stearns. Warren S., Porier. e. Feb. 27. l-iio; m. o. .lune 30. 1805.
Stnry. Milton, Porier, e. Feb. 27, 1805; m. o. June 30, 1S05.
Slory, William A.. Porier, e. Feb. 27, 1805; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Sloul. Stephen S., Porier, e. March 9. ]8r,5 ; m. o. June 30. 1805.
Sutton. John W., Porter, e. Feb. 28, 1805; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Sulton, Joshua L., Porter, e. Feb. 27, 1805; m. o. June 30. 1865.
Weaver. William H., .Milton, e. March 15, 1805; m. o. June 30.
18li5.
Williams, Charles H.. Porter, e. Feb. 27, 1805; m. o. June .30,
1805.
Company B.
Bell, John P., Milioii. e. Aug. 25, 1804; ra. o. .lune 30. 1805.
Avery. Charles, Porier, e. March 5. 1805; m. o. June 30. 1805.
Calkins, Henry H.. Porier, e. Feb. 21, 1805; m. o. June 30. lsi,5.
Hilton. Hiram, Porter, e. Feb. 27, 1805; ni. o. .lune 30, ISO.",
Jessup, A. H.. Porter, m. o. June 30. 1805.
Kyle. J. C, Porter, ra. o. June 30. 1805.
Kyle. A. R., Porier. ra. o. June 30. 1805.
Company E.
Averill, Pliny T., Penn. e. March 10, 1865; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Hlanchard. Bradford. Pokagon. e. .March 7. 1805; m. o. June 30,
1805.
Curtis. George, Ontwa, e. Sept. 5. 1804; died of disease al Chi-
cago, 111., March 15. 1865,
Kenyon. Hiram. Pokagon. e. March 10. 1805 ; m. o. June 30. 1805.
.McKinstry, Charles. Pokagon, e. March 7, 1805; m. o. June 30.
1 805.
Parker. Augustus N., Pokagon. e. March 13. 1805; ra o. June
30. 1865.
Parker, William H.. Pokagon. e. March 7. 1805: m o, June 30,
1805.
Penrod, Nathan. Penn. e. March 10. 1805; m. o. June 30. IS05.
Steinbeck, Morgan. .Milton, c Aug. Hi. 1804; in. o, .lune :.0
1805.
Wilherell. Diiane, Poka£on, e. March 7. 1805 : m. o. June 30, I8i;5.
Van Tuyl. George
June 30. 180:
Company H.
Hodges. Benjamin. Penn. e. March 10, 1805; ra. o. June 30. 180.
Re I. John, Penn, e. March 10. 1805; m. o. June 30, 1805.
Share. Edwin. Milton, e. .8i-pt. 12. ISOl: m. n. June 30. 18i;5.
K.
Ames, Bela, m. o. June 30. 1805.
Meacham. Oliver (1.. Porier. e. Feb. 27, 1805; ra. o. Jii
June 30, 1865
1
HIPTOHY OF (WSS COITNTY. MICIITGAN.
Rceil. Dtis. m. o. June 30, I860.
Reese, John M.. MiUon, e. Aug. 24, 1864; m. o. June 30, 1865.
TWEXTY-FIFTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER IN-
FANTRY.
Company D.
Sergl. Amos \V. Poorman, Maroellus, e. Aug. 9, 18112; (lied of dis-
ease at Nivsliville, Tenn., June 13, 1864.
Corp. Roswell Beebe, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1802; killed at
Tebbs' Bend, Ky., July 4, 18il3.
PRIVATES.
Babe, Bruce, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 18(;2; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Musician Joseph Beck, Newberg, e. Aug. 16, 18G2 ; ni. o. June
24, 1865.
Musician Samuel P. Beck, Newberg, e. Aug. 15, 1862 ; dis. for
disability Jan. 6, 1863.
Beebe, Gideon, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; dis. for disability
March 4, 1865.
Butler,- Ransom L., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; dis. by order
■July 26, 1863.
Kent, Daniel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; dis. by onler March
19, 1863.
McKibby, Daniel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; m. o. June 24,
1865.
Messenger, Edward, Marcellus, e. .\ug. 11, 1864; dis. for dis
ability Feb. 5, 1863.
Nottingham, Horace M., Marcellus, e. Aug. 8, 18152; m. o.
Nottingham, Oscar H., Marcellus, e. Aug. 8, 1862; died of dis-
ease at Bowling Green, Ky., March 14, 1863.
Poorman, John A., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; m. 0. June 24,
1865.
Root, Jacob, Marcellus. e. Aug. 12, 1862; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Shears, Martin V., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; m 0. June 24,
1865.
Shoemaker, Samuel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; m. 0. June 28,
1865.
Taylor, Charles A., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1865; m. o. June 24,
1865.
Taylor, Timothy A., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1865; m. 0. May 13,
1865.
Young, Simon, .Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1865; trans, to Vet. Res.
Corps Feb. 15, 1864.
Company E.
Bristol, Luther, Milton, e. Sept. 6, 1864; m. 0. June 24, lSi;5.
Bows, William, Newberg, e. Aug. 21, 1.S62 : trans, to Vet. Res.
Corps June 9, 1865.
Benman, William II., Newberg, e. Aug. 22, 1862 ; m. 0. June 24
1865.
Bennett, John J., Porter, e. Aug. 12, 1862 ; m. o June 24, 1865.
Bird, William, Newberg, e. Aug. 21, 1862; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Cook, Orlan P., Newberg, e. Aug. 22, 1862; dis. for disability
Sept. 23, 1863.
Crump, William, Marcellus, e. Aug. 22, 1862 ; died of disease at
Lebanon, Ky., April 24, 1863.
Kenney, Fernando, Newberg, e. Aug. 22, 1862; m. 0. June 24;
1865.
Neumann, Louis, Newburg, e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Stickney, Sidney M., Marcellus, e. Aug. 22, 1862; died of dis-
ease at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 30, 1862.
TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY.
FIELD AND STAFF.
Lieut. Col. George T. Shaffer, Calvin, com. Dec. 10, 1864: Maj.
com. Aug. 15, 1864.
Brevet Col. and Brevet Brig. Gen. S. S. Volunteers, March 13,
1866 ; for gallant and veritorious services at battles before
Atlanta, Ga., and at Wise Fork, N. C. ; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Surg. Alonzo Garwood, Casaopolis, com. Aug. 15, 1864 ; m. 0.
June 6, 1866.
Company A,
Sergt. Thomas J. Baunder, Voliuia, e. Sept. 1, 1864 ; m. o. June
7, 1865.
Schooley, Henry, Voliuia, e Sept. 8, 1864; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Company E.
Avery, David C, Voliuia, c. Sept. 7. 1864 ; m. o. May 4, 1865.
Baird, John, Howard, e. Oct. 18, 1864; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Baird, William S., Howard, e. Oct. 17, 1864 ; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Davis, Lowell, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864 ; m. 0. June 7, 1865.
Emery, Robert, Volinia, e. Sept. 12j 1864; dis. for wounds, June
30, 1865.
Pope, Lyman A. m. o. .\ug. 16, 1865.
Randall, William, MiUon, e. Sept. 3. 1864; m. 0. May 22, 1865.
Company G.
Blackman, David R., Volinia, e. Sept. 15, 1864; m. o. June 5,
Company F.
Bement, George, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. o. June 24, 1865.
Bradbury, Benjamin P., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 13, 1H62; died of dis-
ease at Bedford, Ky., June 7, 186 !.
Colby, Ira O.. Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862; died of disease at Mum-
fordsviUe, Ky., Jan. 1, 1863.
Day, Perry U., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 9, 1862; died of wounds at
Tunnel Hill, Ga., May 12, 1864.
Goodrich, Levi C, Dowagiac, m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Hastings, Justus H , Ontwa, e. Aug. 11, 1862; m. 0. June 24,
1865.
Loux, Edwin G., Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. o. June 24, 1865.
Mcars, John, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 11, 1862; trans, to Vet. Res.
Corps Feb. 15, 1864.
Meredith, Nathaniel, Onlwa, e. Aug. 13,1862; m. 0. June 14,
1865.
McFaren, Henry, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Nioletl, William E., Ontwa, e. Aug. 19, 1862 ; m. 0. June 24, 1865.
Kozelle, Joshua C, Ontwa; e. Aug. 13, 1862 ; died of disease at
Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 2'i. 1863.
Delong, Henry, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Hill, Charles A., Jefferson, e. Sept. 29, 1864; m. 0. May 31,
1865.
Nichols, Tyler, Volinia, e. Sept. 5, 1861 ; m. 0. June 19, 1865.
Company H.
Bates, Buel H., Penn, e. Aug. 22, 1864; m. 0. May 29, 1865.
Bogert Cornelius, Penn, e. Aug. 20, 1864; dis. by order May 27,
1865.
Clcndenning, H. M. T., Penn, e. Aug. 10, 1864; m. 0. June 8,
1865.
Deacon, Isaac, Volinia, Sept. 20, 1864; m. 0. June 5, 1866.
Kinney, Nelson, Corp., Penn, e. Aug. 20,1864; m. 0. June 5,
1866.
North, Nathaniel, La Grange, e. Aug. 30, 1864; died of disease
at Charlotte, N. C, June 7, 1865.
North, Norman, La Grange, e. Aug. 30, 1864; m. o. June 6,
1866.
Patterson, James, 2d Lieut., Penn, e. Aug. 23, 1864; died of
disease at Alexamlria, Va., Feb. 21, 1865.
I3g
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Pemberton, Nathan, Peuu, e. Aug. 28, 1864; m. o. June o, 18(56.
Robinson, Edmund, died of disease at Davids Island, N. Y.,
April 16, 1865.
Tappan, William E., Penn, e. Aug. 29, 1864 ; died of disease at
Alexandria, Va., Feb. 4, 1865.
Trill, George, Pokagon, e. Sept. 1, 1804; died of disease at Alex-
andria, Va., Feb. 12, 1865.
Company I.
Bryant, James, Milton, e. Sept. 16, 1864; m. o. June, 5, 1866.
Freeman. Miles, Howard, Oct. 18, 1864; m. o. May 30, 1865.
Mitchell, Alonzo J., Milton, e Sept. 14, 1864 ; m. o. Jan. 9,
1866.
COMP.\NI K.
Harris, Benjamin S., Poltagon, e. Feb. 10, 1805 ; m. o. May 30,
1805.
Smilh, Carlton, Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 1805; m. o. Feb. 19, I860.
THIRTIETH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER IN-
FANTRY.
Company H.
Harwood, Henry W., Ontwa, e. Dec. 2, 1864; m. o. June 30,
1865.
Harwood, Jacob W.. Jefferson, e. Dec. 6, 1864; m, o. June 30,
1865.
Hirons, Oliver C, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2, 1864 ; ni. o June 30, 1865.
Massey, Robert D., Sergt., Ontwa, e. Nov. 28, 1864; m. o. June
30, 1865.
Massey, Peter, Corp., Ontwa, e. No. 28, 1864; m. o. June 30,
1865.
Shaw. Edwin O., Corp., Ontwa, e. Nov. 30, 1864; m o. June 30,
1865.
Smith, Frank A., Corp., Ontwa, e. Dec. 2, 1864 ; m. o. June 30,
1865.
FIRST REGIMENT MICHIGAN SHARPSHOOTERS.
Company B.
Allen, Nathan S.. Penn, e. Aug. 19, 1864 ; m. o. July 28, 1865.
Company E.
Second Lieut. Winfield S. Shanahan, Cassopolis, March 7, 1865;
Corp. March 6, 1863 ; m. o. July 28, 1865.
Company I.
Beach, Myron W., Volinia, e. Sept. 7, 1863; dis. for disability.
Bedford, William, Pokagon, e. Aug. 3, 1863; m. o. July 28. 1865.
Fessenden, Clement, Volinia, e. Sept. 21, 1863; dis. for disability
April 7, 1865.
George, David L., Silver Creek, e. Aug. 25, 1863 ; died of wounds
received at Wilderness May 6, 1864.
Huff, Asher Silver Creek, e. Aug. 24, 1863 ; dis. by order Deo.
28, 1864.
Huff, Isaac, Volinia, e. Sept. 7, 1803 ; missing in action before
Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864.
Nash, Charles, Volinia, e. Sept. 21, 1803; m. o. July 28, 1805.
Nash, Theodore, Volinia, e. Sept. 21, 1863 ; died near Petersburg,
Va., June 20, 1804.
Waterman, Charles, Silver Creek, e. July 28, 1803; died near
Petersburg, Va., June 28, 1864.
Company K.
Johns, Dftvid, La Grange, e. Jan. 27, 1865; m. o. July 28, 1865.
S.)
Bibbins, Charles, Ontwa, e. April 13, 1863; missing in action
at Cold Harbor June 12, 1864.
Nichols, Alexander, Ontwa, e. April 12, 1863 ; m. o. July 25,
1865.
Wyant, George, Ontwa, e. March 6, 1863 ; m. o. Aug. 7, 1865.
Company F.
Reigar, Daniel H., Sergt., Ontwa, e. May 4, 1803; m. o. July 28,
1865.
Company G.
Jackson, Henry H., Pokagon, e. Aug. 12. 1863 ; died of disease
at Chicago, 111., Oct. 3, 1863.
McNeil, William B., Ontwa, e. Aug. 12, 1863 ; dis. for disability
March 9.2, 1864.
Smith, Wight D., Dowagiao, e. July 4, 1863 ; m. o. July 28, 1865.
Company H.
Northrop, William B , (Mvin, e. Feb. 26, 1864; died of wounds in
General Hospital.
Northrop, Marion A., Penn, e. Feb. 20, 1864 ; died of disease at
Chicago, III., April 17, 1864.
FIRST MICHIGAN (ONE HONORED AND SECOND
COLORED INFANTRY.
Company A.
Hood, Philander, Pokagon, e. Aug. 17, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30,
1805.
Company B.
Alexander, Jacob, Howard, e. Oct. 1, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Brown, John, Calvin, e. Oct. 20, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Brown, Stuart, Calvin, e. Oct. 20, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Butcher, David, Calvin, e. Oct. 21. 1863; m. o Sept. 30, 1865.
Callaway, Giles, Porter, e. Oct. 21, 1863 ; m. o Sept. 30, 1865.
Coker, James, Calvin, e. Oct. 10, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Coker, Michael, Calvin, e. Oct. 18, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Curtis, George H , Calvin, e. Dec. 4, 1863; m o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Dungie, John, Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 1803; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Gibbins, William, Jefferson, e. Aug. 24, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Harris, Charles W., Howard, e. Oct. 1,
1865.
Hawley, William, Calvin, e. Oct. 22, 1803
26, 1804.
Howard, William, Calvin, e. Oct. 5, 1864 ;
Limus, John. Pokagon, e. Oct. 10, 1863 ; ;
Little, Stewart, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864;
Mathews, Allison L., Calvin, e. Sept. 23
at Orangeburg, S. C, Aug. 6, 1865.
Newman, William H , Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 1863 ; m.
1865.
Seton, Joseph, La Grange, e. Oct. 18, 1803 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Stewart, George W., Calvin, e. Nov. 20, 1863 ; died of disease at
Beaufort, S. C, July 27, 1864.
Stewart, James M., Calvin, e. Oct. 18, 1863 ;
Stewart, John T., Calvin, e. Oct. 21, 1863 ;
Wade, Berry, Corp., Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 1863
Beaufort, S. ('., Aug. 22, 1864.
Williams, George W., Calvin, e. Oct. 21, 1863 ; died of disease at
Columbia, S. ('.Aug. 12, lf<65.
Wood, John W., Calvin, e. Oct. 19, 1863 ; m. 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
1864; m. o. Sept. 30,
dis. for disability May
m. 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
n. 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
m. 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
1864; died of disease
Sept. 30,
m. 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
1, 0. Sept. 30, 1865.
died of disease at
Company ('.
Ford, William, La Grange, e. Feb. 17, 1865
Hill, Dennis R., Howard, e. Oct. 1, 186^;
Redman, Willis, Howard, e Oct. 1, 1864;
Wallace, James H., Ontwa, e. Sept. 5, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Wilson, Nathaniel, Calvin, e. Oc(. 18, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
0. Sept. 30, 1865.
0. Sept. 30, 1805.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Company D.
Artis, George, Calvin, e. Nov. 5, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Barrister, Guatavus, Howard, e. Oct. 1, 1864; m. o, Sept. 30,
186.5.
Calloway, Creed, Porter, e. Nov. 18, 1863; m. o. Sept. 80, 1865.
Hunt, Jordan P., Calvin, e. Oct. 23, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Mattock, Henry, Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 1865 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Simons, William H., Calvin, e. Nov. 17, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30,
I8i;5.
Vaughn, James, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1.S65.
Company F.
Brown, John, Howaid, e. Dec. 19, 1863; died (if disease Jan. IT,
1864.
Bowden, John, La Grange, e. Nov. 28, 1803 ; died of disease at
Beaufort, S. C, Nov. 14, 1864.
Boyd, Anderson, Howard, e. Dec. 12, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
186-..
Conner, William F., Sergt., Penn, e. Dec. 11, 1863; m. o. Sept.
30, 1865.
Dungil, Wright, Penn. e. Aug. 22, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Ford, Edward, Milton, e.; died of disease at Beaufort, S. C, Jan.
14, 1865.
Harrison, Milford, Howard, e. Dec. 12, 1803; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Hays, Arick, Penn, e. Aug. 24. 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Hays, William H., Calvin, e. Oct. 4, 1864; absent sick at m. o.
Henry, Martin V . Penn, e. Dec. 2, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Hill, Anthony, Pe-n., e. Sept 1, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Howard, Ezekiel, Porter.e. Oct. 3, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Lett, Zach.,Corp. Penn. e. Dec. 14, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Mathews. Henry A., La Grange, e. Sept. 5, 1864 ; m o. Sept.
Plowden, William P., Howard,
Dec.
0. Sept. 30,
Kamsay, Joseph, Penn, e. Dec. 11. 1803; m. o. Sept. .30, 1805.
Roberts, John, Penn, e. Aug. 18, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Van Dyke, Lewis, Sergt., Penn, e. Dec. 11. 1803; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
COMPANV G
Ashe, Joseph C, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865-
Bricey. George, Howard, e. Dec. 19, 1803; dis. for disability May
26, 1864.
Boyd, Lawson, Calvin, e. Dec. 29, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Bird, James M., Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1806.
Bird, Turner, Calvin, e. Sept 23, 18t;4 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Farrar, Alfred, Corp., e. Dec. 21, 1803; absent sick at ra. o.
Heathcock, Bartlett, Porter, e. Dec. 29, 1803; died of disease
in Michigan April 5, 1864.
Heathcock, Berry, Porter, e. Dec. 29. 1863; dis. for disability
May 28, 1866.
Hill, Jackson, Penn, e. Sept. 1, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Huston, John. Silver Creek, e. Dec. 26, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Jefferson, Thomas, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 1803; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Lawrence, Alfred, Howard, e. Dec 12, 1803 ; m. o Sept. 31), 1865.
Russell, Henderson, Pokagan. e. Dec. 30, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1866.
Russell, Jacob, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 1863; dia. for ilisability
June 8, 1865.
Russell, John, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 1863; dis. for woumls June
8, 1865.
Stewart, John £., Calvin, e. Feb. 28, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30. 1866.
Stewart, Sylvester, Ontwa, e. Dec. 28, 1863; dis. for disability
May 30, 1865.
Thornton, Henry, Calvin, e. Sept. 29, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Windburn, George, Howard, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Wines, Ebenezer, Howard, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Company H.
Corp. Aquilla R. Corey, Howard, e. Dec. 24, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1805.
PRIVATES.
Cousins, Ely, Porter, e. Dec. 26, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Cousins, David, Penn. e. Dec. 4. 1863 ; absent sick.
Dorsey, James W., Howard, e. Dec. 24, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Gibson, Marquis, Penn, e. Aug. 19, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1866.
Griffin, Solomon, Penn, e. Dec. 21, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Hill, Allen, Penn, e. Sept. 1, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1866.
Sanders, Peter, Porter, e. Dec. 9, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
White, Henry, Calvin, e. Dec. 13, 1K63; died of disease at Beau-
fort, S. C, Aug. 7, 1804.
While, Wright, Li Grange, e. Feb. 17, 1865; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Washington, George, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 18, 1863 ; m. o. Sept.
30, 1865.
Sergt. James Wheeler, Wayne, e. Dec. 29, 1803 ; m. o. Sept. 30,
1805.
Company I.
Anderson, Amos, Porter, e. Sept. 17, 1864; m. o. Sept. .30, 1865.
Anderson, Jefferson B., Porter, e. Jan. 11, 1804; m. o. Sept. 30,
1805.
Gillan, Andrew, La Grange, e. Dec. 31, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30,
1865.
Morton, Henry, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Sharpe, Joseph, Silver Creek, e. March 16, 1865 ; dis. by order
Oct. 28, 1866.
Wilson, Joel, Howard, e. Dec. 24, 1803 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Company K.
Sergt. Abner R." Bird, Calvin, e. Jan. 10, 1804; m. o. Sept. 30,
186-5.
Harris, William, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
Murphy, Percival, Calvin, e. Jan. 16, 1864; dis. by order Nov.
13, 1865.
Stafford, James K., Porter, e. Aug. 24, 1801 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1806.
Talbot, William H., Porter, e. Oct. 5, 1804 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865.
Wilson, Giles B., Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805.
FIRST REGIMENT ENGINEERS AND MECHANICS.
(Company C.
Dickerson, Albert, died of disease at Louisville. Ky.. Feb. 24, 1804.
Peachey, Aaron, Marcellus, e. Aug. 23. 1804; died of disease at
Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 21. 1804.
Company D.
Gaines. Franklin. Pokagon, e. Dec. 29. 1803; m. o. Sept. 22, 1805.
Little, John H., Mircellu^, e. Aug. 23, 1804; dis. by order June
li, 1806.
Company F.
Williams, Isaac N.. Penn, e. Aug. 21, 1804 ; dis. by order June 0,
1805.
Company G.
Cramplon, Abel, Pokagon, e. Dec. 16, 1808; m. o. Sept. 22, 1805'
Gait, Freeman H.. Pokagon, e. Deo. 15. 1803; died of disease at
Ringoold, Ga., Aug. 6. 1804.
Rogers. Lucius, Ontwa, e. Jan. 4. 180.4 ; dis. by order June 0,
1805.
Stanley, James S., Ontwa, e. Jan. 4, 1S04; ra. o. Sept. 22, 1806.
Van Tassell, David, Ontwa. e. Jan. 4. 1804; died of disease Feb,
10, 1804.
HISTORY OF CASS COUiNTY. MICHIGAN.
Cu,M£-ANi- K.
Isham. William, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 21, 1803; m, o. Sept, 22,
1805.
White, William It., Silver Creek, m, o. Sept, 22, 18i;.5.
MICHIGAN PROVOST GUARD.
Mershon, Andrew, dis. by order July 2, 1863,
FIRST UNITED STATES SHARPSHOOTERS.
Company K.
Fir.^t Lieut. Charles W. Thorp, Nicholasville, Nov. 27, 1803 ; Sec-
ond Lieut. Oct, II, 1862; Corp., Aug 12, 1861; dis. for dis-
ability May 24, 1864.
Christie, Walter T., Marcellus; die I of wounds at Washinglon,
D. C., May 12, 1863.
Goodspeed, Edwin C,
Beebe, George S.
McClelland, William.
Thoop, Sylvester A.
Company I.
Lieut. William Stesart, Sept. 1, 1802; m, o, at end of service at
end of war, Jan. 1, 1865.
Corp, Samuel Inling, Newberg, e. Sept, 1, 1802; trans, to 5th
Mich. Inft.; m o.
SIXTY-Sl.XTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Company U.
Beekwith, Henry L . e. Feb. 22 1864; vet. recruit; m. o. July
7, 1865.
TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Company H.
Graham, S. J., Mason, e. April, 1861 ; dis. for disability 1861.
FORTY-NI^fTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Company E.
Graham, Sidney J., Mason, re-enl. Sept., 1861 ; vet. Feb. 1864 ; m.
o. May 20, 1865 ; wounded in left arm at Rocky Ridge, May
9, 1865.
FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT INDIANA VOLUNTEER
INFANTRY.
Company F.
Williams, Henry, Mason.
OHIO INFANTRY.
Tompkins, Newberg.
TWENTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Graham, Sidney J , e. April 17, 1861, in Co. H ; re-e. in (.'o
E, 49th Ohio Vol. Inft. (See above).
CPIAPTER XX.
THE PIONEER SOCIETY.
Its Organization— Constitution and ii.v-Laws— Annual Picnics— List of
Olflcers from 1873 to 1881 Inclusive— An Incident of the Meeting of
18«1— Roster of Members— Age, Nativity and Date of .Settlement—
I'Mourishini; Condition of the Society.
WE make no apology for presenting a very full
history of the Cass County Pioneer Society.
Very nearly 600 names have been subscribed to its
constitution, and we say no more than what is obvious
to every reader when we state that its membership
exceeds, by a considerable number, that of any organ-
ization in the county. It is moreover the largest and
most flourishing pioneer society in the State of Mich-
igan, and the interest which is felt in its affairs is
attested by the immensity of the attendance at the
annual re-union picnics.
The society was organized on the 9th of October,
1873, at a meeting, held in Cassopolis pursuant to
call, at which about 200 persons were present. This
was a large attendance, and indicated quite a remark-
able degree of interest. Over seventy pioneers put in
an appearance at the morning session. Hon. George
Newton, of Volinia, was made temporary Chairman,
and Hon. A. B. Copley, of the same Township, was
chosen as Secretary. Joseph Smith, of La Grange,
moved the appointment of a committee, consisting of
one gentleman from each township, to report on rules
of organization and order of business, and the follow-
ing were elected, viz. : A. B. Copley, of Volinia;
P. B. White, of Wayne ; J. A. Ruddick, of Silver
Creek ; Uzziel Putnam, Sr., of Pokagon ; Joseph
Smith, of La Grange ; John Nixon, of Penn ^ B. F.
Rudd, of Penn ; George Meacham, of Porter ; Amos
Northrup, of Calvin ; George B. Turner, of Jefferson ;
Joseph L. Jacks, of Ontwa and David R. Stevens, of
Mason. The Townships of Marcellus, Milton and
Howard were not represented. In the afternoon, when
the attendance was increased to 200, the committee
reported for permanent Chairman Uzziel Putnam, Sr.,
of Pokagon (the first white settler of the county) and
for Secretaries C. C. Allison and William H. Mans-
field. They also recommended that a committee of
one be appointed from each township, with leave to
sit during the winter, and adopt a constitution and
by-laws, which' they should report at a picnic to be
held in June of the following year, at the fair grounds
at Cassopolis. Subsequently, this action was amended,
it being moved that the committee should report
at an adjourned meeting to be helil four weeks later.
The following gentlemen were appointed, viz.: Abijah
j Huyck, of Marcellus ; Reuben Henshaw, of Volinia ;
P. B. White, of Wayne ; J. A. Ruddick, of Silver
Creek ; Uzziel Putnam, Jr., of Pokagon ; Daniel S.
Jones, of La Grange; John Nixon, of Penn ; E. H.
Jones, of Newburg ; Horace Thompson, of Porter ;
George T. Shaffer, of Calvin ; George B. Turner, of
Jefferson ; William H. Doane, of Howard ; William
H. Olmstead, of Milton ; I. G. Bugbee, of Ontwa ;
D. R. Stevens, of Mason. A committee was also
appointed to gather the history of the county, and,
after some interesting remarks by Uzziel Putnam, Sr.,
in which he related his experience as a pioneer, the
meeting was adjourned.
The adjourned nipoting was held November G. The
HISTORY OF CA'SS COUNTY, MICHTOAN.
Ul
committee on organization, appointed at the previous
meeting, through its Chairman, Hon. George B.
Turner, reported a constitution, which, after sundry
amendments had been made, was adopted, as follows:
COSTITUTION.
PREAMBLE.
The UDiiersigneil, residents of Cass County, being among the
eiiiliest settlers of Southwestern Michigan, in order to perpetuate
the facts, circumstances, recollections and anecdotes connected
with the early settlement of that part of the State, and particu-
liir y of Cass County, do make and establish this constitution for
the government of a society this day organized by us, to be called
•■The Society of the Pioneers " of Cass County, Mich.
.Article 1. — The officers of this society shall be a Presilent,
Vice President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer, to
be elected by ballot at each annual meeting by a majority of the
members present and voling.
AiiT. II. — The President shall preside at all meetings of the
society; countersign all orlersforthe payment of moneys from
its funds. In case of his absence, or at his request, the Vice
President shall perform such duties.
Art. Ill — The Secretary shall have charge of and keep ihe
records of the society, and shall also keeji the minutes of all
meetings of Ihe same.
Art. IV.— All books, papers, documents, mementoes or arti-
cles illustrating the physical geography of the county oY its state
and condition prior to 1S40, shall be deposited with the Secretary
and remain in his keeping until his successor is elected or ap-
pointed, to whom the same shall be delivered over.
Art. V. — The Secretary in person or by his assistant, .shall
keep his books and all things appertaining to his office, at Cass-
opolis, where only records, articles, or mementoes, deposited for
the use of the society may be copied or examined by any resident
of the county, under such rules as the Executive Committee may
adopt. He shall sign all orders for the payment of moneys from
Ihe funds of this Society.
.Vht. VI. — The Treasurer shall receive all moneys paid to or
for Ihe use of the society, and shall pay out the same only on the
order of Ihe Secretary, counter.signed by the President.
Art. VII. — The officers and committee elected under the con-
stitution sliall hold their respective offices until the firs' annual
meeting of the society, which shall be held on the third Wednes-
day of June, 1X74.
Art. VIII. — An Executive Committee, consisting of one from
eai-li township, shall be elected annually (viva voce), by a major-
iiyofthe members present and voting, and the President and
Secretary of this organization shall be ex officio members of said
Executive Committee.
Art. IX. — The Executive Committee or a majority of those
present shall h.ave power to make such by daws rules and regula-
tions for the convenience and government of the Society as they
may deem proper, not inconsistent with this constitution ; and all
powers necessary to carry out the objects of this society, not
delegated to other officers named, may he exercised by the Execu-
tive Committee.
.Vrt. X. — All members of the Society who came into or resided
in (^888 County prior to 1840, shall be deemed " Pioneers of Cnss
County."
Art. XI.* — Every person (male or female), residing in this
county prior to 18.'>0, may become members of this society by
subscribing to this constitution, and the payment of 25 cents,
either in person or by proxy, and every person so becoming a
member shall be deemed a voter, and be entitled to all the privi-
ciirrcd Id the article.
tity ■
leges of the society, and that hereafter all persons having resided
in Ihe county twenty-five years shall in like manner become
members
Art. XII. — A majority of the voters present at an annual
meeting may alter or amend this constitution, notice thereof to be
filed with the Secretary six weeks prior to said annual meeting.
Under this constitution, and upon the same day it
was adopted, the first officers of the society were elected
as follows: President, Uzziel Putnam, Sr. ; Vice
President, George Meacham ; Secretary, A. B. Cop-
ley ; Assistant Secretary, John Tietsort ; Treasurer,
Joseph Smith. Executive Committee — Abijah Huyck,
of Marcellus ; Georgt! Newton, of Volinia ; Philo B.
White, of Wayne ; Daniel Blish, of Silver Creek ;
Uzziel Putnam, Jr., of Pokagon ; Daniel S. Jones,
of La Grange ; William Jones, of Penn. ; J. R.
Grennell, of Newberg ; Horace Thompsoft, of Porter ;
George B. Turner, of Jefferson ; William H. Doane,
of Howard ; Richard V. Hicks, of Milton ; Israel G.
Bugbee, of Ontwa ; James H. Graham, of Mason ;
and George T. Shaffer, of Calvin.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee, held on
January 21, 1874, the following by-laws were
adopted :
BY-LAWS.
Article 1. — Elections under this constitution shall be held at
11 o'clock A. M., on ihe third Wednesday of .June, in each year,
in the court house at Cassopolis. or some other convenient place
t ) be designated by the Secretary or his assistant.
Art. 2. — The Secretary or his assistant shall give receipts for
all books, documents, relics, or other articles contributed or de-
posited in the museum of the society. He shall cause to be pub-
lished in the newspapers at the county seat an acknowledgment of
such contributions from time to time, and. in connection with the
Treasurer, make arrangements for a suitable place to deposit all
colleclionH for the museum, and make out semi-annually, a cata-
logue of Ihe same for publication.
Art. 3. — Thi- members of the Executive Committee are severally
charged, in their respective townships, with procuring and fir-
warding names for membership, and the fees thereon, to the
Treasurer ; collecting books, maps, pictures, relics, and all articles
or things of interest for the museum, and forwarding the same to
the Secretary. They shall also carefully prepare manuscript
statements from the early settlers, in their respective towns, in
regard to the early settlement and progress of Ihe town previous
10 the year 1840. and report the same to the society at its annual
meciings in each year.
Art. 4. — The Executive Committee shall make suitable ar-
rangements for holding Ihe annual meeting of the Pioneers on the
third Wednesday of June in each year. They shall arrange for
taking proper care of Ihe Pioneers from abroad, while attending
such meetings, procure speakers, take up collections to aid in de-
fraying the exjienses of the society, if deemed nece,ssary. and
extend invitations to persons out of the county who have long
been residents of the State.
Art. .1 — At the time of Ihe election of officers, the outgoing
officers shall make their annual reports, and file the same with
their successors.
Art. ii — All the laws or regulations necessary for the govern-
ment of this society shall be made, altered or amended by the
Executive Commiliec at any regular meeting thereof
Art. 7. — The Secretary or his assistant, with the Treasurer
142
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
and President, may call a meeting of the Executive Committee
whenever demanded by the interests of the society.
Art. 8.— The Execulive Committee shall appoint one female
assistant in each township to aid them in the discharge of their
duties.
The first festival or picnic of the Pioneer Society
was held on the fair grounds at Cassopolis on the 17th
of June, 1874, and was a largely attended and very
enjoyable affair. Vice President George Meacham
occupied the chair, the President being indisposed.
The Cassopolis Band was present, and played enliven-
ing airs during the day. The substantial pioneer
dinner was supplemented by a feast of reason and a
How of soul, and that in turn by the most enjoyable
social converse. Hon. James Ashley delivered a
spirited address, and remarks were made by Uzziel
Putnam, Jr., of Pokagon, Dr. I. G. Bugbee, of Ontwa,
Hon. George B. Turner and Joseph Smith.
Officers for the ensuing year were elected viva voce,
and all of those who had served the preceding year
were retained. The Executive Committee was consti-
tuted as follows : Abijah Huyck. of Marcellus ;
Milton J. Gard, of Volinia ; John S. Gage, of Wayne ;
William Bilderback, of Silver Creek ; Uzziel Putnam,
Jr., of Pokagon ; Daniel S. Jones, of La Grange ;
John Nixon, of Penn ; Edward H. Jones, of New-
berg; Hiram Meacham, of Porter; George T. Shaffer,
of Calvin ; Hiram R. Schutt, of Jefferson ; William
H. Doane, of Howard ; James M. Truitt, of Milton ;
J. Boyd Thomas, of Ontwa ; David R. Stevens, of
Mason.
In 1875, the society had another large picnic meet-
ing upon the 16th of June, on which occasion the
chief address of the day was delivered by the late Hon.
F. J. Littlejohn, of Allegan. An original poem on
pioneer life, was read by Edwin Barnum, of Paw Paw,
Van Buren County, and short addresses made by E.
0. Briggs, of the same place ; by George B. Turner ;
J. R. Monroe, President of the Van Buren County
Society, and others. Many interesting relics were
exhibited, and many reminiscences related.
The officers elected this year were : President,
Uzziel Putnam, Sr. ; Vice President, John Nixon ;
Treasurer, Asa Kingsbury ; Secretary, John T. Enos ;
Assistant Secretary, W. H. Mansfield ; Executive
Committee — John C. Bradt, Marcellus ; R. Henshaw,
Volinia ; L. Atwood, Wayne ; John Swisher, Silver
Creek ; Joseph E. Garwood, Pokagon ; G. B. Turner,
La Grange ; J. E. Bonine, Penn ; Anson L. Dunn,
Newberg ; Harvey Hitchcock, Porter; Beniah Tharp,
Calvin ; James Loman, Sr., Jefferson ; E. C. Smith,
Howard ; U. Enos, Milton ; M. H. Lee, Ontwa ;
J. H. Burns, Mason.
In 1876, the pioneers were addressed by the late
Hon. John J. Bagley, then Governor of Michigan.
who delivered a very interesting and appropriat®
speech. Other speakers on this occasion were John
Jenkins, of Indiana ; George Redfield, of Ontwa, and
Royal T. Twombley. The meeting was held at the
fair grounds (as have been all of the other annual pic-
nics of the society) and the number of people assembled
was larger than on former occasions, the society
receiving many accessions to its roll of members.
The annual election of officers resulted in the choice
of those who had served the year before, with the
exception that John Tietsort was made Treasurer.
The Executive Committee was constituted as follows :
John C. Bradt, Marcellus ; Reuben Henshaw, Volinia ;
John Green, Wayne ; A. Conklin, Silver Creek ;
James E. Garwood, Pokagon ; G. B. Turner, La
Grange ; J. E. Bonine, Penn ; A. L. Dunn, Newberg ;
H. J. Hitchcock, Porter ; L. J. Reynohls, Calvin ;
James Lowman, Jefferson ; E. C. Smith, Howard ;
John Barber, Milton ; M. H. Lee, Ontwa ; James
Ashley, Mason.
The annual picnic of 1877 was held on the 20th of
June. The attendance was variously estimated at from
3.500 to 5,000. The meeting was called to order by
Hon. George B. Turner, the President being unable
to preside. Mr. Turner made a very happy speech
of welcome, and the exercises of the day consisted of
the customary readings, music and brief addresses,
there being on this occasion no set speech delivered.
The following officers were elected : President, Uzziel
Putnam, Jr., ; Vice President, John Nixon ; Secre-
, tary, Lowell H. Glover; Assistant Secretary, John
T. Enos; Treasurer, John Tietsort. Executive Com-
mittee — John C. Bradt, Marcellus ; John Struble,
Volinia ; T. M. N. Tinkler, Wayne ; John T. Swisher,
Silver Creek ; Robert J. Dickson, Pokagon ; H. S.
Hadsell, La Grange; Ebenezer Anderson, Penn;
Anson L. Dunn, Newberg: George Meacham, Porter ;
James H. Graham, Mason ; B. A. 'L'harp, Calvin ;
W. G. Beck with, Jefferson; James Shaw, Howard;
John M. Truitt, Milton; Joseph L. Jacks, Ontwa;
Daniel Blish, Dowagiac.
The fifth annual picnic was held June 19. 1878,
and the following officers were elected for the year,
viz. :
President, Uzziel Putnam, Jr ; Vice President,
John Nixon ; Secretary, Lowell H. Glover : Assistant
Secretary, William W. Peck ; Treasurer, John
Tietsort. Executive Committee — George W. Jones,
Marcellus ; James Wright, Volinia ; James Laporte,
Wayne ; William Bilderback, Silver Creek ; Robert
J. Dickson, Pokagon; H. S. Hadsell, La Grange;
D. M. Howell, Penn ; Anson L. Dunn, Newberg ;
Lucius Keeler, Porter; Herman Strong, Mason; B.
F. Beeson, Calvin: William Weaver, Jefferson;
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
143
Rodney Van Ness, Howard ; Hiram Rodgers, Milton ;
M. H. Lee, Ontwa; Daniel Blish. Dowagiac.
The principal speaker was the Hon. Salathaiel C.
Coffinberry, of Constantine. Remarks were made by
Rev. E. P. Clisbee, Hon. George Meacham, Hon. E.
Shanahan, Maj. Joseph Smith, A. D. Lothrop and
A. B. Copley, and the pioneer necrology was read by
C. W. Clisbee, Esq.
The sixth re-union and picnic was held June 18,
1879. At this meeting, L. H. Glover introduced res-
olutions in memory of Uzziel Putnam, Sr. and William
W. Peck, the President and the Assistant Secretary
respectively of the society, both -of -whom had passed
away since the last annual meeting. The orator of
the day was the Hon. Levi Bishop, of Detroit, who
made an admirable address. LTpon its conclusion, the
whole society joined in singing to the tune of •' Old
Hundred," an anthem composed by Mr. Bishop. This
meeting was a very large one, and very enjoyable.
The officers elected were : President, George B.
Turner ; Vice Presidents, Joseph L. Jacks, George
Meacham, John Nixon, George Redfield and Milton
J. Gard ; Treasurer, John Tietsort ; Secretary, Joseph
Harper ; Assistant Secretary, Irving V. Sherman
(Mr. Glover continued to serve as Secretary, the Sec-
retary elect not assuming the duties of the office).
Executive Committee — Abijah Huyck, Marcellus ;
Elias Morris, Volinia ; George Laporte, Wayne;
Henry Keeler, Silver Creek ; Henry Michael, Do-
wagiac; Robert J. Dickson, Pokagon ; Jesse G. Beeson,
La Grange ; Nathan Jones, Penn ; Anson L. Dunn,
Newberg ; James H. Hitchcox, Porter ; D. R. Stevens,
Mason ; Eli Benjamin, Ontwa ; David T. Truitt,
Milton ; William H. Doane, Howard ; E. Shanahan,
Jefferson ; Jefferson Osborn, Calvin.
On the occason of the seventh annual picnic held
June 16, 1880, the chief address was that by the
President, Hon. George B. Turner. The election of
officers resulted as follows : President, George B.
Turner; Secretary, Lowell H. Glover; Assistant
Secretary, Irving V. Sherman ; Treasurer, Jolin
Tietsort. Executive Committee — Abijah Huyck,
Marcellus ; Milton J. Gard, Volinia ; George La
Porte, Wayne ; Henry Keeler, Silver Creek ; Henry
Miciiael, Dowagiac; Robert J. Dickson, Pokagon;
Jesse G. Beeson, La Grange ; John Nixon, Penn ;
Jerry R. Grinnell, Newberg ; J. H. Hitchcox, Porter ;
Jefferson Osborn, Calvin ; J. N. Marshall, Jefferson ;
Mason Doane, Howard ; James H. Beauchamp, Mil-
ton ; R. D. May, Ontwa ; D. R. Stevens, Mason.
Largest of all the meetings of the Cass County
Pioneer Society was that of June 1"), 1881 — the
eighth annual meeting. Estimates of the attendance
place it as high as ten thousand. At 3 o'clock in the
afternoon, men were posted at the gates of the fair
ground, who counted the teams and people who passed
out from that time until the grounds were entirely
vacated at night fail. They counted 1,327 teams and
5,796 persons, and it was estimated that of the former
300 had passed out, and of the latter over 1,500 before
the count was commenced. It is probable that the
actual number of persons on the ground was 7,500 or
upward. We give the foregoing figures to show by
indisputable authority the great size of the gathering.
It was undoubtedly the largest assemblage ever known
in Cass County. That so numerous a throng could
be gathered togetlier, speaks volumes of praise for the
wise management of tlie officers of the society. It is
remarkable, that while contemperaneous societies in
adjoining counties have retrograded the Cass County
Pioneer Society has steadily accumulated strength,
the interest in its object developing from year to year.
Its annual meetings have exceeded in size and in
merit those of any other similar organization in the
State, and it is to be hoped that the spirit of its mem-
bers will not be less when it becomes an historical
ratiier than a pioneer society (as it inevitably must
at no very distant day). The address on the occasion
of which we have just spoken was delivered by Gov.
David H. Jerome, and was an unusually eloquent and
interesting one. He paid a high tribute to the pio-
neers, and urged the youth of the land to emulate
their many sterling qualities. This meeting of the
society was the last which the pioneer of Cass County
— Uzziel Putnam — attended. A few weeks later, he
was laid away to rest, but at this meeting the old man
— almost fourscore years and ten — sat on the platform
by the speaker, and was much moved by his words.
One of the local newspapers, in closing its account of
the meeting, and of Gov. Jerome's address, gave the
following paragraph.
«■ * * We cannot forbear to mention an episode which took
place on the stand at the conclusion of his speech. Uzziel Putnam,
the first white settler of Cass County— the man who turned the
first furrow in her virgin soil and chopped the first tree in its
limits, so far as is known— had been listening with deep interest
to the G ivernor'g remarks. As he closed, the old pioneer, bent
with many years of toil and hardship, arose to his feet, tears
streaming down his wrinkled face, and tottering up to the Gov-
ernor, grasping him by the hand, thanked bim fervently for the
g.)od words he had spoken for the pioneers, and. above all. for the
sound advice he had given the young. This scene, witnessed by
but few on the crowde.l stand, made a marked impression upon
those who did witness it.
The officers elected in 1881 were: President, Jo-
seph Harper; Secretary, Lowell H. Glover; Assist-
ant Secretary, C. C. Nelson ; Treasurer, John Tiet-
.sort. Executive Committee— .\bijah Huyck, Marcel-
lus ; M. J. Gard, Volinia ; Lafayette Atwood, Wayne;
W. M. Frost, Silver Creek ; Robert J. Dickson, Po-
144
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
kagon; B. W. Schermerhorn, Dowagiac; George B.
Turner, La Grange; W. E. Bogue, Penn; W. H. H.
Pemberton, Newberg; James H. H. Ilitchcox, Por-
ter; B. F. Beeson, Calvin; H. B. Davis, Jefferson;
Jerome Wood, Howard ; J. H. Burns, Mason ; R. D.
May, Ontwa; J. 11. Beaucharap, Milton.
MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.
In conclusion, we give the full list of the members
of the Cass County Pioneer Society, together with
their ages at the time of signing the constitution, their
places of residence and nativity and date of settle-
ment (or of birth, as the case may be). It will be
noticed that prior to 1877, the year in which different
membeis registered their names and age is not given,
and this fact should be borne in mind by the reader
who examines the list. Otherwise, apparent discrep-
ancies will appear in the column headed "age." The
record has been made with great care from the jour-
nal of the society.
A. B. Copley .51 Volinia..
.Joseph Harper ..
D. M. H .well ....
Ichabod Pierson.
G. W. Jones 49
Lueinda Atwood.
Abijah Huyck 5') .Marcellus .
Lila Huyck 44 Marcellus .
F M. Tinkler (i3 Wayne.
Robert Watson 71 Dowagiac
N. Bock 7.S Dowagiiic .
.\rlhur Graham 61 Dow.igiac .
Silas A. Piicher "1(1 Wayne
Adam Smith ',1 Silver Creek.,
.Justus (i:igc ii'i Howagiac
Jacob Hurtle 1; I Downgiac
J. A. Barney liii Dowagiac
S. T. Read.." ..VJCassopolis ....
Orson Rudd li l'a.«sopolis
William Sears Ofjt 'assopolis
York..
nnsyl
George Redfield 77|ontwa
Uzziel Putnam, Jr 48;Pokagon...
George M'acliam 75 Porter
Peter Shatler 88 Calvin
Henry Tielsort ifi La Grange
John Tietsort 47 Cassopolis.
Connecticut..
Pokagon
.\ew York....
Virginia
CtVPenn
70|Cassopolis.
66|l'eiin
(i4iVolinia ...
Ohio
Ohio
Xew York
North Carolina.
.^orth Carolina.
North Carolina..
La Grange Ilmliana
Calvin lohio
.I.lTiTsoii Delaware
I ussnj, ,!is Virginia
I '^i-^.-^'il'iilis I'ass County
Latinu.gr Ohio
Jfrterson JNew York...
William Jones
Elias B. Sherman...
John Nixon
Reuben Henahaw...
Abijah Henshaw
Mrs. C. .Messenger |
George T. Shafter 1
E. Shanahan i
Joseph Smith
L. D. Smith
D. S.Jones
G. B. Turner
Julia Fisher (wife ofl [ 1
Henry Tiet«orl ) 1.51 La Grange lOhio
H. Meicham pW;Porter jCnss County...
J. R. Grenell 14!) Newberg (New York
Correl Messenger j65iLa Grange Connecticut . .
G. J. Carmiehael (wife I
of Geo. T. Shatter). 4.5 Calvin ilhio
Charlotte Turner JSS Jefferson iTnunton, Eng....
Esther Ni.xon j.5!l Penn Ohio
Miss Hannah Ritter...|5.5JLa Grange 'Indiana
James Boyd jrt7lLa Grange iNew York....
Lafayette Atwoud IQlWayne New York....,
Sarah Miller (wife of|
Clias. Kingsbury).. .144 Cassopolis jOhio
Charles W. Clisbee 4(1 Cassopolis jOhio
R. V. Hicks |54!Milton lEngland.
Philo IS. White 162^ Wayne 'New York
A. D. Northrup j.51|C,ilvin iVerraont
.■\mo8 Northrup 74 Calvin IVermont
Moses H. Lee j41 Ontwa New Hampsh
Henry L. Barney ISA Ciiasopolis Ohio,
.Tames E. Boninc |56Penn Ind
Maria 0. Jones i4!1 Penn |New York
Samuel Graham t7(;|Ca8sopolis jl'enn.sylvania
John Strublc •50[ Volinia jl'enn.sylvania
.laseph U. Graham 40Miison Ohio
SiUxa Marwood |45JNewberg INew York,
18:i4
1826
18-26
1828
1828
1828
182H
1820
1880
1830
1830
1831
1832
18.32
1832
1832
18.33
1836
18.34
1834
183-!
1843
18.30
1828
183H
1836
1838
1841
1841
183.-<
1846
18^6
1837
James Oxen
Pleasant Norton
Rachel Norton
Richard B. Norton...
James Tiwnsend
EzraB. Warner
L. D. Wright :,
Nathan Jones
Isaac Bonine
Lowell H. Glover
Thos. J. Casterline....
Asa Kingsbury
Eli Green
Samuel Squires
Leander Haskins
Maria M, While
L. S. Henderson
I'heodore Stebbios ....
Mrs. Theo. Stebbins..
John S. Gage
Mrs. John S. Gage....
Mrs. Lucretia Gage ...
Mrs. Thomas Tinkler.
Chester C. Morton
Mrs. C C. Morton
E. 0. Taylor
Mrs. E. O.Taylor
Ebenezer Copley
George Whilbeck
Mrs. Geo. Whitheck...
Mrs. Ebenezer Copley.
William G. Blair
.lonathan Olmstead....
Horace Vaughn
Chauncey Kennedy ...
John S. Juchs
Horace Cooper ,
David Bemenf
(jharles Haney
B. F. Wilkinson
Charles Morgan
William R. Sheldon ..,
H. H. Bidwell....
R D. May
Satnuel H. Lee
John M. Brady
Noah S. Brady
.John Gill
Valentine Noyes
I. G. Bugbee
Elizabeth H. Bugbee..
Aaron Shellhammer....
John Shellhammer
James II. Hitchcox
Horace Thompson
Mr.s. Horace Thompson
Joshua Brown
Lucius Keeler
Penn Ohio
Jefferson 1 ) 1 1 i "
Marcellus Ohio
W.ay n e 1 M iohigan
New York
Pennsylvania .
New York
Ohio
Belgium...
i^cotland
Ohio
New York
New York
On the ocean..
Pennsylvania .
New York
Vermont
Pennsylvania.
Ohio..".
Calvin
Jefferson 'Virginia .
Jefferson Tennessee
Jefferson ...Ohio
Penn lohio
La Grange New York
La Grange
Penn
Penn
Penn
La Grange..
Dowagiac ..
Wayne
Dowagiac ..
Dowagiac .
Dowagiac ..
Dowagiac ..
Dowagiac ..
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
Wayne
"ayne
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa ,
Jefferson
Onlwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Onlwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
Ontwa
60 Onlwa
Oniwa
Porter
Porter
Porter
Porter
Porter
Porter
Ohio
Ohio
Indiana
New York
New Y'ork
Massachusetts ..
Cass Co., Mich..
Kentucky
New York
iohio
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
Ohio ,
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
Massachusetts .
Cass Co., Mich..
Ohio
Connecticut
Baden, German V
New York .".
Ohio
Connecti' ut
New Y'ork
New York
New Hampshire
New York....
Vlichigan
"e of Man.
New York...,
Vermont
Dartmouth, Eng
Pennsylvania ,
Pennsylvania .
New York
Massachusetts...
New York.;,
iaua
Porter INew York,.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
145
DBtf of
Settl'mt
Date ol
Settl'mt
Caw" Co.
(or of
birth).
NAME.
RtSlPENCE.
WllEl.E BOIIN.
ra^'Vo.
NAMK.
Resiiiesck.
WUEEE BOEN.
i
(or of
birth).
1
Willifira Trftltlcs
61
I'orter
England
1838
George Evans
50!
EngloTxi
1846
Mrs. William Tratlles.
51
Porter
Canada East
1836
James M. Dyer
40lNewberg
New York
1834
.\hel Ueebe
nf.
Porter
New York
1840
PhebeC. Dyer
39Newberg
New York
1849
Mrs. .\belBeebe
(it
Porter
Pennsylvania ...
1840
Rebecca Jones
64Newberg
New York
1837
.lames Motley
lih
I'orter
England
1 836
M..ry Driskell
46Newberg
Ohio
1828
Mrs. James Motley
m
Porter
New York
1836
Dennis Driskell
>4|Newberg
Ohio
1829
George Whiled
31
Porter
Michigan
1842
Edward H. Jones
ISNewberg
New York
1837
Mrs. George Whited...
24
Porter
Cass Co., Mich.
185(1
Samuel Everhart
62:Newberg
Pennsylvania ...
183<i
Mrs. Betsey Whited . .
65
Porter
183)
Mary Everhart
16|Newberg
New York
1837
Hall Beardsley
44
Porter
'\ii'ch.', Cass Co;
1838
Thomas W. Ludwick..
KiNewberg
Pennsylvania...
1845
Mrs Hall Beardsley...
38
Porter
Ohio
1840
Julia A. Ludwick
46lNewberg
Ohio
1835
Henry Lang
48
Porter
Massachusetts ..
1844
Amos Cowgill
60 La Grange
Ohio
\no
Edward Lang
Porter
Cass Co., Mich.
1843
Mrs. E. E. Cowgill
53 La Grange
New York
1836
Oscar Lang
HI
Porter
Massachusetts ..
1844
Mrs. M. A. Bucklin...
>5|La Grange
Ohio
1836
Mrs. Oscar Lang
■)7
P.rter
New York
1837
Laura S. Henr-erson...
5' Wayne
Vi^gi-ia
1834
A. H. Ling
Porter
.Massachusetts ..
1838
Lewis Kinehart
66!Porter
Virginia
1829
Mrs. .-v. H. Lang
Porter
New York
1837
Anna Rinehart
61 Porter
Ohio
1830
.Incob Rinehart
7()
Porter
Virginia
1820
LeRoy Curtis
60il>enn
New Ynik
1837
Mrs. .Iftcob Rinehart..
lit)
Porter
Germany
1842
Hardy Langston
72 Berrien County.
North Carolina..
1830
.\lbert Thompson
■iS
Porter
Indiana
1850
Mary Langston
59 Berrien County.
Virginia
1830
.Sa'uuel Rinehart
(J4
Porter
Virginia
1829
Washburn Benedict...
53 La Grange
Massachusetts...
1846
Mrs. Sam'l Rinehart..
53
Porter
Ohio
1830
L. Curtis
eOiPenn
New \ork
1837
Ahram Rinehart
Virginia
1829
Albert Jones
46NewberK
New York
1837
Mrs. Abram Rinehart.
49
Porter
New York
1836
H. D. Shellenbaiger..
45 Porter..
Ohio
1845
T. A. llitchcox
44
Porter
Ne.v York
1831
Sarah Shellenbarger...
35 Porter
^'i^l'ig'"-:
1839
(iideon Hebron
42
Porter
England
1883
William Renesten
781 La Grange
Pennsylvania...
1830
.Mrs. Gideon Hebron ..
...
Porter
England
C. C. Grant
61 Mason
New York
1831
Marcus McHuran
an
Porter
Cass Co., Mich.
""1841
Margaret Davidson
59 La Grange
^"g'--'
1832
Mis. Marcus MoHuran
Porter
Cass Co.. Mich.
Sarah Hebron
iw;!penn
North Carolina..
1830
.lohn M. Fellows
.Vg
Calvin
Pennsylvania...
1829
Nathaniel Black. uore..
■"idOntwa
New York
1828
Amos Huff.
75
Voliuia
New York
1833
John Main, Jr
'"La.i.ange
Michigan
1833
James M. Wright
53
Volii.ia
Ohio
1831
Jesse G. Beeson
(KiLatiiange
Indiana
183U
Mrs. J. M Wright
48
Volinia
Ohio
1828
Mary Beeson
59
La Grange
Pennsylvania...
1830
Elizabeth Squires
72
Volinift
Pennsylvania...
1831
Isaac A. Huff
74
La Grange
Kentucky.........
1830
George 8picer
50
Volinia
Kngland
1847
Isaac N. Gard
46
Volinia
Indiana
1829
Mrs. George Spicer ....
58
Volinia
Ohio
1837
Divid Hain
70
La Grange
North Carolina..
1831
George Newton
(i4
Volinia
Ohio
1831
Leander Osborne
48 Penn
Indiana
1835
Esther Newton
55
Volinia
Ohio
Harrison Strong
56;Mason
New York
1844
Milton J. Gard
50
Volinia
Ohio
•Fidelia A. Strong
55 Mason
New York
1844
JavRudd
48
Penn
Vermont
" 18.36
.Margaret Stevenson....
51 Mason
New York
1849
J.K. Riller
45
Cassopolis
Berrien County.
1829
Samuel Patrick
64|Jifferson
Ohio
1845
Henry Shanafelt
50
La Grange
Ohio
1835
Mos.sN. Adams
r.lOnlwa
Vermont
1837
Mrs. H Shanafelt
40
La Grange
Pennsylvania...
1844
Elenora E. Stephens....
47 Mason
New York
1841
E. R. Warner
63
Cassopolis
New York
1846
We-ley Hunt
(lOCalvin
Vermont
1836
Mrs. D. M. Warner....
52
Cassopolis
H.A. Wiley
57 Oik wa
Ohio
1836
(• Z. Termilleyer
50
Volinia ;
bhio;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;
"■ls62
S C. Olmsted
iMOntwa
Connecticut
1836
Joseph M. Truilt
3H
Milton
Cass Co., Mich.
1837
W. 11. Hain
34|La(iranj!e
La Grange, Mich
1840
Margaret I". Truitl....
:l(;
Milton
Berrien County.
1838
Elmira Gilbert
76! Porter....
Vermont
1835
Cliarlotte Morris
v
Volinia
Pennsylvania...
1836
L. Dickson
72|Dowagiac
New York
1828
llattieC Bucll
38
Volinia
Cass Co., Mich.
1836
CalestaStratton
59lL.owagiac
Ohio
1832
(i. J. Townsend
4:;
Penn
Cass Co., Mich.
1831
Lucinda Davi,s
63 Pennsylvania...
Ohio
1829
!•:. 11. Townsend
41
Cass Co., Mich.
1833
David R Stephens
51 Mason
New York
1835
John H Rich
44
Volinia '.'.'.'.'.'
Cass Co., Mich.
1829
Elias. Jewell
<i3 Wayne
New Jersey
1837
George Lyon
54
Penn
Ohio
1833
I. A. Shingledeckef...
5r|La Grange
Ohio
1846
Selina Green
54
Penn
North Carolina..
1831
BarbiraShingledecker
48| La Grange
Ohio
1846
Tobias Riddle
62
Berrien Co
Virginia
1832
William Weaver
44|Jtffersi)n
New York
1841
Asahel Z. Copley
60
Volinia
New York
1834
Elizabeth Weaver
39;.Iefferson
Michigan
1835
Leonard Goodrich
65
Jefferson
New York
1835
L. II. Gilbert
30 Purler
New York
1835
JohnSquiers
45
Volinia
Ohio
1831
John (-.Chirk
60' La Grange
Ohio
1838
Joiin Rinehart
60
Porter
Virginia
1829
James P. Doty
'^''1 Grange
New York
1843
Daniel Vantuyl
78
Jeffer.son
New Jersey
1835
K. J. Dickson
31 Pokrtgon
Maryland
18-28
James East
70
Calvin
Virginia
1833
Hannah B. Dickson...
43iPokagon
New York
1847
E. C Smith
63
Howard.;:!;::;;"
New York
1835
Elizabeth Gaid
70IVolinia
Ohio
1829
Mrs. E. C. Smith
63
Howard
.New York
1835
John Hain
76|La Grange
North Carolina..
18-^9
Kavid Histcd
Cassopolis
New York
1842
Elizabeth Gilbert
45|Porler
England
1836
Charles Smith
52
Mason
New York
1845
William Saulsbury
JliJeffeison
Ohio
1833
Harriet Smith
51
Mason
New York
1845
Peter Huff
72|Wayne
'^-^n'oeky
1831
James Shaw
61
Howard
New York
1840
Cool Runkle
56lMilton
New York
1841
I'eterSturr
77
New Jersey 1845
Margaret Runkle
54iMillon
Pennsylvania...
1841
William Bilderbeclc ....
Silver Creek
New Jersey 1846
Meriitt A.Thompson..
27|Vandalia
Michigan
1847
.Sarah Bilderbeck
57
Silver Creek
Ohio
1845
J. B.Thomas
36()ntwa
Penn jlvania ...
1843
lliram Rogers
72
Milton
New Jersey
1831
Mrs. J. B Thomas
34 0ntwa
Ontwa, Mich
1840
S. M. GrinneU
40
New Yoik
1834
B. R. .Jones
44!Nile8
Ohio
1833
Jane A. Grinnell
46
Ncwberg;;;.;;;.;
New York
183.-.
Isaac Wells
44 La Grange
Ohio
1 8:'.2
J. Ered Mertitt
27
Porter
Cass Co., Mich.
1840
William J. Hall
■■■9;Volinia
Ohio
1833
Mary A. Merritt
28
Porter ,.
Cass Co., Mich.
1815
B. F. Kudd
•H Ncwberg
Verm..nt
1834
Martha Warren
.18
Ncwberg
New York
18;;(i
1.0 mis li. Warren
47 Volinia
New V..rk
1837
Nelson A. Hulchings..
41
Newbcrg
Ohio
1836
Orlcy Ann Warren
42iVoliiiia
Cass County
1833
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Susan-vh Davis
Reuben B. Davis
John Barber
Mrs. KateE. Barber...
Leonard Koene
Alsey Keene
Ebenezer Anderson....
George Laporte
Peter Youngblood
John Rosebrough
James W. Robinson....
O. L. Tiarp
J. H. Thomas
G. A. Meacham
William Llark
Edwin T. Dickson......
Lahan Tharp
Lydia Tharp
Sanford Ashcrafi
Abigail .\shcraft
R. Russell
E.Russell
B. Lincoln
Acacha Lincoln
William D. Brownell...
James L.Glenn
Hei ry Kimmerle
M. J. Kimmerle
D. A. Squier
K. H. Wiley
H. S. Rodgers
M. A.Pullman
Spencer Williams
J. Wood....;
0. C. Ellis
H. M. Osborn
Sleph' n Jones
Elias P.ardee
C. C.Allison
Josi.ah Kinnison
Henry Michael
Hir.vm Lee
David B. Copley
Mrs. Abbey H.Copley
H. A Chapi.,
P. W. Southwonh
Mrs. J. A. Southwonh
Asa Hnntingt.n
Zeva A. Tyler
William Allen
Lyman B Spalding....
Mrs. M. S. Robinson..
David Gawihrop
Henry W. Smith
Mrs. Nancy J. Smith..
Eli Benjamin
<\1 Ca'vin ..
7-5 Pennsylvania .
69 Wayne
63|La Grange
64 Jefferson
48!Niles
48
68
47
Vanrtalia
Mason
Mason
Calvin
Berrien County
eOJefferson
Jefferson
Penn
Penn
6.5|Penn ,
iSPenn
...I Jefferson .
...I Jefferson.
^!i Milton....
:5.5 Milton ..
, Calvin.
Ohio
Virginia
Pennsylvania..
Michigan
North Carolina.
Ohio
New Jersey
Virginia
Virginia
Ohio
Ohio
Vermont
New York
North Carolina
Indian.!
Ohio
Ohi.)
Vew York
New Vork
■^ew York
Niles..
La Grange...
La Grange....
Dtcatur
La Grange....
Volinia
Milton
Milton
Howard
Wayne
Penn ,
52,La Grange
tniPokagon ,
34'La Grange
67lH..ward
49iSilver Creek.
57|Calvin
I'enn
Penn
Niles
Volinia
Volinia
Wayne
Wayne
Porter
La Grange-
Nile-
:i!LaGr.mge..
-■iSVolinia
43 Volinia
54|Ontwa
CaM Co.
(or of
birth).
New York.
N'ew Vork
Pennsylvania .
Micliigaii
Michigan
Michigan
Pennsylvania .
Delaware
New Y'ork
New Vork
ndiana
Ol.io
Maine
Ohio
Tennessee
New York
New York
Ma>sachuseiis.
Vermont
Vermont
Vermont
New York
Ohio
Li Grange
Vermont
Michigan
Ohio.'.
Ohio
Massachusetts.
NAM
John M. Tiuiit 1.58
Ann E. Truitt 47
Z. Tinkham 72
John T. Miller Ifi7
W. H.Smith 60
Robert D. Merrill 39
Mrs Robert Merritt... 40
Nathan Skinner 55
Mrs. Nathan Skinner.. 53
W. G. Beckwilh 67
J.M.Jewell... 42
Elias Jewell |66
James L. Odell 47
Mrs. John L. OdcU 30
Mrs. W. H. Smith !4-
John Williams !42
Emmelt Dunning |45
P. A. Tharp lo3
Dyer Dunning |42
Kmily Taylor l61
KS APDKI) IN ■4 877.
Milton Delaware
Milton Delaware
Pokagon New York
Jefferson 'Pennsylvania .
Volinia jOhio
Porter Michigan
Porter \Hchigan
Porter Ohio
Porter Ohio
Jefferson JNew York
W..yne Ohio
Wayne New Jersey....
Porter Michigan
Porter :Ohio
^'olinia Ohio
Jefferson Michigan
Howard Pennsylvania.
Calvin Ohio
Milton |Pennsylvania .
Wayne iNew York
1834
1840
1861
1840
1832
1832
1833
1883
1832
1832
1854
1840
1863
1863
1834
1815
18.54
183.T
183!
1837
18^4
1840
18.33
1836
1831
1836
1837
1847
1829
1844
184-
1835
1835
1836
18.3
1832
18.36
1854
1831
1835
18.52
18.30
1832
Life.
Lifp.
1845
1815
1836
18«i
1837
Life.
1842
1836
Life.
183i
1843
1834
1846
C. M. Doane
Emory Doane
Green Allen
Isaac Johnson
Russell Cook
Mrs. KussellCook
M. Carpenter ,77
Mrs. Eliza Carpenter...|7
P.ter Truitt 78
J. S. Shaw [50
W. W. Smith
H. A. Parker
C. P. Wells
James P. Smith..
Susan A.Smith..
J. E.Garwood 45
Mrs. J. E.Garwood.... 38
Joseph Kirkwood 66
Harrison Adams 6f
Mrs. Harrison Adams. 4-.
Solomon Curtis 5
Mrs. Louisa Curtis {56
Ann Coulter 67
Ann M. Hopkins....
Mrs. Norton Buckl
Mrs. J. J. Ritter....
William R. Merritt. Jr.!43
William Rot.bins....
Matilda P. Gr.ffith
Lizzie E. Tewksbury...j48
Howard
Porter
Calvin
La Grange..
Pokagon...
Milton
Milton
Milton
Volinia
La Grange
Pokagon
Pokagon
Ontwa
Ontwa
Pokagon
Pokagon
Wayne
Jefferson
Jefferson
Penn
Penn
Howard
Ontwa
Marcellus
La Grange
Porter
Porter
Milton
Outwa
Milton
Milton
U. Joseph Co , hd.
Cass Co.
(or of
birth).
Michigan
iMichigan
North Caroli:
V irginia
New York...
New Hampshire
Delaware....
Delaware....
Delaware....
Michigan. .
Ohio
New Y'ork.
New Y'ork.
New York.
Michigan ..
Ohio
Scotland....
Maine
Michigan...
New York-
New York..
Ohio
Delaware...
Pennsylvan
Michigan..
Ohio
■Michigan...
Delaware...
New York..
Michigan.
Michigan
NAMES ADDED IN 1878.
Amos Smith J48Penn Pennsylva
M illiam l,'ondon 62 Jefferson Ireland....
Mrs. L. Goodspeed J48JVolinia JNew Y'ork
Daniel Blish 66 Dowagiac New Hampshire
.Mrs. Julia Blish 58!Dowasriac New Y'oik
Pennsylvania .
New Y'ork
New York
New York
New Jersey....
New York
Connecticut. . ,
Vermont
Michigan .
I'atheiine Roof. 59'Porter...
Hugh C. McNeil .55|Mason...
Joseph Spencer 66|Wayne..
LauraSpenccr 64 Wayne...
Samuel Decou ttfl'PeiMi
li'abella Batchelor l6|Milton...
, -V. A. Goddard i72|Mason...
C. VI. Morse |5) Dowagiat
L. B. Patterson |40jPokagon,
Hannah M. Patterson.. 33'Pokagon 'Cass County
William Hicks 56|Miltou England
Jacob Tittle :57|Milton jOhio
Henry Fred ricks fi6|Porter Pennsylvania ...
Henry Harmon uSiPorter !Ohio
Henry Bloodgood ■iOICnsfopolis New York
Asa B. Wetherbee 54[Newherg New York
Abram Fiero 5l|La Grange 'New Y'ork
Hannah Henshaw Volinia Indiana
Eli Bump •■)9 Penn Ohio
James Pollock .'idiPenu iOhio......
Leandcr Bridges ol|Marc'llus iNew Y'ork
Harriet A. Bridges*... 43 Newberg New Y'ork
Mary J. Kenmerle 40La Grange La Grange
Ira J. Putnam 51 Pokagon jCass County.....
.lohn F. Dodge 66 Newberg New York
Avril Earl fiSLa Grange iNew York
(liimaliel Townsend.... 76 La Grange Canada West
John Hain, Sr 78 La Grange North Carolina..
P. P. Perkins 55 Howard New York
E. P. Clisbee .57,Oberlin jOhio
I) lean Putnam 70LaGrange New York.......
AureliaPutnam 62 La Grange New York..i..';^
.liimesA. Lee 62 Dowagiac New York....,.,j
Patience Lee 61 Dowagiac New Vork
John Bedford 73 Dowagiac England
Nathan Phillips SSIPokngon New York
The lirst y
& child t>om in Newberg Township.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
George Rogers 49'Ontwn New York
Abraham Rinehart 61 Porter Virjiinia
Hannah E. Rinehart... 52 Porter 'New York
John Lybrook 8 |La Grange Virginia
Joseph Lybrook 33!La Grange Cass County...
Ellen P. Hibrey IS.SiCassopolis 'Wales
Adelia T. Merritt 66lBrislol, Ind New York
Daniel Mcintosh 74,Penn Marylind
Hugh P.Garrett -ISIU Grunge Ohio
John MePherson .54 Jelferson |Ohio
William Young Rl Howard iVermont
John A. Jones oSCassopolis | Pennsylvania .
Zora E. Jones 25;<'a?sopoIis
Roderick L. Van Ness.. 33'Cassopolis Howard
Julia E. Van Ness 26Ca*opoIis Volinia
Joseph L.Jacks TSEdwardsburg ... Pennsylvania.
Dr. C. J. Boughton....66|Wakelee
birth).
1844
1829
183H
1823
1846
1835
1830
1829
1848
18'?9
1831
1846
i'845
18o2
1829
1836
N
Amos Jones
AMES A1.DKD IN 18
58 La Grange
71 Jefferson
79.
Ohio
North Carolina.
Ohio
1830
William Reames
1828
1835
48Edwardsburg..
55 Volinia
Samuel Morris
Ohio.. . .
18''8
David Beardsley
Mrs. Mary Dewey
Valentine Dyer
55
62
54
75
52
51
3:^
69
Mason
Ohio
1832
Edwardsburg...
Milton
Purter
Calvin
New York
Polly M. ."^hellhammer
James W East
Ohio
Indiana
.Marcellus
New York
Rho'e Island...
Delaware
1834
1832
Marcellus
Newberg
Archibald Dunn
1835
Milton
George Smith
68Milton
1828
William Lawson
Ephraim Hanson
Jonathan Colyer
Sarah Atwo^d
Catherine Colyer
55
46
69
65
45
16
66
Calvin
Ontwa
Jeflfersun
Dowagiac
North Carolina..
New York
North Carolina.
I'ennsylvani i ...
Ohio
Pennsylvania ..
New York
New Vork
New York
New York
1853
1835
1831
1831
1832
Uowagiac
Dowagiac
Howard
Mary Jane Smith
Salicia Emmons
1837
1822
1834
"OCalvin '... .
eelCalvin
Nathan Norton
Ohio
1H32
John A. Reynolds
Laura J. Koynolds....
Joshua Leaoh
65
61
67
53
72
in
Jefferson
Jefferson
Penn
New York
New York
Vermont
1848
1849
1833
Charity Rich
U.S. Goodenough
George Long^dnff....
Margaret Leaves
George L. Stevens
Elias Morris
Charlotte Morris
Volinia
New York
Pensylvania
Mason
VanBur.uCo...
Pennsylvania ...
Ohio
1846
63
31
47
47
Vandalift
La Grange
Mason
Volinia
Volinia
Eliza Goble
66 Dowagiac
64:Wayne
TliPorter
69 Porter
Ohio
Levi Springstine
Braddock Carter
Caroline Carter
New York
New York
Vermont
lS3t>
1844
1844
65
64
Mefaitable Ross
Mason
New York
Michigan
Indiana
1829
Elizabeth llilchcox
38 Mason
1848
George BemenI
37
8H
53
53
53
i;9
«5
59
Ontwa
Mason
New York
Delaware
New York
Ohio
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York
1841
Mrs. Betsey Gardner..
David T. Truitt
A J. Gardner
Mason
Milton
Mason
Mason
1832
1831
1832
David Beardsley
Mrs. Belinda Miller...
Ann C Miller
1833
18.35
1835
Virgil Turner
Arietta Van Ness
Outwa
Howard
1851
1845
Elizabeth D. ICeeler ...
Joshua Richardson
Eveline E. Richanison.
Thomas Slapleton
Mrs. C. J. Greenleaf...
Maryette H. Glover...
Thomas Odell
Henry J. Brown
Sadie Huyck
.Jacob B. Breece
Sarah M. Bieece
Aaron J. Nash
Margaret R. Nash
59 Porter
1)0 Porter
49 Porter
45l(^as8opolis .
...Dowagiac
33(;assopolis.
Porter
Porter
Marcellus .
Jefferson ...
Jefferson...
>6:
New York
Ohio
Michigan
Ireland
Dowagiac
Cassoplis
Porter
Michigan
Michigan
P<>nnsylvania .
Pennsylvania .
New Vork
New York
William H. 01mstead..]57
Sarah A. Olmsteail 50
Jacob Suits
Mary Reames
John E. Reames 48
Lovinia Reames 8
Samuel Ingling jo
Jane D. Ingling [4
Jos. H. Burns 6'
Ann E. Burns 5
John Bilderback '3
Cynthia Bilderback. ...:3
Eleazer Hammond ...
Reason S. Pemherton
Margaret Pemberton
Erastus Z. Morse
Israel P. Hutton
John H. Hutton '46
Anne Moorlag 154
Sarah Ann Moorlag.. .|20
William Loupe 46
Mary Loupe 36
lantha Wood 53
William H. Doane 71
Lois A. Doane 158
Milton jNew York
Milton New York
New Vork ,
Jefferson Ohio
Jefferson Ohio
Jefferson Kentucky
Dowagiac Kentucky
Dowagiac New York
.Mason New York
Mason New York
Silver Creek Ohio
Silver Creel! .Mi-liigan
Milton New York
Vandalia.. Indi.ina
v'andalia Germany
Berrien County. Pennsylvania .
Penn Holland
Penn Indiana
Porter Pennsylvania .
Porter [Michigan
Howar' New York
Howard New Vork
Howard JNew York
1838
18.54
1854
1845
1845
1847
18)4
1845
NAMKS Anl>Ell
Gabriel Eby 63 Porter...
Caroline Eby 54 Purler..
Hiram N. Wocdin 54 Mason ..
Martha C. Wodin 47 Mason ..
H. H Poorman 64!Marcell
1881
.Ohio
. Germany....
. New York.
, New Vork.
. Pennsylvan
Henry E. Hain J45| Edwardsburg.. ..Michigan..
William M. Has- 48'La Grange Illinois
Nancy Simpson 57lPokagon Virginia ...
J. M. Huff 47|Vollnia Ohio
Josephine B Smith ...j47UMilton .Delaware..
Perry Curtiss 43 Silver Creek Michigan..
G. W. Smith SOMilton Delaware .
Alfred Shockley 52 Milton Delaware ..
11. B. Shurter 'Jefferoi. New York.,
Martin Stamp 35 Pinn Michigan..
A. D. Thompson 48 Milton Delaware...
C. M. Odell 43;Howard Michigan ..
Kinney Shanahan 27(Jntwa Michigan..
Samuel A. Breece 38 Newberg Michigan...
Jacob Reese
Marcus Sherrell
H. D. Bowling
Mrs. Mary Childs...
A. J. Ditz
William W, CarpcnK
George W. Willii
.59 Milt
. 41 .lefferson lefferson.
. 38 Pokagon Ohio
. 33'Calilornia Indiana .
.jt9| Mason .New York
. 5IJMilton Delaware.
.!42i Howard [Delaware.
... Michigan .
Jasper K. Aldrich l32'Milton ....
Mrs. Emily Curtis [...JNewbcrg
lOnos Roseliraugli '41'Jefferson Michigan.
George Tharp 38.1efferson |.Michigan
Peter Fox 42 Howard Delaware
John Hess lOJefferson Ohio
Henry D. Goodrich... 38 Jefferson Illinois ...
.Inhn O. Pollock 51 Penn Ohio
William 1). Kox 38 Howard Delaware..
Julia A. Parsons |33;Vlilton [Michigan..
1842
1845
1846
1846
1844
1870
1833
1843
1841
1835
1832
1837
1848
1846
1847
1858
1836
1853
1827
1834
1834
1838
1854
1833
18.56
1845
1836
1837
1854
1842
1834
1840
1849
1847
1847
183tl
1838
1849
18.39
1842
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Nathaniel B. Crawford 61
Byron H Cast
George S. H:i-
DaviiJ l». ilt;!'!
Horace \V:„rr
Harvey |i.-|h,
George i;. i i;i
Asher .1, SI,:,.
Kohert, N\ Mmi
John R. Everl
Sarah Driscol Everhart 59 Porler
John Manning 47 Porter Co.,
Richard M. Williams.. 40 L> Gr.inge.
U Penn Michiga
M Dowagiao Ohio ...
Ml Penn Ohi(
14 Newberg [Michigan
■.4|Penn [New York
'.-La Grange Ohio
.1 Howard Michigan
iVPenn Ohio
57 Porler. Pennsylvania .
. Ohi.
18.37
1851
1855
1847
1861
1832
1829
chigan
The total number of naine.s registered is five hu
dreil and ninety-one.
CHAPTER XXL
.AGRICULTURAL AND MISCELLANEOU.S SOCtKTlES.
OrKanization of the Cass County Agricultural S.ciely in 1851— The
First Fair Held— A Speech by llciuaii Keillield— Condition of the
County Thirty Years Ago— HorscN, I ;,,i[, :iii,i si,,,|,— "Ten Tliou-
snnd Things by 'Wolvenne Aii,i . , ~>>iiie "—Complete
Premium List of the Fair of is,.i i. . i -, ,- ,,1 History of the
Society— Cass County Bible Society or^.uii,:,,: m i.->.,l— County Med-
ical Societies— Farmer's Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
TFJE Cass County Agricultural Society came into
existence in the spring of 1851. and the first fair
was held in the fall of the same year. The exact date
of organization cannot now be ascertained (the records
having been lost), but it was probably in March or
April. The President was Justus Gage, and the Sec-
retary, George B. Turner.
IMay 13, the National Democrat made a strong ap-
peal to the farmers of the county to become members
of the society, and pay into its treasury the sum of
50 cents each, thus enabling the society to make out
a good premium list.
On the 24th, the E.xecutive Committee held a meet-
ing in Cassopolis, at which Judges were appointed for
the ilifferent departments of the proposed fair, and the
President, Justus Gage, was authorized to procure
some suitable person to deliver an address, on the oc-
casion.
It was resolved thac the first annual fair be held at
Cassopolis on the 18th day of September, 1851, pro-
vided the citizens of the place would, at their own ex-
pense, prepare the grounds, pens, etc.. and, in case
they should not accede to this arrangement, it was pro-
vided that the committee, having the matter in charge,
should select some other place the citizens of which
would be willing to make all of the necessary prepara-
tions free of charge.
The following committees of arrangements were ap-
pointed :
Gentlemen s Committee — Asa Kingsbury, G. B.
Turner, James Sullivan, Joseph Smith, E. B. Sher-
man.
Ladies Committee — Mrs. James Sullivan, Mrs. W.
G. Beck with, Mrs. Jacob Silver, Miss. A. M. Redfield,
Miss. E. Sherman, Miss. Sarah Lindsey, Mrs. Barak
Mead and Mr-t. S. F. Anderson.
The fair was duly held, and in Cassopolis, hence it
is to be presumed that the people of the village ma'de
sufficiently liberal preparations. The show grounds
for stock were "south of Joshua Lofland's premises
and east of Mr. Root's," and the hall of the court
house was used for the display of fruits, vegetables and
articles of domestic manufacture, and was under the
charge of ladies. The attendance was quite large and
the exhibition was generally pronounced a success.
The National Democrat said " it vastly exceeded
our expectations, not only in regard to quantity of
stock and number of articles exhibited, but in the
superior quality and excellence of both. We venture
the assertion" the writer continued, " that no one
county in the State can bring forward as good stock
as Cass. This is saying much for her but no more
than she is' able to back up by an actual showing."
An interesting feature in the programme of this
first fair was an address by Heman Redfield, delivered
before a large audience at the court house. The con-
eluding portion of the speech makes interesting read-
ing at the present day, and gives a good idea of the
agricultural condition of Cass County in 1851. Mr.
Redfield said :
" That the experiment has been successful and that
our society is established upon a permanent founda-
tion has been most amply demonstrated. May we
not now indulge the agreeable conviction that each
returning exhibition will derive additional interest and
value, until our county shall assume that position to '
which by nature it is entitled, as the first among the
agricultural districts of our beautiful State ?
'■ The variety and fertility of our soil, the abun-
dance of our water privileges and the unlimited mar-
kets almost surrounding us, in connection with the
energy and enterprise of our population, as this day
witnessed, would seem to indicate the possibility of
such an event at no distant period.
"A reference to the statistical report of the Secre-
tary of State to the last Legislature, discloses the fact
that few counties in the State in proportion to the
territory ami number of population, produce an equal
amount of wheat and other grain, and very few, if
.my, excel us in this respect.
*********
" Now we have in our county about tiO.OOO acres of
improved land, something less than a quarter of our
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
territory, and the total value of our property of all
kinds, is, as assessed, about $800,000, with a popula-
tion of 11,000. In 1849. we raised from 18,000
acres about 160,000 bushels of wheat, something over
thirteen bushels to each individual, and yet this was
only an average of about ten bushels per acre, for a
soil of the most productive character; not over half a
crop at the best calculation. I believe it is gener-
ally admitted that our .soil must be deepened before it
can be permanently improved, and that one acre of
soil twelve inches deep, is worth more to make money
from by cultivating it, than four acres six inches deep.
Admitting that under the best circumstances an acre
of soil six inclies deep will produce fourteen bushels
of wheat, and that twelve bushels will pay the ex-
penses, and we have two bushels as profit. Now
double the depth of the soil and the amount of the
crop, making the former twelve inches instead of ^ix
and the latter twenty-eight bushels instead of four-
teen ; fifteen bushels instead of twelve will now pay
all expenses and leave a net profit, not of two but
thirteen bushels to the acre. Manure well, plow
deep, sow in good season, then trust in Providence
and instead of selling $60,000 worth of wheat we can
market three times that amount.
" There was raised in our county two years ago
600,000 bushels of other grain, of which at least one-
half was a surplus, worth as much as the wheat crop,
and susceptible by good' husbandry of equal augmen-
tation in amount and value.
" We own three thousand horses, worth on an aver-
age say $40 or a total of $120,000. Now it costs
no more to raise a colt worth at four years old $80
than one hard to jockey off at $40. And a little re-
flection will convince any one that the above value can
be doubled in five years.
"The enterprise of a fellow-citizen offers you %
stock of as good blood and reputation as can be found,
and which he has, I think safely, challenged the State
to equal. And there are several other excellent
breeders of that noble animal among us. We certainly
should exert ourselves to patronize and sustain them.
" We possess 8,000 head of cattle, generally of an
inferior size and quality, and are selling the average
of our young cows and steers at from $8 to $10.
when in good condition, and 1 am fully satisfied
that the value of this stock can be easily doubled
by an importation of thoroughbreds, the judicious
patronage of those we have and a more general at-
tention to care and keeping.
" We have likewise 17,000 sheep, shearing in 184!l,
44,000 pounds of wool, about two and a half pounds
per head, and worth that year an average of .'50
cents per pound, a gross value of about $14,000. We
have in our limits as good stock sheep as can be found
in the country, and a general attention to this depa)t-
ment of our industry will enable us to increase the
weight of the fleece to four pounds, worth 40 cents
per pound, and the value of the carcass proportionally.
" In addition to the above list, we have among our
grubs and in our puddles, about ten thousand things
which Wolverine audacity has denominated swine —
variously known as Naragansetts, alligators, land
sharks, a.n^ flee breeders. In one sense indeed this
class of our domestic animals has received much at-
tention, but that attention has resulted from wonder
and disgust, and has been expressed in unmeasured
ridicule, sarcasm and invective. It is well known that
a well-bred and well-kept hog can be easily made to
weigh, in eighteen months, 400 pounds, worth $3
per hundred weight, while it is a hard matter to make
the critters I speak of ever weigh 200 pounds, and a
harder matter to dispose of the compound of acorns,
[ ground nuts and carrion for %iper hundred iveiyht."
There has been an improvement in Cass County
swine during the past thirty years.
Following is a complete list of the premiums awarded
at the fair of 1851 :
i CVTTLE.
B. W. Philips, La Grange, for best Durham bull, cash
premium.
Joseph Smith, .Jefferson, for second best Durham
•bull, diploma.
James E. Bonine, Penn, for best bull under two
years, cash premium.
Thomas Tinkler, Wayne, for best grade bull, di-
ploma.
William Jones, Pennsylvania, for best milch cow,
cash premium.
David Brady, La Grange, for best yoke work oxen,
cash premium.
B. Bullard, Mason, for second best work oxen, di-
ploma.
Jesse Jones, Mason, for third best work oxen,
diploma.
HORSES.
B. W. Philips, La Grange, for best stallion, cash
premium.
Lewis Riiiehart, Porter, for second best stallion,
cash premium.
Archibald Jewell, Wayne, for best brood mare, cash
premium.
A. J. Luther, Ontwa, for best span matched horses,
cash premium.
James Townsend, Penn, for second best span
matched liorses, cash premium.
Isaac A. Huff, La Grange, for best colt under two
years, cash premium.
150
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
David Finch, La Grange, for best colt under three
years, cash premium.
M. Rudd, Penn, for best single horse in harness,
cash premium.
SWINE.
Joseph Smith, Jefferson, for largest hog, cash
premium.
James E. Bonine, Penn, for best boar, cash pre-
mium.
Justus Grage, Wayne, for second best boar, diploma.
Daniel Mcintosh, Penn, for best breeding sow,
cash premium.
Edward Beech, La Grange, for second best breed-
ing sow, diploma.
Nathan Aldrich, Ontwa, for third best breeding
sow, diploma.
Daniel Mcintosh, Penn, for best lot of pigs,
diploma.
Nathan Aldrich, Ontwa, for second best lot of
pigs, diploma.
(iRAIN AND VEGETABLES.
Benjamin Gage, Wayne, for best wheat, diploma.
Archibald Jewell, Wayne, for second best wheat,
diploma.
William Allen, Mason, best lot of beans, diploma.
D. T. Nicholson, Jefferson, for best lot of sweet
potatoes, diploma.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, ETC.
Morris Custard, La Grange, for best two-horse
wagon, cash premium.
Nathan Aldrich, Ontwa, for best two-horse plow,
cash premium.
Heman Redfield, Mason for best beehive, cash
premium.
Heman Redfield, for best straw cutter, cash pre-
mium.
C. Smith, Mason, for best cheese press, cash pre-
John Gage, Wayne, for best Spanish Merino buck,
cash premium.
J. E. Bonine, Penn, for two best Spanish Merino
bucks, cash premium.
F. Brownell, Penn, for four best Merino yearlings,
diploma.
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.
Daniel Carlisle, La Grange, for best ten pounds of
maple sugar, diploma.
Amos Northrup, Calvin, for best lot of honey,
cash premium.
Philo White, Wayne, for second best lot of honey,
diploma.
Mrs. E. Thomas, Ontwa, for beat worsted work,
diploma.
Mrs. E. Thomas, Ontwa, for best paintings, di-
ploma.
DOMESTIC .MANUFACTDKES.
H. Thompson, Ontwa, best embroidered shawl,
diploma.
Mrs. E. Thomas, Ontwa, for best linen hose,
diploma.
Mrs. E. Thomas, for best table spread, diploma.
Mrs. Beckwith, Jefferson, for best quilt, diploma.
Mrs. E. Thomas, best bureau cover, diploma.
Mrs. Sullivan, La Grange, best hearth rug, diploma.
Mrs. A. B. Copley, Volinia, best five yards of
flannel, diploma.
George Meacham, Porter, for three best cheese,
diploma.
PLOWING.
Benniah Tharp, Calvin, for best plowing with
oxen, diploma.
FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
Heman Redfield, for best and largest variety of
apples, thirty-four varieties, cash premium.
Miss Julia A. Redfield, Ontwa, for best ftill apple,
cash premium.
A. A. Goddard, Mason, for fourteen varieties of
apples, diploma.
Miss Julia A. Redfield, Ontwa, for best winter apples,
diploma.
D. T. Nicholson, Jefferson, for four varieties winter
apples, diploma.
Mrs. McKyes, Wayne, for best lot of peaches,
diploma.
Heman Redfield, Mason, for three varieties of
quinces, cash premium.
The Committee also noticed favorably fine speci-
iftens of peaches offered by C. C. Landon and others ;
some apples exhibited by D. T. Nicholson, and a
variety of pears by Nathan Aldrich.
The Committees of Judges who made the awards
were constituted as follows:
On Horses — Arch. Jewell, P. Norton, Wm. Jones.
On Cattle— Moses Joy, Reuben Allen, B. W. Phil-
lips.
On Sheep — A. Redding, John Nixon, George Red-
field.
On Swine — James Bonine, 0. Drew, Jonathan
Gard.
On Agricultural Implements — Gideon Allen, Na-
than Aldrich, Jesse G. Beeson.
On Grain and Vegetables — Hiram Jewell, M. Sher-
ill. W. G. Beckwith.
On Plowing Match — David Brady, Joseph Carpen-
ter, T. M. N. Tinkler.
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
151
On Miscellaneous Articles — William Allen, B.
Hathaway, S. T. Read.
On Fruits and Flowers — Heman Redfield, E. S.
Smith, D. Jewell, Mrs. E. S. Smith, Mrs. G. Sher-
wood, Mrs. J. Gage, Mrs. G. B. Turner.
On Domestic Manufactures — Lewis Edwards, A_
B. Copley. Cyrus Bacon, Mrs. G. Allen, Mrs. A.
Redding. Mrs. S. F. Anderson, Mrs. L. Edwards.
The second annual meeting of the Cass County
Agricultural Society, for the election of officers, was
held at the office of George B. Turner, Esq., in Cass,
opolis. on Monday, the Ist of March, 1852. The
following officers were chosen for the year : President,
Justus Gage, of Wayne; Treasurer, Joseph Smith, of
JeffiEjrson; Secretary, G. B. Turner, of La Grange;
Corresponding Secretary, D. M. Howell, of La
Grange; Vice Presidents — John S. Gage, Wayne.
Sullivan Treat, Silver Creels ; William L. Clyborne^
Pokagon; Hiram Jewell, La Grange; John Nixon,
Penn; Ira Warren, Newberg; Oscar N. Long, Por.
ter; J. S. Bennett, Mason; S. T. Read, Calvin;
Pleasant Norton, Jefferson ; Henry Heath, Howard ;
A. Redding, Ontwa; Peter Truitt, Milton; H. Mc-
Quigg, Marcellus; B. Hathaway, Volinia.
The history of the Cass County Agricultural So-
ciety has not been one of either marked or uniform
success. The fairs were held until 1857 on Samuel
Graham's land, but in that year the society bought
land, where the Air Line Railroad depot now is,
which the society was compelled to abandon, when
the Peninsular (Grand Trunk) Railroad was con-
structed. The next location was in the way of the
Air Line Railroad and that, too, had to be given up.
The present grounds were purchased in 1871, of
Samuel Graham, at an expense of $3,000. The tract
includes twenty acres of land finely adapted to the
purpose for which it is used. A considerable sum of
money has been expended in the erection of buildings
and in making other improvements.
Most of the exhibitions given by the society have
been very creditable; but the formation of other agri-
cultural associations in the county has of course been
disadvantageous to the old organization.
THE CASS COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.
This was the first county society organized and had
its origin in 1831. It was recognizeii by the Ameri-
can Bible Society as an auxiliary in February of that
year. The officers were : President, Elder Adam
Miller ; Corresponding Secretary, Rev. Luther Hum.
phrey ; Treasurer, Sylvester Meacham. Mr. Hum.
phrey seems to have served only a year, for in 1832,
Alexander H. Redfield appears as Corresponding
Secretary. Alfred R. Benedict held that position in
1834. In 1836, Martin C. Whitman was President;
Rev. Luther Humphrey, Corresponding Secretary,
and Mr. Meacham continued as Treasurer. Samuel
F. Anderson was President in 1837, the other officers
remaining the same. Dr. John J. Treat was Presi-
dent in 1838, Azariah Rood was President in 1839
and Clark Olmsted, Treasurer, and they were still in
office in 1841. In the first ten years of its existence
the Cass County Bible Society remitted to the parent
society $151.30. There was no change in officers
until 1844, when Hon. Clifford Shanahan became
President. In 1846, Cyrus Bacon was President
and Alfred Bryant, Secretary, Mr. Olmsted still con-
tinuing as Treasurer.
Of the foregoing there is no record upon the local
society's books. The data was procured from the
Secretary of the parent society by Mr. Joseph K.
Ritter.
It appears that the society was re-organized in Janu-
ary, 1861. Samuel F. Anderson was elected Presi-
dent ; James Boyd, Vice President ; Joseph K. Ritter,
Treasurer ; W. W. Peck, Secretary, and the Revs.
Miles and Hoag, Messrs. Joseph Harper, Joshua
Lofland and S. T. Read as members of the Executive
Committee.
Following are the present officers, viz. : President,
Joseph Harper; Vice President, D. B. Smith ; Treas-
urer, C. G. Banks ; Secretary, Joseph K. Ritter.
Executive Committee — D. B. Ferris, Jesse Harrison,
W. W. Mcllvain.
CASS COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
The first medical society in the county was organ-
ized in August, 1851. The officers elected were :
President, Dr. D. E. Brown ; Vice President, Dr.
Henry Lockwood ; Secretary, Dr. Alonzo Garwood ;
Treasurer, Dr. E. Penwell ; Standing Committee,
Drs. I. G. Bugbee, J. Allen and B. Wells. The
objects of this society were similar to those of the
present organization, that is, the advancement of the
profession, social intercourse, the establishment of a
schedule of charge's for professional services, etc.
But possibly there was not a clear understanding
of the purposes of the society in the minds of the
people at large. At any rate, one man seems to have
had only a partially defined idea of them. George
P. Coffey, a resident of Mechanicsburg, and a "log
house carpenter " by occupation, when he contem-
plated going West, thought it would be well to join
the society, that he might be able "to show where he
degraded from."
The schedule of rates on which the society agreed,
placed the amount of money to be charged for an
■' ordinary visit in the village " at 50 cents; " raedi-
152
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
cine and attention " was to be charged for at the rate
of $1 per day ; " medicine and visit, one mile, $1 ; "
visit and medicine, from one to two miles, $1.25 ; "
"visit and medicine, from two to four miles, $1.50;"
each additional mile 25 cents. " Quinine and night
visits were to be extra in all cases." Surgical opera-
tions, etc., were to be performed for $5 ; visit and
consultation within three miles was to entitle the
physician to a remuneration of $3, and the same
within a distance of from three to ten miles to f5
THE PRESENT COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
was organized at a meeting held at Cassopolis June 26,
1877, Dr. C. W. Morse, of Dowagiac, in the Chair.
The following officers were elected for the year 1 877-7 8 :
President, Dr. C. W. Morse; Vice Presidents, Drs.
A. Garwood, L. Osborn, R. Patterson ; Secretary, Dr.
W. J. Kelsey; Treasurer, J. B. Sweetland.
Following are the names and residences of the orig-
inal members of the society, viz.:
Dr. C. W. Morse, Dowagiac; Dr. W. J. Kelsey,
Cassopolis ; Drs. Robert Patterson and John B. Sweet-
land, Edwardsburg ; Drs. L. D. Tompkins, A. Gar-
wood and F. Goodwin, Cassopolis ; Dr. J. Robertson,
Pokagon ; Dr. Edward Prindle, Dowagiac ; Drs. L.
Osborn, H. H. Phillips and Otis Moor, Vandalia ;
Dr. W. J. Ketcham, Volinia ; Dr. 0. W. Hatch,
Adamsville.
Since the society was formed, the following persons
have been added to the membership roll :
Dr. I. Bugbee (honorary), Edwardsburg ; Drs. Hor-
ace Carbine and E. C. Davis, Marcellus ; Dr. Phineas
Gregg (honorary), Brownsville ; Drs. Levi Aldrich,
Frank Sweetland and Fred W. Sweetland, Edwards-
burg ; Dr. J. M. Wright, Brownsville; Dr. William
E. Parker, Cassopolis ; Dr. A. J. Landis, Adamsville ;
Dr. Reuben Schurtz, Jones.
The following preamble to the constitution of the
society, sets forth its objects : "We, the undersigned,
practitioners of medicine and surgery in the county of
Cass, for the mutual advancement in medical knowl-
edge, the elevation of professional character, the pro-
tection of the interests of its members, the extension
of the bounds of medical science, and the promotion
of all measures adapted to the relief of suffering, do
constitute ourselves a Medical Society."
farmers' MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF
CASS COUNTY.
This company, doing business in the counties of
Cass, Van Buren and Berrien, was organized May 8,
1863, with the following as it officers: President,
Jesse G. Beeson ; Treasurer, Archiablc Jewell, of
Wayne Townsliip; Secretary, A. D. Stocking, of
Dowagiac ; Directors, W. G. Beckwith, of Jefferson ;
Israel Ball, of Wayne; William R. Fletcher, of
Wayne ; Frank Brown, of Pokagon ; and Daniel
Blish, of Silver Creek. The object of the com-
pany is the insurance of farm dwellings and out-
buildings at a minimum price, and upon the mutual
plan, as the name implies. The present number of
members is about fifteen hundred, and the amount of
property at risk is valued at $2,500,000. The present
Board of Officers and Directors is as follows : Presi-
dent, John Cady ; Treasurer, Enoch Jessup ; Secre-
tary, Cyrus Tuthill ; Directors, Jerome Wood, James
H. Hitchcox, Lafayette Atwood, Milton J. Gard,
John A. Reynolds.
CHAPTER XXII.
STATISTICS.
Population by Tovvnsliips, 1837 to 1K80— Vote on the Constitutions and
for Presirtents— Gubernatorial Vote of isso, by Tovvnsliips— Valua-
tion— Productions.
POPULATION.
The population of Cass County was, in 1830, 919 ;
in 1834, 3,280; in 1837, 5,296; in 1840, 5,710;
in 1845, 8,073; in 1850, 10,907; in 1854, 12,411;
in 1860, 17,721 ; in 1864, 17,066 ; in 1870, 21,096 ;
in 1874, 20,525; in 1880, 22,008.
The following table presents the statistics of popula-
tion of Cass County, by townships, as taken at nine State
and National censuses, from 1837 to 1880, inclusive.
The wide variations between the population given in
certain townships at periods four or six years apart,
is occasioned by the inclusion of village population
in the statement for some years, and exclusion from
other statements. Other variations are attributable
to changes in boundary of townships. Thus Ontwa
appears to have had in 1837 1,012 residents, while in
1840 it contained but 543. Milton, however, which
was a part of Ontwa in 1837, was made an indepen-
dent township prior to 1840, and by the census of
that year is shown to have had a population of 439 :
Calvin
Howard
.JeflFerson ...
La Grange ..
Marcellus...
Mason
Milton
Newber^j....
Ontwa
Penn
Pokagon ....
Porler
Silver Creek
Volinia
Wayne
Totals
6241
7661
8871
04r:
•222
611
629
698
994
1259'
491
607
682
i29Bi.->710 10907 12411
1860
1864
1870
1874
1375
1485
1788
1627
1139
110^
1171
96f
1071
1112
1047
106S
1702
1761
1884
18H
753
K.^
1255
1652
768
719
809
851
575
62?
594
532
861
862
1314
1285
879
821
995
929
1303
1148
1421
146^
124'J
1624
1386
1941
1832
16i4
1933
1915
J 102
1836
11.52
1709
99H
1137
1414
1446
938
1019
999
1431
I77--'1
17666
21096
20525
1693
974
1014
2032
1829
889
535
1539
1145
1527
1323
^-'^
|S}-nw^',,f ^' •
Yjew or GassopoXxK^
FHOJVI THE ;^OtJTI-T KlDJC OF ^'PONK li7<\KE,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN
153
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1749
2071
232.
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1579
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736
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1927
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3944
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7406
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The following exhibits the population of ten of the
principal villages of the county in 1850, 1860, 1870
and 1880:
VILLAGES.
1850
1860
1870
1880
Cassopolis
379
i'isi
"241
122
129
104
::::::
728
l'J32
■297
"228
184
104
912
2102
643
Marcellus
252
448
240
Newberg
118
GUBERNATORIAL VOTE OF 1880 BY TOWNSHIPS.
TOWNSHIPS.
Pavid Jerome,
Republican.
Fred. M. Hol-
loway, Pem-
ocrat.
David Wood-
Total.
■Sbl
255
92
111
230
212
-4
71
173
130
209
146
307
120
2«2
128
54
228
143
1.58
288
152
142
69
l.SO
1.54
145
1.53
160
73
87
80
1
2
■ 17
129
5
1
64
12
10
7
61
30
24
Dowagiac City
Howard
496
237
La Grange
.Marcllus
535
494
Milton
141
Porter
474
Silver Creek
244
Wftvne
232
Total
2841
2216
396
5458
Isaac McKeever. Prohibitionist, received four i
1 Calvin Township.
VOTES CAST FROM ISS-*) TO 1880.
The following exhibits the number of votes cast in
the county for and against the constitutions, and the
votes cast by each party in Presidential elections :
VOTE ON THE CONSTITUTIONS.
1835— (November) Yes, 345 ; No, 20.
1850— (November) Yes, 1,069 ; No, 323.
1867— (Voted upon in April, 1868), Yes, 1,190 ;
No, 2,371.
1873— (Submitted, November, 1874), Yes, 713;
No, 2,697.
PRESIDENTIAL.
1840— Harrison, Whig, 670; Van Buren, Demo-
crat, 527.
1844— Clay, Whig, 760 ; Polk, Democrat, 715.
1848— Taylor, Whig, 783 ; Cass, Democrat, 901 ;
Van Buren, F. S., 191.
1852— Scott, Whig, 988 ; Pierce, Democrat, 984 ;
Hall, F. S., 95.
1856 — Fremont, Republican, 1,703 ; Buchanan,
Democrat, 1,165.
1860 — Lincoln, Republican, 2,065 ; Douglas, Dem-
ocrat, 1,624.
154
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
iy64 — Liucoln, Republican, i,7t55 ; McUlelian,
Democrat, 1,435.
1868— Grant, Republican, 2,471 ; Seymour, Dem-
ocrat, 1,926.
1872— Grant, Republican, 2,432; Greeley. D. and
L., 1,830; O'Connor, Democrat. 24; Black, Prohi-
bition, 2.
1876 — Hayes. Republican, 2,750 ; Tilden, Demo-
crat, 2,336 ; Cooper, G. B., 173; Smith, Prohibition,
1880 — Garfield, Republican, 2,859; Hancock,
Democrat, 2,180 ; Weaver, G. B., 415 ; Dow, Pro-
hibition, .
VALUATION.
The following table exhibits the valuation of real
and personal property, as assessed and as equalized,
for the year 1881*:
TOWNSHIPS AND
CITY OF DO-
WAGIAC.
si
III'
f
L
•J
If!
11!
Marcellue
Newberf-
Porter
Volinis
Penn
Calvin
Mason
La''Graiige"!'"I"'
Jffferson
2(1835
:;it-U
21283
21792
12630
20571
21984
22497
13458
1920
S582r,2n'
'li»557tl
U9020O
736600
6S7026
6(]()040
904790
639755
470825
6125101
8«42i
2363c
29866
23675
13410
fiS94 3
1213830
766365
740460
947120
713290
487800
499100
OJUIJU
1115557
316170
113645
136660
79550
162880
66710
320900
S7on;.,«
1530000
880000
800000
140410
735:i5
16975
Pokngon
1100000
7801100
Milt.m
DowaKiac
570000
820000
ToUU
311M9
S11475340;j686933
$74636
$12097738
82192262
814280000
CHAPTER XXII 1.
CASSOPOLIS.
Founding of the Village— County Seat Contest— A Souvenir— Letter
from Alexander H. RedUeld— First Death, Biith and Marriage—
Cassopolis as it Appeared in 1835— The Campaign of 1840— Joli
Wrighfs Prediction— The Only General Militia Muster— Little-
jolin's Temperance Revival of 1845— Corporation History— Roster
of Village Ofiieials— The Public Squaie Case— Mercantile and
Manufacturiug Matters— Banking— Hotels— Post Office— Religious
History- Public Schools— Cemetery-Societies.
FOUNDING OF THE VILLAGE.
IN 1830, Abram Tietsort, Jr.f (father of J5hn
Tietsort), built a small log cabin on the east bank
of Stone Lake, near the spot where the bowl factory
now stands, and he and his family became the pioneer
settlers of Cassopolis.
To this cabin, upon the bank of the lake, there came
one day, a young man, a stranger, whom the Tietsorts
learned a few days later was Elias B. Sherman.
He was a lawyer by profession, but just then engaged
* For the T«
Bee Chapter XI
t See chai.te
ring the early years of the e
in seeking profitable land investment and a location
in which he might settle permanently and grow up
with the country. He had come from Detroit to
Southwestern Michigan, in the fall of 1829, and
spent much time in looking over St. Joseph, Cass
and Berrien Counties. At first he had made a claim
on Little Prairie Ronde (which he sold to Elijah Goble,
in 1830, for $65), and subsequently he had assisted
Dr. Henry H. Fowler to procure the location of the
county seat at Geneva, the village which he had laid out
upon Diamond Lake. For his services in this matter
he had expected to receive a village lot, but had been
disappointed.
There was much dissatisfaction in regard to the es-
tablishment of the seat of justice at Geneva, and Mr.
Sherman was one of the many who believed that a
change of location could be effected. He was more-
over one of those who proposed to bring about a
change and to profit by it.
Upon the day when he was received as a caller at
Abram Tietsort's cabin, he had examined the south-
east quarter of Section 26 in La Grange Township
(the site of tlie villiige of Cassopolis), and had become
favorably impressed with the advantages which it
offered. He considered the " lay of the land"
and its proximity to the geographical center of
the county as the fulfillment of very necessary
requisites, and resolved to enter a sufficient tract to
include the desirable village site. But how to effect
this purchase with his limited means was a question
which required some thought. It was the question
upon which he was cogitating as he sat in the cabin
and as he ate supper at the simple board of his host
and hostess. His thoughts were given an impetus
during this time by a conversation to which he was a
listener. Three brothers, the Jewells, newly arrived
neighbors of the Tietsort family, who had put up a
cabin about where the Air Line Railroad depot now
is, dropped in to make a friendly visit, and some of
their remarks revealed the fact that they intended to
enter the very same piece of land which he had in
mind. This piece of information accelerated his
movements toward the realization of the plan which
had been forming itself in his mind. Mr. Sherman
said nothing of his own intentions, but as soon as he
could do so started on foot for Edwardsburg. He
had there a friend — or an acquantance rather, for he
had only met him a few days before at White Pigeon
— whom he decided to make his partner in the newly
conceived real estate project. This individual was
none other than a young lawyer, named Alexander
H. Redfield, who was destined to take a prominent
part, not only in the affairs of Cassopolis and of the
county but in those of the State.
HISTORY OF OASS COUNTY. MICBIGAN.
155
Mr. Redfielii warmly approved the plan which Mr.
Sherman detailed to him. He was unable, however,
to furnish one-half of the cash capital which this
speculation in land must absorb. The total amount of
money needed to make the purchase or entry at the
White Pigeon Land Office, was $100. Sherman had
$50 ; Redfield only $40. There was a way out
of this difficulty, however. Redfield gave Sher-
man a letter to a friend of his at White Pigeon,
requesting a loan of $10, and the latter with this
document in his pocket, set out on foot for the land
office. The night was dark and cold, and rain was
falling. When he reached George Meacham's cabin,
he was tired and chilled, but borrowing a horse he
continued upon his way, following the Chicago trail.
Somewhere in Porter Township he sought rest and
shelter from the storm in a deserted cabin. At day-
dawn he remounted his horse, soon crossed the St.
Joseph River at Mottville, and while it was still early
morning, rode into White Pigeon, seven miles be-
yond. The loan was obtained of Mr. Redfield's
friend, the coveted eighty acres of land duly entered,
the money paid and Mr. Sherman now started on his
way back to Edwardsburg to receive the congratula-
tions of his partner.
He had been none too diligent or expeditious in
attending to his business for he had proceeded but
a few miles from White Pigeon, when he met the
Jewell brothers bound upon the same errand which
he had just accomplished.
Messrs. Sherman and Redfield now associated with
themselves, the owners of the land adjoining the
eighty acres which they had entered. The parties
were Abram Tietsort, Jr., who added forty acres in
Section 35, Col. Oliver Johnson, who added twenty
from his lands in Section 25, and Ephraim McLeary,
who added a similar amount from land which he had
entered in Section 36.
An active fight was now begun for the county seat.
There were many persons who were dissatisfied with
the location of the seat of justice at Geneva, and they
urged the Legislative Council of the Territory to an-
nul the action of the Commissioners, and appoint a
new Board of Commissioners, to whom authority
should be given to make another location. Gross ir-
regularity in the proceedings of the Commissioners
invalidated their decision. It was notorious that they
had planned to profit unduly by their own official
action, and that they had withheld from the public
information concerning the locality they had decided
upon for the seat of justice, until they had themselves
entered at the land office adjoining tracts. This fact,
as attested in petitions, very numerously signed, was
doubtless the chief cause of the reconsideration of the
Commissioners' proceedings, under authority of the
Council — the death of Geneva and the birth of Cass-
opolis.
Upon March 4, 1831, the Council passed an act*
providing for the relocation of the seats of justice of
Cass, Branch and St. Joseph Counties, and authoriz-
ing the appointment of a new Commission.
Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A.
O'Keefe were appointed Commissioners.
Various parties now prepared to exhibit the advan-
tages which tiieir lands offered for the location of the
seat of justice, but when the Commissioners arrived,
the only claims they had to consider were those made
by the persons interested in Geneva, and the proprie-
tors of Cassopolis.
Messrs. Sherman and Redfield and their associates
in the mean time had their land carefully surveyed,
and a town platted which they called Cassapolis.
Three of the streets were named in honor of the Com-
missioners, and doubtless some other influences equally
subtle were brought to bear upon those worthies to
make them see the surpassing fitness of Cassopolis as
the county seat. At any rate, the Commissioners de-
cided in their favor, and, upon the 19th of December,
1831, Cassopolis was formally proclaimedf by the
Governor as the seat of justice of Cass County.
One of the conditions on which the seat of justice
was heated at Cassopolis, was the donation to the
county of one-half of all the lands in the village plat.
The lots donated were disposed of afterward by agents
appointe<l by the Supervisors.
Upon the 19th of November, 1831, the platj was
recorded by the proprietors E. B. Sherman, A. H.
Redfield, Ephraim McLeary, Abram Tietsort, Jr., and
Oliver Johnson (by his agent Mr. Sherman). The
acknowledgment was made before William R. Wright,
Justice of the Peace.
In recent years the village has been enlarged by
several additions. The first was made by Henry
Bloodgood, May 25, 1869. E. B. Sherman and
Samuel Graham made additions, respectively, upon the
*See synopsis of the a
ter XI.
tThe proclmiiittii.ii in
^Following l8 II il-'-' r
liigapart of Socii..nH .;'.,
from which r-ngea nr- iii
til ■ other streetrt ht<- four
>lic square i
r bearing upon this subject in Chap-
jN iihi .li; Slatf street is made a base line, from
ii>['li Hill] south; Broadway Is made a meridian,
.1..I .lust and west. They are both six rods wide;
epttiig Lake street which Is two rods wide The
Mity-six ro IS, designed for buildings for public uses,
rhe Ids are five rods by eight, i-xceptlng Lots No. 7 and 14. in Ranges 2 W(«t
and 2, :t and 4 e;i8t, which are eight rods by nine. The same In Blocks 1 east
and 1 west are nine by eight and one-eighth. Nns. 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, U, II, 12, U and
14, ill Blocks No. 1 niirtb and south, lUng'^s I east and west, are four by eight.
Nils. 1 anil :t in same blocks and ranges are three by ten. Nos. 2 are three and
thre'- i)uart4>rs by ten. Nos. I. 2, 3 and 4, in Blocks I north and south. Ranges 2
west and 2, :i and 4 east, are four h, ten Irregular lots adjoining the lake are
of variiiiis »i/.e». The whole plat is I19>!; by 1»1 rods.
liliirkH No. 7, i:i and U, in Range'2 west— 7 and 14, in Ranges I west and
easl. HI... k J north ; the whole of Block 2 north, Hange 2 east ; Noe. 6, 7, 8, 9.
10 II, 12. I.I, 14, 15 and IG In Block 1 north. Range 2 east ; Nos 2,3,4,Gand6
in lil.ick 3 south ; 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, In Blocks 2 and 3 south, and S, 0, 7,8, 9,
10, II, 12, l:t, 14, 1.'> and 111, In Rlick I, south of Range2 east; Nos. 7 and 14, in
Range 3 east; 7, II, 12, 13 anil 14, Block 2 north. Range 4 east; Blocks 2 and 3
south. III Range 4 east, an- donated to the county, to be disposed of by their
156
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
ocli and 9t,li of Decumber, 1 70, siuJ S. F. AnJeisoa
laid out the villa of Andersonville upon lands adjoin-
ing the town plat, August 20, 1871.
A SOUVENIR.
An interesting memento of the founding of Cassop-
olis was received by the corporation officers in 1868,
and is carefully preserved. The relic is a cane made
from a pole cut on the site of the village in 1831, by
Alexander H. Redfield, and used by him and Mr.
Sherman in measuring distances. Following is the
interesting explanatory letter from Mr. Redfield
which accompanied the gift.
" In Sepiemher or (Ictoher, 1831, Elias B. Sherman, Esq , of
Cassopolis. and I, came on foot from Edwardsburg to the site of
Cassopolis, and slopped at ihe house of Abram Tietsort, Jr.,
situaled on the bank of ihe lake. We wished to determine whether
it was not a good place for the county seat. We htood upon the
beautiful elevation, now the public square, and desired to know
the distance from the ceuter of the hill to ihe first section corner
east. With my pocket knife 1 cut a hickory pole and with my
hands, measured off, as near as I could, one rod, and with that
pole we measured up from the section corner west to the center
of the hill, and found the distance to be forty rods. We then j
planted the pole in the ground at or near the present center of
the public square. The Commissioners, Me:<srs. Rowland, I)is-
hrow and OKeefe, appointed by the Territorial Legislature, soon
after established the county seat at the point selected by us. The
pole stood where we had planted it till the village plat was sur-
veyed and marked, and clearing and building began. Passing
one day across the public square I found that a brush heap
had been burned near where the pole stood and that the
whole of it had been burned except a small piece from which this
cane has been made. I have cvrefuUy preserved the st:ck thirty- ,
seven years, as a memorial of early times and ol I friends and as<o-
ciations, and now respectfully request the corporation of Cassop-
olis to accept this cane with my warmest wishes that the beauti-
ful village, in the founding of which and the building up I took
an humble but eirnest part during seventeen years in which it
was my home, may be blessed and prosperous, and its citizens
happy." A. H. Redfield.
Dated Detroit, October 24, 1868.
INITIAL EVENTS.
When the plat of Cassopolis was recorded there
was not within its bounds a single dwelling house,
but very soon there appeared tangible tokens of the
village that was to be. Ira B. Henderson erected a
log cabin on the ground in front of which Mcllvain,
Phelps & Kingsbury's store now stands ; John
Parker put up a hewed log house on Lot 5, Block 1
south, Range 1 west, and in the spring of 1832
Messrs. Sherman and Redfield put up a large, frame
house on the northwest side of the public square —
which is still standing and the oldest house in Casso-
polis.
The cabin of Abram Tietsort, Jr., was not included
in the original limits of the village, but its site is
inside of the present boundaries. Julia Ann Tiet-
ort (now Mrs. Gates, of Orleans County, N. Y.)
was born there July 3, 1830, and was the first
white child which had its nativity in Cassopolis.
The first death was that of Jason R. Coates, and
occurred August 7, 1832. He was killed by being
dashed against the limb of a tree by a spirited saddle
horse which became unmanageable and ran away with
him. The funeral was attended from Henderson's
tavern, and the remains were interred where they now
rest in the cemetery. A portion of the ground in
the burial-place was set apart at that lime by Mr.
Sherman.
Upon January 1, 1833, was celebrated the first
wedding, the parlies to which were Elias B. Sherman,
and Sarah, daughter of Jacob Silver. Mr. Sherman
had arrived at the realization of the great truth
that is not good for man to be alone, and, having
induced Miss Silver to believe that it was not alto-
gether good for woman to be alone, they set the day
for the happy event which should make them one.
There was no minister in Cassopolis at that time, and
none in the immediate vicinity. Miss Silver's
especial choice was to have the marriage ceremony
performed by an Episcopalian, and learning that
Bishop Philander Chase had just located at '' Gilead,"
about sixty or seventy miles east of Cassopolis, Mr.
Sherman was sent out to secure, if possible, his serv-
ices. Early one morning, mounting a trusty horse,
he set out upon his journey and at nightfall arrived
at the Bishop's cabin. He was successful in his mis-
sion and upon the following morning started upon his
return trip. Miss Silver was delighted with the idea
of being married by a Bishop, and elaborate prepara-
tions were made for the ceremony. The morning of
the 1st of January dawned auspiciously. The
sun shone brightly and the weather was as mild as
May. The Bishop was on hand according to agree-
ment, the people of the little hamlet and of the sur-
rounding country were filled with pleasurable excite-
ment and all went '• merry as a marriage bell." The
guests assembled in the second story of the building
in which Jacob Silver sold goads — since known as
''the old red store." The large room had been espe-
cially prepared for the occasion and made as pleasant
as was possible. The weather was so balmy and
warm that the windows and doors were left open.
Spring-like breezes floated through the apartment,
and wild flowers picked in the morning upon Young's
prairie brightened the costumes of some of the maids
and matrons who were present. Benjamin F. Silver
and Charlotte Hastings acted respectively as grooms-
man and bridesraiiid. Not all of the names of those
present can be remembered, but among the guests at
this first social gathering in Cassopolis were Alexan-
der H. Reilfield. Dr. Henry H. Fowler, Benjamin F.
I
^7)-'L.cy^^ y^i^c^^^^
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Silver. Ira B. Henderson, John Parker, Honley C.
Lybrook, David Brady, George Jones, Peter and
David Shaffer, Robert Wilson, the Mcintosh and
Shields families, Joel Wright, Isaac Shurte, Eli P.
Bonnell, Job Davis and Abraham Townsend. Almost
all of these were accompanied by their wives and
families and the company was, considering the time,
a very large one. The pair joined in wedlock upon
that bright, balmy New Year's Day are still living
and surrounded with a circle of warm friends who
hope to see them celebrate tlieir golden wedding and
many succeeding anniversaries of their marriage.
CASSOPOLIS IN 1835.
The infant Oassopolis attained the age of four years
in 1835. A few. a very few, gray-bearded men, look-
ing through the picture galleries of their memory, can
find a more or less faded representation of the seat of
justice of Cass County as it appeared forty-six years
ago; but scrutinize the picture closely as he will, no
one of them can detect suggestions or promise of the
beautiful and thriving village of to-day.
There was a little clearing in the wooils, which con.
tained a straggling group of perhaps a dozen houses
and log cabins. Through the forest surrounding this
small, new d)t of civilization, here and there paths or
trails wound away t )ward other settlemunts. There was
one e.Ktending to the southward to Edwardsburg, not
where the present road is, but over the hdl by Mrs.
Anderson's residence. Another led across the ground
now used as a burial-place, and northwesterly to La-
Grange Prairie, from whence it bore southward to
Pokagon. Nearly all the travel between the latter
settlement and Cassopolis was by this round. ibout
route. Bearing off from the La Grange Prairie road
to the nortiiward, was a trail to Whitinanville. Ex-
tending eastward from the little hamlet there was a
path by way of Diamoml Lake to Young's Prairie,
and beyond, and branching from it there was one
which led down to Mottville. The road to Niles in
those days led through the woods on the high ground
west of Stone Lake, where it may still be traced, and
forms indeed a beautiful woodland path.
Travelers (and there were many of them going about
the country looking for land locitions in the time of
which we write), riding into Cassopolis on any one of
the winding trails above mentioned, drew up at the
tavern kept by Eber Root. This was a framed build-
ing, anil stood on the ground now occupied by the
Cass House. Its exterior was not particularly allur-
ing in appearance, but within was a genial landlord
and good cheer. The wayfarer and the stranger, if
the season were winter, could warm himself before a
crackling wood fire in the bar-room, and supplement
the external comfort by internal, through the agency
of the honest whisky which Root sold for three cents
a glass. One barrel and a few bottles usually con-
tained the whole of the liquid stock in trade, but the
single barrel was very frequently replenished from the
Silver's distillery down by the lake. Whisky was
almost universally drank in those days, and Root sel-
dom kept any other form of spirits. When court sat,
however, there was demand for beverages either milder
or more aristocratic, and wines and brandies were im-
ported for the occasion. The bar-room of the tavern,
however, was not suppi)rted entirely by the patronage
of the traveling people. The distillery was a home
institution, and at that time about the only manufact-
uring establishment in Cassopolis, and the " drouthy
neebors " of the village gave it a hearty support, even
going so far as to sit up nights and dispose of its pro-
ducts, and that, too, very often, after devoting the
entire day to the same work.
If the stranger who visited Cassopolis in 1835
desired the services of a lawyer, he found Alexander
H. Redfield, who was boarding at the tavern, or Elias
B. Sherman, who lived in the frame house which still
stands on its original site, back of the county offices,
and is now owned by Mrs. Caroline Bisbee. This
house was built by Mr. Sherman for a hotel, but at
the time of which we write, it was a private dwelling
house, occupied by M.r. Sherman and " Uncle Jake
Silver."
Rivaling in importance, as a social center, the tav-
ern, there was Silver's store, " the old red store,"
which stood where is now the ware room occupied
with a portion of French's hardware stock. Here
the Silvers dispensed goods in small quantities and
great variety, to the few people of the village, and the
larger number who dwelt in the region round about,
and here lawyer Redfield kept the post office.
Upan the lot back of the present place of business
of Mcllvain, Phelps & Kingsbury, stood a little log
building, originally built by Ira B. Henderson, for a
hotel, in one end of which the village smithy had his
forge, while the other end was occupied by a family.
Not far away from this building, on the lot now
best described as south of the Lindsey plaaing-mill,
was a small log building, with a big, formidable lock
upon its door, tiio county jail, which is elsewhere de-
scribed.
Besides these buihlings, Cassopolis contained, in
18-35. a half dozen others, or, to be exact, seven.
There was, to begin the enumeration, the distillery,
to which allusion has been made ; a little house where
•loel Cowgill now lives, in which resided Catherine
Kimmerle, a widow ; one in which David Ro )t and
his mother lived ; the house just west of Lindsey's
158
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
planing-raill, now owned by James Boyd ; a story and
a half frame house where Myers' store is; the small
structure still standing east of Joseph Graham's resi-
dence ; and down near the lake, a one story log
cabin, in which dwelt "Deaf Dick" and "Aunt
Peggy," both of whom were deaf and dumb.
The village looked very new and crude, stumps ap-
peared in all directions, and the huge trunks of trees
that had been chopped down still lay prostrate on the
ground along what is now Broadway, between Root's
tavern and the Silvers' store. Where Joseph Harper
now lives was a little vegetable garden, cultivated by
Eber Root. North of this point, the street was not
cut through the timber, and, in fact, it bore little
semblance to a street south of it, in the very center of
the village, owing to the presence of the logs and
brush, and the litter of the woodman's ax. Little
brown paths, worn through the grass into the sandy
soil, led hither and thither across the clearing, the
centers of their convergence being the tavern and the
store.
Just beyond the village limits, upon the bank of
the lake, between the sites of the foundry and bowl
factory, was the cabin of Abram Tietsort, Jr., and not
far away was a log building in which he worked at
his trade, cabinet making. Besides the rude but sub-
stantial articles of furniture, for which there was a
demand among the pioneers, the solitary workman in ^
the log cabin made occasionally a plain and simple
coffin, for death had come already to the infant village,
and there were four graves in the little burying-ground
in 1835. I
SOME LOCAL INCIDENTS OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN.
"Oh! there never was a campaign like that, and \
there never will be another, never ! " exclaims one |
who hurrahed for Harrison in 1840, and his face
grows animated as he recalls the humors of the great
partisan contest, and, perhaps, fancies that he hears
the faint reverberations of all those thunders of ap- I
plause and ringing cheers that so long ago made the i
woods echo. In 1840, the West rose up in its might
to honor him to whom honor was due, the hero of
Tippecanoe, and of the Thames, and soon the wave of i
enthusiasm inundated the whole land.
It was a great campaign indeed, that of 1840, re-
markable alike for the heat of its partisanship and !
the quaint and humorous forms in which the super-
abundant zeal of the people was expressed. It was
interesting as being the first shurj) political contest in
the West, [n character as well as time, it was the
campaign of the pioneers. Their enthusiasm was due
more to the fact that William Henry Harrison was a |
high type of their own class than a successful General
in tlTe war of 1812, although his military achievements
had first brought him into prominence, and nearly all
of the electioneering devices used in the Western
.States were of such nature as to keep before them the
idea that the Whig candidate was one of them. Hence,
the log cabin with the "latch-string out," the barrel
of hard cider and the coon skin were in constant use,
and were painted on the banners under which Harri-
son's forces marched on to victory.
The asperities of the campaign have been softened
by the flowing away of forty years, the bitter asper-
sions have been forgiven or forgotten, and the old
men who shouted for " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,"
looking back upon the whole affair, regard it at a dis-
tance rather as a prolonged season of uproarious
merry-making than as the bitter political contest it
really was.
One of the local incidents of the campaian of 1840,
is well worth recording in the history of Cassopolis.
We refer to the great mass meeting — the first political
assemblage of any consequence in the county — and
the largest of any kind, excepting only the meetings
of the past few years. We have secured the account
from an Old-Line Whig (the memory of the Whigs
being, it is thought, just a trifle more accurate con-
cerning the aifairs of 1840 than that of their op-
ponents).
A brief digression to touch upon the great mass
meeting held at Tippecanoe, Ind., will not be out
of place, as it was from the big fire which burne<l on
the old battle ground, that the most earnest Whigs
of Cass County, in common with those of Southern
Michigan, brought the brands to light their home
bonfires for the purpose of warming their colder
brethren. The convention was held on the 29th of
May, 1840. A sufficient number of men went from
Cass County to employ six teams in their transporta-
tion. They were gone about a week, took provisions
with them and encampeii nights along the way as the
pioneers did when they came into the country.
From Cassopolis and its immediate vicinity, those
in attendance were Joseph Harper, Cornelius V.
Tietsort, Abram Loux and William H. Brice, and
from Young's Prairie, " Big Bill" Jones, George
Jones (father of the present Sheriff) and Ephraini
arrd Samuel Alexander. They heard some very able
and eloquent speeches made by Henry S. Lane (mem-
ber of Congress and afterward Governor of Indiana),
James lirooks., of New York, and others ; saw an im-
mense concourse of people, a great many log cabins
and canoes; feasted at the big barbecue ; gazed on a
colossal "Johnny Cake," measuring about three by
sixteen feet, and came home even more enthusiastic
about William Henry Harrison, than they had been
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
159
when they started upon their journey of more than a
hundred miles to attend the meeting.
The memorable day of the campaign in Cass County
was July 6. The morning was forbidding and the
day wet, but notwithstanding an immense crowd of
people assembled and the rain did not seem to put a
damper on tlieir ardor. They came from all parts of
Cass and the adjoining counties and from Indiana, to
the number, it is said, of 5,000, which for the time
was certainly a great gathering. Inhabitants of dif-
ferent localities and individuals of the same vied with
each other in getting up noticeable turnouts and big
teams. Several log cabins, one of them quite large
ami very nicely made, were brought in from the coun-
try, and there were a plentiful supply of canoes and
the various other emblems of the party. The big cabin
was hauled in by a team of five horses, Jonathan
Gard riding upon the nigh wheel-horse. From the
cabin door dangled a conspicuous latch string, and
Col. James Newton, of Volinia (a member of Michi-
gan's First Constitutional Convention), rode on top of
the cabin, astride of the ridge-pole, holding in his
embrace a fine fat coon. Another turnout which at-
tracted much attention was gotten up by E. H. Spald-
ing and others in Whitmanville and its vicinity. It
consisted of a team of twenty-six yoke of oxen, a pair
for each State then in the Union, attached to a huge
wagon containing a very considerable portion of the
population of Whitmanville. W. G. Beckwith was
Marshal.
The principal speaker of the day was George Daw-
son (for the past thirty-five years editor of the Albany
Journal), who held his audience for two hours and a
half with argument and wit. He spoke in the pres-
ent court house which was then in process of con- j
struction and had been roofed but not floored. The
speaker occupied a stand erected for the occasion and
the people in his audience stood closely crowded to-
getiier on the ground inclosed by the temple of jus- !
tice. Some disappointment was felt at the nonap- I
pearance of Gov. Woodbridge and George C. Bates,
of Detroit, who had been expected, but several other
speakers were present, and while Mr. Dawson was
holding forth to the audience in the court, they ad-
dressttd another in the Oak Grove, which then covered
the lot now known as the Kingman property. The
people dispersed at night in the best of humor and
filled with a sense of conviction that they had done
their duty for the Whig cause.
Later in the season, a meeting was held at Edwards
burg, which was addressed by Jacob M. Howard, of
Detroit, candidate for Congress, and Joseph R. Will-
iams, of Constantine, who was running for the State
Senate. The attendance was surprisingly large, but
the meeting was not to be compared in point of size,
merriment, enthusiasm and rude spectacular display
with the Cassopolis rally.
The log cabin brought into town by Jonathan Gard
and Col. Newton was presented to Joseph Harper, and
remained for a long time where it was deposited, in
York street, east of Broadway. Mr. Harper, who was
then Register of Deeds, had his office where Dr.
Tompkins now resides. After the campaign was over,
the cabin was moved back in the lot, and converted
into a pig sty. After all of the activity of the Whigs
in Cass County, the great meeting and their wild en-
thusiasm, they gave their candidate a majority of 143
votes ; Harrison received 670 and Van Buren 527.
Cassopolis realized one benefit which was permanent,
from the excitement of the campaign. Joseph Harper
wagered a village lot with Jacob Silver on the issue
in Pennsylvania, and, winning, received a deed for Lot
No. 8, in Block 1 north, Range 2 east, which, two
years later, he gave to the district for school purposes.
Upon it was erected the first frame schoolhouse in
the village.
.JOB Wright's prediction — the eagle's flight.
What may be termed another incident of the cam-
paign of 1840 was the prediction of Harrison's early
death by Job Wright, " the recluse of Diamond
Lake Island," who, we will remark, had fought under
the old General. The account here presented is from
a sketch of Wright, by the Hon. George B. Turner.*
* * * " Harrison was elected by an overwhelm-
ing majority. On the 4th of March following, the
Whigs of Cass County assembled at Cassopolis in great
force to do honors to their chief on the day of his inau-
guration. Amongst the many devices to give eclat to
the occasion was the letting loose, at a given time, of
an eagle that hail been captured a few days before. A
large crowd had gathered in front of the village tavern
to witness the flight of the proud bird. Just as they
were about to let it go, the recluse of the Island
came along the outskirts of the assembly, and was
told how, in a few minutes, this eagle, emblematic of
our nation's power and freedom, would be released to
seek his mate in the rerie from which he was torn but
a few days before.
" Now be it known that the recluse possessed, or
supposed he did, the power of divination, accruing
to hira by virtue of an extra thumb on the right
hand. He had two thumbs where ordinary mortals
had but one. He could not only tell what the future
would bring forth, but claimed to be able to read the
past with equal facility, though a century had elapsed
to bury it from the memory of man.
•Publinbed in the Sational Democral August 21, 1873.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
" As the master of ceremonies was about to give
the word which would set the eagle free, the old man,
in a solemn and impressive voice, was heard to say :
' So many rods as that bird flies, so many weeks will
Harrison, my beloved General live, and no longer.'
" He pulled his slouched hat over his eyes and soon
passed on toward his home, disregarding <he taunt
and jeer that was flung at him by the overzealous
friends of Harrison. The eagle was released. It
flew to a small, hickory tree, near where the Baptist
church now stands, and alighted upon one of its
branches, remaining there twenty minutes or more,
apparently bewildered by the sounds it heard and the
sights it saw.
" Some boys soon came along and brought him
down and gave him a prey to some dirty curs in the
crowd who rended it in pieces. The distance it flew
was some eight or ten rods. The student of Ameri-
can history, as he compares this flight with the brief
weeks the General enjoyed his proud position, will
wonder how inspiration could prompt the old recluse
thus surely to name bounds for the life of our Chief
Magistrate."
A MILITIA MUSTER.
In October, 1842, occurred the only general militia
muster in the annals of Cass County. It was a
peculiarly interesting and amusing affair, in all essen-
tials equal to the " trainings " so happily and humor-
ously described by Tom Corwin. of Ohio, in his reply
to Gen. Crary, of Michigan, upon the floor of the
House of Representatives.
The able-bodied, white male citizens of the county,
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, were
notified to meet at Cassopolis in pursuance of a liw
enacted by the State Legislature in 1841. This act
specified the purposes of the militia assemblage as
" inspection, drill-service and martial exercise."
These were precisely the elements of human action
which were lacking in the Cassopolis training of '
1842. Upon the day designated for the gathering of ;
the soldiery, nearly a thousand men assembled upon
the public square to go through those military evolu-
tions calculated to prepare them for " the trade of
death," which, by some remote possibility, they might
be called upon to follow.
The Colonel of the regiment was James L. Glenn ;
the Lieutenant Colonel, Asa Kingsbury, and the
Major, Joseph Smith. The latter was probably the i
only oflicer who had any knowledge of the methods
of infantry drill or military discipline. He had served
in the Ohio militia in former years.
Maj. Smith labored lustily to educate his fellow- ,
citizens in tho mysteries of military evolutions, but
failed signally in the accomplishment of his object.
He had, perhaps, the rawest raw material which ever
vexed a martial commander, and his failure could not
be considered as casting any reproach upon his ability
as an oflicer The militia, privates and subaltern
ofiicers, were attired in all imaginable fashions, and
their equipment was as varied as their clothing. Some
carried rifles, some shotguns, others rake handles,
sticks or clubs, and not a few of them bore those
terribly effective bucolic weapons, the common employ-
ment of which earned for the amateur soldiery of forty
years ago the characteristic title of the " Cornstalk
Militia."
The day was very disagreeable, the air being filled
with mingled snow and rain, and the earth .saturated
with water. The men, after tramping about in the
mud and becoming wet and cold, lost what little desire
for a military education they might have had at the
outset, and became thoroughly demoralized. The
officers could not evolve order from the chaos which
ensued, and confusion was soon worse confounded by
reason of indulgence in liquor; "whisky, that great
leveler of modern times," was here. The brave miliiia
men did not literally follow the example of Tom
Corwin's militia, and drink it from the shells of water-
melons, in imitation of the Scandinavian heroes, who
quaffed wine from the skulls of those whom they had
slain in battle, but used tin cups to convey the fiery
spirit to their lips. Judging from the effect produced,
there were not many slips, on this occasion, between
the cup and lip. A large quantity of the liquor was
consumed. Barrels of it were rolled out upon the
public square, and each Captain secured a pail, which
being filled with whisky, was carried up and down
the lines until all of the men in each company were
liberally served. Afterward many helped themselves
from the barrels. Innocent hibirity, moderate banter
and friendly trials of strength were among the first
results of their potations, but it was not long before
bad blood was aroused, and angry altercations took
the place of harmless wrestling matches. Several
disgraceful scenes followed. All idea of continuing
the training was abandoned. The crowd gave itself
up completely to revelry, and it was continued until
nightfall. The debauch was general. There arc a
considerable number of individuals in Cass County,
each one of whom claims to have been the only sober
m:in in Cassopolis upon the day of the great militia
muster. As a matter of fact, the labor of taking the
census of unintoxicated persons present upon that oc-
casion would be very trivial.
THE REMARKABLE TEMPERANCE AGITATION OF 1845.
Only a few ripples of the temperance tide of 1840,
the Washingtonian movement, reached Cassopolis, but
^^ye-
ASA KINGSBURY.
The subject of this sketch, probably the most suc-
cessful of the business men of Cass County, was born
at Newton Heights, near Boston, Mass., May 28,
1806. In 1830, he removed to Cleveland, Ohio,
where he was engaged for a period of about three
years in the manuf:icture of glue. In 1833, he was
given an opportunity to go farther West, which he
embraced, after short reflection, and as his remark-
able success has demonstrated, very fortunately. A
business man of Cleveland desired him to take his son,
a wild, reckless young man, and in return for his
trouble, volunteered to furnish him with whatever capital
he might need for the enterprise in which he might en-
gage. Mr. Kingsbury chartered a schooner, and
loading her with about $3,000 worth of miscellaneous
goods, started up the lakes, bound for any port where
he could advantageously dispose of his cargo, or find
an opening for trade. While passing up the St.
Clair River, Mr. Kingsbury was relieved from the
care of his protege, the young man deserting the
vessel. Mr. Kingsbury went to Green Bay, but not
liking the location, sailed up the lake to St. Joseph,
where, after being long delayed' from landing by rough
weather, and narrowly escaping shipwreck, he finally
disembarked and had his goods unloaded. In pros-
pecting for a good location for opening business, he
visited Bertrand, which was then enjoying its palmiest
days. Liking the appearance of the place, he had his
goods brought up the river and went into business.
In 1834, it became apparent to Mr. Kingsbury that
the village, which had only the year before seemed so
prosperous, had begun to retrograde. Hence, he re-
moved to Cassopolis, which was a promising hamlet.
His first venture was the management of a distillery
and store, which he purchased of .John M. Barbour.
From that time on, Asa Kingsbury has been inti-
mately and extensively identified with the business
interests of Cassopolis. In 1837, his brother Charles
came to the village, and a general mercantile business
was opened by the firm of Asa & Charles Kingsbury,
which was carried on for a period of twenty years, or
until 1857. They also dealt extensively in real estate.
In June, 18.55, Asa Kingsbury opened a private
banking office, in which he did business until the
First National Bank was established in 1871. Of
this institution, Mr. Kingsbury may be properly
termed the founder. He has been its President from
the time of its organization to the present. In politics,
Mr. Kingsbury has been a Democrat. While taking a
citizen's interest in political affairs, he has not been
an active office-seeker. He was once a candidate for
the position of State Senator, and in 1842 was elected
County Treasurer. Mr. Kingsbury has been very
successful in business, and accumulated a large property,
of which he has been a worthy steward. His benevo-
lence, never ostentatiously displayed, has been in pro-
portion to his ample means, and could be attested by
hundreds of worthy and needy men. His character
and ability are well known to the people among whom
he has dwelt.
Mr. Kingsbury has been three times married. His
first wife was Adaline M. Fisk, of Massachusetts.
The children by this marriage were Charles H. and
Amanda (Mrs. J. K. Ritter). Mr. Kingsbury's
second wife was Emily, daughter of Allen Monroe.
After her decease he married Mary Jane Monroe. The
offspring of this marriage were Nancy E. (Hull), now
of Jackson, Mich., Asa, Allen M., Ruth T. (wife of
James Hayden), Hattie J. (wife of Dr. Holland, of
Edwardsburg), George, Cyrus, Georgianna, David,
Emmeline, Blanche, Verna D. and Winnie May.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MTCHTCxAN.
161
in 1845, the village had a revival of peculiar character,
which was all its own — an agitation which in some
respects has had few if any parallels in Southwustern
Michigan. Its originator and conductor was Augus-
tus Littlejohn (a brother of the late Judge Flavius J.
Littlejohn). He was an independent, peripatetic, re-
ligious exhorter, a man of very good education and of
fair native ability. He is sometimes described as a
man in whom there was a strong vein of eccentricity,
but, to change the figure of speech, he seems rather to
have been entirely woven of eccentricities — the whole
warp and woof of his nature made up of curious strands
of some very strange materials.
Littlejohn had been speaking in various localities in
the southern part of the county upon the subject of
temperance, and a number of the citizens of Cassopo-
lis thinking that he might accomplish some good in
the seat of justice, prevailed upon him to visit the
place in February, 1845 No church had been built
in Cassopolis up to that time, and the temperance re-
former was granted the use of the court house.
His first audience was one of fair size, and the meet-
ing of perhaps more than ordinary interest. The
speaker exhibited earnestness and eccentricity in about
equal proportions, and the impression produced was
such as to encourage the friends of teiirperancc that a
succe.ssful revival could be carried on. Upon the
second night the audience was larger than upon the
first. The third was still greater, and the interest
seemed to increase in arithmetical, or perhaps geomet-
rical progression with the members of the meeting.
Littlejohn grew more fervid and vehement in his
style of oratory from night to night, and produced a
marked eff"ect upon his audiences. Many were in
(luced to sign the pledge of total abstinence. After the
lecturer had spoken nightly for about two weeks, such a
furor was aroused that the court house was crowded
to its utmost capacity. Reports of the great revival,
and of the eccentricity of the conductor, spread through
the country, and the farming population from that
time onward formed a large element in the nightly
gatherings. .\s evening approached, the streets were
filled with teams and the village bore very much the
appearance that it now does upon fair days or when
great political meetings are held. Some attended
through friendship for the temperance cause and some
from mere curiosity. The manner and methods of
tiie lecturer were certainly such as to cause :i sensa-
tion. He usually spoke for a time from the platform,
delivering a more or less argumentative address and
gradually working himself into a fervent heat he re
sorted to the style of the religious exhorter, better,
however, a generation ago than at present. He was
a very small, spare niau, and it j^eenied at times as if
he must be literally riven asunder by the force of his
own passion. As regards the physical man, this catas-
trophe, as a matter of fact, never took place, but the
demonstrations of the revivalist indicateil at least a
mental explosion. Leaving the platform, he would
walk down the aisle, wildly gesticulating and shouting
a frantic appeal to his auditors to sign the pledge. Oc-
casionally he would suddenly cease from speaking and
begin the singing of a hymn or of a temp'^rance song.
The people were provided with pamphlets containing
these songs, and from tlieir sale Mr. Littlejohn de-
rived the only revenue which rewarded his labors.
The singing was conducted with much enthusiasm
and some eccentricity. Prayers were offered at the
beginning and clo.se of each meeting and at intervals
during the evening. Mr. Littlejohn's prayers were
not less peculiar than his style of oratory and his
singing. He was earnest even to vehemence, and had
a way of introducing personal allusions which was
often anything but agreeable to the people whom he
mentioned.
With all of his peculiarities the temperance lecturer
had an honest desire to do good, to improve the con-
dition of his fellow-men, and lie labored to that end
with a zeal which is seldo n paralleled and with much
ability.
The series of m^-etings held at Cassopolis continued
for forty- two nights, and the interest of the people
showed little abatement, even toward the close. The
excitement was intense. Several hundred people
signed the pledge and many of them faithfully kept
it. There was of course an clement which could not
be held, but the " back-sliders" were, perhaps, no more
numerous in proportion to the number of signers than in
other similarily conducted temperance revivals. Back-
sliding was certainly not so near a universal thing as
it was in the case of a certain religious revival carried
on by the same Mr. Littlejohn once upon a time in
Newberg. A few months after the close of the gen-
tleman's season of labors in that locality, on being
asked how those people " liehi out" who had made a
confession of faith and resolved to lead better lives,
he said, " 0, they are all going back. WeMl have to
convert every blamed one of 'em over again next fail."
CORPORATK HISTORY.
. Cassopolis was incorporated in 18(5 i, under the
authority of the Board of Supervisors of Ca,ss County,
and in accordance with the provisions of a general
" Act to provide for the incorporation of villages"
approved Feb. 17, 1857. The following petition,
signed by a number of citizens, accompatiied liv a re-
port of a special census of Cassopolis, showing ihir
population to be 475 (exceeding the requirement], was
162
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
submitted to the board at its meeting of October
U:
To the HmorahU Boird ■•/ Su"eri,istrs •■( Cas^ County. Michigan :
Yonr appticiinlsand petitioners, residents in anJ legal voters of
the territory hereinafter descrilieJ, would respecifcilly petition that
the following described territory, of not more than one square
mile, he incorporated :n a village, to be known as the village of
Cassopolis, according to the provisions of Chapter 72 of the com-
piled taws of Michigin and the acts amendatory thereto. Said
territory to he so incorporited being kaowii and described as fol-
lows, to wit : The southwesi quarter of Section twenty-five (2')).
the southeast quarter of Section tweniy-^ix (2Ci). the northeast
quarter of Section thirty-five (<■'>) iiid the ,imrihwe=t quarter of
Section thiily-six (Slj) all in T..wnship six (11) .sou li. of Range
fifteen ( 15) west, in the county of (lass. etc.
Viiur Tetilioners would respectfully represeni that they have
caiiseil to he taken an accur iie cen-iiis of f e resident populat on
of said territory, above and herein' efore de-cribeil and duly
verified by the affidavit ot Charles W. ' li bee. theicto annexed,
which said census contains and exhibits the name of every heail
of a family residing within said territory on the fourth day of Sep-
tember, in the yeir o' oi.r Lord one thousand eig'it hun Ired and
sixty-three and the number of jiersons then belonging to such
family therein named plaied opposite to the respective family
head, and which svid census, so taken as aforesaid, in accord-
ance with the provisions of Seitiou 2,liiil of ihe Compi ed Laws
of Michigan, so verified as aforesa^l. is her. i" annexed, and
respectfully submitted, your petitioners hivin; cau-e I the same
crn-us to be taken as aforesaiil. by Ch irle" W Clisbee.
An 1 y.iur peiitioner^ would further repr.-sen' of persons re-id-
ing in such territory heretofore describe 1 accnnling to such cen-
sus is the number of four bun Ire 1 and seventy-five persons,
r.inl to which your petitioners nould respectliil'y refer.
And your petitioners will ever pray. etc.
Dated t'AssiipoLTS, Cass County, Michigin, September 4, 18t)3.
.Joseph Smith.
.lac.ib Silver,
O.S. Custard.
l-aiah Inn.an,
J. Tietsort,
.lohn McManus.
M. Graham.
Eth.an Kely.
M. B. Custard,
David Histel.
J. r. Osborn.
,lo<eph Harper.
A. Smith,
Thomas Stapleton
.lohn II. Powers.
L. II. Glover.
D. L. French.
Bar holomew We
Isaac Brciwn.
L. wis Clisbee.
1 . C. Allison.
Ira Urownell.
Bariik Mead.
Heniy Wal on.
II. K. McManus.
1. V. .Sherman.
M. B.ldwin,
Charl.s Hartfelte
M. .1. Baldwin,
II. 1,. King.
Ityron Br.idley,
A. K. fleveland.
S. S. Chapma-n.
Chaile- W. Hrott
E U. .Sherwood,
Hiram Br wn.
Charles W. Clis'.ee.
.lefierson Brown
.■Sanfor.i Ashcr..fl.
Peter Snirr.
J. K. Hitcr.
D. Blackman
A Garwood.
W. K. IMmer.
S. T. Head.
G. A F.ly,
George W. Van Antwerp
Daniel li Smith.
L. U. Read.
R. M. Wilson.
.lames Norton.
S. Pl-yfor.1.'
U. S. Jones.
L. I) Tompkins.
Henry Shaffer.
•Joseph Graham.
.!. B. Chapman,
Charles .V. Hill.
.lames Boyd.
election of officers should be held at the court house
on the second Monday of November (the 9th). and
appointed Joseph Smith, Henry Walton and Charles
W. Clisbee as Inspectors.
Following are the officers chosen on this occasion :
President, Joseph Sraith; Trustees, Henry Wal-
ton, Peter Sturr, Barak Mead. Charles W. Clisbee,
Alonzo Garwood, Charles G. Batiks ; Treasurer,
Charles H. Kingsbury; Clerk, Joseph Harper;
Assessors, John H. Powers, John Tietsort ; Street
Commissioners, David Histed, Sylvador T. Read,
Isaac Brown ; Marshal, William K. Palmer ; Fire
Wanlens, Murray Baldwin, Joseph Graham, Lafa-
yette R. Reatl, Henry Shaffer, Arthur Smith.
Below are given the officers who have served in
each of the subsequent years from 1864 to 1881
inclusive :
1864 — President, Joseph Smith ; Trustees, Daniel
Blackraan, Peter Sturr, Barak Mead, Charles G.
Banks, Charles W. Clisbee. Alonzo Garwood ;* Treas-
urer. Charles H. Kingsbury ; Clerk. L. H. Glover ;
Assessor, Henry Walton ; Street Commissioner,
David Histed: Marshal. James Boyd ; Fire Wardens,
Charles W. Brown. Lafayette R. Read.
1866 — President, Hiram Brown ; Trustees, Daniel
Blackman, Barak Mead, William W. Peck, Peter
Sturr. Isaac Brown, S. T. Read ; Treasurer. Charles
H. Kingsbury : Clerk. L. H. Glover ; Assessor,
Henry Walton ; Street Commissioners, John Tietsort,
Joseph Graham; .Marshal, Byron Bradley; Fire
Wardens, Byron Bradley. Joseph Graham.
1866 — President. Isaac Brown ; Trustees. Daniel
Blackman. Sylva.lor T. Read. William W. Peck. Ira
Brownell, Darius L. French ; Clerk, L. H. Glover ;
Treasurer, Charles H. Kingsbury ; Assessor, Daniel
S Jones ; Street Commissioners, Sylvador T. Reatl,
William W. Peck; Marshal, James L. Norton; Fire
Wardens, Ira Brownell, Alonzo B. Morley.
1867 — President. Ibaac Brown ; Trustees, Daniel
Blackman, Sylva.lnr T. Read, William W. Peck,
Elias B. Sherman, Charles H. Kingsbury, Darius L.
French; Clerk, L. H. Glover; Treasurer, Jeremiah
B. Chapman; Assessor, Henry Tietsort ; Street Com-
tnissioners. James Boyd. Charles G. Banks ; Mar-
shal. Daniel B. Smitlit; Fire Wtirdens, Eber Reyn-
olds, Henry Shaffer.
1868— President. Joseph Harper; Trustees, Will-
I im W. Peck, .Andrew J. Smith. Eli.is B. Shermtm,
Christopher C. Allison. Sylvailor T. Reatl, Louis D.
."^mith ; Clerk, L H. Glover ; Treasurer, Jeremiah
B. Chapman; Assessor, William L.Jakways ; Marshal,
•Garwood resignwl and William W Perk was appointed Trustee to flit tlie
The Boaril granted tlii" petition, ordered that an
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
Iti.i
John Shaw ; Street Commissioners, Charles W. Chis-
bee, Isaac Brown ; Fire Wardens, Charles G. Banks,
Darius L. French.
1869 — President, Joseph Harper ; Trustees. C. C.
Allison, John Tietsort, Jordan P. Osborn. Daniel
BlHckman, Morris B. Custard, C. C. Nelson ; Clerk,
L. H. Glover; Treasurer, Barak Mead; Assessor,
Alonzo Garwood ; Marshal, Jsicob Mcintosh ; Street
Commissioners, David Histed. Charles Berry ; Fire
Wardens, Wilson Kingman. Darius L. French.
1870— President, William P. Bennett; Trustees,
John Tietsort, Morris B. Custard, Andrew Woods,
C. C. Nelson, Henry J. Webb, Alonzo B. Morley ;
Clerk. Ellery C. Deyo ; Assessor, Andrew Woods ;
Marshal, Jacob Mcintosh ; Treasurer, Albert Magin-
nis ; Street Commissioners, Morris B. Custard, James
A. Fuller; Fire Wardens, Wilson Kingman, Darius
L. French.
1871 — President, William P. Bennett; Trustees,
C. C. Nelson, Joel Cowgill. John A. Talbot. Zacheus
Aldrich, Matthew T. Garvey ; Clerk. Ellery C.
Deyo; Treasurer, Albert Maginnis; As.sessor, Mor-
ris B. Custard; Marshal. Daniel H.Rugar; Street
Commissioners, Orson Rudd, John Shaw; Fire
Wardens, Jordan P. Osborn, Henry C. French.
1872— President, L. H. Glover*; Trustees, W.
W. Mcllvain, Jordan P. 0.-<born, Henry Shaffer^
Abijah Pegg, John R. Carr, William P. Bennett;
Clerk, Eber Reynolds; Treasurer, Albert Maginnis ;
Assessor, L. H. Glover ; Marshal, Owen L. Allen ;
Street Commissioners, Hiram Norton, Henry Blood-
good ; Fire Wardens, Daniel B. Smith, Henry C.
French.
1873 — President, John Tietsort; Trustees, Morris
B. Custard. William D. Reames, Marshall L. Howell.
W. W. Mcllvain, Jordan P. Osborn ; Clerk, Eber
Reynolds ; Treasurer, Albert Maginnis ; Assessor,
Charles G. Banks; Marshal, Owen L. Allen; Streo^
Commissioners, Owen L. Allen, Zncheus Aldrich •
Fire Wardeiis, Jordan P. Osborn, William W. Peck.
1874 — President, John Tietsort; Trustees, Orson
Rudd, Andrew J. Smith, Jeremiah B, Chapman,
Morris B. Custard, William D Reames, Marshall L.
Howell ; Treasurer, William W. Peck : Clerk, Wil
liam Jones ; Assessor, Joel Cowgill ; Marshal, Owen
L. Allen ; Street Commissioners, John Reynolds,
Owen L. Allen; Fire Wardens, Jordan P. Osborn,
Saniuel C. Van Matre.
1875 — President, Jordan P. Osborn; Trustees.
William D. Reames. W. W. Mcllvain, William P.
Bennett, Orson Rudd, Andrew J. Smith, Jeremiah
B. Chapman; Clerk, William Jones; Assessor, D.
. Glover resigned the office o
ViifCUHt I'J. Knd S. S. CliHimi i
B. Ferris; Treasurer, William W. Peck; Marshal,
A. B. Morley ; Street Commissioners, Charles G.
Banks, Jolin Tietsort ; Fire Wardens, S. C. Van
Matre, A. B. Morley.
Upon the 23d of April of this year, a special charter
was obtained from the Legislature, which i'^ now in
force, and under which the administration of copora-
tion affairs has been considerably changed and largely
improved. The corporation limits were extended, so
that they now include all of the southwest quarter
and the south half of the northwest quarter of Section
25 ; the southeast quarter and south half of the north-
east quarter of Section 26 ; the northeast quarter and
north half of the southeast quarter of Section 35, and
the northwest quarter and north half of the south-
west quarter of Section 36.
The officials elected in the spring of 1875, under
the old corporation regulations, had only short terms
of service, being superseded by a new corps, chosen
at a special election, held May 4. Following are the
names of the men elected :
President, Jordan P. Osborn ; Trustees, W. W-.
Mcllvain, Eber Reynolds, William D. Reames,
Stephen Jones, S. C. Van Matre, James Boyd; Clerk,
William Jones ; Treasurer, James H. Farnum ;
Marshal, Alonzo B. Morley ; Overseer of Streets and
Highways, Charles G. Banks ; Fire VVardens, Alonzo
B. Morley, Henry C. French ; Attorney, L. H.
Glover ; Deputy Marshal, Zacheus Aldrich.
1876— President, Jordan P. Osborn; Trustees,
Samuel Graham, S. C. Van Matre, James Boyd, W.
W. Mcllvain, Eber Reynolds, William D. Reames;
Clerk, William Jones ; Marshal, Avery S. Root ;
Treasurer, James H. Farnum ; Assessor, Daniel B.
Ferris; Overseer of Streets, Charles G. Banks; Fire
Wardens, Alonzo B. Morley, W. W. Peck ; Attorney,
L. H. Glover; Deputy Marshal, Zacheus Aldrich.
1877 — President, Henry C. French ; Trustees,
Alonzo B. Morley, Abijah Pegg, W. W. Peck,
Samuel Graham, S. C. Van Matre, James Boyd;
Clerk, William Jones; Marshal, Zacheus Aldrich;
Treasur.r, Romi W. Goucher ; Assessor. Daniel S.
Jones; Overseer of Streets Charles G Banks; Fire
Wardens, L. D. Tompkins, S. B. Thomas ; Attorney.
L. H. Glover; Deputy .Marshal. Ira J. Putnam.
1878 — President, S. S. Chapman ; Trustees. Sam-
uel Graham. James Townsend, Joseph K. Ritter,
Alonzo B. Morley, Abijah Pegg, W. W. Peck ; Clerk.
Thomas W. Smith; Marshal, John T. Enos ; Treas-
urer, Stephen L. George; Assessor, Daniel S.Jones;
Overseer of Streets, Charles G. Banks ; Fire Ward-
ens, S. B Tliomas. L. D. Tompkins; Attorney. I-.
II. Glover; Deputy Marshals, William Emmon-.
.John 11. King.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
1879— President, H. S. Hadsell ; Trustees, S. S.
Chapniiin. W. G. Watts. Henry Shaffer, Samuel
Graham. James Townsend, Joseph K. Ritter; Clerk,
William Jones ; Treasurer, S. L. George ; .\3sess0r,
Daniel S. Jones ; Mar ;hal, John H. Kcene ; Over-
seer of Streets, John H. Keene ; Fire Wardens, L.
B. Tompkins, S B. Thompson; Deputy Marshal,
Henry McCay.
1880 — President, Kiram S. Hadsell; Trustee.',
William Davis, Thomas Stipleton. Lsaac H. Wolf, S.
S. Chapman, William G. Watts,* Henry Shaffer;
Clerk, William Jones : Assessor. Daniel S. Jones ;
Treasurer, Stephen L. George ; Marshal. John H.
Keene ; Overseer of Streets. John II. Keene ; Fire
Wardens, John Tietsort and J. P. Osborn.
1881— President, Henry J. Webb; Trustees.
Hiram S. Hadsell, Darius L. French. William G.
Watts, William Davis, Thomas Stapleton, [saac H.
Wolf; Clerk, Williani Jones; Treasurer, Stephen L.
George; Assessor, C. C. Nelson: Marshal, John H.
Keene; Overseer of Streets, John H Keene: Fire
Wardens, John Tietsort and J. P. Osbirn : Health
Officer, Dr. W. J. Kelsey.
It may interest some persons to know tiiat nearly all
of the earliest ordinances for the government of the
corporation were drawn by Charles W. Clisbee, Esq.,
and the larger number of the liter ones by L. H.
Glover, Esij.
THE PUBLIC SQUARE OF CASSOPOMS.
There is a somewhat remarkable chapter in a certain
history of Ireland which is entitled " The Snakes of
Ireland." and the chapter consists simply and solely
of the declaration, "■ there are no snakes ui Ireland."'
Under the caption of the Public S(iuare of Cassopo
lis. it may be state^l. There is mj public square in
Cassopolis. There was one once, however, and it
seems proper to show how it has come about that there
is none now.
When the village was platted in 18:31, the proprie-
tors donated a considerable number of lots to the
county, to be disposed of by their agent, and also a
square designateil as the '■ C issopolis Public Square,"
and declared to be "designed for buihlings for public
use." This square, the center of which was at the
intersection of Broadway an<I State street, measured
twenty-six by twenty rods, the greater distance being
that from north to soutli. The square was for many
years an open common, but eventually those portions
which were not occupieil by public buildings were
taken possession of by individuals. These persons
the Board of Supervisors of Cass County endeavored
by suit brought in the Circuit Court, March 12,
1879, to eject. Judge John B. Shipman decided
ailversely to the county, ami the case was carried up
to the Supreme Court of the State of Michigan, and
heanl at the October term, 1880. Edward Bacon
appeare t for the plaintiffs, and Howell & Carr for
the defendents, viz., Charles G. Banks, John Tietsort,
Sylvador T. Read, John L. Yost, Joseph Smith,
Andrew J. Smith, Stephen Harrington, Granville
Smith, Jeremiah B. Chapman, James H. Farnum,
Asa Kingsbury, Henry C. French, Darius L. French,
William W. Mcllvain, Orlando Phelps and the
First National Bank of Cassopolis.
The Supreme Court sustained the court below, the
opinion being delivered by Justice Cooley ; and so
emled a quite remarkable suit.
From the decision we condense in part, and in part
quote, the history of the Public Square of Cassopo-
lis.
"In October, 1835, the Board of Supervisors voted
to erect a court house on a lot designated, not the
public square, and one was erected and used until
1841. when a new one was built. August 7, 1839,
the County Commissioners of Cass County, who had
succeeded to the rights and powers of the Supervisors,
for the nominal consideration of $6,000 gave a deed
to Darius Shaw, Joseph Harper, Jacob Silver, Asa
Kingsbury and A. H. Redfield of all that certain tract
or parcel of land in said village of Cassopolis, first,
the public square and public grounds with their priv-
ileges and appurtenances, for the uses and purposes
for which said square and grounds were conveyed to
said county, reserving the privilege to erect a court
house on the north east quarter ; and, second, a large
number of other lots which had been donated to the
county. The deed was an ordinary deed of bargain
and sale, and contained the usual covenants. Simul-
taneously, the grantees in this deed gave to the Com-
missioners their bond in the penal sum of $12,000,
conditionetl as follows: ' Whereas, certain village lots
in said village of Cassopolis, and certain sums of money
were formerly given to said county of Cass, by the
original proprietors of said village, and by others, for
the purpose of erecting public buildings in said village
for the use of the county, and whereas, the said Com-
missioners have this day given to us a warranty deed
fir a certain part of said village lots and property, and
.ilso one onler upon the treasury of said county for the
sum of $2,000. Now, if we, the said Darius Shaw,
.Vsa Kingsbury, Jacob Silver, Joseph Harper and
.Vlexaiider H. Redfield, shall erect, or cause to be
elected in said village within two years from the date
hereof, on such ground as the said Commissioners shall
select, a court house, 54 feet in length (etc., giving
CASSOPOLIS UNION SCHOOL
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
full specifications), then this obligation to be voiil,
otherwise to be and remain in full force and virtue.'
The court house was completed in accordance with
this undertaking, the northeast quarter of the public
square having been designate'! as the location.
" [n 1853, a new jail was erected by the county
on the same quarter of the public square with the
court house, and, in 1860, a building for county officers
was erected on the northwest quarter of the same
square. These are all the public buildings, which
have ever been erected on the public square, and they
left the south half of the square entirely unoccupied.
When the county ordered the erection of the build
iiigs for county officers, on the northwest quarter of
the square, the grantees in the deed from the County
Commissioners of August 7, 1839, protested against
their action, and notified the Supervisors that the
county did not own all of the public square, but their
protest was not heeded It will be perceived that this
action took place twenty-nine years after the plat was
made, an<l after the square was dedicated to the public,
if any dedication was made by that plat.
"The condition of the square, then, in 1860, was
this : The county had placed two public buildings on
the northeast quarter, and one on the northwest quar-
ter. The other two quarters, which wore separated
from the occupied parts by streets, were not occupied
by the county in any manner, nor does it appear that
there was any proposition by the county to make use
of them for any public purpose. A deed of the whole
square had been given by the County Commissioners
to the [larties wiio erected the court house, but what
idea respecting its ultimate disposition was in the
minds of the parties at the time, we are not advised.
The uses for which the square was conveyed to the
county were alluded to, as if they were to be observed
and accomplished ; but. if the square was to be devoted
exclusively to public buildings for county use and
occupation, it seems a very idle ami absurd thing to
include it in the deed at all The other lots conveyed
were for the benefit and enjoyment of the grantees, to
compensate them for their expenditures in erecting
the court house, and a strong inference arises that
some personal advantage to the grantees from the con-
veyance of the square was expected also, or at least
was looked upon as possible. It may perhaps have
been thought that only a part of the square would be
required for public buildings, and have been intenied
that the remainder would belong to the grantees. It
is certain that as early as 1860, these parties began
to claim as their own all that had not been previously
appropriated by the county for a court house site.
'In 1886, Kingsbury commenced business as a
merchant in a store situated immediately south of the
southwest quarter of the public square, and used in
connection therewith, a part of that quarter for the
storage of lumber, shingles, barrels and boxes and
with a hitching rack for horses. In 1856, he built a
new store seventy-two feet in length, with stone founda-
tion, one foot of which for the whole length was upon
the square. The cellar-ways for the store were on the
square, and were walled up at the sides with stone.
This store with the cellar-ways has since been occu-
pied by Kingsbury and his lessees, and use has been
made of the southwest quarter in connection there-
with. From 1858 to 1869, a tenant had heavy scales
on the square, set over a walled pit, near the center
of the quarter; he moved them this year last men-
tioned to another part of the same quarter where he
continued to use them.
In 1865, Joseph Harper and Darius Shaw deeiled
their interest in the public square to Daniel Black-
man. Redfield also deeded to Blackraan in 1869. In
1870, Blackman deeded to Kingsbury ; the heirs of
Tietsort gave him a deed in the same year, and Silver
another in 1873. Blackman, it seems, had set up
some claims of title to the southeast quarter of the
square in 1863, and had erected a building upon it
which he rented for a law office until 1878, when it
was moved away and a brick store erected in its place.
The Judge's finding states that the southeast quarter
is now built up and claimed by the occupants. In
1868, Kingsbury platted the southwest quarter of the
square into six lots, and sold five of them to persons
who erected two-story brick stores thereon, which
they now occupy and claim as owners. Kingsbury
also erected a similar building for a banking-house.
The value of these buildings is $35,500 ; the value of
the six lots without the builiiings, $2,200. The build-
ings were completed :n 1869-70 ; they have been
taxed to the occupants and the taxes paid ever since
1868.
" In addition to the foregoing, it seems important to
mention only the following facts : In 1842, the Board
of Supervisors by resolution lequesteil the prosecuting
attorney to examine the records of the county and
ascertain whether there was on record any deed or
deeds from the original proprietors of the village of
Cassopolis conveying to the county the whole or any
part of the county square for the purpose of erecting
the necessary county buildings, and if so, whether suffi-
cient or not. and if not, what means should be employed
to perfect the title. The records of the Board do not
appear to show any response to this resolution. In
March, 1865, the board passed a resolution reciting
that certain individuals had put buildings or other fixt-
ures on the public s(juare which the board had here-
tofore permitted to remain without rebuke; therefore,
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
John and Samuel Jennings carried on business for
about one year.
Henly C. Lybrook and Baltzer Lybrook formed a
partnership and began business about the same time
as the above. The former soon bought out his part-
ner's interest and went in with W. G. Beckwith.
About 1845, H. C. Lybrook, B. F. Silver and Simeon
E. Dow formed a partnership and carried on business
for a number of years.
In 1846 or the following year, Ezekiel S. and Joel
H. Smith opened in business where L. D. Smith is
now located, and from there moved to the Morse
property on the corner of Broadway and York streets.
Silver & Dow sold out of the firm of Lybrook,
Silver & Dow and Joshua Lofland bought in. In
1847, Lofland k Lybrook took as a partner Maj.
Joseph Smith. The brother of the latter, Henry
W., also had an interest in the store, and in 1850
Lofland & Lybrook sold out to the Smiths and
went to Dowagiac, where they took as a partner G. C-
Jones. The firm of Joseph Smith & Co was dis-
solved two or three years after its formation, Henry
W. retiring. Joseph Smith carried on the business
alone until 1855 when he sold out to S. T. & L. R.
Read. The business was carried on in the brick
building now occupied by Mr. Davis as a restaurant,
which was built by Mr. Smith in 1851. Not long
after the Messrs. Read bought the stock of goods,
they moved them to another building, and Mr. Smith
some time afterward resumed business and followed
it with some intervals until within a few years of his
death in 1880. He built in 1869 the large, double
store which his son, L. D., who was his partner and
successor, now occupies.
In 1851, a partnership was formed between the
Dowagiac firm of Lofland, Lybrook & Jones and J.
K. Ritter, of Cassopolis, for carrying on business in
the latter place. The firm name was J. K. Ritter
& Co., and the interest was divided equally between
Mr. Ritter and the company. In 1855, Mr. Rilter
bought out his three partners and conducted the busi-
ness alone from that time until 1858, when B. F.
Beeson became a partner. They discontinued in
1861.
M. B. Custard and Clark Bliss opened a store in
1855, but did not long remain in business.
In this year, as has been said, S. T. k L. R.
Read bought out Maj. Smith. Mr. L. R. Read re-
tired from the store to his farm, however, in 1857.
Three years later, he ajrain went into partnership with
S. T. Read, and remained until 1865. His place in
the firm was taken by W. W. McUvain. In 1871,
S. T. Read sold out to Orson Rudd, and the firm was
known as Rudd & Mcllvain. In 1873, Mr. Mcllvain
became the sole proprietor, but a short time after
took in Orlando Phelps. In 1880, George Kings-
bury became the third partner.
M. B. Custard and Dr. A. Garwood bought out
Maj. Smith in 1862, and continued in business for two
or three years, selling out to a Mr. McKee, who in
turn sold to a Mr. Birney.
From 1856 to 1861, -lohn Tietsort carried on the
first store in which boots, shoes and clothing were
sold exclusive of other goods.
W. W. Peck, who came to Cassopolis in 185^, and
clerked for Lofland & Ritter, went into business on
his own account in 1860. A year later the firm was
Banks (Charles G.) & Peck. In 1863, the firm sepa-
rated. John Tietsort formed a partnership with
Banks, and they carried on business together for ten
years, or until 1873, when they closed out. On
closing his partnership with Mr. Banks, in 1863, Mr.
Peck went into company with Albert P. Maginnis,
with whom he remained until his death in 1879. A.
H. Myers was then associated with Mr. Maginnis,
j and the next change resulted in the establishment of
Myers Brothers.
J. K. Ritter and A. E. Peck formed a business
partnership in 1865, but Mr. Ritter soon bought his
partner out, and continued the business alone until
1875.
Orlando Phelps and H. L. Cornwell began business
in 1870, in the store now occupied by L. D. Smith,
and continued for about four years.
The various firms thus far mentioned carried on
"general" stores, the earliest of them having the
most comprehensive stocks of goods. The several
lines of trade have not had a separate line of existence
until comparatively recent years. Especially is this
true of the grocery line, in which the first store was
started by Charles E. Voorhis. S. B. Thomas and
A. Hilts followed him, the former in 1876 and the
latter in 1879. -
Drugs were kept by all of the merchants at an early
day, and were not made a specialty until about 1846,
when Alexander H. Redfield and George B. Turner
opened a store in the brick building which stands
next to Capt. Harper's residence. The firm also sold
fine family groceries and books. They sold out to
Horace B. Dunning. He continued in business alone
until 1859, when he took A. B. Morley as a partner.
They carried on business alone until Dunning died,
and then Morley continued it until his death. The
stock was then bought by Shelly k Banks, of whom
W. D. Shelly is the successor.
Dr. L. D. Tompkins began selling drugs in 1S57.
James Boyd became his partner in 1859, and in 1865
the firm was Tompkins, Kelsey & Treadwell. Dr.
.Ar^'i.L.^^c
DAVID M. HOWELL.
The subject of tbiB sketch is a man ^Lose life has been prominently identi-
fied with the Interests of Cassopolie and of Cass County. He was born in
Champaign County, Ohio, May 27, 1817, and waetheson of Joshua and Cbriatina
Howell, who reared a family of six children, of whom the subject of our sketch
was the youngest. Hie father was a Virginian by biith and his mother was
born in Maryland, but reared in Virginia. In that State they were married in
the year 1800, and ten years later emigrated to Ohio. Subsequent to the birtb
of D. M. Howell, the family moved to Darke County, and from there they came
to Michigan in 1834. They stopped for a short time with Joseph Barter, one
of the pioneers of Howard Township, whose wife was a daughter of Joshua
Howell ; but soon after their arrival the father located at Bertrand, Berrien
County, where be kept a hotel for a number of years. The son divided his time
between the house in Bertrand and bis brother-in-law's in Howard (spending
the greater part in the latter place), and in 1842 both parents and son removed
to Cassopolie. Mrs. Howell died in 1866, and so were separated husband and
wife who had lived together for the extraordinary period of sixty-six years. She
was eighty-eight years old at the time of her death. Mr. Howell removed to
Dowagiac and made his home with a daughter until his death, which occuried
npon the ninetieth anniversary of bis birth in 1869.
The cause of the removal of the family to the county seat in 1842 was the
election of David M. Howell to the office of Register of Deeds, in November of
that 3 ear. Just here we may perhaps more appropriately than elsewhere al-
lude to the great misfortune under which the subject of our sketch labored.
When two years and a half of age he became a hopeless cripple, losing the use
of his lower limbs. His parents, however, not willing to admit the entire hope-
lessness of his case, continued for several years to seek a cure, visiting many
eminent physicians and receiving varied counsel as to the treatment of the
little unfortunate, but all to no avail. The boy was given a good common-
school education, and, being naturally bright and of quick perceptions, learned
rapidly in that other school in which the teachers are observation and experi-
ence. I^pon arriving at manhood be was well equipped mentally for the work
of the world, but physically incapacitated from entering many of the callings
open to others. His election to office was hence to him a greater boon than it
would have been to most men. It gave him a etait in the world, and it was
gratifying besides es showing the good will of the people and their recognition
of bis intellectual capacity. He had before ttis been twice elected as Clerk
and once as Justice of the Peace of Howard Township— positions which were of
very trifling value save for the compliment which was conveyed in its bestowal.
"When he entered the cfl^ce of Register of Deeds, he was the possessor of just
95 cents in money. He retaintd the office by euccetsive elections for
twelve years. During one-half of that period he was also a Justice of the Peace'
and for a long term of years he did the business of Deputy County Cleik and of
Treasurer. In 1846, he bought the land in Penn Township, just east of Cassop-
olis, on which he has lived since 1S58. It was covered with timber when purchased
by Mr. Howell, and has been cleared and improved under his direction. Mr.
Howell, since his removal from the village, as before, has taken an active part
in business and public affairs. He has ever been a zealous advocate of improve-
ment in educational methods, and a friend of almost every project for the ad-
vancement of the good interests of society. He took a prominent part in the
organization of the Cass County Agricultural Society and for many years was
one of its officers. Be was one of the original stockholders of the First National
Bank, was elected its first Vice President and has held that position continu-
ously since. Three times he has been elected as CouLly Superintendent of the
poor, and he 6er\ed in that capacity almost nine years.
Mr. Howell has always desired in some public manner to express the senti-
ment he has entertained toward the people of Case County irrespective of party
—a sentiment of profound gratitude for the many favors be has enjoyed at
their hands and for the confidence they have reposed in him. To this he at-
tributes chiefly the successfulness of bis life. But it is due bim to say that he
possessed in himself the integrity, the industry and the ability which com-
manded the respect of the people and which made it possible fur him to dis-
charge the duties of those stations to which he has been called.
On the Ibt of March, 1846, Mr. Howell was married to Miss Martha Ann
Anderson, of Pokagon Township, who lived with him until her death in 1869.
The offspring of this union was one son, Marshall L., who occupied a prominent
position at the bar of Cass County. Mr. Howell was married to hissecond wife,
Mrs. Charlotte Reynolds, in 1870.
History of cass county, Michigan.
A. B. Treadwell remained in the partnership but one
year, and the firm has since been Tompkins & Kelsey
(W. J.) H. J. Webb started in the drug business in
1870, sold out to Albert Gaston, but soon repurchased
the store and has since carried on the business unin-
terruptedly.
In the line of men's clothing, furnishing goods
and boots and shoes, the oldest of the present houses
is that of Read (S. T.) & Yost (John L.), who began
business in 1871. Chapman (J. B.) & Farnum (J.
H.) have sold boots and shoes and furnishing goods
nearly as long, and Moses Stern since 1880.
Harrington & Smith opened a large general store
in 1876.
The first man who sold hardware exclusively was
D. L. French. He began business in 1862, coming
from Dowagiac, and bringing a very small stock of
goods and a few implements for carrying on the
tinner's trade. He began alone, and three years later
took his brother Samuel into partnership. This
business relation did not last more than a couple of
years, and two years after its expiration Mr. French
associated with himself the Rev. William L. Jakways.
After a year and a half, they dissolved partnership
and Mr. French bought another stock of goods of
George Berket, of Cassopolis, to which he added a
stock purchased in Buchanan of H. C. French, who
became associated with him under the firm name of
D. L. & H. C. French. This was in 1869. The
firm has carried on business since then until Novem-
ber, 1881, when H. C. French withdrew.
Rev. William L. Jakways continued in the hard-
ware business only about a year and a half, a portion
of the time having a Mr. Codding as partner.
Wilson Kingman and H. J. Webb began in this
business in 1867 and carried it on for a year.
Zaccheus Aldrich and A. N. Armstrong opened a
hardware store in 1877. Mr. Aldrich soon withdrew
and Mr. Armstrong carried on the business until
January, 1882, when he sold to Wagor & Reynolds.
Messrs. Sears & Messenger have carried on a busi-
ness in agricultural implements since 1879, and Mr.
William Sears, the senior partner, has been in the
business for a long term of years.
Thickstun & Beringer, dealers in lumber, coal, salt,
etc., have been established since 1878. The business
has been in the hands of D. C. Thickstun. This
company bought out McConnell & Son. Orson Rudd
and a Mr. Granger have also had lumber yards in the
village.
Harness was first manufactured and sold by P. B.
Osborn as early as 1843. J. P. Osborn, his brother,
went into business with him in 1844, and since 1847
has carried on the business alone.
In the line of manufacturing industry, the first vent-
ure was made by the Silvers — Jacob, Abiel and Ben-
jamin F. — in 1833. In the fall of that year, they
put up the distillery near Stone Lake, which has been
alluded to in this chapter. The frame was so large
and made of such massive timber that it required the
efforts of a very large number of men to raise it. The
raising occupied three days' time, and was an episode
of great interest in the history of the settlement. Nearly
all of the male population of the central portion of
the county assisted in the work, and each man was
well rewarded by the Messrs. Silver. Each night
Jacob Silver took two pans, one filled with dollars and
the other filled with half dollars, and passing them
around through the crowd requested each man to help
himself to whatever amount he considered himself
entitled to for his day's work. The raising was super-
intended by Amos Huff, of Volinia, the contractor,
Eber Root, being sick at the time. The distillery
was run to its utmost capacity for a number of years,
and the farmers in. the surrounding country received
a great deal of money from its proprietors for their
surplus corn. In 1836, the Silvers sold the property
to John M. Barber, who, in the following year, trans-
ferred it to Asa Kingsbury. It was subsequently
carried on by Samuel Graham, and he in turn trans-
ferred it to Charles Kingsbury.
The present manufacturing interests of Cassopolis
are comprised in the bowl factory of Aldrich, Yost,
& Co. (Jesse Harrison and James H. Stamp) ; the foun-
dry of Messrs. Welling, Patch & Welling ; the steam
saw-mill of William and Joshua Berkey ; the Alden
Drier, carried on by Jones & Snyder; the flouring
mills of ihe Messrs. Rudd and Matthew Lindsey ; the
cabinet and furniture shops of D. S. Jones & Son
and Miles H. Barber; the ashery of Charles F. Shaw
and the steam gristmill, owned by Hopkins & Sons.
The bowl factory was started in 1876, by G. G.
Williams, and the Alden Drying Works were put up
the same year. The foundry, which antedates them
both, was started by John Decker. The steam grist-
mill and the ashery were put in operation in the latter
part of 1881. An establishment of the latter kind
was started prior to 1850, by J. C. Saxon, and for a
time carried on by Samuel Graham, who did a large
business. The Messrs. Rudd were actively engaged
for a number of years during the seventies in manu-
facturing a patent gate, which was extensively sold
in Cass County.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK.
Asa and Charles Kingsbury began a private banking
business in 1855, but dissolved partnership in 1857,
and Asa Kingsbury carried on the business alone until
170
HISTORYrOF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the present National Bank was organized in Novem-
ber, 1870. The incorporators and stockholders were :
Asa Kingsbury, S. T. Read, Joseph K. Ritter, Isaac
Z. Edwards, David M. Howell, Charles W. Clisbee,
Charles H. Kingsbury, Joel Cowgill, E. B. Sherman,
Amanda F. Ritter and Daniel Wilson, of Cassopolis ;
David Lilley, of Dowagiac ; James E. Bonine, of
Vandalia ; N. Boardman, of Three Rivers ; E. M.
Irvin, of South Bend ; D. C. Read, of Kalamazoo ;
and Henry F. Kellogg, of Elkhart. The first Direc-
tors chosen were Asa Kingsbury, Joseph K. Ritter,
David M. Howell, David Lilley, James E. Bonine
and E. B. Sherman. The officers have remained the
same from the organization to the present, viz.: Presi-
dent, Asa Kingsbury ; Vice President, David M.
Howell ; Cashier, Charles H. Kingsbury. The capi-
tal of the bank is $50,000.
HOTELS.
Ira B. Henderson was the first man who enter-
tained " the wayfarer and the stranger" in Cassopolis.
He opened a hotel in a double log cabin in 1831. In
the following year Eber Root and Allen Munroe were
licensed as tavern-keepers by the township authorities,
who " considered taverns a necessity and the appli-
cants of good moral character and of sufiicient ability
to keep a tavern." Mr. Root erected a frame building
where the Cass House now stands, and Munroe became
landlord of the house built by Elias B. Sherman,
which is still standing upon its original site back of
the county offices. This was known as the Eagle
House. Root's hotel is at present the planing-mill of
Matthew Lindsey, and still bears in faded letters the
name, " Union Hotel." It was moved away from its
original site in 1867, when the Cass House was built
by M. J. Baldwin.
Eber Root built a second hotel upon the ground
where now stands the Baptist Church. It was
destroyed by fire in 1859, at which time it had ceased
to be used for hotel purposes, and was occupied by a
number of families.
In 1850, Samuel Graham put up the building now j
occupied by Myers Brothers with a stock of dry i
goods, and carried on the hotel business in it for
about seventeen years.
POST OFFICE.
The first Postmaster at Cassopolis was Alexander
H. Redfield, Esq., who served until the appointment
of George B. Turner, who was succeeded by Horace
B. Dunning. The succeeding Postmasters, in the
order named, have been F. A. Graves, Barak Mead,
Horace B. Dunning, Alonzo B. Morley, Joseph
Harper and the present incumbent, C. C. Nelson.
RELIGIOUS.
In the winter of 1832-33, religious services were
held in Cassopolis for the first time, the officiating
divine on that occasion being no less a personage than
Bishop Chase, of the Northwestern Episcopal Diocese.
! The small audience which the celebrated man of God
addressed assembled in a room over the Silvers store.
It was not long before the Methodist circuit riders
visited the village and filled regular appointments.
The Methodists were the first denomination which
effected an organization.
The Rev. George R. Brown is believed to have
been the first minister who took up residence in Cass-
opolis, but he could hardly be called a settled clergy-
man. He was a Universalist, and coming to Cassop-
olis in the winter of 1835-36, he labored zealously
j for about a year to awaken an interest in that faith.
He was compelled, however, to abandon the field
{ because of meager support.
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
The Methodist Church of Cassopolis had its origin
in 1838. It was within the Edwardsburg Circuit,
which was established the same year. The early
records of the church have been lost, and it is there-
fore impossible to give a detailed history of the begin-
nings of this religious society. Meetings were held
in the court house and the schoolhouses until 1846.
In that year, Jacob Silver and Joshua Lofland erected
a small house of worship on Rowland street. Mr.
Silver was an Episcopalian, and Mr. Lofland a Method-
ist, and the building was intended for the use and
occupation of their respective denominations, and as
a place for general religious worship. This building
was sold, in 1854, to the United Brethren, William
Shanafelt becoming responsible to Mr. Silver for
payment for his share, and a mortgage being given to
Mr. Lofland. The society was unable to pay for the
building, and in January, 1855, Messrs. Lofland and
Shanafelt presented it to the Methodist Society, who
continued to occupy it until 1874. At this time, it
was moved away to make room for the handsome new
edifice which the society now occupies. This house of
worship arose through the labors of the Rev. J. P.
Force, who exerted himself unceasingly to secure the
necessary funds, and did, in fact, raise about three-
quarters of the total amount which the church cost.
The building committee were W. W. Peck, the Rev.
William L. Jakways, D. B. Smith and John Boyd,
and the builder was Mr. Smith. On November 22,
1874, the building was dedicated, the Rev. A. J.
Eldred presiding at the meeting, the indebtedness
which amounted to $1,600, being cleared on that occa-
sion. The total cost of the building was about $6,000.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Itl
This church, with its furnishings and the parsonage
on the corner of O'Keefe and York streets, consti-
tutes a property worth not far from $8,000.
The ministers who have preached for the Meth-
odists of Cassopolis, from 1838 to 1882, are the
following: Knox and Williams, Knox and Harrison,
Jones and Van Order, Meek and Tooker, Collins and
Worthington, Kellogg and Eldred, Cook and Granger,
Shaw and Erkenbrack, John Erkenbrack, Horace
Hall, J. W. Robinson, T. H. Bignal, V. G. Boynton,
Isaac Abbott, P. H. Johnson, E. L. Kelogg, G. W.
Hoag, Isaac Bennett, Edgar Beard, A. G. Graham,
J. Fowler, James Webster, J. P. Force, William M.
Coplin, J. W. H. Carlisle, William Prouty, H. H.
Parker, J. M. Robinson and W. M. Colby.
A union Sunday school was conducted during the
summer seasons until 1859, supported chiefly by
Methodists and Baptists. H. B. Dunning, Barak
Mead and Joshua Lofland were usually the leaders or
superintendents. The school was however small in
numbers, and consisted of about as many adults as
children. The Methodist Sunday school as a distinct-
ive organization came into existence in 1859, when
the Rev. E. Kellogg was sent to Cassopolis by the
M. E. Conference. It was organized under the in-
fluence of the wife of this minister, and Charles G.
Banks was elected Superintendent. He continued in
charge of it for over nine years, or until April, 1865.
The school opened with about twenty-five pupils, but
the number was soon increased to three times its origi-
nal size.
In 1866, the number enrolled, young and old,
including ofiicers, was one hundred and fifty. Rev.
G. W. Hoag and wife rendered able services to
the school, in 1861, and 1862 ; Rev. Isaac Bennett
in 1863 and 1864; Rev. E. Beard in 1865 and 1866;
Rev. A. Y. Graham in 1867 and 1868; Rev. J.
Fowler in 1869 and 1870 ; Rev. J. Webster in 1871 ;
Rev. J. P. Force in 1872 and 1873 and until Sep-
tember, 1874. Mr. Banks' successor as Superin-
tendent, elected in April, 1868, was the late William
W. Peck, who had as an assistant Mr. D. B. Smith.
Mr. Peck remained in charge continuously from this
time until 1874, with the exception of one year, when
Rev. William L. Jakways was Superintendent. In Jan-
uary, 1875, Charles G. Banks was again chosen to
fill the place, and served until January, 1878, when
William W. Peck succeeded him. D. B. Smith was
the assistant of each of the above Superintendents.
Mr. Peck was taken sick in November, 1878, and
died April 5, 1879. Upon his death, Charles G.
Banks was elected to fill the vacancy, and re elected
in 1881, when he declined to serve. C. H. Funk
served for a few months during the early part of the
year, and Mrs. Charlotte S. Colby was elected in
September, with Charles G. Banks as assistant. The
chief musicians have been John Tietsort and Henry
Deyo. The Sunday school, by the aid of John Tiet-
sort and Mr. Banks, made a purchase of a fine organ
in 1865, which is still in use.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This church was organized in 1842, under what
was known as the "accommodation plan." Its es-
tablishment was in a certain measure due to the
American Home Missionary Society, and for several
years it received a small amount of aid from that body.
The Home Missionary Society consisted of Congrega-
tionalists and Presbyterians. One of its by-laws, or
rules, provided for the organization of churches under
its auspices which should not partake of the distin-
guishing characteristics of either. The church came
into being under the name of the First Presbyterian
Church of Cassopolis, upon the 19th of March, at
which time the Rev. Noah M. Wells delivered an ad-
dress before a small gathering of people who favored
the organization. Its original members were Samuel
F. Anderson, Mahala P. Anderson, Carlos W. Bald-
win, Amelia Fuller, Margaret Sears, Eliza Ann
Beckwith, Hervey Bigelow, Wells Crumb, Lucy Ann
Crumb and Susannah Hopkins. These persons were
received on presentation of letters from other churches
and the following (the same day), upon confession of
faith, viz.: Joseph Harper, Caroline Harper, Will-
iam F. Huyck and Lewis C. Curtis. On the follow-
ing day Phebe Wheeler, Harriet Smith, Miss L. A.
Hurlbut, Amos Fuller, Mathias Weaver and Catharine
Weaver were received by letter, and William and
Margaret A. Mansfield and William Sears on con-
fession of faith.
The Rev. A. S. Kedzie was employed in Novem-
ber as the first Pastor of the church. Samuel F.
Anderson and Hervey Bigelow were the first Deacons.
Mr. Kedzie was only engaged for a period of six
months, and in July, 1843, the Rev. Alfred Bryant
was employed as minister. The succeeding clergy-
men, who have had charge of the flock, have been the
Revs. M. Harrison, James McLauren. M. Bacon,
Thomas Jones, George 0. Overhiser, Eli W. Taylor,
George H. Miles, E. B. Sherwood, A. H. Gaston,
Theodore B. Hascall. 0. H. Barnard Wilson
and M. Q. McFarland.
The erection of the house of worship of this society
was commenced in 1845. It remained unfinished,
however, until November, 1846, because of the lack
of funds to carry on the work. The parsonage
property upon the corner of O'Keefe and State streets,
was purchased June 13, 1855.
172
HISTORY OP CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
A large and interesting Sunday school is carried
on in connection with the church.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
This church was organized on the 8th day of
March, 1862, with twelve constituent members, viz. :
Elder Jacob Price, Sarah B. Price, Sarah B. Price,
Jr., Ellen Price, Mary Price, Carrie Price, P. A. Lee,
Barak Mead, Harriet E. Mead, Elizabeth A. Magin-
nis, Robert H. Trip, Jemima Smith. A council was
called, and met June 10, 1862. The prayer of recog.
nition was oifered by Rev. E. J. Fish ; sermon by
Rev. J. L. McCloud ; address to the church by Rev.
S. H. D. Vaughn. The church was received into the
St. Joseph River Association, which the following day
assembled at Niles. Elder Jacob Price, who had
preached and labored for the welfare of the church,
soon after this took pastoral care of the same, preach-
ing once in two weeks for two years.
As early as June 28, 1862, efforts were made to
procure a lot for the building of a house of worship.
This purpose was never abandoned, although for five
years the work was delayed. In the spring of 1867,
a plan was procured and a lot decided on. The
house was built, and, upon the 16th of March, 1869,
formally dedicated. The dedicatory sermon was
preached by the Rev. Kendall Brooks, President of
Kalamazoo College, from Job, xxi, 15. Rev. L. B.
Fish, of Lansing, preached in the evening. The
church was built at a cost of $4,765, of which amount
all but $1,000 was paid when it was completed.
In February, 1869, a call was extended to Rev. B.
P. Russell, then pastor of the Niles Church, to be-
come pastor. This call was accepted, and Liberty
Church, which united in making the call, divided with
the Cassopolis Church in the maintenance of the min-
ister. The ministers who have served the church
since Mr. Russell removed have been the Rev. T. S.
Wooden, E. H. Brooks, D. Morse and E. M. Ste-
phenson. A portion of the time the church has been
without a Pastor, and has been ministered to by sup-
ply Pastors. The church is at present in a good con-
dition, and has a membership of about sixty. A
Sunday school is conducted in connection with the
church which has a membership of about one hundred.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The first school teacher in Cassopolis was Mrs.
Jane Beach, a widow. The schoolhouse was a little
log cabin which stood where Joel Cowgill now lives.
A man named Harrison was the second teacher.
From the earliest settlement of the village, when
the above named lady and gentleman taught until
1843, schools were held in various places by a number
of more or less successful teachers. In the year men-
tioned, the first frame building was erected which was
used exclusively as a schoolhouse. It was located on
Lot 8, in Block 1 north, Range 2 east, donated to
the district for the purpose by Joseph Harper. The
building was a very good one for the time when it
was built, and sufficiently commodious to accommo-
date all of the children of the district. In
1857, however, it was found that a larger structure
was needed, and the union schoolhouse was built on
contract by Daniel S. Jones, at a cost of about $1,500.
Some additions and improvements were made in this
building from time to time, and it remained in use
until April 29, 1878, when it was completely destroyed
by fire. The building was valued at that time at
about $5,000, and was insured for $3,000, which
amount (minus a slight deduction) was paid to the
district officers. When the house burned, the trust-
ees, with a promptness that was highly creditable to
them, made preparations for the continuance of the
schools in other quarters, and soon the work of the
several departments was being carried on successfully
in Oren's Hall, the Reform Club rooms and D. B.
Smith's carpenter shop. The High School Depart-
ment lost only two days' time.
It was decided to expend the sum of $10,000 in
building a new schoolhouse, and upon the 21st of
May, W. P. Bennett, A. Garwood, J. K. Ritter, S.
C. Van Matre, J. R. Carr and W. W. Peck were ap-
pointed as a building committee. After examining
several architectural designs for the proposed building,
the one presented by Messrs. Hopkins k Osgood, of
Grand Rapids, was chosen. Proposals were adver-
tised for, and on the day appointed for their examina-
tion, June 13, the contract was awarded to Messrs.
Manning & Smith, of Niles, for $9,000, exclusive of
seating. The work of construction was commenced
immediately, and pushed so rapidly that the building
was finished by the 1st of December. S. C. Van
Matre was the local superintendent. The building
had still to be seated, but that work was completed
within a hionth, and upon the 9th of January, 1879,
the new schoolhouse was ready for occupancy, and
the winter term was begun upon that day.
The total cost of the building was $10,619.86, of
which amount, $9,176.71 was paid to Messrs. Manning
& Smith ; $800 for seats ; $146.66 for a bell ; $18.33
for window shades; $66.05 for extra painting, etc.;
$64.05 for Local Superintendent's services, etc. :
$22.52 forelocks; $73.82 for drainage; and $251.60
for architect's plans.
The building, which is of a modified gothic form
of architecture, and built of white brick with red
trimmings, stand.i nearly in the center of grounds.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
173
three acres in area, well adapted for the purpose they
serve. There is probably no more beautiful or sub-
stantial school building in Michigan which has been
erected for $10,000, and there are certainly many
which have cost more that do not e(iual its appearance
or practical advantages. It is two stories in height,
with an eight-foot basement under the whole building.
The dimensions are 78x62 feet. There are seven
rooms available for school purposes, not all of which
are now used. Upon the first floor there are four
rooms and upon the second three, the high school
room occupying the entire front. The second floor is
reached by a broad, platform staircase. All of the
wood work is pine, oiled and varnished, and the
mellow hue of the natural wood produces a very
pleasing effect. The rooms are supplied with the
best blackboards, the most approved forms of seats
and desks and have all the requisites of model school-
rooms. Ample and convenient cloak-rooms adjoin
each. In the basement, a novel and excellent pro-
vision has been made for the younger pupils in two
large play rooms, where they can obtain needed rec-
reation and exercise without the discomfort or danger
to health, which in cold weather would attend their
out-door play. The arrangement of the building is
admirable. The provisions for heat and ventilation
are perfect, and the rooms are all well lighted. In
short, the Cassopolis school building is one of which
the people may well feel proud, and a credit alike to
its architect and the committee under whose super-
vision it was erected.
The following is believed to be a very nearly
perfect list of the principal teachers or superin-
tendents who have taught in Cassopolis during the
past thirty years (a period which extends back to the
origin of advanced school teaching in the village) :
John 0. Banks began teaching in IS.'JS or 1854,
and continued until Charles Ayer came in 1858. Ho
was succeeded by a Mr. Miles in 1859, who taught
only about two months, and he by G. M. Trowbridge,
who remained until the fall of 1860. Since then
the succession has been : R. H. Tripp, two years
W. I. Baker, two years ; M. D. Ewell, one year
S. M. Burton, one year; Jason Newton, one year
F. A. Herring, two years ; H. C. Baggerley, one
year ; Eugene Ketcham, one year ; J. F. Downey,
one year ; J. C. Clark, one year ; Levi B. French,
one year ; F. H. Bailey, two years ; H. C. Rankin,
three years, and G. 0. Osinga since the fall of 1880.
CEMETERY.
Immediately after the death of Jason R. Coates —
August 7, 1832 — a village lot was chosen and set
apart by Elias B. Sherman for a burial-place. Jn
this lot, constituting a part of the present cemetery,
Mr. Coates was buried. Not long after, graves were
made to receive the mortal remains of a Mr. Shields
and of Charles Tarbos. The first woman interred in
the little burying-ground was Mrs. Mary Root, who
died August 22, 1834 (although the tombstone says
1835), and the second was Mrs. Allen Munroe.
The burying-ground was enlarged subsequent to
1840, by the addition of several lots, donated by the
Court House Company. In 1879, the cemetery
came under the management of the corporation, and
in that year an addition of about three and a quarter
acres was made to its area, the land being purchased
from Ritner Graham.
Mr. John Tietsort has for several years superin-
tended the improvements made in the cemetery, and
has most of the time served without any remuneration.
To him the public is indebted for very much of the
beauty of these grounds, where rest the dead of a half
century. ' The old portion of the cemetery has been
placed in excellent order, and the new very tastefully
platted.
The oldest person who has died in Cass County is
buried here. The tombstone bears the inscription,
" Mary, wife of C. Earnest, died June 25, 1871,
aged 109 years and seven months."
Near by is the monument reared to the memory of
the venerated Elder Price, upon which is inscribed
the following :
"Erected by the many friends of Elder Price as a
token of their high esteem of him as a man, and their
appreciation of his earnest, faithful and self-sacrificing
labors among them for so many years as a minister of
the Gospel of Christ."
CASi^OPOLIS REAIUNG ROOM AND LIBRARY AS.SOCIA-
TION.
An ^ organization was effected under this name
October 14, 1870, and incorporated February 11,
1871, under an act of the Legislature, by W. W.
Peck. William P. Bennett, Charles S. Wheaton, John
T. Stevens, A. Garwood, A. B. Morley, A. Magin-
nis, H. Norton, 0. Rudd, M. L. Howell, John Tiet-
sort, James M. Shepard, L. H. Glover and J. B.
Boyd. The objects for which the'society^was incor-
porated were "the establishment and maintenance of
a library and reading room ; the procuring and fur-
nishing of lectures on literary and scientific subjects,
and the affording of such other means of literary,
scientific and intellectual improvement as'the associa-
tion by its by-laws may provide." A, public reading
room was established, but only kept^up six or eight
months. The library Jias been maintained uninter-
ruptedly, and at present contains about seven hundred
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
well-selected volumes. The ladies of Cassopolis have
been very active in supporting and managing the
library.
" THE ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ORDER OF THE
ECLAMPSUS VITUS."*
" The first secret society of which there is any
record was a lodge of the Ancient and Honorable
Order of Eclampsus Vitus, which was instituted in
the spring of 1846 with Dr. E. J. Bonine, Laban
Harter, J. P. Osborn and Dr. L. O.sborn as charter
members.
" The order was in broadest burlesque of legiti-
mate secret organizations, and was afterward merged
in the " Sons of Malta," which died from exposure
(by Frank Leslie) in the next decade.
" The candidates for admission were bound fast,
blindfolded and dragged into the hall by halters.
They were placed in the most 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 peculiarity 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 mon-
strous hoax. Numerous Neophites were found to
assuage the grief and soothe the wounded pride of the
earlier victims.
" A grand ball \tas given by the lodge in the winter
of 1846-47, at the Union Hotel, at which over two
hundred badges of the ' Ancient and Honorable
Order ' were displayed, and that, too, by men who
stood the highest in popular esteem and respectability.
" 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 better pertion
of the members, but it was successfully resurrected in
1860 under the alias of the 'Brothers of Charity.'
"The second edition, although enlarged and im-
proved, was ' of few days and full of trouble ' to all
except the charter members."
I. 0. 0. F.
The first legitimate secret society organization
effected at Cassopolis was that of Cass County Lodge,
No. 21, I. 0. 0. F. The dispensation authorizing
the institution of the lodge was granted Grand Mas-
ter Andrew J. Clark January 16, 1847. The lodge
was instituted on February 18, following. On this
occasion the following officer.s were elected : N. G.,
Alexander H. Redfield ; V. G.^ George B. Turner ;
'James M, Shep»rd, In Rogor'a" History of C«a« Coanty."
Secretary, George Sherwood ; Permanent Secretary,
Henry R. Close ; Treasurer, W. G. Beckwith. In
1849, the lodge purchased a portion of the lot upon
which the county jail now stands, and remodeled a
building which stood upon it, making a very comfort-
able hall in which to hold their meetings. The prop-
erty passed into the hands of Henry Tietsort in 1854,
and he subsequently gave the lodge a perpetual lease
of the hall and its approaches. When the lot upon
which the building stood was sold to the county the
building was moved to its present location on Broad-
way. The organization is at present in a flourishing
condition, financially and otherwise.
Cass Encampment, No. 74, L 0. 0. F., was organ-
ized May 11, 1874, by G. P. Fayette S. Day, and
consisted originally of seven members. The first
officers elected were C. P., R. H. Wiley ; H. P., H.
H. Bidwell ; S. W., J. W. Argo ; J. w!, H. Dasher;
Scribe, A. P. Gaston ; Treasurer, H. Tietsort.
The first meeting of members of this fraternity was
held June 12, 1852, in the Union Hotel. At this
gathering, a petition was drawn up, praying for a dis-
pensation authorizing a local organization. July 9,
1852, the members met pursuant to the terms of the
dispensation, and organized under the name of Backus
Lodge, that appellation being assumed in honor of
Grand Master Backus. The first officers elected were
W. M., James M. Spencer ; S. W., Asa Kingsbury ;
J. W., Elias B. Sherman. The lodge held meetings at
Odd Fellows Hall until 1860; after that in Kingsbury's
Hall until 1876, and since that time has occupied the
second floor of the Chapman building. The lodge
has a membership of eighty, and owns $500 worth of
property. Its meetings are held Mondays, on or be-
fore the full moon.
Kingsbury Chapter, No. 78, R. A. M. (named in
honor of Asa Kingsbury), was organized March 10,
1871, with the election of the following officers, viz.:
H. P., Isaac A. Shingledecker ; K., Asa Kingsbury ;
S., Charles W. Clisbee ; C. of H., James H. Farnum ;
P. S., Henry Tietsort ; R. A. C, George T. Shaff"er ;
M. 3d v., Samuel Stephenson; M. 2d V., Jonas
Mechling; M. 1st V"., Amos Smith; Treasurer, Will-
iam Condon ; Guard, L. D. Tompkins. The Chap-
ter has a membership of thirty-three, and owns $400
worth of furniture, regalia, etc. Its meetings are on
Tuesdays, on or after the full of the moon.
Organizations of several other orders have had an
ephemeral existence at various periods.
A division of the Sons of Temperance was instituted
in 1848, and, at the same time, or soon after, an au>(-
iliary union of the Daughters of Temperance.
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
175
In 1852, a lodge of the Independent Order of Good
Templars was organized, which existed for several
years. A second lodge of the same order was organ-
ized in the summer of 1865, which remained active
for about four years.
.lOSEPH HAHPEK.
Mr. Harper was born December, I'J, 1805, in
Washington County, Penn., upon a farm where
his grandparents, immigrants from Belfast, Ireland,
had settled soon after the Revolutionary war.
Robert, son of .John and Margaret Harper, married
Tamar Johnson, who was of Scotch descent, and
belonged to a family who settled at an early date
in Washington County. The subject of this sketch
was the sixth child in a family of ten. He was reared
upon the home farm. After spending two years in
Pittsburgh and a short period in the village of Wash-
ington, he started for the then far West. It had been
his intention to locate in Chicago, but, by one of those
seemingly inconsequential happenings, of which time
develops the importance, he became a resident of the
then new village of Cassopolis. The exact date of
his arrival was February 3, 1835. In Pennsylvania, he
had learned the carpenter's trade, and he followed it
after coming to Cassopolis for many years. He was
the builder of the first court house, upon which he
began work in 1835, and also of the present court
house. Very soon after coming to Michigan he was
made Deputy Sheriff of Cass County, under Eber
Root, and remained in that capacity until the State
was organized in 1836. While occupying this office,
he served the first legal papers in Van Buren County,
thatcounty being attached to Cass forjudicial purposes.
In 1836, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and took
the office July 4. In the fall of 1838, he was elected
Register of Deeds, and re-elected in 1840. In 1837,
he was chosen County Treasurer to fill a vacancy,
and again in 1839, to fill another in the same office,
caused by the death of Isaac Sears. Capt. Harper
(as he is commonly called) has been complimented by
the bestowal upon him of a number of other offices of
honor and trust. He was Superintendent of the
Poor for several years subsequent to 1847 ; has been
President of the corporation a number of times and
is now the President of the Cass County Pioneer So-
ciety. In 1850, he went to California and followed
mining there for four years. Upon his return, in
1854, he was elected Sheriff upon the first Republican
ticket. Prior to the organization of the Republican
party he was a Whig, and was prominently identified
with the famous campaign of 1840. When the war
broke out, his popularity made it an easy matter for
him to raise a company of men and did so, going to
the front in September, 1861, as Captain of Company
A of the Michigan Twelfth Infantry. Upon May_^
27, 1862, he resigned and received a discharge for
disability. His army experience was unfortunate in
that it undermined his health and he was for two years a
sufferer with diseases which threatened very serious
consec(uences. In 1864, with a view to the im-
provement of his health, he went to Montana, and
for three years followed mining. The experiment
was successful, and he returned so benefited that he
is to-day as hale a man for his years as can be found
in the State. In the spring of 1869, Capt. Harper
was appointed Postmaster of Cassopolis, an office
which he held until January, 1878. Since that
time he has not been actively engaged either in pub-
lic or private employment. Capt. Harper now, at the
age of more than three score years and ten, as we have
implied, preserves in a remarkable degree his physical
powers and mental faculties. His memory is wonder-
fully retentive — a storehouse full of the facts accumu-
lated by the observation and reading of a long life-time.
His accurate recollection of local affiiirs has been of
peculiar value in the preparation of this work, and it is
safe to say that no one man in Cass County has been
able to contribute so much of reliable information for
the benefit of the historian and for posterity. And
now in the old age of a correct life, with family
and friends about him, he enjoys both the present and
the past. Religiously, Capt. Harper has been an al-
most life-long believer in the principles of Christianity,
and has striven to conform his daily life to them.
Capt. Harper was married October 25, 1836, to Miss
Caroline Guylford, a native of Massachusetts, born
September 4, 1816. Her parents were early settlers of
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and came from there to
Michigan. The offspring of the marriage were four
girls, of whom three are living in Cassopolis. Emily
S., the eldest, is the wife of J. B. Chapman ; Melissa
C, is Mrs. Joseph Graham ; Janette, Mrs. C. L.
Morton, died February 27, 1880 ; Maryette is the
wife of L. H. Glover. Esq.
WILLI. •VM P. BENNETT.
William P. Bennett, or Judge Bennett, as he is
familiarly known, was born in Maulmein, British East
India, October 17, 1831, and was the son of Cephas
and Stella (Kneeland) Bennett, both natives of the
State of New York. The elder Bennett was a printer
by occupation, and, in 1829, was sent out by the
American Board of Foreign Missions with the first
iron printing press over operated in Central Asia.
In 1840, he returned to America with his family,
176
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and, after a stay of about a year and a half, returned
to India, leaving William P. at New Woodstock, N.
Y., where he remained until 1845, when he came to
Tecumseh, Mich., but subsequently returned to New
York. He was educated at the Cortland, Woodstock
and Groton Academies and at the Oneida Conference
School at Cazenovia. October .5, 1850, he was mar-
ried to Miss Louisa Brokaw, of Cayuga County, N.
Y., and, in 1851, the young couple came to Michigan
and, in October of 1852, settled in Marcellus Town-
ship, then a new country, and began the construction
of a home. His ability was soon recognized by the
people, and for ten years he was their representative
on the Board of Supervisors.
In 1868, he was elected to the most important and
responsible position in county affairs, that of Probate
Judge, and such has been the appreciation of the
people of the manner in which he has discharged the
duties of the office that he has held the position unin-
terruptedly since. In politics, -ludge Bennett is an
unswerving Republican. He takes a deep interest in
political matters, using the term in its broadest and
best sense, and has always been active in advancing
the best interests of the community. He is a man
of large reading, and his acquaintance with general
literature seems as intimate as his knowledge of the
topics of the day. He is not a church member, but
a man of good habits and morals and of sturdy char-
acter. His mode of thought is vigorous and his con-
versation plain and direct. He is a man in whom
dignity is finely tempered with kindness and affability,
and the pleasant vein of humor in his composition
renders him engaging in his manner.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have a family of three chil-
dren — Alton W., a resident of Big Rapids, Mich. ;
Frank M., a graduate of the Naval School at Annap-
olis ; and Stella M., now Mrs. Lieut. Douglas Roben,
an officer on the retired list of the United States
Navy.
8YLVAD0R T. READ.
The grandfather of the subject of this biography,
Gilbert N. W^atkins, when the war of the Revolution
opened, was living in Massachusetts. He took up
arms to defend the patriot cause, received a commis-
sion as Captain signed by John Hancock and was
assigned to report to Gen. Gates. He served through
the whole war, a period of seven years and six months,
and was one of those who signed a receipt for the
full amount of pay without receiving it. He was
afterward offered a land warrant but refused it, and
before his death made a codicil to his will enjoining his
heirs from receiving any bounty or pension from the
Government, on pain of being deprived of other
benefits of the will. After the close of the war,
Gilbert N. Watkins and his wife, Sarah, settled in
Tompkins County, N. Y. There the former died in
1827. His wife survived, and emigrated to Michi-
gan. Esther, the fourth child of this couple, was
married in 1814 to Titus R. Read, a native of Peru,
Mass. He was a soldier, and worthy of the daughter
of so gallant and patriotic a man of arms as Gilbert
N. Watkins. Mr. Read served in the war of 1812
as a First Lieutenant, being wounded at the battle of
Queenstown. He was one of the two-thirds of the
force present who volunteered to go over the line and,
the Captain being killed, led the company.
Sylvador T. Read was born in Tompkins County,
N. Y., January 12, 1822, and was the third child
and first son of Titus R. and Esther (Watkins) Read.
The family removed to Erie County, Penn., and from
thence, in 1831, to Michigan. While they were
passing through Ashtabula County. Ohio, Mrs. Read
was taken sick and died. The bereaved husband
journeyed on to Michigan and located in Leonidas,
St. Joseph County. He subsequently removed to
Volinia, Cass County, and put out a nursery on
Little Prairie Ronde, grafting improved stock upon
the roots of crab-apple trees. He was doubtless the
first man in the county who undertook this method of
fruit propagation. He was a resident of Cass County
until his death, which occurred January 6, 1863,
when he was in his seventy-third year.
But to return to the immediate subject of our
sketch. Sylvador T. Read, upon the death of his
mother, returned to New York, and for a short period
lived in Ontario County. In 1832, he came to Michi-
gan with his grandmother and uncle, Nathan G.
Watkins. Subsequently he went to school for three
years in Erie County, Penn., and there became
acquainted with the lady who was to be his wife —
Rhoda A. Hayden. They were married in 1843, and
the same year settled in Calvin Township, where Mr.
Read, who had several times passed through the
county, had bought land. Farming was for a number
of years Mr. Read's chief occupation, but he also
followed "breaking" as a regular business, and
guided the great plow, weighing 500 pounds, through
many acres of Cass County grubs. He dealt largely
in horses and cattle and other live stock. In 1848, he
took a large drove of cattle to Chicago, and in the
following year drove a fine lot of horses to Oswego,
N. Y. These were the first horses raised in Cass
County which went to an outside market. In 1854,
he drove a herd of cattle, consisting of over a hundred
head, to California, and disposed of them to good
advantage. In 1855, he returned, located in Cassop-
olis, and immediately went into business. His first
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
stand was in the building latterly known as the Davis
restaurant. He rented this of Maj. Joseph Smith,
bought the store fixtures, put in a new stock of goods.
Four years later, he moved to the store now occu.
pied by Mr. French as a wareroom, and there
remained until January, 1870, when he sold out to
Orson Rudd and W. W. Mcllvain. In August, 1871,
he opened his present store in company with John
Yost. In addition to his other business, Mr. Read
carried on extensively for about fifteen years, subse-
quent to 1857, the shipping of cattle, sheep and hogs
to New York, and he built for that purpose a shipping
yard at Dowagiac.
Large as Mr. Read's private business has been, it i
has not claimed all of his attention or activity. To
him Cassopolis and Cass County are indebted beyond
any doubt for the Grand Trunk Railroad, a brief his-
tory of which is given in a chapter of this work. It
was he who first suggested to the President of the
Canadian Railway, which had its terminus at Port
Huron, the scheme of crossing the Michigan Penin-
sula and reaching Chicago, and it was due almost
entirely to Mr. Read that, when that project was
decided upon, the line was run through this county.
He gave liberally both of his time and money to efi"ect
that end.
The subject of our sketch has been an earnest
and energetic worker in every measure or project
in which he has engaged, and the people, recog-
nizing that quality in his nature, combined with
shrewd common sense, have frequently placed him in
positions where his energies might be of value to the
public. He has served upon the Cassopolis School
Board for twelve years and as a member of the Council
for eight years. Before he took up his residence in
the county seat, he held various ofiBces in the gift of
the people of Calvin Township. While taking a deep
interest in political affairs, he has never been an aspi-
rant for political oflSce. The oflBce of Sheriff' might
easily have been his at one time had he not refused
the nomination, and various other positions of honor
and trust would have been given to him had he cared
to accept them. His political affiliations have been
with the Abolitionist and Republican parties.
Mr. Read has been associated with the Presby-
terian Church for forty-two years, and is a member
of the organization of that denomination in Casso-
polis.
We have already mentioned the fact that Mr. Read
was married in 1843 to Rhoda A. Ilayden. Their
children are Helen Jane (Mrs. W. W. Mcllvain),
Ophelia A. (Mrs. Orlando Phelps), Martha
(deceased), Sarah I. (Mrs. H. D. Smith), Frank
(deceased), and Nettie N.
JOSHUA LOFLAND.
Mr. Lofland was born in Milford, Del., September
8, 1818. At the age of eighteen, he was placed in a
store, and for several years remained in that position,
gaining the rudiments of a practical business educa-
tion. In 183(3, with his mother and the rest of the
family, he removed to Michigan. His first business
was the management of a grocery store in Cassopolis,
which belonged to Lucius Hoyt, of Niles. When that
business closed, he visited his old home in Delaware,
remaining there several montlis, during which time he
connected himself with the M. E. Church. In 1840,
he returned to Cassopolis, and was employed as a
clerk by Jacob Silver. In 1841, he formed a partner-
ship with Mr. Silver, to continue five years, Mr. Sil-
ver furnishing all of the capital. At the end of the
time specified, the firm dissolved, and divided $16,000
equally. During this co-partnership, Mr. Lofland was
elected County Treasurer. In 1841, he married Lo-
retta, daughter of Josiah and Polly Silver. In April,
1847, Mr. Lofland formed a partnership with Henly
C. Lybrook, under the firm name of Lofland & Ly-
brook, in the dry goods business. In June, 1850,
this firm began business in Dowagiac, and soon after
took a half-interest in a dry goods store in Cassopolis,
which Mr. Lofland managed. In 1854, they closed
out their business in Dowagiac. Not long afterward,
Mr. L. bought the Vanderhoof farm, on La Grange
Prairie, and lived there the rest of his life, making a
successful farmer. He died February 27, 1862, after
long suffering with consumption. Mr. Lofland was a
very popular man among the people of Cassopolis and
others with whom he was associated, and possessed the
respect of all who knew him. His excellence of char-
acter is very fre(iuently spoken of by old residents.
JOSEPH SMITH.
The late Joseph Smith, commonly spoken of by
old settlers as Maj. Smith, was born in Botetourt
County, Va., April 11, 1809. His parents, Henry
and Sarah (Shaff"er) Smith, early removed to Clark
County, Ohio, and settled near Springfield, where his
father engaged in farming. Joseph Smith obtained
only the rudiments of a school education. At the
age of eighteen, he left home, and spent two years in
clearing for diff"erent owners heavily timbered lands
in his own and adjacent counties. With a capital
of about $350, he removed, in 1829. to the locality
now known as Northampton, Ohio, built the first
house there, and opened a small store. ' In 1832, he
removed to Cass County, where he bought a saw-
mill, which he carried on for about two years. At
the end of that time, he sold out and bought 1,000
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
acres of land in Jefferson Township. He then began
farming, and continued it about eighteen years,
toward the close of that period establishing a mercan-
tile business in Cassopolis. This he carried on very
successfully until 1875. He bought large tracts of
land near the village, and became the owner of a
very extensive property, which, as well as his mer-
cantile and general business, he managed with signal
ability. He was a Captain of militia in Ohio, and
Major of the regiment of militia organized in Cass
County in 1841. He was a member of the first
Legislature elected under the State Constitution in'
1836, and was re elected in 1837. In local affairs, he
took a prominent part, being several times elected to
such offices as Supervisor, Justice of the Peace, and
President of the village. In politics, he always acted
with the Democratic party. His death occurred in
April, 1880. Maj. Smith was married in February.
1830, to Jemima Lippincott, daughter of Obadiah
Lippincott, of Clark County, Ohio, who still survives.
They were the parents of eleven children, the first
two of whom died in infancy. The others are — Lewis
Davis, merchant of Cassopolis; Eliza J. (widow of
John Shaw), also of Cassopolis ; John Henry and
Emily, deceased ; Margaret (wife of Lester Graham,
of Jefferson Township) ; Sarah (Bell), deceased ;
Thomas J., Sabrina(Mr3. E. R. Graham), and James
P., of Cassopolis.
EBER ROOT.
Mr. Eber Root was an early hotel-keeper of Cass-
opolis, whose name is frequently mentioned in
the history of the village ; he came here in the
year 1832, from Huron County, Ohio, and was
the builder of the old log jail, or " gaol," as it is
called in the Supervisors' records, and was Sheriff in
1835. Mr. Root was a man of good character, and a
genial, pleasant landlord. His first wife, Mary
Gamble, who came with him from Ohio, died in 1834,
and hers was the second deatli which occurred in Cass-
opolis. His second wife, Eliza Wells, who came
from Edwardsburg, is still living. Mr. Root retired
to a farm in La Grange Township early in the fifties,
and died there June 19, 1862, aged sixty-three years.
His children are Isabella (Mrs. J. P. Osborn), Mary
(Worthington) and Jane (wife of L. D. Smith).
S. A. TURNER.
The subject of this sketch, one of the early resi-
dents of Cassopolis, was born in Northampton County,
N. C, July 5, 1791, and was reared in Southampton
County, Va. He was a soldier in the war of 1812,
iind served under Gen. Wade Hampton. He was in
the battle of Plattsburg, and one of the party engaged
in the retaking of the brig from the British in Bufi"alo
Harbor. At the close of the war, he received an hon-
orable discharge at Covington, Ky., and soon after
settled in Franklin County, N. Y. In 1835, he came
to Michigan, and in 1836 to Cass County, locating at
the county seat. He followed the trade of harness
making, and for many years lived in the house now
occupied by Capt. Joseph Harper. For a long period,
he was a Justice of the Peace, being several times
re-elected. He died May 10, 1.851, mourned by a
large circle of friends. Mr. Turner was a man of fine
character, and universally respected in the community
in which he dwelt.
JOHN TIETSORT.
Mr. Tietsort was born in Miltonville, Butler
County, Ohio, November 22, 1826. and was the oldest
son of Abram Tietsort, Jr. (see history of La Grange
Township). He came with his father to Niles, Mich.,
in April, 1828, and from there to what is now Cass-
opolis in the spring of 1830, the family being the
first settlers on the site of the village. Mr. Tietsort
has ever since resided in Cassopolis, with the excep-
tion of two years spent in California, whither he went
in 1850, with Joseph Harper and others. He has
lived longer in the village than any other resident.
During the greater part of the period from 1846 to
1873, he was engaged in the mercantile business
He has been one of the most useful and popular citi-
zens of the place. A man of generous impulses, and
always having the best interests of the community at
heart, he has done much for the benefit of Cassopolis.
The citizens are largely indebted to him for the beauti-
ful arrangement of the village burying-ground and its
admirable condition. His services have usually been
bestowed without the expectation of or the desire for
remuneration.
Mr. Tietsort has been married three times. His
first wife, with whom he was joined November 25,
1852, was Ellen Silver Sherman, daughter of Elias
B. Sherman. She died August 26, 1862. He was
married to Eleanor Robinson, January 26, 1864.
Her death occurred October 27, 1869, and upon July
17, 1871, Mr. Tietsort married Addie Silver Robin-
son. He has three daughters and one son, all living
in Cassopolis.
CHARLES KINGSBIRY.
Mr. Kingsbury was born, May 14, 1812, in Nor-
folk County, Mass., and remained in the vicinity of
his native place until he arrived at years of maturity,
when he went to Augusta, Me., with a small stock of
HT8T0KY OF CASS COUiNTY, MICHIGAN.
miscellaneous goods, such as were then commonly
kept in "general" stores. After he had remained
there a few years, he closed out, with the intention of
going to Chicago, and started on a journey for that
purpose. After long and wearisome travel, he stopped
at Cassopolis, to see his brother Asa. He gave up
his original intention of going to Chicago, and re-
solved to go into business with his brother in this
then small village. This was in the M\ of 1837.
He purchased and cleared land just west of the vil-
lage, on the north side of State street, and built the
house still standing upon the hill, which was his home
for about thirty years. He was married to Sarah
Miller, at the house of her father, J. P. Miller, in
Jefferson Township, by Elder Jacob Price, March
12, 1851. His death occurred December 23, 1876.
Charles Kingsbury was a man of quiet habits, a great
reader and well informed in history, politics and gen-
eral literature. During the whole of his mature life,
he spent a portion of each day in reading the Bible,
and he considered its precepts man's best guide, spir-
itually and morally governing his life thereby. He
was always kind to the poor and suffering, and never
refused them aid when it was in his power to extend
it, often suffering financially by reason of his benevo-
lence. His attachments for home and friends were
very strong. He had a large musical talent, was a
good singer and played readily upon almost any
instrument. Politically, he was a Whig and after-
ward a Republican, adhering to the principles of the
latter party until his death.
MOSES McII.VAIN.
Mr. Mcllvain is of Scotch-Irish descent, his an-
cestors having emigrated from Scotland to Ireland
during one of the turmoils that occurred in their
country in e.arly times. His grandfather emigrated
to America and settled in Pennsylvania, and, going to
Kentucky soon after th^ settlement of that State, was
captured by a band of Indians who made a raid from
Ohio, and kept in bondage by them for two and a
half years. He afterward made a permanent settle-
ment near Lexington. It was in that locality that
the subject of this sketch was born in 1802. When
he was three years old, his parents moved to Cham-
paign County, Ohio, where he resided for thirty-one
years, or until coming to Michigan in 1836. Mr.
Mcllvain settled in Jefferson Township and lived there
until 1867, when he removed to Cassopolis, where he
has since resided with his son. Mr. Mcllvain is a
quiet, unassuming man, who has always commanded
the respect of the people among whom he has dwelt.
He has held sever.il positions of honor and trust, He
was married in Ohio to Charity Carmichael. Their
living children are William W., Nancy J., the wife of
Henry W. Smith, and Mary E. (Gregg) — the last
mentioned of whom is at present a resident of Rock-
well City, Iowa.
William W. Mcllvain, the well-known merchant of
Cassopolis, has been in business here since the close
of the war. He served in tlic army nearly four years,
enlisting in Company D, of the Sixth Michigan In-
fantry as a private, and being promoted to the posi-
tion of First Lieutenant. He was wounded at the
siege of Port Hudson.
JOSEPH K. KITTEK.
Joseph K. Ritter was born in Berrien County,
Mich., May 7, 1829, and was the son of John and
Sarah (Lybrook) Ritter, who came to Michigan in
October, 1828. They settled first at Niles ; but, in
August, 1829, removed to La Grange Township, Cass
County. John Ritter was killed by a- stroke of light-
ning on the 31st of the same month. Joseph K., the
subject of this brief sketch, came to Cassopolis in 1851,
and for the following ten years was engaged in the
dry goods business. During the first four years, he
was in partnership with Joshua Lofland, Henly C.
Lybrook and G. C. Jones, under the firm name of J.
K. Ritter & Co., and afterward was alone until 1858,
when he took into partnership B. F. Beeson, who
remained with him until 1861. In 1862, Mr. Ritter
was elected County Treasurer, and served in that
capacity for four years. In 1865, he again went into
business, having, as a partner, for a brief period. A .
E. Peck. He continued in active mercantile life until
1875, and since that time has been engaged in buying
grain. Mr. Ritter was married September 18, 1856,
to Amanda F., daughter of Asa Kingsbury.
THE GRAHAM FAMILY.
Samuel and Edward Graham have been residents
of the village, respectively, since the years 1847
and 1850. Samuel Graham was born, in Erie
County, Penn. Since coming to Cass County, he
has resided at the place which is now his home,
enjoying at once the advantages of farm and village
life. His first wife was Anna Taylor; his second,
Emma Jane (Hancock). ni;e Deacon. He had by his
first wife nine children, of whom one, Marvin M.,
lives in Cassopolis ; and by his second, four, of whom
three are living in town. Edward Graham was born Sep-
tember 11, 1810. His wife was Desire Ilisted. They
have nine children, all of whom reside in Cassopolis,
or its vicinity, viz.: Henry C, Lester, William, E.
R., Raensallaer, Florence, Joseph, Frank and David,
180
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY. MICHIGAN.
CHARLES G. BANKS.
Mr. Banks was born in McDonough, Chenango Co.,
N. Y., in 1825. He came to Cassopolis in 1844.
He followed surveying, taught school for four or five
years, and clerked for S. T. & L. R. Read. From
1863, in company with John Tietsort, he carried on a
successful mercantile business. Mr. Banks has been
prominently identified with the best interests of the
village, and has taken an active part in educational
affairs. He was married to Amanda, daughter of
Pleasant Norton. John C, Harlow and Aaron,
brothers of Charles G. Banks, have resided at different
periods in Cassopolis, and the first named was one of
the prominent school teachers of the village.
HORACE B. DUNNING.
The subject of this sketch was a son of Isaac Dun-
ning, and was born near Sempronius, Cayuga Co.,
N. Y., September^ 18, 1802. In 1834, the family
emigrated to Cass County and settled near Edwards-
burg. Upon October 12, 1836, Horace B. was mar-
ried to Sarah A. Camp, who lived six miles west of
Buffalo, N. Y. In 1837, he was elected Probate
Judge, in which office he served until January, 1841.
In 1840, he was elected County Clerk ; began his
duties in that position in January, 1841, and soon
after removed to Cassopolis. He was for several years
Acting Treasurer. In 1844, he bought out the drug
business of Alexander H. Redfield, which he carried
on until his death. He was appointed Postmaster in
1861. Mr. Dunning's death occurred May 30, 1868.
His children were Helen C. (Draper), now living in
Big Rapids ; Delia and Huldah (deceased), and Sarah
L., widow of the late A. B. Morley.
WILLI.VM W. PECK.
Mr. Peck was born in Shelby County, Ohio, Sep-
tember 22, 1830, and came to Cassopolis in 1853.
His first employment was as a clerk with Joshua Lof-
land and J. K. Ritter. In 1860, he went into themer-
cantile business for himself, and carried it on success-
fully for a number of years, during a portion of the
time having Albert Magannis as partner. He was
elected and served acceptably as County Treasurer.
Mr. Peck took an interest in public aft'airs to the ad-
vantage of the community, and was especially active
in enhancing educational interests. He was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Peck's
death occurred April 6, 1879, after a long and ex-
ceedingly painful illness. He was married, December
27, 1853, to Elizabeth, daughter of Pleasant Norton,
who survives him.
JOHN SHAW.
Mr. Shaw was born in Westfield, Chautauqua Co., N.
Y., March 10, 1824. He learned at an early age the
trade of cabinet-making. In 1853, he went to Cali-
fornia where he remained two years. The steamer
in which he took passage for his return trip was the
ill-fated Yankee Blade, which was totally wrecked
near Lookout Point on the Mexican coast, a great
many of the passengers losing their lives. He was
one of the survivors. In 1856, he came to Cassopo-
lis to visit relatives, and while here became acquainted
with Miss Eliza, daughter of Maj. Joseph Smith, to
whom he was married the same year. He took his
wife to his old home, Westfield, N. Y., and remained
there one year, when he returned to Cassopolis,
where he lived until his death, which occurred June
25, 1878. His wife and only son, Charles W., survive
him.
C. C. ALLISON.
C. C. Allison, editor of the National Democrat,
was born in Blackberry, 111., about thirty miles west
of Chicago, in September, 1840. He came to Cass-
opolis in 1818, and has since resided here. In 1855,
he obtained his introduction to the printing business,
entering the Democrat office as an apprentice. It was
in this school that he obtained the principal part of
his education, "picking it out of the case." He
worked for about one year in Dowagiac on the Cass
County Tribune, under James L. Gannt, and on the
present Dowagiac Republican at the time it was
founded by Messrs. Jones & Campbell. In 1862, he
took charge of the National Democrat as publisher,
and, as a matter of fact, as editor, for he did all of the
writing except an occasional article from Maj. Jo-
seph Smith. When Mr. Allison first became identi-
fied with the Democrat, it was owned by a company of
stockholders; but, in 1864, he purchased the paper.
Since then he has edited and published it and with
fine success. •
.lAMES M. SHEPARl)
Mr. Shcpard was born in North Brookfield. Mass.,
November, 24, 1840, and at a very early age removed
to Boston. He is the youngest son of Lucy (Bush)
and Jiev. James Shepard, of the New England Method-
ist Episcopal Conference, andgramlson of Gen. James
Shepard, of the army of the Revolution. After
preparatory study at the Wilbraham Academy, he
entered the Wesleyan University at Middletown,
Conn., and there received a thorough classical educa-
tion. Subsequently he studied medicine and dental
surgery at Boston. During the war, he served in the
medical department of the United States Navy. Upon
^, Y,^a1u.€^^^
F^ESlDEjviCE OF S.T. F^Ey\D; cy\SSO PO L I S. [Vl I C |H
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
the 3d of September, 1868, he located in Cassopolis,
where he has since resided, following, until 1876, the
profession of dental surgery, and since then journal-
ism. He has been sole proprietor of the Vigilant
since 1878. Mr. Shepard was elected as a Repub-
lican to the State Senate from the Twelfth District
(Cass and Van Buren Counties), in 1878, receiving
5,257 votes against 1,208 for Josiah R. Hendryxi
Democrat, and 4,230 for Aaron S. Dyckman, National'
He served acceptably to his constituency and was a
valued member of the Senate. He was Chairman on
the Standing Committees on the Liquor Traffic, and
on Printing, and a member of the committees on
Education and Public Schools, Mechanical Interests
•and Engrossment and Enrollment. In 1870, Mr.
Shepard was united in marriage with Alice, eldest
daughter of Hiram and Margaret Silver Martin. They
have two children.
A. E. PECK.
Mr. A. E. Peck was, for many years, a resident
and prominent man of Cassopolis. He was born
in Jefferson County, N. Y., in 1819. He moved
to Ohio in 1840 ; to Livingston County, Mich.,
in 1842, and to Cassopolis in 1846. In 1854,
Mr. Peck was elected Register of Deeds, and
entering upon the duties of that office in January,
1855, served until 1865. filling the position to the
entire satisfaction of the public. For some time sub-
sequent to the latter date, he was engaged in business
in Cassopolis, and in October, 1874, removed to
Gentry County, Mo., where he died July 16 of the
following year. Mr. Peck was a very worthy man,
and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him during
his long residence in Cassopolis.
.lAMES OREN.
James Oren, of Cassopolis, came to the county April
11, 1848, and is, therefore, an eleventh-hour pioneer,
according to the rules of the Pioneer Society. He
was born in Clinton County, Ohio, January 29, 1825.
In the winter of 1848-49, he taught school in what was
called the brick schoolhouse, two and a half miles
south of Cassopolis, and for five or six years following
he continued to teach during the winters in the schools
of Calvin Township. He soon afterward made an
unfortunate investment in a mill property. In the
fall of 1X51, he married Angeline Osborn, daughter
of Josiah and Mary Osborn. Both were at the time
members of the Society of Friends ; but, being mar-
ried by a Baptist minister, contrary to the discipline
of the church, they were disowned and deprived of
the privilege of membership. Their sympathies, how-
ever, remained with the Quakers, and the policy of
the society being changed in some respects, they were.
nearly twenty years afterward, invited and welcomed
back into the church. One son, James Albert Oren,
was the offspring of their union. After his marriage,
Mr. Oren settled in Calvin and cleared up a fine farm.
He was quite prominently'identified with the affairs
of the township, being .several times elected to the
offices of School Inspector, Clerk and Supervisor.
Both his son and wife died in 1873, the former upon
June 30 and the latter on August 23. Not long after
these sad occurrences, Mr. 'Oren removed to Cassop-
olis. and, a year later, married Sarah, widow of Charles
Kingsbury and daughter of John Miller.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CITF OF DOWAGIAC.
Beginning and Development— Causes Combining to Create a Town—
The Paper City o£ Venice— Grace Greenwood upon Early Dowa-
giac— Original Plat and Additions— Some Initial Events Mercan-
tile and Maiuifacturing History— Banking— Hotels— Post Office-
Railroad Statioji-Amount ol Freight Shipped— Church History—
The Public Schools- Lists of Trustees and Teachers-Secret and
Benevolent Societies— Ladies' Library— Village Incorporation and
City Charter— omcers from 1858 to 1881— Fire Uepartment— The
Large Fires of 18G4 and 1866— Burial Places -Fair Association—
—Biographical.
BEGINNING AND GROWTH.
VILLAGES and cities do not come into existence
and flourish except through definite cause — a de-
mand and a need for their being on the part of the
people who occupy the contiguous country, or perhaps
a broader commercial necessity. Towns may be pro-
jected and established where these conditions do not
exist, but they fail to develop unless there is natural
reason for development, and either remain as unnour-
ished germs or pass entirely out of existence. Their
growth cannot be arbitrarily forced.
These general remarks might be illustrated by many
exatnples, but there is one which is particularly ap-
propriate.
The site of the flourishing city of Dowagiac was
selected at an early day for a village by one of the
pioneer proprietors of the land. As early as 1836,
the village of Venice was laid off, by Orlando Craine,
on the southwest quarter of Section 31, in Wayne
Township. The plat was extensive, occupying fully
160 acres of land, and it was .admirably arranged.
The ground was well adapted to the building -of a
hamlet or village, and the proprietor was a popular
man, who offered his land to the people at very rea-
sonable terms. But, notwithstanding these facts, not
a single house was built, the lands remained under
farm cultivation and there was no mark established to
indicate the ambition its owner had once cherished.
The village of Venice had no existence save on paper
in the County Register's office and in the imagination
182
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of Mr. Craine. There was, in 1836, no need or de-
mand for a village at this point. The sparse popula-
tion illy sustained the few centers of trade which
already existed, and the scanty products of the country
required no new outlets or markets.
But in a dozen years the conditions had changed,
and a village — Dowagiac — sprang up and flourished
on the soil which had proven barren before.
The country had become more thickly settled, and
the farms better improved and more productive, but
these facts were not sufficient alone to cause the
growth of a village in the northwestern part of Cass
County. A new force came into operation — the rail-
road — and all along its line through the fertile farm-
ing region of Southern Michigan, there were formed
new clusters of dwellings, and new places of trade and
commerce.
Nicholas Cheesborough (quite widely known through
his connection with the Morgan abduction case) had
been engaged in 1847 in the purchase of right of way
for the Michigan Central Railroad from Kalamazoo
to Niles. As soon as it was decided to locate one
of the stations of the line at the point now known
as Dowagiac, he associated with himself Jacob Beeson,
of Niles, and they together purchased from Patrick
Hamilton (of whom we shall have much to say in this
chapter) a tract of land consisting of eighty acres in
the northeastern corner of the Township of Pokagon.
Upon a portion of this land they proceeded to plat and
lay out the village of Dowagiac, of which they made
a record at the Register's office, in Cassopolis, Feb-
ruary 16, 1848.* The land was bought and the plat
of the village recorded in the name of Mr. Beeson.
This gentleman, although he never became a resident
of the village, did much for the welfare of the place
in various ways, not the least of which was his gener-
osity or shrewd policy in making various donations
of land for the use of churches and schools (as speci-
fied in the note) and his grant to the railroad
of the Dorth
ODe hundred
;t ths place of beginning." The
Indiana street, Michigan
pumllel '
1 Township, running thence v
1 street is fiv
by lands belonging t
street and Chestnut street, art
Main street is one hundred and eight feet wide, and HigUt street
wide, both running parallel with IJomniercial street. The alleys i
with Front street, and all are sixteen and a half feet wide.
The plat consisted of ten whole squares or blocks, and fractious of twelve
others, the whole blocks being twenty-four rods long and thirteen rods wide,
and euch divided into twelve lotj^. The entire number of lots was one hundred
and fifilily-fnin, miA tli.- wli .1.- tul-s iii'H'Ui-il four by six rods each.
Tit.- i.iMjirift.r nttij.- -.'Vera! -I -irtti-.i,- nti certain specified conditions as fol-
lows 111. n. 11,1 l.ni N., 11 In i!,,. lir-i K|iiwopal Society; fractional Lot No.
Itoili. FiiM M.ihn.li^t l',pi-i ,,|,;, I s.irj.ty. luid fractional Lots No. 7 and 61 tu
tb.- Iir-1 il..[i uiii, 111 .fi i.th. r ih:i!, iliun.- iitiint-d, who should first erect buildings
u(K,[, tIm 111 Til ii!i. r i,r ihr iinildings to be worthless than ^00. It was provided
tbiit Mil i!li. 1 iif thr Kits designated were *'to revert to the proprietor, bis
heirs III ii-sit;ii-. ii[i III the contracting of or existence for one year of a debt
agiiiii-i wi> 1 1 i!ii' i-ongregattons or societies." Fractional Lot No. 62 was
given li\ il.i- in ij.i iri.ir ti> the citizens of tile village for the erection of a school-
liouse, »n.i lor tlieir perpetual use for a boys' school.und fracilonal Lot No. 83 for
a girls' school, and fur perpetual use as such, and it was provided that prior to
the ye<ir 185.5, either of the lots might be used for both sexes.
of depot site and adjoining grounds, the latter of
which, by an agreement with the railroad company, is
forever to remain a park. The railroad, projected by
the State, was originally intended to have as its
western terminus the town of St. Joseph, but the
Michigan Central Railroad Company, by whom it
was purchased, greatly increased its value, and pro-
moted the growth of the villages along the line by
pushing it around the end of the lake to Chicago.
The little village laid out by Jacob Beeson quickly
received population. Enterprising men readily saw
that a town, situated upon a railroad, in the midst of
a rich agricultural region, and with no important
stations near it, must become not only a good place
for mercantile business, but a shipping-point of con-
siderable consequence.
From the very beginning of its life, the success of
Dowagiac was assured. Within two years, merchants
and tradesmen had assembled in considerable number,
and the infant village contained nearly all of the
simpler elements of industrial life. It was so clearly
perceived that the village was destined to grow and
thrive, that men who owned land adjoining the plat
proceeded to lay out additions to accommodate its
expansion, and profit by it. The first of these was
Patrick Hamilton, who owned and resided on a farm
in the southeast corner of Silver Creek Township.
He laid out what was known as Hamilton's First
Addition to the village of Dowagiac, in the spring of
1849, the plat being recorded upon the 14th of April.
This addition included the lots along ihe west side of
Division street, extending from Nicholas Bock's Hotel
north, and as far northwest as Spruce street. Jacob
Beeson made a small addition to the village March 13,
18-50, from the Pokagon tract of land, which he had
purchased, and Jay W. McOmber added a number of
lots from his land in Wayne Township February 19,
1851, while Mr. Hamilton made his second addition
to the town plat upon the 5th of the same month, and
Erastus H. Spalding enlarged the area of the town by
laying off streets and lots from his possessions in the
summer of this year. Thus the limits of the town
were gradually extended, as the actual or prospective
growth of population demanded. From time to time
other additions* have been made, until at present the
original plat forms only a small fraction of the whole
city.
' Th I'llii ii> II t iiii-ntioned above are the following:
I'l.ir ' Thinl Addition, recorded December 12, 1864.
.Iii\ '. M - iid Addition, recorded June 2, 1854.
I'll! II 1 ill Ih Addition, recorued October 14, 1850.
Daniel .Mci'mUer s .\.lditim', recorded January 20. 1858. .
Justus tiage's Addition, recorded November 8, 1858.
Tiitbill and Sturgis' Addition, recorded March 24, 1858.
Jay W. and Daniel M. McOmber's Addition, recorded June 30, 1869.
Sarah E. Sullivan's Addition, recorded June 19, 1863.
Joel H. Smith's Addition, recorded October 2, 1865.
An addition, platted by Elam Barter, Joel Andrews and Williuni i
recorded January 8, 1867.
1
HISTOKY OF CASS COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
183
The town has had, during its thirty-three years of
existence, quite an even growth, although in some
years the increase of population has been retarded by
various causes. Chief among these, perhaps, was the
prevalence of typhoid fever in 1852, only four years
after the founding of the village, which led many per-
sons to think the locality dangerously unwholesome.
As a matter of fact, the disease was imported. Lorane
McArthur came home from Jackson not feeling well,
and a Mr. Coan returned sick from a visit to New
York. The first two cases of the fever were in the
Dowagiac House. The disease rapidly spread, and
many were afflicted. Some people moved away, and
others who were stricken down were obliged to send
abroad for friends to take care of them. At one time
there were scarcely enough well persons in the place
to attend the sick. Mr. Coan and his wife and sister
died — the entire family. Of thirteen persons attacked,
soon after the disease made its first appearance,
eleven died — Henry Michael and a Mrs. Bull escap-
ing. In the winter of 1857-58, and in the year
1870, there were epidemics of scarlet fever, which
carried off many children. The unhealthiness of
Dowagiac, however, has probably been no greater
than that of the average of towns of its class in South-
western Michigan, and the unenviable reputation
which it temporarily bore after the epidemic of 1852,
has not since attached to it.
The two large fires of 1864 and 1866, which are
elsewhere spoken of in detail, caused serious losses ;
but they cannot be considered as untoward events,
viewed in the light of the great improvements they
made possible.
As young as is Dowagiac, it has entered upon what
may be called the second era of its life. At first all
advancement was in the hard, straight line of utility.
There was time for none but the sternly-practical
duties of life. Necessities were provided ; luxury
and elegance little thought of The village, when it
was ten years old, appeared undoubtedly very crude
and painfully new. There was no special natural
attractiveness in the site on which it was built, and its
residen 
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